I’ve always been intrigued by MMO mice, but never really pulled the trigger on one. I don’t know what was holding me back as well – whether it was finding one I liked or felt comfortable during initial tests at a store modeling the mouse. However, I always ended up just leaning back on my old, reliable mouse I’ve used for years. So, when Corsair offered us the chance to review their latest MMO mouse – the Scimitar RGB Elite – I jumped at the chance.
First, some specs:
- Mouse Warranty: Two years
- Prog Buttons: 17
- DPI: 18,000 DPI
- Sensor: PMW3391
- Sensor Type: Optical
- Mouse Backlighting: 4 Zone RGB
- On Board Memory: Yes
- On-board Memory Profiles: 3
- Mouse button Type: Omron
- Mouse Button Durability: 50M L/R Click
- Connectivity: Wired
- Grip Type: Palm
- Weight Tuning: No
- Weight: 122g (w/out cable and accessories)
- Cable: 1.8m Braided Fiber
- CUE Software Supported in iCUE
- Game Type: MMO, MOBA
- Report Rate Selectable: 1000Hz/500Hz/250Hz/125Hz
- Cost: $79.99 via Amazon
First Look And Impressions
At first glance, the Corsair Scimitar RGB Elite looks like your standard mouse – albeit with twelve additional buttons on the side. It’s a little wider than I generally like – my Logitech G502 feels a bit slimmer in my hand – but it’s not uncomfortably so. The real star of the show with the Scimitar RGB Elite is very obviously the 12 programmable buttons on the side of the mouse, though the mouse overall has 17 separate programmable buttons.
The side buttons are pretty well crafted, and it’s easy to figure out where you are on them thanks to how they are laid out. The rows alternate from a smooth feel to a textured feel, making it easy to navigate without needing to look down at your hand. The contour of the button layout changes slightly depending on where are on the mouse – whether you’re closer to the top or the bottom, giving you a good frame of reference when moving around the keypad.
The whole thing is adjustable as well, so you’re able to move the whole keypad to that perfect sweet spot where you don’t feel like you’re reaching to hit certain button. A simple handy tool is included in the package and it’s just a matter of loosing via a nut on the bottom of the mouse, moving the keypad into position and tightening everything back down again.
With many MMOs, skill bars can be…well they can become quite cluttered. Couple this with the insane keybinds you might need to do in order to make firing off a perfectly timed skill easy in the heat of battle and it makes sense that hardware manufacturers for years have been trying to find a hardware solution to help in this regard.
One of the major titles I’ve been playing recently has been Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers. That game, like many tab-target MMOs has a giant skill bar, spanning multiple combinations of number keys, shift, etc. While for years I’ve just stretched my hands and used the standard keybinds, swapping to this mouse actually felt foreign at first.
It was weird, moving these simple actions I had done for years on my left hand over to my right thumb. Being able to bind actual full keybinds to the keypad – so for instance instead of mapping the 1 key to the 1 button, but binding Shift+1 to that button instead – helped tremendously as it made some of the harder to reach keybinds a little easier. But using the keypad on the mouse took a lot of getting used to. I’d find myself falling back into old habits and had to literally make a conscious effort to use the mouse instead.
However, once I got over that initial mental hurdle, it has been rather easy to play these games lately. While I still find moving to the topmost or bottom row a bit of a stretch (or maybe it’s simply fat thumbs on my part), I’m constantly using these new keybinds in any MMO I play now, whether it’s LotRO, World of Warcraft or more. It’s seriously changed how I play MMOs now, which is basically the point. The Scimitar made it easier, which I appreciate.
Additionally, the mouse glides across my mouse pad. I don’t feel much friction when using the Scimitar, and part of that can be attributed to the high-quality pad I use, I feel like part of it is down to the design of the mouse feet. While I wish more companies would adopt metal feel like my old BloodY V8 Headshot did, after a few weeks of use, I don’t see any discernible wear, whereas my G502 was showing signs rather quickly.
This isn’t to say I don’t have issues with the Scimitar Elite. I do wish I could adjust the weight of the mouse, like I can the G502. Going from the latter to the Scimitar was weird, as the mouse felt floaty and a bit too light until I got used to it. And while the width of the mouse isn’t really uncomfortable, I don’t feel like I can grip the mouse in any other fashion other than a palm grip – something I’ve not done since I used to use old FPS mice like the BloodY V8 Headshot two or three years ago. I’d love to be able to shake up my grip on the mouse and still use it fully – but the ergonomics of the Scimitar don’t really allow for that.
The Corsair Scimitar RGB Elite, like pretty much all of Corsair’s RGB-laden products, is also programmable through their iCue software. DPI settings, RGB settings and more. It’s rather simple to use also, and programming the mouse is pretty seamless. You can also set up your macros and such right in the software, allowing for complete control over your mouse itself. While I mainly used it to set up the best DPI profile, as well as sync my mouse to my other Corsair parts to get the best RGB show I can, I appreciate the depth of control iCue gives.
Conclusion
The Corsair Scimitar RGB Elite mouse is a product that, while I still prefer the heft and the feel of my old G502, I still use the Scimitar more for gaming thanks to its functionality. Having the depth of programmable buttons on the side easily accessible thanks to the ability to adjust their position makes using the Scimitar rather easy over time. And while, if you’re like me, it may take some time to get used to transitioning from your regular keybinds to the mouse keypad, once that’s done it really comes into its own.
While I wish the mouse had adjustable weights as well as allowed for more grip styles in its design, the Scimitar RGB Elite is a solid buy for those who’ve been looking for a great little MMO mouse but have yet to pull the trigger.Full Disclosure: The Product reviewed was supplied by the manufacturer for the purposes of this review.
