Hi ppl,
First of all, imho, hotkeys are the true 'key' for this game. They need to be tailored specifically for the various and different situations/styles/conditions/limitations that each player may have/face along their experience with AoC (e.g. not all ppl has 10 fingers in their hands....or left-handed players may prefer using the numpad for hotkeys, etc.).
Somewhile ago I realized that I needed a better HotKeys set to fulfill all my needs, based on that, I tried to find an optimal HKs scheme suited for my gameplay style and I decided to share the output with the community - so I hope it suits many other players too. But, keep in mind this is just a guide or even a template so u can better setup your own Custom HotKeys as u find it comfortble. (This very article is based on and influenced by another thread posted by luisarcher on this forum regarding custom hotkeys, link here - thx for the incentive btw man, nice post.)
Its relevant to say that I play mostly Black Forest so I dont use much Dock, and therefore didnt focus on its HKs although i also made some adjustments there.
Im also making my .hki file available at the end of this post.
This Guide is divided in three main groups and several sub-groups:
Index:
1 - Buildings HotKeys
1.1 - Initial Villager Build HotKeys
1.2 - Villager Build HotKeys
1.3 - 'Go-To' HotKeys
2 - Unit Creation HotKeys
2.1 - Mouse Wheel HotKeys
2.2 - ASDFG HotKeys
2.3 - Other Units Creation HotKeys
3 - Management HotKeys
3.1 - Unit Groups HotKeys
3.2 - Military Stances and Formations HotKeys
3.3 - All Units Commands HotKeys
Now lets get into it:
1 - Buildings HotKeys
1.1 - Initial Villager Build HotKeys
When selecting the TC, I use standard C for
creation - its actually very good as it is close to the pointer finger and doesnt interfere with overall gameplay so, no change here.
By selecting a Villager, this will be presented:
I arranged like this:
B = Economic Buildings (Default)
V = Military Buildings (Default)
N = Repair Building (Changed so its near now)
G = Garrison (Default)
J = Stop (This is also valid for any other unit performing any task)
As u can see, this way these keys are in the center of the keyboard as they are important keys that u should use oftenly.
1.2 - Villager Build HotKeys
Ok now u are actually gonna use ur Villager to build stuff. This is what I have set up:
If u pay attention, u will see I grouped the buildings by type:
Deffensive/Technological on top line
Military/TC/Dock on middle line
Economic on bottom line
Note that once u press either V or B u can press any of the other HKs to instantly have the building ready to be placed (It doesnt matter if only the military or the economic buildings are being displayed).
An important note is that I set Houses and Farms to V and B, respectively, because they are the two most used buildings in the game, so u can just double press the key and ure good to go, cant be any easier or faster.
Some examples:
V + V = House
B + B = Farm
B + G = Castle
V + G = Castle
1.3 'Go-To' HotKeys
The 'Go-To' HotKeys I made it very simple not to confuse the player head, some are Single HotKeys and for the rest I used the combination Ctrl + Building Key to setup this group, but, not all buildings has 'Go-To' HotKeys, and these are the All Valid 'Go-To' Keys:
As u can see all of them are the same for buildings, and I red-framed some keys - the most important ones - that I made permanent Single-HotKeys for its functions:
H = 'Go-To' Next Town Center (important HK, default)
K = 'Go-To' Next Dock (important too if u play water maps)
Tab = 'Go-To' Next Idle Villager (Try to leave one finger ticking this key all the game long^^)
< = 'Go-To' Next Idle Military Unit (Important HotKey)
" = 'Go-To' Last Notification (This HK is important to help your overall micro-macro managing so I put in this corner key for easy reaching)
The remaining HotKeys, as mentioned before, should be easily used like this examples:
Ctrl + D = 'Go-To' Stable
Ctrl + M = 'Go-To' Market
2 - Unit Creation HotKeys
2.1 - Mouse Wheel HotKeys
Probably the most used HotKeys (at least for me^^) are the unit creation HKs. This should be arranged in such a way that u can reach them instantly right after pressing the 'Go-To' HKs. This is why most ppl will try to find their own HKs for this funcions. In this guide I present you two ways for doing that:
Personally, as I play mostly Black Forest, usually I boom so I use the Mouse Wheel for units that must be created in larger quantities (Mouse Wheel is way faster than keyboard keys but its also less accurate - deppending on ur mouse make and model).
Mouse Wheel Down for non-golden units and Wheel Up for golden units:
This way, if u have the Military 'Go-To' HKs assigned to ASDFG as I described in the previous chapter, u can do this:
Ctrl + A + Wheel Down 3 Times = 'Go-To' Next Barracks and Enqueue 3 Champions
Ctrl + D + Shift + Wheel Up 3 Times = 'Go-To' Next Stable and Enqueue 15 Paladins
Note: If u realize u are Goth/Mayan/Aztec, u can change the related HKs even while the game is rolling, all u need is a 5-10 sec window to access Menu > Options > Hotkeys and make the necessary changes. (U can also 'Pause the Game' pressing F3 and ask the other players to wait a moment while u do that^^)
2.1 - ASDFG HotKeys
If u play maps like arabia where u need to be precise at the unit creation commands, the keyboard should be a more suitable option.
For the easiest association and access for the unit creation HKs, I setup a pattern using ASDFG repeated in all 5 military buildings plus dock:
Barracks Units:
Archery Range Units:
Stable Units:
Siege Workshop Units:
Castle Units:
As you can see, with these HKS its very easy and quick to alternate between buildings and to enqueue specific ammounts of units on each one.
The Dock HKs are in a simillar formation:
Dock Units:
Note: Alternatively, u can make a combination of HKs from items 2.1 and 2.2 to better suit your needs.
2.3 - Other Units Creation HotKeys
Create Monk = T (Default)
Create Trade Cart = T (Default)
Reseed Farm at Mill = Mouse Wheel Down
3 - Management HotKeys
3.1 - Unit Groups HotKeys
Now that u are armed with Buildings and Units HotKeys, its time for battle. Some of the most important HKs at this moment are the Unit Groups HotKeys.
Using them will enable u to manage up to 9 unit groups at the same time:
Press Ctrl + 1 To assign the selected unit group to the #1 Key.
Press Ctrl + 3 To assign the selected unit group to the #3 Key.
Press Ctrl + 9 To assign the selected unit group to the #9 Key.
Then
Press 1 To select the unit group assigned to 1.
Press 3 To select the unit group assigned to 3.
Press 9 To select the unit group assigned to 9.
If u press the same number twice, or once then Spacebar, the gameview will focus over the selected group wherever they are.
This is one of the best management tools, so, use and abuse it.
3.2 - Military Stances and Formations HotKeys
The Military Stances and Formations are configured following the same order principle.
This:
became this:
This way you can set stances and formations in a very easy, intuitive way.
3.3 - Unit Commands HotKeys
All units commands HotKeys are listed below:
Notes regarding the unit commands by order of appearance from top-left to right-bottom:
Q = Patrol - Very important stance for scout or other military units at early game.
W = Guard - Good for protecting the vills walling near ur town so any enemy unit that enters the unit/vill LOS will be instantly attacked and u will see.
E = Follow - This is excellent stance to protect ur vill if u wanna make a stealth incursion and dont want to draw attention to ur moves.
R = Go Back To Work - After garrisoning vills or ringing the bell (the latter not recommended except under extremely-spreaded assault) press this HK to send them back to the tasks they were performing.
T = Ungarrison/Unload - Very important HK, press it to send garrisoned vills/units to the gather point u selected previously (can be to garrison in another building, perform a task or just go to that point).
Y = Pack - Packs selected Trebuchets.
U = Unpack - Unpacks selected Trebuchets.
I = Attack Ground - Press this HK then click the map to order selected siege unit to attack ground on the clicked map area, the unit will keep attacking until a second command is given.
O = Convert - Not used as you can just select the monk and right-click the target unit.
P = Set Gather Point - Press this HK then click a map area, mini-map area, building, resource or enemy unit/building to set where/what the garrisoned units/vills will go/do when ungarrisoned.
A = Aggressive Stance - Press to set selected military units to attack any enemy unit/building that enters their LOS.
S = Deffensive Stance - Press to set selected military units to attack any unit within their original position LOS, so they will return to position if the enemy units flee.
D = Stand Ground - Press to set selected military units not to move from position to attack. (Good only for ranged units)
F = No Attack - Press to set selected units not to attack even if they get attacked. (Not recommended)
G = Garrison - Press to be able to garrison selected units in the garrisonable building that u click next.
J = Stop - Press to order selected units to stop whatever they are doing.
L = Heal - Press to order selected monks to heal injuried units.
Z = Line Formation - Press to set selected military units to Line Formation.
X = Box Formation - Press to set selected military units to Box Formation.
C = Staggered Formation - Press to set selected military units to Staggered Formation.
V = Flank Formation - Press to set selected military units to Flank Formation, if villagers are selected, press to show Military Buildings.
B = Build - Press to show Economic Buildings.
N = Repair - Press to send vills to Repair buildings or ships/siege units.
Final notes
You are free to post this whole content or part of it anywhere as long as you leave the proper credits and a link back to this thread here in AoCZone.
If you liked this topic, leave a comment.
If u have any suggestion, opinion, point of view, judgement or criticism, leave a comment.
Just dont bother to leave any inflammatory or offensive comment, nobody needs/wants it.
Download Instructions/Links
To install the .hki file customized with the HotKeys from this Guide, download and extract the rar file and copy the .hki file to your AoC instalation folder, usually its C:/Program Files/Microsoft Games/Age of Empires II, and replace it over the old one, rename it if necessary. (It is strongly recommended to make a backup copy of your original .hki file before replacing it!)
Download the 'Mouse Wheel Version' of the .hki here
Download the 'ASDFG Version' of the .hki here
I hope this Guide may help at least one player because I spent half a day working on it...if it does, then its already worth.
The Best Regards,
[VeNoM] Guizeh
First of all, imho, hotkeys are the true 'key' for this game. They need to be tailored specifically for the various and different situations/styles/conditions/limitations that each player may have/face along their experience with AoC (e.g. not all ppl has 10 fingers in their hands....or left-handed players may prefer using the numpad for hotkeys, etc.).
Somewhile ago I realized that I needed a better HotKeys set to fulfill all my needs, based on that, I tried to find an optimal HKs scheme suited for my gameplay style and I decided to share the output with the community - so I hope it suits many other players too. But, keep in mind this is just a guide or even a template so u can better setup your own Custom HotKeys as u find it comfortble. (This very article is based on and influenced by another thread posted by luisarcher on this forum regarding custom hotkeys, link here - thx for the incentive btw man, nice post.)
Its relevant to say that I play mostly Black Forest so I dont use much Dock, and therefore didnt focus on its HKs although i also made some adjustments there.
Im also making my .hki file available at the end of this post.
This Guide is divided in three main groups and several sub-groups:
Index:
1 - Buildings HotKeys
1.1 - Initial Villager Build HotKeys
1.2 - Villager Build HotKeys
1.3 - 'Go-To' HotKeys
2 - Unit Creation HotKeys
2.1 - Mouse Wheel HotKeys
2.2 - ASDFG HotKeys
2.3 - Other Units Creation HotKeys
3 - Management HotKeys
3.1 - Unit Groups HotKeys
3.2 - Military Stances and Formations HotKeys
3.3 - All Units Commands HotKeys
Now lets get into it:
1 - Buildings HotKeys
1.1 - Initial Villager Build HotKeys
When selecting the TC, I use standard C for
By selecting a Villager, this will be presented:
B = Economic Buildings (Default)
V = Military Buildings (Default)
N = Repair Building (Changed so its near now)
G = Garrison (Default)
J = Stop (This is also valid for any other unit performing any task)
As u can see, this way these keys are in the center of the keyboard as they are important keys that u should use oftenly.
1.2 - Villager Build HotKeys
Ok now u are actually gonna use ur Villager to build stuff. This is what I have set up:
If u pay attention, u will see I grouped the buildings by type:
Deffensive/Technological on top line
Military/TC/Dock on middle line
Economic on bottom line
Note that once u press either V or B u can press any of the other HKs to instantly have the building ready to be placed (It doesnt matter if only the military or the economic buildings are being displayed).
An important note is that I set Houses and Farms to V and B, respectively, because they are the two most used buildings in the game, so u can just double press the key and ure good to go, cant be any easier or faster.
Some examples:
V + V = House
B + B = Farm
B + G = Castle
V + G = Castle
1.3 'Go-To' HotKeys
The 'Go-To' HotKeys I made it very simple not to confuse the player head, some are Single HotKeys and for the rest I used the combination Ctrl + Building Key to setup this group, but, not all buildings has 'Go-To' HotKeys, and these are the All Valid 'Go-To' Keys:
As u can see all of them are the same for buildings, and I red-framed some keys - the most important ones - that I made permanent Single-HotKeys for its functions:
H = 'Go-To' Next Town Center (important HK, default)
K = 'Go-To' Next Dock (important too if u play water maps)
Tab = 'Go-To' Next Idle Villager (Try to leave one finger ticking this key all the game long^^)
< = 'Go-To' Next Idle Military Unit (Important HotKey)
" = 'Go-To' Last Notification (This HK is important to help your overall micro-macro managing so I put in this corner key for easy reaching)
The remaining HotKeys, as mentioned before, should be easily used like this examples:
Ctrl + D = 'Go-To' Stable
Ctrl + M = 'Go-To' Market
2 - Unit Creation HotKeys
2.1 - Mouse Wheel HotKeys
Probably the most used HotKeys (at least for me^^) are the unit creation HKs. This should be arranged in such a way that u can reach them instantly right after pressing the 'Go-To' HKs. This is why most ppl will try to find their own HKs for this funcions. In this guide I present you two ways for doing that:
Personally, as I play mostly Black Forest, usually I boom so I use the Mouse Wheel for units that must be created in larger quantities (Mouse Wheel is way faster than keyboard keys but its also less accurate - deppending on ur mouse make and model).
Mouse Wheel Down for non-golden units and Wheel Up for golden units:
This way, if u have the Military 'Go-To' HKs assigned to ASDFG as I described in the previous chapter, u can do this:
Ctrl + A + Wheel Down 3 Times = 'Go-To' Next Barracks and Enqueue 3 Champions
Ctrl + D + Shift + Wheel Up 3 Times = 'Go-To' Next Stable and Enqueue 15 Paladins
Note: If u realize u are Goth/Mayan/Aztec, u can change the related HKs even while the game is rolling, all u need is a 5-10 sec window to access Menu > Options > Hotkeys and make the necessary changes. (U can also 'Pause the Game' pressing F3 and ask the other players to wait a moment while u do that^^)
2.1 - ASDFG HotKeys
If u play maps like arabia where u need to be precise at the unit creation commands, the keyboard should be a more suitable option.
For the easiest association and access for the unit creation HKs, I setup a pattern using ASDFG repeated in all 5 military buildings plus dock:
Barracks Units:
Archery Range Units:
Stable Units:
Siege Workshop Units:
Castle Units:
As you can see, with these HKS its very easy and quick to alternate between buildings and to enqueue specific ammounts of units on each one.
The Dock HKs are in a simillar formation:
Dock Units:
Note: Alternatively, u can make a combination of HKs from items 2.1 and 2.2 to better suit your needs.
2.3 - Other Units Creation HotKeys
Create Monk = T (Default)
Create Trade Cart = T (Default)
Reseed Farm at Mill = Mouse Wheel Down
3 - Management HotKeys
3.1 - Unit Groups HotKeys
Now that u are armed with Buildings and Units HotKeys, its time for battle. Some of the most important HKs at this moment are the Unit Groups HotKeys.
Using them will enable u to manage up to 9 unit groups at the same time:
Press Ctrl + 1 To assign the selected unit group to the #1 Key.
Press Ctrl + 3 To assign the selected unit group to the #3 Key.
Press Ctrl + 9 To assign the selected unit group to the #9 Key.
Then
Press 1 To select the unit group assigned to 1.
Press 3 To select the unit group assigned to 3.
Press 9 To select the unit group assigned to 9.
If u press the same number twice, or once then Spacebar, the gameview will focus over the selected group wherever they are.
This is one of the best management tools, so, use and abuse it.
3.2 - Military Stances and Formations HotKeys
The Military Stances and Formations are configured following the same order principle.
This:
This way you can set stances and formations in a very easy, intuitive way.
3.3 - Unit Commands HotKeys
All units commands HotKeys are listed below:
Notes regarding the unit commands by order of appearance from top-left to right-bottom:
Q = Patrol - Very important stance for scout or other military units at early game.
W = Guard - Good for protecting the vills walling near ur town so any enemy unit that enters the unit/vill LOS will be instantly attacked and u will see.
E = Follow - This is excellent stance to protect ur vill if u wanna make a stealth incursion and dont want to draw attention to ur moves.
R = Go Back To Work - After garrisoning vills or ringing the bell (the latter not recommended except under extremely-spreaded assault) press this HK to send them back to the tasks they were performing.
T = Ungarrison/Unload - Very important HK, press it to send garrisoned vills/units to the gather point u selected previously (can be to garrison in another building, perform a task or just go to that point).
Y = Pack - Packs selected Trebuchets.
U = Unpack - Unpacks selected Trebuchets.
I = Attack Ground - Press this HK then click the map to order selected siege unit to attack ground on the clicked map area, the unit will keep attacking until a second command is given.
O = Convert - Not used as you can just select the monk and right-click the target unit.
P = Set Gather Point - Press this HK then click a map area, mini-map area, building, resource or enemy unit/building to set where/what the garrisoned units/vills will go/do when ungarrisoned.
A = Aggressive Stance - Press to set selected military units to attack any enemy unit/building that enters their LOS.
S = Deffensive Stance - Press to set selected military units to attack any unit within their original position LOS, so they will return to position if the enemy units flee.
D = Stand Ground - Press to set selected military units not to move from position to attack. (Good only for ranged units)
F = No Attack - Press to set selected units not to attack even if they get attacked. (Not recommended)
G = Garrison - Press to be able to garrison selected units in the garrisonable building that u click next.
J = Stop - Press to order selected units to stop whatever they are doing.
L = Heal - Press to order selected monks to heal injuried units.
Z = Line Formation - Press to set selected military units to Line Formation.
X = Box Formation - Press to set selected military units to Box Formation.
C = Staggered Formation - Press to set selected military units to Staggered Formation.
V = Flank Formation - Press to set selected military units to Flank Formation, if villagers are selected, press to show Military Buildings.
B = Build - Press to show Economic Buildings.
N = Repair - Press to send vills to Repair buildings or ships/siege units.
The End
Final notes
You are free to post this whole content or part of it anywhere as long as you leave the proper credits and a link back to this thread here in AoCZone.
If you liked this topic, leave a comment.
If u have any suggestion, opinion, point of view, judgement or criticism, leave a comment.
Just dont bother to leave any inflammatory or offensive comment, nobody needs/wants it.
Download Instructions/Links
To install the .hki file customized with the HotKeys from this Guide, download and extract the rar file and copy the .hki file to your AoC instalation folder, usually its C:/Program Files/Microsoft Games/Age of Empires II, and replace it over the old one, rename it if necessary. (It is strongly recommended to make a backup copy of your original .hki file before replacing it!)
Download the 'Mouse Wheel Version' of the .hki here
Download the 'ASDFG Version' of the .hki here
I hope this Guide may help at least one player because I spent half a day working on it...if it does, then its already worth.
The Best Regards,
[VeNoM] Guizeh