Find the keys, then forget them
PoE 2 has a lot of menus. The defaults are reasonable; rebind what bothers you in Options → Input. Everything below assumes mouse + keyboard. Controller is supported and uses radial menus.
Movement
Left click to move (default). You can also use WASD movement: Options → Input → WASD movement. WASD feels much better for caster kiting and dodge timing once you adapt.
Space = dodge roll. Short i-frame window, ~12m distance. Burns the whole stamina-equivalent on consecutive use. Mistake to avoid: dodging INTO a slam telegraph. Dodge away from the indicator, not through it.
Left Shift = stand still. Hold to attack without moving toward the cursor (essential for ranged kiting).
Combat: skills and weapons
Six skill slots: LMB, RMB, Q, W, E, R. T is a common 7th binding (movement skill or utility). Drag a cut Skill Gem from inventory onto a slot in the Skills panel (S) to bind.
X = weapon swap. You carry two weapon sets. Switch instantly. Most casters carry a clearing set (wand + focus) and a single-target set (staff or sceptre + shield). Different skill bindings can sit on each set.
Flasks: 1, 2. Two flask slots by default. Life flask, mana flask. Charms (3, 4, 5) are not flasks: they trigger automatically when you take a specific ailment. See Flasks & Charms.
Alt = enemy info on hover. Shows monster mods, rare affixes, life bar. Use it on every Magic / Rare mob before engaging.
Panels
| Key | Panel | What for |
|---|---|---|
| I | Inventory | Bag, equipped gear, currency stacks. |
| S | Skills | Bind skill gems, link support gems, see spirit usage. |
| C | Character | Stats sheet: damage, resistances, life, ES, regen. |
| P | Passive tree | Allocate / refund passive points. Ascendancy tab inside. |
| G | Atlas | Endgame map view (after the campaign). |
| H | Social | Friends list, party, guild. |
| V | Hideout | Travel to your personal hideout from anywhere. |
| Esc | Menu | Options, logout, exit. Logout from in-map = save scummy escape. |
Loot and pickup
Alt = highlight items on the ground. Hold to see filtered labels.
Click = pick up. No auto-pickup for items. Gold IS auto-picked. Currency snaps directly to its stash tab when sent to stash.
Currency stacks split with Shift + click (UI dialog asks how many). Use it to bulk-split for trade.
Install a loot filter as soon as you can. Otherwise the floor is a wall of yellow noise. NeverSink install →
Options to turn on
Open Options after character creation and set these:
- Always Highlight items. No more holding Alt.
- Advanced Mod Display. Shows numerical tiers and tier ranges on items. Essential for crafting.
- Show Damage Numbers. Visual feedback on hits.
- Disable Player Trade Requests in town. Saves you 200 random whisper popups per hour at league start.
- Set Game Mode to Borderless Windowed. Easier to alt-tab to trade site / Maxroll without crash risk.
- Reduce post-processing if you have FPS drops. Map mechanics like Delirium fog tank performance hard.
Two non-obvious tricks
Logout = instant exit.From the Esc menu, Logout to character select returns you to town safely. Useful when you're about to die in a map (you keep the portal, you lose the death).
/exit chat command = same, faster. Type /exit in chat to log out without opening the menu. Bind to a mouse macro if your build is fragile.