Tips for getting better at shooters?

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Hi All

Ive never been a big gamer, i played lan games of halflife back in the day, but never really got into online gaming. I have a reasonable pc, and some friends recently bought gaming laptops. Weve played some CS GO which is good, though i prefer deathmatch, because it takes me back to the halflife days. I never really know what im supposed to be doing in the other game types, i need to do some reading.

Weve also played COD Warzone, which is cool. I like the game, but there is so much waiting around... I was playing in a match with a mate last night, and we were both dead in 1 minute, 4 seconds. Then you have 10 minutes of messing about, gulag, which i'll lose, then back to the menu, then back in the plane etc before you get another go. Its going to take a long time to improve doing that.

What did you find the most helpful?

My hardware and conditions arent the best, but i don't think its holding me back. It must be technique and practice. All too often im standing the giving some guy several shots to the head with a sniper rifle, or blasting him with a machine gun of some sort, and he just looks at me, and kills me with a couple of shots with whatever. I must be wrong. I dont have a lot of time to play with two small kids, so i want to know how best to use that time. It does need to stay fun though.

Cheers

Andy
 
There's so many things...
  • Decent PC of course.
  • Having a good monitor with high refresh rate.
  • Getting your in-game settings right, to maximize your FPS... while also turning-off all the fancy stuff that looks nice but doesn't help you to be competitive.
  • Having a decent mouse and surface.
  • Getting your mouse settings right (DPI/EDPI)... plenty of good video guides on this.
  • Aim Trainers... if you can be bothered (Aim Lab for example is free on Steam).
  • For games like Warzone, knowing the best guns/loadouts from the endless videos on YouTube.
  • Having good team mates helps.
  • Practice.
... I have/do most of that and I'm still rubbish :D
 
Well avoid games that virtually demand you plough your entire existence into them I'd say. I've pretty much given up on things like Warzone and similar style Battle Royale fast paced stuff because they are all an absolute time sink.
I like you have one of those life / job things and so gaming for me is a couple of hours every other night and spending half of that sat in lobbies does not appeal at all, BR games by their very nature are not designed for short drop in / drop out gameplay.

Even then there is the mechanics of such games, I was playing Warzone last week and got killed 10-12 in a row by the same gun but from different people (DMR), turns out that it was some sort of over powered introduction with a patch and I hadn't even unlocked it, even then you need to spend another 'xx' hours unlocking attachments...the whole thing is an utter drag and designed to keep coming back and interacting with the game in the hope that you'll spend some cash in the shop.

If I do want some PvP generally these days I avoid the big popular shooters and play Insurgency: Sandstorm or Hell Let Loose, they are still very hard games but the design of them allows for a more forgiving style of play. Sandstorm has a superb Co-op mode called Checkpoint that is rock hard as well, needs good teamwork and a whole bag of fun.
 
I found the game I used to play (Counterstrike: Source) rewarded me much more for reaction timing rather than trying to be too exact - and therefore slower.

The main things that I found made the most difference to my play was: reaction timing, keep moving, shoot more (makes people think twice if they're under constant fire).

Whether this applies on the many other types of titles out there, I don't know.
 
That's reasonable advice for someone who can actually run and shoot at a target in game. I play BFV for about 1.5 hrs a night and I am having problems with latency, packet loss and ping so can't run most of the time so end up sniping. Still can't get above a 1/1 or 2/1 k/d ratio because of the lag which limits what I can achieve, on a good day it's a lot better but you still have to contend with hackers who run around the map like they're on speed.
 
CSGO (or any CS) is probably the hardest to play casually. If you haven't done already (at risk of stating the obvious), make sure you're using a low sensitivity. Most decent FPS players will be using a sensitivity that requires two full swipes of their mousepad (with their arm) to turn 180 degrees. This means you move with your arm/elbow, pre-aim the same, then have your wrist for the finer details. I'm probably stating the obvious for most on here, but it's very common for people to wonder why they can't aim on a high sensitivity.

I think with CS and COD specifically you're always going to struggle. Those are two games/franchises that you can only ever get ahead of the pack by playing a serious amount. Like minimum 2hrs a day. Mind you, that might be said for a lot of FPS games no?
 
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Having a good night sleep, shower and something to eat first.

But it's all mental really.

Practising will make you better but the difference between being good and really good is all mental.

You need to be 100% focused but also relaxed at the same time, any frustration or eagerness to win will come out in your play, you'll rush etc

Easier said then done I play PUBG some sessions I'll be playing great others not, and I know that's all due to my current mental state, and by that I don't mean I'm having like some rage and smashing the keyboard etc, but not being in a calm but focused state. I wish I was better and controlling it, but I'm not.

I don't do it anymore and haven't for many many years, but when I was a kid smoking the old magic tobacco made me play a lot better because it basically does that for you.
 
As high FPS as you can get. High Hz monitor. A mouse without acceleration on a big mouse mat.

Sens low enough that you can turn 180 degrees in a swipe. CS players go lower cause they don't have ADS for fine aiming nor should enemies be behind you and if they are you're dead anyway.

Also play games where you can respawn after death, CoD MP and BF are great cause you are always building muscle memory just looking around and frequent gunfights are always pushing abilities. BR games aren't good cause you might spend 10 minutes without a fight, only use your aim in a 3 second gunfight, die then spend 10 more minutes spectating.
 
personally A desk and position change made all the difference to me, I went from not being able to hit a target from about 30 feet to actually being able to enjoy the game. My keyboard and mouse are just above where my elbows fall to, they are a decent distance onto the desk and I try to keep my mouse hand with the wrist on the mouse pad, and the forearm just resting flat. That is on an XXL ocuk pad. Sensitivity is at 800 DPI, and usually right near the bottom of the slider in games so for me moving my mouse from touching the keyboard to the right side of the pad is 360 deg. I get away with this because when i'm playing I sort of angle my arm inwards a bit so i'm going nearly from corner to corner instead of side to side.
 
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because it takes me back to the halflife days. I never really know what im supposed to be doing in the other game types, i need to do some reading.

I'm sorry, your old.

Either camp with a sniper rifle or accept the fact your just fodder to the young scallywags.

giphy.gif
 
Ability will always be king but for online play getting the clearest visuals - which aren't necessarily highest or lowest settings - combined with as high a consistent framerate as possible goes a long way often referred to as "lowpro" settings.

Everyone will be a bit different in what works best for them but unless you are insanely skilled someone with a relatively low to medium sensitivity mouse setup with a mouse that has a consistent sensor free of undesirable acceleration, skipping or angle snapping will almost always have an advantage against you.

Ultimate a huge amount comes down to muscle memory, learning to pre-empt/shortcut your own reactions and developing instinct which takes a lot of playing to develop and there isn't much short cutting that.
 
If you're playing war zone, jump into plunder on your own or with a mate, it's pretty good fun to be fair but I don't go for the money I go for the kills. Also use the supply runs, scavenger hunts and rcons to rank guns up, the gun that you have in your hand when you complete one of these gets ranked up and it's surprising how much better you can play with a decent gun with all attachments.

Contrary to some people, I slow my mouse down for shooters because there's nothing worse than an over sensitive mouse in a firefight and not being able to hold steady, assuming you have a big enough mouse mat/area.

If you look at some online streamers, most do well with others because they all play stupid amounts of hours per day and get to know each others standards it's surprising if you miss a few days how much you can lose rhythm. For instance I play with a few mates but probably end up about twice per week together so we're never going to be top tier but we certainly have some fun.
If I play solo it's either plunder or the odd solos which I'm not fond of because most of the time it's just a camp fest, but the small rebirth solos is much more fun, for me at least.
 
So long as you have a half decent PC and monitor (120FPS/Hz+. You don't need a 240hz monitor and potato settings for high FPS to be good at a game, it just helps excellent players to be that little bit better. It's not a cure for being poo at a game lol), decent internet connection with a stable and low ping; just find mouse settings and keyboard layouts that suit you and just keep playing, get hours under the belt.

CS:S and CS:GO have the ability to play against bots for general training and rewards reaction time and first shot accuracy.
 
Hi All

Ive never been a big gamer, i played lan games of halflife back in the day, but never really got into online gaming. I have a reasonable pc, and some friends recently bought gaming laptops. Weve played some CS GO which is good, though i prefer deathmatch, because it takes me back to the halflife days. I never really know what im supposed to be doing in the other game types, i need to do some reading.

Weve also played COD Warzone, which is cool. I like the game, but there is so much waiting around... I was playing in a match with a mate last night, and we were both dead in 1 minute, 4 seconds. Then you have 10 minutes of messing about, gulag, which i'll lose, then back to the menu, then back in the plane etc before you get another go. Its going to take a long time to improve doing that.

What did you find the most helpful?

My hardware and conditions arent the best, but i don't think its holding me back. It must be technique and practice. All too often im standing the giving some guy several shots to the head with a sniper rifle, or blasting him with a machine gun of some sort, and he just looks at me, and kills me with a couple of shots with whatever. I must be wrong. I dont have a lot of time to play with two small kids, so i want to know how best to use that time. It does need to stay fun though.

Cheers

Andy

I'm in a similar boat, and tbh putting it bluntly you just can't get good whilst only playing casually.

You could spend thousands on the best kit, and still get beaten by a kid on a laptop with one of those old rollerball mice - just because he gets to play it for 6-8 hours a day.

That's your first hurdle, is accepting you're never going to be top of the leaderboards.

Secondly I would mostly say is tactical. You're never going to be a rambo running into a room and headshotting 9 people before you get blown up. So stay back and pick your kills carefully.

Learn the maps, I play BFV, and most of the maps all have areas that can provide advantages, or give opportunities to sneak up on enemies.

The one annoying thing with BF5 when starting out is most of the weapons and perks are ****. Not much you can do about that, just figure out what your quickest way of gaining xp is and work towards better weapons.
 
I'm in a similar boat, and tbh putting it bluntly you just can't get good whilst only playing casually.

You could spend thousands on the best kit, and still get beaten by a kid on a laptop with one of those old rollerball mice - just because he gets to play it for 6-8 hours a day.

That's your first hurdle, is accepting you're never going to be top of the leaderboards.

Secondly I would mostly say is tactical. You're never going to be a rambo running into a room and headshotting 9 people before you get blown up. So stay back and pick your kills carefully.

Learn the maps, I play BFV, and most of the maps all have areas that can provide advantages, or give opportunities to sneak up on enemies.

The one annoying thing with BF5 when starting out is most of the weapons and perks are ****. Not much you can do about that, just figure out what your quickest way of gaining xp is and work towards better weapons.

Good point. With games like BF (RIP) tactics play a much bigger part. For example: I always found that if there's a big cluster **** going on (normal for BF), try and go where the enemy isn't and you'll see a flank opportunity.

As for casual gaming, indeed. You need the hours and by the time you've got enough playing just a few hours a week, you'll be 1 of 100 left playing the game :p
 
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