There is no chat on consoles (at least not on PS4).
I believe you can use the chat pad. I never really paid attention as I normally play solo.
I mean there are many third party ways to chat on PC including Steams own system. If I play with friends then we just use Steams chat/voice if the game doesn’t offer anything in game. You can also use Xbox One chat pad on PC without issue as well.
This my initial feedback of the 0.7.9 controller changes. I’ll update it as I play with it more.
What works
- Targeting and auto-targeting the next enemy works pretty well under most circumstances.
What needs improving
- You can’t adjust your characters direction when locked in place. Ex: I’m using channeled Lightning Blast and if I kill all the enemies on one side of me, I can’t just rotate my aim to the other side if enemies are coming from behind me. So I have to stop using the skill, walk in the opposite direction (to face the enemies behind me) and then start firing again. This is much more challenging to accomplish vs the previous controls or just kb&m controls.
- This is likely similar to the above, but if I’m using channeled LB and really fast enemies (like the rats) get close I need to constantly adjust my position to target them. It is nearly impossible to target close fast moving enemies as they are targeted one sec and then out of the targeting range and when you adjust to where they are now, they’ve already moved. Again, if I could rotate the character while locked in place using channeled LB then I could probably deal with this.
- The targeting system is good and all, but not for a skill like Teleport. I almost always want to be teleporting away from enemies, not locking on to them and teleporting at their feet to then see 10+ enemies maul me to death. Grim Dawn had a setting that allowed you to teleport in the direction you were facing (as far as the skill would allow, minus obstacles) and disregard the auto-targeting system.
- Obstacles can get in the way of the targeting system. I used to be able to use the environment to my advantage by hiding behind obstacles and using targeted Glacier (for example) to hit enemies on the opposite side of the obstacle. This may just be an unfortunate concession of the new targeting system vs the old mouse pointer controls.
- Speaking of the pointer, it should probably fade away if it’s not actively being used as I found myself still “pointing” at the enemies but was like oh yeah…that doesn’t do anything. So it’s a bit distracting having it on screen now during combat.
As much as I do like this direction for the controls, I wouldn’t mind if the old controls were an option in the settings. As much as I disliked them at first, I actually got really good at it and now feel quite a bit less effective at accomplishing the same things as before. Maybe when further improvements arrive that address my current issues with the controls, then maybe it’ll be easier to use but currently the old controls were easier (for me anyways).
Update 1:
- After playing my channeled LB Sorcerer further, I’m not sure I like the auto-target feature with the channeled LB skill. Sometimes it’ll lock onto boxes (or other enemies) that are to the left or right of me instead of hitting the enemy directly in front of me. I would prefer, at least for this skill, to be able to choose the enemy I’m attacking by using the left joystick to ‘aim’ at which targeted enemy I would attack so as to give me more control during combat.
Update 2:
The following are all controller related bugs I’ve encountered, which I’ve reported.
- There are a number of issues that arise if you play with controller but then turn the controller off and try to do things with kb&m in the same session. To resolve these issues you need only turn the controller back on.
- You can not use the Mage’s Teleport skill if you are currently locked on to a non-enemy object, such as a destructible object, while using a controller. This may or may not apply to other movement skills in the game.
- When using controller, enemies that have revived can not be properly targeted (highlighted in red). The targeting, in general, against these enemies seems off or is just not working as intended.
I’ll add that I’ve noticed if you have a skill that you would normally setup to auto cast using the keyboard, not only can you not do the same using a controller, if you do autocast something on the keyboard and try to use a controller, it won’t work.
My paladin autocasts Forge Shield on cool down, but if I want to use my xbox controller, I can’t use autocast. He won’t move if I cast it using the keyboard, nor can I find a way to allow for autocasts while using the controller. Odd thing is I can go back and forth between mouse and controller all I want for other actions, just not that.
A post where I agree with everything. Hope devs continue to update controller support in a steady pace. I would also add that some skills are really bad for controller users, one example is leap. It targets the enemy and then you jump, but since it travels too slow, you can miss entirely the hit since they walked towards the character (tested on regular walk speed mobs). Diablo 3 have some nice fixes for those cases.
We’ll definitely be continuing development of controller support. Our next goals are to make the shops/stashes works appropriately and implement tooltip’s additional functionality like more info, compare items, and crafting/mod info toggles. After that we’re wanting to implement better targeting, including UI related targeting.
Much more to come for controller support. 
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Hi Mox, any chance that auto casting skills with controllers will be looked at? As I mentioned, if I setup a skill on keyboard to autocast, I can’t use the controller at all, I can’t move, attack, nothing. I’m not sure if it’s possible on the controller itself due to limited buttons, but if I can still cast on keyboard then pick up the controller and play, I don’t mind.
Besides all the great points from Andrew, I would suggest a deadzone slider. Just died because sometimes my character would cast a spell, do a small step and cast another spell while I am only holding the cast spell button. Could be my controller, but I never experienced this in another game.
Once again Grim Dawn has a feature you can uncheck in options to NOT attack barrels/boxes if an enemy is nearby
Yeah you have to use AHK which is hyper annoying.
Theres some kind of glitch with the controller setup if you spam an action with Numlock it overwrites all manner of moving on the controller
I use AHK and just spam keys on a .4 second delay or something
Sorry, I’m a not so great with acronyms, AHK? What’s that mean?
I wanted to thank EHG for fixing the controller options that had previously busted my controller playing from Patch 0.7.7 or so. I can finally play the game with a controller again, and it’s wonderful.
My only gripe is that my controller mapping buttons tend to reset every few sessions or so and I have to input my controller mappings again. It would be nice to have a template or so that I can input all of my controller mappings, save onto the template, and not have to worry about it.
I am incredibly grateful for the recent controller update, as a standard mouse and keyboard is not a gaming option for me. Thanks for the update in the radial menu as well; it’s a solid reminder that improvements are being considered for gamepad users.
Right now I tend to have minor frustrations when a high value target is surrounded by many smaller mobs. Because the auto-target tries to choose not only what I’m facing towards, but also the closest target to me, a nearby mob can cause my character to pivot away from the boss/rare I need to hit and fire my long-distance shots at odd angles. I find myself getting much closer to high priority targets than my build is made for in order to make sure I can aim towards them accurately.
Chronicon uses a twin-stick control scheme, unusual for loot-driven ARPGs. Instead of trying to autotarget, an arrow appears when the right stick is held down, giving you a clear indicator of where you’ll be firing. While this may be a challenge to implement in isometric 3D, Mark of Kri implemented a similar visual using a thin beam of light as a pointer.
Excellent controller support is going to be a tough nut to crack, since different skills require different behaviors. Someone already mentioned autotarget is more a hindrance than a help for Teleport, and I agree since I tend to use it as an escape or repositioning tool. Single-target skills that affect enemies around the target will also be tricky because you’ll want to select a mob in the middle of a dense pack, not the mobs in front.
AutoHotkey, a program which allows scripts, keybinding options, and automatic button presses.
Thanks for explaining. I’ve actually been trying to create builds that don’t heavily rely on a need to autocast abilities (via the numlock method). For instance, I have a pretty solid earthquake shammy that is great with a controller. While he has 2 skills that autocast, they do so automatically (ice thorns, thorn totem).
If I’m playing something that needs defensive autocasts and they can’t be done without the numlock method, I just suck it up and use my mouse.
The shops, stash, and general inventory navigation is great to hear. I’ve been playing almost exclusively with a Xbox One controller since the patch dropped and it’s been fantastic. Only going mouse and keyboard for intense crafting or gambling sessions.
I’ve hit a couple bugs and snags with the auto targeting:
Smaller projectiles such as Hammer Throw will glance past small mobs, like voidtouched bats and not connect.
Lagon was untargetable with Smite nor did the Keel Idols proc Smite during the fight (unsure if this is necessarily controller related as I didn’t switch over to KB/M to double check).
And perhaps think about some solution for movement skills to have an auto target on/off toggle so they can be used for evading deadly attacks. Trying to use Teleport, Shield Rush, Leap, or Transplant to get out of danger has led me to various hilarious deaths like diving right into a volcanic orb, or eating Formosus’ spirit beam like a champ.
Still all in all a great improvement. It’s helping delay the carpal tunnel from setting in and keeping me glued to the game.
Some small comments from a new player, sporting a HC Life Drain Lich.
The auto-targeting works, but is perhaps a wee bit too generous? As it stands, I can usually just park myself and then proceed to mow down the entire field without aiming in the slightest. The wide targeting angle has also occasionally caused me to unexpectedly reap/transplant into boxes and similar debris. Not a big deal all said, and also perhaps more noticeable for my particular build (long-range, single-target) than many other builds, but I would personally consider narrowing the targeting angle very, very slightly.
On the flip-side, I’ve also sometimes found the control scheme too restrictive. Some mobs, such as the flayer sharks, are quite agile and have a tendency to jump around a lot. Though the exception rather than the norm, tracing these sorts of quick movements doesn’t feel good right now. I would maybe consider adding a bindable U-turn or something along those lines to allow for some additional movement flexibility.
Overall, though, I was pleasantly surprised at how well the game played with a controller. There are obviously lots of bugs and issues left that still needs to be sorted out. The by far most egregious problem is that there doesn’t seem to be any way to pick up items simply by pressing a button. But given what you’ve shown so far I feel confident that you’re on the right track here.
Controller support is actually quite good now in combat, ive been using it the whole time ive played LE and its only gotten far better
However there is one thing that doesnt work properly - if you hold down the stick to move around and you press a key on your keyboard - your character will stop moving and you have to remove the stick to get the character moving again
This means you cant use numlockor autohotkey to auto spam spells for you - so you dont get the benefit PC players get from autocast
Might not seem a great deal but playing for long periods of time its just frustrating to keep repeatedly casting a buff or you can have it cast for you but then you have extremely clunky controller movement/attacking
This is the same issue I brought up earlier in the post actually. Unfortunately I don’ think it’ something EHG is going to change. If I recall, I actually read a while back on the forums that while autocast is a thing (with a keyboard) and the developers are aware of it. It’s not something they intended on players doing and they have no plans to implement further benefits towards that end. In other words, it’s basically a bug but it’s not one they will fix or look into further.
What I do to compensate is play autocast heavy builds with M&K and then create builds that aren’t reliant on that concept with my controller. While a lot of builds benefit from some sort of autocast (multiple for some), it’s possible to make good builds without them. There are workarounds for it anyway. Some classes can have a skill autocast by speccing passive points, or from Idols. It’s not quite the same, but it works well enough.
An update as ive only been playing Rogue since release and only a controller but damn it feels really good, ive played a Bladedancer to 80 and Marksman to 45 or so and tested basically all the skills and auto targeting for ranged especially on the Marksman is really accurate and you can ‘stutter step’ by say holding attack and analog stick left while the enemy is to your right and you will shoot-step-shoot-step meaning you are likely to dodge any projectiles
Theres only one issue with channeling skills like Flurry when mid channel you cannot turn around and have to stop attacking and reposition, everything else feels good though
Also the main reason Rogue feels so good to play as well as there is no abilities I need to autocast/spam to have a buff, unless you count Dark Quiver but you can get it to autoproc anyway