Keybinding, Mouse turning, and you - Part one

I was recently in a raid where the off tank was keyboard turning...while picking up Onyxia's whelps.  On 25 man.  Suffice to say it did not go well.

A lot of people make the argument that clicking is just as good as keybinding, keybinding is for PvP, mouse turning isn't necessary, blah blah and so on.  To this, I can only reply so: Try it.  I'm not saying you have to fall in love with keybinding and mouse turning.  I'm saying try it, and really give it a shot.  Get bartender4, set up your buttons where you need them (if you're raiding you probably already have this or another button mod anyway), and go for broke.  You'll be able to keybind on the fly just by typing "/kb" and hovering, and you'll still be able to click your buttons in a pinch.

But just try it. Trust me, in a day or two your eyes will open and you'll be a better player, and a better tank for it.

When tanking, you can't just slowly turn in a circle while mobs beat on you.  That guy behind you? CRIT.  That one to the side? CRIT.  Oh, let's get on that one. YOU MUST BE FACING THE TARGET. I know there are tricks to keyturning, because before I started binding and mouse turning, I was stubborn and learned them.  I know you can circle strafe by holding A and E or D and Q at the same time.  It's still not as good.  You cannot perform an instant 180 degree turn with the keyboard.  You can't jump-turn-attack while keyturning. Your reactions will be slow, and if you're clicking AND key turning, you'll be busier looking at your buttons than you will be looking at the fight.

Besides making your reactions faster, keybinding and mouse turning give you more opportunities to exercise situational awareness. Once muscle memory kicks in after a few days, you won't be looking at your keys, you'll instinctively find them. That means you won't be standing in that pile of goo while looking at your buttons.  You'll already be moving and attacking. Mobility and Situational Awareness are what keep you out of fires and keep you alive.  Keybinding and mouse-turning give you the mobility, and free up your eyes to help you with the situational awareness.

Try it.

Later I'll post my ideal methods for mouse turning and learning to keybind + mouse turn.  For now, if you're reading, just try it on your first 5 or 6 keys.  Next post: advanced training (ala "holy shit I CAN'T keyturn!")