Default Button Layouts – Feedback For Dev Team

[giantslayer]

The current default system of assigning abilities to Cross Hotbars produces an unusable setup for controller players. Assigning each new ability in the next vacant slot produces a horrible, random button layout. Abilities that are useless in combat like Teleport, Return, and Auto-Attack are taking up valuable space on Cross Hotbar 1 by default. On top of that, one of the most crucial features, the Expanded Cross Hotbar, isn’t even enabled by default (or at least it wasn’t when I started), so players have to stumble across it in the menu or learn about it from other players.

Here are some screenshots of the default Cross Hotbar for AST at level 30:

AST Default Cross Hotbar 1


AST Default Cross Hotbar 2



The underlying assumption of the current system is that players will realize how unbearably bad the default layout is and customize it to their own tastes. This is easier said than done, especially for new players and those who don’t take the time to meticulously plan ahead to level 60. Most controller players struggle with making a good setup and end up with something that is flawed to some extent.

There may even be some PS4 players who don’t realize they are supposed to do that and leave the abilities in their default positions. PC players might be used to customizing their stuff, but console players are used to the controls being laid out very carefully by the game’s developers for them.

Yoshi has shared his vision for wanting to make this game welcoming to new players and talked about implementing jump potions. Imagine a new player jumps to 60 and gets this random mess of a setup. Now they have to figure out how to make a good layout for 32 abilities they’ve never used before, or worse yet, they may assume the default layout was what the developers intended and try to play the game like that.

Since things are going to be changing in 4.0 anyways (replacing cross class system, revamping old abilities, adding new ones, etc), it’s probably better for me to not try to recommend anything specific in terms of button layouts. Here are some more general recommendations:

1. Change the default settings for PS4 to enable the Expanded Cross Hotbar and the new WXHB by default.
2. Make Cross Hotbars 1-3 not shared by default (I don’t remember what the default is for those anymore).
3. Purge useless items (teleport, return, and auto-attack) from the default button layout.
4. Design good button layouts for each class and make that the new default as abilities are learned. This is the hard part. Ideally, the layout should feel as consistent as possible between the different classes. For example, Cure, Physick, and Benefic should all occupy the same slot, Sprint and LB should be the same for every class, shared abilities like Cleric Stance or Provoke should be in the same spot for every class that uses it, part 1 of the main combo should be the same button for every class, etc.

It should go without saying that this won’t mess up people’s existing bars if they’ve already customized them. This is intended for new players or those taking on a new class (especially with a jump potion). An option in the menu to reset abilities to these new defaults might help a few people, but most would probably rather not have to re-learn a new setup, even if it is better.

Since I am a PS4 player, I don’t really know what the situation is like on PC. I imagine there are probably things they could do to make it easier for new players, but I wouldn’t be the right guy to ask for specifics.

Please pass this along to the UI team. If you guys can get this up and running for 4.0, I think it will really help the new players.

[Canadane]

There is an expectation to have each player tailor their hotbars to their liking. Nobody is expecting anyone to use the default.

[Niwashi]

This is easier said than done, especially for new players and those who don’t take the time to meticulously plan ahead to level 60.

It doesn't take planning ahead, just looking at what you have and how you use them currently. In the early levels when you only have a few skills to work with, it's much easier to keep them near each other rather than scattered all over across multiple bars just because you'll eventually get other skills to fill in all that space in between. What constitutes a good layout can change every time a new skill is learned.