Razer Nostromo Gaming Keypad Review: A DotA Player Perspective

First of all sorry for my english, it's not my mother language so I'm sure I will make a lot of mistakes!
Yes I've been owning this little wonder for a few months now and I can say I will probably never go back!
This article is divided in two parts: the description of this keypad and a guide about how i customized my keys to fit my DotA player needs.

Part 1. The Razer Nostromo Keypad Description and Review

Let's start with hardware specs:
the bold part is from razer's website I will comment in italic.

• Ergonomic form factor and tournament-grade layout This is for sure the best feature of this keypad. It's VERY confortable and can be adjusted to fit your hand dimensions. I play for hours and you will see it's so easy to forget about you keypad completely! Of course you will need a few hours of gaming before you get accostumed to it, so don't use it for important games right from the start!
• 16 fully programmable Hyperesponse keys 16 can sound like a lot but for me was the perfect number. If there were 14 or 15 it would have been a problem but for DotA 16 is exactly what you need. if you play FPS they will for sure fit your needs to but I'm not sure if they are enough for MMORPG. I won't talk about this because since I dont play MMORPGs I' not sure what the correct number of keys is, just think about it on your own :p 
• Programmable 8-way directional thumb pad and scroll wheel You may think this is not needed for DotA but you are wrong! It's very confortable and I use it for macros and chicken but I will get into details later. A directional thumb pad can be used in a "directional" way for FPS but if you think about it's just a confortable way to do 4 or 8 different things with just one finger!
• Instantaneous switching between 8 key maps I don't use this feature a lot but I guess is just good to have it especially if you play many games. For DotA can be useful if you want different keys for heroes like geomancer, invoker etc who may need their own macros and hotkeys
• Unlimited macro lengths For DotA I use very short macros to select hero and chicken fast but I can say that is very fast to make macros and you can get into very tiny details like milliseconds of delay before press a key etc..
• Stores up to 20 different game profiles Nothing to add.
• Adjustable soft-touch wrist pad for exceptional comfort See first point
• Backlit keypad and scroll wheel for total control even in dark conditions This looks very cool but it's very hard to move your hand and "lose" keys unlike keyboards. So you don't really need the illumination but for the look which is actually pretty cool :D
• Enhanced Razer configurator software See macros point
• Approximate dimensions in mm: 184(L) x 160(W) x 59(H)
• Approximate weight: 250g

Hardware Requirements

PC with USB port
Windows® 7 / Windows Vista® / Windows® XP
Internet connection (for driver installation)
At least 35MB of hard disk space

 

Razer Nostromo Official Website

Part 2. My DotA Razer Nostromo Keys And Macros Guide

This is the key costumization interface and now I will describe my personal way of using Razer Nostromo. I will start with the most important keys and will continue with the less important.( please someone help me with english :D)

My index, middle and ring fingers are on key 09,08 and 07 respectively. I use index for attack command for easy lasthit (09) and keys 07 08 04 03 are used for the main 4 skills. Some heroes need extra skill key but unfortunately I use a mouse button for that, maybe one day I will add my mouse setup too to this guide. You can use directional thumbpad for this if you like and it will fit in my setup too because i use only 3 directions over 8.

Key 02 is use for hold command useful to block creeps, lasthit and to hide behind the trees before a gank.

Keys 12 13 14 and 15 (thumb key) are used for items. I have and extra item key on my mouse too but using 5 activable items is not for everyone :D.

The key 16 (thumb key over the directional thumbpad) is used for the macro "enter - go back - enter" which is extra useful when you need to communicate fast with you team and if you played dota a little you will know for sure how crucial this is!

Now the "pinky keys" 01 06 and 11.
I personally don't use key 01 but to set control groups for my hero and the chicken.
06 is shift command and I use it to queue commands. For example when I tp to a tower I can queue a movement or a spell so I don't cancel the tp and i will start doing whatever I queued as soon as the tp is finished!
11 is TAB and is used to switch beetween selected units for enchantress, chen, geomancer etc.

Key 05 is set with this macro "11" to quicly select my hero and move my camera to him after i buy items or if I lose control of him!

And now the directional thumbpad! I use only 3 directions because I felt like it was the most confortable and less confusing way to use it. Down is used for the macro "enter - miss - enter" to quickly communicate a MIA without losing a lasthit or getting distracted. Up is the same but with "enter - re - enter" macro. Left is used for this macro "22" to quicly select the chicken and move the camera to him to buy items or to move him away from the enemy.

I think this is all if you have any questions or feedback don't hesitate to leave a comment below!!