The side menu and hover highlighting widgets free up screen space and speed up unit selection. Here is how to set them up and why they matter.
Beyond All Reason throws a lot of information at the player. Unit counters, economy readouts, minimap alerts, and the build menu all compete for screen real estate. A crowded interface slows down decisions, and in a fast RTS, slow decisions lose games.
Highlight and hover widgets solve this by collapsing detail behind mouse interaction. Instead of displaying every stat permanently, information appears when you need it and disappears when you do not.
The highlight widget adds visual emphasis to units and structures when your cursor passes over them. Hover tooltips show build times, health values, and weapon stats without cluttering the base interface.
This is especially useful for new players who are still learning unit stats. Rather than memorizing every number, the hover widget provides the details on demand. Seasoned players also benefit because they can quickly verify unit status during fights without opening secondary panels.
The side build menu can take up a massive chunk of the screen when default-sized. After enabling hover widgets, many players reduce the side menu size because less information needs to be visible at all times.
A compact side menu paired with hover tooltips gives the best of both worlds. The menu stays accessible for quick building, while the rest of the screen opens up for map awareness.
Built into BAR is the unit smart area reclaim widget. This tool highlights reclaimable metal features in a selected zone so you can quickly identify where to send scavenger units after a battle.
Smart reclaim is one of those features that exists already but many players overlook. Enabling it from the widget list takes seconds and pays off immediately in faster cleanup and resource recovery.
Once the side menu is resized, hotkey mapping becomes more important. Assign build commands to convenient keys since the visual menu takes less space. Standard hotkey setups map factories, builders, and common units to the number row and function keys.
The hotkey configuration screen in the game settings lets you remap everything. Spend ten minutes setting up keys you actually use, and the investment pays back every match.
A clean interface means faster reactions and better macro. If you want a team that shares setups, talks strategy, and keeps the atmosphere positive, Creed of Champions is the right place.
[Crd] Crd is the first really comfortable community I have been a part of. Everyone is nice and kind, the atmosphere is relaxed, and I am not getting yelled at for not being optimal.
Competitive without the toxicity. Win with skill, teamwork, and respect.