Think of this new hot key kind of like the 'I' and 'U' hotkeys: you can use them in the middle of your workflow to change what is selected, and this hotkey lets you change what is highlighted in the middle of your workflow.
I actually kind of think the "highlight tool" as a dedicated tool button should maybe not exist, but that's too drastic a change for right now.
Think of this new hot key kind of like the 'I' and 'U' hotkeys: you can use them in the middle of your workflow to change what is selected, and this hotkey lets you change what is highlighted in the middle of your workflow.
I actually kind of think the "highlight tool" as a dedicated tool button should maybe not exist, but that's too drastic a change for right now.