Keybindings and Hotbar Setup for Samurai — Dawntrail 7.1

Hotbar setups in any game tend to be very much personal preference. While the keybindings we have listed here would be considered well thought out, it's understandable that you may want to tweak things to your own liking. These hotbars are meant to be used as a template and give a baseline for you to create your own setup. However, if what we've provided works for you, don't let that stop you from just using these 1:1.

2.

Samurai Hotbar Setup

Controller Keyboard and Mouse

For our controller suggestion, we've placed Combo actions and Iaijutsu on face buttons, as they'll get the most usage out of your entire kit and should be easily accessible. Hotbars one and two are intended for single target scenarios, with hotbar 3 being intended for AoE/Dungeons. Abilities such as Sprint as well as mobility buttons Hissatsu: Gyoten and Hissatsu: Yaten are placed on the same location between single target and AoE bars to keep muscle memory between the two.

Keyboards and Mouse setups will vary wildly depending on which variation of a keyboard you use. The example below utilizes a US QWERTY keyboard and used WASD for movement. This is purely player preference. If you prefer to move with mouse buttons, feel free to do so.

Samurai has a wide range of skills for both AoE and single target scenarios, with combos for each. This example hotbar setup separates skills into three chunks - combos, cooldowns/oGCDs, and role actions/personals. We've used Shift and Control as modifiers, with main combos on 1-3 and other skills on the keys surrounding WASD, keeping more frequently used skills on easier to reach binds.

Gyofu being our combo starter is on 1, with each Sen combo branching out from there: Yukikaze on Shift + 1 as it's the only two button Sen combo, and then our Kasha combo on 2/3 and Gekko combo on Shift + 2/3 for parity. Other combos and AoE alternatives follow the same suit - Iaijutsu on Q with the follow-up Tsubame-gaeshi on Shift+Q, and for single target and AoE parity we have skills such as Hissatsu: Senei on E and Hissatsu: Guren on Shift + E.

FFXIV has a unique problem in the fact the game wants you to play a multitude of different classes in order to fully enjoy its combat system. While all jobs will have differing hotbar setups to some varying degree, there's still some advice to give that will help with the muscle memory when swapping between classes and roles.

1. Keep similar actions on the same buttons across all characters. This may not always be possible, but you'll find most classes in this game can be set up in a very similar fashion. This includes, but is not limited to:
   • Basic combo buttons on easy to reach mappings or controller face buttons. Samurai spends most of its time building combos, so make sure Gyofu is somewhere comfortable to reach and keep combo actions close by to allow for an easy continuation.
   • Place similar skills on the same buttons across Jobs. A good example of this is ranged attacks like Enpi and Throwing Dagger, or role abilities like True North and Feint.
   • If you use a controller, you can use a cross hotbar to track longer cooldowns such as Tsubame-gaeshi or Ikishoten. This may allow you to stay on a singular hotbar for longer and help with eye tracking on the screen.
2. Your hotbar should be located on a place on the screen that's easy to see while still being able to keep your attention on your character, the boss, and the arena. This also applies to your buff and debuff bar, your party list, and the target bar. The easier it is to see things in your peripheral vision, the easier time you'll have focusing on the fight rather than being stuck in your hotbar.
3. Mobility is important! Ensure your keybinds won't interfere with your ability to move your character. You should be able have full control of your character, even in the middle of your burst rotation.