Taking Control: Gamepad Configuration for DDO

By Ralsu

Turbine will release Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach (DDO) for North American pc owners on February 28, 2006. The official Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) license has drawn many pen-and-paper (PnP) players away from their tabletops to explore the continent of Xen'drik. Some will be veterans of pc massively-multiplayer online games (MMOGs). Some will be comparative novices who have only played around with a few console games between PnP sessions.

That MMOG novice group will be forced to adjust to both D&D in a persistent virtual world and learning to control their avatars via a mouse and keyboard. Both transitions rate high on the difficulty meter. While the turn-based nature of PnP D&D allows players to think about and vocalize their actions, DDO features real-time combat. The player who has to think too much about which key casts what spell will find himself back at a tavern quickly.

While I am no MMOG novice, I am simply more comfortable with a console-like gamepad in my hand. That is why I purchased a Logitech Rumblepad II the moment I decided I would play DDO. Remember, this is the pad I chose individually. Logitech did not pay Ten Ton Hammer to write about their gamepad. Also, this is not a review of this device. I am going to tell you how to configure this and similar gamepads to be most effective in DDO.

Let me throw out some basics before I begin. Gamepads these days are plug and play USB devices. That means just what it says: you plug them in and you should be ready to play. DDO has a mostly intelligent key mapping feature that detected my Rumble Pad II with no need for entering the gamepad's configuration menu. Bottom line: plug in your gamepad and launch DDO to do the rest in the Options menu.

Also note that very few controllers can be as versatile as a mouse and keyboard. In case you haven't noticed, keyboards have a lot of buttons on them. When you're shopping gamepads for DDO, try to get one with at least 10 buttons. Trust me when I say you'll need them. Also understand that you'll still occasionally need the mouse or the keyboard. That's just the way it is.

DDO's Key Mapping options menu contains 6 relevant sections—Movement, Interaction, Panel Interaction, Selection, Shortcuts, and Mouse Emulation—and a Modifier Key:

• Movement controls moving forward or backward, turning left or right, strafing left or right, and Jumping.
• Interaction includes Block, Single Attack (better than Right Mouse Button), Interact (as with an object), and Cancel.
• Panel Interaction contains one vital action, Accept Choice. Without this, you have to use your mouse to click on the option you want in quest dialog panels and at merchants.
• Selection contains commands for Select Next Combat Target (monsters) and Select Next Interactable [levers and non-player characters (NPCs)].
• Shortcuts allow you to set keys to correspond to the items in your shortcut bar (skills, feats, spells, and potions)
• Mouse Emulation includes such helpful things as Move Mouse (Left, Right, Up, and Down) and Left Mouse Button.
• The Modifier Key works in the same way that holding Shift while typing letters gives you upper-case letters. By setting a modifier key, you can turn the 10 buttons into 19 (or more).

To map a key in DDO, you click on the box with the action you want to map (say, Jumping) and press the gamepad button you want to use for that function. You have just told DDO to perform that action every time you press the corresponding gamepad button.

Now, let's look at my Rumble Pad II and identify the parts:

As you can see, the buttons are numbered on the gamepad. Unfortunately, DDO will call the numbers one less than their face value. That is, DDO will call button 8 “button 7” and button 1 “button 0.” To save on confusion, I refer the button by the numbers on the gamepad.

The Rumble Pad II has two analog sticks and a hat switch, or directional pad. Among its 10 buttons are 4 on the shoulders, or top, of the gamepad. It also features buttons for mode and vibration, which I do not talk about in this guide. You cannot map anything else to these two buttons, so they will not play a factor.

Movement seems to work best with the left analog stick moving you backward and forward on the Y Axis. I found that putting turns on the same analog stick made running in a straight line too hard, so my X Axis allows me to strafe left or right. I put turns on the Z Axis or shoulder buttons. Since Jump is mapped to the gamepad, I mapped the Shortcut Bar (DDO Default for Jump) as the Push to Talk Button for use with my headset. The Shortcut Bar is big and easy to find when I need to talk in a hurry.

Melee (barbarians, fighters, paladins, rangers, and rogues)

You'll need all the basic combat functions in a place easy to get to. Shortcut bars are less important than blocking and tumbling (strafing). Quaffing healing potions in a hurry can save your life.

• Button 1: Single Attack
• Button 2: Jump
• Button 3: Left Mouse Button
  
• Button 4: Health Potions Shortcut on the Shortcut Bar (I use Number 6)
• Button 5: Block
• Button 6: Modifier Key
• Button 7: Select Next Interactable
• Button 8: Select Next Combat Target
• Button 9: Previous Shortcut Bar
  
• Button 10: Next Shortcut Bar
  
• Button 6 + Button 1: Shortcut Bar item 1
• Button 6 + Button 2: Shortcut Bar item 2
• Button 6 + Button 3: Shortcut Bar item 3
• Button 6 + Button 4: Shortcut Bar item 4
• Button 6 + Button 5: Shortcut Bar item 5
• Button 6 + Button 7: Shortcut Bar item 7
• Button 6 + Button 8: Shortcut Bar item 8
• Button 6 + Button 9: Shortcut Bar item 9
• Button 6 + Button 10: Shortcut Bar item 0
• Y Axis: Move Forward and Move Back
• X Axis: Strafe Left and Strafe Right
• Z Axis: Turn Left and Turn Right
• Z Rotation Down: Interact
• Z Rotation Up: Cancel
  
• Hat Switch: Move Mouse

Casters (sorcerers and wizards)

You need to be able to cycle through shortcut bars quickly so that you can use your Modifier Key to cast spells. Blocking is less important. Casting the next spell as fast as possible is more urgent than accessing a healing potion with one button press.

• Button 1: Single Attack
• Button 2: Jump
• Button 3: Accept Choice
• Button 4: Select Next Interactable
• Button 5: Select Next Combat Target
• Button 6: Modifier Key
• Button 7: Previous Shortcut Bar
  
• Button 8: Next Shortcut Bar
  
• Button 9: Cancel
  
• Button 10: Left Mouse
  
• Button 6 + Button 1: Shortcut Bar item 1
• Button 6 + Button 2: Shortcut Bar item 2
• Button 6 + Button 3: Shortcut Bar item 3
• Button 6 + Button 4: Shortcut Bar item 4
• Button 6 + Button 5: Shortcut Bar item 5
• Button 6 + Button 7: Shortcut Bar item 7
• Button 6 + Button 8: Shortcut Bar item 8
• Button 6 + Button 9: Shortcut Bar item 9
• Button 6 + Button 10: Shortcut Bar item 0
• Y Axis: Move Forward and Move Back
• X Axis: Strafe Left and Strafe Right
• Hat Switch: Move Mouse
  
• Z Axis: Turn Left and Turn Right
  
• Z Rotation Down: Interact
• Z Rotation Up: Block

Healers (bards and clerics)

If you're a cleric or a bard who chooses heal spells, you'll need to be able to quickly cycle through your comrades and use the slot on your shortcut bar that holds the best healing spell. That heal spell should show up in the same place on EVERY shortcut bar so that you can cast it even if you've accidentally switched shortcut bars in the heat of combat.

• Button 1: Single Attack
• Button 2: Jump
• Button 3: Select Yourself
• Button 4: Select Party Fellow 1
• Button 5: Heal spell (placed in shortcut bar position 6)
• Button 6: Modifier Key
• Button 7: Select Party Fellow 2
• Button 8: Select Party Fellow 3
• Button 9: Select Party Fellow 4
• Button 10: Select Party Fellow 5
• Button 6 + Button 1: Shortcut Bar item 1
• Button 6 + Button 2: Shortcut Bar item 2
• Button 6 + Button 3: Shortcut Bar item 3
• Button 6 + Button 4: Shortcut Bar item 4
• Button 6 + Button 5: Shortcut Bar item 5
• Button 6 + Button 7: Shortcut Bar item 7
• Button 6 + Button 8: Shortcut Bar item 8
• Button 6 + Button 9: Shortcut Bar item 9
• Button 6 + Button 10: Shortcut Bar item 0
• Button 6 + Hat Switch Up: Next Shortcut Bar
• Button 6 + Hat Switch Down: Previous Shortcut Bar
• Button 6 + Hat Switch Left: Accept Choice
• Y Axis: Move Forward and Move Back
• X Axis: Strafe Left and Strafe Right
• Hat Switch: Move Mouse
  
• Hat Switch Left: Left Mouse Button (use twice to Interact or Accept Choice in a dialog panel)
• Hat Switch Right: Block
• Z Axis: Turn Left and Right
  
• Z Rotation Down: Interact
• Z Rotation Up: Block
  

Notes: It is possible to have even more actions mapped by using the Modifier Key with the analog sticks and the Hat Switch. One thing I might consider mapping this way is Examine (defaulted to Z key on the keyboard). Other options include menus, such as the Character Screen, Inventory, Social Panel, or Options. I found that I was in a safe place not moving when messing with menus, so I was just fine using the keyboard. Finally, beware accidentally moving your mouse cursor down into your chat box. You can quickly erase a whole chat menu or just activate the typing box while trying to Interact with an object.

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