I use 8/9/0 for my command centers, 1/2/3/4 for units, and 5/6/7 for production facilities. Like someone said before, I set my 8/9/0 hotkeys using the right control key. I use my pointer finger to hit the 8/9/0 hotkeys. It's a little bit of a stretch/effort to either stretch my hand or pick up my hand to hit those, but I think it's worth it in order to have easy access and numerous unit hotkeys and building hotkeys.

ThE.SparkZ

United States381 Posts

September 09 2010 17:16 GMT

#22

NOT ALL PRO'S DO THIS. In fact, jaedong one of the greatest starcraft 1 players of all time, refused to use 8/9/0 in his hotkeys, so it's not unheard of to not be used

MoreFaSho

United States1427 Posts

September 09 2010 17:18 GMT

#23

On September 10 2010 02:10 JudoChopper wrote:

Show nested quote +

Whoa whoa whoa, you can use the keypad for group number?!? omg this is gonna be so awesome!

No, unfortunately you can't use the keypad (not sure if you would want to. Now picture your left hand with your thumb on the right control key. Now you can hit 7-0 with your fingers.

TobZero

Germany493 Posts

September 09 2010 17:18 GMT

#24

I use 9 and 0 for overseer and nydus. Bind it with index finger and tumb. you have to move your hand away from its natural position but once you get used to it you can do it precice and fast.

OutlaW-

Czech Republic5053 Posts

September 09 2010 17:19 GMT

#25

Maybe they have their hotkey setup as 'classic' or just configure them on their own.

Kralic

Canada2628 Posts

September 09 2010 17:20 GMT

#26

Did you know when you make a control group it makes little box above the unit information. I like making 9 and 0 there because it is easy to click after you box some units to spread them or make them into a new control group. Click on that little box and that group comes up. It may seem very newb but I find it is a quick way to utilize those 2 groups while keeping your left hand free for other hot keys.

Bhaalgorn

Slovenia214 Posts

September 09 2010 17:22 GMT

#27

I doubt the pros have their hands on the wasd keys like a lot of regular gamers do, thanks to every single shooter defaulting to wasd for movement. They probably have their hand on the center of the keyboard so it's not THAT far to reach the 0 and 9 key.

I'm just speculating though, it could be purely a habit of doing so for years on end.

mattpkp

United States9 Posts

September 09 2010 17:22 GMT

#28

If you want to remap keys on your keyboard/mouse I like to use "Autohotkey" google it. You can get really fancy with this as well. For example I created a program that will beep, a few seconds before I need to build another SCV. I use this to practice and to remind myself to build SCV's. I am sure you could get MUCH more complex but I try and keep it simple. You can easily do the if I push mouse4, I really want 0, type binds. But once again, this stuff isn't very useful if you want to play for real, as during tournaments you HAVE to use the defaults, so you might as well get use to them.

NeV

Italy370 Posts

September 09 2010 17:31 GMT

#29

use the right ctrl key to bind 8-9-0, so you don't have to stretch your hand.
It only requires a bit of practice if you're not used, but after that u'll be faster.
There was a tutorial made by Tasteless on how you should use your keyboard efficiently. Try to search it on these forums.

GreEny K

Germany7312 Posts

September 09 2010 17:31 GMT

#30

On September 10 2010 01:52 Jh wrote:
well brood war hotkey for probe was p. so the tosses just put their nexi(?) to 8 9 0.

tasteless' keyboard guide:
http://starfeeder.gameriot.com/blogs/tasteless/secrets-of-starcraft-pro-gamers-the-competitive-keyboard

That's what I believed as well, but most korean pros in BW used 567 as starting nexus. Weird but it's true. I used 098 and still do in sc2, for me it's habit but in the end it's really goo because I can have a larger army spread on hotkeys. 1 stalkers, 2 lotz, 3 sentries, 4 col/immortals. And I use 5 for warp gates and 6 for robo. So the rest are for nexus.

SuperGnu

Sweden240 Posts

September 09 2010 17:35 GMT

#31

On September 10 2010 01:47 Helmet EU wrote:
I just can't get my head around it, I'm standing at two meters and eight years of piano playing experience, and how someone, especially a short Korean can use the hotkeys "9" and "0" easily is beyond me. Especially as they seem to prefer 9 and 0 to for example 6 and 7. Can anybody explain how they do it?

P.S. I did try using the search button for the past 30 minutes but I just can't find a good answer; is there any legal way to assign mouse 4 and mouse 5 to "9" and "0" in Starcraft 2? I do not have a microsoft or Logitech mouse, and all of the third party programs aren't compatible with Starcraft 2 somehow : / Thanks in advance.

Habit.

I have been using 9 and 0 for buildings/detectors since i started playing SC 12 years ago.
Some ppl just like other settings, some like to use every button there is to bind stuff to, others dont. Some want to use 1-2 for buildings, some want 9-0 for buildings, some want to scroll around with arrow keys some use the mouse.

EDIT: and as someone else said, in SC/BW the army size was 12 so you had to use A LOT of binds for your army alone, now you can get away with 1-3 back then you needed all 10 sometimes.

Helmet EU

57 Posts

September 09 2010 17:36 GMT

#32

So I should learn how to use 8/9/0 and not use the two extra mouse buttons given to me? Could someone tell me how to assign these buttons anyway? I'm sure I'll find another purpose for them.

KillerPlague

United States1386 Posts

September 09 2010 17:37 GMT

#33

just use what is comfortable for you. you're overthinking everything. they can use those hotkeys because they are extremely gifted and those hotkeys are usually reserved for slow things such as upgrades.

Bleb

Croatia278 Posts

September 09 2010 17:41 GMT

#34

I use those hotkeys for things I usually lose on map (observers, warp prisms mostly)

raga4ka

Bulgaria5679 Posts

September 09 2010 17:43 GMT

#35

Not needed for SC 2 with MBS . In BW you need all the hotkeys thought it's not really game changing if you don't use them .

junemermaid

United States981 Posts

September 09 2010 17:45 GMT

#36

On September 10 2010 01:51 rackdude wrote:
In SC1 they used 9p0p to build probes (those are close), so they just used 9 and 0 for nexuses in SC2 out of habit?

Yep. I use 0 for my nexus and keep putting new nexus's on it afterwards. This is mostly a relic from playing brood war. 9 & 8 are reserved for obs and warp prisms, 4-5 are for production structures, and 1-3 are units. I find its hard to maintain decent army control without having three hotkeys for units (two for units, one for spell casters)

I avoid hotkeys 6-7 because they are hard for me to press accurately without glancing down on the keyboard

Piy

Scotland3152 Posts

September 09 2010 17:45 GMT

#37

9 and 0 are like my f keys for going back to my main and natural since Blizzard saw fit to make them stupid. Even if they fix it I'll probably still use 0 and 9 for that reason.

8 is nexus for chrono boost (using pinky to hit c). 7 for sgates, 6 for robos, 5 for gates.

I played BW with a similar setup, so I just use it.

Lonyo

United Kingdom3884 Posts

September 09 2010 17:49 GMT

#38

I use 1-4 for army, 5/6/7 production, 8 for CCs and 9/0 either for new bases or technology facilities (tech lab, ebay, armoury), so that i can get upgrades without returning to base.
Terran.

MinoMino

Norway1103 Posts

September 09 2010 17:50 GMT

#39

I love using 7-0 for Overseers. I hate having to find them manually and I can't afford having them in any other hotkey either. I use them for Observers as P too, or pretty much any unit that I won't need to move or select often enough to deserve 1-6. I can see them being useful for upgrading buildings too. Just use the right ctrl and shift key, and you should be able to hotkey them pretty easily, or at least until you're used to moving your hand away from WASD. Damn you, FPS games.

Wrongspeedy

United States1655 Posts

September 09 2010 17:56 GMT

#40

There are shift and control keys on the same side of the keyboard as 0-9. And also the directional keys, which I and many others do not recommend, but there are times when I think it is faster than using your mouse, and times when I do it out of habit :D. I think the more ways you know how to do something will definitely help you feel comfortable doing them.