With League of Legends being an input-intensive game, many players like to customize their hotkeys to match their own playstyles. This article will break down a range of useful hotkeys, and discuss how to optimize your keybinds to best suit your preferences.
Important Factors
Before mapping inputs to your keyboard and mouse, you must assess the practicality of your custom keybinds. A couple of factors to consider:
- Practicality
First and foremost, evaluate how accessible a custom input is to your hand. Unique factors such as hand size and finger length will affect which keybindings you’ll find comfortable. Additionally, the size and shape of your keyboard will determine what your fingers can and cannot reach.
- Input Restrictions
Ensure that your chosen hotkeys don’t limit other inputs. With only four fingers and a thumb at your disposal, you don’t want to depend too heavily on a single finger. Be sure that important inputs aren’t restricted during certain keystrokes and hand motions. This consideration is crucial when playing combo-oriented champions, where stringing abilities together is essential.
Quick Cast Usage
The usage of ‘normal cast’ and ‘quick cast’ varies among players. For those who don’t know, quick cast (formerly ‘smart cast’) is the keybind option to immediately cast abilities according to your cursor’s location at the moment of keypress. Unlike normal cast which uses a two-step system of choosing a spell and clicking to fire, quick cast is simple and immediate, sacrificing range indicators for reduced ability delays.
Pros:
+ Minimal delay for faster reactionary spellcasts
+ String abilities together fluidly
+ Less inputs required
Cons:
- No range indicators
- Demands familiarity with ability ranges
Indicators are practical for long-range abilities such as Twisted Fates’ Destiny (R) and Pantheon’s Grand Skyfall (R), where seeing the ability’s cast radius is favourable. Additionally, skillshot-heavy champions such as Lux can benefit from using normal cast periodically for well-placed projectiles. Hence, utilizing both quick and normal cast is a suitable option.
By default, the Q, W, E and R keys cast abilities normally, while Shift+Q/W/E/R quick casts them. Many players opt to map quick cast to QWER, as the minimal delay is preferable in most cases. You may choose to use an alternative set of keys, e.g. ZXCV or Shift+Q/W/E/R to normal cast abilities, for when you need to check their ranges.
A third keybind option is ‘quick cast with indicator’, a middle-ground between the aforementioned settings. This displays the indicators of an ability while the corresponding key is held down, and is cast when released. You can tap a key to fire immediately, or hold it down to aim. Although this is a balanced option for players who value range indicators, note that this keybind setting will always have a small delay, even when tapping to cast quickly.
Camera Controls
Understanding and utilizing camera keybinds can help you maintain a well-balanced overview of the game.
A set of very useful yet frequently overlooked hotkeys are the function keys (F1-F5), which pan the camera to each of your allies. These inputs are particularly helpful when playing Jungle and Top, where checking the state of your allies’ lanes is crucial when looking for gank and teleport opportunities. After panning, you can tap the ‘Center Camera on Champion’ hotkey (default spacebar) to reset the camera to yourself.
These function keys pan to teammates in whichever order they are arranged on the scoreboard. For consistency, you may like to rearrange your scoreboard at the start of games in relation to each players’ roles for convenience, e.g. F1 for top laner, F2 for jungler, etc. This can be done by holding the scoreboard key (default TAB) and click dragging each allies’ listing.
The popular ‘fixed camera’ setting (default Y) toggles the camera between the free-camera setting and a fixed setting centered on you. Although the toggle hotkey is convenient for players who prefer using mostly one camera mode, switching between the two frequently can be cumbersome and impractical. Hence, using the ‘Center Camera on Champion’ hotkey can be convenient for resetting the camera after being panned. Additionally, it can be held down to remain fixed on you until released.
Champion-Specific Keybinds
Certain champions benefit from custom hotkey setups due to the complex or unique functionality of their abilities.
Lee Sin is a prime example of a mechanically-intensive champion where custom keybinds are useful. For instance, mapping one of your active ability slots can allow for fluid ward-hopping. You may opt to bind your Sightstone/Ward active slot to a key like C or G, allowing you to Safeguard to wards with a swift motion of the middle and index fingers. Additionally, Lee Sin’s Sonic Wave (Q) can benefit from having both settings mapped: quick cast for close range, and normal cast for precise, long-range casts.
Spell-shields and targeted heals can be quickened with additional self-cast key mappings. Abilities such as Morgana’s Black Shield (E) and Kayle’s Divine Blessing (W) can be activated with a self-casting hotkey, as it’s more practical to press a single key instead of cursor-targeting yourself in the midst of battle. By default, self-casts are bound to ALT+Q/W/E/R.
Ensure you always change your keybinds at the start of matches when playing different champions with unique hotkeys. Currently, no keybind presets or profile system exists in-game, so you’ll have to manually change your settings between matches when using intricate configurations.
This article covers just a few of many potential keybinds that can be personalized to your liking. Configure your hotkeys accordingly, and your gameplay will feel increasingly responsive and versatile. The power to dominate the Summoner’s Rift is at your fingertips!
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