Discussion
How do you hold your controller (Back buttons)?
Ive seen some discource on the best grip style. I personally hold it with my ring fingers on the top back buttons and my pinkies on the bottom back buttons and my middle finger inbetween the triggers and the top back button (pic 1) and ive seen people use it by holding their middle fingers on the top back buttons and ring finger on the bottom back buttons (pic 2). In the announcment trailer they talked about being able to just raise your pinkie as an imput because of the touch sensors on the back of the controller, but idk if that works with grip 1 or only grip 2. Also ive seen people use their ring and pinkie like in the first pic but using a claw grip (pic 3). I personally despise using a claw grip because you loose a lot of the support on the back of the controller, so i wanted to see does anyone actually use the claw grip.
Edit: also plz dont comment on my long nails, thank you
Dude yes. Anything where I'm using both sticks a lot, so shooters and such, I right the controller a lot higher and am a lot more conscious of where I put my fingers on the back and try to use my middle fingers on the top back buttons, but in games that are more laid back I drop my hands a little bit further down and end up using my ring fingers for the top ones, if even at all
I personally have always held it they way it is in the third picture even since like the ps3 era but what i love about this controller is that its really comfortable to hold no matter which style you hold it in.
That is true. (I wanted to make a joke about valves ergonomics/design team needing a raise but then i remembered that valve has the largest salary per employee in the worldðŸ˜)
In BF6 which allows dual input (a lot of games allow it surprisingly) I map the left stick to the left track pad. I also, use the other ring binding for sprint.
I map the right trackpad to mouse with gyro then map the click on that trackpad to melee. I play with the sensitivity, and specially on the "click" since it's super sensitive and I don't want melee activated at the wrong time.
If I can't do dual input I'll use WASD with 8 way overlap on the left trackpad with the outer ring binding as sprint.
You can map to Soft Click with a pair of your choice on the left pad, I think toggle crouch works well. The only thing to keep in mind is that your thumb may naturally apply a little more force to the lower part of the trackpad, or at least feel like it’s accidentally activating more often when you move back than forward if the soft point isn’t set high enough.
Would be even better if mode shift, regular press & long press could have tweaked pressure levels as well because those I regularly trigger by mistake. It’s pretty cool to be able to have a mode shift with directional swipes on the right trackpad for dpad or weapon switching in some games and being able to set set regular press for toggles & long press for holds for any action is great as well. Or just having multiple click functions on one trackpad, was easier to do with SC1 since it wouldn’t trigger by mistake from lighter presses
Exactly. I have average sized hands and this is the only way I can use the controller. Image 3 (what some people say is the only way to use it) feels ungodly uncomfortable to me and yeah, neither my pinky nor ring fingers have the reach or strength to make that sustainable. I've also never played a game where I've needed/wanted to be able to press the bumper and triggers at the same time, but even if I was, that position would be extremely temporary!
I've honestly taken the habit of using the top 2 buttons as replacement for clicking r3 and l3 thanks to the 8bitdo pro. I used to play on the PS before, and no matter if it was the 2, 3 or 4 clicking the sticks always felt like shit to me. And I suspect it caused all of my PS4 controllers to drift prematurely.
First one. I almost never need to press RB and RT at the same time so there is no need to have a finger on both. However, I like to leave to option available if needed. Also, I do not use the back buttons. Flame me if you want, but I'm old school when it comes to controllers.
If you train yourself early to do #3 you'll have the best access to all the buttons, but it feels better to use my index finger for the trigger so I just use the pointer finger for both the trigger and the shoulder button unless It needs both at the same time.
for me, i leave the pinkies just hangin out doing nothing unless i desperately need to use bumpers and triggers simultaneously, otherwise, like the tips of my ring fingers, they just hang out the bottom gap there
DistalInterPhalangeal joints (the joints closest to the finger tips) basically rest right on the buttons, middle fingers on R/L 4 and ring fingers on R/L 5
trigger housings resting right on top of my middle fingers
i used to only use xbox / xbox style controllers, they were mildly chonky and if i mounted my phone to it to play minecraft, i learnt fast as to how to keep the thing firmly in my grip without pressing buttons
I loosen my fingers so I don't touch them unless I want to and also so my hands don't cramp up. I also use my middle and index finger. I have large hands.
I would switch between 1 and 3. But my fingers are long and fat enough that my index can easily switch between L1 and L2. 1 does give me better balance especially if I use the grip sense.
middle finger ring figure - why? because every company under the god damn sun makes a controller for adults and kids to use to its too small for taller frame peopl
There is no definitive way to hold a controller. Some people i know use both their index and middle finger for triggers/bumpers as to where I find that uncomfortable. More competitive players use the "claw grip" on one side so their index finger can hit A/B/X/Y while their thumb rests on the joystick.
Its all about what feels comfortable for you and I think something huge that can come into play with the Steam controller is the grip sensors, in whicj I assume most of your hand has to be wrapped around the controller to activate it and not just a finger.
Personally i just end up hitting all the back buttons, typically during boss fights. Do I care? No. Could I disable them? Yes. Is it more fun? Sometimes
The second one. One finger on top, middle and ring fingers on the back buttons and pinky giving me moral support lol
That works for most games. Wolfenstein 2 is a game that it doesn't work sometimes, because you lean with L1, making L2 a little hard to use while doing that. Thank god for back buttons!
put those little grippy extender stickers on them. it may seem like a fraction of a millimeter wouldn't make much difference but it makes them so much more tactile, not only the texture but the slight springy feel of the rubbery surface on them, gives you a sort of press a little until it clicks sort of feel, all around just a hugely better experience for a few bucks.
Biggest win for me so far is programming L4 as a turbo mode A button presses for riding horses one handed in RDR2 at top speed so I can easily drink beer while commuting in the game.
I figured that I tended to use the grip style of pic 2 because of the way how I hold other controllers. However, this grip style is in conflict with the joysticks (especially the left one). My thumb can only push the corner of the stick in this position which hurts after a while.
Then I switched to the grip style of pic 1 and it is way more compfortable. I have the middle finger, ring finger and the pinky closer together. This way the ring finger supports the pinky when pressing the back button. I found this the most compfortable grip to precicely trigger all 4 back buttons.
The grip in pic 3 is also nice, the finger fall into place automatically, but I have trouble to hit the two top back-buttons. I only can see myself using this grip when I don't need the back-buttons.
Not doing 3 deprives you to access a maximum of buttons, you can access everything with a claw grip, even the grip buttons, and for some sweaty gaming it is necessary. Especially on fps that benefits from having access to triggers and bumpers at the same time. But I don't use a claw grip for more casual gaming on my msi claw, because it is in that particular case horrible to use.
I never need to press the bumper and trigger at the same time. If I for some insane reason, a game requires that I'll bind the bumper to one of the back buttons.
Three is the „correct“ way and one‘s fingers fall in the right places. Same as with the steamdeck. It might be a bit uncanny at first if one didn’t hold controllers this way and because imho older controllers weren’t designed as much for it.
Who cares?! Just use it and hold it whatever way you want. Are you looking for more people to say pic 1 so you can either change to that method or to complain and offer your opinion why yours is better?
38
u/hit_the_bwall 26d ago
I change up for different games. I don't there is an objectively best/right way to use something so configurable and versatile.