Problems with fighting enemies while grouped

I have a tank who is now 27th level, and while most of what I did with this character has been solo'd, I was in a several hour lasting group that was doing one mission after another the other day. What I discovered was that in the middle of some fights, there would be so much graphic stuff on the screen that my cursor was completely gone, and I'd end up having to try to figure out where it was, meanwhile trying to do damage to enemies. I'd sometimes just use the number keys for fighting (cause I just couldn't find the cursor), but when it came to targeting, I was having serious trouble.

Part of it was lag, even though I have a pretty good connection and an excellent computer system. The other part was just because so much action was taking part on the screen that it was just practically impossible to figure out what was what.

What sorts of solutions do people have for this? I know you can use hotkeys, but I was having serious trouble with this (as I couldn't even see what was being targeted, and sometimes for reasons I don't know, other teammates ended up being targeted instead of the mobs). I figure people play in groups all of the time, so could use some friendly advice for a baby tanker.

I play exclusively with the keyboard, only using the mouse when I absolutely have to.

I control my character with the arrow keys, and I use my powers as follows:

1-0 number keys: Tray 1 powers. These are the powers I use most frequently. If I'm playing a character that has an attack chain, the powers in that chain are set up left to right.

Alt+1-0 number keys: Default setting for tray 2 powers. These are things like heals, Build Up, debuffs, etc. Used less frequently, so not as important to have immediate access to.

Tray 3 powers are clicked, this is usually where I put toggle powers that will be clicked once and left on unless detoggled for some reason.

Targeting: The Tab key is the default "next target" key, I use that to switch between targets.

The key right above Tab: ~ I have this set up as my "Target Closest Enemy" key. I tap that key and automatically target whichever enemy is closest to me.

I use F1-F5 for quick inspiration use. I generally set up my inspirations in groupings of the same, so I can tap the button several times if I need to use more than one.

Even when lag turns the game into a slideshow, I always know what I'm attempting to do, because I don't rely on being able to get my mouse to the correct spot to click things.

Thanks, Clawsandeffect. I might try out that arrangement to see how that works for me. I was generally fine for the most part until I started moving with a group, and then it became difficult. It was a good group, and I was able to maintain, but there were times when I felt that I wasn't doing all that I could be doing, mainly because of my inability to get to the right button quickly.

I also play almost exclusively using the keyboard and have a similar setup to what Claws describes above. I just wanted to add that when you target a teammate and then use an attack power, you attack whatever that teammate is targeting. Many times other players may be using this trick to target through you as the tank, but it can also be handy to taunt something off a Blaster in over his head without needing to tab or click to find his target. Happy tanking!

Control + # key is Tray three.

Shift + # key is select teammate # based off current team window ordering.

I put single target attacks in my first row and randomly hit them until I can find my mouse cursor again. I also bind location targeted powers to convenient keys/mouse buttons so I can more easily launch them.

One thing that helped me to stop losing the cursor was Ruff_Tuff_n_Buff's Cursor Patch. Much bigger cursors, much easier to find with my poor ol' eyes.

I use a setup that sounds almost identical to Claws' too and it works fine the vast majority of the time.

The one time where I also have this problem is area targeted affects. IN this case, I don't happen to know a mouseless way to target, and it can be bothersome.

So, perhaps I should look into the Cursor patch StarGeek has recommended..

Oops, I didn't go far enough into the thread. This is the post that has the big cursors that I use.

As others have mentioned, Tab is your friend. There are plenty of targetting hotkeys set up by default; learn them, love them, live by them.

I also take advantage of the fact that when you have no target and you hit an attack power hotkey (like "1" or "2" etc.) twice, the first time selects a nearby target and the second one fires off the attack. So I just spam my attack powers in a crowd and I am always attacking something.

Also, even with a screen full of power fx obscuring the action, you can't really lose track of what your target is thanks to the Target window in the upper left corner of your screen.

Also, if your screen is *really* full of laggy graphics, go to Menu -> Options and select the Graphics and Audio tab. There's a slider (Graphics Quality, I think) were you can turn down the SFX, particles and other general stuff. Set it to Performance or Minimum and see if that helps.