Three sets, four bars, 84 slots: Blizzard's guide to playing Forever with a gamepad

Blizzard published a guide to playing Forever with a gamepad at 20:00 UTC on 3 November. It sets out how a controller reaches 84 spell and ability slots: three sets of action bars, with four bars in each set. It also names one task that still needs a keyboard: typing in chat. We read the guide in full and haven't tried any of it with a controller. Blizzard calls gamepad support a functional beta, so the launch client may change.

Turning it on

Press Escape to open the Game Menu, choose Options, then pick Gamepad under Gameplay. That switches you away from keyboard-and-mouse input. Blizzard says Forever supports all XInput-compatible controllers and shows Xbox and PlayStation button icons. The guide names its buttons the Xbox way, so we do too.

The Gamepad settings cover Camera, HUD Modifier, Frame Focus Style, Action Bars, Targeting and Raid Targeting Options. On controllers with supported lighting, the light turns red for a Horde character and blue for an Alliance one.

The basic controls

The left stick moves your character and the right stick moves the camera. The left bumper (LB) selects a friendly target and the right bumper (RB) a hostile one. The controller map lists X for Interact, A for Jump, B for Back and Y for Inspect, and Blizzard notes that these buttons also have spell functions. The Menu button opens the Main Menu, and the View button, the one marked with overlapping squares, is listed as Change Focus Frame.

Four bars from one set of buttons

The gamepad HUD shows four action bars. Each uses the same button layout but can hold different spells and abilities. Hold LT, RT, or both triggers together to switch to another bar, and let go to return to the default one. The HUD changes to show what's on the bar you're using.

Blizzard's own example is a Mage with four spells on one directional button:

• Up: Polymorph (Sheep)
• LT + Up: Fireball
• RT + Up: Frostbolt
• LT + RT + Up: Blizzard

Those are examples, not fixed bindings. You choose what goes where.

Three sets, 84 slots

Bars come in sets. To switch between the three action bar sets, hold LB + RB and press Left or Right on the directional pad. Each set's four bars hold 28 slots between them, which is how Blizzard reaches 84 customizable slots across all three. The button layout stays the same as you change sets, so the same buttons reach a different group of abilities without opening a menu. Blizzard suggests separate sets for combat, for utility abilities or for the things you use most.

LB + RB as a shortcut key

Holding both shoulder buttons does more than change sets. With LB + RB held:

• B opens your Backpack.
• Up reaches the Quest Tracker.
• Down reaches Chat.
• Y lets you manage your buffs.

The same features are in the main radial menu. The shortcuts just get you there directly.

The guide gives these in two separate lists, but put them together and the same hold does several jobs: Left and Right on the D-pad switch sets, while Up, Down, B and Y reach parts of the HUD.

Where to look on screen

A gamepad legend sits in the upper-left corner of the main screen and expands to show more options when you take certain actions. Most screens also have gamepad footers showing what you can do in that panel. Not every screen has one yet. Blizzard says interface work is ongoing, including making bags and menus easier to use with a gamepad.

Chat still needs a keyboard

The LB + RB + Down shortcut takes you to Chat, but Blizzard says typing there still needs a keyboard, and tells players to keep one within reach for tasks such as typing in-game chat. Blizzard says reducing the need for a keyboard remains a goal, with a keyboard-free experience as the longer-term aim. It gives no date for that.

What this doesn't tell you

The guide is an instruction sheet, not a test. It doesn't say how well any of this works in a raid or in PvP, which controllers it was tested on beyond the XInput statement, or which classes fit 84 slots most easily.

If you followed the beta, our log of the controller changes Blizzard listed build by build covers the earlier work, from Edit Mode support to pet and quest fixes. This guide is the newer picture: three sets of four bars, 84 slots, LB + RB plus the D-pad to change sets, the triggers to change bars, and a keyboard nearby for chat.