The Surge 2 Controls Guide: Keyboard and Controller

Learning the fairly complicated controls to The Surge 2 is absolutely critical if you want to live more than a few minutes in Jericho City. From figuring out how to parry to learning the hidden jump and duck mechanics, there’s more than initially meets the eye in this game’s combat system.

Having trouble with the game’s control scheme? Below we list out the specifics for PC / keyboard and mouse, followed by the console controls, and finally explain exactly how the directional blocking, jumping, and ducking actually work.

The Surge 2 KBM Controls

Note that this is the default PC keyboard control scheme, but it can be changed through the main menu.

I strongly recommend swapping dodge to Shift and sprint to Left-Ctrl, as it is far easier to dodge with your pinky by moving to Shift than Left-Ctrl during a tense fight. 

• Move: W, A, D, S
• Block: Left CTRL (for Directional Block, flick mouse in appropriate direction while Block is enabled)
• Vertical Attack: Right Mouse Button
• Horizontal Attack: Left Mouse Button
• Sprint: Hold Left Shift
• Walk / Sneak: Hold Q while moving
• Evade / Jump: Space Bar (press directional key to evade, or hold while moving to jump)
• Interact: Hold E
• Launch Drone Hotbar 1: 3 (press 3 again to fire / use drone’s ability)
• Launch Drone Hotbar 2: 4 (press 4 again to fire / use drone’s ability)
• Launch Drone Hotbar 3: 7 (press 7 again to fire / use drone’s ability)
• Launch Drone Hotbar 4: 8 (press 8 again to fire / use drone’s ability)
• Injectable Hotbar 1: 1 (injections require charging first unless you are using the Automatic-Inject Charger implant)
• Injectable Hotbar 2: 2  (injections require charging first unless you are using the Automatic-Inject Charger implant)
• Injectable Hotbar 3: 5  (injections require charging first unless you are using the Automatic-Inject Charger implant)
• Injectable Hotbar 4: 6 (injections require charging first unless you are using the Automatic-Inject Charger implant)
• Lock Target: Tap mouse wheel
• Cycle Targets: Tab while locked on
• Cycle Body Part Counterclockwise: Mouse Wheel Up while locked on
• Cycle Body Part Clockwise: Mouse Wheel Down while locked on
• Cycle Favorite Weapon: G
• Inventory: I

The Surge 2 Xbox One Controls

The Surge 2 PS4 Controls

How To Directional Block In The Surge 2

When first learning the ropes of directional blocking, make sure you have the Directional Block Analyzer implant equipped. It consumes 5 core power and uses up an implant slot, but its well worth the drawbacks in the early portions of the game.

With this implant equipped, a white marker appears on the screen letting you know the direction of an incoming attack so you don’t mess up your direction block.

To use a directional block, hold the block button, then flick the mouse in the direction of the attack.

Note that keeping your mouse flicked in the appropriate direction does nothing (other than instantly draining your stamina) as you have to flick your mouse or the control stick as the attack is about to hit.

How closely you move your mouse or control stick to the attack’s execution will change the color of the white marker on the screen:

• Green: Successful directional block, can parry
• Yellow: Blocked attack normally but no parry
• Red: Failed entirely and took normal damage

This takes some practice to master, so spend some time trying out directional blocks on the first android enemy just outside the Jericho PD after you go down the gravity lift. If you die, you’ll immediately respawn at the health station just a few feet before the android to try again.

How To Jump / Duck In The Surge 2

          Jumping over an attack

While either blocking an attack with Left-CTRL or evading out of the way with Space bar while tapping a directional key are the primary ways to avoid damage, The Surge 2 does still feature the jumping and ducking mechanics from the first game — they just aren’t explained with in-game text.

Unlike directional blocking, there’s no indicator for properly timing and lining up your jumps or blocks, so this takes more trial and error. When locked onto an enemy, wait to see if their attack will come in high towards your head or low towards your feet.

If the attack is coming in low, tap the Space bar without pressing any directional buttons to jump up and avoid the attack.

If the attack is coming in high, tap the Shift key without pressing any directional buttons to duck down low and avoid the attack.

Like with a directional block, if you time these perfectly you leave the enemy open to a devastating counter attack.

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Still need more help defeating specific bosses or finding hidden locations in Jericho City? Be sure to bookmark our guides page for The Surge 2.