Razer Naga Expert MMO Gaming Mouse Review

29.05.2012

I say the 1-6 keys since the 3rd and 4th rows on the keypad are still slightly out of comfortable reach. Gamers with larger or more limber thumbs may find they can reach those keys easily, and more time with the Naga may be enough to get me using them as well, but with just a few days of playing and only the 1-6 keys the Naga has already revolutionized how I play WoW.

Since most of my core abilities on any character in WoW are hotkeyed to the first six number buttons on the Naga I'm able to rely on my right hand for most of my basic attacks, leaving my left hand to concentrate on movement with the WASD keys and more specialized abilities that I use more rarely.

Since Razer's Synapse software allows you to remap any of the buttons on the Naga and even add customized Macros I suspect the company would prefer you do most of your customization on the mouse itself rather than in-game, and the ability to port those settings quickly and easily to a new computer using Synapse may make that the most advantageous plan for power gamers who want to maintain their settings across multiple machines.

Personally I don't see much need for that feature since I tend to do all of my gaming on one PC and the Naga provides me with more than enough buttons to configure using in-game keybindings. That's especially true when you realize how easy the Naga makes it to add modifier keys to your keybindings; see MMO classes with a multitude of abilities often end up binding keys to not just their number pad but to shift-1, control-1, shift-2 and on down the line to have quick access to all their spells. This can get uncomfortable in a hurry, as stretching your hand from the shift key all the way up to the number keys likely strains the limits of your hand's extension.

With the Naga however, mapping six abilities to my shift and control modifier keys means I have 18 abilities that I can use quickly and easily without uncomfortably stretching either of my hands. All I need to do is press the shift and control keys on the keyboard with my left hand and then the 1-6 keys on the Naga with my right. While I may not be able to reach all 17 buttons on the Naga, it still manages to provide me easy access to 18 abilities.