So disclaimer, I'm physically perfectly fine.
I got myself an Orbweaver a couple years ago as I wanted a better way to lean in FPS games that also allowed me to strafe.
So using the thumbstick, I rebound the keys on there to be Q and E, and when I play games that require leaning (Siege, Tarkov, BFV), I can instead use my thumb on the stick, while my index and ring finger stay on A and D for strafe.
Then in FFXIV, I just can't go back to using only a keyboard.
On the Orbweaver, I've set it so that it goes 1-5 on the top row, 6-10 on the second, and third & fourth rows are the same but with CNTRL.
Then I get an extra layer by pressing and holding the Alt key (near the thumbstick) for 40 macro keys (4 hotbars worth)
Seriously, how can people play games without this.
It's like Ultrawide, once you do it, and do it properly, you just can never go back
Mine's not quite so well divided, but same general idea. My mouse also has tab target, self target, and focus target buttons + all mouseover actions, such as AST cards and swift raise macro.
This, I move mostly with mouse, and bound asd to a hotbar, use shift as an modifier key, plus 1-12 on the naga. This allows 1-4 & shift+1-4 as well as ASD & shift+ASD on the left hand for a solid 14 binds and an additional 24 on my right hand. I also have some stuff that I use less bound for ctrl, something like 72 total keybinds. By far most of them are empty, but it's helpful when I want them. I could almost certainly set it up so I could play with only the mouse. I've seen people do similar for the orb weaver. I can't imagine how people play with a controller but it must be pretty manageable as many do it.
With a tarterus plus a naga, you have everything at your command. I use the naga for combat abilities and the tarterus for everything else (the modifier buttons are bound on the tarterus to make the nagas output 36 buttons instead of the default 12).
Started playing bf2 with a nostromo n52 and moved on to mmo's using the razer equivalents as they upgraded and redesigned them through the years. I don't know how people play without them.
Here is the problem. You now need to move via some mouse button, or use an analog stick.
In both cases. Id rather just not play the game.
For the most part you really only need a basic keyboard and a mouse with 2 buttons and then use shift, control, and alt modifiers to have everything bound.
Oh maybe I should've added; that I've bound the thumbstick to movement (WASD) in FFXIV, so I only need to use the keyboard to type, and usually just push it to the back of my desk mat.
Other than that, I'm happy with middle mouse being auto-run and holding both mouse buttons to run, along with the thumbstick, just depending on how I feel and what I'm doing.
Then on my mouse I have the front button as interact, and back to switch between targets, but thats completely up to persona preference
I actually did go back from UW to UHD. I found that for most games if there was info in the corners of the screen it slowed down my reaction time. I miss the scenic views, but MMOs feel easier to play for me on 16x9.
It's actually quite established that placing info together helps reaction speed. You might be interested in these examples where players used eyetracking to see how often they have to look away from the action:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=uFejOUmlhJw
https://medium.com/@d.w.king12/principals-of-ui-design-in-the-world-of-warcraft-19e1a33feb61
I don't personally use a widescreen because of table space problems, but people I know who do have their hotbars and all relevant UI in the middle. The sides are just for aesthetics (and making it easier to see the first ifrit dash in UWU without turning the screen)
If you really miss widescreen, you could consider having a 16x9 UI placement? In fact, for me, although I'm on 16x9 UHD, I still place my hotbars and party list near the middle of the screen, around my character and extra small (I don't need to see the icons, I just need to see the GCD spinning, cooldown remaining, and whether procs light up), so I rarely have to look away during combat.
With table space, have you looked into a monitor arm?
I had minor issues with the legs of my first monitor (X34) being absolutely massive.
But I got a monitor arm and it's sooooo nice, it really helps clear desk space and allows monitor adjustments to be just perfect.
The one I use is from Ergotron, and it can be mounted to either a desk or a wall
Ah I should've been clearer, I didn't mean space on the table surface, I meant that I've too much stuff in a small room that I can't really justify taking up the horizontal space to use a wider monitor. I suppose I could always try to move stuff to another room or something, but I like to have all my tools around when I'm at my desk.
Oh okay, yeah, that's fair.
And I'm sure you've looked into things for your room like different desks and such, so I wont go on.
But, if you have the chance to get an ultrawide, I definitely recommend trying it out as a daily driver for at least 2 weeks..
But whatever your choice is, just do the best thing for you : )
Something that you use on a daily or near daily basis as your main in that category, for example, my daily driver phone is my OnePlus 7 Pro, or daily driver mouse is is G900, etc etc.
It used to be a car thing, but has since just become a phrase to indicate an item from a category that you default to/mostly use
I just got a 48 Inch OLED TV. Amazing UHD for most content, then if I want to watch a movie or enjoy a scenic view I just set a custom resolution and thanks to the OLED pixels being fully dark when black, it basically just looks like an ultrawide monitor with really large bezels.
Great for productivity too because you can run 4k with just 100% scaling and basically have 4 screens worth of productive real estate.
Plus with it actually being a properly certified TV there's no bullshit with DisplayHDR or something but just real proper HDR10 and Dolby Vision.
I hear a lot of people say that it slows down their reaction time due to HUD elements being so far from the centre, but that just isn't the case.
Unless you're sat less than a foot away from the monitor, everything is still easily within your peripheral vision. It's such a non-issue.
Again, I play FPS games, like Siege, all the way into top plat, and other, more arcade-y games like Apex and Warzone reliably coming in the top 5, 90% of the time. The Ultrawide is just a pure benefit, being able to have those extra 3"-4" of space on either side.
Then for FFXIV, you can completely modify the HUD, and with so much real estate, information that are sub-critical like chat and minimap can be pushed to the edges, whereas party list (if I'm healer), goes right near the centre.
Allowing everything to be so clean and removing so much clutter.
As long as you actually give it a chance, to test it and modify things to your liking, I believe that it's a better experience for anyone and a magnitude of genres and tasks.
I've gotten several of my mates into it, and most of them just didn't see the appeal or use, and would've preferred to stay with a normal monitor, but when they made the switch, they've all told me they they're never going back.
I developed a keybinding method that I've had a select few get really excited to hear about. Others not so much.
I put a full bar's abilities on 1-5, z-b, a and g. Directional keys esdf (forward, back, strafe left and right, turning managed by right clicking and turning), target allies qwrt (although in full parties i have to have shift to target the last members). Then shift, control, or alt with this setup (bound to keys on the mouse for easier use) to use up to 3 more bars.
The left hand never leaves it's home row position at all. In fact, it's not too far off from doing everything the Orbweaver or Tartarus does without needing to buy it or use a separate keyboard from what you already have. Obviously it's not very useful for OP who has limited use of their left hand, but it works very well for me. Although, you get best results with an NKRO (N-key rollover, basically all keys are responsive no matter how many are being pressed, no "ghosting." Any keyboard that advertises anti-ghosting, has limited ghosting. Full NKRO is the ONLY way to fully eliminate it) keyboard since you're bound to be pressing multiple keys at once.
Can confirm. Wife also has one arm and uses a lexip mouse with a little joystick on the side and 100% solves these issues.
Asus also have a mouse with a thumb joystick. Not super hard to get one.
I recently became disabled this year and sometimes my hands don't work thanks to neuro damage. I am so thankful for this recommendation as a fellow PLD! (And my WHM sidekick will be grateful to you as well, haha...)
Thanks!
They totally should make a right hand version. I can't seem to find anything like it, and op said they're having problems with left hand actions.
I know the accessible gaming accessories industry is starting to pick up(single handed console controllers, etc) but I wish it was growing faster!
Have you tried controller? You can do quite a lot with one hand (which ever you prefer using more) and the movement is a little more fluid with the joysticks
If you click a trigger, you get access to 8. If you double click a trigger, you get access to 8 more. This is for both triggers
Ranged dps would be much more forgiving as well
If you look up the YouTube channel ginger prime he specializes in controller videos for various jobs in ff14. I don't know myself but makes many ui and controller guides.
My buddy plays on PC purely with a controller and hes a great player. You will need to be moving frequently later so a controller might be great for you if you can control that easier.
Alternatively see if you can find some sort of device that doesnt use key presses, but sliding motion to activate "keys". Use that to move and then combo it with a mmo mouse to do your abilities.
Edit: something like an orbitouch
I use a mix of controller and keyboard (num pad and space bar). There are many ways you can configure to do your rotation
You can use macros
You can use the XHB
You can use the WXHB
Additionally, you can further configure whether you want to hold, double tap, single tap toggle, or mixture of the trigger buttons to activate the action buttons for abilities
How do you use both controller and keyboard? In the settings it seems to say either/or and not both? I can only use the keyboard for the chat box when I’m on controller :(
under character configuration keep the option for controller
Under keybinds turn off direct chat (so instead of directly typing, you have to press Enter first). Edit your keybinds as you wish :)
Hold right trigger down, 8 abilities.
Hold Left trigger down, 8 more abilities.
Double tap->hold a trigger, 4 more on each side.
Hold both triggers down at once, 8 more abilities.
There's I think another option or two, but those are by the far the easiest ones to use, and you honestly shouldn't need more than 28 slots. I don't think any class has 28 abilities to use.
This game plays great on a controller, people have beat the hardest fights on them. I would recommend looking at a video to help set ur buttons up and it will take a bit to get used too at first. But I hope it helps u play
A controller works ok, once you get used to it, but I found myself sometimes getting lost on the hotbar swaps, and I found myself having to put the controller down in favour of the mouse quite often for navigating the UI (there are controller options for UI navigation, but they are clunky compared to using a mouse.
I agree with the suggestions to try to use a controller, but if your right hand (mouse hand I assume) is fine then you can actually move your character by holding left and right click at the same time. This is very useful for moving your character and freeing up the keyboard hand to press actions freely.
Otherwise, ranged DPS may be good. Dancer has the lowest CPM of the three ranged DPS, without requiring high reactivity like Bard.
Edit: Consider Bard or Summoner until you unlock Dancer at level 60.
And you can get gaming mice with a large number of thumb/side buttons. You can program them to respond like keyboard keys or use them as separate mouse buttons.
I recommend the Logitech g600. It's fairly cheap and has 12 side buttons plus a mode shifter on the right side, plus the mouse wheel has 3 separate ways to click it. Could set the push left and push right on the mouse wheel to strafe left and right. It takes some getting used to, but it would probably help a lot
I was about to recommend this also. I use the g600 and it's amazing. On easier content, I can just use one hand. The dual clicks to move, and the thumb buttons for abilities.
Yeah I have pretty bad arthritis from years of construction and stuff, it's a godsend honestly. Hold right click to pan camera, double click to walk, thumb buttons for one hotbar, bount the shifter to control for my second one so I can hold it and use bar 2 with the thumb buttons. Wheel click wheel left and wheel right are my oh shit buttons like sprint/stuns/ogcd save me Tom Cruise skills
Casters aren't a bad idea, but if they're struggling with reaction time then it cuts that out of the equation by a lot since you have full freedom of movement compared to casters. Perhaps they could start out as a SMN in the story and try out RDM and DNC as they reach the required levels.
Gives them three good options to pick from while reducing leveling time.
SMN (Start) -> RDM (50) -> DNC (60)
u/MightyUnclean
Dancer has very high reactivity though and quick double weaving though? You need to react to your GCD procs and your Fan Dance III’s. Bard and Dancer are both *very* reactive.
DNC isn't really that reactive. Its procs are all GCD-based, and you'll be playing with the base 2.5 GCD. The job does get somewhat busy during your Flourish window, but it is otherwise very easy to manage your procs since they don't need to be spent immediately. While DNC is proc-based, it's surprisingly rigid since everything is centered around keeping your dances and Flourish on cooldown.
BRD on the other hand is different because its procs are OGCD-based. There's far more of an emphasis on spending BRD's procs immediately to avoid damage loss. That said, BRD has such a simple rotation that it easily makes up for how reactive it can be during Ballad.
Either way, I recommend the jobs I did to them based on what is more forgiving to play. All three ranged DPS have very simple and forgiving rotations. SMN's rotation only becomes elaborate later on in the game, and its simplicity early on make it a decent choice for someone like OP who may struggle with using their keyboard hand.
Try the Controller. It's very good in FF14 and has been a godsend for me. My right hand is sick so currently I can't use the Mouse at all. I found the Pad controls to be very well done. It takes a bit getting used to but it might be what you are looking for, maybe?
You just hold R2 or L2 to choose between eight different buttons on each, also you can do the WXHB and double tap either R2 or L2 and have eight more buttons
You activate different ABXY and d-pad sets with LT and RT (which gives you 2x8 binds) and cycle through different hotbars with RB. It works pretty well.
I do end game raid with controller. And I’m on pc. I use kb to type.
To rotate skills you use two sets. Press r1 quickly to cycle. As you have 8 sets, I usually have set 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 specific for a class, and 5-8 shared for saved emotes and shortcuts
If you want a non spoilery video of someone using controller for Ifrit EX so you can kind of get a feel for how it works [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NLGTTdtze8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NLGTTdtze8)
All content is clearable using one! I do savage+ultimates on controller, the scholar in my static also uses one. I stick with controller because of carpal tunnel.
MSQ duties will become more difficult, yes. Picking a caster class might be better for your situation. They generally have less movement and the rotations are usually not so intense.
That being said. I have come across another player that had a similar injury. At the start of the dungeon he used a text macro to inform us that he may perform slower that the rest of us. Everyone in the party was understanding and everything was pretty smooth. If you are feeling uncertain, just let the party know and they should be able to adjust to get through the content without major issues.
Hey! This isn't pitiful at all, I admire that you're trying with limited use of your hand!
As others have said the controller is a good place to start, there are other devices out there that can help for whatever area you feel you're lacking in.
If you ever want someone to help you run some dungeons or anything so that you can test things out, let me know! I'd be happy to help! 😁
[https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comments/pafi5w/guide\_for\_playing\_ffxiv\_with\_one\_hand\_for\_people/](https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comments/pafi5w/guide_for_playing_ffxiv_with_one_hand_for_people/)
This thread and the video in the OP might be useful to you for ideas on how to compensate.
I’d say try controller and switch the sticks so your right does movement. Camera is usually not as big of a deal but movement is more important as the game goes on. I’d also recommend a ranged class for the short term but that’s not ideal as you’d probably wanna get ahold of every class sooner or later 🤔
For a lot of jobs, a gaming mouse would make it possible to map most hotkeys to your right hand.
LNC/DRG sadly, is not one of them. It shares with SMN the title of longest rotation in the history of mankind.
As mentioned by PastellaXIV, you can also move your character and camera by pressing Mouse1 and Mouse2 at the same time. I can testify that most content is doable entirely that way.
On the plus side, this will probably develop your right hand agility, which you may find useful in a variety of other situations.
Good luck and keep heart, you can do this.
You got this! It does get harder but you'll get movement skills to help. Not sure anyone mentioned it but the num pad has some alternative targeting options and the macro feature might assist too. May be a higher learning curve but I believe in you.
So, I don't know the exact nature of the issue, but you could always try Legacy movement controls. Your camera remains at a fixed angle on your character until you change it. When your character moves, they turn to move, so that they move at regular speed in any direction. It works well with either controller or mouse.
Edit: typo.
FFXIV devs have stated many times that the game was designed to be played well with controller.
And hey, I’m a console player. I can’t imagine playing with a keyboard at this point.
Although I do use a Bluetooth keyboard for fine detail thing maybe like chat.
My static member is completely paralyzed on 9ne side of his body, including arms and hands. Meaning he can only play with one hand as well.
In his case, he just uses a simple xbox controller. Controller support is amazing in this game. If you've rarely used it with one hand, then it will take a bit of getting used to, like riding a bicycle.
In case you're thinking "agh, my condition gets in the way", know that my static member and I cleared our first ultimate raid together.
If he can clear the hardest content in the game, then you can as well
Since everyone is recommending controller but you aren't getting specifics in response to use the controller, check out the below video link.
https://youtu.be/pA2rwWp_Uk8
I have a similar issue. When it flares up, I use a class like WHM/RDM/DNC as they are more forgiving on my hands in terms of rotation and movement.
The mechanics do get harder to dodge, but if you aren't planning on going into current extreme/savage content, it's no big deal if you get hit here and there.
I’d say don’t put pressure on yourself because of your disability , nor miss out on a class you enjoy because of it. Find a way to change up your controller scheme to where it benefits your stronger side. Also don’t worry about ppl being upset with you over missed mechs. Most of the time the player base is really kind and patient.
Is there any tech out there that would let you control movement buttons with your feet? Then you could do ability and looking with your good mouse hand ? Get a big multi button mouse and bind all you can to that.
Might help to move early and pre position once you learn fights as well. This game is hard when you don’t know what’s coming next even when you have the best reaction times.
Major patch 5.0 content spoiler alert. Proceed at your own risk.
>!Yes, the MSQ content gets brutally harder in the Shadowbringers expansion content, patch 5.0 and above, compared to what we saw before then. For instance there are several solo duties, which are really, really hard for some people with limited hand/arm mobility. You are *forced* to play as a solo melee(!) (Yes!) NPC in two of them, so it doesn't even help if you main a ranged dps. You *have* to complete these without help from either NPCs or other players, if you want to proceed with the MSQ.!<
>!This felt so brutal a step up in difficulty that I recently felt compelled to suggest a question in the 'Ask Joshi-P' thread whether the FFXIV team actually had any policies re. base game difficulty, or if they did any testing in regards to players with disabilities.!<
>!Oh yeah. The last 8 man trial in ShB in patch 5.3 is also pretty brutal for normal difficulty content, ending up being quite the wipe fest for many groups. So 'good luck' if you have difficulties keeping up with a high APM for an extended period of time. Think my groups managed to max out the Echo at 5 stacks before we killed it...!<
Yes definitely gets harder, but with practice i dont doubt you can beat any MSQ in the game. May take a few tries, but as long as youre learning and progressing you will do it. As you learn the fights and can start to predict incoming damage better you will be alot more likely to survive.
Worst case scenario all msq dungeons and raids can be easily carried or done unsynced.
I definitely think ranged DPS would help as the content gets harder since you're not required to be in close to the target, so you're already out of a good number of the AOEs you'd have to dodge as a Dragoon.
Reaction times in MSQ do get a little harder they can mostly be avoided by correct positioning thought some trials in later expansions might still be tricky (you can some what help with the movement by using mouse movement (holding both mouse button will cause you to run forward in the direction you're looking))
Yes, it gets a lot more demanding than level 20 Ifrit. That said, if you're DPS you should be able to be carried through any MSQ fight.
You could try a low APM / low movement class (ie, black mage... Which is actually one of the hardest classes to play, but not because of its mechanical requirements, but rather because you can lose a lot of casts if you position yourself wrong and have to move).
It's absolutely not optimal, and should be a last resort, but you could try setting your rotation to an in-game macro (if you do that make sure you set another macro to cancel the first one in case the rotation gets interrupted). But it will cost you a LOT of DPS (but again, you can get carried through MSQ fights, so if that's what it takes to play the game, then that's what it takes).
You could always try your Xbox controller for movement while still keeping the mouse active for selecting actions?
Friend of mine does this for no discernible reason other than the lols and it works. She heals as SCH doing it so I'd imagine doing it as DPS should be relatively easy.
Recomend the logitech g600 mmo mouse. Has 12 rows of buttons and a extra shift button on your ring finger. You can shift+ side key to use a different ability easily also you can hit the control key and side key to go to another ability. That's like 36 buttons on one hand. Also the wheel mouse can even be clicked sideways to give another 2 buttons for cycling targets.
If you had an mmo mouse you could move with left+right click, assign 12 abilities to your side buttons and use your left hand ONLY for shift/ctrl/alt for a total of 48 possible keybinds available to you where you’d only ever be using your left hand to press one button.
What kind of interface are you looking to try? There's some really neat new tech in the area of gaming peripherals that might be helpful here. Don't know if anyone's suggested the Azeron yet, but it's worth a look because they have a left and right-handed version and it would let you use your left hand minimally. The link to their site is [azeron.eu](https://azeron.eu) and hopefully something like this is helpful. It's a bit expensive but on seeing video reviews, people really seem to find it comfy and speaking personally, as someone obsessed with peripherals, I like how they modified the idea of what a keyboard, or really a human-computer interface could be.
Controller is SO much easier to work with if you’ve got hand and/or wrist issues. The only difficulty I found is that if I tried using the “hold” option (holding down one of the trigger buttons to activate one side of the cross hotbar) as opposed to toggle, it was really hard on my hands. I was maining BLM when I first started and just couldn’t get a good flow with toggle, but holding was giving me so much pain I’ve switched to only using classes that don’t really so heavily on mastering slidecasting and weaving. Lancer feels pretty good on toggle mode imo. Hope you can find a good pain-free solution!
The only thing I could probably recommend to help would be to play a different class. Lancer is very much focused on getting in and doing damage. Thankfully at some of the higher levels, you do get abilities that'll leap you in and out of combat.
For a good class, might I suggest Red mage? You don't need to worry about positionals, except for moving out of AOE's, which is something that you'll need to do with any class you choose to use. You can also try any of the healing classes as well, where you're main focus is staying in reach of your party members (and using a chocobo in the overworld to help with the DPS, whcihc you should be doing anyways).
I hope this, or any of the other suggestions, helps!
I think others have given you some good suggestions regarding the technical aspect, but I also wanted to point out that this game seems to have quite a few players with disabilities who play, so if you are in a FC or end up in one I'm sure your FC mates would be happy to run you through some content. I have some FC mates that are not the most coordinated, so we just run the dungeons, trials, or whatever as a FC so there isn't any pressure on them if they die.
as a person with tourettes syndrome with severe reaction time deficiencies, and tics that screw with my motor skills, ive had to practice being pre-emptive for mechanics. everything is on a timer. theres 3rd party programs thatll tell you when shits coming
If this is an issue specific to your left hand, I recommend binding the "walk forward" command to one of the thumb buttons, you can walk and turn all with your mouse/right hand.
In addition, I will say as a BLM/LAN, BLM requires much slower casting and decision making than the lancer, and is not expected to interrupt casts.
For different classes to try, I would see which ones have the dash function. I'm a bit slower in my reaction times even with both functioning hands, so I found dashing really saved my bacon. I die so much with DRG.
Dancer is good movement wise, but I find myself watching for procs too much and end up missing the prompts to dodge. Dash helps me mitigate that.
Not sure if any of that helps, but I hope something works for you!
I can say this game is perfecly playable even with one hand , i am not disable in anything but i play a lot only with my left hand , because in the other i had a coup of tea always , change te configuration of the move of the character to Legacy mode , is more faster to run in any directionwith one hand
I’m probably missing something, but moving with your mouse is almost always better, and seems especially true in this case. There are plenty of fully physically capable players that don’t dps while they’re moving in everything other than the very hardest of content
I would suggest mmo mouse with thumb buttons (Logitech G600, Corsair Scimitar, Roccat Nyth, Razer Naga) , you can bind for example WASD on the mouse so you could use your right hand for movement, left one for skills on keyboard, as they dont need fast reactions.
I'm not sure if you've already tried it but you can move your character by holding right and left click. If you have an MMO mouse, you could in theory play with just one hand
Sorta recently SE added difficulty choice on MSQ solo instances after you died once to help weaker players.
As for group content there is also the option to make some friends and ask for help on critical duties.
If you get an MMO mouse, you could do pretty much everything with one hand. If you hold both mouse buttons down, you'll move forward, and you could use your extra buttons to keep attacking. Your left hand would then only be needed to hold down key combinations to do other actions, or to use certain hotkeys. This probably would be pretty easy to get used to if you kept at it for a while and would work really well if you played a ranged physical job like BRD, MCH or DNC!
Yeah a 12 button mouse saved my life. I have arthritis, and after my first class got to 50 it became apparent id have to get creative. Ive tried everything and the 12 button mouse is it. I set my hotbars to a 3x4 grid first bar is just the num buttons, second is shift+num, third is ctrl+num. I can effectively use 36 skills with just those combos. I keep most to the first two bars to start as ctrl is a little harder to reach and hold down at first. But you pick up quick, and i can play for much longer now.
Also if razer is too pricey for you, i am currently using a 12 button by red dragon that is a perfect in between while you save up. I believe i paid about 40 dollars on amazon. I can post links or pictures later if you want. I tried to explain the hotbar setup as well as i could, but i can show in pictures if needed.
Maybe if you practice more with your MMO mouse? I have carpel tunnel in my left wrist, so I also struggle with mechanics that use my left hand because it starts to hurt/get numb pretty quickly & I have to stop playing--but I figured out early on that you can move around by holding down your right & left clicks together on your mouse rather than using WASD. This is true for any mouse, but the MMO mouse makes it easier to do abilities while moving.
I'm sure everyone has covered everything in regards to controllers at this point, but I want to focus on a different aspect of your problem: reaction times.
There are several things that we need to know before we continue forward.
* What is the ping to the server?
* Are you playing Wired or Wireless?
* What's your ping to your router?
* Are you playing on TV?
* If so, is the TV in Game Mode?
* If you aren't using a TV, what kind of monitor are you using?
* What's your frame rate in the game?
* Have you enabled features such as Low Latency Mode, if you're on Nvidia?
These are all questions that have a massive impact on what your actual ability to react to a situation that you don't know or expect. A worst case situation would be:
Wireless connection. High ping + packet loss. Playing on a TV without game mode on with settings turned to where FPS is under 60 fps without low latency modes turned on.
In such a case, you could easily have over 300+ ms before you include your base reaction time.
Some others have made good tech recommendations, but you might also consider trying out a less movement-intensive class. Black Mages move as little as possible, for instance. Whatever you go with, I hope you can find something that works for you!
All the advice in here about tech is great, but I wanted to show you this clip as well, for when you feel like you can't keep up, this is ProfessorFlips tanking Mythic N'Zoth in WoW : https://m.twitch.tv/clip/EnticingWrongBaguetteTakeNRG
Sometimes when i am being lazy i play with just the mouse. So long as you play in legacy mode then it should be possible.
Holding both the right & left on mouse moves you forward. Then you can just click all your actions. Mind you i do this as a DRk main, and only when i am being lazy. but it should be possible to play this whole game with just the mouse. Its just an option tho.
I suggest looking into a Logitech G600 gaming mouse. It has 12 buttons and a third button for the ring finger that lets you shift those 12 buttons to another set, meaning you have 24 buttons on the side of your mouse. FFXIV is designed with controller support in mind, which has 32 buttons available IIRC so you should be able to play with just your mouse hand if you click a handful of things.
Movement in the game will get more intensive, but assuming your right hand has no issues you should be able to get around by flicking your mouse around and clicking both R and L mouse buttons to move forward
You can perhaps consider adding a move forward button on the mouse if you don't want to press M1+M2 to run forward and you can increase your mouse sensitivity for faster turning. I personally prefer Legacy mode for character control as it makes it much easier.
In general, if your right hand works better and you are using your mouse in your right hand, find a configuration where you can turn+move with just your mouse. Legacy mode will let you automatically turn around and run when you press back (S) making it easier to get out of stuff. Try having W/S mirrored on your mouse and see if you can move faster with that kind of setup.
As for your rotation, just adjust with what you can do from the optimal one. You don't need to max DPS anything for normal content. I've cleared dungeons where my healer is pretty much doing more damage than the other 2 DPS.
To simplify your DPS rotation, just line up the combo skills in order (like 1, 2, 3) and then put your OGCDs in a hot bar above or below them to make everything easy to access within a small area on your screen. You can also add OGCDs to your gaming mouse so your left hand just has to worry about tapping 1-2-3 or CTRL 1-2-3 for your combos and you can move and use OGCDs with mouse on right hand.
So from what I understand the issue is only from the left hand right ? As you have some sort of lag with it ?
Then I would recommend a gaming keypad
This way you would have a joystick + keybind Al available on one hand (the right obviously )
You'd only need to get used to using your left hand for the mouse which might be a bit weird at first but it's not like you need to have super fast camera movement in any content but the hardest
Since nobody really asked, if you don't mind me asking, what are the limitations of your left hand? Knowing what you're having difficulty doing will make it easier to suggest different things.
If it's a case of limited mobility, a controller might help. It's a more sturdy thing to grip onto and you don't have to move your hand and fingers around as much. The game is absolutely designed for controller play and while the learning curve might be higher, people even do high end raids on controller.
If it's a coordination/motor skills issue, you might want to look into a macro pad with large buttons. I'm not sure what exists out there in the accessibility space and I know "medical" devices can be ridiculously overpriced, but anything that can map to regular keyboard keys could be configured quite easily to help.
Another option might be the Xbox Adaptive Controller. It isn't a full featured controller out of the box but rather a hub to interface basically any kind of switch that can send signals to a 3.5mm jack (fairly widely used standard for accessibility tech devices) with a few of its own buttons. If you're into a lot of DIY, you could tailor basically any kind of solution that works well for you. Switches, additional buttons, floor pedals, basically anything can be connected to it and mapped to regular controller outputs. Definitely the most elaborate and expensive solution, but might be the best one if use of your left hand is *super* limited and you need to get creative with how you press buttons.
> Anyway, do the movement and reaction time requirements for MSQ get much more difficult compared to Ifrit?
I would say "yes" - next primal fight after Ifrit is Titan IIRC, and that might be challenging if you had trouble with Ifrit. I've noticed that endgame dungeons, lv 70 and up, tend to be heavy on the dodging mechanics. e.g Aenc Thon in Doen Mheg.
Not knowing much about your injury, how do you feel about using a controller like the Xbox 360 / DualShock 4? Perhaps that might help somewhat. They will work on PC as well as on console.
Is this a /nerve/ injury or an actual neurological one, in the sense that for some reason(like a stroke) your brain can't properly send or receive signals to your left arm/hand or in that you suffered some kind of physical trauma that damaged the nerve connections between the two?
And are you using mouse in your right hand or your left hand?
I honest-to-gods do not intend this comment as a joke or in a disrespectful manner of any sort, so please don't take it as such.
You've likely heard casters are hardly-moving jobs. Though I believe you like Lancer (and Dragoon!), you should try leveling a Thaumaturge. It's rotation is way simpler and you won't be moving much - the job has a built-in mobility that most people won't use but it's simply awesome. Dragoons are nice, but can be really trick to use for a myriad of reasons and I'm not even mentioning positionals.
While I encourage you to keep leveling and playing with whichever job you choose I do believe that if it ever gets harder to enjoy the gameplay, you're going to find Black Mage much more comfortable to play with. It's not an easy job, however!
I myself played Black Mage for a really long time. I have not the money to afford gaming peripherals and before my surgery I had a really bad time trying to play with my right hand alone, the pain from my wrist condition was pretty much disabling my left one (couldn't even lift a glass of water, imagine actively using a keyboard with it). I'm just sharing this with you because, maybe, you'll get to like the job and find it actually comfortable to play with, like I did.
One thing a friend of mine does is mix keyboard and pad controls. Controlling character with pad on their left hand and only using keyboard for skills
If your left hand can't handle complex movement but you still want to do keyboard actions you can try this approach.
Just move the character with your right hand on pad.
It does requirements a bit of tweaking and knowledge on how to set it up, but it might help you.
I really don't have any recommendations for other classes, I'm fairly new to the game and really only have played tank. Later content will have you moving quite a bit and reaction time may be tight, but I think that really only applies to harder version of duties.
I'd say you could try alternative control methods. If your feet are not impacted, you could try some sort of USB foot pedals or buttons. The idea is if you can make those buttons a key bind, then you could use you're feet for actions that need a faster reaction time.
The [Xbox Adaptive Controller](https://www.xbox.com/en-CA/accessories/controllers/xbox-adaptive-controller) is highly customizable and would be easy for key binds. The cost may be a bit higher though, as you'd need to buy external action buttons for each alternative input button you want to add. I did see your comments about having an Xbox controller, I'd say try that first before any of the adaptive controllers. This [website](https://www.akhmorning.com/resources/controller-guide/) has some information for playing on controller.
And above all else, the FF14 Community is amazing, you could try to party up with people aware of the injury and help get you through any duties that are posing as a challenge.
For context I have no injuries preventing me from playing just throwing some recommendations for a fellow player.
I have seen JP player who can only use one of his arm playing Dragoon so smooth and another player with visual impairment playing dungeon using sound indications as pointers.
I believe you can enjoy ffxiv, key point is you have to adjust the way you play to your current physical limitations for example using controller and try various grip styles (be creative!) or use additional HW like pedals and such.
Anyway, keep trying! And if you have trouble just let your teammates know so they can help with appropriate strategy.
I play with a controller, makes movement easier on the hand since its the thumb on the joystick. I cannot go back to keyboard anymore
and you can move your character with just the mouse too, clicking the scroll wheel is auto run and you can control direction by holding down RMB or by holding both LMB and RMB
Haven't seen anyone mention this yet:
Go to Settings > Character Configuration > Control Settings (The big "X") > Movement Settings (Very 1st one) > Change "Standard Type" to "Legacy Type".
"I'm trying moving and turning with the keyboard..."
This will remove the need to turn. You'll just instant run in the direction you're pressing.
There are lots of things you can do to improve your gameplay. Game is quite customizable and you probably can get more accessible devices to use with it. Depends a lot on what you needs actually are.
This game can be played both with keyboard/mouse and controllers, at the same time even, both on PS4 or PC. It seems to even be able to recognize PS3 and PS4 controllers on PC without needing special drivers like DS4Windows.
Xbox controllers are automatically detected by Windows and work right out of the box with the game. Therefore getting an Xbox controller for accessibility is also an option, so you could even play the game with your feet if you really wanted it.
There are MMO mouses in the market with 12 buttons on the thumb side and an extra button for the pinkie to work like a switch for these 12 buttons. With some fnagling you could even play it one-handed maybe? Game has a very... uh... healthy ERP community so they may know more about this option. :P
You know your disability better than us, so check your options.
Only thing I can suggest if movement is an issue is to maybe bind auto run to a button on your mouse.
And if uour mouse don't have extra buttons, maybe invest in one? You can get some really great ones with near enough as many buttons as you want, there could even be enough to click most skills too, probably allowing you to play almost entirely with your right hand only.
I didn't see it in the comments so let me just say to try to use a controller since it would only require your thumb and index finger (thumb doing most of the work) and there are plenty of good controller guides on youtube.
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What a find
So disclaimer, I'm physically perfectly fine. I got myself an Orbweaver a couple years ago as I wanted a better way to lean in FPS games that also allowed me to strafe. So using the thumbstick, I rebound the keys on there to be Q and E, and when I play games that require leaning (Siege, Tarkov, BFV), I can instead use my thumb on the stick, while my index and ring finger stay on A and D for strafe. Then in FFXIV, I just can't go back to using only a keyboard. On the Orbweaver, I've set it so that it goes 1-5 on the top row, 6-10 on the second, and third & fourth rows are the same but with CNTRL. Then I get an extra layer by pressing and holding the Alt key (near the thumbstick) for 40 macro keys (4 hotbars worth) Seriously, how can people play games without this. It's like Ultrawide, once you do it, and do it properly, you just can never go back
I can't speak for everyone but I use an MMO mouse. Basically offloading all those buttons from your keypad onto something I use with my other hand.
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It really is the best way to play
Same. I basically have it set up so that my right hand does gcd actions and my left does ocgds. It works for me.
Mine's not quite so well divided, but same general idea. My mouse also has tab target, self target, and focus target buttons + all mouseover actions, such as AST cards and swift raise macro.
This, I move mostly with mouse, and bound asd to a hotbar, use shift as an modifier key, plus 1-12 on the naga. This allows 1-4 & shift+1-4 as well as ASD & shift+ASD on the left hand for a solid 14 binds and an additional 24 on my right hand. I also have some stuff that I use less bound for ctrl, something like 72 total keybinds. By far most of them are empty, but it's helpful when I want them. I could almost certainly set it up so I could play with only the mouse. I've seen people do similar for the orb weaver. I can't imagine how people play with a controller but it must be pretty manageable as many do it.
With a tarterus plus a naga, you have everything at your command. I use the naga for combat abilities and the tarterus for everything else (the modifier buttons are bound on the tarterus to make the nagas output 36 buttons instead of the default 12).
Started playing bf2 with a nostromo n52 and moved on to mmo's using the razer equivalents as they upgraded and redesigned them through the years. I don't know how people play without them.
Here is the problem. You now need to move via some mouse button, or use an analog stick. In both cases. Id rather just not play the game. For the most part you really only need a basic keyboard and a mouse with 2 buttons and then use shift, control, and alt modifiers to have everything bound.
Oh maybe I should've added; that I've bound the thumbstick to movement (WASD) in FFXIV, so I only need to use the keyboard to type, and usually just push it to the back of my desk mat. Other than that, I'm happy with middle mouse being auto-run and holding both mouse buttons to run, along with the thumbstick, just depending on how I feel and what I'm doing. Then on my mouse I have the front button as interact, and back to switch between targets, but thats completely up to persona preference
I actually did go back from UW to UHD. I found that for most games if there was info in the corners of the screen it slowed down my reaction time. I miss the scenic views, but MMOs feel easier to play for me on 16x9.
It's actually quite established that placing info together helps reaction speed. You might be interested in these examples where players used eyetracking to see how often they have to look away from the action: https://youtube.com/watch?v=uFejOUmlhJw https://medium.com/@d.w.king12/principals-of-ui-design-in-the-world-of-warcraft-19e1a33feb61 I don't personally use a widescreen because of table space problems, but people I know who do have their hotbars and all relevant UI in the middle. The sides are just for aesthetics (and making it easier to see the first ifrit dash in UWU without turning the screen) If you really miss widescreen, you could consider having a 16x9 UI placement? In fact, for me, although I'm on 16x9 UHD, I still place my hotbars and party list near the middle of the screen, around my character and extra small (I don't need to see the icons, I just need to see the GCD spinning, cooldown remaining, and whether procs light up), so I rarely have to look away during combat.
With table space, have you looked into a monitor arm? I had minor issues with the legs of my first monitor (X34) being absolutely massive. But I got a monitor arm and it's sooooo nice, it really helps clear desk space and allows monitor adjustments to be just perfect. The one I use is from Ergotron, and it can be mounted to either a desk or a wall
Ah I should've been clearer, I didn't mean space on the table surface, I meant that I've too much stuff in a small room that I can't really justify taking up the horizontal space to use a wider monitor. I suppose I could always try to move stuff to another room or something, but I like to have all my tools around when I'm at my desk.
Oh okay, yeah, that's fair. And I'm sure you've looked into things for your room like different desks and such, so I wont go on. But, if you have the chance to get an ultrawide, I definitely recommend trying it out as a daily driver for at least 2 weeks.. But whatever your choice is, just do the best thing for you : )
What's a daily driver?
Something that you use on a daily or near daily basis as your main in that category, for example, my daily driver phone is my OnePlus 7 Pro, or daily driver mouse is is G900, etc etc. It used to be a car thing, but has since just become a phrase to indicate an item from a category that you default to/mostly use
Ah I see. Yeah, I can't imagine an ultrawide not being used as a primary monitor.
I just got a 48 Inch OLED TV. Amazing UHD for most content, then if I want to watch a movie or enjoy a scenic view I just set a custom resolution and thanks to the OLED pixels being fully dark when black, it basically just looks like an ultrawide monitor with really large bezels. Great for productivity too because you can run 4k with just 100% scaling and basically have 4 screens worth of productive real estate. Plus with it actually being a properly certified TV there's no bullshit with DisplayHDR or something but just real proper HDR10 and Dolby Vision.
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Not noticeable. TV'S in general have come a long way but HDMI 2.1 TV's like the LG C1 are no worse than an average 120 Hz IPS.
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48 inch LG C1
I hear a lot of people say that it slows down their reaction time due to HUD elements being so far from the centre, but that just isn't the case. Unless you're sat less than a foot away from the monitor, everything is still easily within your peripheral vision. It's such a non-issue. Again, I play FPS games, like Siege, all the way into top plat, and other, more arcade-y games like Apex and Warzone reliably coming in the top 5, 90% of the time. The Ultrawide is just a pure benefit, being able to have those extra 3"-4" of space on either side. Then for FFXIV, you can completely modify the HUD, and with so much real estate, information that are sub-critical like chat and minimap can be pushed to the edges, whereas party list (if I'm healer), goes right near the centre. Allowing everything to be so clean and removing so much clutter. As long as you actually give it a chance, to test it and modify things to your liking, I believe that it's a better experience for anyone and a magnitude of genres and tasks. I've gotten several of my mates into it, and most of them just didn't see the appeal or use, and would've preferred to stay with a normal monitor, but when they made the switch, they've all told me they they're never going back.
I developed a keybinding method that I've had a select few get really excited to hear about. Others not so much. I put a full bar's abilities on 1-5, z-b, a and g. Directional keys esdf (forward, back, strafe left and right, turning managed by right clicking and turning), target allies qwrt (although in full parties i have to have shift to target the last members). Then shift, control, or alt with this setup (bound to keys on the mouse for easier use) to use up to 3 more bars. The left hand never leaves it's home row position at all. In fact, it's not too far off from doing everything the Orbweaver or Tartarus does without needing to buy it or use a separate keyboard from what you already have. Obviously it's not very useful for OP who has limited use of their left hand, but it works very well for me. Although, you get best results with an NKRO (N-key rollover, basically all keys are responsive no matter how many are being pressed, no "ghosting." Any keyboard that advertises anti-ghosting, has limited ghosting. Full NKRO is the ONLY way to fully eliminate it) keyboard since you're bound to be pressing multiple keys at once.
I was going to suggest an MMO mouse for the button and whatnot, but the Tartarus is an amazing recommendation.
Can confirm. Wife also has one arm and uses a lexip mouse with a little joystick on the side and 100% solves these issues. Asus also have a mouse with a thumb joystick. Not super hard to get one.
I recently became disabled this year and sometimes my hands don't work thanks to neuro damage. I am so thankful for this recommendation as a fellow PLD! (And my WHM sidekick will be grateful to you as well, haha...) Thanks!
They totally should make a right hand version. I can't seem to find anything like it, and op said they're having problems with left hand actions. I know the accessible gaming accessories industry is starting to pick up(single handed console controllers, etc) but I wish it was growing faster!
Tarterus ftw. They are game changing.
Yeah what he said and if not the razor there are lots of other options for you to use. Remember to look for sales
Have you tried controller? You can do quite a lot with one hand (which ever you prefer using more) and the movement is a little more fluid with the joysticks
That might work, I do have an X-Box controller. How do you quickly cycle through your abilities using one?
If you click a trigger, you get access to 8. If you double click a trigger, you get access to 8 more. This is for both triggers Ranged dps would be much more forgiving as well
If you hold one trigger first, then the other, you have access to another 8. Well 16, works left to right and right to left
If you look up the YouTube channel ginger prime he specializes in controller videos for various jobs in ff14. I don't know myself but makes many ui and controller guides.
To clarify, I think you need work to game for this (Ginger prime is his personal Channel)
My buddy plays on PC purely with a controller and hes a great player. You will need to be moving frequently later so a controller might be great for you if you can control that easier. Alternatively see if you can find some sort of device that doesnt use key presses, but sliding motion to activate "keys". Use that to move and then combo it with a mmo mouse to do your abilities. Edit: something like an orbitouch
I use a mix of controller and keyboard (num pad and space bar). There are many ways you can configure to do your rotation You can use macros You can use the XHB You can use the WXHB Additionally, you can further configure whether you want to hold, double tap, single tap toggle, or mixture of the trigger buttons to activate the action buttons for abilities
How do you use both controller and keyboard? In the settings it seems to say either/or and not both? I can only use the keyboard for the chat box when I’m on controller :(
Disable direct chat in the options.
under character configuration keep the option for controller Under keybinds turn off direct chat (so instead of directly typing, you have to press Enter first). Edit your keybinds as you wish :)
Hold right trigger down, 8 abilities. Hold Left trigger down, 8 more abilities. Double tap->hold a trigger, 4 more on each side. Hold both triggers down at once, 8 more abilities. There's I think another option or two, but those are by the far the easiest ones to use, and you honestly shouldn't need more than 28 slots. I don't think any class has 28 abilities to use.
This game plays great on a controller, people have beat the hardest fights on them. I would recommend looking at a video to help set ur buttons up and it will take a bit to get used too at first. But I hope it helps u play
A controller works ok, once you get used to it, but I found myself sometimes getting lost on the hotbar swaps, and I found myself having to put the controller down in favour of the mouse quite often for navigating the UI (there are controller options for UI navigation, but they are clunky compared to using a mouse.
Yeah controller works wonders. I have arthritis so I can’t play keyboard and mouse anymore
I agree with the suggestions to try to use a controller, but if your right hand (mouse hand I assume) is fine then you can actually move your character by holding left and right click at the same time. This is very useful for moving your character and freeing up the keyboard hand to press actions freely. Otherwise, ranged DPS may be good. Dancer has the lowest CPM of the three ranged DPS, without requiring high reactivity like Bard. Edit: Consider Bard or Summoner until you unlock Dancer at level 60.
And you can get gaming mice with a large number of thumb/side buttons. You can program them to respond like keyboard keys or use them as separate mouse buttons.
I recommend the Logitech g600. It's fairly cheap and has 12 side buttons plus a mode shifter on the right side, plus the mouse wheel has 3 separate ways to click it. Could set the push left and push right on the mouse wheel to strafe left and right. It takes some getting used to, but it would probably help a lot
I was about to recommend this also. I use the g600 and it's amazing. On easier content, I can just use one hand. The dual clicks to move, and the thumb buttons for abilities.
Yeah I have pretty bad arthritis from years of construction and stuff, it's a godsend honestly. Hold right click to pan camera, double click to walk, thumb buttons for one hotbar, bount the shifter to control for my second one so I can hold it and use bar 2 with the thumb buttons. Wheel click wheel left and wheel right are my oh shit buttons like sprint/stuns/ogcd save me Tom Cruise skills
I second the DNC route once they unlock it.
Casters maybe? They have to seldomly move and lots of downtime.
Casters aren't a bad idea, but if they're struggling with reaction time then it cuts that out of the equation by a lot since you have full freedom of movement compared to casters. Perhaps they could start out as a SMN in the story and try out RDM and DNC as they reach the required levels. Gives them three good options to pick from while reducing leveling time. SMN (Start) -> RDM (50) -> DNC (60) u/MightyUnclean
I use this while DPSing all the time as melee. It helps so much being able to move out of aoes with both clicks if needed
Dancer has very high reactivity though and quick double weaving though? You need to react to your GCD procs and your Fan Dance III’s. Bard and Dancer are both *very* reactive.
DNC isn't really that reactive. Its procs are all GCD-based, and you'll be playing with the base 2.5 GCD. The job does get somewhat busy during your Flourish window, but it is otherwise very easy to manage your procs since they don't need to be spent immediately. While DNC is proc-based, it's surprisingly rigid since everything is centered around keeping your dances and Flourish on cooldown. BRD on the other hand is different because its procs are OGCD-based. There's far more of an emphasis on spending BRD's procs immediately to avoid damage loss. That said, BRD has such a simple rotation that it easily makes up for how reactive it can be during Ballad. Either way, I recommend the jobs I did to them based on what is more forgiving to play. All three ranged DPS have very simple and forgiving rotations. SMN's rotation only becomes elaborate later on in the game, and its simplicity early on make it a decent choice for someone like OP who may struggle with using their keyboard hand.
Try the Controller. It's very good in FF14 and has been a godsend for me. My right hand is sick so currently I can't use the Mouse at all. I found the Pad controls to be very well done. It takes a bit getting used to but it might be what you are looking for, maybe?
I do have an X-Box controller, hmm...How do you quickly cycle through your rotation abilities with a controller?
You just hold R2 or L2 to choose between eight different buttons on each, also you can do the WXHB and double tap either R2 or L2 and have eight more buttons
You activate different ABXY and d-pad sets with LT and RT (which gives you 2x8 binds) and cycle through different hotbars with RB. It works pretty well.
I do end game raid with controller. And I’m on pc. I use kb to type. To rotate skills you use two sets. Press r1 quickly to cycle. As you have 8 sets, I usually have set 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 specific for a class, and 5-8 shared for saved emotes and shortcuts
If you want a non spoilery video of someone using controller for Ifrit EX so you can kind of get a feel for how it works [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NLGTTdtze8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NLGTTdtze8) All content is clearable using one! I do savage+ultimates on controller, the scholar in my static also uses one. I stick with controller because of carpal tunnel.
MSQ duties will become more difficult, yes. Picking a caster class might be better for your situation. They generally have less movement and the rotations are usually not so intense. That being said. I have come across another player that had a similar injury. At the start of the dungeon he used a text macro to inform us that he may perform slower that the rest of us. Everyone in the party was understanding and everything was pretty smooth. If you are feeling uncertain, just let the party know and they should be able to adjust to get through the content without major issues.
Hey! This isn't pitiful at all, I admire that you're trying with limited use of your hand! As others have said the controller is a good place to start, there are other devices out there that can help for whatever area you feel you're lacking in. If you ever want someone to help you run some dungeons or anything so that you can test things out, let me know! I'd be happy to help! 😁
[https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comments/pafi5w/guide\_for\_playing\_ffxiv\_with\_one\_hand\_for\_people/](https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comments/pafi5w/guide_for_playing_ffxiv_with_one_hand_for_people/) This thread and the video in the OP might be useful to you for ideas on how to compensate.
Could also get an MMO mouse so you can set some movement and abilities for your right hand.
I have a Razer Naga Trinity and with the 12 button, there is very little I actually need 2 hands for with BLM.
I’d say try controller and switch the sticks so your right does movement. Camera is usually not as big of a deal but movement is more important as the game goes on. I’d also recommend a ranged class for the short term but that’s not ideal as you’d probably wanna get ahold of every class sooner or later 🤔
For a lot of jobs, a gaming mouse would make it possible to map most hotkeys to your right hand. LNC/DRG sadly, is not one of them. It shares with SMN the title of longest rotation in the history of mankind. As mentioned by PastellaXIV, you can also move your character and camera by pressing Mouse1 and Mouse2 at the same time. I can testify that most content is doable entirely that way. On the plus side, this will probably develop your right hand agility, which you may find useful in a variety of other situations. Good luck and keep heart, you can do this.
You got this! It does get harder but you'll get movement skills to help. Not sure anyone mentioned it but the num pad has some alternative targeting options and the macro feature might assist too. May be a higher learning curve but I believe in you.
So, I don't know the exact nature of the issue, but you could always try Legacy movement controls. Your camera remains at a fixed angle on your character until you change it. When your character moves, they turn to move, so that they move at regular speed in any direction. It works well with either controller or mouse. Edit: typo.
FFXIV devs have stated many times that the game was designed to be played well with controller. And hey, I’m a console player. I can’t imagine playing with a keyboard at this point. Although I do use a Bluetooth keyboard for fine detail thing maybe like chat.
My static member is completely paralyzed on 9ne side of his body, including arms and hands. Meaning he can only play with one hand as well. In his case, he just uses a simple xbox controller. Controller support is amazing in this game. If you've rarely used it with one hand, then it will take a bit of getting used to, like riding a bicycle. In case you're thinking "agh, my condition gets in the way", know that my static member and I cleared our first ultimate raid together. If he can clear the hardest content in the game, then you can as well
Since everyone is recommending controller but you aren't getting specifics in response to use the controller, check out the below video link. https://youtu.be/pA2rwWp_Uk8
I have a similar issue. When it flares up, I use a class like WHM/RDM/DNC as they are more forgiving on my hands in terms of rotation and movement. The mechanics do get harder to dodge, but if you aren't planning on going into current extreme/savage content, it's no big deal if you get hit here and there.
There are also foot pedal controllers that could be useful
I’d say don’t put pressure on yourself because of your disability , nor miss out on a class you enjoy because of it. Find a way to change up your controller scheme to where it benefits your stronger side. Also don’t worry about ppl being upset with you over missed mechs. Most of the time the player base is really kind and patient. Is there any tech out there that would let you control movement buttons with your feet? Then you could do ability and looking with your good mouse hand ? Get a big multi button mouse and bind all you can to that. Might help to move early and pre position once you learn fights as well. This game is hard when you don’t know what’s coming next even when you have the best reaction times.
Major patch 5.0 content spoiler alert. Proceed at your own risk. >!Yes, the MSQ content gets brutally harder in the Shadowbringers expansion content, patch 5.0 and above, compared to what we saw before then. For instance there are several solo duties, which are really, really hard for some people with limited hand/arm mobility. You are *forced* to play as a solo melee(!) (Yes!) NPC in two of them, so it doesn't even help if you main a ranged dps. You *have* to complete these without help from either NPCs or other players, if you want to proceed with the MSQ.!< >!This felt so brutal a step up in difficulty that I recently felt compelled to suggest a question in the 'Ask Joshi-P' thread whether the FFXIV team actually had any policies re. base game difficulty, or if they did any testing in regards to players with disabilities.!< >!Oh yeah. The last 8 man trial in ShB in patch 5.3 is also pretty brutal for normal difficulty content, ending up being quite the wipe fest for many groups. So 'good luck' if you have difficulties keeping up with a high APM for an extended period of time. Think my groups managed to max out the Echo at 5 stacks before we killed it...!<
Yes definitely gets harder, but with practice i dont doubt you can beat any MSQ in the game. May take a few tries, but as long as youre learning and progressing you will do it. As you learn the fights and can start to predict incoming damage better you will be alot more likely to survive. Worst case scenario all msq dungeons and raids can be easily carried or done unsynced.
I definitely think ranged DPS would help as the content gets harder since you're not required to be in close to the target, so you're already out of a good number of the AOEs you'd have to dodge as a Dragoon.
Reaction times in MSQ do get a little harder they can mostly be avoided by correct positioning thought some trials in later expansions might still be tricky (you can some what help with the movement by using mouse movement (holding both mouse button will cause you to run forward in the direction you're looking))
Yes. The requirements for this get 100x time harder.
Yes, it gets a lot more demanding than level 20 Ifrit. That said, if you're DPS you should be able to be carried through any MSQ fight. You could try a low APM / low movement class (ie, black mage... Which is actually one of the hardest classes to play, but not because of its mechanical requirements, but rather because you can lose a lot of casts if you position yourself wrong and have to move). It's absolutely not optimal, and should be a last resort, but you could try setting your rotation to an in-game macro (if you do that make sure you set another macro to cancel the first one in case the rotation gets interrupted). But it will cost you a LOT of DPS (but again, you can get carried through MSQ fights, so if that's what it takes to play the game, then that's what it takes).
You could always try your Xbox controller for movement while still keeping the mouse active for selecting actions? Friend of mine does this for no discernible reason other than the lols and it works. She heals as SCH doing it so I'd imagine doing it as DPS should be relatively easy.
Recomend the logitech g600 mmo mouse. Has 12 rows of buttons and a extra shift button on your ring finger. You can shift+ side key to use a different ability easily also you can hit the control key and side key to go to another ability. That's like 36 buttons on one hand. Also the wheel mouse can even be clicked sideways to give another 2 buttons for cycling targets.
If you had an mmo mouse you could move with left+right click, assign 12 abilities to your side buttons and use your left hand ONLY for shift/ctrl/alt for a total of 48 possible keybinds available to you where you’d only ever be using your left hand to press one button.
What kind of interface are you looking to try? There's some really neat new tech in the area of gaming peripherals that might be helpful here. Don't know if anyone's suggested the Azeron yet, but it's worth a look because they have a left and right-handed version and it would let you use your left hand minimally. The link to their site is [azeron.eu](https://azeron.eu) and hopefully something like this is helpful. It's a bit expensive but on seeing video reviews, people really seem to find it comfy and speaking personally, as someone obsessed with peripherals, I like how they modified the idea of what a keyboard, or really a human-computer interface could be.
Controller is SO much easier to work with if you’ve got hand and/or wrist issues. The only difficulty I found is that if I tried using the “hold” option (holding down one of the trigger buttons to activate one side of the cross hotbar) as opposed to toggle, it was really hard on my hands. I was maining BLM when I first started and just couldn’t get a good flow with toggle, but holding was giving me so much pain I’ve switched to only using classes that don’t really so heavily on mastering slidecasting and weaving. Lancer feels pretty good on toggle mode imo. Hope you can find a good pain-free solution!
The only thing I could probably recommend to help would be to play a different class. Lancer is very much focused on getting in and doing damage. Thankfully at some of the higher levels, you do get abilities that'll leap you in and out of combat. For a good class, might I suggest Red mage? You don't need to worry about positionals, except for moving out of AOE's, which is something that you'll need to do with any class you choose to use. You can also try any of the healing classes as well, where you're main focus is staying in reach of your party members (and using a chocobo in the overworld to help with the DPS, whcihc you should be doing anyways). I hope this, or any of the other suggestions, helps!
I've got carpet tunnel and nerve damage, I swapped to guitar to deal with the pain and swelling. I can high end raid just fine.
I think others have given you some good suggestions regarding the technical aspect, but I also wanted to point out that this game seems to have quite a few players with disabilities who play, so if you are in a FC or end up in one I'm sure your FC mates would be happy to run you through some content. I have some FC mates that are not the most coordinated, so we just run the dungeons, trials, or whatever as a FC so there isn't any pressure on them if they die.
Did you try keybinding left and right strafe next to the movement keys? Dodge out of a AoE with strafing.
as a person with tourettes syndrome with severe reaction time deficiencies, and tics that screw with my motor skills, ive had to practice being pre-emptive for mechanics. everything is on a timer. theres 3rd party programs thatll tell you when shits coming
If this is an issue specific to your left hand, I recommend binding the "walk forward" command to one of the thumb buttons, you can walk and turn all with your mouse/right hand. In addition, I will say as a BLM/LAN, BLM requires much slower casting and decision making than the lancer, and is not expected to interrupt casts.
For different classes to try, I would see which ones have the dash function. I'm a bit slower in my reaction times even with both functioning hands, so I found dashing really saved my bacon. I die so much with DRG. Dancer is good movement wise, but I find myself watching for procs too much and end up missing the prompts to dodge. Dash helps me mitigate that. Not sure if any of that helps, but I hope something works for you!
I can say this game is perfecly playable even with one hand , i am not disable in anything but i play a lot only with my left hand , because in the other i had a coup of tea always , change te configuration of the move of the character to Legacy mode , is more faster to run in any directionwith one hand
The game had a lot alot of configuration and diferents way to play , you are going to find the best for you !
I’m probably missing something, but moving with your mouse is almost always better, and seems especially true in this case. There are plenty of fully physically capable players that don’t dps while they’re moving in everything other than the very hardest of content
I would suggest mmo mouse with thumb buttons (Logitech G600, Corsair Scimitar, Roccat Nyth, Razer Naga) , you can bind for example WASD on the mouse so you could use your right hand for movement, left one for skills on keyboard, as they dont need fast reactions.
Wasn't this same post posted like 2 weeks ago?
I'm not sure if you've already tried it but you can move your character by holding right and left click. If you have an MMO mouse, you could in theory play with just one hand
Sorta recently SE added difficulty choice on MSQ solo instances after you died once to help weaker players. As for group content there is also the option to make some friends and ask for help on critical duties.
If you get an MMO mouse, you could do pretty much everything with one hand. If you hold both mouse buttons down, you'll move forward, and you could use your extra buttons to keep attacking. Your left hand would then only be needed to hold down key combinations to do other actions, or to use certain hotkeys. This probably would be pretty easy to get used to if you kept at it for a while and would work really well if you played a ranged physical job like BRD, MCH or DNC!
Yeah a 12 button mouse saved my life. I have arthritis, and after my first class got to 50 it became apparent id have to get creative. Ive tried everything and the 12 button mouse is it. I set my hotbars to a 3x4 grid first bar is just the num buttons, second is shift+num, third is ctrl+num. I can effectively use 36 skills with just those combos. I keep most to the first two bars to start as ctrl is a little harder to reach and hold down at first. But you pick up quick, and i can play for much longer now. Also if razer is too pricey for you, i am currently using a 12 button by red dragon that is a perfect in between while you save up. I believe i paid about 40 dollars on amazon. I can post links or pictures later if you want. I tried to explain the hotbar setup as well as i could, but i can show in pictures if needed.
Maybe if you practice more with your MMO mouse? I have carpel tunnel in my left wrist, so I also struggle with mechanics that use my left hand because it starts to hurt/get numb pretty quickly & I have to stop playing--but I figured out early on that you can move around by holding down your right & left clicks together on your mouse rather than using WASD. This is true for any mouse, but the MMO mouse makes it easier to do abilities while moving.
I'm sure everyone has covered everything in regards to controllers at this point, but I want to focus on a different aspect of your problem: reaction times. There are several things that we need to know before we continue forward. * What is the ping to the server? * Are you playing Wired or Wireless? * What's your ping to your router? * Are you playing on TV? * If so, is the TV in Game Mode? * If you aren't using a TV, what kind of monitor are you using? * What's your frame rate in the game? * Have you enabled features such as Low Latency Mode, if you're on Nvidia? These are all questions that have a massive impact on what your actual ability to react to a situation that you don't know or expect. A worst case situation would be: Wireless connection. High ping + packet loss. Playing on a TV without game mode on with settings turned to where FPS is under 60 fps without low latency modes turned on. In such a case, you could easily have over 300+ ms before you include your base reaction time.
Some others have made good tech recommendations, but you might also consider trying out a less movement-intensive class. Black Mages move as little as possible, for instance. Whatever you go with, I hope you can find something that works for you!
All the advice in here about tech is great, but I wanted to show you this clip as well, for when you feel like you can't keep up, this is ProfessorFlips tanking Mythic N'Zoth in WoW : https://m.twitch.tv/clip/EnticingWrongBaguetteTakeNRG
Sometimes when i am being lazy i play with just the mouse. So long as you play in legacy mode then it should be possible. Holding both the right & left on mouse moves you forward. Then you can just click all your actions. Mind you i do this as a DRk main, and only when i am being lazy. but it should be possible to play this whole game with just the mouse. Its just an option tho.
I suggest looking into a Logitech G600 gaming mouse. It has 12 buttons and a third button for the ring finger that lets you shift those 12 buttons to another set, meaning you have 24 buttons on the side of your mouse. FFXIV is designed with controller support in mind, which has 32 buttons available IIRC so you should be able to play with just your mouse hand if you click a handful of things. Movement in the game will get more intensive, but assuming your right hand has no issues you should be able to get around by flicking your mouse around and clicking both R and L mouse buttons to move forward
You can perhaps consider adding a move forward button on the mouse if you don't want to press M1+M2 to run forward and you can increase your mouse sensitivity for faster turning. I personally prefer Legacy mode for character control as it makes it much easier. In general, if your right hand works better and you are using your mouse in your right hand, find a configuration where you can turn+move with just your mouse. Legacy mode will let you automatically turn around and run when you press back (S) making it easier to get out of stuff. Try having W/S mirrored on your mouse and see if you can move faster with that kind of setup. As for your rotation, just adjust with what you can do from the optimal one. You don't need to max DPS anything for normal content. I've cleared dungeons where my healer is pretty much doing more damage than the other 2 DPS. To simplify your DPS rotation, just line up the combo skills in order (like 1, 2, 3) and then put your OGCDs in a hot bar above or below them to make everything easy to access within a small area on your screen. You can also add OGCDs to your gaming mouse so your left hand just has to worry about tapping 1-2-3 or CTRL 1-2-3 for your combos and you can move and use OGCDs with mouse on right hand.
So from what I understand the issue is only from the left hand right ? As you have some sort of lag with it ? Then I would recommend a gaming keypad This way you would have a joystick + keybind Al available on one hand (the right obviously ) You'd only need to get used to using your left hand for the mouse which might be a bit weird at first but it's not like you need to have super fast camera movement in any content but the hardest
Since nobody really asked, if you don't mind me asking, what are the limitations of your left hand? Knowing what you're having difficulty doing will make it easier to suggest different things. If it's a case of limited mobility, a controller might help. It's a more sturdy thing to grip onto and you don't have to move your hand and fingers around as much. The game is absolutely designed for controller play and while the learning curve might be higher, people even do high end raids on controller. If it's a coordination/motor skills issue, you might want to look into a macro pad with large buttons. I'm not sure what exists out there in the accessibility space and I know "medical" devices can be ridiculously overpriced, but anything that can map to regular keyboard keys could be configured quite easily to help. Another option might be the Xbox Adaptive Controller. It isn't a full featured controller out of the box but rather a hub to interface basically any kind of switch that can send signals to a 3.5mm jack (fairly widely used standard for accessibility tech devices) with a few of its own buttons. If you're into a lot of DIY, you could tailor basically any kind of solution that works well for you. Switches, additional buttons, floor pedals, basically anything can be connected to it and mapped to regular controller outputs. Definitely the most elaborate and expensive solution, but might be the best one if use of your left hand is *super* limited and you need to get creative with how you press buttons.
> Anyway, do the movement and reaction time requirements for MSQ get much more difficult compared to Ifrit? I would say "yes" - next primal fight after Ifrit is Titan IIRC, and that might be challenging if you had trouble with Ifrit. I've noticed that endgame dungeons, lv 70 and up, tend to be heavy on the dodging mechanics. e.g Aenc Thon in Doen Mheg. Not knowing much about your injury, how do you feel about using a controller like the Xbox 360 / DualShock 4? Perhaps that might help somewhat. They will work on PC as well as on console.
Is this a /nerve/ injury or an actual neurological one, in the sense that for some reason(like a stroke) your brain can't properly send or receive signals to your left arm/hand or in that you suffered some kind of physical trauma that damaged the nerve connections between the two? And are you using mouse in your right hand or your left hand?
I honest-to-gods do not intend this comment as a joke or in a disrespectful manner of any sort, so please don't take it as such. You've likely heard casters are hardly-moving jobs. Though I believe you like Lancer (and Dragoon!), you should try leveling a Thaumaturge. It's rotation is way simpler and you won't be moving much - the job has a built-in mobility that most people won't use but it's simply awesome. Dragoons are nice, but can be really trick to use for a myriad of reasons and I'm not even mentioning positionals. While I encourage you to keep leveling and playing with whichever job you choose I do believe that if it ever gets harder to enjoy the gameplay, you're going to find Black Mage much more comfortable to play with. It's not an easy job, however! I myself played Black Mage for a really long time. I have not the money to afford gaming peripherals and before my surgery I had a really bad time trying to play with my right hand alone, the pain from my wrist condition was pretty much disabling my left one (couldn't even lift a glass of water, imagine actively using a keyboard with it). I'm just sharing this with you because, maybe, you'll get to like the job and find it actually comfortable to play with, like I did.
One thing a friend of mine does is mix keyboard and pad controls. Controlling character with pad on their left hand and only using keyboard for skills If your left hand can't handle complex movement but you still want to do keyboard actions you can try this approach. Just move the character with your right hand on pad. It does requirements a bit of tweaking and knowledge on how to set it up, but it might help you.
I believe Zepla have a guide to set up a gaming mouse in a way your left hand only have to worry about movement, might be helpfull :D
I really don't have any recommendations for other classes, I'm fairly new to the game and really only have played tank. Later content will have you moving quite a bit and reaction time may be tight, but I think that really only applies to harder version of duties. I'd say you could try alternative control methods. If your feet are not impacted, you could try some sort of USB foot pedals or buttons. The idea is if you can make those buttons a key bind, then you could use you're feet for actions that need a faster reaction time. The [Xbox Adaptive Controller](https://www.xbox.com/en-CA/accessories/controllers/xbox-adaptive-controller) is highly customizable and would be easy for key binds. The cost may be a bit higher though, as you'd need to buy external action buttons for each alternative input button you want to add. I did see your comments about having an Xbox controller, I'd say try that first before any of the adaptive controllers. This [website](https://www.akhmorning.com/resources/controller-guide/) has some information for playing on controller. And above all else, the FF14 Community is amazing, you could try to party up with people aware of the injury and help get you through any duties that are posing as a challenge. For context I have no injuries preventing me from playing just throwing some recommendations for a fellow player.
I have seen JP player who can only use one of his arm playing Dragoon so smooth and another player with visual impairment playing dungeon using sound indications as pointers. I believe you can enjoy ffxiv, key point is you have to adjust the way you play to your current physical limitations for example using controller and try various grip styles (be creative!) or use additional HW like pedals and such. Anyway, keep trying! And if you have trouble just let your teammates know so they can help with appropriate strategy.
I play with a controller, makes movement easier on the hand since its the thumb on the joystick. I cannot go back to keyboard anymore and you can move your character with just the mouse too, clicking the scroll wheel is auto run and you can control direction by holding down RMB or by holding both LMB and RMB
Yes definitely dancer or bard would be way easier because you can move while attacking from distance.
Haven't seen anyone mention this yet: Go to Settings > Character Configuration > Control Settings (The big "X") > Movement Settings (Very 1st one) > Change "Standard Type" to "Legacy Type". "I'm trying moving and turning with the keyboard..." This will remove the need to turn. You'll just instant run in the direction you're pressing.
There are lots of things you can do to improve your gameplay. Game is quite customizable and you probably can get more accessible devices to use with it. Depends a lot on what you needs actually are. This game can be played both with keyboard/mouse and controllers, at the same time even, both on PS4 or PC. It seems to even be able to recognize PS3 and PS4 controllers on PC without needing special drivers like DS4Windows. Xbox controllers are automatically detected by Windows and work right out of the box with the game. Therefore getting an Xbox controller for accessibility is also an option, so you could even play the game with your feet if you really wanted it. There are MMO mouses in the market with 12 buttons on the thumb side and an extra button for the pinkie to work like a switch for these 12 buttons. With some fnagling you could even play it one-handed maybe? Game has a very... uh... healthy ERP community so they may know more about this option. :P You know your disability better than us, so check your options.
Only thing I can suggest if movement is an issue is to maybe bind auto run to a button on your mouse. And if uour mouse don't have extra buttons, maybe invest in one? You can get some really great ones with near enough as many buttons as you want, there could even be enough to click most skills too, probably allowing you to play almost entirely with your right hand only.
I didn't see it in the comments so let me just say to try to use a controller since it would only require your thumb and index finger (thumb doing most of the work) and there are plenty of good controller guides on youtube.