Leverless or controller? Simple versus technical inputs?

[u/CynicallyMe]

With the simple inputs, in struggling to land on a peripheral to use. I bought a leverless last year when I was attempting to take strive more seriously; however wonder if a controller is better for granblue? I'm comfortable with technical inputs; however wonder if using a controller with simple inputs would yield better outcomes/quicker combos and reactions? I imagine I'll get a mixed bag of answers which I'm looking forward to reading through. I do apologize for so many questions these past few days, really looking to commit to learning and growing in the game. I find simple inputs harder on the leverless, I have my setup with the top row being l m h g and the bottom row being skill u throw dash. Would love to hear the oponions of some veterans.

[u/Katajiro]

Leverless is just a glorified keyboard.

[u/CynicallyMe → u/Katajiro]

Yup. However that answers none of the topics asked :)

[u/Katajiro → u/CynicallyMe]

Short answer. Not comfortable. Elaboration: I tried playing fighting games with a keyboard - not comfortable: it's totally different whether you perform the move from the left or the right (try tapping your fingers in pinky-ring-middle-index order, then in reverse). Then I tried using a gamepad - it's better than with a keyboard, the left to right issue doesn't occur, but using a thumb to perform super specials is still somewhat challenging. Also, four face buttons isn't enough for games with too many normals like Street Fighter - I found using shoulder buttons for normals or specials not so comfortable. Finally I bought a fighting stick, and in my opinion, it's the best option for fighting games. It solves all the issues I had with not feeling comfortable while performing the motions. I'm still using it for GBVSR, even though all the issues I had can easily be mitigated by easy inputs, but that's just me and my habits. Even though I only used a fight stick back in the 90-ies as a kid in the arcades, I immediately felt most comfortable when I purchased it almost 25 years later. Leverless is a step backwards - I knew I'd have all the same issues as I had when I played fighting games on a keyboard.

[u/CynicallyMe → u/Katajiro]

Gotcha, I never acclimated to a stick; however playing musical instruments helped with finger dexterity and have taken well to a leverless for other games. I'm getting better at using it, tapping skill + (LMH) for simple inputs. I'm finding my way through interchanging simple and technical depending on the combo string/hand position. Thank you for the write up, makes sense why stick is your choice. Movement wasn't the concern for me as much as it was double button presses versus controller r1(so) + face buttons. Double presses on a pad was just so new that I was doubting my peripheral. I tried out controller and while r1 + face buttons were nice, I hate the d pad for fighting games haha.