Mouse Turning Guide (WoW)  

This guide is meant to aid people who use their keyboard arrow keys to turn in the game, since it has been noted all over the internet that mouse turning is more effective than using the keyboard, especially in PvP. It is also agreed by most long-term players that mouse turning is superior to keyboard turning in most fights in general.

This is also especially helpful when swimming, or while in flight on a flying mount.

This guide is being written by someone who has only used the keyboard to turn, and has not ever played any First Person Shooter games. In order to really learn this method, the best advice is to keep your right hand off the arrow keys. KEEP your mouse hand off the keyboard. Even if you are just in your home town walking around, unless you are in danger of falling, keep your mouse hand off the keyboard, (unless you are chatting of course).

It is written with the basic three button type mouse in mind, the type with two buttons and the center scroll wheel. Tips for using other types of mice will hopefully be included by players who have other types of mice. It is also written with the assumption that the user is right-handed.

Basics

• Right mouse button
• First of all, hold down your right mouse key, and brush the mouse to the right. This has the same effect of holding down your right arrow key, although it will change the camera angle as well if the mouse is moved up and down (which is normal for any human). If you brush the mouse to the left, it will have the effect of holding down the left arrow key.

• Left mouse button
• Do the same thing: hold the left mouse button down, and brush it left or right. This does not turn the character, but instead turns the camera angle you are viewing your character and her environment from. This is useful to be able to look around and behind you while you are running. See Movement, below.

• Middle mouse button (scroll wheel)
• This moves the character forward. Holding down both the right and left mouse buttons has the same effect, so if your mouse just has two buttons, you can hold them both down and the same time to move forward. The best option is to set the middle mouse button to autorun. To do this, hit escape to get to the Options menu, then click on Key Bindings. The first section of the Key Bindings is Movement. Find the one that says "Toggle autorun." Click on the Key 1 button, then click your scroll wheel, then click "Okay." This will bind autorun to that button, so you don't have to use your keyboard to autorun and stop. From then on, when you click your middle button, it will start your character to autorun, and you can click it again to have your character stop.

Movement

• Running and turning in a constant movement
• If you are in a situation where you are constantly running, and need to turn, just click your middle mouse button or scroll wheel (assuming you have bound it to the autorun function as described above) You will move forward, and, by brushing your mouse to either the left or right, can control which way is forward.

• Running and turning, with frequent pauses
• If you hold your right mouse button down, then click and hold your left mouse button, you will move forward. If you need to run forward, then figure out which way to go next, and need to pause, hold down the right mouse button, click and hold the left mouse button, and go. When you need to pause, let go of the left mouse button, keep the right one held down, and brush your mouse to the left or right to turn. Then click and hold down the left mouse button to continue moving forward.

• Running in Circles
• You have probably seen players running in very tight circles and maybe you've wondered how they do it. Just click your middle button (scroll wheel), and brush the mouse to the left or right quickly (assuming you've bound the middle button to the autorun function). You can do the same by holding down both the left and right buttons at the same time.

• Running for a long time to a certain destination
• Click your middle mouse button, or scroll wheel, and let it go. When you need to adjust your path, just click the right mouse button and brush it right or left, depending on which way you need to adjust your path. When you want to stop autorun without using the keyboard, click the middle button again, or hold down both the left and right mouse buttons.

• Looking behind you while you run
• When you are in autorun, click and hold your left mouse button, and brush it to the left or right to look behind you.

• Strafing
• An alternative to turning your character while running to adjust her path is to strafe. What that means is that your character moves either to the left or right, without turning. To do so, hit your "q" to move left, or your "e" to move right. While this is not using your mouse, it uses the left side of your keyboard, which leaves your right hand free for your mouse, making it relevant to this guide.

Swimming

Fighting

Practice Spots

You mostly want to practice in spots where you won't die, in the beginning. These would be spots where there are not mobs to run into, and cliffs to fall off of. Find a place where you can run in a straight line. Run straight, then quickly turn and run the opposite way. This is the best way to see how efficient mouse turning is, when you see that you are not running in a wide arc to turn and run the other way, as you would when using a keyboard to turn.

Another good place to practice is shallow swimming holes, such as the pond in the middle of Thunder Bluff.

As you get used to moving around, you might want to try more risky areas to practice in, such as around staircases where, if you fall, you might take damage, but not die. One good spot is to run around in the Pools of Vision in Thunder Bluff.

Later, you may want to start fighting either in duels or with mobs that aren't a huge risk to you. Of course, if you get in a bind, you can always resort to the keyboard for turning.

Other Mouse Types

Tips for Left-handed Players

World of Warcraft Wikibase™