How is this game on a controller?

Grim Dawn Gameplay Discussion
1

Hi all,

I’m looking to start playing more on a controller, due to wrist pain. I’ve been playing PoE quite a bit the last few months so I’m keen to stick with a good loot grinder, however I noticed that GD has built-in controller support. How is the game on a controller? Is it comparable to KB&M? Is it fantastic? Terrible?

Any help would be greatly appreciated

2

For the most part it is comparable. Give yourself some time to get used to the different control scheme, and if you do not have a Steam controller then reset your keybindings.

Advantages over KB&M:

  • You can learn blueprints and apply augments with the vendor menu being open.
  • It is easier to scroll the riftgate map.
  • Enemies are prioritized over loot. While you cannot loot during battle, you can keep fighting even if the screen is cluttered with loot. (I also use this to play with auto-tooltips.)

Disadvantages:

  • Without a cursor skills like totems and sigils are not always cast where you want them to be. (But if your build depends on that, then you want to revise it anyway.)
  • You can hardly select which loot to pick-up, so that you want to set your loot filter to rare+ fairly soon.
  • Moving many items between stash and inventory is tedious. (That is an understatement.) Likewise for dismantling.
  • Targeting the small buttons in the character window can be a pain.
  • In long lists (e.g.: crafting; 2nd character tab) you need to collapse sections, or you scroll too fast.

Overall I find the comfort of playing with a controller cancels out the disadvantages. Maybe we get a UI update before the XboxOne release. In the meantime you can use KB&M for the above tasks.

Edit: I missed that you do not seem to own GD yet. :o

3

Thanks for the reply - I appreciate the help. I haven’t picked up GD yet but likely will in the next few days, time permitting