Dota 2 Builder: The Hotkey Layout Builder Tool for Dota 2

The Hotkey Layout Builder Tool

The Hotkey Layout Builder Tool puts Dota 2 hotkeys on a real keyboard. It shows Valve’s default layout and all 7 templates you can pick in the game, straight from the game’s own key file. Press a key on your keyboard and Axe tells you what it does. Axe pressed every key once. Some twice. One broke.

1. Pick a template: Default, WASD, MMO, Legacy, League of Legends, Heroes of Newerth or Smite. The keys jump to their new places.
2. Click the keyboard, then press keys on your real keyboard (mouse buttons 4 and 5 work too). The panel shows the action. Click a colored legend chip to light up one group, like all item keys.
3. Change a key with the dropdown. If the new key is taken, the two actions swap. Step 3 then shows exactly what to set in Dota’s hotkey settings. Copy it as a checklist, or share the layout as a link.

Axe explains

Dota 2 hotkeys in 10 seconds

1. Q W E Rabilities + ultimate.
2. D Fextra ability slots.
3. Z–Nitems. TP scroll on T.
4. 0keys for the neutral item. Fix that.

Alt + ability key = autocast.

Dota 2 default hotkeys

This is Valve’s default template, the one every new account starts with. Straight from the game’s key file.

No key by default: Neutral item slot, Take Stash Items, Patrol, Select All Controlled Units, Select All Other Units, Taunt Item. You can give each of them a key in the settings.

Best Dota 2 hotkeys for beginners

New to Dota? Axe’s advice fits on one hand. Big hand, but one hand:

• 1Keep the default layout. Every guide, video and tooltip talks in default keys. Change things once you know what bugs you.
• 2Learn the few keys that win fights: abilities Q W E R, items on Z X C V B N, TP on T, F1 to jump back to your hero.
• 3Give the neutral item slot a key. It has none in any template. A key next to your items is best.
• 4Use A for attack-move and S to stop. S cancels an attack you started too early, which helps with last hits.
• 5Try quickcast later. Turn it on for one easy spell first, then the rest.

Still picking a hero to learn all this with? The Beginner Hero Finder finds an easy one that fits you.

Free guide · Dota2FreaksRank Up Guide: find the one thing holding you backKeys sorted. Five quick questions about your role, your lane and your losses give you the one habit to fix next.→

Dota 2 quick cast vs normal cast

You set this per ability slot in Settings → Hotkeys. Items have their own quickcast option. Of Valve’s templates, only the League of Legends one turns quickcast on for every ability.

• Self cast: double-tap the ability or item key. That is on by default. With “Smart Double Tap”, Alt + key does the same.
• Autocast: Alt + the ability key, for spells that can autocast.
• Alternative Cast: Ctrl by default, for abilities with a second cast version.
• Quick Attack / Quick Move: optional settings that make A and the move key act at your cursor without a click. Off by default.

Axe uses quickcast on Berserker’s Call. Axe also once used it next to the wrong tower. Practice first.

No hero needs fast keys more than Invoker. The Invoker Combo Trainer drills Q W E R D F until your fingers do it alone.

Dota 2 hotkey templates: WASD, MMO, Legacy, League and more

“Reset Hotkeys…” in the settings offers 7 templates. Here is what each one changes compared to the default:

Dota 2 Legacy Keys for every hero

Legacy Keys are the hotkeys from Dota 1, the Warcraft III map: every hero has his own letters. Turn them on with “Use Legacy Keys” in the hotkey settings, or pick the Legacy Keys template. While they are on, ability keys cannot be edited. Kez, Largo, Ringmaster are newer and have no legacy letters.

Hero guides · Dota2FreaksKnow the keys, now know the heroBuilds, skill orders and matchups for every hero, so your Legacy letters hit the right thing at the right time.→

Dota 2 hotkeys not working? Check these

• Legacy Keys are on. Then ability keys come from the hero and cannot be changed. Turn Legacy Keys off first.
• Unit specific hotkeys. With “different ability hotkeys per unit” on, a hero can have his own keys that beat your normal ones.
• Custom games. There all units use the default keys, not your per-unit keys.
• Not a QWERTY keyboard? Try the option to bind keys based on keyboard position, so Q stays top left.
• Shop open. With “Shop always uses hotkeys” on, shop keys win while the shop is open.
• Console binds. A bind in your autoexec on a key that also has a hotkey in the settings usually loses. Use free keys for binds.

Where are Dota 2 hotkeys saved?

Your hotkeys live with your Steam cloud settings, in the file dotakeys_personal.lst inside Steam\userdata\<account ID>\570\remote\cfg. 570 is Dota 2’s app ID. Steam Cloud keeps that folder in sync, so changing keys in the game is safer than editing the file. That is also why the tool gives you a checklist and not a file to download: Dota has no hotkey import, and the cloud could overwrite a copied file.

The account ID in that path is the same number as your Dota 2 Friend ID. The Steam ID to Dota ID Converter shows it.

Console binds are something else: they go into your autoexec.cfg, for example bind "F7" "toggle cl_showfps". Keep them on keys the settings do not use.

The Autoexec.cfg Generator writes that file, and the Console Commands Lookup has every command worth binding.

The same folder holds your hero grid: the Hero Grid Generator sorts all heroes by role or attribute and writes hero_grid_config.json for you.

FAQ: Axe answers questions