(PS4) New player, having trouble with controls!

[(PSN)Svcredly]

Hey there!

I started playing Warframe very recently and for the most part it’s not impossible to wrap your mind around things and figure things out. However I’m having issues with switching abilities on my tenno. I’d like to be able to use all 4 abilities, not just the second. Yes, the Warframe is up to level 10. So it has unlocked all abilities. I just can’t figure out how to switch between/use all of them with the PS4 controller. Would really appreciate an explanation. I’ve googled and youtubed the topic and it seems to me i’m the only one dense enough to not be able to figure out!

Tysm for all and any help!

[(PSN)Hikuro-93]

Just to quickly clear up some things, your warframe is different than your Tenno. Your Tenno would be a general description to your race/species/whatever. Your frame is the character you select (Excalibur/Mag/Volt/etc). Then there's the abilities, I assume you mean by "switch" that you are trying to activate the abilities, correct?

What frame are you using?

Then, as for controls, allow me to briefly explain. In general you can either use the touchpad for abilities by doing a swap up (1st ability), down (2nd), left (3rd) or right (4th). Or you can use R1 + X (1st), R1 + Square (2nd), R1 + O (3rd) and R1 + Triangle (4th).

Bear in mind, however, that some abilities are just "press to cast", some need to be held, some have a "press to select, hold to trigger" mechanic, some need you to be aiming at an enemy, etc. I personally advise that you get used to the R1 + "button" way since the touchpad doesn't work with held abilities, and it can be quite confusing to change afterwards.

I suggest that you read the description on the abilities and how they work, or see starter guide videos on youtube/wiki/whatever, as many things aren't as clear as they could be. I also advise reading the "tips" section of each warframe on the abilities screen, which you can get to by pressing R2 while hovering over the warframe on the arsenal screen.

Cheers, Tenno!

Edited July 15, 2019 by (PS4)Hikuro-93

[GnarlsDarkley]

Don't you have a setting options on consoles where every Button lists what it does?

[(PSN)Svcredly]

I tried looking through that and it didn't explain anything to me. There's a button that says "ability switch" which is R1 or R2, but when I press it nothing happens/switches so I'm really confused on what I'm supposed to do, or how.

[(PSN)Viveeeh]

By default you need to hold R1, then press X for 1st ability, square for 2nd, O for 3rd, triangle for 4th. If the warframe does nothing, maybe you do not have enough energy (you can check energy cost of abilities in the Arsenal menu).

[NinjaZeku]

5 minutes ago, (PS4)Svcredly said:

There's a button that says "ability switch" which is R1 or R2

From here, PS4 tab:

Pressing R1 will open the Power Menu.

I think, while you hold that button, you can then use Square / Triangle / X / O for the different abilites.

Or, alternatively:

The touchpad allows you to use your Warframe's abilities.
Swipe Up to cast your first ability, Down for your second, Left for your third, and Right for your ultimate ability.

[(PSN)Svcredly]

1 hour ago, (PS4)Hikuro-93 said:

Just to quickly clear up some things, your warframe is different than your Tenno. Your Tenno would be a general description to your race/species/whatever. Your frame is the character you select (Excalibur/Mag/Volt/etc). Then there's the abilities, I assume you mean by "switch" that you are trying to activate the abilities, correct?

What frame are you using?

Then, as for controls, allow me to briefly explain. In general you can either use the touchpad for abilities by doing a swap up (1st ability), down (2nd), left (3rd) or right (4th). Or you can use R1 + X (1st), R1 + Square (2nd), R1 + O (3rd) and R1 + Triangle (4th).

Bear in mind, however, that some abilities are just "press to cast", some need to be held, some have a "press to select, hold to trigger" mechanic, some need you to be aiming at an enemy, etc. I personally advise that you get used to the R1 + "button" way since the touchpad doesn't work with held abilities, and it can be quite confusing to change afterwards.

I suggest that you read the description on the abilities and how they work, or see starter guide videos on youtube/wiki/whatever, as many things aren't as clear as they could be. I also advise reading the "tips" section of each warframe on the abilities screen, which you can get to by pressing R2 while hovering over the warframe on the arsenal screen.

Cheers, Tenno!

I’m currently using Saryn, and am only able to use the shed skin ability. This helped very much, thank you! I’ll try my best to figure things out using all the information I was given. Again, tysm!

[(PSN)Hikuro-93]

3 minutes ago, (PS4)Svcredly said:

I’m currently using Saryn, and am only able to use the shed skin ability. This helped very much, thank you! I’ll try my best to figure things out using all the information I was given. Again, tysm!

No worries! The game does get confusing at first. The biggest advice I can give you is really to just take your sweet time to learn it, and don't be afraid to turn to the community for help. Be that help from the forums, ingame, youtube, discord, wiki, etc.

Now for Saryn herself, her 1st ability (Spores) is castable when you are aiming at an enemy. Her 3rd and 4th should indeed be "press to cast" so maybe it really is an energy issue. Specially since those tend to spend more energy than the first 2 abilities in most frames. 

[(PSN)Gaelic-_-Flame]

There are generally 3 ways to assign and use your powers (you might have to reassign some buttons in options)

1) You use R1+face buttons to cast your abilities

2) You use Touchpad swipes to cast abilities

3) Or you use D-pad to cast abilities

Each method has it's own good and bad sides though.

For example if you use touchpad swipes, you won't be able to cast hold abilities on some warframes that have them, so you might need to have a back-up Ability button. The good side of swipes is that it can be used with either of your hand, so you can always keep one of your thumbs on either left or right stick while casting. With some practice and finger dexterity you can even swipe with your other fingers, while keeping both thumbs on the sticks.

For D-pad ability casting, I think it's the most responsive and versatile option actually (although personally I don't use it). You can still use hold abilities just fine with it. You keep your thumb on the right stick so it's easier to aim with your abilities, and you can also use your index finger to keep both thumbs as well again with enough practice and finger dexterity. The downside of this mapping is that you use all your D-pad buttons for this, and you'll have to assign all the extra actions on the swipes, and some of the actions can't be assigned to swipes for whatever reason. But you'll be able to free up R1 for something other than ability button.

The R1+face buttons is pretty straightforward. Personally I don't like it because you have to press 2 buttons for it, and I prefer to have my R1 for melee. Also it's much harder to keep your thumb fingers on the stick like with other methods. It's good for freeing lots of buttons on your controller for extra stuff though, since then you can assign all the d-pad AND touchpad swipes for whatever you want.

I suggest that you figure out what works best for you. You can even go with some extra custom assignments. For example I use swipes, but I also use R3 for the first ability, because I find it usually the one that's good to have always under your finger on most frames. So play around with your controls and find what's the most comfortable for you.