The Trap of "Optimal" Binds — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00Professional Fortnite players have some
2. 0:01of the worst and most unoptimal binds.
3. 0:04In fact, they almost all play on
4. 0:06completely awkward binds that make
5. 0:08little to no sense. Like Scroll, who as
6. 0:11his name suggests, has to use the scroll
7. 0:13wheel to switch between all four of his
8. 0:15build pieces. The optimal bind trap is
9. 0:17one that I fell for back when I played
10. 0:19controller, and then I fell for it again
11. 0:21when I switched to keyboard and mouse.
12. 0:23On the controller, there just aren't
13. 0:24that many buttons, and there are a lot
14. 0:26of binds. On a controller with no
15. 0:28paddles, I found it impossible to have
16. 0:30good movement since jumping requires you
17. 0:32to press the E button with your thumb,
18. 0:34or awkwardly use your index finger if
19. 0:36you play with claw. So, this forced me
20. 0:37into buying a controller with paddles on
21. 0:39the back. But, I found the issue with
22. 0:41this was that pressing the edit key was
23. 0:42slow and clunky on the back paddle, and
24. 0:44I couldn't press it fast enough. So, I
25. 0:46decided to move that to the L1 button,
26. 0:48which meant I had to switch my builds to
27. 0:50one of the paddles. But, then I realized
28. 0:52that because I have two fingers on top
29. 0:53of the controller, this made a large
30. 0:55stretch between the middle and ring
31. 0:57finger, which made the bottom two
32. 0:58fingers tense and slow. No matter what
33. 1:00binds I switched around, my gameplay
34. 1:02never really improved. I'd fix one
35. 1:04problem like the editing speed, then I'd
36. 1:06create another, and this cycle would
37. 1:08continue. It also does not help that 99%
38. 1:11of controllers break after a few months,
39. 1:12especially ones with good paddles. So,
40. 1:14moving to keyboard and mouse was my fix
41. 1:16for this, and it has more buttons, so
42. 1:18obviously that same issue wouldn't
43. 1:20happen again, right? Typically, there
44. 1:22are six major binds that you want to
45. 1:23spread across as many fingers as
46. 1:25possible. The four build binds, edit,
47. 1:28and shotgun. Outside of the movement
48. 1:30keys, these are the six binds that every
49. 1:31single player will press the most. So,
50. 1:33if these binds are in awkward places,
51. 1:35then it can really slow down your
52. 1:36mechanics. Of course, there are a lot of
53. 1:38other important binds like jump, the
54. 1:40assault rifle button, and crouch, but
55. 1:42these aren't ones that people typically
56. 1:43optimize for. They're usually secondary.
57. 1:46On keyboard and mouse, most players try
58. 1:47to spread these six major binds out
59. 1:49across two of their mouse side buttons
60. 1:51and the fingers on their left hand as
61. 1:52much as possible. In theory, this makes
62. 1:54a lot of sense. It's a bad idea to have
63. 1:56too many binds on one finger as there's
64. 1:58a delay in moving your finger from one
65. 2:00button to another. If there's already
66. 2:02another finger on that button, the delay
67. 2:03is removed. If for example, you use your
68. 2:05floor on E and then your cone on C, you
69. 2:08could press both of these with your
70. 2:09index finger, but it'd be much easier to
71. 2:11press E with your index and then C with
72. 2:13your thumb. Try this on the surface in
73. 2:14front of you, but don't do this on a
74. 2:16keyboard if you got it in front of you
75. 2:17cuz you're probably just tab out or skip
76. 2:18around this video. Tap one finger back
77. 2:20and forth as if you had two buttons
78. 2:22there that you were pressing. Now try it
79. 2:23as fast as you can. Now try to push
80. 2:25these two imaginary buttons with two
81. 2:27fingers instead, alternating between the
82. 2:29two. You'll almost definitely notice
83. 2:30that there's just no way one finger can
84. 2:32be as fast as two. Everything I've said
85. 2:34so far sounds great in theory and I'm
86. 2:37sure you all agree because I'm always
87. 2:39right. So doesn't it make sense that
88. 2:40Peterbot, the fastest and undisputed
89. 2:42best competitive player right now, has
90. 2:44three build binds and his edit on one
91. 2:47finger? Well, in order to understand
92. 2:48this, you first need to understand the
93. 2:49big problem with keyboard and mouse
94. 2:51binds. One of the biggest issues that I
95. 2:53very quickly realized when I switched
96. 2:54from controller is the movement. When
97. 2:56you're playing on controller, your left
98. 2:57thumb moves the joystick, leaving the
99. 2:59other four fingers on that hand to press
100. 3:01whatever buttons you want. But on the
101. 3:02keyboard and mouse, you use your index,
102. 3:04middle, and ring finger to move. Given
103. 3:06your right hand is on the mouse and not
104. 3:08on the keyboard, this means that the
105. 3:09only fingers free to press any other
106. 3:11keyboard binds is the little finger and
107. 3:13the thumb on your left hand. So in order
108. 3:15to press a lot of the binds, you have to
109. 3:17take your fingers off of WASD in order
110. 3:19to hit these buttons, which limits your
111. 3:21movement. For example, if you want to
112. 3:22press F to edit, you use your index
113. 3:24finger, but your index finger is what
114. 3:26you used to press D when you walk to the
115. 3:28right. This means that the vast majority
116. 3:30of players cannot walk to the right and
117. 3:32edit at the same time, which is a big
118. 3:33limitation. Almost regardless of what
119. 3:35binds you use, you're going to be
120. 3:37limited in some way. Pro player Queasy
121. 3:39has wall bound to Q, so he can't place a
122. 3:41wall whilst walking to the left, and he
123. 3:44also has floors bound to R and stairs
124. 3:46bound to T, meaning that he can't walk
125. 3:48to the right whilst pressing these with
126. 3:50his index finger. Vico, who won FNCS
127. 3:52last season, uses his thumb to press X
128. 3:54and C, which are his binds for wall and
129. 3:56floor, his little finger to press shift
130. 3:57for cone, and then has his stairs on his
131. 3:59mouse side button. This means that he
132. 4:01can move in any direction and press any
133. 4:03of his build binds as none of these use
134. 4:04his WASD fingers. But, this still means
135. 4:07that he has two binds built to one
136. 4:08finger, which is on his thumb. And I'll
137. 4:10be honest, I have no idea how he builds
138. 4:12this fast with his thumb and doesn't
139. 4:13accidentally mash the space bar all the
140. 4:15time. But, even this layout still has
141. 4:17problems. If you watch him free build in
142. 4:18slow motion, you can see how things like
143. 4:20his cones and floors can always place at
144. 4:22the same time since he can press both of
145. 4:23these buttons with two different
146. 4:24fingers. But, if you watch him place a
147. 4:26wall and then a floor, there's actually
148. 4:27a bit of a noticeable delay between
149. 4:29these two as he has to move his thumb
150. 4:30from C to X. Then to edit with E, he
151. 4:33still has to move his index finger off
152. 4:35of D. So, like most people, he can't
153. 4:37walk to the right and edit. And then
154. 4:38there's also Scroll, who with just under
155. 4:40$75,000 earned, has all four of his
156. 4:43build binds on his mouse. Scroll presses
157. 4:45Q to switch between his weapons to open
158. 4:47his build menu, and then he uses the
159. 4:49scroll wheel to select which build he
160. 4:51wants to place. It also seems like he
161. 4:53doesn't have reset building choice
162. 4:55enabled either, which means that when he
163. 4:57switches to his build bar, it doesn't
164. 4:58automatically reset to a wall like it
165. 5:00does for most people on controller.
166. 5:02Instead, it pulls out the last build
167. 5:04piece he used, and then he has to scroll
168. 5:06up or down to select the correct build
169. 5:08piece. The only exception to this is
170. 5:09that he uses a mouse button for cone,
171. 5:11which allows him to press the floor and
172. 5:13then the cone quickly, creating a double
173. 5:15instantly. I won't lie, he's he's not
174. 5:17Peterbot, okay? His mechanics are not
175. 5:19that cracked. He builds way less than
176. 5:21any other pro. He plays slowly, but he
177. 5:23understands angles and peaks very well,
178. 5:26and he's really good at getting in the
179. 5:27box. His aim is amazing, and of course,
180. 5:30because of this, he has phenomenal
181. 5:32movement because he's not really limited
182. 5:33by his left hand. He plays to his
183. 5:35strengths. Now, speaking of Peterbot,
184. 5:37his solution to the keyboard movement
185. 5:38problem is one I haven't seen any other
186. 5:41pro player do, and it's probably one I
187. 5:43wouldn't recommend. His build binds are
188. 5:45on T, Y, F, and V with his edit bind on
189. 5:49G. Now, if you're looking at that on
190. 5:51your keyboard, you'll notice that this
191. 5:52looks incredibly inefficient. Yet, he's
192. 5:55literally the fastest competitive
193. 5:56player. When I asked him how he does
194. 5:58this, he told me that he uses his index
195. 6:00finger to hit T for wall, Y for floor, F
196. 6:03for stairs, G for edit, and all of his
197. 6:06weapon and inventory slots outside of
198. 6:08his shotgun, which is on his mouse.
199. 6:10Then, in order to hit the cone on V, he
200. 6:12also uses his thumb. So, this means that
201. 6:14he hits four of major binds with one
202. 6:17finger, which on the surface seems
203. 6:19incredibly inefficient. Now, if you try
204. 6:21this, you'll realize this is a massive
205. 6:23stretch, and it just feels incredibly
206. 6:25uncomfortable. Like, how is he meant to
207. 6:26walk to the right at all with his index
208. 6:28finger whilst hitting these binds? But,
209. 6:31the way that Peterbot achieves this
210. 6:32isn't actually by using a traditional
211. 6:34WASD setup. To hit these movement keys,
212. 6:36Pete uses his little, ring, and middle
213. 6:39fingers to press W, A, S, and D instead
214. 6:41of the ring, middle, and index. This
215. 6:44frees up his index finger to hit all of
216. 6:45these buttons as he likes, and there may
217. 6:47be some validity to this. Any musician
218. 6:49out there will know how useless the
219. 6:51little finger is in comparison to any
220. 6:53other finger. So, restricting it to
221. 6:54literally just walking left with A and
222. 6:56reloading with Q actually makes a lot of
223. 6:58sense. In terms of dexterity, which is
224. 7:00the skill in performing tasks, a little
225. 7:02finger is the slowest and the weakest.
226. 7:04But, strength and speed aren't the only
227. 7:06important factors. Individualization is
228. 7:08also incredibly important. Now, try this
229. 7:10out. Straighten and bend your ring
230. 7:12finger. You'll see that your middle
231. 7:14finger also moves a little bit. And the
232. 7:16opposite is also true if you move your
233. 7:17middle finger. Now, remember when I said
234. 7:19I struggled with the stretch and tension
235. 7:21in my hand when I was playing with
236. 7:22paddles back in the controller? This is
237. 7:24exactly why. These two fingers are
238. 7:26connected by a tendon in the middle, and
239. 7:28they can't move independent of one
240. 7:30another. Now, this doesn't make these
241. 7:31two fingers useless by any means, but it
242. 7:33goes to show the importance of the index
243. 7:35finger and the thumb since these can
244. 7:37move entirely independent of the other
245. 7:39fingers, and they're strong unlike that
246. 7:41crappy little finger. With this in mind,
247. 7:43it's not entirely surprising that
248. 7:45Peterbot can have nearly all of his six
249. 7:46major binds just spread across these two
250. 7:49as they are two of the most versatile
251. 7:50fingers. So, all of these players I've
252. 7:52mentioned have something inefficient
253. 7:53with their binds. That's because there
254. 7:55are no optimal binds. Every single
255. 7:58layout has some form of issue, but this
256. 8:00isn't actually the trap. The trap is
257. 8:03thinking that you'll massively improve
258. 8:05if you switch to optimal binds, which
259. 8:07also, as I mentioned, don't exist. If
260. 8:09you've been watching my videos for a
261. 8:10while, you'll see I've posted two videos
262. 8:12in 2023 about switching to {quote}
263. 8:14optimal binds. In short, I move my hand
264. 8:17to the middle of the keyboard so I can
265. 8:18use my thumb to hit right alt easier for
266. 8:21cone. And then this means that my
267. 8:22movement binds would be U H J K instead
268. 8:25of W A S D, but I move my walk right to
269. 8:28Y instead of K so that my ring finger
270. 8:30moves between Y and H to move left and
271. 8:33right. This frees up my index to edit
272. 8:35faster, which is on K, which means I,
273. 8:37unlike a lot of these other players, can
274. 8:39walk to the right as I edit. Now, I have
275. 8:41absolutely improved over the last 2
276. 8:43years. My mechanics now are way better
277. 8:45than they ever have been. But, is this
278. 8:47really because of the fact that I
279. 8:48switched my binds or because I've just
280. 8:50been playing for another 2 years on top
281. 8:52of that? Even with the binds I have now,
282. 8:54which are about as optimal as I can get
283. 8:56them for myself, I still have to press I
284. 8:58for floor with my index, which means
285. 9:00there's still two major binds on the
286. 9:01same finger. Like I said, there are no
287. 9:03such thing as completely optimal binds.
288. 9:06Overhauling my binds took around 4
289. 9:08months to get used to. And to this day,
290. 9:10I'm still changing minor binds around
291. 9:12like inventory and map traps when I
292. 9:14accidentally hit them. But, what if I
293. 9:16just stayed with my old binds? Well,
294. 9:18that's what Peterbot did. This video is
295. 9:20from the 2nd of August, 2021, which is
296. 9:22just under 4 years ago. Notice his
297. 9:25strange binds were the same back then as
298. 9:27they are now. He may have changed
299. 9:29something around small like I did, but
300. 9:31the main major binds are exactly the
301. 9:34same. Just like my optimal binds are not
302. 9:36the reason I'm some cheeks. That's
303. 9:38unfortunately just on me. The big young
304. 9:40calc said it best 5 years ago. Optimal
305. 9:42binds are a myth and if you change
306. 9:44binds, you are stupid. Now, I don't
307. 9:45necessarily agree that changing them
308. 9:47makes you stupid, but changing them and
309. 9:49thinking you're going to be an entirely
310. 9:50different breed of player just isn't
311. 9:52true. This is the trap of optimal binds.
312. 9:55With this being said, a lot of people
313. 9:56will be wondering what are the best
314. 9:59binds. And I think looking at Vico,
315. 10:01Cooper, and Norelle's makes the most
316. 10:02sense. They're all some of the most
317. 10:04mechanical players out there and their
318. 10:05binds are extremely efficient. These
319. 10:07players, similar to Peterbot, have all
320. 10:09been using these binds for over 3 years.
321. 10:11They all have one build bind on C, which
322. 10:14they hit with their thumb. Then, two of
323. 10:15the build binds are on their mouse side
324. 10:17buttons. But, in Vico's case, he has two
325. 10:19on his thumb, which is C and X as we
326. 10:21said earlier. Then, they all also use
327. 10:23left shift for cone, which they hit with
328. 10:24their little finger. So, basically, no
329. 10:26build binds on any of the movement
330. 10:28fingers. Both Vico and Noah use their
331. 10:30index finger for editing, which makes
332. 10:31sense as this is the finger you need to
333. 10:33be the fastest with. Then, Cooper
334. 10:35strangely uses his thumb to edit on V. Q
335. 10:37for shotgun makes the most sense, which
336. 10:39Cooper and Vico use as you can just hit
337. 10:40your edit with your index finger and
338. 10:42then quickly pull out your shotgun using
339. 10:44your ring finger on Q. So, my suggested
340. 10:46optimal, quote-unquote, binds are
341. 10:48basically what Cooper uses, but with
342. 10:49edit on F as most people probably won't
343. 10:52be as accurate with edit and wall both
344. 10:54on their thumb. Now, Peterbot's binds
345. 10:55may be very strange, but they're not the
346. 10:57reason he's the player he is. If you
347. 10:59want to find out why it's literally
348. 11:00impossible to beat Peterbot, click on
349. 11:02this video on screen right now.