This guide has instructions and necessary game settings for a versatile Steam Input configuration to play Guild Wars 2 with an Xbox 360 controller (or similar shapes that can reuse the config). Steam Input stuff has no home and you can't properly document a configuration, so we end up here. New versions will come with updates detailed here and a post in the linked forum thread, which is your only way to track changes. Please share this configuration by linking this guide, and not the configuration directly.

To set it up:

1. Either install the game through Steam or add the normal GW2 launcher to your Steam library as a non-Steam game
   
2. Load the configuration with one of the Steam Input links below (don't forget to turn on your controller while doing this)
   
3. Set the necessary options and keybindings in the game (see 'In-Game Settings' section)

And that's it. Whenever you start your GW2 from Steam with your controller on, you'll have full controller play (if you forget to turn on the controller, switch back to Steam and open and close the controller configuration for the game, then Steam should have things straight). I also use a mouse/trackball for quicker inventory and menu handling, but the config does have its own full-featured mousing support. In-game mappings are chosen to make the least changes to the default configuration, so you can still play on keyboard and mouse without too much disruption.

Here is the configuration (paste it into your browser and it will open in Steam--these can't be proper links because Steam refuses to recognize their own config links in their formatting markup):
steam://controllerconfig/1284210/3025702379 (Steam install)
steam://controllerconfig/2306085804/3025724094 (non-Steam install)
[v6 2023-08-25]

Here is another version of this same configuration that automatically engages the work-in-progress racing mode when activating the beetle mount:
steam://controllerconfig/1284210/3025696615 (Steam install)
steam://controllerconfig/2306085804/3025723408 (non-Steam install)
[v6-race 2023-08-25]

This config plays surprisingly well considering all the things it needs to do, but it still takes some time and effort to get a handle on it. Be patient and don't try to do or remember everything at once. It looks daunting, but there's hundreds of hours of play and refinement behind it. Let your hands learn the connections, and you'll be off in no time.

First, it will help to make a couple preparatory mental adjustments. You'll want to think of the four face buttons and Start together as a button group (A, X, B, Y, Start), and do likewise for the four D-Pad directions and Back (Up, Left, Right, Down, Back). These five-button groups will make things a lot more intuitive. We have two main shift-key sets: one focused on more immediate combat keys (Right Trigger), the other on utility keys (Left Trigger), and you'll be using both of those and the unshifted layout simultaneously, so everything that helps the mental mapping take hold is important.

Whenever you start the game, when you first get in character, you will need to press Back+LB to toggle the action camera on. You won't need to do this again within a session, because any time a dialog, panel, or menu comes up, the game automatically switches to showing a cursor instead of the action camera. Once you close whatever it is, it will be back in action camera for you.

Note: There's a Steam bug that can leave the configuration in a broken state. If you ever find buttons not acting like you expect, you should be able to press and hold Start then also Back, to reset the config to a correct state. If that doesn't work, the Steam client may be broken entirely (or have just crashed) and you should just restart it and the game. That's very rare, but it can happen.

Without any modifiers held, basics:

• Move with the left stick and aim/turn with the right stick (holding LT or RT won't change this, of course)
  
• Jump with A, Interact with X, Dodge with B
  
• Heal with LB
  
• Highlight enemies and interactables by holding RS-Click or RB (game default changed to highlight everything all the time, so you can turn that off to reduce clutter and pop names when you want to see them)
  
• Tap Back for Escape, which closes open windows/dialogs or brings up the system menu if nothing is open
  
• Hold Dpad-Down to dismount or get off a chair

With RT held, attacks:

• Face buttons and Start are your weapon skills (1-5)
  
• LB swaps between your two equipped weapon sets
  
• Dpad and Back are your profession skills (F1-F5)

With LT held, utilities:

• Face buttons and Start are your utility slots (7-9), special action (-), and elite skill (0)
  
• Dpad and Back are your mounts (these all need to be unlocked through play, and require expansions)

Remember the Special Action! It doesn't come up that often, but when it does you will need it. That's part of why it's between 9 and Elite, to help keep the spot in mind when suddenly searching for it :)

With Back held, mousing:

• mouse with either stick
  
• mouse click with triggers and RB: RT is primary click, LT is secondary click, and RB is alt-primary, for setting map waypoints
  
• LB toggles the action camera (note that any panel, dialog, or other such active UI element will switch the game to mouse cursor from action cam while it is open)

With Start held, UI panels:

• Map on Dpad Up
  
• Hero/Character panel on Dpad Left
  
• Inventory on Dpad Right
  
• Contacts/LFG on LB
  
• PvP on X (also useful for trying out fully unlocked versions of a class without leveling, or for travel through Lion's Arch to avoid waypoint fees)

Hold Start and then also hold a trigger for various secondary and novelty commands. For example, Start->LT, then tapping X usually works to /say "Thank you". Can be useful when a stranger revives you :)

All states: hold Start then also Back to reset controller configuration state when Steam bugs out and buttons are performing the wrong actions (very important)

Main layout -- Unshifted
LS: Movement
LS-Click: If holding forward, activates auto-run until you move backward, otherwise toggles walking
RS: Camera/Aim
RS-Click: Highlight enemies/interactables (hold longer for more names)
Back: Tap for Escape; hold to shift for mouse set
Start: (shift for menus/panels set)
LT: (shift for utility set)
RT: (shift for attack set)
LB: Heal (6)
RB: Highlight enemies/interactables (hold longer for more names)
A: Jump / Swim Up
X: Interact
B: Dodge
Y: Mount Ability 2 / Swim Down
Dpad-Left/Right: Target previous/next enemy
Dpad-Up: Call target; hold to lock autotarget
Dpad-Down: Take target; hold to dismount or get off a chair

Attack layout -- Hold Right Trigger
LB: Swap weapons
RB: (unused)
A, X, B, Y, Start: 1,2,3,4,5
Dpad-Up, -Left, -Right, -Down, and Back: F1,F2,F3,F4,F5

Utility layout -- Hold Left Trigger
LB: Skiff; double-tap for fishing
RB: Stow/draw weapons
A, X, B: 7,8,9
Y: Special action (depends on context, not always available)
Start: Elite skill (0)
Dpad and Back for Mounts:

Mouse layout -- Hold Back
LT: Right click
RT: Left click
LB: Toggle action camera (you'll need to do this at session start)
RB: Alt + left-click (in map, set navigation marker at cursor)
A: Left click
X: Interact
B: Ctrl+right-click
Y: Ctrl+left-click (in map, paste waypoint at cursor into chat and send)
Start: Escape
Dpad Up/Down: Mouse scroll-wheel up/down (camera zoom, map zoom)
Dpad Left/Right: Page Up/Down (change map layers)

Menu layout -- Hold Start
RS-horizontal: Adjust map zoom
RS-vertical: Change map layer
LB: Contacts/Looking for Group panel; hold for Mail panel; double-tap for Ranger Pet panel
RB: WvW panel
A: (unused)
B: Chat panel; hold for logout dialog (F12)
X: PvP panel
Y: Guild panel; hold for Party dialog (note: this UI does not work with action cam and captures keypresses, so you need Escape to close it)
Dpad-Up: Map
Dpad-Left: Hero panel
Dpad-Right: Inventory panel
Dpad-Down: Trading post panel; hold for Wizard's Vault panel

---Below here are extra things you don't strictly need but are handy or fun---

Controls layout -- Hold Start, then hold RT
A,X,B: Build templates 1,2,3
Y: Swap between equipment templates 1 and 2 with Y (you may need to press it a couple times, to get the game in sync with its toggle)
LB: double-tap to switch controller to racing mode
RB: Hold to scan for rifts; double-tap to place temporary Jade Bot waypoint
Dpad-up: "Tonic" novelty
Dpad-left: "Toy" novelty; hold for "Musical instrument" novelty
Dpad-right: "Held item" novelty; hold for Fishing
Dpad-down: "Chair" novelty; hold for X/dismount (re-pressing Chair does not exit it)

Social layout -- Hold Start, then hold LT
LB: (unused)
RB: hold to Toggle mentor mode (if unlocked)
A: Say "Go"
B: Say "Burn"
X: Say "Thank you"
Y: Say "Hold"
Dpad: two-step quick-emote table:

UI Mousing layout -- Hold Start, then hold both LT and RT
(pending :)

Racing layout -- Double-tap LB from Control layout, or use beetle auto-switch config
LS: Camera (Mouse) (use to steer)
LS-Click: Toggle autorun (R)
RS: Movement (WASD)
RS-Click: Show names
LT: Drift (C)
RT: Forward movement (W)
LB: Endurance refresh (7); hold for heal (6)
RB: Show names
A: Jump/boost/trick (Space)
B: Drift (C)
X: Boost (V)
Y: Endurance refresh (7); hold for heal (6)
Dpad-Up: Map (using Start or Back will clear race mode)
Dpad-Left: Attack dismount
Dpad-Right: Beetle; hold for Raptor (useful for quick remounting)
Dpad-Down: Dismount; hold to wing-dismount
Dpad-Down and Dpad-Left both return to normal control mode, as does Back. If you are using the automatic race mode switch on beetle mount, there is an interim control change until you let go of Dpad-Right to smooth the transition when mounting while moving.

RECOMMENDED GENERAL OPTIONS

• AoE Loot on Interact: checked
  
• Use "Show Ally Names" Key Bind: checked
  
• Ground Targeting: Fast with Range Indicator
  
• Double-Tap to Evade: UNCHECKED -- checked will kill you
  
• Lock Ground Target at Maximum Skill Range: checked
  
• Move Inventory Compact Option: checked

REQUIRED CONTROL OPTIONS
Movement

• Walk: Shift-R
  
• Swim down: C

Targeting

• Previous enemy: Ctrl-Tab
  
• Next ally: . (period)
  
• Lock autotarget: Ctrl-Shift-. (period)

User Interface

• PvP panel: Shift-P
  
• Mail dialog: Shift-O

Camera

• Toggle action cam: Ctrl-' (single quote)

Mounts (must unlock each to see the option)

• Raptor: Shift-X
  
• Springer: Ctrl-Z
  
• Skimmer: Ctrl-x
  
• Jackal: Shift-Z
  
• Beetle: Shift-Ctrl-X
  
• Griffon: Shift-Ctrl-Z
  
• Warclaw: Shift-C -- If you WvW, you likely want to set your warclaw to Shift-Z and your jackal to Shift-C, so you can warclaw mount on a quick tap.
  
• Skyscale: Shift-Ctrl-C -- If you prefer Skyscale as your immediately-accessible aerial mount, bind it to Shift-Ctrl-Z and griffon to Shift-Ctrl-C.
  
• Siege turtle: Ctrl-C

Mastery Skills

• Start Fishing: Alt-NUMPAD_6
  
• Summon Skiff: Alt-NUMPAD_7 -- Skiff enthusiasts, especially those without turtles, may wish to bind skiff to Ctrl-C and turtle to Alt-NUMPAD_7
  
• Set Jade Bot Waypoint: Alt-NUMPAD_. (decimal)
  
• Scan for Rift: Alt-NUMPAD_0

Miscellaneous

• Show enemy names: ' (single quote)
  
• Show ally names: ; (semicolon)
  
• Stow/draw weapon: Ctrl-` (backtick)
  
• Activate Chair: Alt-NUMPAD_1
  
• Activate Musical Instrument: Alt-NUMPAD_2
  
• Activate Held Item: Alt-NUMPAD_3
  
• Activate Toy: Alt-NUMPAD_4
  
• Activate Tonic: Alt-NUMPAD_5

Templates

• Build Template 1: Ctrl-NUMPAD_1
  
• Build Template 2: Ctrl-NUMPAD_2
  
• Build Template 3: Ctrl-NUMPAD_3
  
• Equipment Template 1: NUMPAD_/ (divide)
  
• Equipment Template 2: NUMPAD_* (multiply)

Steam Input has problems and Valve really doesn't care about them (seriously-- one key bug I reported with a very nice test case just had them change the documentation to redefine the broken and obviously undesirable behavior as "intended"), which is a darn shame considering the vision and potential it shows. Unfortunately, some things just can't really be avoided and this is a complex configuration, so problems do come up.

The biggest problem is getting stuck in a shifted mapping. There's a serious Steam bug at work here, so the config now offers a reset mechanism by pressing Start and Back together (you must press Start before Back). This will come up and it will come up in combat, so be aware. Sadly, between the Steam bugs and painful lack of even the most rudimentary debugging for configurations, the more one tries to protect the config from weird situations, the more complicated certain buggy interactions become and the harder noticing and restoring a sensible state gets.

More common but less problematic, due to the misguided way Steam Input handles layers and buttons, if you hold a button as you release a shift or switch to a new layout, Steam will interpret that as pressing the button again in the new layout. Often this just comes through as a jump because you still had A down as you let the trigger go, and jumping is one of the few actions you can do during an ability animation. Both triggers use "hair trigger" mode, so they count as off the moment you start releasing them, and as pressed the moment you start pressing them again. This makes the layout shifting nice and responsive, but the down side is making it easier to linger on a button as the layout changes.

Update thread: http://gtm.you1.cn/app/353370/discussions/0/2149847423916655685

Steam Input has zero facilities for versioning or updates (or documentation or testing or debugging...), so updates will be posted to this thread. You can subscribe to it and receive notices when there's a new version to install.