new to fighting games, dpad vs stick

[Scaryowl]

i started with stick and swapped to dpad when a friend told me it helped with not jumping tons at maybe 8 hours and just tried stick again and my inputs are way cleaner, is it mostly a preference thing or is there an actual tangible benefit to either?

[0000]

Mostly preference, Punk play millia with pad and his millia is crazy good.

It just some character like goldlewis have some problem with hitbox or keyboard.

[AbuDhabi Man]

D-pad is rough after continuous usage but if you can dab some cooking oil on it, the input would be much cleaner but the controller would be greasy but make sure you have other spare of controller for other games.

[Kilabee]

Originally posted by Petrolman:

D-pad is rough after continuous usage but if you can dab some cooking oil on it, the input would be much cleaner but the controller would be greasy but make sure you have other spare of controller for other games.

why cooking oil just wrap your thumb with your shirt.

[Scaryowl]

Originally posted by Petrolman:

D-pad is rough after continuous usage but if you can dab some cooking oil on it, the input would be much cleaner but the controller would be greasy but make sure you have other spare of controller for other games.

definitely noticing this after a 2 hour session with friends earlier, its why i tried stick again lol

[King Kels]

i use the analog on the xbox controller, i know many people opt for the d pad but trust me you can make the analog work.

[Vassago Rain]

D-pad quality is only a factor if you're looking at xbox360 clones and other old stuff. Even the basic xbone controller has a functional d-pad, but it's kinda stiff, and no matter how good the d-pad, it will eventually bruise your thumb.
Sticks let you churn and put almost no strain on your hands or arms, but it takes a lot of adjustment to switch over.
Keyboard/hitbox, like a real keyboard, will kill your wrists and hands, but the precision can't be beaten, and everybody has a keyboard, so it's free.

[Shizuma]

Doesn't matter if its a d-pad, an arcade stick or some hitbox/mixbox variation. What's important is using a good quality peripheral.

[Kuro]

Use what you feel is more comfortable. I play using the analog of my Xbox360 controller and I seldom drop inputs (happens to everyone).

The only exception is Tekken where I play using the keyboard since the movement is really important, and keyboard helps me with that.

[Emerald Lance]

There is no "better" input method if you're comfortable and confident with what you're using. Dpad is technically cleaner because it's binary, but I had plenty of success on analog and rarely ever even touch pad.

It's all preference. Whatever's most comfortable.

[Troispoint]

Originally posted by Petrolman:

D-pad is rough after continuous usage but if you can dab some cooking oil on it, the input would be much cleaner but the controller would be greasy but make sure you have other spare of controller for other games.

Man deadass said add olive oil to your controller.

[DEI-Enforcer]

just use whatever u like more

[Emerald Lance]

Originally posted by Troispoint:

Originally posted by Petrolman:

D-pad is rough after continuous usage but if you can dab some cooking oil on it, the input would be much cleaner but the controller would be greasy but make sure you have other spare of controller for other games.

Man deadass said add olive oil to your controller.

https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/139/998/1308977754001.jpg

[DontEatSmurfs]

look, there are pros that still use dpad, i use stick since SF4 on PS3, my argument to change it was that controllers tend to break easily and they are not cheap, there was a point where i was having to buy a new controller every couple of months because something went off, lets say your controller starts to have that issue where it will always move to one side, this happens all the time, sticks tend to be time proof because you can mod it at will, something broke ? you can change it and usually it will be cheap to do so, the issue with stick controllers or arcade controllers is that you have YEARS on your console controller, it will take some time or years for you to get used to it

[Valentine (Lunaticus)]

It sounds like you could go either way, this could even be character specific, some stuff can be easier to do with the other.

It's all up to you. If you want the superior control method then you should go for hitbox/keyboard, but if those 2 are what you're deciding between, then it's all up to your preference. We could tell you all kinds of stuff, but in the end the answer is what feels the best to you.

[Ignus]

Originally posted by Vassago Rain:

Keyboard/hitbox, like a real keyboard, will kill your wrists and hands,

I noticed how the layout of an actual HitBox brand was arranged in the shape of a rectangle. I reproduced that layout in a test controller and noticed the wrist strain immediately.
Instead of buying a HitBox, I made my own controller, with a similar layout. The buttons are closer, using sanwa buttons. And the rows of the normals and direction buttons are angled toward me. Like an ergonomic keyboard from the 90s.

This controller feels a lot better. I can use it for hours without feeling stain or pain. My hours in SFV survival mode are witness of this.
I've also been using this control for 8 years and I see no reason to replace it.