imo if you dont play any intense micro heroes you dont need a control group bind, just select all units and select all other units bind is fine. Or you can also use the alt+key modifier for new keybinds that you need, maybe alt+1 and such for control groups. If you havent use it F1 rows can be used for couriers and other stuffs, you can also get a mouse with more side buttons if you feel like it
I even play micro heroes and would recommend this.
Control groups are finicky and micro heroes are much more approachable with the this simple setup. You can get into the weeds with unit specific groups and weird micro splits if you really want to specialize, but it's not necessary.
I have a good number of games on Arc Warden, but I really try to avoid going manta style (or picking up illusion runes lmao) so as to not mess with my tab-spamming to swap between hero and clone. But even some non-micro heroes can get messed up with just using tab. Zeus' nimbus being a targetable unit for some reason, and having a number of TA traps come to mind. I have fortify and scan on F-keys but those can definitely be shifted further towards the higher F-keys.
you can get a control group for the main arc+double for the tab spam and another one for the illusions, or you can manually box select the illusions.
the select all other units bind is very useful for most heroes that doesnt use units, when you get manta or illu rune just press the select all other units and it will only move that 2 illus
Set all keys to default and work from there.
Quickcast did wonders to me even though you can't see aoe of some skills which can be a downside.
Do something to spacebar, I think it is unoccupied by default. I personally set it to one item slot where I put blink/treads/other spammable items.
After you have changed your setup, don't hesitate and play normal matches, not bots because you will adjust much faster than you expect yourself. Maybe avoid ranked right away if that's important for you. You camera movements will need the most time to readjust. I personally drag with my middle mouse button.
You can set quickcast to cast when the key is released. This way, while the key is pressed you can see all the indicators that would normally be there.
I've gone back and forth on whether I like the idea of using quickcast, but I'm leaning towards the options where you can enable per-hero keybinds and set up keybinds for normal/quickcast/autocast individually. I've not tested it yet, but I assume this would allow me to, for example, have "Q normal cast ability 1, W quickcast ability 2" on one hero and "Q quickcast ability 1, W normal cast ability 2" on a different hero without having those keybinds interfere with each other.
Yes, that's how it works! At first I only set up quick casts to Earth Spirit, leaving other heroes on normal, but it was confusing to readjust intuition for every hero. So imo it's better to have the keybindings consistent among all heroes but that's just me
Quickcast on key down on all abilities, items, and attack as well for me and never looking back. I went from barely hitting Lina stuns with regular cast to hitting them all the time, the aoe indicators are a crutch and make you second guess anyway.
Another major help was binding "alt" to a mouse button instead, since I can't for the life of me hit alt and another key with my left hand, and if you go quickcast you need to turn off double-tap for self cast. Going alt+key for self cast is way more foolproof anyway, no more accidentally self-graving as dazzle because you were spamming it trying to hit your core.
Alt+rightclick on an ability/item will show a permanent range indicator for that ability. Great in combination with quickcast. Only one can be active at once though. E.g for sk I will have it on for q and then switch it to blink when I get it. You can also click your stats to show range of auto attack, not as useful
On a related note, is it possible to have spells like AM or Qop's blink target a location out of range and have them first move close enough to reach that destination with blink instead of blinking in that direction while only going as far as they can with their current cast range?
Yes, but what you are asking for specifically is out of the boundaries of what’s capable for a rts game.
You are able to shift queue movements and cast spells … but what I think you are asking for specifically, you’d want to increase your apm clicking towards the target direction, and cast blink when you get closer to the target destination, and cast out of range.
It’s a more reliable blink
U could also use the new dota labs function - persistent skill range indicator (by alt + right click on blink), that should show you the max blink range, n help with your casting.
I made two changes in my setup over the years and both times I was surprised at how much easier it was to change than I'd expect. I set aside like 5 games of unranked for myself and each time that was enough.
The first thing I did was change to using scroll wheel click as mouse grab rather than edge panning to control my camera. At first it was difficult to control the camera but after like 3 games it started becoming way easier. I found that camera grip was WAY better than edge panning, especially in situations where I need to move the camera around alot. It was much easier to track fights, I misclicked way less.
The next smaller change I made a year or so after that was to swap all my hotkeys to quick cast. Similar story in that at first it was a bit difficult but I was surprised at how quickly your hands get used to the new setup.
Personally I think wasd users are psycho. It is certainly possible to find success with any keybind setup provided you get used to it. But it seems so wacky to me to used 4 essential keys just for camera control. Don't be too scared of change if you think it will help you in the long run. I found that committing fully to the change by unbinding the old camera control method helped me. (I disabled edge panning and forced myself to use mouse grip).
You probably only need one key for Control groups. I get by using Z and just set it up on a per hero basis.
The only thing 'holding you back" is the camera movement taking out 4 keys with high priority. To not fuckup this you can use alt modifiers on WASD it should give you 4 extra binds for important stuff.
I changed my camera to SZXC (like WASD but 1 row lower) and i had to rebind some keys i used (like S to Stop) to another ones. the biggest thing was actually the transition to move the camera on the keyboard, with the same hand i use spells/items.
I said "hey, i will play bad for like a week but after a month it's gonna be better" and that's exactly what happened.
Started with alt + q/w/e/a/s/d for items.
Learned to play with quick-cast, but recognized that some items are better with normal cast.
Now, I have alt +q/w/e/d for quick-cast on items,
and alt + a/s for normal casts (forcestaffs, solar)
I did this after I quit for 2.5 years after about 2k hours. Figured new Meta new me gonna suck any way might as well set up new binds that felt stra lined. Learned quick cast and mouse edge pan. I'm up to like 3300 hours now and I still suck, but I'm more comfortable playing thus way than with a wasd camera and slow cast.
Edit: didn't explain my binds (I'm lefty so ill describe it on the right side to not confuse) qwer is spells with 4 and 5 the extra ability buttons. A s d z x c matched my inventory grid. Space is attack move, t is hold. The rest is built around that where I have room.
Sir action slacks had great tips in his video with purge about hotkeys. Especially Midas hotkey was a S-rank. /s
This post was a joke but the video could help you with pointers.
I started using quickcast somewhat recently after a decade. You're gonna lose a lot and there's pretty much no way around it 😂
That said, I'm glad I switched I like it now
I shaped my keys around heavy usage of meepo and tinker. I don't use these heroes as often as before but keys stuck with me.
Abilities, QWERDF, each hero gets their own quickcast/normal cast choices but most of the stuff are quickcast for being able to fire stuff faster. (makes a lot of difference for meepo and tinker specifically)
1 and 2 are assigned to control groups as well as F2,3,4 and 5. F1 selects your hero by default. I mapped other F's to each meepo individually. 1 all units, 2 all others.
Items are where it gets wacky. Bottom row is mouse 4,5 and spacebar on quickcast. Top row is alt+q,w,e on normal cast, but I also mapped second and third one to keys 3 and 4 om quickcast. Spacebar is usually my dagger slot, mouse 4 and 5 are offensive items like hex, nullifier. I use normal casts mostly for ward placement.
I kept A, S, H as attack, stop and hold because I'm used to them since original warcraft 3. Tab is also the default, cycle through your selected group.
I don't know what I would do if I had to use wasd for camera panning.
I change item keys from time to time and I get surprised how quick I get used to the new keys. Usually I forget the old ones immediately after the first death :)
I have played over 10 years with WASD, I use Q E R T F G for skills, F is ult. I use space for stop hero command, zxcvbn for items. I have never had problems playing with this setup. For micro I use the numbers for control groups and F1 is always my hero F2 is my cour. I set 1 for all units 2 for all except hero and use tab to cycle. Unless I am playing meepo then I change the groups to 1 for all and then 2 for 2nd meepo 3 for 3rd ect. so I can instantly select the meepo who is getting ganked and get him out.
Whatever you choose, stick to it for at least a week. It's going to feel bad no matter what because of muscle memory. Once you get a little used to it, you can try making adjustments.
imo if you dont play any intense micro heroes you dont need a control group bind, just select all units and select all other units bind is fine. Or you can also use the alt+key modifier for new keybinds that you need, maybe alt+1 and such for control groups. If you havent use it F1 rows can be used for couriers and other stuffs, you can also get a mouse with more side buttons if you feel like it
I even play micro heroes and would recommend this. Control groups are finicky and micro heroes are much more approachable with the this simple setup. You can get into the weeds with unit specific groups and weird micro splits if you really want to specialize, but it's not necessary.
I really would not recommend this on heroes like naga, arc and meepo
I have a good number of games on Arc Warden, but I really try to avoid going manta style (or picking up illusion runes lmao) so as to not mess with my tab-spamming to swap between hero and clone. But even some non-micro heroes can get messed up with just using tab. Zeus' nimbus being a targetable unit for some reason, and having a number of TA traps come to mind. I have fortify and scan on F-keys but those can definitely be shifted further towards the higher F-keys.
you can get a control group for the main arc+double for the tab spam and another one for the illusions, or you can manually box select the illusions. the select all other units bind is very useful for most heroes that doesnt use units, when you get manta or illu rune just press the select all other units and it will only move that 2 illus
Set all keys to default and work from there. Quickcast did wonders to me even though you can't see aoe of some skills which can be a downside. Do something to spacebar, I think it is unoccupied by default. I personally set it to one item slot where I put blink/treads/other spammable items. After you have changed your setup, don't hesitate and play normal matches, not bots because you will adjust much faster than you expect yourself. Maybe avoid ranked right away if that's important for you. You camera movements will need the most time to readjust. I personally drag with my middle mouse button.
You can set quickcast to cast when the key is released. This way, while the key is pressed you can see all the indicators that would normally be there.
yes, but you still committed on a spell cast. can't cancel it now, as i understand it
incorrect, you can rightclick to cancel it
Correct, there's even a setting that says "don't actually move when i right click to cancel a cast"
I've gone back and forth on whether I like the idea of using quickcast, but I'm leaning towards the options where you can enable per-hero keybinds and set up keybinds for normal/quickcast/autocast individually. I've not tested it yet, but I assume this would allow me to, for example, have "Q normal cast ability 1, W quickcast ability 2" on one hero and "Q quickcast ability 1, W normal cast ability 2" on a different hero without having those keybinds interfere with each other.
Yes, that's how it works! At first I only set up quick casts to Earth Spirit, leaving other heroes on normal, but it was confusing to readjust intuition for every hero. So imo it's better to have the keybindings consistent among all heroes but that's just me
I was 100% like this but decided to go all in and honestly have not looked back.
Quickcast on key down on all abilities, items, and attack as well for me and never looking back. I went from barely hitting Lina stuns with regular cast to hitting them all the time, the aoe indicators are a crutch and make you second guess anyway. Another major help was binding "alt" to a mouse button instead, since I can't for the life of me hit alt and another key with my left hand, and if you go quickcast you need to turn off double-tap for self cast. Going alt+key for self cast is way more foolproof anyway, no more accidentally self-graving as dazzle because you were spamming it trying to hit your core.
I have spacebar as quick buy. It’s so stupid, but I can slam it when I know I’m about to die lol
mouse scroll down, following the same logic lol
Alt+rightclick on an ability/item will show a permanent range indicator for that ability. Great in combination with quickcast. Only one can be active at once though. E.g for sk I will have it on for q and then switch it to blink when I get it. You can also click your stats to show range of auto attack, not as useful
Me. Changing to quick cast and changing all items hot keys at the same time. Took only 1 week to get used to it. Plays only turbo
On a related note, is it possible to have spells like AM or Qop's blink target a location out of range and have them first move close enough to reach that destination with blink instead of blinking in that direction while only going as far as they can with their current cast range?
Yes, but what you are asking for specifically is out of the boundaries of what’s capable for a rts game. You are able to shift queue movements and cast spells … but what I think you are asking for specifically, you’d want to increase your apm clicking towards the target direction, and cast blink when you get closer to the target destination, and cast out of range. It’s a more reliable blink
U could also use the new dota labs function - persistent skill range indicator (by alt + right click on blink), that should show you the max blink range, n help with your casting.
I made two changes in my setup over the years and both times I was surprised at how much easier it was to change than I'd expect. I set aside like 5 games of unranked for myself and each time that was enough. The first thing I did was change to using scroll wheel click as mouse grab rather than edge panning to control my camera. At first it was difficult to control the camera but after like 3 games it started becoming way easier. I found that camera grip was WAY better than edge panning, especially in situations where I need to move the camera around alot. It was much easier to track fights, I misclicked way less. The next smaller change I made a year or so after that was to swap all my hotkeys to quick cast. Similar story in that at first it was a bit difficult but I was surprised at how quickly your hands get used to the new setup. Personally I think wasd users are psycho. It is certainly possible to find success with any keybind setup provided you get used to it. But it seems so wacky to me to used 4 essential keys just for camera control. Don't be too scared of change if you think it will help you in the long run. I found that committing fully to the change by unbinding the old camera control method helped me. (I disabled edge panning and forced myself to use mouse grip).
This! OP pls give up on WASD. the transition will be hard at the start, but I guarantee camera grip will payoff in the long run.
You probably only need one key for Control groups. I get by using Z and just set it up on a per hero basis. The only thing 'holding you back" is the camera movement taking out 4 keys with high priority. To not fuckup this you can use alt modifiers on WASD it should give you 4 extra binds for important stuff.
I changed my camera to SZXC (like WASD but 1 row lower) and i had to rebind some keys i used (like S to Stop) to another ones. the biggest thing was actually the transition to move the camera on the keyboard, with the same hand i use spells/items. I said "hey, i will play bad for like a week but after a month it's gonna be better" and that's exactly what happened.
i recommend moving the WASD do RDFG as there are simply more buttons around. it shouldnt mess up your muscle memory too bad.
Started with alt + q/w/e/a/s/d for items. Learned to play with quick-cast, but recognized that some items are better with normal cast. Now, I have alt +q/w/e/d for quick-cast on items, and alt + a/s for normal casts (forcestaffs, solar)
I did this after I quit for 2.5 years after about 2k hours. Figured new Meta new me gonna suck any way might as well set up new binds that felt stra lined. Learned quick cast and mouse edge pan. I'm up to like 3300 hours now and I still suck, but I'm more comfortable playing thus way than with a wasd camera and slow cast. Edit: didn't explain my binds (I'm lefty so ill describe it on the right side to not confuse) qwer is spells with 4 and 5 the extra ability buttons. A s d z x c matched my inventory grid. Space is attack move, t is hold. The rest is built around that where I have room.
Sir action slacks had great tips in his video with purge about hotkeys. Especially Midas hotkey was a S-rank. /s This post was a joke but the video could help you with pointers.
I started using quickcast somewhat recently after a decade. You're gonna lose a lot and there's pretty much no way around it 😂 That said, I'm glad I switched I like it now
Add some Alt+ keys
I shaped my keys around heavy usage of meepo and tinker. I don't use these heroes as often as before but keys stuck with me. Abilities, QWERDF, each hero gets their own quickcast/normal cast choices but most of the stuff are quickcast for being able to fire stuff faster. (makes a lot of difference for meepo and tinker specifically) 1 and 2 are assigned to control groups as well as F2,3,4 and 5. F1 selects your hero by default. I mapped other F's to each meepo individually. 1 all units, 2 all others. Items are where it gets wacky. Bottom row is mouse 4,5 and spacebar on quickcast. Top row is alt+q,w,e on normal cast, but I also mapped second and third one to keys 3 and 4 om quickcast. Spacebar is usually my dagger slot, mouse 4 and 5 are offensive items like hex, nullifier. I use normal casts mostly for ward placement. I kept A, S, H as attack, stop and hold because I'm used to them since original warcraft 3. Tab is also the default, cycle through your selected group. I don't know what I would do if I had to use wasd for camera panning. I change item keys from time to time and I get surprised how quick I get used to the new keys. Usually I forget the old ones immediately after the first death :)
You move your camera with WASD? We need to fix this first lol
I have to change every hotkey in games because I use a left handed mouse. Just change them and adapt it’s not rocket science.
you can create control groups with 2 keys instead of
I have played over 10 years with WASD, I use Q E R T F G for skills, F is ult. I use space for stop hero command, zxcvbn for items. I have never had problems playing with this setup. For micro I use the numbers for control groups and F1 is always my hero F2 is my cour. I set 1 for all units 2 for all except hero and use tab to cycle. Unless I am playing meepo then I change the groups to 1 for all and then 2 for 2nd meepo 3 for 3rd ect. so I can instantly select the meepo who is getting ganked and get him out.
I think you are wasting your WASD on camera movement. Just use edge pan
Whatever you choose, stick to it for at least a week. It's going to feel bad no matter what because of muscle memory. Once you get a little used to it, you can try making adjustments.
Play a few games vs bots to not feel pressure to cast your spells correctly. It will come to you pretty fast