• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EST 06:53
CET 12:53
KST 20:53
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
RSL Season 3 - Playoffs Preview0RSL Season 3 - RO16 Groups C & D Preview0RSL Season 3 - RO16 Groups A & B Preview2TL.net Map Contest #21: Winners12Intel X Team Liquid Seoul event: Showmatches and Meet the Pros10
Community News
BGE Stara Zagora 2026 announced11[BSL21] Ro.16 Group Stage (C->B->A->D)4Weekly Cups (Nov 17-23): Solar, MaxPax, Clem win3RSL Season 3: RO16 results & RO8 bracket13Weekly Cups (Nov 10-16): Reynor, Solar lead Zerg surge2
StarCraft 2
General
BGE Stara Zagora 2026 announced SC: Evo Complete - Ranked Ladder OPEN ALPHA When will we find out if there are more tournament Weekly Cups (Nov 17-23): Solar, MaxPax, Clem win Weekly Cups (Nov 10-16): Reynor, Solar lead Zerg surge
Tourneys
Constellation Cup - Main Event - Stellar Fest RSL Revival: Season 3 Tenacious Turtle Tussle [Alpha Pro Series] Nice vs Cure $5,000+ WardiTV 2025 Championship
Strategy
Custom Maps
Map Editor closed ?
External Content
Mutation # 501 Price of Progress Mutation # 500 Fright night Mutation # 499 Chilling Adaptation Mutation # 498 Wheel of Misfortune|Cradle of Death
Brood War
General
BW General Discussion BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ A cwal.gg Extension - Easily keep track of anyone Which season is the best in ASL? soO on: FanTaSy's Potential Return to StarCraft
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues [BSL21] RO16 Group B - Sunday 21:00 CET [BSL21] RO16 Group C - Saturday 21:00 CET Small VOD Thread 2.0
Strategy
Game Theory for Starcraft How to stay on top of macro? Current Meta PvZ map balance
Other Games
General Games
Nintendo Switch Thread The Perfect Game Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Beyond All Reason Should offensive tower rushing be viable in RTS games?
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
Mafia Game Mode Feedback/Ideas TL Mafia Community Thread
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread The Big Programming Thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Artificial Intelligence Thread
Fan Clubs
White-Ra Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
[Manga] One Piece Movie Discussion! Anime Discussion Thread
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread Formula 1 Discussion NBA General Discussion MLB/Baseball 2023 TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
Where to ask questions and add stream? The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Esports Earnings: Bigger Pri…
TrAiDoS
Thanks for the RSL
Hildegard
Saturation point
Uldridge
DnB/metal remix FFO Mick Go…
ImbaTosS
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 1241 users

[G] Screen Hotkeys: An easy way to improve - Page 2

Forum Index > StarCraft 2 Strategy
Post a Reply
Prev 1 2 3 4 5 7 8 9 Next All
Alejandrisha
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
United States6565 Posts
April 28 2012 06:02 GMT
#21
On April 28 2012 15:00 tuestresfat wrote:
Sure, not everyone does it, but I thought this was common sense O____o why the need to make a guide on it.

because not everyone does it
get rich or die mining
TL+ Member
tuestresfat
Profile Joined December 2010
2555 Posts
April 28 2012 06:04 GMT
#22
On April 28 2012 15:02 Alejandrisha wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 28 2012 15:00 tuestresfat wrote:
Sure, not everyone does it, but I thought this was common sense O____o why the need to make a guide on it.

because not everyone does it

so it was to emphasize common knowledge? fair enough.
monk
Profile Blog Joined May 2009
United States8476 Posts
April 28 2012 06:14 GMT
#23
Players who come from a wc3 background usually don't do this, because location keys didn't exist. The keys were used for heroes.
Moderator
Stopher
Profile Blog Joined February 2012
United States38 Posts
April 28 2012 06:34 GMT
#24
I changed Base Camera Hotkey to middle mouse button, I think it fits a similar role, but it's confusing when you're on 4-5 bases.
"The inner machinations of my mind are an enigma." -Patrick Star
Rimak
Profile Joined January 2012
Denmark434 Posts
April 28 2012 08:22 GMT
#25
Thanks Alejandrisha just tried the thing with turning off mouse scroll.
Feels kinda clumsy, but i do see the possibilities you are talking about.
Thanks again.
2000 Jungler 66% Hecarim, 63% Volibear, 60% Jarvan IV
Andreas
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
Norway214 Posts
April 28 2012 08:36 GMT
#26
Another advantage to practicing camera hotkeys is it'll force you to move your hand more if you're used to having it in that stationary position near the left side. This in turn may make it easier for you to use more control groups.
Mesha
Profile Blog Joined January 2010
Bosnia-Herzegovina439 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-04-28 09:43:50
April 28 2012 09:07 GMT
#27
On April 28 2012 11:44 Alejandrisha wrote:
Disable edge-scrolling in the options if you have to.

This is what i have to do. Because i am dumb. :D

I have my main, natural and third on camera hotkeys, for quite some time now. But somehow, i really can't force myself to use them. I realized everything you wrote even before this guide, and somehow i am still scrolling like a complete noob. The funny thing is i realize in game how much it wears me down to scroll and still do it. But it's all over from now on!
Even if i lose every single game because im not used to using them i will force myself that i use camera hotkeys for everything i need to do in my MAIN, NATURAL, and THIRD ... when i get used to it i will add maybe forth location that is important, hehe.
Nice unusual guide. Very, very important skill to have - yet, i don't think it's used and spread around as much as it should be.

edit: I forgot to thank you, Alejandrisha. ^_^
edit: played one game vs easyAI with scroll disabled. It's soooooo much more effecient and the warm up of the left hand felt really good. I will really enjoy practicing this in my games. I just love the sim city build up inside the screen! I really can't explain to myself why didn't i use this before even though i knew about it. o_O
Reality hits you hard bro.
lahara
Profile Joined April 2012
Germany140 Posts
April 28 2012 09:19 GMT
#28
thanks for the post. started using them now. rly nice to cover your bases especially against multipronged drops and such
having an argument on the internt is like competing in the paralympics, even if u win ure still retarded
Salivanth
Profile Blog Joined October 2010
Australia1071 Posts
April 28 2012 12:09 GMT
#29
Because "Ctrl + F3" and "Ctrl + F4" was just SUPER hard for me to do, I came up with an alternative hotkey setup I think will work very well: F1-F4 for selecting locations, F5-F8 for keybinding locations. Only one key!
<@Wikt> so you are one of those nega-fans <@Wikt> that hates the company that makes a game and everything they stand for <@Wikt> but still plays the game <@Wikt> (like roughly 30% of blizzard's player base, maybe much more...)
Surili
Profile Blog Joined March 2011
United Kingdom1141 Posts
April 28 2012 12:22 GMT
#30
On April 28 2012 12:01 Crushgroove wrote:
Some other things to consider:

Protoss: Camera save your proxy pylons... don't give it a control group. That way, you can hit 'w', 'camera save key', spam units.


I have my 4th mouse button hotkeyed which at the start i use for my natural, and then for the rest of the game (ie exactly when the nexus finishes) i hotkey it to wherever my proxy pylon/ main warp prism is. Other than that i use the tab through bases button, which i rebound to f2, to chrono nexi and everything else around them.
The world is ending what should we do about it?
Poopi
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
France12906 Posts
April 28 2012 12:40 GMT
#31
It completely improved my game once I started to use these, too bad I only use them with my mouse buttons, too hard to reach F& otherwise . That's still 2 camera hotkeys.
WriterMaru
Teoita
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
Italy12246 Posts
April 28 2012 12:51 GMT
#32
On April 28 2012 15:14 NrGmonk wrote:
Players who come from a wc3 background usually don't do this, because location keys didn't exist. The keys were used for heroes.


Grubby does it though; you can see on his stream he sets his hotkeys for his main, nat and third at the start of the game on the f buttons.
ModeratorProtoss all-ins are like a wok. You can throw whatever you want in there and it will turn out alright.
Gladiator6
Profile Joined June 2010
Sweden7024 Posts
April 28 2012 12:54 GMT
#33
I see many players that do this in the beginning of the game, but as the game goes on they forget about it completely. I tried this for like a few months a year ago or so, but it didn't really improve anything for me, considering that I could do the same but with hotkeys instead for proxy pylons and such.
Flying, sOs, free, Light, Soulkey & ZerO
SwirlQ
Profile Joined February 2011
United States148 Posts
April 28 2012 12:58 GMT
#34
What do you guys think would be more optimal for zerg?

Putting all hatches on 1 hotkey, then using cam hotkeys for each individual base and f1 for rally.
Pros: This method I think you save time on injecting, you only need to press the hatchery hotkey once and more hotkey keys available.
Cons: You lose the ability to quickly and efficiently change individual rallies for a base and going to inject a base you might have to stretch to f5-f8 often.

OR

Putting each hatch that your gonna be injecting on its own hotkey, then spreading camera hotkeys throughout the map.
Pros: Quicker army movements, efficient control of rallies and drg uses this method so its a obvious plus.
Cons: Injecting is maybe 1 or 2 sec slower( on high base count ) then above method, and when making units you have to cycle through approximately 4 diffrent hotkeys.
Kambing
Profile Joined May 2010
United States1176 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-04-28 13:12:30
April 28 2012 13:11 GMT
#35
On April 28 2012 13:56 Cycle wrote:
I've been advocating this for months and months
I just recently put a twist on this though, and here's my current screen key setup:
F1 main
F2 natural
F3 third
F4 fourth
F5 fifth
F6 sixth
F7 seventh
space rally point

Since I wasn't using the space bar for "most recent action", I changed control+space to set a new screen location, and space bar jumps to it.


Echoing this. Bases are one thing, but having a camera key dedicated to your rally point/proxy pylon and on an easily reachable key like space helps your macro and responsiveness to surprise drops greatly.

(And I strongly recommend that zerg do in addition to rallying non-OL/worker eggs as they are created. Both styles have their place in a game.)
Madera
Profile Joined July 2011
Sweden2672 Posts
April 28 2012 13:21 GMT
#36
Screen hotkeys are amazing. Once I got used to them a while back my play improved a ton. It makes everything from maynarding workers to dealing with harass so much easier.

I use F2 for my main, F3 for my nat and F4 for my third. When I place my building down I go Ctrl + F to center it and then Ctrl + F2-4 to save the location. For those of you saying the F-keys are hard to hit, try resting your palm on the Ctrl key and hit the F-keys with your fingers. Works for me at least.
Nhed
Profile Joined October 2010
France14 Posts
April 28 2012 13:37 GMT
#37
Someone else use them to control xel naga tower?
Fenneth
Profile Blog Joined April 2007
Australia354 Posts
April 28 2012 13:54 GMT
#38
Yeah they're really useful, I switched recently and there's absolutely no reason to go back.

On a vaguely related note, does anyone use middle mouse button drag-scrolling?
Kambing
Profile Joined May 2010
United States1176 Posts
April 28 2012 14:01 GMT
#39
On April 28 2012 22:54 Fenneth wrote:
Yeah they're really useful, I switched recently and there's absolutely no reason to go back.

On a vaguely related note, does anyone use middle mouse button drag-scrolling?


I do both out of habit from casting/obsing games. But it doesn't offer any significant benefits over drag-scrolling.
CakeSauc3
Profile Joined February 2011
United States1437 Posts
April 28 2012 14:52 GMT
#40
On April 28 2012 21:58 SwirlQ wrote:
What do you guys think would be more optimal for zerg?

Putting all hatches on 1 hotkey, then using cam hotkeys for each individual base and f1 for rally.
Pros: This method I think you save time on injecting, you only need to press the hatchery hotkey once and more hotkey keys available.
Cons: You lose the ability to quickly and efficiently change individual rallies for a base and going to inject a base you might have to stretch to f5-f8 often.

OR

Putting each hatch that your gonna be injecting on its own hotkey, then spreading camera hotkeys throughout the map.
Pros: Quicker army movements, efficient control of rallies and drg uses this method so its a obvious plus.
Cons: Injecting is maybe 1 or 2 sec slower( on high base count ) then above method, and when making units you have to cycle through approximately 4 diffrent hotkeys.


When I play Zerg now in SC2, I prefer to put all my hatchers on hotkey 4, and then my queens from 5-8, just so I can go through and inject super fast.

I then use the camera positions for my main, nat and third (I could add more for additional bases, but it's not a habit as of yet) and also for rally points and the enemy's natural (wherever the point of most conflict will be so I can be quick to do runby's and stuff).



Prev 1 2 3 4 5 7 8 9 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Sparkling Tuna Cup
10:00
2025 November Finals
YoungYakov vs KrystianerLIVE!
Shameless vs SKillous
CranKy Ducklings284
LiquipediaDiscussion
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
TKL 37
Railgan 31
Rex 24
StarCraft: Brood War
Britney 55743
Sea 9003
Horang2 1843
Rain 1689
Larva 667
actioN 574
BeSt 456
Soma 372
firebathero 273
Last 206
[ Show more ]
Hyun 192
Barracks 144
hero 135
Rush 129
Mong 88
Sharp 79
ggaemo 75
sorry 67
Shinee 59
zelot 57
ajuk12(nOOB) 24
Terrorterran 20
Noble 16
IntoTheRainbow 10
Dota 2
Gorgc2272
XcaliburYe504
Counter-Strike
x6flipin561
Other Games
B2W.Neo1097
ceh9428
Fuzer 295
crisheroes267
MindelVK19
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick832
Dota 2
PGL Dota 2 - Main Stream296
StarCraft: Brood War
CasterMuse 34
StarCraft 2
WardiTV33
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 15 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• LUISG 48
• intothetv
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• blackmanpl 54
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
Dota 2
• WagamamaTV635
• lizZardDota2121
League of Legends
• Jankos4077
Upcoming Events
WardiTV Korean Royale
8m
Zoun vs SHIN
TBD vs Reynor
TBD vs herO
Solar vs TBD
3D!Clan Event
2h 8m
BSL 21
8h 8m
Hawk vs Kyrie
spx vs Cross
Replay Cast
12h 8m
Wardi Open
1d
Monday Night Weeklies
1d 5h
StarCraft2.fi
1d 5h
Replay Cast
1d 12h
Wardi Open
2 days
StarCraft2.fi
2 days
[ Show More ]
PiGosaur Monday
2 days
Wardi Open
3 days
StarCraft2.fi
3 days
Replay Cast
3 days
The PondCast
3 days
Replay Cast
4 days
Korean StarCraft League
5 days
CranKy Ducklings
5 days
SC Evo League
6 days
BSL 21
6 days
Sziky vs OyAji
Gypsy vs eOnzErG
Sparkling Tuna Cup
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

SOOP Univ League 2025
RSL Revival: Season 3
Eternal Conflict S1

Ongoing

C-Race Season 1
IPSL Winter 2025-26
KCM Race Survival 2025 Season 4
YSL S2
BSL Season 21
CSCL: Masked Kings S3
Slon Tour Season 2
META Madness #9
SL Budapest Major 2025
ESL Impact League Season 8
BLAST Rivals Fall 2025
IEM Chengdu 2025
PGL Masters Bucharest 2025
Thunderpick World Champ.
CS Asia Championships 2025
ESL Pro League S22
StarSeries Fall 2025
FISSURE Playground #2

Upcoming

BSL 21 Non-Korean Championship
Acropolis #4
IPSL Spring 2026
Bellum Gens Elite Stara Zagora 2026
HSC XXVIII
RSL Offline Finals
WardiTV 2025
Kuram Kup
PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026
IEM Kraków 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter 2026: Closed Qualifier
eXTREMESLAND 2025
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2025 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.