Belkin N52

[defactoman]

I just got a N52 (tournament edition, basically same thing but glows blue) and Im a bit overwhelmed about how I Should use this. So im looking for a little advice from the people who have been using it for a while. For instance, with your left hand on the N52, does your right hand use the whole keyboard, the keypad, just the WASD area. Just any general advice you can throw my way would be awsome since im so used to WASD/Mouselooking.

[sicsid]

I used to have one of these back in the Counterstrike days. I have since kicked myself for returning it since i could use it for wow now :P

Back in the day, you could set up what keys the n52 will have, so you can set it up to have different keys. If i remember correctly you can adjust what key presses will be broadcasted, so you could pottentially set up all your
keys that are out of reach (ie: num keys, [ ] \ '; keys) and have them at close reach.

As i mentioned its been years since i had one, so more info from someone who uses it may be good for both of us :P

Seems this probably didnt help at all.

[aboron]

I'm usually running with my right hand on the mouse. It's the kind with extra buttons so i can map modifiers on it.

I only touch the keyboard when chatting.

[Drak41]

Left hand N52, right hand mouse, keyboard for chatting

N52 is mapped to 1 to =, keys 14/15 are M(map)/T(target)

Dpad I only use for WSAD, disabled the other points on it as they caused problems in WoW

the button above the Dpad I use for shifting states, normal/shift/alt (I have the N52e and it only has the 3 states)

if you use Bongos 2 (action bar addon) you can setup the action bars to reflect the layout of your N52 eg:

12345
67890
-=

then another bar for Shift and Alt, this lets me see which buttons I should be pressing

[Monkeymoo]

This is my setup that I use after experimenting with quite a few layouts.

01-10 keys are your first 10 buttons on your action bar.
11 - (F) Assist key
12 - (Alt-F1) Pet Attack
13 - (-) Button 11 on your action bar
14 - (Ctrl-; ) Autorun
The second mouse wheel I use as the F2 and F3 key depending on whether I roll it up or down. If I roll it down (toward me) all the alts follow the toon on the screen I'm on. If I roll it up, I set it for instant damage. For example, on my locks, if I spec for it, I'll set that to Shadowburn. If I was playing mages I might set that to an instant damage such as fire blast.
The Direction pad is set so I can steer my character. Being able to do this with my thumb is very useful for strafing and letting me select things with my mouse.
The space key is set for jump.
The F12 key is to have all my characters mount up. In the past, I have also used that as my Ventrilo button and that worked well also.
I use keyclone, and using this and the mouse makes it very easy to set up a 'white-list' and only pass through the buttons I use.
Hope this helps!

[Dooz]

Belkin Forums have a tremendous amount of advice and tips. I use the n52te, really couldn't see playing without it. You can toggle between three different key maps. The light lets you know which map your on. I remapped the wheel to letters on the keyboard. If you add the alt, shift, and alt:shift modifiers to those wheel "keys" you have twelve extra keys right there.

[Naysayer]

How I make the best use of the n52.



I bind the d-pad to
forward
strafe left
strafe right
backwards

Use your mouse to turn your character left and right. This allows you
expert use of strafe and turning, nothings faster or more accurate imo.
If you can't move forward and strafe by pressing diagonally on the
D-pad, something isn't set right and you may need to clear the bind set
to the diagonal angle in the n52 editor. Sometimes I do, sometimes it's
worked without changing it. I use the arrow keys in the WoW keybinds,
and WASD are unbound.

Bind all of the other buttons to what
abilities you feel comfortable with. I don't use the different states
and shifting and all that jazz. What I do is bind a full layer of
skills to all my n52 buttons, and then bind a second layer that mirrors
the first but this time I add shift to each one. For example the top
left n52 button is "F1" on the n52 editor, and in game I have stealth
keybound to "F1" while Vanish is keybound to "Shift+F1". Now you're
probably wondering why shift? Well, it doesn't have to be shift
specifically, it can be any key actually, but here's the reason I use
shift. I have a 5 button mouse (logitech m510 or something) and that
mouse has a button that is located where your thumb rests on the mouse.
What I do is bind that thumb key to "shift" in the mouse control
options. This allows me to use my n52 keys for a full set of binds(aka
F1= stealth), and then when I hold down that mouse-shift thumb button
and press an n52 key it uses the skills bound to the n52+shift (aka
shift+F1= vanish). So I double my n52 with a simple thumb press which
is easily done even while jumping, turning 180 degrees in mid air, and
firing off that concussion shot like a pro.

Now, I'll tell you right now that the change from WASD to using the nintendo D-pad is not
an easy one. It's like learning to walk all over again, pun intended,
but the upside to enduring a week or so of mistakes during the learning
curve is astronomical in terms of speed and freedom in a fast paced
twitch game like WoW pvp. Not only do you free up some keys, but you
can now easily access those keys while strafing, jump-turning, and
moving in general. Take, for example, your index finger. I'm going to
assume an extremely large population in the game uses their index
finger to press the "D" key in a WASD configuration. This "D" key is
usually set to "turn right" for keyboard turners and "Strafe right" for
mouselook turners. This forces them to use other fingers to access
abilities while holding down the "D" key with their index finger. That
can get awkward, it did for me at least, especially if the ability you
need is bound to say #6. Most people will stop strafing to use that key
or stick to a smaller array of abilities set to keys a little more
accessible to their WASD movement keys when on the move. Basically,
they are using 3 fingers to move the way you do with 1 thumb, and your
thumb never has to leave the d-pad.

In the end, you'll have
30+ abilities hotkeyed within a few inches of each other and all four
fingers available to use any of those abilities when needed. This
includes when you are on the move and using skilled maneuvers such as
jump-turning to fire off skills at pursuers or in the middle of a
circular mouse-turn strafe.



This last part is going to
list a few other keybinds I use that I've found improved my game, but
are unimportant to the n52. Like mentioned before I use a logitech
gaming mouse (m510 or something, I apologize for not having the
specific name) and this mouse has 5 lots of configurable buttons. Shift
is set on my thumb button, but I also use a few other buttons as well.
I set the mousewheel-up button to "target nearest enemy" and
mousewheel-down to Target self or nearest friendly. I also set the
button just below the mousewheel to my jump and I access this easily
with my index finger just as you do your mousewheel. This allows me to
switch targets by using the wheel and having the jump button on my
mouse allows me to use abilities on my n52 while I jump with my mouse
hand. It gives me a little more speed than pressing a jump key on my
n52 and then pressing an ability on my n52 would.

Well, that's the meat and potatoes of how I keybind and access those binds. I've
found nothing faster that allows as much freedom of movement while
still allowing 30+ keybinds so easy to reach. If this helps anyone else
improve their game with the N52, it was worth the time to type. Good
luck! :thumbup:

[shaeman]

Shift
is set on my thumb button

Well this single quote may just result in me breaking out my N52 again.

I used it extensively in solo play, never really used it with multiboxing. Love the idea of the ability to access shift keys, using the mouse button.

It also got me thinking I could use one of the mouse buttons to switch mode on the n52 (I hate pressing the button provided on the N52, it just doesn't seem accessible.)

[Naysayer]

[quote='shaeman',index.php?page=Thread&postID=12240 1#post122401]
[quote='Naysayer',index.php?page=Thread&postID=1223 82#post122382]Shift
is set on my thumb button[/quote]

Well this single quote may just result in me breaking out my N52 again.

I used it extensively in solo play, never really used it with multiboxing. Love the idea of the ability to access shift keys, using the mouse button.

It also got me thinking I could use one of the mouse buttons to switch mode on the n52 (I hate pressing the button provided on the N52, it just doesn't seem accessible.)[/quote]This is my mouse.

[url='http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/mice_pointers/mice/devices/187&cl=us,en']logitech mx-518[/url]

A few close up pics there, and you can see the thumb button and how nicely it aligns with your thumb. The small buttons on top, regularly used for altering the mouse sensitivity, are what I use for my jump, but I would say that it would also be perfect for changing shift states on the n52 as well. Not a bad price $50 for one of the most accurate and manageable mouse available.

[5fingersofdoom]

Biggest help in the beginning is to simply learn how to toggle between the different keystates as Drak stated previously.
Myself I have your shift key,ie thumb down button to redshift me,once here I use all my F' Buttons for extra controls,round red button for jump.
I dont use the scroll button for anything v.important,blink,or flametongue rockbiter,aspect of the pack ,you get the idea.
Oh and yes disable the diagonals on your thumpad .
I also have an MX-518,although here I use the top 3 buttons for my main shooting macros,(and Naysayer try binding the round redbutton for jump on your N52,its intuiative and much easier).