Keybindings and Hotbar Setup for Monk — Endwalker 6.55
Welcome to our keybinding and controller setup guide for Monk. Here you'll find example setups to play FFXIV for mouse and keyboard configurations, as well as controller users.
Keybindings and UI Introduction
Everyone is playing this game on a slightly different setup, whether that be a controller, keyboard and mouse, Guitar Hero controller, or a motion-controlled, life-sized Deathbringer greatsword. That is to say, the bindings that meet your needs on your setup are likely going to differ from those of other people, so by all means use what is most comfortable to you.
That being said, we do have some example hotbars below that might act as inspiration for your own creativity, as well as some general advice on things to keep in mind when designing your hotbars.
Monk Hotbar Setup
This example is my personal setup, utilising an MMO mouse with 12 side buttons and a normal qwerty keyboard. The hotbars are split into three main sections; 1 - =, Ctrl+ 1 - =, and Shift + 1 - =, with a small divider between the former two comprised of the additional buttons behind the scroll wheel of the mouse. With this setup, absolutely everything is accesible via my thumb, leaving my left hand free to only worry about movement and pressing modifier keys.
The reasoning behind the keys placement is likely apparent at a glance - the core GCDs are all bound to 1-9 with no modifier, for ease of access. Our most frequent oGCD, The Forbidden Chakra has no modifier and is bound to a key behind the scroll wheel, so I can easily spam it with my index finger while continuing to execute the normal rotation with my thumb.
The GCDs are also placed in form order, from left to right. They are also vertically ordered by positional - before most of our positionals were removed, Bootshine, True Strike, and Demolish were all rear positionals, with Dragon Kick, Twin Snakes, and Snap Punch all being flank positionals. Alternatively, some people choose to order them by effect, having Bootshine, True Strike, and Snap Punch on one row as they are all purely damaging skills, and Dragon Kick, Twin Snakes, and Demolish together as they all have some form of secondary effect.
This example of a keyboard layout demonstrates just how many keybindings you are able to fit onto a relatively small amount of keys through the user of modifierss, as it contains not only all of our required skills but additionally a plethora of macros for various scenarios.
The main thing to note here is how skills that are used more often are bound to keys closer to WASD, whereas less used skills are either physically further away on the keyboard or involve the use of a modifier key.
This example of a controller hotbar follows the general principles outlined below to try and keep all of our skills in spots that make sense. The 6 core GCDs of our rotation are all accessible to our right thumb, allowing us to easily swap between combos with the right and left triggers. Utility skills and oGCDs are assigned to the D-Pad, as we need to press these skills less often.
Situational skills and AoE GCDs are assigned to the expanded hotbar, as they are generally the buttons we need to access the least frequently.
General Keybind Advice
- Make sure buttons that you will be pressing frequently are easy to access. Something like Bootshine you are going to need to press very often, so make sure whatever you bind it to is easy to reach and won't cause discomfort when pressing it repeatdedly over a prolonged period of time.
- Inversely, skills that you don't need to press that often (such as Brotherhood) can be assigned to more awkward/complex keybindings if necessary, as in the case of Brotherhood you will only need to press it once every 2 minutes.
- Keeo your rotation in mind when assigning keybinds. You'll find yourself stringing Bootshine, True Strike, and Snap Punch in combat, so consider binding them to keys that are physically close to one another for ease of execution.
- Mobility is very important, both as a Monk and in general, so ensure that you are able to access all of your keybinds without impeding your ability to move your character.
- On a job like Monk where we are tracking various buffs and dots, it is helpful to keep all of that information close together in a relatively central location. Having all of the relevant information you need in your peripheral vision means that you will be able to focus on an encounter more, without having to look away from an enemy/mechanics to check your timers.
Changelog
- 20 Apr. 2024: Page added.
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"This Monk guide has been brought to you by Perfect Balance, a primordial being who has been playing Monk since the A Realm Reborn beta. A self-described "okay button pusher" recognised by many as being "bearable in small doses", PB is keen to make Monk more accessible to the general playerbase, with the main goal being to convey job nuance and intricacies in a digestible way. He streams raids live on Twitch and has a YouTube channel, where he uploads Monk PoVs and fight specific advice.
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