Hotbar good or bad?

[HostileHoosier]

Ok with all the talk about keeping the game fast and not stopping the action
why the hotbar? In the video you could only have 2 active attack skills(cos I count the hotbar just for buffs) and in the video the player stops to change 1 of the skills to WW for the Barb!

In D2 you could assign skills to the F keys and change them with mouse wheel. IMO this would be a much easier system to use to keep the game moving. Ex Barb puts BC F1, Shout for F2 and Bo for F3. That means that F4-F8 is used for attack skills and you change with a simple wheel scroll.

Hotbars are great for MMO'S where your locked on a target but I dont see it being all that usful in D3! Having to finish a fight or run to a safe spot to change skills cos a window pops up on screen then you select skill to replace the 1 your changing.

1st post thanks for reading!

Your thoughts?

[Grug]

The hotbar is not at all just for buffs. I can think of several skills that would be good. Barbarian's charge or Shockwave, WD Horrify or Dismiss, or Wizard's Frost Nova and tornado. They seem to be for skills you don't have to cast constantly, but still want ready. Blizz said they want people to use 6 skills in a fight. I'm sure there will be other ways to switch quickly.

In short: Hotbar goooooooooood. 8-)

[Mizantrop]

You don't have to put skills from your hotbar to the L/R MB in order to use them. Right now it's pretty similiar to games like Titan Quest. If you ever played one of those D-clones you would know how old and awkward is the D2 interface right now.

[Fox VII]

I think you'll find that hotbar to be a major plus. It'll allow for more complex builds, which would have normally been abbandoned due to micromanagement issues. Also, since the game doesn't use WASD for movement you can devote your whole left hand to triggering skills! :thumbup:

What else are you going to do with that left hand?

I play a game that has an 8 skill hotbar and uses WASD. Regardless, it is still a great way to move around and trigger skills.

[Valmy]

The new system looks better. But I'm worried because looks like there are few hotkeys. We don't like to change each time. In D2 I used a lot of hotkeys. With my necro I needed the 16. I think that change and change in the new system will be very annoying. I don't understand why don't put more, like F1-F12 or 1-0. Only 4keys+mouse looks like a childish-game from the 80's.

Please, Blizzard, let more keys. It would be annoying to change every time from the menus. I didn't see me in D2 using the "s" to change from skill each I see a mob of monsters. This is a bit ridiculous.



I'm not against the new system. This is very very good. I just think we need more keys and not the ridiculous number of 4...

[Ouroboros]

So far so good. There is much time fordevelopment, and unless we get a chance to play the game, it'll be tough to tell exactly how the feel of the hotbar is, and its benefits or cons.

From what I saw at the Barbarian demo video, it looked like the player changed skills really fast using HOTA, Seismic Slam, Cleave, Ground stomp in quick succession. If that's the case, then it looks good so far. I'm happy that the game isn't a 1 spell spamfest like D2 was. It will be good coordinating multiple skills according to situations.

[Rashiminos]

I'm sure there will be hotkeys for switching skills, maybe even assignable hotkeys to use skills.

[stupermunkke]

I like the hot bar because i bet that every hot bar space will have a number assigned to it making it easier to choose skills to use quickly.

[Valkenheim]

I don't think it's a good or bad scenario, I mean personally I loved how it was in D2, most builds I played never really used more than 6-7 skills so I could easily assign them to my Q,W,E,R,A,S and D keys and have every skill at my finger tip when I want it.

Using a hotbar would do about the same but on a more limited number, my only hope is that they allow the D2 method aswell as their new hotbar.

I'm not entirely sure how it will work with only (I think I heard) 4 hotkeys on the hotbar, but I know on one of my old necros he had about 13~ skills I regulary used and I ended up assigning all F1-F12 keys to play him and it worked quite well.

[nicro tower]

You can probably have multiple hotbars in D3 (like F1 for 1st, F2 for 2nd, etc), so I doubt it's limited to 4 skills on it. That being said, hotbar would be awesome. Less switching around skills and less annoyance in general.

[TheWhiz]

It will be a change of pace for me since I am not familiar with the hotbar. However a change from the previous installment was needed because like many of you said, D3 is no longer a one-skill spamfest. Having to decide which 5-6 skills to use in the heat of the battle, it would surely be tougher to be bumbling through spells as opposed to having it all laid out in one convenient spot.

I think it will take some minor time getting used to it, but it will feel like second nature in the long run. Most changes Blizzard has done from D2 to D3 I've agreed with and this change is no exception.

[Tyrone]

Yah, Titan Quest had a similar thing going on...it was fine, though I had trouble using skills beyond key 4 or so, but that was mostly from not wanting to reach for the keys. Lazy...

I must say though, right now in DII switching between all those skills while using potions is killing my hand!

[ThomasJ]

I like the hot bar because i bet that every hot bar space will have a number assigned to it making it easier to choose skills to use quickly.

What he said. :thumbup: