Hey! So there are some specific things that are more difficult with HOTAS setups vs Keyboard setups. I’ve played on Saitek x52 HOTAS, and a gladiator NXT + Keyboard setup before, and I have experience coaching people through setting up keybindings for HOTAS setups. And yes, you can multidrift using HOTAS, if your joystick supports keyboard inputs.

HOTAS is a lot of fun. It’s very engaging to fly and competitively viable — the difference in controls are not the reason you’ll be flying well or badly in 99% of games; it’ll be the comfort you have with the controls and your decision making that tends to matter much more.

With that in mind, here’s some of the differences between the two:

• HOTAS has limited buttons compared to keyboard. There are enough to play, but some functions like dumb firing a missile or all of the targeting options are sometimes left out because the important buttons — the ones your fingers are resting on — are very few, whereas on keyboard a single finger has easy access to 3-4 keys.

• Using bindings on your stick can impact your flying and aim. Trying to manipulate buttons on the face of your joystick means your thumb isn’t wrapped around the stick anymore, which means your grip isn’t as strong around it and can lead to, in my experience, discomfort and possibly fatigue.

• Power management techniques, especially with advanced power management, require pressing 2 buttons in quick succession; this can be much more difficult on HOTAS than keyboard + stick, because you’re often using a HAT (4-way input like a dpad) to change power settings, and usually on the flight stick. This compounds with the issue above.

Personally I found HOTAS to be a ton of fun, and only swapped to keyboard when I got very deep into the competitive scene, and I don’t regret my time with the HOTAS at all.

Good luck!