Which Gamepad is best for Helldivers?

[Agent Graves]

My question goes out to all fellow Helldivers who play this game with a gamepad only, as I absolutely do not care for the KBM controls.


So, I'm using a wireless XBOX360 controller for PC and I'm getting pretty frustrated with this gamepad. I mean, I'm pretty used to the layout, design and feel of the controller, however, the sticks always wear out pretty fast for me (maybe you know how anoying it is in games when character or camera movement takes on a life of their own and you constantly have to readjust), but now with Helldivers I really, really, REALLY get annoyed with the D-Pad, too.

Of course, I've always known how bad the D-Pad on the 360 controller is (I mean, just look at it!), but never before did I play a game that required me to use the D-Pad with speed and precision, and with the amount of times I've messed up Stratagem codes recently I now finally feel compelled to give a sh*t about the D-Pad and decided that I will not replace my current XBOX360 gamepad with another one.

So, I'd like to know what everyone else is using for this game (on PC) and if anyone can recommend me a solid, quality gamepad that is wireless AND has proper good D-Pad (you know, with actual individual buttons).

I've used the PS4 gamepad before and I quite like that one, but as far as I know there is no wireless for PC option with that (at least, not officially??? But idk).

Any recommendations from personal experience are highly welcome and appreciated.

Thank you for your time.

[BlackjackGT]

Have you tried remapping the controller so the left D-pad is used for movement, and the left thumbstick for stratagem activation? I think -- someone will correct me if I'm wrong -- you can do that via a menu in options. I'm not positive it would help, just a thought.

I'm strictly a KB/M guy and have put in 160+ mission hours using only that and had a wonderful time. Lots of my Steam pals use gamepads though -- I've tried using my XBox360 wireless for Windows but it just never has felt good to me aiming-wise, just slightly more precise in movement. While I don't have any consoles, I've generally preferred the XBox360 gamepad over the PS shapes over the years, and I do use it with quite a few games here on Steam.

I did play Helldivers for some months in 2015 on Vita before the PC version. Loved it but the smaller screen, lesser graphics, connection unreliability, and tiny thumbsticks not giving great precision all made it a challenge for me to enjoy at times. Always grateful it made it to PC, as I never expected it to. :)

[Agent Graves]

Diposting pertama kali oleh BlackjackGT:

Have you tried remapping the controller so the left D-pad is used for movement, and the left thumbstick for stratagem activation? I think -- someone will correct me if I'm wrong -- you can do that via a menu in options. I'm not positive it would help, just a thought.

You know, I've not tried that out. And I'm hesitant, because it sounds like it would make everything a lot worse!

I'm strictly a KB/M guy and have put in 160+ mission hours using only that and had a wonderful time. Lots of my Steam pals use gamepads though -- I've tried using my XBox360 wireless for Windows but it just never has felt good to me aiming-wise, just slightly more precise in movement. While I don't have any consoles, I've generally preferred the XBox360 gamepad over the PS shapes over the years, and I do use it with quite a few games here on Steam.

I actually played around with the KBM controls for a bit, and although I found them really clunky at first I got used to them somewhat. However, the thing that turned me off in the end was that I didn't find a convenient way to execute the infinite melee-sprint.
I suppose I could switch up controls for RS or Enemy Master missions, but then again I'm the kinda guy who wants to sit back in chair with a controller in my lap.

I did play Helldivers for some months in 2015 on Vita before the PC version. Loved it but the smaller screen, lesser graphics, connection unreliability, and tiny thumbsticks not giving great precision all made it a challenge for me to enjoy at times. Always grateful it made it to PC, as I never expected it to. :)

I tried watching a YT video of Helldivers on my phone recently. I know the Vita screen is significantly larger than a phone screen, but man, I don't think I could stand playing this game on a small screen.

[Clone303]

Keybord and Mouse :P

[BlackjackGT]

It was a blast on Vita, don't get me wrong. Just my connections seemed very unreliable. Also, there didn't seem any easy way to invite a PSN friend into a game, and so while I made quite a few friends there on PSN for a while in spring 2015, we just never really figured out an easy way to play together.

[Gallonigher]

I own a xbox 360 controller for windows but kb/m is much more accurate for this game, imo (level 30 Helldiver)

[James]

i have 2 xbox360 controlers for local co-op , they work great

[Cockpuncher]

Despite I prefer keyboard+mouse over controller in any game, Helldivers is an exception. So I play on controller only.

I've tried several gamepads for Helldivers and answer is simple - XBox One controller seems the best option. Great ergonomics, no issues and perfect D-pad.

DS4 - had software problems while connecting it, then had hardware problems after connecting (lags several times per minute, which makes it useless). Maybe the gamepad I've borrowed for testing was damaged. On the other hand ergonomics are poor. Controller seems too small with two analogs to close - I don't have the bigest hands (rather medium-sized) but my thumbs could collide on DS4, which is impossible on Xbox.

XBox360 - overall good, but D-pad is totally incompatibile with Helldivers. D-pad often registers diagonals and screws entire stratagem calling procedure, especially while pressing D-pad under pressure. Requires special way of pressing buttons and even with this trick it doesn't guarantee success. Use it if you have one, but it's much better to buy Xbox One controller instead. At least for this game, it's worth new equipment ;).

[BlackjackGT]

As far as "infinite melee sprint" on KB/mouse, while I've really found no benefit in doing that -- and don't really want to listen to fellow players "melee grunting" across the screen -- I use my mouse wheel-button for melee and it's easy enough to mash that over and over if I want to "infinite melee grunt sprint" across the screen.

I still have nightmares about Vita's controls for Helldivers. The main issue was having to assign a couple things to "back touchpad swipes," like grenades, and I simply could never use that consistently.

Interesting about the XBox One controller D-Pad working better. I'll keep that in mind if I ever get one, though if I ever re-engaged the console wars I'm thinking PS4 would be a better fit for me in terms of games, including Helldivers -- technically I "owned" that version once I purchased the Vita version; and stuff like Housemarque's Alienation.

And heck maybe Arrowhead's not-yet-announced secret game which I suspect will be on PS4 before (much less if) we'd see it on Steam.

[Agent Graves]

Diposting pertama kali oleh BlackjackGT:

As far as "infinite melee sprint" on KB/mouse, while I've really found no benefit in doing that -- and don't really want to listen to fellow players "melee grunting" across the screen -- I use my mouse wheel-button for melee and it's easy enough to mash that over and over if I want to "infinite melee grunt sprint" across the screen.

I still have nightmares about Vita's controls for Helldivers. The main issue was having to assign a couple things to "back touchpad swipes," like grenades, and I simply could never use that consistently.

Interesting about the XBox One controller D-Pad working better. I'll keep that in mind if I ever get one, though if I ever re-engaged the console wars I'm thinking PS4 would be a better fit for me in terms of games, including Helldivers -- technically I "owned" that version once I purchased the Vita version; and stuff like Housemarque's Alienation.

And heck maybe Arrowhead's not-yet-announced secret game which I suspect will be on PS4 before (much less if) we'd see it on Steam.

I've since come to understand that this infinite sprint exploit is frowned upon by some players, and I guess that's fine; I think I do understand why some people don't like it.

As for benefits, well, I haven't really used Cardio Accelerator ever since I learned of this trick / exploit. And even if I do, I often can't stop myself from punch-grunt-sprinting (is there a grunt, though? Maybe I just don't hear it anymore :-P).

Diposting pertama kali oleh Cockpuncher:

Despite I prefer keyboard+mouse over controller in any game, Helldivers is an exception. So I play on controller only.

I've tried several gamepads for Helldivers and answer is simple - XBox One controller seems the best option. Great ergonomics, no issues and perfect D-pad.

DS4 - had software problems while connecting it, then had hardware problems after connecting (lags several times per minute, which makes it useless). Maybe the gamepad I've borrowed for testing was damaged. On the other hand ergonomics are poor. Controller seems too small with two analogs to close - I don't have the bigest hands (rather medium-sized) but my thumbs could collide on DS4, which is impossible on Xbox.

XBox360 - overall good, but D-pad is totally incompatibile with Helldivers. D-pad often registers diagonals and screws entire stratagem calling procedure, especially while pressing D-pad under pressure. Requires special way of pressing buttons and even with this trick it doesn't guarantee success. Use it if you have one, but it's much better to buy Xbox One controller instead. At least for this game, it's worth new equipment ;).

Thanks for your helpful feedback. I'm currently looking at buying an XBox One controller, although I'm still kinda' put off by the price and the fact that all XBox360 controllers that I ever owned were cheap pieces of junk.

I'm actually curious if there are some third-party gamepads that people would recommend.

Or does anyone else have experience with Dual Shock 4 controllers on the PC?
Wireless PS4 controllers for PC? Is that a thing?

[Cockpuncher]

Diposting pertama kali oleh Krônkk:

Thanks for your helpful feedback. I'm currently looking at buying an XBox One controller, although I'm still kinda' put off by the price and the fact that all XBox360 controllers that I ever owned were cheap pieces of junk.

I'm actually curious if there are some third-party gamepads that people would recommend.

Or does anyone else have experience with Dual Shock 4 controllers on the PC?
Wireless PS4 controllers for PC? Is that a thing?

I have similar feelings about Xbox gamepads - they are issue-free, have great ergonomics (at least for me, compared to DS4), but they seems fragile. I own both Xbox360 and Xbox One gamepads and after ~6 month both started to show some minor glitches (like rare breaking of continous fire). To be clear - I don't use them too much, don't throw them, don't sit on them, my dog has other toys and I don't press buttons with maximum force. They seems to be fragile, but at least Xbox One gamepad is perfect for Helldivers with it's D-pad.

I have not too good experience with DS4, but probably the gamepad I've borrowed for testing was damaged. Also software is unofficial and despite using a tutorial I've run through >10 attempts to make it finally work (still don't know how, previous attempts were nearly identical).

Also I prefer analogs placement of Xbox better than Sony analogs close together. But that's just personal preference.

If you want to experiment with third party hardware, you can test Logitech clone of Sony Gamepad - Logitech F710 Gamepad. But it's D-pad seems to be similar to Xbox360 D-pad, which is bad idea for Helldivers.

[Cockpuncher]

Diposting pertama kali oleh BlackjackGT:

Interesting about the XBox One controller D-Pad working better.

This is quite simple consequence of rounded vs cross D-pad.

Rounded D-pad often registers diagonals. In Helldivers this means repeating of stratagem calling procedure. You can even press this D-pad the special way to avoid diagonals, but it's slower and not 100% efficient.

On the other hand simple, cross D-pad just don't have that issue.

One of my coop buddies uses Xbox360 but he is the last to run all-red stratagem config, last on minefield and sometimes he has to repeat reinforcments and supply calls thanks to this design flaw.

Basically - with Xbox One pad if you fail calling stratagem it's your fault, with Xbox360 in 95% situations it's gamepad fault. Yes, that means ~20 more fails with stratagems on Xbox360 than Xbox One.

So after using Xbox360 controller for a month I've bought Xbox One and it was very good decision, despite I don't play much games that require gamepad (Helldivers, previously Witcher 3).

[Agent Graves]

Diposting pertama kali oleh Cockpuncher:

I have similar feelings about Xbox gamepads - they are issue-free, have great ergonomics (at least for me, compared to DS4), but they seems fragile. I own both Xbox360 and Xbox One gamepads and after ~6 month both started to show some minor glitches (like rare breaking of continous fire). To be clear - I don't use them too much, don't throw them, don't sit on them, my dog has other toys and I don't press buttons with maximum force. They seems to be fragile, but at least Xbox One gamepad is perfect for Helldivers with it's D-pad.

I have not too good experience with DS4, but probably the gamepad I've borrowed for testing was damaged. Also software is unofficial and despite using a tutorial I've run through >10 attempts to make it finally work (still don't know how, previous attempts were nearly identical).

Also I prefer analogs placement of Xbox better than Sony analogs close together. But that's just personal preference.

If you want to experiment with third party hardware, you can test Logitech clone of Sony Gamepad - Logitech F710 Gamepad. But it's D-pad seems to be similar to Xbox360 D-pad, which is bad idea for Helldivers.

Have you tried using both XBox360 and XBox One controllers at the same time? I assume that the wireless receiver for the XBox One pad is not backwards compatible with the 360 pads, but do the different receivers conflict with each other (my setup would be 1x XB1 pad and 3x XB360 pads)?

I ask because I'd like to be able to use all my controllers for whenever friends come over to play couch co-op games and I'm not keen on buying more than 1 XB1 pad at this time.

[Cockpuncher]

Diposting pertama kali oleh Citizen Graves:

Have you tried using both XBox360 and XBox One controllers at the same time? I assume that the wireless receiver for the XBox One pad is not backwards compatible with the 360 pads, but do the different receivers conflict with each other (my setup would be 1x XB1 pad and 3x XB360 pads)?

I ask because I'd like to be able to use all my controllers for whenever friends come over to play couch co-op games and I'm not keen on buying more than 1 XB1 pad at this time.

I've used both at the same time in different configs:
- 1 xbox one + 1 xbox360,
- 1 xbox one + 2 xbox360,
- 2 xbox one + 1 xbox360,
- 1 xbox one + 3 xbox360,
- 1 xbox one + xbox360 + ds4 (just for testing).

The receivers are not compatibile (probably both ways), but if you have Xbox One gamepad then you can buy Xbox One gamepad receiver separately.

Both receivers can be connected at the same time without conflicts on Windows 7 and Windows 10, not sure for Windows 8. They also don't conflict with multiple mouse/keyboard/bluetooth receivers at the same time (had connected 6 different receivers without any problems).

[Agent Graves]

Diposting pertama kali oleh Cockpuncher:

I've used both at the same time in different configs:
- 1 xbox one + 1 xbox360,
- 1 xbox one + 2 xbox360,
- 2 xbox one + 1 xbox360,
- 1 xbox one + 3 xbox360,
- 1 xbox one + xbox360 + ds4 (just for testing).

The receivers are not compatibile (probably both ways), but if you have Xbox One gamepad then you can buy Xbox One gamepad receiver separately.

Both receivers can be connected at the same time without conflicts on Windows 7 and Windows 10, not sure for Windows 8. They also don't conflict with multiple mouse/keyboard/bluetooth receivers at the same time (had connected 6 different receivers without any problems).

Nice! This is the info I was looking for. I'm on Windows 10. So I guess I'm gonna' get me that gamepad with the next cashflow in a few weeks.

Thanks again.

[Tiramisu]

Diposting pertama kali oleh Citizen Graves:

I guess I'm gonna' get me that gamepad with the next cashflow in a few weeks.

Lazy reply here. To add to that, I have since used an XB1 controller, works very well indeed.

Diposting pertama kali oleh Citizen Graves:

all XBox360 controllers that I ever owned were cheap pieces of junk.

o.0 Really? I still use the same controllers I got back at the 360 console launch, they all still work great! In fact the only sign of wear is the thumbsticks have since balded/lost the grippy stubble, but after so many hours of use over the last decade+, I dont hold that against them.