Black Spectre's G-15 Binds
For the Logitech G-15 Gaming Keyboard

If you're like me and found the binding system in City of Heroes good but a little too contraining, then you might have taken the step I did and purchased a gaming keyboard that allows you to remap keys and configure, essentially, more flexible binds to be used while playing the game. There are several gaming keyboards on the market, but the one I got was the Logitech G-15 Gaming Keyboard. This keyboard has 18 special keys, called G-keys, and you can assign multiple keystrokes to each one. On top of this the G-keys have 3 profiles, which really means you have 54 (3x18) G-keys, or rather key assignments, to play with. That's a lot of keys!

G-keys can allow you do to many things in COH that the game will not allow. You can automate attacks, activate multiple click powers or toggle powers with 1 button, and do many other very useful things. In my experience, automating attacks has it's drawbacks: mainly, that you can't stop the cycle of attacks until the cycle is complete. So I've found attack automation of limited value. Activating multiple click or toggle powers, however, has been very useful! And there are a few other G-key binds, such as the Auto-Invite G-key, that will simply make your life in the game much easier and a real pleasure to use.

Essentially, there are 2 ways to execute game commands with G-keys. First, you can simply record each and every keystroke you would normally use to execute a command in the chat box while playing game. For example, to execute the "Wave" emote, you would record the following keystrokes and assign them to a G-key like so:

ENTER/emote waveENTER

This is a good way to create a G-key if you plan to use it with every toon you play. Of course, in order to use G-keys to execute game commands, you have to know the game commands. A nearly complete list can be found here (and a rudimentary knowledge of how to make binds wouldn't hurt either). Also, some of these command strings can get really long, and I make a lot of typos. Not only this, but it seems that if a G-key bind is to long, that often it will not execute properly in the game. To work around this a bit, I figured out a different way to execute commands using G-keys...

The second way to execute game commands with G-keys is to combine G-keys with typical game binds. For example, suppose I have already created a bind in game that activates the "Wave" emote when I press the "Y" key. Then all I would need to do to activate this emote using a G-key would be to record a single key, not the entire command string. So instead of "ENTER/emote waveENTER", you'd simply record "Y" onto the G-key. When you press the G-key, the game will think you've pressed the "Y" key, and activate the bind.

This method has the virtue of not only shortening the G-key command string, but it also allows you to customize that particular G-key for each of your toons without editing the G-key commands. Let's say that I had a G-key that would activate 3 emotes in a row: first "Slap," then "Smack," then "Burp." I've done this by first creating 3 binds on 3 different keys on the numberpad of the keyboard. Let's say Slap was on the number 1 key, Smack on number 2, and Burp on number 3. This is grand for a dwarven tanker, but a burp is hardly suitable for my professor controller. Instead, I want my controller to Slap, Smack, and Bow when the same G-key is pressed. To do this, all you'd have to do is change the last bind on the number 3 key to activate a Bow emote rather than a Burp (and put the Slap and Smack binds on the number 1 and 2 keys, of course). This way, when you play your tanker, he will burp after slapping and smacking, whereas when you play your contoller, he will bow after slapping and smacking. You don't have to edit the G-key at all! And it will work for all you toons as long as they have those binds as well.

If you use this second method, it would be best to place binds on keys that you don't use. For example, I do use the numberpad keys so I would not actually use these for binds that would be used for a G-key. Instead, I'd use combined chord keys such as the ALT+NUMBERPAD keys or the CTRL+NUMBERPAD keys, which I never use while playing the game... or ALT or CTRL plus any key on the keyboard. A "chord key" is a key that you press and hold down while you press a second key at the same time. There are 3 chord keys: ALT, CTRL, and SHIFT. For example, I'd bind the "Slap" emote in the example above to the ALT+NUMPAD1 key, the "Smack" emote to the ALT+NUMPAD2 key, and the "Bow" emote to the ALT+NUMPAD3 key. I hope this made sense.

To create a G-key to activate the above 3 emotes using method #1, all of the following keystrokes would have to be recorded onto the G-key:

ENTER/emote slapENTER ENTER/emote smackENTER ENTER/emote bowENTER

Of course you'd want to place some time delays between the commands, but otherwise the G-key command string would like like the above.

However, using method #2, only the following keystrokes would need to be recorded onto a G-ley:

ALT NUM 1 ALT NUM 2 ALT NUM 3

This is a little simplified (I'm not showing the up and down key press and release), but it's basically the idea. Once you get to recording and editing your own G-keys, you'll find most of your problems in understanding this just melt away.

G-KEY BIND EXAMPLES

The following are examples of the two most useful and awesome G-key binds I have experienced to date for the game City of Heroes. Feel free to copy and use them for your own G-15 keyboard.

Auto-Invite
This G-key uses the reply command in the game to invite someone who has just sent you a private tell asking to be invited onto your team. INVALUABLE, especially during combat for those people who have disconnected and want back on the team (and many thanks to my buddy Blueray for figuring this out).

Auto-Teleport
This G-key automates Teleport as much as it can be. All you have to do is point the cursor in the right direction, and go, go, go! You'll want to make this a toggle (under Repeat Options) so that it continues to activate until you press the key again. First, I created a bind on my ALT+NUMPAD7 key that activates Teleport. The bind is: /bind alt+numpad7 "powexec_name teleport". Then I recorded this onto the G-key:

If you didn't want to use a bind with the G-key, the whole thing would look like this, and would work fine:

Unstoppable
This G-key is one that I created to turn on Unstoppable on my Invulnerability tanker, send a text emssage out to the team and myself when there is only 30 seconds before the power turns off, and send another message to myself when there is only 15 seconds left. Obviously, this bind can also be used for other powerse such as Moment of Glory, Elude, etc.

I use G-keys for other commands as well. I have one absolutely essential G-key that turns on all of my tanker's shields when I press it. It's best to look in the COH manual to find out the activation times of the powers so that you can set your time delays between the powers correctly, and use the "powexec_toggleon" command to turn the powers on. Otherwise, it's fairly straight forward. I have a warning bind that tells the team that RA will be activated in 5 seconds, and then automatically counts down. Also, I must confess, I have a slap/smack/slap emote G-key bind. The other G-keys I use are merely basic binds that could be used on regular keys on the keyboard, but I just found the G-keys to be more convenient. For example, I have an Auto-Trade bind that simply invites my selected target to trade. I have an Invite Target bind that invites my selected target onto my team. I have other team invitation binds on my G-keys too that send a selected target a private tell asking if they want to do a mission, and another that thanks them for declining the invitation, and another that brings up the Search screen to find new team members. etc.

Back to Black Spectre's Home on the Web