How to play Dark Souls with an Xbox controller on PC?
I can't seem to find a reference for all the mechanics of Dark Souls as played on PC (specifically Prepare to Die Edition on Steam in case that makes a difference). These are the controls I'm aware of:
- Moving Left stick moves the player with two different speeds: walking and running
- Moving Right stick moves the camera
- Clicking Right stick centers the camera behind the player
- Start opens the in-game menu for items etc.
- Left bumper raises the shield
- Left trigger performs a shield attack (for want of a better description)
- Right bumper:
- performs a regular attack when moving normally
- performs a down stab when falling(?)
- Right trigger performs a power attack
- D-pad cycles between alternative items for that slot as defined in the equipment menu
- A activates looting, bonfires, player comments etc.
- Holding B starts the character sprinting
- Tapping B:
- jumps backward if standing still
- rolls in the direction of movement if already walking or running
- jumps in the direction of movement if running
- X uses the item in the bottom slot
- Y toggles two-handed weapon use
- Back opens the gestures menu
Inside the in-game menu:
- A enters menus or selects an item
- B exits menus
- X changes the display of items
- Y unequips an item
Some of the actions which are unclear/unknown:
- Is it possible to do a stand-still forward jump as far as the sprint jump?
- Are there variants on the down stab? For example one which does more damage but takes more stamina?
- Is it possible to do some sort of round swing with a sword to hit multiple enemies?
- Is there an upward stab for better hitting bosses?
- Is it possible to aim the crossbow?
- Does clicking Left stick do anything?
- Is it possible to lock on an enemy with this controller?
- How do you kick?
- How do you reliably use the Left trigger to bash the enemy shield out of the way? It only seems to work very rarely.
- How do you aim thrown projectiles?
Best Answer
Some minor corrections to what you've recorded:
First, a long bit about attacking. Obviously attacking and weapon use is important so I want to make sure it's understood.
- The bumpers and triggers control weapon use, regardless of what you have in your hands. You can dual-wield, or even use two shields if you want.
- Bumper is always block with a shield and trigger will always attempt a parry, unless you are using a greatshield, in which case a bash is performed instead.
- With weapons, bumper is always light attack and trigger is always heavy attack.
- With bows, the controls are different; triggers fire alternate arrow types (they're marked on the HUD with what button they correspond to), left bumper aims and right bumper shoots. Note that you must two-hand a bow to use it and if you hit bumper without two-handing the bow, your character will begin two-handing it.
- Finally with magical instruments, bumper casts selected spell and trigger does a (usually very underwhelming) melee attack with the instrument.
- P.S.: As you might imagine, some weapons have crazy special functions. Finding those unique weapons is part of the fun of the game.
Now, some details about the rest of the controls.
Parries are used to deflect enemy attacks (not shields) as they happen and sets the enemy up for a critical attack (backstabs are critical attacks if you don't know what I mean) if done correctly. If you mis-time it, I believe it can still partially reduce the damage you take.
Plunging attacks (that's the official name for the "down stab" you mentioned) can be performed with any melee weapon as well, all you have to do is hit bumper while falling. They do a lot of damage and some bosses have special animations for it, as you may have noticed.
Clicking the right stick centers camera and it also targets the enemy you're facing. The controls here work almost exactly like Z-targeting in the 3D Zelda games, if you are familiar with that, except you can also move the stick to move the camera around and switch targets if you are already locked on.
Kicking isn't always possible depending on the weapon you use. Some weapons have an alternate move that is performed when you push left stick forward and the bumper corresponding to your weapon at the same time.
You can jump attack by pushing left stick forward and trigger at the same time, just like kicking but with the trigger instead. I bolded this since this seems to have been forgotten.
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How do I get my controller to work on Dark Souls PC?
fixed it by updating nvidia drivers, for some reason. Open Xbox Accessories App and let it find your controller. After that launch Dark Souls Remastered everything should work fine....The solution that i found for me:Is Dark Souls PC controller compatible?
Xbox controllers are basically best controllers for Dark Souls, but with some option mingling you should be able to make most controllers work. I used to play the PS3 cntroller, but I had to run a driver called MotionInJoy for it to work properly. Once setup, it worked.Does Xbox 360 controller work on Dark Souls?
It will let you use pretty much any console controller. I have tested it with the Xbox 360 controller, PS3 Sixaxis, and PS3 DualShock 3 controller. They all work.How do I kick in Dark Souls with Xbox controller?
In order to kick, you'll need to push forward on the left stick while pressing R1 at the same time.How To Get Your Controller To Work With Dark Souls/Darksiders (pc)
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