The table puts recommendations at the forefront, but you can see the data we collected for each companion if you expand their entry if you're interested.

So I have noticed a decent amount of screenshots and videos from SWTOR that feature ability clicking. I wanted to write this for whoever may benefit.

Why to Keybind Your Abilities:

Clicking is slower.

Clicking is less consistent.

You want to get better at the game.

You can use your mouse for movement!

Common Reasons Against the Change:

I am comfortable clicking my abilities.

I have done it this long, I can't change.

I am worse at the game when I keybind (due to being comfortable clicking.)

My Reason for Caring:

We all start somewhere. I started off my MMORPG adventures as a clicker. I was a clicker for a long time. I leveled to max, and participated in end-game pve as a clicker. I pvp'd as a clicker. I eventually realized I was limiting myself, and I wanted to get better. It was a difficult path. It took time to adapt. It took time to improve. As I improved, I understood why it was necessary. I became far better at the game I loved.

How to Start:

Getting started was hard. I couldn't simply keybind my abilities and meet success. It was a learning process. It will be for you too, especially more so the longer you have progressed via only clicking abilities. It can be a gradual process. I will give you some methods that worked for me. Stay open minded and be patient. You will not instantly be better. It is a process, that is worth it.

Step 0: Creating a New Character

Level a new character, with a goal to learn keybinding. If you try to jump right into a max level character, you will be overwhelmed with no muscle memory. You will get frustrated. You may get frustrated either way, but starting a fresh character with less abilities will be far easier and offer you a steady progress with incremental changes. Going from clicking to keybinding all abilities on a max level character is unrealistic. You want your abilities to be slowly unlocked, adding to the challenge over time. Even now, after playing MMO's for over a decade, I opt to level new characters rather than boost them just so that I can slowly get familiar with my binds and abilities.

Step 1: Pick the Right Binds

Everyone is a little different in what is comfortable to them. Some keys are faster and easier than others. Modifiers (Shift / Control) allow you to double the binds with just a little pinky action. I have small fingers, you may have more range than I do. Plan accordingly.

My favorite binds are 1-4, F, G, R , T. Double those, with Shift key modifiers. I also like C / V + Shift modifiers. ` is ok too, and 5 is doable but again I have short fingers so it is less comfortable. A MMO mouse is great, but even normal mice typically have a mouse button 4 / 5. I also like to use Shift + scroll wheel up / down. Without shift, obviously camera zoom is nice to have, but there is little reason not to utilize mouse scroll with a shift key, its a quick button I reserve for adrenals / medpacs. B might also be a decent bind, but with my MMO mouse buttons, id rather save B for bags. I use V for rest, and C for mount. Bags / Mount / Rest are all low priority binds. Click them for now if you lack a MMO mouse and are struggling to find room for your abilities.

Side Note: There are certain keybinds in game you may want to unbind, due to accidental presses. Shift + E is a major one for me. Every new character I make, I set my keybinds and unbind potential mishaps such as that.

Step 2: Also, Picking the Right Binds

Try things out. Adjust as you go. Sometimes your rotation is not what you expect. Sometimes you get new abilities that make you re-think your plan. That's why we are leveling a new character. There is time to adjust. Time to try things out. Even now, I sometimes keybind an ability to more than one key as I'm leveling, to see which I will favor. Which feels easier and more natural. For example, if I bind something to ` and then need to hit Shift + T after it for my rotation, that is a stretch for me and not a quick movement. I adapt and adjust. There is a process of trial and error involved. I like to keep my main rotational abilities somewhat close to each other, such as F, G, R, and T (+ Shift modifiers!) I like to keep my interrupt a consistent and easy to press location, Shift + R for all my characters.

Step 3: Stick With it and be Patient!

You may find yourself frustrated at times. You may want to revert to what is comfortable if you have been clicking for a long time. Expect this frustration. Push yourself to avoid falling back to old habits. Stick with the keybinding learning experience and know it will get better.

Step 4: Ignore Me

Your hands may favor different buttons than mine. Maybe control is an easier modifier than shift for you. Maybe you can reach all the way to H and Y more comfortably than I can. I have described what worked for me, but I encourage you to try different options and find what works for you! This also ties into step 2, but try things out and adjust!

Step 5: Enjoy

You have now started making use of keybinds. You can now press two buttons in quick succession. Shield probe for snipers, off the global cooldown. You can now press it at the same time you are activating Ambush. You are slowly becoming better at the game. Your new character is entering the higher levels, and you are comfortable activating all your major buttons with keybinds. You feel more confident going into ops. You can now enjoy warzones without feeling *as* behind.... PvP is always competitive, but now you at least have a shot!

I don't know if many will find this helpful, but if at least one person does that's enough for me. And for what its worth, it took me multiple new characters to really get a feel for switching from clicking to keybinding. You can do it!

I don't know how or why, but I have encountered many players that have their sprint off, even at higher levels and with them having all class buffs (meaning they at least played, until level 42, all the classes required to unlock the buffs haha)

If you don't have this little purple icon of the guy running as a buff, it means your sprint is off! Activate it to run fast out of combat! :D

If you don't have the skill on your bar already, you can press P and go to "General".

Thank you kindly for your service, have a great faster weekend.

Every few years I get pulled back into making an even more accurate map of the galaxy as it is during the time of SWTOR. This newest version is once again a complete remake from the ground up at 2x the resolution & detail of the previous one.

This time I crawled the complete localisation files of SWTOR with a Python script to search for mentions of planets, systems, sectors, ... and their current ownership as a basis for information. Then I consulted the Essential Atlas and the Essential Guide to Warfare to extrapolate the most likely borders for Republic and Hutt space in our time.
I also radically cut any systems I couldn't confirm as known in our time in one way or another (they are now shown as 'undiscovered systems' in a very transparent shade). I'll follow up with a "Galactic Exploration Map" on that topic.
Lastly I went went through all the comics, novels, encyclopaedias, tabletop rulebooks, ... that are relevant to the TOR era as further sources for information.
However, some things had to be extrapolated, while some sources left room for interpretation. (To account for this, I framed it in-universe as a product of Sey'kal Astrography.) Still, this hopefully results in the most accurate map to the current state of the known galaxy.

Reddit doesn't allow images bigger than 20mb, so this post only has the 10k x 7,6k version. For the full res 16k x 12k version see my deviantart post.