Three things greatly improved my STAR WARS: Squadrons gameplay: learning how to drift, getting the Logitech Extreme 3D Pro controller, and heavily configuring the controls and settings. This guide recalls what I have learned and how I've optimized my game to fit the way I enjoy playing.

I've tried to customize everything wisely, factoring in which controls are and aren't important, attempting to eliminate double-tap inputs, and considering that the right-hand thumb has a lot to do and can sometimes get very busy. I've never used a flight stick before, so some of these are non-traditional: hopefully useful for beginners and veterans alike.

I should mention that I have bound some functions to the keyboard. The game already defaults this for a few just because the Extreme 3D Pro has limited buttons, most notably Loadout is Keyboard TAB. Fortunately the game is smart enough to not kill the stick if you use the keyboard for some functions. The keyboard controls are in a different tab if you try to modify your stick controls:

A few goals:

• Give important, time-sensitive functions their own convenient buttons
  
• As much as possible, remove double-tap and hold inputs EXCEPT for rarely used controls
  
• Make minimal use of the keyboard (mostly out-of-combat functions) and of buttons 11 and 12, which I have a hard time using while my thumb is on the throttle

I hope people find this helpful! Leave a comment if you adopted and liked any of these mappings. Also feel free to suggest improvements and say what your favorite mapping is. Most of this is largely shaped by personal preference, so think of these as ideas and take only the ones which appeal to you. Also, feel free to send a friend request, I'd love to add to my squad.

**P.S. I don't know if the B-Wing and TIE Defender will warrant any changes to this config; we'll see.**

Controls I have modified:
2: Target My Attacker
5: Target Ahead / Hold 5 for Targeting Wheel
7: Focus Shields (Balanced) / Convert Power (Engines)
8: Focus Shields (Front) / Convert Power (Weapons)
10: Focus Shields (Rear) / Convert Power (Balanced)
12: Cycle Target
Keyboard Arrow Keys: Quick Look
Keyboard Numpad 1: Ping Target
Keyboard Numpad 2: Acknowledge Ping
Keyboard Numpad 3: Comms Wheel

I leave the following controls mapped to their defaults:
1: Fire
3: Left Auxiliary
4: Right Auxiliary
6: Countermeasures
9: Boost/Drift
11: Pause
Throttle input: Throttle Control
POV Stick: Power Management
Keyboard TAB: Loadout
Keyboard L: Free Look

All of the default controls for this are bad. You can either use the disruptive on-screen Selector UI, or you can mash one button to do three different things. I opt to give all of these important functions their own button.



These bindings probably look really weird, but they are automatically intuitive because they correspond to the starfighters' layout and UI. Activate the Front Shields with the button that is farther toward the front of the controller, and the Rear Shields with the one that's farther back. The remaining button resets them. Similarly, Emergency Power Conversion is left for engines, right for weapons, and the third button for resetting.

I have no difficulty flipping between New Republic and Empire with this config because it is so intuitive. And once I changed this mapping, I got better with the TIEs in particular because I didn't keep messing up the double-tap for emergency lasers.

The default targeting controls are really weird. Why does the Targeting Wheel need its own button, especially one right next to boost? Why isn't Target Attacker its own button? I've become a targeting pro with the following orientation.

To me, the most important targeting function is Target Ahead (button 5). Using this along with Target Attacker (button 2) eliminates my need to use Cycle Targets in a combat situation. And I almost NEVER use the targeting wheel. So those are my priorities.



Target Ahead option needs to be fast. When I want to target someone in front of me, I can immediately tap button 5. I'm already firing, my Auxiliaries start locking, and I get my enemy's info ASAP. And I almost never use the Targeting Wheel, so I'm fine with that as a hold option on button 5. I also recommend two settings configurations related to button 5:

• Under CONTROLS Options, set the Targeting Wheel Input Mode to Toggle. Otherwise you'll need a second thumb.
  
• Under GAMEPLAY Options, set Auto-Target Next to Disabled and Set Auto-Target Attacked Hostiles to No Target Only. This gives you some assistance with auto-targeting, but mainly puts the full power of targeting under your control.

When I'm targeting my attacker with button 2, I'm usually targeting somebody behind me, so I have time to reach the slightly out-of-the-way button. It also feels good because in menus, button 2 is the "back button". So pressing button 2 to target a new attacker feels natural, like moving onto the next thing to do. Trust me on this and give it a try.

Finally, with good use of these two, you shouldn't have to use Cycle Targets much at all; if anything, it's when your enemies are out of weapons range and you have time to make your selection. So it's the undesirable button 12.

The Ping System and the Comms wheel are underrated and underutilized. I think this is mostly because they're all bound to one button and poorly explained.



So I use the keyboard. Usually I'm doing it out of combat, issuing a regroup request or replying to an ally's ping, so it's not a huge issue to reach over there. It's a little far when I'm in a tight chase and I want to ping for assistance, so I've considered putting this on button 12. Maybe I'll try that and update.

I really wish there was an option to bind specific options from the Comms Wheel to specific keyboard shortcuts. They do that with the targeting wheel, which I find much less necessary. But here we are.

Keyboard Arrows: Quick Look
Keyboard L: Free Look
I don't really use the look options, but in a few instances they've been useful useful. They needn't be on the stick. The arrow keys are nicely convenient and fast.

11: Pause
Left as default, as unfortunately you cannot completely remove the pause binding from the flight stick. I'd prefer to just bind it to Keyboard ESC, but I can understand issues might arise without a stick pause.

If the game won't recognize the controller, try this:

• Make sure you've downloaded the newest controller update, you can look up your device on the logitech site.
  
• In your steam library, right click on Star Wars Squadrons, open the properties, and make sure "Steam input per game" and "use BPM overlay" are set to FORCED OFF.
  
• Restart your PC.

This worked for me with day 1 issues. I know others have had some horror stories trying to connect. If others have suggestions I'd love to update.