If you love roleplaying games or you’re interested in getting into the genre, then you probably have heard of Obsidian’s Fallout: New Vegas. But did you know about hotkeys, the game’s best quality-of-life tool for gamers wanting to cut down the time you spend sorting through your inventory?
Hotkeys are a key or combination of keys that offer a shortcut to a command that typically takes more time to execute. In Fallout: New Vegas, hotkeys can be used to equip weapons or items without having to pull up your Pip-Boy and navigate the inventory.
Hotkeys are super simple to use and set up, and we definitely recommend gamers take advantage of them in Fallout: New Vegas. Nobody wants to spend minutes rooting around an inventory looking for that one weapon or item that could save your character’s life, so read the rest of the article to find out everything you need to know about hotkeys and how to bind them!
Table of Contents
What Are Hotkeys?
Hotkeys offer simple solutions to time-sensitive problems. Through hotkeys, you can “bind” certain items to a key or button on your keyboard, mouse, or controller. When you press the key after binding the item to that button, your character in Fallout: New Vegas will equip or unequip the item in question.
This is especially handy when you’re in combat and you need to switch your loadout on the fly, as pulling up the Pip-Boy takes several seconds in-game and can quickly get you killed if it’s at the wrong time. We’ve enclosed a list below of some of the more useful items or commands you can bind to hotkeys in this game:
- Stimpaks
- Food or water, especially if playing on hardcore survival mode
- Weapons
- Armor
- Throwable items, such as grenades
Binding a set of stimpaks to a hotkey is crucial for surviving the more dangerous enemies you’ll face, and equipping armor—such as a set for stealth and one for combat—to separate hotkeys is an underrated use of this incredibly easy-to-use tool. Weapons and armor can be bound to hotkeys, but not all items are available to bind.
Setting PC Hotkeys in Fallout New Vegas
Setting up hotkeys in Fallout: New Vegas is incredibly simple and easy to do, which is great because you’ll be altering them as needed throughout the game as you acquire better weapons, armor, and items.
For PC, to set your hotkeys, you must first navigate to your inventory using the Pip-Boy, then scroll to the item you want to bind to a number key or button. Hold down the number key you would like to bind the item to, then click the item in question to bind it to that number key.
Fallout gives you eight hotkey slots, and the base game only allows you to bind these keys to the 1-8 number keys on a keyboard, but some third-party mods expand hotkey functionality to buttons and additional keys if needed.
For an in-depth guide to setting up hotkeys in Fallout: New Vegas, refer to this video for a comprehensive visual aide:
Setting Controller Hotkeys in Fallout New Vegas
If you’re using a controller instead of a mouse and keyboard, you’ll have to use the D-pad to access your hotkeys. Simply open your inventory with the Pip-boy, press the D-pad in the direction you want to later utilize the hotkey (up, down, left, right, and the four diagonals), and select the weapon, item, or armor using your primary selecting button.
Your primary selecting button is usually the A or the X button for Xbox or Playstation controllers, respectively.
Using Hotkeys
Using hotkeys is even easier than setting them up. When you need to access a particular weapon or gear you’ve bound to a key or button, just press that same button in-game to equip or unequip that item again.
It will be the number keys on the PC and the D-pad for a controller. Remember that you need to have previously bound the items you need to their keys, so plan ahead and don’t let yourself get stuck in a situation where you need to sort through your inventory in a life-or-death moment!
Conclusion
Hotkeys are easy to bind and use, and they save a ton of time with your inventory in Fallout: New Vegas, so we definitely recommend utilizing them whether you use a mouse and keyboard or a controller.
Simply hold a number key or position on the D-pad, then select the item from your inventory to bind that item to a hotkey. When you want to quickly equip that gear later, press the same button. It’s super simple!
Remember, though, that you can’t bind every item to a hotkey. You should also keep in mind that you have a limited number of hotkeys, so save them for things you will really need out in the wasteland.