CAN YOU PLAY THE NEW MMORPG LOST ARK WITH THE CONTROLLER?

 On February 11th the new Free2Play MMORPG Lost Ark will be released on Steam. The game is listed there under the entry "partial controller support". In this article, we explain what this is all about.

Can you play Lost Ark with the controller? The short answer is yes, it is possible in principle. Lost Ark can be played with any gamepad, which also works and is recognized on your PC.

However, a small disadvantage is that you can only find the layout of an Xbox controller in the game. You are basically able to use PS4 and even 5 controllers, but you have to rethink the button assignment a bit.

It then becomes difficult with the nuances, which is why Steam also states that it is only partially optimized for controllers because you will probably not get along completely without a keyboard and mouse.

Nevertheless, all skills can be easily controlled with the controller, and even more complicated classes, such as the marksman with their various weapon sets, are quite easy to handle.

Here the weapons can be easily rotated with the Y and B keys and enable a pleasant flow of the game. Lost Ark also supports you with abilities for which you have to actively select an enemy with an automatic focus function whose aim you can switch through with RT/R2.

What's the downside? Lost Ark does not have a virtual keyboard. So if you want to write with other users in the game, you are absolutely dependent on a keyboard, which is why Steam only marks the game with partial controller support.

Navigating through various menu items is also difficult from time to time. At such points, you can clearly tell that the MMORPG was developed with a focus on the mouse and keyboard.

You can move the mouse button with the right stick, but you can imagine that the menus don't necessarily get any easier. 

Precise movements and quick reactions are also important in the endgame, in the tougher boss fights. The controller is also not optimal here and requires a certain frustration tolerance on your part.

Placing area damage abilities on the ground is also sub-optimal with the controller, as you often need longer to aim here. Sometimes the monsters are already gone and the mouse and keyboard players are much faster.

Here's a little gameplay with a controller:

How can you play with a controller?

If you're lucky, you can simply connect the gamepad to your PC, and then you can immediately start playing Lost Ark with the controller. However, sometimes it doesn't work that easily. That's why we can give you a few tips to help you along the way.

Check the settings in the game: Open the settings in Lost Ark itself via Escape and then select the “Gamepad” category at the bottom and expand it. There you will find the "Interact" tab. When you click on this, the first thing you see in the picture is a checkbox labeled "Use Gamepad".

If this box is still empty, tick it and save the settings by clicking on “Apply”.

Incidentally, you can also switch off the controller control in the same way if you don't want to unplug the gamepad and still want to work briefly with the mouse and keyboard without any accidental inputs on the controller disturbing you.

Check the settings in Steam: Steam may have detected your controller incorrectly or not at all. So open Steam and go to Settings. Under the item "Controller" you open the "General controller settings".

A new window will open in the Steam BigPicture design, in which you can select which controller assistant is currently being used. The settings also show you which controller Steam currently recognizes.

To prevent errors, you now select the configuration assistant for which you have connected the correct controller. So if you have an Xbox controller, make sure the PlayStation and Switch assistant is disabled.

What do you think of Lost Ark's controller controls? Do you feel like playing the game with the controller or are you more looking forward to playing a game that is optimized for mouse and keyboard? Or are you perhaps more of the kind who still want WASD controls for the MMORPG? Write it to us in the comments here.