Guide for how to setup wow with a gamepad

[havok6669]

GUIDE FOR HOW TO SETUP WOW WITH A GAMEPAD
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Here we go! XD Hopefully this is handy for someone out there :P

INTRODUCTION
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I play an Enhance Shaman named Demonhavok. I have been playing wow at high end content since TBC have fun with decent
success at PVP. I play Wow Using a gamepad and love it and think it enhances my abilities and is alot of fun as well

Ok now you ask, "Why a gamepad?", "Isn't it easier to use a keyboard and mouse?"

I find after hours of gaming typing keys your joints can get sore and so do your wrist from the angle of your arms. Awkward to hit all
the buttons with your fingers easy to accidentally open a chat window or hit the wrong button. High mobility fights make it much
harder to maintain solid dps etc.

With a game controller it is much more comfortable to hold for long durations. With the turbo function it's much easier on your hands
and system while making sure you hit abilities the moment they are off cooldown. This maximizes your actions possible per encounters.
With the buttons all easy to hit without having to move your fingers far, its fast and easy to hit what you want to without unnecessary keys
being in the way. Finally with your thumbs you can easily control your steering and maintain your spells and abilities with your fingers
making high mobility encounters much easier to manage.

If you still think maybe there are not enough buttons for everything you want to use the average game controllers have 16 buttons. Using
2 of them as modifiers like ALT and CTRL you can set 4 functions/macros per button. With 14 remaining buttons that's a total of 52
macros. I actually find it easy to use quite a few spells I may not have as readily availiable otherwise.

HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE
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This is my guide for how to use a game controller for WoW, personally I think it allows me to use more of my potential plus it's
kinda like playing DDR on someones face lol. I'll try and split it up into a few sections to make digestion a little easier.
First up on the menu is the hardware setup.to start it off since this is a guide on how to play WoW with a game controller
i'd suggest starting with one of those :P I was previously using a ps2 controller to usb adapter I bought at the source
for about $15, currently I am using a wireless saitek gamepad. Whatever game controller you decide on the basics
of it should be roughly the same.



I use a program called xpadder, you can find it for about $11 on xpadder.com. There are other similar programs but this is the one I prefer
as there is no noticeable delay in the emulation. Once you have xpadder installed have it detect your game controller. There are more in
depth guides for how to set it up but I'll cover the basics. Click the controller icon on the left side and select settings if you press the buttons
on your controller they should be added to the xpadder display. Don't forget to click your thumbsticks if you have them. Now to set up the
steering. In the picture you should be able to see my control setup.



The left thumbstick uses forward, back, Q and E. When pressed it is spacebar. (for jumping and flying up) On the right thumbstick i have;
turn left, turn right, X (for flying downwards in flight) and \ (which i have keybound to draw weapons. lol this of course is entirely to your discretion)
I also bound Alt and Ctrl to what are my L2 and R2 on the gamepad. Whatever modifiers you want to use are fine but I highly suggest using
them it greatly increases the number of abilities you can use with the setup. Some of the bindings I will go over in the keybindings section.
The real beauty of xpadder is that your gamepad acts as a keyboard/mouse so is compatible with anything that uses a keyboard and or
mouse
note: the buttons highlighted with a purple bar are set to turbo function such as the numpad 4,5 and 6 keys.

MACROS
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And now on to my favorite morsel MACROS! this isn't a full guide on macros but I will include a list of some macros I use for reference.
I'll also cover a basic macro template to use for making your own to your class and spec. First off start every macro with #showtooltip as the
first line so the icons change accordingly. Almost all of these macros with use all the modifier combinations CTRL + ALT, Alt, CTRL and
Nomod. it's very important that you do them in this order so when you press both modifiers it's not being overridden by the alt or ctrl lines of the
macro. For simplicity I'll just use SPELL1 etc you should replace it with the actual name of the spell you want to use though. I try to keep like
spells grouped for example healing on one button totem sets on another cooldowns on another etc might seem complex at first but it becomes
much easier when you use it for a little bit. Just like a fighting game it becomes very reflexive to do the spell you want on command. for example
L2 + R2 + Triangle for me is heroism

EXAMPLE
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#showtooltip
/cast [mod:alt,mod:ctrl] Spell4; [mod:ctrl] Spell3; [mod:alt] Spell2; [nomod] Spell1;

Basically whatever button you end up attaching this to the result will be the button will do spell1 when it is pressed alone. When you hold alt it
would change the button to spell2 instead, crtl spell3 and both alt and crtl will turn it into spell4. This is just an example of using modifier
macros you can technically use any macros u want.

Keybinding
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I suggest setting aside at least 2 action bars for the gamepad setup. Start dragging your macros you have created onto the bars. Once they
are set up its time to keybind them . I suggest using the numpad, bear with me here I'm sure there are lots of reasons you don't want to from,
" But they are so awkward to press!" to "My comp doesn't have a numpad QQ!" These are actually good reasons why you actually might
want to. In the Xpadder controls you can select a button and assign a numpad button from the keyboard selection that pops up. From now on
that button is numpad1 or whatever u have chosen it to be. So even if you dont have a numpad, the button can be used to keybind in the WoW
keybinds interface. Once you have assigned buttons to the gamepad it's time to choose where you want to bind your macros. Simply choose
the macro you want to assign from the interface such as left actionbar1 and then press the gamepad button you would like that macro to be.
Since the gamepad acts as a keyboard if that button was numpad1 that macro will keybind to numpad1 which is exactly what your computer
thinks that button is :]

EXAMPLE MACROS
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I have LOTS of extensive macros I dont plan to post them all on here just the major ones as an example of the potential. Since as an Enhance
Shaman I don't have a rotation but a priority queue. I found a rather cunning way I think to handle it much easier and more efficient. My R1 button
is set as a key sequence of 1111221113 this ensures if 1 is off cooldown it will be pressed the 2 is 2nd to go off and 3 is 3rd I have 2 macros
and one ability attached to these buttons.



BUTTON1
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#showtooltip

/startattack

/castsequence [mod:alt,mod:ctrl]Frost Shock; [mod:ctrl]Fire Nova; [mod:alt]Wind Shear; [nomod]Lava Lash;


BUTTON2
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#showtooltip

/castsequence reset=14, Unleash Elements, Flame Shock, Earth Shock, Earth Shock



BUTTON3
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Stormstrike (just dragged it to the bar from my spellbook)


NUMPAD6
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This is the button I use for all my specials basically the macro is as follows it is keybound to my triangle button.

#showtooltip

/castsequence [mod:alt,mod:ctrl] Heroism; [mod:alt] Cleanse Spirit; [mod:ctrl] Shamanistic Rage; [nomod] reset=110 13,14;

/cast Spirit Walk

/cast Bash



NUMPAD/
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This is my travel macro it is bound to my right thumbstick button Crtl+numpad/ is my livestock addon, random smart mount binding.

/cast [swimming]Sea Turtle;[nomod]Ghost Wolf


Alt+ numpad/ is bound to my Rocket mount and Ctrl+Alt +numpad/ is my traveller's tundra mammoth



NUMPAD1
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Short but sweet macro I have it bound to my L1 button.

/TargetEnemy

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I'm hoping this guide may help a few players to enjoy a new type of play style with almost limitless applications. Although I have tried to
include some basics on macros and xpadder this is more of a guide towards the more advanced user who is probably already using
keybindings and macros. Hopefully for you it unlocks a whole new way to play a game we all love and enjoy which I personally have
been doing about 2 years now using this method. See you around Azeroth

Sincerely
<Demonhavok the Insane>