The Action RPG open world is one of the top genres of recent years: just think of great titles like The Witcher, Fallout, Assissin's Creed and Horizon. A common denominator of these games is certainly the immersion in the surrounding world thanks to a perspective that gives depth to the game experience. The question arises almost naturally: Can World of Warcraft be turned into an Action RPG and played with a controller? The answer is yes!
WoWMapper
WoWMapper is a very simple software that will convert the inputs of your controller in those of mouse and keyboard, in order to allow your controller to interface with World of Warcraft. The software will automatically recognize the connected device but you can customize commands and sensitivity through options.
ElvUI
One of the Addons most used by WoW players, also in this case it will be useful to make our interface cleaner. If this is the first time you use it, always click ahead in the window that will appear as soon as you enter the game, then write /you in the chat to access the settings and enter profiles. After clicking Import Profile copy the following code to the text screen:
This code will automatically configure ElvUI for you effortlessly.
As the next addon we're going to see acts on the Action Bars, go to the ElvUI screen and disable them.
ConsolePort
Make sure WoWMapper is active before you open the game. This addon will turn your Action Bars into an interface that is much better suited to the use of the controller allowing you to customize buttons and positions to your liking. ConsolePort recognizes the controllers of:
- PS3
- PS4
- XBOX 360
- XBOX ONE
- STEAM
Once installed you just follow the on-screen instructions that will appear on the first start.
Immersion
After you have thought about the commands it is important to also look at the shots and the world around you. Thanks to Immersion we will replace the boring missions page in dynamic dialog boxes that will allow us a greater immersion with the story told by the various NPCs.
DynamicCam
This addon will add the finishing touch to your new gaming experience by turning the camera into an action cam similar to games like The Witcher or Fallout 4.
The camera will be positioned on our right shoulder giving us a deeper view.
This last step will require some processes in the internal folders to make it work at its best:
- Download Ace3 and copy it by substituting its contents for the DynamicCam Libs folder.
- Download this profile and paste it into wow/WTF/Account/SavedVariables.
- Once in play type /dc to open DynamicCam settings.
- Check the boxes "Use Actioncam", "Advanced" and "Enable".
- Go to profiles and select Immersive Levelling.
Considerations
Playing World of Warcraft with a controller seemed to me a heresy until a few days ago, but thanks to the union of these addons, the game takes a totally new form making us see and live Azeroth under a different perspective. Thanks to a series of key combinations we can access almost all the slots of the action bars that we usually have in the game. On the other hand, the skills to use in combat have been greatly reduced compared to a few years ago, so you can also play with a character at the maximum level. The action cam behaves very well by dynamically changing the zoom depending on the situation, both if we are fighting outdoors and if we are in a closed place.
If then, like me, you've been playing WoW for a long time and look for an alternative way to tackle the climb to the maximum level with a new character (maybe one of the new allied races), world missions or at most some expeditions (not mythical) but for raids is better to return to the classic settings.
In short, these changes will allow you to enjoy this title even while sitting comfortably on a sofa.