Mechanics: Advanced Hotkeys and Keybindings

So you think you're crushing it. You've got a good handle on the game and maybe even gotten to a good rank. You think you know what all the buttons do, and just have a long grind to Challenger until you're rich and famous.

Maybe that's true, and you can QWERDF your way to victory. However, did you know the league system actually has a TON of other custom hotkeys you can setup as well? Check out some of the potential keybindings you can use to speed up your reaction times below!

Introduction

So you think you're crushing it. You've got a good handle on the game and maybe even gotten to a good rank. You think you know what all the buttons do, and just have a long grind to Challenger until you're rich and famous.

Maybe that's true, and you can QWERDF your way to victory. However, did you know the league system actually has a TON of other custom hotkeys you can setup as well? Check out some of the potential keybindings you can use to speed up your reaction times below!

Basic Advanced Hotkeys

Let's start off with some basics. We'll keep it brief for those are you who already know them, but it's still important to know the basics so let's cover all our bases.

Smart Casting/Quick Casting

This used to be a lot more difficult, but Riot's made it so when you hit the ESC key, you can quickly set all your spells and items to automatically cast at your mouse pointer location by hitting the "Quick Cast All" button, followed by "Okay". That last bit is important, never forget to save.

Level Up Spells

The default setting for leveling up spells is CTRL + [Spell Key]. I prefer Shift + [Spellkey]

Even though it's simple enough to hit the buttons with your mouse, a hotkey level up could be the difference between life and death. For example, if you and the enemy are both about to hit level 6, leveling up your ultimate ability in time could save you in many different situations, or catch the enemy off guard.

Self Cast

The default setting for self-casting I believe is set to SHIFT + [Spell Key]. I prefer using ALT + [Spell Key].

This is especially useful for fast casting spells such as Morgana's Black Shield or any other shields/heals that you can target either yourself or your allies with.

Center Yourself

This one's more of a personal preference type of button, but by hitting SPACEBAR you center you character on the screen. Holding it will keep it locked as you move. If you ever have trouble finding your character in a teamfight, this is the best (and quickest) way to do it.

Stop Attacking

If you press the "S" key, your champion instantly stops moving and attacking. This is especially helpful when last hitting, and allows you to cancel your autos effectively.

Instantly Buy Items In Shop

If you're still double clicking items to buy them in the shop, then try right clicking instead. That'll probably save you at least 1000 clicks this year.

Common Accidental Button Pushes

Locked Camera Mode

If you accidentally pressed the "Y" button, your camera is probably locked with you in the middle. Press it again to release.

Minion Health Bars Missing

This used to be a bigger issue back when the default binding was just plain old "L". Now the hotkey for this is CTRL+L, which makes it much less likely for your minion bars to go missing. How does anyone even last hit like that?

SHIFT + L is the default for summoner health bars if you lost that one too.

Advanced Button Mashing

Target Champions Only

One little known button is the "`" button, which shares itself with the "~" button. This button allows you to target champions ONLY with your point and click spells (doesn't work for skillshots, sorry Blitzcrank mains). I rebound this to my "T" key for easier reach.

This button is useful on champions like Ryze, especially if you're trying to root an enemy standing in the middle of 50 creeps with ease.

Attack Ground

There are two ways to attack ground, either by using SHIFT + Right click or by pressing A then left clicking.

This allows you to immediately use auto attacks upon enemies entering your range. The benefit of this is that it allows you to attack as quickly as possible, and is especially important if you're chasing someone through a bush or the fog of war.

Portrait Cast

If you've ever had trouble targeting a teammate during a teamfight, then you could try clicking their portrait instead. By doing this, you guarantee that your spells will land on the correct target. I believe you used to be able to target them by pressing F1 through F5, but that doesn't appear to be working anymore and just changes the camera view.

This is especially useful for powerful spells like Lulu or Shen's ultimate.

Big Vayne Plays

Vayne players generally build Blade of the Ruined King. However, GOOD Vayne players rebind their Blade of the Ruined King item slot active to the "W" key, since well, Vayne's W doesn't have an active. Just make sure you always put it in the same slot.

Conclusions

There are a lot of different key bindings here that you may or may not have known, and I hope this article taught you something new. Personally, I didn't know about the target champions only button until a little while ago, and I know that changed some of my champion playing abilities drastically.

Do you have other awesome hotkey abilities that aren't mentioned above? Did you learn something new? Comment below!