EVE New Citizens Q&A

Those shortcut keys are designed to only work when the overview has focus (ie the overview is the selected window)...

imagine if they weren't... you're fighting some other player: select him on the overview (giving the overview the focus), 't' for target, 'a' for approach, switch focus to chat channel "got him!!! everyone in" (ok ok you should be using voice coms, but it's only an example...) you just issued half a dozen commands whilst calling in reinforcements!

there are shortcuts that work regardless of focus: [shift]ctrl + click for targetting, alt + click for center view, [shift][ctrl]f1-f8 for modules etc.

except the market window, or P&P, or any cargo window with a filter box, or...

the chat window isn't the only place where you type in text without wanting you ship to react to it.



My gut says they've picked the current implementation as a "simplest option that works" rather than opening the can of worms of "works when not in this list, or part of this group or when it's the third moon of the month...". But feel free to make the suggestions, who knows it could just be gas

Btw guys all the shortcut keys that work on the overview focus also work by holding them down and clicking a target or object in space.

For instance E+Lclick

I’m also of the opinion that the hot keys should have dominance over most everything, with stuff requiring text input overriding them. Just because I open a cargo container doesn’t mean it should have preference, and override the hot keys, unless I purposefully click with in its search context box.

Hopefully CCP will invest a bit more and streamline the shortcuts, I thought it was awesome when they added them in the first place, was a move in the right direction. But let’s not stop there, there are still changes that can make this better still.

Like Xercodo said earlier, you can hold down ctrl and left-click something in space to lock it. You can also ctrl click on your overview, which is how I lock my targets. Alt + C is cargo shortcut.

There are many more in your escape menu if you want to check some more out.

I only use the F1-F8 keys as hot keys, and i only do it at the onset of an engagement to get the jump/first shot on someone. after that point and click is usually fast enough for me.

The default hotkey combo for Lock Target is indeed CTRL-LMB (click).

Like the other hotkeys, though, if you already have something selected on the Overview, hold down CTRL for a moment, and then release, your ship will attempt to target the selected item — no clicking required. CTRL is therefore the bane of rookie tackler pilots who have a nearby gate selected and then release CTRL with hod mods.