My Hotkeys & Advice

Let me know if you wanna see the other settings or my mods in another vid!
My Twitch: / hera
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[@HeraAgeofEmpires2]

hope this is helpful to u guys, best of luck in your games!

[@Juliano1taps]

Hey I prefer my own hotkeys but it's look interresant for others people for sure! But the thing we want to know is how much dpi you play and how much % is your scrolling sensibility ? It's important to be accurate also with the mouse and personnally I don't know what is the best set for be better. Cheers for your work!

[@helaba2957]

Interesting video, Hera! I was wondering about the settings but also about the keyboard and mouse you use. Also, do you think using a good gaming keyboard and mouse is important or is a cheap Dell keyboard and mouse good enough?

[@alligatorjack2583]

Thx a lot @Hera. Now I also know your first name from this video. haha :)

[@RobotShield]

I am actually surprised how many hot keys you don’t have.

[@adspaete]

Would you be open to posting your hotkey file?

[@ZPositive]

Every time I see a pro's hotkeys, it makes me realize no amount of hotkey optimizing will make me a pro.

[@tkzsfen]

Your educational content is the best one from all the AoE personalities. I really feel like learning from your videos. Thanks, Hera!

[@SurvivalistAoE]

I have double bit axe on z and horse collar on x so when I go to the building, I just release the ctrl key and press the z or x key to get the upgrade. Saves a click.

[@HeraAgeofEmpires2]

Not a bad idea!

[@ArutaretiI]

I found that DE default hotkeys were a really good start for me. I also have a rule that I only hotkey stuff that I use repeatedly. For example, I don't have hotkeys for research (or I do but don't use them) since you generally just do specific research only once per game so you can spare 5 sec to click it. On the other hand, is looking for idle villagers that I do about 1000 times per game and I definitely need a hotkey for it to save time.

[@skylarius3757]

Default are ok for me as well however I changed the hotkeys in the dock because I didn't want to have to use the more ships button ever time that I wanted to make fire ships or demos.

[@reclutacontramontina5354]

@@skylarius3757 Why you don't just use a key for fireships? It works without having to go to more ships. Works with military buildings too if you are in economic buildings (at least it does in the original game, I don't play DE), if you know the castle hk you can build it by pressing economic buildings then that key

[@Kaepsele337]

For me the hotkeys are not only about saving time, but also not wasting mental energy on stuff. For example, it's pretty automatic for me that when I hear the villager-created-sound that I quickly hit the hotkeys for select all towncenters, build villager. I don't do it right now, but the way he has eco upgrades hotkeyed makes so much sense to me because of this. Building the connection between ageing up and pressing some hotkeys is easier than to remember to get the upgrades. I constantly forget those, and sometimes also the blacksmith upgrades.

[@thibautguerquin9496]

Thanks, Hera for presenting us your hotkeys! It really helps, at least in the way we should optimize our binds. Can't wait for the mods video ;)

[@alejandrogallarati8170]

I find the new DE key system (where QWE and so on matches the icon overlay) to be really useful, but anyway your video was very helpful to configure other shortcuts

Me too. I think they are the best if you are starting to use hotkeys. Later you can begin to modify if and only if it is necessary to you.

[@brandonbrooks6780]

I’m very surprised at how many are hotkeys are unassigned for such a high level player. Looks like the mouse hand is king!

[@Ready2FreakingPlow]

The problem with hotkeying everything is that you run into unexpected conflicts. Those can be a nightmare to resolve, where when you fix one problem, you create another. I'm sure there is a way to map everything out perfectly, but it's a lot easier just to avoid potential conflicts for buttons you rarely click anyway.

[@brandonbrooks6780]

Ready2FreakingPlow i disagree. With the right hot key layout it’s not too difficult to avoid conflicts. My set up is based on Nili’s layout which is much more intuitive IMO. kzbin.info/www/bejne/pGS8opKPqJV4oNk

[@m1st87]

Great video Hera, thanks a lot. I've been struggling a lot with working out a system, so I just stuck with the default hotkeys. But honestly they are trash for me. Coming from playing mainly fps games, my hands intuitively gravitated towards placing my fingers on wasd. But now I realize that the normal asdf placement for typing makes way more sense for this type of game. It brings so many possibilities. Now I have to figure out if which one works for me

[@Vaurion]

No WASD, no party.

[@dtarchon]

Several thoughts. Tilde key can be used for idle villagers or something else important. For players who prefer a structured layout of hotkeys, they can use a box-grid format where QWER represent the 4 icons in sequential order. Eg. for Stables: Q - Scout Cav | W - Knight | E - Camel Rider/Battle Elephant | R - Steppe Lancer/Tarkan. For the mouse side button, I mapped it to the control-key (via the mouse software) as I find it awkward to use the control key combinations with my left hand only. I think the number one rule is the hotkeys should be intuitive to you such that you can be fast in training units or going to different building locations without a moment's thought. number two rule: patrol/attack move/stand ground / flank / line commands must be mapped as they are the key to properly controlling your units in the heat of battle.

[@Gui101do]

Very helpful! My ELO is only around 1,100. I really struggle with hot keys so I am trying to improve. I find it hard having enough military buildings and producing military units fast enough

[@aarcusisloading9991]

Dude Hera, thank you so much for taking the time to explain this and educate us noobies! you and Nili are my favs and seeing that you have educational content doesn't surprise me.. You 2 are awesome keep it up.

[@n4lf3in]

The default hotkeys (grid) are pretty good. I used grid in wc3. It easy to learn as you are used to where buttons are placed. I feel that select all buttons are really important and im assigning them to my mouse. ( I have extra buttons on it, dont judge me ;-P )

[@LDSHymnsChannel]

Best Video Ever I love your channel I think it will help me get started in the right direction Thank You 👍

[@st.p.2667]

Using hotkeys for chemistry and ballistics is also very important, maybe siege engineers too. Also, personally, for unit upgrades (ex scout to light cav) i use shift+the hotkey i use to create scouts, because if I am going to spam them in multi-que, I would want them upgraded. Also Blacksmith techs i found very helpful to bind. Edit: now that i think about it, changing it to alt+their creation hotkey, i wouldn't interfiere, but my hand would be more awkward

[@ZabWolff]

I just say this: Pros beggining to play in HD or earlier. With DE the best you can do is to get used to the grid hotkeys for everything, and only you need to customize the Game commands (go to certain buildings, select all buildings,, those kind of things). Believe me, the grid hotkeys that comes with default settings are just great.

[@Gnurklesquimp]

4:11 I can relate to this, I also often manage to swap my keyboard's wasd with arrow keys, then every time forget the fix and google it using my arrow keys... Worst thing is when it's some function in a complex program that you're not even sure how to describe to google, I guess this is life now

[@pranjalgandhi6317]

This is really helpful, would love to see your graphic video settings and your in game mouse sensitivity (along with mouse dpi)

[@enifs]

For lumber camp and mill techs. Why not double down on the same key you "Go to"? Go to Mill - Crtl+z, tech - z Go to Lumber camp - Ctrl+x, tech - x No need to mouse the tech, just ctrl+z, z, ctrl+x, x Maybe letting go ctrl is worse then having cursor on the tech, so I might be completely wrong in which case, ignore me :d

[@YiffyStiffyMeow]

There is no right answer, this is where preference comes into play

[@dreamsteraoe7596]

Thanks a lot for sharing this. I always wanted to know how a pro setup his hotkeys. I am also in the process of changing/improving my hotkeys for better game experience. Thanks again.

[@MrTanay007]

Thank you Hera, this is really helpful and would like to see the mods and settings that you were referring to.

[@proper_noun436]

I use an ortholinear QMK configured keyboard with 5 thumb modifiers keys. Pressing 2 modifiers at once is another modifier, so I have 8 usable mod layers. That's 12x8=96 hotkeys for index, middle, and ring finger. 3x8=24 hotkeys for pinky finger. I don't want my pinky doing anything.

[@Patchnote2.0]

I've been using modified DE hotkeys but I haven't been happy with them for a while. I think this video helped me understand that I have too many hotkeys for infrequently used techs. I've been trying out the left side of the keyboard for the unit/production hotkeys with the right side for building cycle commands. The problem is that I think, despite having large hands, it's too much distance between important buildings and unit creation commands. I'm going to tinker around with them.

[@bradleyfedrick312]

I finally figured an easy way to do my tech hotkeys. Most probably do this. But in almost every building the first row of units and techs are a-g. Second row z-b. 3rd row alt + z - alt + b. Unit commands are similar. But I use QWERT instead of alt +.

[@Juliano1taps]

same here, Hera hotkeys are very personnal I can't never play with his hotkeys😂

[@keenra]

You are the Josh Waitzkin of Age of Empires. Love your videos thank you.

[@luizsergio2854]

I just started to play this game yesterday and this channel is saving my ass on how to play properly lol

[@SneedusFeedus]

Wait so when do you use attack move vs patrol? You said you’d explain and forgot lol

[@benburkhalter3840]

Great content, one thought if you do this again is using a keyboard overlay. Nili did a really great video if you want to reference it.

[@Dawnrim]

I don't know if this is just me/my setup, but I have an issue where if I don't have a 'clean' click on a tech, but instead slide the mouse slightly while I click (not necessarily off the button I think, but a certain, tiny, amount of movement will do it) the tech won't start. If the game's stressful I won't notice and sit there and wonder why I still have so much res when I just (didn't) click imp -.- For that reason I've found it very helpful to bind techs. For the Age up and the most important techs from each building I do Wheel Up. So eco techs, bloodlines, ballistics, thumbring, they're all wheel up (the 'techs move you forward' was my mnemonic there before it became muscle memory). Works well for me at least..

[@droobs]

You have 1k likes now, very helpful the way you explained your system.

[@cybersteel8]

Very useful thank you! I appreciate the insight into your system, it's inspiring me to think of my own system that follows similar rules. It didn't occur to me just how much can be bound to the same key because they're mutually exclusive actions. Thanks!

[@nick2468abc]

Any tips for picking a mouse & keyboard, what do you use?

[@GonzaloAroles]

Noob here. I actually thought that using the keyboard for moving the screen was better, but you make a great point that you're losing important keys for hotkeys. Would love to see how is your sensitivity and/or DPI for the mouse, since mine is really slow and I think I will have to change it.

[@hugoharlin]

I've been trying out a new setup that combines select all hotkeys and control groups: I have the 1,2, and 3 keys as select all barracks, ranges, and stables respectively by default. When I create some forward stables for example, I always control group them to the 2 key, thereby overwriting the select all stables key. This way I always have the same type of production buildings on the same hotkey, and if want to select all my stables again I simply remove the control group, reverting the 2 key to select all stables again (or add all stables to the control group). What do you think about this setup? It feels like a pretty good system, but I've only just started playing so I don't know if I'm shooting myself in the foot practicing this way...

[@markmcnair5864]

Very much appreciate this type of content.

[@martinsz441]

I always wonder why players like hera and viper upgrade their lumbercamp and mill upgrades by moving their mouse on the spot of the upgrade instead of just using Q (where it is align according to the GRID )

[@RoninSan7]

A hint to start using "Upgrade Unit" hotkeys. If you use "R" for Militia just set "Alt+R" to upgrade them. And so on for other units... I end up almost never remembering to use it but I think it's a good logic lol. (I don't use Alt+Key hotkeys for anything else).

[@vojtechvanek1686]

Thanks for sharing! I just wanna say that I was quite surprised with your setup, but I guess with hotkeys, the main rule is 'as long as it works for you'.

[@HeraAgeofEmpires2]

Yep! I cant stress that enough aswell

[@wefinishthisnow3883]

Thanks for this, but what about your mouse settings? The biggest problem I have is double-clicking a villager and then moving them and suddenly my entire eco stops while every villager I have drops tools and moves!

[@method1313]

Is this for qwerty? This feels better and more compact compared to default hotkeys. It's nice to minimize the use of hold down ctrl/shift + key and sequence keys like with the docs.

[@AI-fw8gz]

@hera have you ever considered using the mouse scroll? So up scroll for skirms down scroll for archers, or down scroll for unique unit and up scroll for trebs etc

[@technoir_]

Ty Hera, would like to see mods and settings

[@johannespaul5933]

Very nice input thanks Hera. First game on DE yesterday felt horrible after a year. Or I'm freaking old...😂 (neeeed neeeew config)

[@levinlan7129]

Never know these, now I can bind my idle villager to wheel down.

[@ValenciaAldo19]

Nunca entiendo mucho, pero me gusta ver cómo juegas jajaja Saludos desde México 🇲🇽🇨🇦

[@alexandermtz.jarillo388]

X2 a todo jajaja. Si hablara en francés le entendería más

[@_S_a_m_e_e_r]

It's great to find Hera having same hotkey logic that I use. Reusing keys based on the frequency of units that I use, even the left to right importance based ordering. It gives me a lot of confidence now, I customised and changed almost all hotkeys from default years back, never bothered to change, and then started thinking that my hotkeys are badly setup stopping my improvement. And I came up with this logic years before Hera (I'm just 1.5k old-voobly rated player :D )

[@ismaelsantana3368]

Thanks for sharing this with the community! Is there any chance to share with us your graphic configuration in a future video?

[@sebastiensimon1599]

This is a really helpful guide. Thanks for the content.

[@victorbalboa7416]

Great tips man! When is the 2k guide for DE coming? thx for the awesome content! keep it up :D

[@germangonzalez9348]

Amazing video man! Such a great information for somone whos starting in this awesome game like me! A video showing mods you like to use will be inteteresting as well!

[@nathanhilker8058]

B B...and here I've been fumbling with B P trying to quick wall like a sucker.

[@diegeigergarnele7975]

I had S S for quickwalling and actually changed it to S D cause clicking 2 keys is faster than hitting the same twice

[@HolyShitNew]

thanks for the video i am learning to use hotkeys but often i just click the thing from force of habbit because i played so often as a growing child (now i am 19 but didnt play in a while till i came back)

[@rodrigofranco2972]

i started playing on DE and the grid hotkeys are really easy to learn, i really recommend using them. Just force you to use them, you'll suck your first games but when you get the hang of it you can focus on the other reasons why you suck

[@jakegingrich7214]

I have scrolled through my base frantically looking for my market before I realized it had been destroyed lol

[@jesuscoronado3307]

please make a video updating this info!... amazing work bro!

[@Snapefruit]

What is your DPI and sensitivity in windows please?

[@natephillips8965]

Id be super interested to see how it works in game or what your eyes go to on the screen, i feel like you do things so fast that its hard to even follow what you or other pros are doing!

[@sneyler3277]

Thanks Hera, tbh i’d love to get a video about your settings

[@Crowbar]

You know, getting used to and remembering hotkeys would be so much easier if the game simply showed the hotkey on top of the icon. There is a mod that does that, but only for default hotkeys. That's how I got started getting used to hotkeys, and later only changed things like "Select All TCs".

[@watchwithkara]

What's the mod called?

[@max4445]

I hoped to find some superhotkey for quick walls and gates but Hera you had none of them?! Haha 😄

[@ZPositive]

Yep. Every time I see a pro's sloppy hotkeys it proves that I suck.

[@lo_sten]

So I see you Q is used for idle villagers and ERTY for many important tasks… What is W used for?

[@ethankeon8152]

I noticed this too. Have you found the answer? maybe i should just shift ERTY acrros to the left by 1

[@thehunk23]

What does toggle health bar do?

[@Tom4SEO]

Hey Her/ thnkyou in advance. HOW DO YOU CHANGE THE DEFAULT STANCE TO DEFENSIVE STANCE? I dont see it anywhere in the options menu. and i have the newest aoe2DE. thnkyou for your attention herer. i appreciate it as its a game changer. _Tom

[@enriquekantinunezreynoso9989]

i love you hera! grettings from mexico

[@MusannaAhmad]

Thanks, wanted to see this video from a pro, I saw it from Nili :D . I hope to become a pro someday, maybe top 50 :) , It would be better and convenient if you had also shown your keyboard, the one you use so we can see the keys locations on that one, because keyboards have different keys location. iykwim

[@genericyoutubeaccount579]

me on HD: Multi Q is broken so I have to cycle through all my buildings. No "select all" hotkeys. Also can't have 2 hotkeys on the same page. And sometimes hotkeys conflict between pages. Feels Bad Man.

[@matiriko23]

Finally thanks Hera!!

[@hartesgeld]

The good "old" Razer Deathadder Elite Mouse :D Same here! :D

[@kevinlecavalier9720]

Super cool Luv from Montréal

[@donkiko6708]

So do you use the arrow keys to move the camera in the game??? I get confused using only the mouse

[@janvita9459]

Thanks! Very helpful :)

[@sivasankar2784]

Grid layout FTW!!!!

[@paulbuschmann7092]

at 6:35 you say hotkey your text? what does that mean?

[@Dyzzzma]

Hello , it's funny , in Poland we saying on Z - "Zet". :D

[@mattks1001]

I like to set town bell to the spacebar.

[@betwixtX]

which keys do u keep ur hands on when keyboard hand is idle?

[@kubapyclik2343]

Great stuff, want more :)

[@atomickipachaka821]

Difference between patrol and attack ground?

[@DanielAbrantes1987]

Hera! in your hotkeys video I didn't see you assign the "w" key to anything important other than a transport ship. In fact you don't use it?

[@matthenderson]

I need to see more! Mods soon plz. heraUWU

[@joshuafitzpatrick7714]

Very helpful thank you

[@florianarbes]

So you start your game with tab, e and then b, g, b, g to build two houses? Or is it enough to press g, g to build two houses? I am trying to understand why your build building hotkeys are spread over the keyboard

[@davidpaul8647]

TOWN PATROL gang saying hello from "So You Want to Play Turks" ;D

[@leonardoferro628]

Yes please, more

[@RaggedyHead]

I dont even play the game anymore, but I want to see the work behind the magic

[@daniels.7266]

But which hotkey do I use for the wonder?

[@skylarius3757]

at 3:18 select all building type hotkeys.. I don't see the need for this as over the game a player may make multiple of the same type and then could have units running all over the map

[@EhurtAfy]

Classic hotkeys ride or die

[@nemes1s_aoe]

What is the zoo hotkey?

[@jhdrawings1321]

Hera, u mentioned in ur guide to 2k that don't recommend M@A before 1700 in voobly, what elo it could be in DE?

[@HeraAgeofEmpires2]

1400

[@silverbane5008]

im around 1300 1v1 on DE and i commonly do M@a, and they seem to be one of the best strategies (or drush) because nowadays everyone is walling sooo fast. Tho I have to agree i still sometimes mess up with the drush a bit, housed 11.

[@jhdrawings1321]

@@silverbane5008 i cant Deal with goths Man at arms spam

[@dardmachansonfrancaise8493]

Hello ! AZERTY or QWERTY ? it's important i think.

[@occido]

qwerty is the world standard, azerty is only used in a few countries. Many people don't even realise azerty is a thing, safe to gues its qwerty

[@dardmachansonfrancaise8493]

@@occido Right i think it's qwerty

[@helaba2957]

Tip: if you have Azerty, change your keyboard layout in Windows to Qwerty (e.g. British or Netherlands keyboard) before you start playing. Otherwise your hotkeys will be messed up.

[@RoninSan7]

Wow Hera, is "Attack Move" really that bad compared to Patrol? I use it sometimes to start a fight and I don't see much difference.

[@Prawn47]

Not sure if they fixed it but in the past (pre DE) attack move was a bit bugged at the unit did not engage as well compared to patrol move

[@MrMorvana]

@@Prawn47 I think it was corrected and they use the same pathfinding now.

[@MrMorvana]

For me there is two things to justify Patrol over attack move: -Attack move is only useful to attack, patrol allow you to do the same, AND to make patrol, you need less hotkeys to remember. -When you kill your enemies, with an attack move, if the next target is just a bit far, your unit will stay in place, with the patrolling movement they will make the patrol, giving them more chance to find a next target to engage if they are a bit far.

[@Apoz]

What do you mean, Feitoria is very not usefull???

[@mhrfrtkr]

you dont use Q, W dont much, can i ask why?

[@pyr0m4st3r6]

Please also show us the other settings and mods

[@atz8406]

Graphics please

[@andrebaur639]

Ehm. I'm a noob 1.2k elo. But ... Why pros don't use this hack I use: e.g. set lumbercamp and wood upgrade on the same button. It shows a conflict but in game it never conflicts. For wood upgrade u hit the button twice and done. So for most eco buildings. I even use same key for TC and creating vils... Never had a need for change... Works well saving a few mili seconds and finger re-adjustment.

[@rssiddharth]

Hera, do you know that you and Andrew Schulz look alike?

[@cameronlhirondelle3260]

I wonder if this guy ever goes outside lol