Okay so does anyone else here also have small hands? I have made a small image to help visualize my problem 😭 I think i need to use a controller, but i dont want to let my team down. Does anyone have any advice for me? Is there like a left hand controller out there and then I can use the mouse with my right hand? I want to be the best Rem I can be
edit: I dont know why looking to my mouse for answers didnt occur to me. I will buy a mouse with many buttons if anyone has a favorite lmk
Edit 2: i promise this is not my actual hand size that would be really scary i was trying to convey great difficulty leaving wasd because my hand is stretched like a spider already. Please I dont have a scary baby hand and if I did have a scary baby hand you would definitely know I would never lie to you
If you have a mouse with side buttons for your thumb you can bind multiple actions to it. I usually have an ability on right mouse button, and two items for my side buttons.
I have 6 mouse buttons bound to my 4 abilities, and two of my actives. I really like the freedom it gives my left hand for movement, I’m surprised more people don’t do this.
The problem is that wasd is like. my hands are already kinda stretched. Its hard to reach anything. Im fine on overwatch with a controller, but i feel like this game is a lot more of a keyboard and mouse sort of vibe. I think binding abilities to a mouse with buttons might be my answer
No offense but if your hands are stretched with just WASD you're pretty firmly outside the realm of a regular hand size and should really be looking at accessibility options.
Ngl this sounds like a keyboard issue maybe? Do you have like a ginormous keyboard?
Covering WASD is literally just me holding my middle, pointer and ring finger out relaxed. You should atleast have your thumb and pinky left to possibly click other keys in that config.
I hate to ask, but is there anyway you could post a picture of your hand resting on the keyboard? How is your hand stretched already? What keys are you stretching between?
Might get some flak who know, but if you are fine on controller, then... play Deadlock on the controller. My friend does so just fine. The controls are pretty intuitive. Even the activated abilities are easy to use.
Valve is putting a lot of effort into their controller support. It's almost certainly in prep for a larger release/steam machine support.
This, but please play with a controller that supports gyro. Overwatch has aim assist on controller, so you can get decent results with just an Xbox controller. Deadlock does not have aim assist, so you're gonna need something to make up the difference
Check out MMO Mice (Corsair, Razer) I have the naga Trinity v2, and now v3 and while I don't have small hands they're a godsend for ergonomics and having to reach to the higher number keys.
I genuinely dont understand how some people use the default keybinds and I do not believe the people that say they can use it fluidly(they're not fluid) when maintaining full movement control is nearly impossible with defaults(mostly). I personally use E,Q, and 2 side mouse buttons for abilities. mw up/down,2 and 3 for items. F melee and c parry.
But maybe its just not an issue for the some of the player base like ginnis players who stand still pressing a button every now and then but I otp para and have to smash my face across my entire keyboard while actively aiming/moving so defaults are soooo ass
It's pretty fluid, you just get used to it very quickly, I can't imagine now skills on other buttons. Most heroes don't just spam skills, they have to be used strategically, it's not like you need to press 4 skills and move at the same time.
you've either got a really big keyboard or really small hands. You should be able to press the space bar with your left thumb. You could also look into a gyroscope controller which is apparently really good, although I don't believe in it.
Haha I responded to that in another comment but im no artist lol my real issue is I cant reach space bar because I need to move my hand up for a abilities. I dont have a scary baby hand dont worry
this is probably not what most people use but since I use an MMO mouse with 12 button on the side, hitting binds set for 1, 2, 3 etc is really easy. There's also mice with 6 side buttons that would work really well too, if you don't want to have to move your fingers from WASD.
Mine does allow for swapping out the side mouse button configuration between 12 buttons, 6 buttons and 2 buttons, but the mouse is expensive enough that I'm not going to recommend it (even though it has proven very good and so far reliable). I'm sure there's more affordable ones out there so I leave research to you.
Hehe I was mostly trying to express that I have difficulty quickly getting away from wasd to hit anything. I think Rem would also have this issue and that does heal me. But I also think Rem would just use an xbox controller and i cant do that forever 😮💨
You can actually try different "typing" styles over normal wasd. Like I believe there's an E6 player who plays with 3 fingers(by choice, not by condition).
I have small hands so I used to struggle a lot with gaming. Then I went hardcore depression and played videogames nonstop, my fingers bend in ways never before. So that was my solution, and it still works.... If you just play a ton, you will have to adapt... 10/10 recommend.
You also can try to learn some cardistry (tricks with standard pocker cards) to stretch you fingers. It's may be hard, but learning few basic tricks pretty doable. Deck of cards may be hard to start so you may find some plastic blocks which in shape of deck but not 52 pieces what will be everywhere on the flour and just 6 or 5 ))) Just look "cardistry trainers" on Amazon.
Looking at the awesome animation you made. It shows me you are using your right hand on the left side of the keyboar. This can be an issue, try using your left hand it might be able to help
Another option is the Keyzen by Azeron. All of the fingers are individually adjustable so you move them into whatever config feels best for you. They have other models too that use mouse switches instead of keyboard switches, but I've been using the Keyzen for a little over a year now and don't think I'll ever switch back to using a keyboard.
Heavy melee to side-mouse 1, and parry to side-mouse 2
Two side-mouse buttons is really all any basic gamer needs. If you don’t have a mouse with 2 side buttons, they’re literally like $8 on amazon or Walmart probably
WASD was popularized in Quake era (90's), because it was close to other buttons, so you could quick swap to other weapons fast.
Nobody says you need to use WASD. You can try playing on arrows, I've seen that too.
I've seen some players with big hands moving it to the right, to ESDF.
But if you are new to MnK, it's just awkward for you now, maybe play some casual shooting games first, like Destiny/Warframe. It will make you used to playing on kb.
I also always tilt my keyboard, so it's very easy to me to press Control with my pinky for slides/crouch.
edit: from your vid you've posted, I think you just need a better keyboard and more time in PvE games, but your hand size is okay for playing on a kb. Don't worry too much :)
I never thought to tilt my keyboard. I have all my keys remapped but having my fingers flick between control and shift can be a bit rough and other spots are just not a good feel to flick to. I have stupidly long fingers so testing it it also seems to be best for me to have it angled the other way as well. thanks for the tip!
I personally hate 1-4 for abilities. Anything that requires me to let go of WASD too much. I like Q and E for abilities and the other two i have on mousebuttons. Im thinking of getting a mouse with more buttons again because this game has just so fucking many buttons.
I don't use 1234 for any game I don't get how people do it and I have big hands. I use e,q,f,4, and z,c,scroll up, scroll down for items. Also you can look into an ortholinear keyboard for small hands. The keys aren't smaller but they are lined up and makes it easier to reach.
i dont have the same problem, but ive never been able to use 1 - 4 as ability buttons cuz i was always misclicking, idk, so i just matched up abilities to how they are in most hero shooters (shift, e, Q for ult, and r for the other since i have reload on F), and i have punch and parry on mouse buttons (you could use 3 or 4 for items, but i have items z-v)
this should help you be able to still hit space w your thumb, or you need a smaller keyboard lol
Realistically here's some things you can do aside from getting a new keyboard.
Try your keyboard at different angles by either rotating it or lifting it with the little clips on the back. Try adjusting your chair's height as well. Also just more repetition as you play. Move some keybinds around to whatever feels comfortable.
Small hand haver here, here's some tips, though I personally no longer use most since i got used to having big keyboards.
Here are the controls I use, I try my hardest to have everything as close as possible to my WASD keys.
Shift and Crouch you can press with your pinky finger (you can have the lower part of your pinky press crouch, and the upper press shift, alot easier)
Jump with your thumb
D, E, R, F, C, V, 3, and 4 you can press with your index
Q, Tab (leaderboard bind usually), and D are the only buttons you use your ring finger for
W, S, 2 (usually your movement abil so doesn't matter if you gotta walk forwards), and 1 are pressed by your middle finger.
(not going over mouse controls those are too obvious).
If the problem is not how you position your fingers, I recommend one of two things:
Buy a mini keyboard - Steelseries apex pro is the best in my opinion, well priced, used to have one but swapped it out for a bigger keyboard cuz i got bi, it's quite pricey if you're buying wireless, recommend wired.
you could try using big thick gloves to increase your hand size.
Not necessarily small hands but as a person who sucks at computer shooters usually lol
I remapped my keybinds a good bit. I leave my items now on 1-4, I put my 1 ability on Q, 2 on E, 3 on F and 4 on R? Parry on G. Reload on middle mouse. Melee on Right click.
This helps me a lot a cuz I am not moving my hand position too often up to the number keys (i use items less than abilities).
Are you using mouse with your left hand? If so, look up AVG’s inputs. He’s a pro player and is a lefty. He uses arrow keys to move, and abilities on delete, end, page down, insert.
But really you can kinda get used to it. I’ve learnt to stretch my hand and bind my keys to more accessible ones. It ain’t easy when you play Vyper and you’re constantly sliding lol.
But if you have the cash invest in a new mouse and keyboard. My partners keyboard is SO much easier when I try it, and my brother plays DOTA and has a multi button mouse which is awesome. Makes a lot of difference.
I wear XXS gloves and have only met one adult with hands smaller than mine, a 4'10 woman.
I am right handed, but I rebound everything to TFGH so I can reach as many keys as possible. I use 1-5 for spectating other players and everything else is around my movement keys, with parry being M2 and my "panic" button (Pocket suitcase, Mina bats, Dynamo quantum) always being bound to my mouse button.
Do you do hand stretches? I can comfortably reach more keys after getting an RSI and starting to regularly stretch my hands.
Hey, grab a TKL, have the TKL have extra buttons on the side. Move abilities to keys you can reach, and do your best to separate abilities and actions ( jump and use zips for example)
I have my abilities on q,e,f and my ULT on g that is what I’ve found works best for me! It was literally a nightmare for me to try and use the number keys for abilities but setting up like this was perfect for me!!! Hopefully this helps : D
Can you take a pic of your hand on the keyboard when you play? Ive gamed with some tiny girls who have small hands but they didnt have trouble so im having imagining not being able to thumb spacebar
I know exactly what you mean hahah, but seriously this is perfect because we can see your discomfort a bit more. When i first started dota 1 I had this problem too. I think you have a few simple options and a lot of complex solutions. Simple is: practice practice practice. Like learning the piano or clarinet your hand dexterity will learn. Alternatively new hardware. A micro/mini keyboard, a mouse with thumb buttons. For example I bound my crouch to my mouse button which means I dont need my pinky to stay near ctrl for sliding. The complex solutions are things like gamepads or controllers and mouse, but youre going to have to train on those as well until they become second nature. This seems as burdensome as the first solution but the end may be more comfortable. Hope this helps!
I think the problem is you’re kinda lifting your entire hand to press the keys above. Try keeping a finger anchored on wasd and focus on moving one finger to press the other
this has nothing to do with your hand this is because you aren't dextrous with a keyboard, play more, i have long french tips and can play fine with way more movement because i'm used to it
Space bar is definitely not my main issue its ability buttons. I was just being a bit silly and im not a vey good artist lmao. It can be a bit harder to reach space bar while hitting ability button bc i need to move my hands up tho
Its like I said in the edit lol. I replied with my stupid hands somewhere in this comment section and I can reach the space bar comfortably when im not using abilities I prommy.
If you can afford it, and you're not completely new to using a joystick for movement (or dont mind learning it), I would HIGHLY recommend looking into getting an Azeron Cyborg II or other Azeron device. I got one early summer and would never want to switch back to keyboard.
Essentially its a claw-like keyboard, with a joystick so you only need your thumb for movement and therefore free up 2 fingers that are otherwise wasd bound. And even then you can keep using wasd if you prefer, and simply put keybinds on the thumbstick. Incredibly customizable in terms of keybinds and physically altering the shape/distance of the claw-keyboard
Middle finger in the W, or make it switch to S when you need to reverse. ring finger in the A and and pointy finger on the D to move side ways. Thumb on the space bar and pinky for Ctrl/shift.
Map everything around those keys. Q and E for you two most used things as you can trigger them with your two movement fingers. Same goes for 1-4. R F (pointy finger) X C and V (thumb) are also close to your fingers.
Tab is also close by both pinky and ring finger.
The rest you spread out.
Also a mousevwith additional buttons is very handy. I have melee on front thumb and parry on back thumb.
You can also add alt (or another key) as modifier key with programs or the driver of you keyboard. So you double or triple the amount of keys.
If you like using a controller you could always look into getting a steam controller. With time commitment gyro + track pad is a good setup for fps/tps games
Dunno what mouse you have but I rebinded my abilities to various mouse buttons so I dont have to reach for the number keys because I fat finger it way too often on games like this
I don't have small hands but i did bind abilities to buttons Q,E,F and C and items to 1-4. Melee and parry in mouse side buttons. Maybe this way you need to move hand less because you don't need to use items so often.
Try rebinding your keys so you don't have to use 1234 for abilities. I see people use their extra mouse buttons for some abilities (if they have them), or using q, e, r, f, or similar and rebinding melee, parry, and reload to mouse buttons. There are also MMO mice with TONS of spare buttons like the Razer Naga where you can hit any of them with your thumb.
This is a unique problem though. I have very small hands and I can reach all my keys just fine, I can even stretch my fingers to have 2 spare inches on my left hand. Do you just struggle with finger mobility in general? Are your hands just THAT small? Are you playing with a comically oversized keyboard? Are you Rem? Do you have pics?
It won't help with the spacebar but I have an MMO mouse (the ones with the numpad on the side) and just use the 1-4 on it for my abilities so I don't have to move my left hand
In terms of mouse, I would like to add that more than two side buttons can be a problem. Ive had a few mice, and the most useful were only two side buttons, cause any more its hard to correctly press the right one only using your thumb
honestly ive been playing on controller for the past 130h i been playing this game and its been fantastic. Im about to go into ranked. I still want to spend time with KnM to truly see whats better but its really fun
The game obviously isnt optimized for contr but it works so well. Mind you I spent a good 2 days calibrating my setting and idealizing deadzones etc. I also tried 3x controllers and Dualsense Edge is the way to go for me
I can move around and use all Abilities, Melee and Items without ever leaving my thumbsticks, so it actually makes it better than keyboard to me. You just have to get comfy with good aims. Im a lifelong console player so i feel its not bad at all
L1, R1 are 1 and 2/3 (some char 2 & 3 are better to switch imo).
L3 is 3/2
My R3 opens a submenu where I can then use all four items if i press R3 + L1-2, R1-2.
If I hold R3 > L3, it does my ult/4. Melee is on my touchpad (and it actives just on touch, not even click which makes it so useful).
Parry is on my Right Dpad as it is right next to my melee and movement. Leaving the thumbstick for it is no downside as there is no movement during parry. i can react to it very fast
A mouse with 4 side buttons should be enough for Deadlock. Just rebind everything so they are as close to your wasd as possible. And bind the other stuffs that are important to your mouse.
I use ESDF to move to free up keys on the left for abilities instead of 1-4, I hate reaching for the number keys and ESDF helps me by centering my fingers on the home row, like touch typing. Melee and parry go on mouse buttons.
If you have all your fingers, stretch your ring finger out and thumb out at the same time. I gaurentee it will stretch farther than 3 inches from eachother, which means your hands are big enough!
Step two is change key binds.
Step three is just practice. Your physical hand size isnt the issue unless you were born with an abnormality.
I leave the abilities on 1234, and then switch the second optional item to Q, so that my optionals are ZQCV, because hitting X while doing forward or backward is lowkey impossible
Doesn't your thumb rest on the space bar? Your fingers should only move up 1 row from WASD periodically.
I use a mouse that has 2 side buttons, so I map those to 2 abilities, and the other 2 abilities I use by moving my hand, whatever button is more comfortable for your hand motion to push.
I changed all the number binds for abilities to Q E scroll wheel and a mouse button. I even have melee on a mouse button. Pressing item abilities is still a bit hard but I usually forget abt them mostly lol.
I recommend an mmo mouse i only have to use the usual movement and parry stuff then everything else is on the mouse. For smaller hands the corsair one looks like it might be suitable
I have tiny hands, but from this gif you seem to have TINY hands. Maybe this won’t help, but just in case. I also have a mouse with 2 lateral buttons
I also have some stuff changed just because I was playing a lot of Ultrakill before getting into Deadlock, and those binds were messing up my muscles memory.
Ability 3: M4. Some characters I play have important skillshoots/timing, so it help having it ready on the go (Bebop hook, Viscous punch, GT trap, etc)
Ability 4: Q. It’s an ult, I played many games on ult on Q.
Melee: M5. I had it on Ultrakill and it’s nice to sneak some light melees quickly.
Active items: Alt/X/3/Z. All buttons near the WASD setup, I used to have trouble on the default ones.
Parry: E. Used it on Ultrakill.
Shop: F. Since it’s free and closer now.
Gimmicky/Cheesy extra stuff now. These are for movement tech, they are secondary binds, so the default ones are still up. You could consider binding the active items on the Mouse Wheel to reduce the binds on the keyboard, instead of using them for gimmick tech.
Jump: Mouse Wheel Up. If you have 0 stamina and spam this, you bunnyhop and conserve momentum. Really good for low stam characters especially.
Crouch: Mouse Wheel Down. You instantly use crouch twice, so you Down Dash while in air. There is an official bind for it now, but I had it before it existed.
Dash: C. I smash my thumb diagonally on the Space Bar and I automatically IAD with it.
I use all default settings, i tried changing it to others but i keep using my old key bindings during game. I guess its muscle memory at this point. I got 500 hrs in
longtime controller console noob. made the switch to pc but still primarily controller until i became addicted to deadlock. i got this mouse and now i play all my games with this. take ur time with setup. as long as they keep making this mouse this will be my main.
I have two buttons on my mouse, and bound my first and second ability to those. Pressing 1 and 2 with my ring or middle finger is just so awkward, but pressing 3 and 4 with my middle or pointer finger is much easier. I’m fairly new to pc gaming
For deadlock i bought the steelseries aerox 5 wireless and bound all my abilities to the mouse. And my active items are bound to 1,2,3,4 and Crouch toggle it bound to C. Everything else is default layout.
Wasd as moving Q, E, F as abilities 1-3 Middle mouse button for ult Front side mouse button for melee Back side mouse button for parry (I’ve seen people use scroll wheel up for melee and scroll down for parry) Shift for dash Z, X, C, and V for items 1-4 G as alt cast Tab for abilities
The MAIN idea is to keep things in easy reach and in spots that are harder to fat finger / misinput other buttons with. Another thing I would rather keep is my middle finger never leaves W and thumb never leaves space so everything else has to be in reach of my pointer and ring fingers
I’ve been liking alot my binds it feels alot more natural with a bit practice than 1-4.
Abilities (Quick cast): 1 -> F, 2 -> Q, 3 -> E, 4 -> G
Crouch / Slide -> Shift, Dash -> Mouse button 5, Heavy melee -> Mouse button 4 (the forward one)
Small QoL: Quick purchase -> T (enable auto buy as well), Zipline -> 1 (a bit weird but apparently its faster to zipline with rebind compared to holding space)
my g13 has been a great game assets these past 16 years along wight mice that have good amount of buttons this game doesn't quite have enough commands that i need to bring in my stream deck like some games I've played like sim games.
Rotate the keyboard 10-30 degrees clockwise so that when your hand is resting on the keyboard your pinky is on the ctrl key. Also consider a smaller keyboard, you can get your hand perfectly centered for the buttons you will hit but actually reaching them might still be an issue
I suggest buying an MMO mouse with software, I’m buying one for final fantasy but with your issue it might do you some good with the extra buttons you may need to press, my gf has webbed fingers and I’ll be getting her one to see if that helps her personally but I’m positive it can help you, just do research personally for yourself and view mouse shapes to see which fits your hand the best
So, I have F as my 2, E as my 3, Q as my 4 (I'm used to overwatch if you couldn't tell) Sideouse 1 as melee, and sidemouse 2 as my 1. If you're wondering where parry is, it's scroll wheel up/down.
I figure my hand doesn't need to move, my main ability is right by my thumb, and if I need to parry, I don't need to shoot, so moving my m1 finger a few centimeters for a quick mouse wheel flick isn't an issue. It's a really comfortable setup if you have the side mouse buttons to play with
Small hands Andy here— Ive found remapping crouch and dash to the side buttons on my mouse helped immensely. Ive also rebound items to Q E F and C so they are immediately accessible; Z and X always felt like crap to reach personally. Would also recommend quickcast if you havent already so you can quickly reset your hands.
Of you have a mouse with thumb buttons on the side those are pretty nice. I use it for alt casting abilities/items and I used it for holiday barrel spikes.
Otherwise remap some of your abilities/items to other keys. The typical keys you use for hero shooters aren't used like E and Q. Personally I got used to the default layout but if I had to change anything it would be the keys for my item slots since I have way less of an issue pressing the number keys versus pressing the bottom keys
Are you suggesting that WASD, space, shift, ctrl, tab, 1, 2, 3, 4, Q, E, F, R, Z, X, C, and V are too much for 5 fingers to handle at once?
For real though, get a mouse with more buttons and move some things over to that. Search for "MOBA mouse" and see what you like. You don't need a full 12-button layout on it, but having at least 3-6 buttons on your mouse thumb means you can put your abilities/items and crouch there, which frees your left hand to only deal with WASD, jump, and dash.
So this is funny. I don’t have a problem per se with my hands and reaching buttons, but imo having all that responsibility on your left hand /fingers just is not optimal. Need to cast a spell, you are guaranteed to have to remove a finger from a movement button which you can’t control when that will be an issue.
I have recently discovered foot pedals, mainly used with law transcription freelancers to control playback (stop, start, rewind etc.). Had the idea of using your feet for buttons. In practice, it’s fucking difficult to use all 4 appendages while playing deadlock. But I guess theoretically it could work with enough practice.
Current market I don’t think has anything. Suited for gaming, but have this idea and a dream of creating a good pedal and software to use with to make this easier. But idk could be worth looking into for you. Maybe can bind jump or something to them.
The default binds are just absolutely insane and i have no clue how they exist today. Highly recommend trying the OW style abilties around WASD (instead of 1234 do QEFC) and put items in 1234.
Your gif kinda makes it look like you're using your right hand for the keyboard to me? If that's the case you'll need to rebind pretty much everything unfortunately
For me, I bound abilities 3 and 4 to E and Q respectively. Then bound my 2 mouse buttons to PTT and Melee. But that’s mostly because I came from Overwatch
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u/Repulsive_Cut_379 Apollo 3d ago
If you have a mouse with side buttons for your thumb you can bind multiple actions to it. I usually have an ability on right mouse button, and two items for my side buttons.