Are you looking for a more efficient way to play WARNO? Look no further! In this guide, I will share my personal hotkey setup that is based on my experience with FPS games and the default WASD camera controls in Eugen games. This setup has been found to be ergonomic and customizable, making it a must for any modern RTS game. However, if you are already using ‘Ctrl+WASD’ for camera controls, this setup may not be suitable for you. Also, keep in mind that WARNO is still in early access and some hotkey options may change in the future. But don’t worry, I will update this guide and my own hotkeys accordingly. Let’s dive in and improve your gaming experience!
Preliminary information
Everything with starting with “Ctrl+” I dub “an advanced command” which one might need (sometimes with haste) but not necessarily all the time.
When I “associate” something with the ‘w’ key it means it is in parallel with the ‘w’ key on the keyboard and it is usually tied to moving forward or attacking.
When I “associate” something with the ‘s’ key it means it is in parallel with the ‘s’ key on the keyboard and it is usually tied to withdrawing or getting into cover.
The previous 2 are purely from my days playing FPS games.
I might also “associate” with specific keys which have their own meaning tied to them based on my past experience with Eugen games.
When I “associate” something with the ‘w’ key it means it is in parallel with the ‘w’ key on the keyboard and it is usually tied to moving forward or attacking.
When I “associate” something with the ‘s’ key it means it is in parallel with the ‘s’ key on the keyboard and it is usually tied to withdrawing or getting into cover.
The previous 2 are purely from my days playing FPS games.
I might also “associate” with specific keys which have their own meaning tied to them based on my past experience with Eugen games.
Pro tips
WARNO has dynamic tool tips on the orders in-game bottom right. So when one forgets what order needed what hotkey all they have to do is hover their mouse over the specific order and the tool tip will tell them the hotkey.
If one happens to be a leftie they should just try to mirror my hotkeys and remember that control groups for a leftie start at 0 and 9 (unless one is using the numpad).
When calling in units during a match one can hold down an order hotkey (during the click to confirm the spawn) to make that the unit spawns using the order to the clicked location. This is very good with ‘unload at position’ order to make sure infantry is not forgotten inside the transport.
A video about the last tip because I’m not sure my words do it justice:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reTjHs_Fzw0
If one happens to be a leftie they should just try to mirror my hotkeys and remember that control groups for a leftie start at 0 and 9 (unless one is using the numpad).
When calling in units during a match one can hold down an order hotkey (during the click to confirm the spawn) to make that the unit spawns using the order to the clicked location. This is very good with ‘unload at position’ order to make sure infantry is not forgotten inside the transport.
A video about the last tip because I’m not sure my words do it justice:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reTjHs_Fzw0
The hotkeys
Camera controls – WASD (default)
Situational awareness events – Space (default/ I personally need to use this more)
Next unit type in selection – Tab (default)
Next unit in selection – Ctrl+Tab (default/ I personally need to use this more)
Attack flare – F1 (default)
Defence flare – F2 (default)
Help flare – F3 (default)
Costom message flare – ‘ (a more specialized comms tool so I place it near ‘enter’ because I associate it more with chat)
Need fire support flare – F4 (unbound by default)
Enemy spotted flare – X (for fast marking of enemy units spotted for “a millisecond” or by the camera/ ‘x’ use to be for the spread command but that has been ejected from the game)
Unit information – Caps lock (I can’t remember everything about every unit so I need the information close at hand/ I think this was the default information hotkey in WGRD)
Turn weapons on/off – H (default)
Display line of sight – C (default)
Stop – E (default)
Return fire – Ctrl+H (I associate returning fire with weaponry so I chose ‘h’ which has been the default weaponry hotkey in most Eugen games)
Auto cover – Ctrl+A (alphabetical relation, I don’t use this)
Fire at position – T (default)
Move – N (unbound by default/ this is the only command that can make transports follow infantry without picking them up, for now/ the default hotkey at ‘n’ got “promoted” so this spot was free)
Move fast – R (frequently needed order associated with ‘w’)
Attack (Hunt) – Q (default)
Fast move and attack – Y (frequently needed attack order associated with ‘w’)
Unload at position – G (this one has become a very frequently needed order so it got promoted closer to WASD from its default/ can be associated on with ‘s’)
Unload – U (default/ never needed this much and because I mostly find myself using this in panic, so it’s okay further from WASD)
Smoke at position – B (default)
Reverse – F (frequently needed order associated with ‘s’)
Evacuate – V (default/ this is an order only for fixed wing aircraft)
Call artillery – K (this keybind doesn’t have a use, yet/ might be ejected from the game)
Sell – Ctrl+F ( an “advanced reverse” out of battle/ needed to sell armed transport helos/ note: I have auto-sell on)
Land helis – J (I come from WGRD and ‘j’ was the default helicopter land key in WGRD)
Chance altitude on helis – Z (change altitude on helicopters was ‘z’ in WGRD)
Toggle bullet time – P (default/ I don’t use this)
Seize – M (default/ I don’t use this)
Hold position – Ctrl+S (associated with ‘s’/ I don’t use this)
Defensive fire – Ctrl+D (alphabetical relation/ can be associated with ‘s’)
Counter battery – Ctrl+T (bound on top of the most used hotkey for artillery, besides movement, because it is an order for artillery)
Fire at will – Ctrl+W (I associate artillery firing at will with constant movement forward or offence, at least that should be the objective imo, so it is associated with ‘w’)
Auto strike – Ctrl+V (associated with the hotkey that is only for fixed wing aircraft for an order that is only for fixed wing aircraft)
Display all orders – Shift (default and highly recommend keeping this default/ holding this button is also used to queue orders)
Toggle score panel – O (this information is not life or death so the button for it is far)
Merge/unmerge – Ctrl+G (default/ ‘g’ is for group/ I don’t use this)
Auto supply – Ctrl+R (I associate supply units usually moving by road so it is associated with ‘r’/ I don’t use this)
Armoury light more – L (‘l’ for light, I don’t use this)
Next idle unit – I (‘i’ for idle, I don’t use this)
Situational awareness events – Space (default/ I personally need to use this more)
Next unit type in selection – Tab (default)
Next unit in selection – Ctrl+Tab (default/ I personally need to use this more)
Attack flare – F1 (default)
Defence flare – F2 (default)
Help flare – F3 (default)
Costom message flare – ‘ (a more specialized comms tool so I place it near ‘enter’ because I associate it more with chat)
Need fire support flare – F4 (unbound by default)
Enemy spotted flare – X (for fast marking of enemy units spotted for “a millisecond” or by the camera/ ‘x’ use to be for the spread command but that has been ejected from the game)
Unit information – Caps lock (I can’t remember everything about every unit so I need the information close at hand/ I think this was the default information hotkey in WGRD)
Turn weapons on/off – H (default)
Display line of sight – C (default)
Stop – E (default)
Return fire – Ctrl+H (I associate returning fire with weaponry so I chose ‘h’ which has been the default weaponry hotkey in most Eugen games)
Auto cover – Ctrl+A (alphabetical relation, I don’t use this)
Fire at position – T (default)
Move – N (unbound by default/ this is the only command that can make transports follow infantry without picking them up, for now/ the default hotkey at ‘n’ got “promoted” so this spot was free)
Move fast – R (frequently needed order associated with ‘w’)
Attack (Hunt) – Q (default)
Fast move and attack – Y (frequently needed attack order associated with ‘w’)
Unload at position – G (this one has become a very frequently needed order so it got promoted closer to WASD from its default/ can be associated on with ‘s’)
Unload – U (default/ never needed this much and because I mostly find myself using this in panic, so it’s okay further from WASD)
Smoke at position – B (default)
Reverse – F (frequently needed order associated with ‘s’)
Evacuate – V (default/ this is an order only for fixed wing aircraft)
Call artillery – K (this keybind doesn’t have a use, yet/ might be ejected from the game)
Sell – Ctrl+F ( an “advanced reverse” out of battle/ needed to sell armed transport helos/ note: I have auto-sell on)
Land helis – J (I come from WGRD and ‘j’ was the default helicopter land key in WGRD)
Chance altitude on helis – Z (change altitude on helicopters was ‘z’ in WGRD)
Toggle bullet time – P (default/ I don’t use this)
Seize – M (default/ I don’t use this)
Hold position – Ctrl+S (associated with ‘s’/ I don’t use this)
Defensive fire – Ctrl+D (alphabetical relation/ can be associated with ‘s’)
Counter battery – Ctrl+T (bound on top of the most used hotkey for artillery, besides movement, because it is an order for artillery)
Fire at will – Ctrl+W (I associate artillery firing at will with constant movement forward or offence, at least that should be the objective imo, so it is associated with ‘w’)
Auto strike – Ctrl+V (associated with the hotkey that is only for fixed wing aircraft for an order that is only for fixed wing aircraft)
Display all orders – Shift (default and highly recommend keeping this default/ holding this button is also used to queue orders)
Toggle score panel – O (this information is not life or death so the button for it is far)
Merge/unmerge – Ctrl+G (default/ ‘g’ is for group/ I don’t use this)
Auto supply – Ctrl+R (I associate supply units usually moving by road so it is associated with ‘r’/ I don’t use this)
Armoury light more – L (‘l’ for light, I don’t use this)
Next idle unit – I (‘i’ for idle, I don’t use this)
If anyone wonders why “Ctrl+Q” isn’t used anywhere it is because “Ctrl+Q” is ‘select all units on screen'(for now) and it is a fixed hotkey.
Gameplay example
Finally, here is a bad quality(crackling mic, 10v10 at ca 20fps on top of bad 1v1 decisions) example of me using these hotkeys:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nVFqWsNs0E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nVFqWsNs0E
And that wraps up our share on WARNO: My personal WARNO hotkeys. If you have any additional insights or tips to contribute, don’t hesitate to drop a comment below. For a more in-depth read, you can refer to the original article here by Terrorist, who deserves all the credit. Happy gaming!