which fight stick to buy

[Dr.STRo]

so i have a little problem right now. i want to get into fighting games and cant wait for dragon ball fighter z, now i think i should buy myself a proper fighting stick so i can accostum to the control scheme and everything...
but i have no idea what stick i should buy, what is worth the money.
i already figured that it should have sanwa parts but till now i only found 2, the razer atrox and the quanba q4 which i could get without buying overseas(i am from austria),
i cant find a good shop for fight sticks for my region and those 2 are the only interesting ones that amazon has to offer. i thought about searching for a mad catz te s+ stick but didnt find one till now.

any suggestions and/or tips?

[KHAN]

i have the hori rap 4 and its great. but ive heard good things about sticks from etokki and the qanba ones

[Vassago Rain]

Anything in the 90 dollars or above category is good. Hori and other pro mega brand stuff can go for way more, but you have as much reason to go for a fullsize 280 dollar hori or quanba over a 90 dollar madcatz as you do, say, picking between a 200+ dollar hitbox or a 30 dollar mechanical keyboard when you're just starting out.

There's no 'good shop' for this stuff. You special order it from some stick factory/maker, usually in europe or NA, use ebay/amazon, or you ask around your local scene and see if there's any stick maker there who can craft you something if you buy him the parts and pay him for his time, and/or simply convert a junked old stick into something new and useful.

My general recommendation is to go with hori or qanba if you're in doubt and just want something solid. Hori also makes extremely good fightpads, like the fighting commander, which is essentially a SEGA saturn clone controller with neo geo tier buttons.

The first rule of hardware is that you get what you pay for.

[stronzolo]

You should ask yourself if you really want and need a fightstick/hitbox in the first place, fighting games are 100% playable on pad or keyboard with several pro players (such as the evo winner Luffy) using a pad. If you have the opportunity to try a stick before purchasing it you should do it, not everyone is comortable with a stick and some inputs are harder on it such as istant air dashes while they're easier on a keyboard.

[Dr.STRo]

never played on keyboard, i will try it out before i buy one but i played on pads till now and i have my problems with them. bc of the analog stick its sometimes rly easy to miss the right input and thats not good for fighting games. if i dont have nearly complete control over my character, the enjoyment falls flat.. +i have no ps pads only xbox and the d-pad on this things are not that good either.

my local scene is rather hard to find. bc i live in a more rural "federal state", even our main town has nothing to offer for gamers where a community could take place. i would need to go to vienna just for that and i dont think thats a good option.
i probably could build one myself but i just dont want the hassle, i want to buy one and be ready to go.

i am leaning toward the q4(170€) but also found a te s+ for 50€(approx. 55-60$) more, so after testing out the keyboad controls and giving my xbox one elite dpad another go. i will decide between the 2, if i still have the feeling i should get one. i mean i could get both and send the one i dont like as much back to amazon.
thx for the help

[ttv/AmaterrasVT]

If you're new to fighting games and are not thinking of playing hardcore and just casually, go get the Hori Mini 4.
Most local players recommended me that stick when I first got into fighting games because of how cheap and accessible it is. I've been using it for more than 2 years iirc, and fused it with a big case to increase its size to a "real" fight stick.

[Cha0zb0rn]

Another good fightstick for beginners is the Qanba Drone. lots of people in other fighting game boards recommended this. If you are already willing to pay 170 bucks you could as well go for the hori arcade pro 5. One of the most recommended sticks I guess.

I'd highly recommend to not get madcatz gear at this point in time. The company went bankrupt so the gear comes without warranty.

The best thing you could do would be to order multiple sticks and keep the one thats most comfortable for you.

[mjordan79]

Buy anything that use Sanwa parts. I won't even consider the Hori RAP 4.
If you have to buy a stick, buy it one with pro parts, otherwise stick to a pad. There is really no necessity to buy cheap hardware, stick with a pad instead. If you really want to get used to a stick, get used to the parts used in pro sticks: MadCatz TES, MadCatz TE2+, Razer Panthera, Qanba Obsidian. These are sticks.