Valor Mortis Controls: All Keybinds & Controller Schemes

Valor Mortis controls at a glance

Valor Mortis is a first-person soulslike, so a handful of inputs — dodge, block, parry, heal — carry almost the entire game. The default PC layout follows the genre standard (WASD, Shift sprint, left-click attack), but two defaults in particular catch new players off guard: blocking sits on Ctrl and dodging on Alt, which is an awkward stretch when a boss is punishing your reaction time.

The good news: everything on keyboard and mouse is rebindable, and controller players get five preset schemes to choose from. This Valor Mortis controls guide covers the full default keybind list, exactly how to rebind keys, what the controller presets change, and the workarounds for the most common control complaints.

If you are still tuning your setup, our Valor Mortis best PC settings guide pairs well with this one — stable frame pacing is half of what makes controls feel responsive.

Default PC keyboard and mouse controls

The three keys worth burning into muscle memory first are dodge (Alt), block (Ctrl), and heal (F). If those defaults feel unnatural, rebind them before the first boss rather than after — mid-fight remapping mistakes are how soulslike runs end early. Our parry guide explains the timing window once your inputs are settled.

How to rebind keys in Valor Mortis

PC players can assign any keyboard key or mouse button to any action from the Mouse & Keyboard tab. The process takes under a minute:

1. Open Options and select the Mouse & Keyboard tab.
2. Scroll down to the Key Bindings section.
3. Click the primary or secondary slot next to the action you want to change.
4. Press the new key or mouse button when prompted (Esc cancels).
5. Resolve conflicts if the key is already in use — confirm to transfer it, or cancel to keep the original.
6. Press F to apply your changes or R to discard. Each edited row has an undo arrow, and a restore-defaults option appears when nothing is pending.

A few practical notes from launch-week players:

• The game supports primary and secondary bindings per action, so you can keep a default as backup while testing a new layout.
• There is no sprint toggle in the launch version — sprint is hold-only on Shift (or left stick click on controller). Players who prefer toggle movement will need a controller with remapping software or patience for a future patch.
• The shared crouch-and-traversal input on controller is a known annoyance; keyboard players can simply rebind crouch (C) away from their traversal keys to avoid accidental crouches mid-jump.

Controller settings and the five schemes

Controller support works differently from keyboard: instead of per-button remapping, Valor Mortis offers five preset layouts in the Controller tab. You pick a scheme, and the game shows a button diagram for it.

Shared across all schemes: left stick moves and sprints on click, right stick controls the camera and target lock on click, View opens inventory, Menu pauses. The default combat layout is Aim/Cast on LT, Attack on RT, Parry/Block on LB, Dodge on RB, Jump on A, Interaction/Crouch on B, Heal on D-pad, Reload on X, and Weapon Wheel on Y.

Sensitivity and deadzone settings worth touching

The Controller tab also exposes the options that actually change how the game feels:

• Controller Sensitivity (default 1.00) — camera turn speed.
• Controller Aiming Sensitivity (default 0.30) — how much the camera slows while aiming; set it to 1.00 to remove the slowdown entirely.
• Left stick deadzone (default 20%) and right stick deadzone (default 30%) — raise gradually if your character drifts or the camera moves on its own.
• Controller Platform — switches prompts between Xbox and PlayStation icons.
• Vibration and axis inversion toggles.

Can you fully rebind the gamepad?

Not per-button — this is the most common controller complaint about Valor Mortis. The launch version only offers the five schemes above, with no custom button assignment. If none of the presets suits you, there are two practical workarounds:

1. Steam Input remapping (Steam version): add a Steam Input layer over Xbox or PlayStation controllers and remap at the Steam level. Disable it again when testing in-game feedback, because double remapping creates ghost inputs.
2. Back-button attachments on standard controllers, which absorb the D-pad Heal placement problem without touching the game's presets.

The launch keyboard defaults also drew criticism (Ctrl for block, Alt for dodge, and a shared crouch/traversal input), but keyboard remapping fully solves those, and the accessibility suite is otherwise strong: adjustable FOV, camera shake toggle, auto target lock, separate audio sliders, and subtitle options. One More Level shipped a day-one patch and has been updating the game since, so a custom controller layout is a reasonable ask for a future update — the studio has already confirmed ongoing free updates and a New Game+ mode within the year.

Controls FAQ

What are the default Valor Mortis PC controls?

WASD to move, left-click to attack, right-click to aim or cast, Ctrl to block, Alt or a mouse button to dodge, F to heal, R to reload, Q for the weapon wheel, and middle mouse to lock on. Everything is rebindable in the Mouse & Keyboard tab.

Can you rebind controller buttons in Valor Mortis?

No per-button gamepad remapping exists at launch — you choose from five preset schemes (Default, Classic, Dodge/Block Swap, Shoulder Jumper, Shoulder Jumper 2). Steam Input remapping is the main workaround on the Steam version.

Is there a sprint toggle in Valor Mortis?

No. Sprint is hold-only on both keyboard (Shift) and controller (left stick click) in the launch version.

Which bindings should I change first?

Most players move dodge off Alt and block off Ctrl onto mouse side buttons or easier keys, and rebind crouch away from shared traversal inputs. Change them before your first boss fight — see the tips and tricks guide for how parry and posture interact with those inputs.