Keyboard Layout
Mouse Controls
Three Camera Modes
Rise of Xu plays in three perspectives, and they all live on a single mouse wheel. The view is one continuous zoom: roll the wheel in to pull the camera closer — eventually right behind your eyes — or out to pull back into third-person and then the classic overhead angle. You start every session in third-person, and pressing Esc snaps straight back to the overhead view.
Scroll all the way in. The camera drops to your character's eyes and your body is hidden. This is the only mode with full vertical aim — look up or down and your shots follow your line of sight. Click to capture the mouse for free-look; Esc releases it.
Where every session begins. The camera floats behind your character so you can see them and the field around you. Move the mouse to orbit the camera, WASD moves relative to your facing, and attacks fire flat across the ground toward the crosshair.
Scroll all the way out past third-person to reach the original fixed overhead angle the game launched with — ideal for reading crowded fights and big arenas. Pressing Esc jumps straight to this view.
Controller Support
Empire 2 supports any standard Xbox or PlayStation controller via the Web Gamepad API. Plug in the controller, open Settings (⚙), and toggle 🎮 GAMEPAD / CONTROLLER on. The setting persists. Mouse and keyboard keep working alongside the controller, so you can switch any time.
The whole game is playable end-to-end on a controller: combat, menus, inventory, settings, the lobby, the works. Below is the full button guide.
These are the everyday combat actions. They only fire when neither bumper is held (because bumper-held turns them into skill combos — see below).
Hold a bumper and press a face button to cast the corresponding skill. All 8 skill slots are reachable in one combo press. A floating hint appears at the bottom of the screen while you hold a bumper, listing what each face button is bound to.
LB / L1 + Face Button → Skills 1 through 4
LB+A Skill 1 · LB+B Skill 2 · LB+X Skill 3 · LB+Y Skill 4
RB / R1 + Face Button → Skills 5 through 8
RB+A Skill 5 · RB+B Skill 6 · RB+X Skill 7 · RB+Y Skill 8
Tip: arrange your skill bar so the abilities you use most go in slots 1-4 (LB combos) since the LB row tends to be slightly faster to reach than RB on most pads. Equip skills via the K menu or skill manager NPC.
If you tap a bumper without pressing any face button while it's held, it falls back to the classic "cycle selected slot" behavior. Useful when you want to spam a single skill with just the trigger.
The D-pad fires your bottom-row item bar (consumables, scrolls, food, throwables). Drag items from your inventory onto these slots first.
When any menu, modal, or dialog is open, the controller automatically switches into navigation mode. The focused element shows a green outline so you can always see what's selected.
First Five Minutes (controller checklist)
1. Plug in the controller, log into Xu Outpost.
2. Press START to open settings.
3. Toggle 🎮 GAMEPAD on. A 🎮 icon should appear in the HUD.
4. Press B to close settings.
5. Press SELECT to open inventory. Drag a potion to item-bar slot 1 (so LT heals you).
6. Press K (or talk to a trainer NPC) to set up your skill slots 1-4 with the abilities you use most.
7. Walk out the gate and try LB + A on a goblin. Watch the combo-hint overlay at the bottom while you hold LB.
8. When you see the hint overlay, you know it's working. Have fun.
⚠ Bindings use the Web Gamepad Standard mapping. Off-brand controllers that don't report a standard mapping may have buttons in different indices.
⚠ Text entry (chat, login name, character creation) still requires a real keyboard. A virtual keyboard for controllers is on the backlog.
Tips for New Players
Don't ignore the Outpost. The crafting benches, merchants, and skill trainers in the XU Outpost can dramatically accelerate your power. Visit before each new zone push.
Combo multiplier is everything. At x10 combo, your damage is ten times base. Learn to dodge-weave attacks rather than tank hits — preserving your combo is worth more than the damage you avoid.
Parry timing. Block just as an enemy swings (watch their tell animation) to trigger a perfect parry. The counterattack deals 3× your ATK and staggers most enemies.
Socket your gems early. Open inventory (I) and click the gem-socket icon on any equipped item to open the gem panel. Even common rubies in your weapon slots add meaningful ATK. Players who ignore socketing fall behind quickly.
Skills synergize. Don't just pick the highest-damage skills. Pair a gap closer (Leap Strike, Blink) with a burst skill (Execute, Nova) and a sustain tool (Heal Pulse, Fortify) for survivable aggression.
Boss phases telegraph their escalation. When a boss enters a new phase, there's a 2-3 second window before the new attack pattern begins. Use this to heal, reposition, and check your mana.
In multiplayer, zone entry matters. All enemies are server-side and persistent. If your party is in Patrol Zone but you're in the Outpost, enemies in Patrol Zone are still active — they will be there when you arrive.
Level 100 isn't the end. The Ascendancy System begins at the cap. Farm AA Points in endgame zones to unlock abilities that dramatically reshape your combat identity.
The Convergence
Reroll Token. Press R within 10 seconds of arriving at a new Convergence depth to re-roll the modifiers. Requires the Reroll Token upgrade from the Archivist (Tier III, 500 shards). 1 use per run. Banner shows "[R] REROLL" when token is available.
Open Echo Tree. Walk up to the violet-robed Archivist at the Outpost central plaza and press F to open his shop. Spend Echo Shards on the 15-node upgrade tree across Tier I, II, III.
Leaderboard now tracks Convergence. Press L for Stats & Leaderboard, switch to the Leaderboard tab. Two new columns: DEPTH (deepest Convergence depth reached) and 💎 (Echo Shards earned).
Lightstone equipment slot. The 9th slot in your inventory panel — drag a Lightstone into it to equip. A halo orb hovers above your head, light radiates outward. Essential for Convergence + Void zone exploration. Buy Tallow / Amber / Aether at Hessek Scale-Weaver.
Magenta depth portal. Kill the Depth Sentinel and a violet rift appears at its death position. Walk through to descend. Old portals from previous depths are auto-cleaned — no skipping. There is no bottom.
Every 5th depth. A cataclysm-tier modifier guaranteed-rolls on top of normal mods every 5th depth: Volatile (enemies explode), Frenzied (+75% attack speed), or Hardened Echo (-50% damage dealt). Reroll Token still works on these.