I might get a stick soon because the xbone pad always fucks me over when I'm trying to do a qc motion to the right and I hate having to use the analog stick
Thats good, it will take a while to get used to and you might find you like another stick over the other. Here are some pointers I can give you to help you avoid all the complications with sticks:
The TE2 comes with a Sanwa JLF and a square gate restrictor. This stick is very loose, the spring measures out to about 1lb. If you're used to american sticks with no gates and stiff springs its going to take a while to get used to. This stick is very precise though but it has alot of throw and a big deadzone. Meaning you need to move it more to activate the microswitches. This is actually not bad, it is basically error free in the neutral position and not very prone to errors due to the leeway the stick gives you. The only thing that might be a bit more difficult are jump cancels and such. And the square gate, that will take some time to get used to as well. QCF motions will take time to learn. I dont ride the gate so i'm ok with it. The upside is that blocking and playing charge characters is alot easier with square gates since you know when you are in the corners.
You can modify it if you dont like the stock stick though. Can add an octo or circular gate(these are good when playing chars like zangief etc) You can also add a stiffer spring, they have them up to 9lbs although I wouldn't recommend going over 3lbs, 4lb is the limit for me. You can also add a 1mm oversized actuator to reduce the time takes for the microswitched to activate. You can even put a bat top on it if you dont like the ball top. Basically the sanwa is very modifiable.
Myself, I just installed a seimitsu ls 56-01. Its stock and square gated. Has a much shorter throw and deadzone than the sanwa JLF, Has a stiffer spring its rated at 2lb, and it is very sensitive. You barely need to move it to hit the switches, hence why is it very popular for shoot em up arcade games. For fighting games if you plan on using a stick like this, you need to have very short and precise movements. I rarely use the gate other than for blocking and use short and precise motions so this is my favorite stick. I can play on any and even like the sanwa as well, but to me seimitsu is the best. All a matter of personal preference I guess.
