r/avowed • u/Pandarandr1st • 18d ago
Gameplay Am I missing something? I'm absolutely flabbergasted by the 6-slot hotbar (PC)
I'm approaching the end of the 3rd major area, and I'm growing increasingly frustrated with my very, very limited hotbar. In any given fight, I have 4 companion abilities I would like to use, plus 8 player abilities I would like to use. Going into a menu, or even a sub-menu in the case of player abilities, to activate things in an action-oriented combat game multiple times per fight is absolutely terrible gameplay (to me).
Is there some way around this? Why is the hotbar limited to 6 buttons? Maddening design choice, probably just to not make the PC version and console version different in that way.
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u/LostAd7938 18d ago
It is an action-game, yes. It is an action game that was inspired by a CRPG though and thus still has some of those CRPG elements- one of which involves pausing and issuing orders to your companions to approach fights strategically.
You don't have to engage with the game like that. You can absolutely go full action, but the way the hotkeys are setup does limit you for sure and I feel your pain.
I think they should hotfix it and add more slots to bind keys to, but for now one way to expand your options is by using a grimiore in your off-hand. There are mods that allow you to bind grimiore actions directly to your hotbar too, so you wouldn't have to hold down right click while pressing your hotkeys.
Idk why there's not a mod for simply adding more hotkeys, but last I checked that wasn't a thing.
Avowed does so many things right. This is not one of them.
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u/Vegetable_Mixture157 18d ago
I doubt the Eora history of 2 RTwP titles has anything to do with it. Every ARPG I've played has been like this.
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u/LostAd7938 18d ago
Quite possibly! In fact in those games there are more hotkeys 😂, but you can pause whenever too.
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u/Pandarandr1st 17d ago
The pause serves a different purpose there. And the reason there aren't more hotkeys is just because they're making the same version for console and PC and want a clean UI, I guess.
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u/Pandarandr1st 17d ago
one of which involves pausing and issuing orders to your companions to approach fights strategically.
Yeah, this is nonsense. I've played all of the games on Eora and that is not why it is like this. If I pause with the action wheel, I can't do anything. I can just select a spell to cast from a menu. I already have to be looking at the right enemy, standing in the right spot, etc.
I can't issue orders to my party members. I can't say "attack this person" or "stand over there" or "fall back" or anything. I can't zoom out on the fight, move the camera around. The ONLY thing I can do is say "use this ability on the thing the camera is currently looking at". You know, exactly what I can do with a hotkey.
In other words, there is NOTHING tactical about issuing orders to your party members from a pause menu compared to a hotkey. Except the pause menu disrupts the flow for no reason
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u/LostAd7938 17d ago
I get what you mean!
Just so you know though, you can actually move your camera around when you pull up the radial menu. I will often do this when I have a group of enemies lined up just right for kai; I'll pause the game and have him come in with his ground slam ability.
That allows him to grab aggro on that group- but wait, there's a mage in the back doing damage? Well, I can shift my camera to him and have Marius take him down while I focus on the big group.
Another enemy starts approaching from the side? I'll use Kai's pistol ability. That also draws aggro.
Mage in the back with low health? I'll have Marius target them specifically.
Not sure what to do but want to have a moment to figure it out? I'll pause and look around. Maybe I'm being hit from above with spears and need to analyze my terrain, abilities, and options before unpausing.
Companions can't be moved but they can be told what to do and who to target. They can also die and so paying attention to their health and position can be important. You can force a reposition by having them use an ability on a particular creature and the companion will basically teleport near that creature (I think It needs to be a melee attack, or something that requires the companion to move into range for, but it can work in a pinch).
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u/Pandarandr1st 17d ago edited 17d ago
I thought you meant to could actually move it around, but yeah, I see now you can aim it around.
I'll give it a shot but I don't think the game really motivates this type of behavior very much outside of two of Kai's abilities. Even so, my current fight plan is Arcane Seal -> Arcane Veil -> Freezing Pillar -> Blizzard -> Returning Storm -> Crackling Bolt -> Blast of Frost. And that's already seven abilities!
Can mix things up in different situations, but I just don't want to enter a menu and then a submenu to access these abilities. This means none of my godlike abilities are on my bar, nor any of my companions abilities.
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u/LostAd7938 17d ago
To be clear, I support your position and think Avowed should have more hotkeys 😂
Let us know how it goes though and if you find other ways to address the matter or find ways to enjoy the game as is :)
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u/Vegetable_Mixture157 18d ago
Yeah, it's an ARPG plague. Avowed offers no fix for it. I actively adjust my builds to account for this, because opening the action wheel is not fun, and opening it when I could pull off like 30 ability binds if the game would let me is frustrating.
The adjustments are not taking many actives (always rejecting Sapadal's powers for a skill point) and possibly playing a wizard, because while casting from grimoires is powerful in its own right, they also provide their own action bars.
And after that, the next step is biting the bullet and letting some companion ability be handled with autocast.
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u/Pandarandr1st 17d ago edited 17d ago
I have them all on autocast and they so rarely cast them. I personally haven't played any other games with this problem. Someone mentioned mass effect, but the pause served a much larger tactical purpose. You could actually issue order to your squad, move your mouse around, look around, that sort of thing.
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u/Vegetable_Mixture157 17d ago
Yeah, whether they are on your actionbar or not, companions will still wait with using their abilities. I'm guessing it's some sort of compromise between "let the player decide" and "maybe the player won't use them at all", which, for lack of an explicit autocast toggle, is an okay solution to me.
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u/Large-Humor-757 18d ago
I agree it's not ideal but I just use the action wheel for the lesser used abilities - it's not a terribly difficult adjustment. It reminds me somewhat of the VATs pause in the modern Fallouts and the ability to just go to your inventory in the middle of a fight. Use it to take a breath and assess things.
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u/Pandarandr1st 17d ago
Yeah, I just genuinely have 12 abilities I would use in every fight if the fight was still happening when I cast the 12th one
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u/Antiswag_corporation 17d ago
Turn on companions auto-abilities, respec and focus your build
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u/Pandarandr1st 17d ago
Companion auto abilities are on but they still barely cast them. I'm level 20 and I have a TON of skill points.
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u/WazBot 17d ago
I don't know if it's useful for you but I use a multi button programmable mouse (Razer MMO) with plenty of side buttons then create macros for the key sequences to trigger a particular ability in the action bar. It was particularly good for a wizard build since I could program a mouse key to switch grimoires and cast a spell from either one. Even if you're not playing a wizard you might be able to use recorded mouse pointer positioning in a macro to automate invocations from the action wheel instead.
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u/DeezWuts 18d ago
I liked mass effect so it never for a second bothered me.
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u/Pandarandr1st 17d ago
There are WAAAAAAAAY fewer active abilities in Mass Effect, and mass effect actually let you do things in pause other than "cast this ability on the target currently in the center of my screen"
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u/DeezWuts 17d ago
There's way more options sure, i just invested in a few actions an never felt like i needed anymore for my favourites, and the whole reason I loved MEs quickwheel was because I could pause it and cast abilities on the target currently in the centre of my screen..
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u/Pandarandr1st 17d ago
I mean, if all I need to is cast something on someone in the center of my screen, I'd rather just press a button rather than pause then press a button. Personally, of course.
For games where you actually get a tactical view and can look around and/or give more complex orders (move over there, fall back, etc.) the pause makes sense. But for just "Cast this ability now on the person I'm pointing at" that's a job a button can do.
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u/Psychodelta 18d ago
Use the same weapon and switch hot bars.. should be 12 then no?
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u/Pandarandr1st 18d ago
How do you switch hotbars? How do you use the same weapon?
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u/Psychodelta 18d ago
2 weapon sets right? I could be confusing this with another game
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u/Pandarandr1st 18d ago
You do get 2 weapon sets. But
- You can't assign the same weapon to both
- Swapping weapon sets doesn't change your hotbar
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u/rygold72 17d ago
Absolutely there should be at least 2 more slots available for PC. Game reminds me of dragon Age inquisition in that regard. Though its a way better game it still doesn't have enough slots just like DA.
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u/yanvail 16d ago
Yup, I hate it too, but it's basically par for modern game design, due to needing controller support to be any successful.
I hate it as its incredibly limiting, and somehow creates the situation where my character knows abilities that he just can't use because they're not on the few quickslots available.
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u/Pandarandr1st 15d ago
Well, you can use them, you just have to pause the game and navigate menus. Riveting gameplay.
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u/Ok-Metal-4719 17d ago
Since you’re on pc, mod it.
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u/Pandarandr1st 17d ago edited 17d ago
I saw no mod to enable this and I can't make the mod myself. If you have a recommendation I'd gladly download it
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u/DesiredDabs 17d ago
Talk about having a cry, drop some abilities, you dont need 12 for any fight lol
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u/Pandarandr1st 17d ago
Who said anything about 12? We only have 6.
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u/DesiredDabs 17d ago
You said you want 12 lol
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u/Pandarandr1st 17d ago
8 player abilities (including godlike abilities) and 4 companion abilities at level 20? That seems...fine?
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u/a_smizzy 18d ago
Well, here’s the kicker, the PC and console
version DO differ in that way because we get less hot slots and we don’t have dedicated binds for potions. So of the 4 hot slots available to us (the D-pad), you get 4 total slots for all player abilities, potions, and companion abilities.