Honestly, I am pretty happy with where the hotbar is at. I can find all stuff that I need through drop-down menus (be it weapons arts through weapon icon, or spells/skills through resource icons) while keeping hotbar for free skills that I am likely to use a lot, or stuff I want visible so I won't forget about them. My current set up looks like that for anyone interested:
As a word of explanation: I tend to put spells that come from items on the most left tab so I remember that I can cast them without consuming resources. Bard has speaking with dead and animals so I won't forget about their existence.
![[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]](https://i.imgur.com/kBfQjTW.jpg)
I wish UI was a bit slicker to use (less clicking, easier closing of opened tabs) but overall it's very usable. Unlike original hotbar, I also find it easy to create an initial set up (which in most case is erase all, but cantrip/class skills) and I can go from there and add/modify stuff as I play.
The only issue I have are items, which just feels like a dirty space under a bed or couch that I am afraid to open.
3 : Items hotbar
![[Linked Image from zupimages.net]](https://zupimages.net/up/22/31/zoku.png)
- 4 new activable icons are on the hotbar (quiver, potion case, scroll case, weapons)
- These 4 icons have a specific and shared layout. We easily understand what is an action (grey icons) and a bonus action (blue icons) due to their visual code. The 4 new "items" icons should have their own visual code.
- When you click on them, the custom hotbar becomes black and all arrows / potions / scrolls or weapons you have in your inventory and can use are visible on the UI.
- It works just like when you click a spell that gives you extra options (E.G hex or chromatic orb, but it shows items we have in our inventory).
I would love to have feature like that. Because:
Look, i understand the urge to have everything sorted in boxes ...
I just dont like it ...
What i expect from my hotbar is to have there things prepared ...
I click healing potion > my character drinks ... and thats it!
I click flame arrow > my character shoots it ... and thats it!
I know that some of you wish to open bag > pick arrow pocket > pick arrow > and shoot ... that is HORRIBLE image for me. :-/
Agree! The problem I have is that I find that there is too much crap to keep track of. So I make sure to have healing potions visible on my hotbar - and the rest just stays disorganized, unlikely to be ever used unless I try to face Gythianky and need to pull all the stops. Benefit of "folders" isn't to make it easy to find things that you know you want to use (that's what hotbar is for) but to make it easy to glance through things you could be using instead. I can tell you that unless I am using an archer as my main, I tend to not use special arrows - it would be just too tedious to organise them and keep a track of what I have.
Perhaps, your brain works differently then mine, but I find that I am making a far better use of my memorized spells now when I can use spell dropdown menus to see what I have. Previously, I would give a handful of spells premium spots on my hotbar and for the most part only those would be used.
And I barely ever use any potions aside from healing potions - making it easier to see what I have, I think would only help in utilizing more stuff that I pick up.
(That is by the way also reason why i keep fighting for option to have particular spells on hotbar, level included ... i just want my Wizard to have Mage Armor level 1 prepared at single click (okey 2 with targeting) bcs i would never use higher level for that, why would i, it gives no benefit ... it only bothers me with yet another unnecesary picking.)
Well, Mage Armor is a bad example, as spells default to their lowest level. So if you put Mage Armor on your hotbar it should default to level one - you only need to do an extra click if you want to upcast it. That being said, I think that lack of ability to put on the hotbar an upcasted version is a potential downgrade. It is not something that I used much myself though.
