Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition Controls

by Falagar / Age of Empires 2, Articles, Game Controls & Hotkeys / 11 Nov 2019

Print out or refer to the following list of PC keyboard commands and controls for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition.

Go to commands:

CTRL + Q = mill (easy to access, economic building near other non-military buildings (blacksmith and university)

CTRL + W = blacksmith (the following 3 are ordered according to their availability through the ages);

CTRL + E = market

CTRL + R = university

CTRL + T = monastery (monastery comes after university as I feel it’s slightly less used)

CTRL + G = mining camp (default, easy to access)

CTRL + Z = lumber camp (default, easy to access)

A = archery (it needed to be only 1 click for extra efficiency when making units;it’s easy to access)

S = stable (same as archery)

D = barracks (same as archery)

H = town center (default and fits with the rest of the setup, it’s easily accessible)

X = siege workshop (same as archery)

V = castle (same as archery)

ç = dock (if you don’t have this key use the one at the right side of L)

Military commands:

\ = patrol (very easy to access, very commonly used)

Q = aggressive stance (easy to access, logic sequence when looking at the buttons)

W = defensive stance (easy to access, logic sequence when looking at the buttons)

E = stand ground stance (easy to access, logic sequence when looking at the buttons)

R = no attack stance (easy to access, logic sequence when looking at the buttons)

ALT + A = line formation (easy to access, doesn’t need to be pressed multiple times quickly in succession, and if you’re looking at the army then you can keep the ALT key pressed and alternate between A and F when dodging enemy projectiles)

ALT + S = box formation (though not frequently used, it maintains a logical sequence for the other keys)

ALT + D = staggered formation (easy to access, same as ALT + A )

ALT + F = flank formation (easy to access, same as ALT + A)

Build commands:

B + Q = palisade (sometimes we need to quickly build palisades out of a surprise attack by our enemy, needs to be very easily accessed)

B + W = wall (same as palisade, to be near palisade wall)

B + E = outpost (to be near palisade and wall)

B + R = house (easy access)

B + T = mill (easy access, the “T” looks like a windmill)

B + Y = monastery (default, key near university and blacksmith)

B + U = university (default, once-per-game building, key near monastery and blacksmith)

B + I = blacksmith (once-per-game-building, key near university and monastery)

B + F = farm (easily accessible)

B + G = mining camp (default, easy to access)

B + J = archery range (to be near the stable and siege workshop)

B + K = siege workshop (default, near other military buildings, lack of otheroptions)

B + L = stable (default, near other military buildings, lack of other options)

B + B = barracks (default, easy to access)

B + Z = lumber camp (default, easy to access)

B + C = castle (easy to access, starts with same letter)

B + N = town center (default, easy to access)

B + M = market (default, max. only 3-4 markets/game)

B + , = tower (the comma looks like an arrow, reasonable access)

B + . = bombard tower (the point looks like the ball the bombard tower shoots, reasonable access, near the tower)

B+º = dock, the vowel “o” from “dock” is a strong one, hence “º”.

Menu

Ordered by the way they appear on the top right (except the objectives window which was switched to be the pause hotkey)

F1 = Pause

F2 = Show Tech tree

F3 = Show Chat dialog

F4 = Show Diplomacy

Other commands:

ALT + Q = economic view (very useful to quickly know how many villagers you have on each resource for a better economic balancing and constant unit production)

ALT + W = military view (useful to quickly glance at minimap and see possible idle military units)

ALT + E = normal view

ALT + C = friend or foe colors

ALT + Z = flare (remember the speed with which Zorro made his mark on enemies)

Shift + S = unpack trebuchets (easy to access)

Tab = idle villager (easy to access) (mouse scroll up is secondary button for this for the mass idle villager delete trick)

mouse scroll down = idle military units (easy to access)

F = stop (when a unit is selected)

\ = ungarrison (easy to access)

G = garrison (easy to access)

F5 = delete (easy to press, but won’t be pressed by mistake).

– = gate (it’s straight like a gate, near towers, lack of better options)

Middle mouse button = go to last notification (immediate access)

Z = set gather point (useful when hunting deer with villagers in TC so that it doesn’t shoot the deer)

T = attack ground (the easiest to press that was still available, remember T =Target, use this to target manually)

U = Pack (for trebuchets)

Falagar

He is the founder and editor of Magic Game World. He loved gaming from the moment he got a PlayStation 1 with Gran Turismo on his 7th birthday.
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