I think the current layout cannot be much worse. The positions of the letters don’t correspond to cardinal directions at all. In a combat scenario, you don’t want to type on a non-standard keypad. To make the NWES keys stand out as they should, they could be mildly arrow-shaped like ⭔ or ⌂. Keys are not easily confused if they have special shapes.
That makes a lot of sense. I guess in a combat situation it might help to have some distance between the letters though.
I think the current layout cannot be much worse. The positions of the letters don’t correspond to cardinal directions at all. In a combat scenario, you don’t want to type on a non-standard keypad. To make the NWES keys stand out as they should, they could be mildly arrow-shaped like ⭔ or ⌂. Keys are not easily confused if they have special shapes.