I spent a bit of time trying to make the pad controls/bindings work better(*) last night. Found some tweaks which really helped :
In Settings -> Gamepad -> Controls -> Other, swap the inputs for “Change HUD” and “Game Menu.” So the new bindings are:
Game Menu: Start
Change HUD: RB + Start
This makes it so that your Start button opens the main menu for a variety of useful functions, but also very conveniently means the Start button will now close open windows/dialogues/etc. which is a big QoL upgrade. The Change HUD binding, which is for swapping between your regular skills, Trade Skills, and Stronghold Management UI, is a lot less necessary to have on one button (especially because interacting with, for example, a mining node will auto-switch you to Trade Skills).
This made a huge difference - just being able to close most windows with the Start button rather than having to fumble about with the mouse pointer is great.
In Settings -> Gamepad -> Controls -> Other, change the input for “Interact 1” to D-pad down.
Just means you are spamming d-pad down when picking up or handing in quests instead of L3, which I found a bit uncomfortable. I mapped character screen, inventory and mini-map onto the other d-pad directions as well since you need quick access to them.
Most of the combat skills by default are bound to L1/L2 + face button. I switched them all to R1/L1+R1 + face button. Just personal preference, I find R1/R2 much easier to press while moving the left stick.
It’s not perfect but it works a lot better than the default setup for me.
(* “better” == “more like FFXIV”)