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Update -- April 10, 2025[edit]

GW1 Steam Deck Control Layouts (beta 1)

by Sam Clarke-Willson

Hello friends! We've been working on an official Guild Wars Steam Deck control layout. Today we're pleased to present a beta version in order to get some community feedback.

There are two layouts:

ABXY: a simpler layout

Soulslike: a trickier layout for hardcore console players

The GW1 controls were created using a Steam Deck layout that converts button presses and control movements on Steam Deck into the game's corresponding keyboard and mouse controls.

The current (beta versions) of these are in the Steam Deck Community Layouts page. Search Sam CW and you should find them. After some feedback, we intend to promote them to the official GW1 recommended controls. As with all Steam Deck controls, you can modify them to your taste and save them either locally on your Steam Deck or in the Community area.

Keyboard / Mouse Mapping[edit]

This table lists the key bindings that both the ABXY and Soulslike Steam Deck controls require. Both layouts use the same keybindings which makes it easy to try both.

Action	Guild Wars 1 Input	Steam Deck Input	Needs Gw1 additional mapping?
Attack/Interact	Space	"Inventory"	No.
Skill 1	1	A	No.
Skill 2	2	X	No.
Skill 3	3	Y	No.
Skill 4	4	B	No.
Skill 5	5	D-Pad Down	No.
Skill 6	6	D-Pad Left	No.
Skill 7	7	D-Pad Up	No.
Skill 8	8	D-Pad Right	No.
Player Movement	WASDQE	Left Stick	No.
Camera Control	Right Click (Held) plus Mouse movement.	Right Stick "Contact" plus movement	No.
Left Mouse Click	Left Mouse Click	Left Trigger	No.
Right Mouse Click	Right Mouse Click	Right Trigger	No.
Target Next Foe	]	Right Bumper	No.
Target Previous Foe	[	Left Bumper	No.
Targeting: Party Member - Next	Page Down Key	R4 (top right grip button)	Yes.
Targeting: Party Member - Previous	Page Up Key	L4 (top left grip button)	Yes.
Shift	Shift.	Right Stick Click	No.
Action: Clear Party Commands	Home key	Left Stick Click	Yes.
Cancel/Close Window	Escape	"Start"	No.
Hold Action Layer Hero 1 Command	N/A	L5 (bottom left grip button)	No.
Hold Action Layer Hero 2 Command	N/A	R5 (bottom right grip button)	No.
Left Trackpad radial menu:
Options menu	F11	Radial Menu Center	No.
Inventory	I	Radial Menu 1	No.
Quest Log	L	Radial Menu 2	No.
Skills and Attributes	K	Radial Menu 3	No.
Map	M	Radial Menu 4	No.
Mission Map	U	Radial Menu 5	No.
Friends	N	Radial Menu 6	No.
Guild Panel	G	Radial Menu 7	No.
Party	P	Radial Menu 8	No.
Help	F10	Radial Menu 9	No.
Hold Action Layer Hero 1 Command:
Action: Order Hero 1 to Skill 1	Numpad 1	L5 + A	Yes.
Action: Order Hero 1 to Skill 2	Numpad 2	L5 + X	Yes.
Action: Order Hero 1 to Skill 3	Numpad 3	L5 + Y	Yes.
Action: Order Hero 1 to Skill 4	Numpad 4	L5 + B	Yes.
Action: Order Hero 1 to Skill 5	Numpad 5	L5 + D-Pad Down	Yes.
Action: Order Hero 1 to Skill 6	Numpad 6	L5 + D-Pad Left	Yes.
Action: Order Hero 1 to Skill 7	Numpad 7	L5 + D-Pad Up	Yes.
Action: Order Hero 1 to Skill 8	Numpad 8	L5 + D-Pad Right	Yes.
Action: Command Hero 1	Numpad /	L5 + Right Trigger	Yes.
Hold Action Layer Hero 2 Command:
Action: Order Hero 2 to Skill 1	Numpad 9	R5 + A	Yes.
Action: Order Hero 2 to Skill 2	Numpad 0	R5 + X	Yes.
Action: Order Hero 2 to Skill 3	Numpad +	R5 + Y	Yes.
Action: Order Hero 2 to Skill 4	Numpad -	R5 + B	Yes.
Action: Order Hero 2 to Skill 5	Down Arrow Key	R5 + D-Pad Down	Yes.
Action: Order Hero 2 to Skill 6	Left Arrow Key	R5 + D-Pad Left	Yes.
Action: Order Hero 2 to Skill 7	Up Arrow Key	R5 + D-Pad Up	Yes.
Action: Order Hero 2 to Skill 8	Right Arrow Key	R5 + D-Pad Right	Yes.
Action: Command Hero 2	Numpad .	R5 + Right Trigger	Yes.

Most of the additional key bindings (i.e., new bindings that are not on by default) exist to support Hero commands. The other two additions are Target Next Party Member and Target Previous Party Member. These are helpful for support characters; alternatively you can mouse click on a party member HP bar.

To add or remap controls in Guild Wars 1, open the Options menu (on Steam Deck using the right track pad as a mouse or from the radial menu on the left track pad) and navigating to Controls. There you'll see a large list of potential key bindings.

Scan down the list for the command to add/remap, select it in the list, click the bar under and then type a new key for this action. Press the appropriate button on Steam Deck and click Assign to lock in the new mapping. Don't forget to press Assign!

Alphabetical Key Bindings[edit]

Here are the key bindings you'll want to change in alphabetical order (which matches the order in the dialog box):

Action	Input
Action: Clear Party Commands	Home key
Action: Command Hero 1	Numpad /
Action: Command Hero 2	Numpad .
Action: Order Hero 1 to Skill 1	Numpad 1
Action: Order Hero 1 to Skill 2	Numpad 2
Action: Order Hero 1 to Skill 3	Numpad 3
Action: Order Hero 1 to Skill 4	Numpad 4
Action: Order Hero 1 to Skill 5	Numpad 5
Action: Order Hero 1 to Skill 6	Numpad 6
Action: Order Hero 1 to Skill 7	Numpad 7
Action: Order Hero 1 to Skill 8	Numpad 8
Action: Order Hero 2 to Skill 1	Numpad 9
Action: Order Hero 2 to Skill 2	Numpad 0
Action: Order Hero 2 to Skill 3	Numpad +
Action: Order Hero 2 to Skill 4	Numpad -
Action: Order Hero 2 to Skill 5	Down Arrow Key
Action: Order Hero 2 to Skill 6	Left Arrow Key
Action: Order Hero 2 to Skill 7	Up Arrow Key
Action: Order Hero 2 to Skill 8	Right Arrow Key
Targeting: Party Member - Next	Page Down Key
Targeting: Party Member - Previous	Page Up Key

How to use ABXY binding[edit]

The four face buttons and the four D-pad directions are a perfect match for the eight skills in Gw1. A (the bottom face button) is the standard first action input across gaming, so that's skill 1 and the rest of the face buttons are skills 2-4 moving clockwise. The D-Pad matches that pattern, with the down direction being skill 5 and 6-8 moving clockwise in the same way.

The default action key (space) is pretty important but there isn't really a good 'ninth' button on the Steam Deck that is intuitive to use. Most of the possible candidates, like the triggers, have pairs of inputs that make sense if they stay together. Ultimately the basic attack/interact is on the Inventory () button near the left thumb stick and D-pad.

The bumpers control enemy targeting: right bumper targets next and left bumper targets previous. The right track pad is mouse control and pressing it is left mouse click. The trackpad is a bit 'iffy' for double clicks and similarly for hold click&drag actions, so the triggers are available as backup mouse buttons. Left trigger is left mouse button and Right Trigger is right mouse button. This matches the layout on a mouse as a mnemonic.

Left stick is character movement. Just note that the stick is eight-way directional movement rather than an analog stick. Right stick is camera control to keep with the industry wide standards on two stick character/camera movement.

To make the stick work as a mouse for Guild Wars, the Right Stick contact input option is used. This makes it so that when you touch the top of the right stick, the control layout will start holding down the right mouse button for you; since the Right Stick is already mouse curser movement it will act as you expect a console camera control stick to work!

Important: This stick-as-mouse is very convenient, but there is one very important caveat. This only works when the Steam Deck detects your thumb, which it only seems to do when you have it on the center top of the stick. You might find that sometimes you control your joystick by pushing it from the side of the stick instead of keeping your thumb on top. In that case, the contact action doesn't trigger the Right Mouse Button input. There is a bit of a learning curve here. If you are moving the Right Stick and it is not doing what you expect, check your thumb placement.

The left trackpad is a radial menu with the panels and windows that are under the option menu in the bottom left of Guild Wars' screen. This radial menu gives quick access to things like Inventory, Skills/Attributes and Guilds.

The grip buttons on the back of the Steam Deck control target next/previous party members and have the only hold action set layers in the layout. (A hold layout means you use the button like a shift key.) The grip buttons alter the inputs for Hero control by switching normal skill inputs to Hero 1 or 2 and the matching skills on their bar. Holding the bumpers also changes Right Trigger to activating the Hero movement command flags for their respective Hero. Canceling movement orders is left stick click regardless of if you have any Hero command layers active.

The Escape key is on the hamburger icon () button near ABXY.

We're considering flipping the and , as the so-called hamburger menu is closer to your main attack skills. Let us know what you think in the Discussion page.

Finally, when using a mouse, you need to Shift Left Click Hero Skills to order Heroes not use the skill unless told. The only unused button was Right Stick Click. This is a bit awkward but it makes other actions easier to access in battle.

How to use Soulslike binding[edit]

The basic premise of this mapping is to put your skill buttons on the triggers and bumpers instead of the face buttons and D-pad. There are only four triggers and bumpers instead of the 8 face buttons and D-pad, so a hold action set layer was made to fit the all of the skills there.

Right Trigger is skill 1
Left Trigger for skill 2
Right Bumper for skill 3
Left Bumper for skill 4

Hold L4 to switch to:

Right Trigger for skill 5
Left Trigger for skill 6
Right Bumper for skill 7
Left Bumper for skill 8

This saves a few buttons compared to the Gw1 ABXY layout, but the layout needs two buttons for each Hero Command Layer.

The change to relying more on Hold Action Set Layers meant reshuffling a lot of buttons from the ABXY layout. All four targeting inputs (enemy and party) are on the ABXY buttons. B is target next enemy and X is previous enemy. This forms a right>forward, left>back mnemonic that seems intuitive. A is next party member and Y is previous party member; target next party member moves your selection down the list (in the Party Formation UI) and target previous party member moves up. This way the buttons correspond to the direction they move through the UI which is a nice mnemonic. For similar reasons, the extra mouse button inputs are on the D-pad and match the side of the mouse. Left D-pad is Left Mouse Click and right D-Pad is Right Mouse Click.

For the Soulslike layout, the Hero Command layers are split in two and given a button each since there is only room for 4 skill buttons in this layout. R5 enables Hero 1 skills 1-4 and L5 enables Hero 1 Skills 5-8. The Hero 2 commands are on the up and down D-Pad inputs. Down enables Hero 2 skills 1-4 and Up enables skills 5-8. The first four skills are on down which matches how the ABXY layout starts at A (down on the D-pad). Another side effect of the button reshuffle is that R4 is the button to clear Hero movement orders; it becomes the 'hero order button' when either of the matching hero command layers is held down. This allows Shift on the more convenient left stick click. Right stick click is another source of Right Mouse Click as a convenience.

The Trackpads and the Sticks are unchanged from the ABXY layout (altered stick clicks notwithstanding). It is the same for the select and start buttons, which are still Space bar for attack/Interact and Escape key respectively.