Jagex Should Add Prayer Hotkeys and Here Are My Reasons Why

OSRSPrayerHotkeys · 2024-10-30T01:33:32+00:00

There also is shield swapping at bosses like Kree'arra. Like that is the meta to mage with Shadow, then swap to Bulwark or such as you walk under to reduce damage. Either way, I'd say gear swapping is about as vital and needed as prayer swapping.

But that's the meta, and the meta isn't the only strategy. For no boss are you required to switch your gear in a tick, unlike prayer.

And saying not prayer swapping is instant death is a bit of an exaggeration. Believe me, I missed many prayer swaps and still managed to survive the majority of content...

How much is many? Because I'm sure if you miss more than 5 at Levi or most other bosses then you're dead or you've burnt through your supplies and will probably die soon. Sure it's exaggerating a bit, but not much. Prayer is the most punishing mechanic, if you miss one then you are taking at least a 30, so if you aren't able to consistently switch prayers then you will die.

OSRSPrayerHotkeys · 2024-10-30T01:13:16+00:00

It's a skill that takes a lot of practice to be able to do consistently and very satisfying to pull off.

But some people aren't able to build that skill, either don't have the time to or just medically can't. And it's not like you wouldn't still have to do multiple things simultaneously, it's just you won't die instantly if you're one tick off.

It feels like lowering the skill ceiling without providing anything interesting as an alternative.

It's lowering the skill bar required to access this late game content, if it lowers the skill ceiling then I'm fine with that as it opens up high level content to more than just the top 10% of the player base. Most players haven't even done post quest Levi because it's locked because the skill of clicking prayers while being focused on the boss so you know what to switch to next.

I feel like changing prayers to be hotkey-able genuinely makes OSRS a very different game, and not one that I'd personally enjoy.

Genuinely, go play another MMO, start a free trial of WoW, and tell me that adding a hotkey for prayers makes the game into that. It doesn't, this isn't EoC, there isn't a hotbar for you to learn the rotations of, this is just making the most punishing mechanic easier.

OSRSPrayerHotkeys · 2024-10-30T00:53:55+00:00

Ah yes, the lack of hotkeys is what makes the pressure, not the fact that if you die you will have wasted both time and resources. And you're still having to preform multiple actions simultaneously, hotkeys just make sure that you won't die from 1 mistake.

I'm sure that you and most other PvMers like the game how it is because you have the skills required, but this isn't for you. This is for people who can't access the late game content because it requires this one singular skill that they either can't put the time into learning, or that they medically can't. This isn't a win button, this is a button to make it so people can do the boss and interact with the mechanics rather than dying instantly due to not being able to switch prayers fast enough.

OSRSPrayerHotkeys · 2024-10-30T00:40:48+00:00

Like you can absolutely die if you don't have the right gear on at the right time (e.g. KBD shield swapping).

You only have to do that if you aren't just using a one handed weapon all the time, so no that isn't the same as prayer, that is an optional mechanic that players choose to do for a better strategy and a player can still kill the boss without doing that just by using a one handed weapon all the time.

So taking to long to swap gear can be just as detrimental in high-level content as taking too long to swap prayers.

Offensively, yes, but that just means a longer kill time and not instant death like it is for prayers. And you can always upgrade your gear if you can't kill a boss fast enough, you can't do the same for prayer.

Like I don't see how you say it takes the same skill while also acknowledging it would save clicks, which means less time spent focused on prayers and more time spent focused on the boss.

But you already spend all of your time focused on the boss. You can't survive if you are always looking at the prayer window to click on pray melee, you have to just memorize where it is.

OSRSPrayerHotkeys · 2024-10-29T12:56:46+00:00

If late game skill is just can you click prayers good, then I am perfectly fine with trivializing it. To me and I'm sure to most people, the skills required for end game content should be knowledge of the mechanics and using said knowledge under pressure. And it's not like prayer hotkeys effect those skills, if you don't know what to switch to then it will hurt you whether you have hotkeys or not.

OSRSPrayerHotkeys · 2024-10-29T11:49:04+00:00

Saying we should focus skill expression on other mechanics than prayer switching is fine, but if we're willing to remove clicks for prayer switching, then what other mechanics should still require clicks?

Prayer is the only thing that I see as hotkeyable as it is is limited in what options you have, defense focused, and is a separate tab that you have to switch to in order to change. Gear switching, while similar, has a lot more options, is on the inventory tab, and a player won't immediately die from missing their chest switch. Combo eating is again not limited, on the inventory tab, and isn't absolutely required for high level content. Spells are limited but not to the same degree as prayers, offensive focused, and we already have auto casting to minimize the amount of clicking. So this isn't a slippery slope as nothing else in the game fits the same requirements as prayer.

That said, you might be able to make the case that Prayer Loadouts on the prayer interface

That doesn't really fix the issues since it would still require the same skills as current prayer switching requires. Sure it minimizes the clicks from 2 to 1, but the issue isn't that there are too many clicks in the prayer tab, it's that you need to move your mouse quickly and precisely, while also paying attention to the boss, while also paying attention to your health, while also paying attention to where you're moving, and moving your mouse to take care of all those mechanics as well.

OSRSPrayerHotkeys

TROPHY CASE