Seeing as this has been necro'd, it should be mentioned that the VKB Gladiator NXT now has a line of sticks designed for space games that has:
4 hats (one is analogue and can be toggled to digital as well) per stick (3 if you buy the non-premium version but the price difference is so small I would just get it), all with a central button press switch, dual stage triggers (pull lightly, pull fully), three additional buttons on the stick itself, several others on the base, including a throttle, encoding switch and dial switch and it's priced at a very decent low end for premium sticks. It isn't fully metal but they support right to repair and so if anything does break then you can replace that specific part (and you get some spares to start with).
I bought two. The other is left-handed with an omni-throttle extension that switches the stick into a throttle but it still has all three axies (including twist). It has all the same hats (so I have 8 hats in total) and buttons/triggers. This gives me
every single axis of rotation and thrust on an analogue axis (something I wouldn't have had even if I bought those clunky looking throttles most stick vendors sell with these, as I don't think they offer more than X and Y on analogue, at least not on the main stick itself). Total cost was around 350-400 euros (maybe a bit more when you include UK import tax). The single stick would cost less than half of that (the omni-throttle version costs slightly more).
I've never used HOTAS. This is my first try and I've used mouse since the game came out and after just one afternoon/evening I'm already loving it. The reviews all praise the build quality and I have the sense of security that if a switch or spring breaks then I can order the replacement and fix it myself (lots of guides on how to do that on their YT channel). You do need some assembly when you get it but that's mainly useful as it gets you gently introduced into the working parts. I enjoyed it (and it was simple, all the parts you need provided and I just followed the YT video for it... I've had Ikea builds that were harder).
I never considered HOTAS until I saw the review for this stick. The whole "yeh mine broke and I had to buy a new one" stories always put me off and it seemed to me that the only way to get all the bells and whistles you'd need for Elite was to invest huge sums of cash. This is a decent price, extremely good value too. And it feels so premium, so smooth (without needing to really do any manual calibration at all, I just set up the keys I needed and got on with it).
I'll mention the software is very complicated (it's clearly designed by techies for techies) but one YT video was all it took for me to understand how to remap keys. I honestly doubt I'll use all of the advanced features anyway. But I do have the knowledge they're there if I do want to use them.
Anyway, my plug is done. If you want to see a decent review of it, I'd recommend watching BuurPit's excellent review:
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HunV0FRM0LI&ab_channel=TheBuurPit
That's why I found out about it and I used Buur's code to get 5% off my order, too.
Mine has lasted over four years now, but I had to 3D print a replacement part for the case when it cracked (admittedly I was being a little hard on it at the time). The replacement has turned out a lot stronger than the original.
