Re: The Prefect Shot: How to improve your Markmanship

**Razcsak** · 05-28-2008, 01:17 PM

Originally Posted by sgt.rob

first of all the stats thing. to me personaly the only one i care about is my kill death ratio. if i keep it above 2.0 i am happy. if it was at 1.0, that means i kill one guy and then die. both teams lose the same number of points and there is no change in the map. but, if i can kill 2 guys before i die my team will be ahead on tickets and i feel like i have made a difference.

Not true. As an example, if I, while alone, kill five men and am brought down by the sixth, all I've done is slowed down an advance and lost my team a ticket. (Lets assume all that combat took place near-simultaneously) On any TG squad, that sixth is either a medic or has access to a defib from a ground kit. What matters is the bodies you keep down, not the bodies you put down. Yes, killing more means that more are likely to get passed over in the chaos, but one kill that's kept down is worth more than an infinite amount of kills that get revived.

Stark: The times I played with you, you seemed very much on the ball with revives, heals, and calling out targets. Someone who does that and is a dedicated medic is an asset to his squad. Recently, I've found myself going more and more into a combat role, when a few months ago I was acting as a medic only. Remember, assault and medic, while they may be the same kit, almost certainly carrying the same gear, are not the same role.

Now, if you want to improve your accuracy, switching to the Baur is a good way to make yourself better. Personally, I find my combat to suffer a lot while using it, but it does force me to aim well and control bursts. What you learn from the Baur can be applied to the Scar and Krylov very well, while the Voss benefits less. Personally, I'd start switching over to the default weapons and using those. The smaller clip, higher damage, and better accuracy means they excel at medium range and force you to be situationally aware. No more can you run into a group of people and spray your 40 rounds everywhere.

edit: Having read the thread, Zhohar's got some good advice too. If you want to practice, do it. Stop reviving. You won't lose that skill, and when you do come back to a TG server, you'll be better at prioritizing the revives and clearing the area before going in. O

**ionpig-A** · 05-28-2008, 01:42 PM

Zhohar for the Win!

The act of HUNTING your target down is exactly the frame of mind you need to develop, and by down I mean "you have been killled, no revive can help you, welcome to the spawn menu". It's as much mindset as it is anything else, and while your ping, your weapon, your sight deviation, and the many other game variables will affect the outcome, the crux of it all is your act of will.

That about sums it up, though I suspect you could benefit on TG servers just as much as a pubbie server if you work with your SL's.
Tell 'em what you are looking to improve on and hopefully they will have the wisdom and opportunity to put you in the right kit and haul you to the right area on the map.

At any rate, keep at it. I've seen you play. You've got the right idea and are headed in the right direction.

**ThaDoctah** · 05-28-2008, 01:51 PM

Originally Posted by Zhohar

...Get out there, and when you die, be PISSED OFF. Anger, especially anger aimed at yourself, is a very strong motivator...

I think he's got the anger thing down, he let us know about his frustration last night quite often ^_^

**Zoticus** · 05-28-2008, 02:36 PM

Hi Stark,

I've found that it matters much less what weapon you're using, and that winning 1-on-1 battles isn't the be-all-and-end-all. Sometimes you come around a corner and have to do the little dance, but that should be the minority of your encounters. The idea is not to engage in a fair 1-on-1 fight. If I'm in a fair fight, I retreat and reposition to try to get an advantage. Fair fights are for suckers. Flank, team up, put a focus on situational awareness and play defensively.

Well, that's my 2p anyways. I'm usually around on Monday nights, I'd be happy to buddy up with you and see if we can turn your luck around.

-Zot

**Revolusinov** · 05-28-2008, 10:02 PM

Also occassionly late at night right after the server finally empties, I can be found playing one on one with people. If your up that late, see if you can find somone to one on one with you. Go on their team. You can see them and spawn near them and just go at it one on one every 20 seconds. This will teach you to aim and respond fast. Taught a couple to use the the baur that way, though they already had good normal aim. But shoot bots first to get the feel of weopons and learning when to crouch scope shoot and overthe shoulder.

**Towuaway2** · 05-28-2008, 11:29 PM

another thing dude, if your using machine gun, all ways fire in short bursts! Don't empty clips, the reason is the longer you hold fire the more inaccurate your shots are!
Unless you have a shotgun

**bb gun** · 05-29-2008, 04:02 PM

Hey Stark! Nice to see you in the forums!

I would keep it simple. There is a TON of good advice in this thread, but you won't be able to apply it all. Pick a few things to work on at a time. Personally, I would:

1) Always use light armor and run your butt off. Standing still usually will get you killed.

2) Be aware of your surroundings. Use your mini-map. Try to anticipate where the enemy is going. Where would you go? Look for enemies in those places. Be ready to fire when you go around a corner. Also, try to get in the habit of strafing around corners, so you're already pointing in the right direction (not swinging around)

3) Be sure to crouch when firing as much as possible. Fire in bursts or single shots. Never spray and pray (easier said than done).

4) Try different weapons. Personally, learning to use the Clark shotgun helped me greatly with assault rifles. (Forced to use single-shot with a long delay.) Makes you line up your shots before you fire, and gives you time to think about corsshair placment).

Good luck buddy...I'm always around to help in any way I can, so don't be shy.

BB

**sc1ence** · 05-29-2008, 05:27 PM

I think there are a few things that have helped me quite a bit in learning to shoot in fps games.

1. hardware - you need a good mouse and mousing surface. Crappy mice make for crappy aim.

2. key mapping - make sure crouch, prone, defib, rocket etc all are bound to thing that work well for you.

3. Know your weapons - You need to know exactly what the deviation (spread) of your bullets is at ALL ranges for ALL bursts under ALL conditions. This knowledge has to require no effortful mental processing while in battle. You need to know how your gun works like it is an extension of your body. For example, you know how walk. At one point in time, walking required effortful mental processing (careful thought). After practice walking becomes automatic and the toddler gains complete awareness of how to use their body to walk. They know the limits of their legs and exactly what they can do. You have to know your gun like you know your body. A great way to learn your weapons is to practice on a wall or other surface that will show bullet holes. Try different distances, while prone, while crouching, while moving, while standing.

4. Learn how to aim. This is a critical skill that simply requires practice. You have to put the center of the crosshair on the part of the enemy you want it. I typically shoot at the head first and lead my way down, or on the torso first and lead up to the head. either way, 3-4 shot bursts typically result in a kill. A good way to practice aiming is to pick spots on walls that are about torso high and aim far to the right or left of it. Then quickly as you can, move your crosshair onto the target for a burst shot. Keep doing this over and over. I still do these simple drills when I am seeding the server.

By the way, there is no shame in being a dedicated medic. - (you still need some shooting skill to be able to help clear an area for a revive.) I would carry smoke for the most part and learn to carefully prioritize your revives and healing. Most infantry give up some medic duty to fight. If you wind up in my squad, I would probably assign you perma medic role and tell another infantry to focus on killing. A huge problem with all infantry doing double duty as medics is they ALL tend to stop fighting and go for the revive. If there is a dedicated medic, then that frees up infantry to focus on killing.

**spiff913** · 05-30-2008, 11:42 AM

Stark,

Your original post really hit home for me, because I went through almost exactly the same process. I still don't have the god-like aim of some people around here, but I've improved enough to be effective. Just keep working at it.

Some random thoughts -

Always play with one eye on the mini-map. Know where your opponent will be BEFORE you round that corner.

I did practice some with the Baur on single-shot, and it helped. Make it your primary weapon for 2-3 days, then switch back.

Learning to be a dedicated medic is a necessary skill. I did my time as a revive-whore. It teaches you to stick together with your squad, but not TOO close. Stay back off the flag, and move in for the revive between rocket volleys. Concentrate on being the SL's personal medic. Support your engineers when they are fighting armor. A good engy/medic pair can be an awesome force.

Most importantly, keep having fun in the meantime. Learn to play the support and engineer roles, and volunteer for them. You'll always have a spot in a TG squad if you do that.

Spiff

**SharinganTH1422** · 06-01-2008, 08:00 AM

Wow, so much good advice on here there's hardly much here to say, even though I had loads of ideas when I read the initial post, the great people here have already said most of it.

I think that it's important to firstly take on board what Zhohar said about you needing to experience it yourself. Let's face it, when you're running around on inside a building a Belgrade and some guy walks around the corner, your first instinct is not gonna be "Oh, what did Bomber say to do in this situation again?" If it was as simple as being told what techniques to do, I'd be a master at this game (and I'm nowhere near), because I've read a lot of stuff to improve my aim, and you can try and remember it as much as you want, but in-game, it's totally different. So I second Zhohar's suggestion of going Rambo on a pub server (also remember to take off your |TG| tags before you so this).

I also believe that mentality has something to do with it, as Zhohar put it and ionpig reinforced, you should think that you're not going into an area, and be on the watch for enemies, you should want to hunt them down. Killing should be a proactive thing, you should not think "there's a guy around this corner", you should think, "I'm gonna kill this guy." You should not think of yourself as they guy going to lose. Confidence has a lot to do with it, get a few kills and you start to get on a role. Anyone, and I mean anyone can be a good shot, it's not a case of only a few guys are good enough to be able to do this, it's all about practice, so never think that "I'm not good enough," because everyone is good enough.

And trust me, we've all been there. When I first came to this game I had no idea what I was doing, and it took me a few weeks of solid play on 24/7 CampG servers, just trying to get kills and nothing else to get less than half-way up the scoreboard.

I suggest trying some of the exercises suggested above like trying the Baur on single shot (or even sniper rifles, but staying on the move and not camping (this can also improve your accuracy with the pistol as you will need it in CQ)), and also those seemingly basic training exercises that Sc1ence suggested will definitely go a long way.

I do think you should try his all out on a different server, however, make sure the ping on that server (and maybe even the population) is similar to the TG servers. Learning how to shoot with bad ping is a skill in itself, and you'll need to transfer that to TG. Also, learning on a server with high population like TG helps you to learn how to be more situationally aware, as if you play on a 24 man server it would be different to being on a server with a large population, and without a squad, you have to learn to check your six and cover all angles without relying on your squadmates, which is an important thing to learn even when with a squad. Still try and keep things objective based, like stay and defend flags or move to attack flags. Basically try and recreate play with TG, but without relying on your squadmates and instead of being a medic, just go solely for the kill.

And lastly, Sc1 said it spot on, there is nothing wrong with being a dedicated medic. The members of the 3rd squad are all one of 3 specialty skill sets, weapons (infantry), armour, and medic. Medics are essential, especially to TG squads, but all medics do need to have decent shooting ability (as the 3rd medics demonstrate. They can heal, but damn, they can definitely shoot as well) so they can at least hold their own in a fight, and it's good you're trying to improve this area of your game.

P.S. One technique that I will say you may want to try when in very CQB (like running into someone around a corner) is strafing and shooting. Strafe and turn your mouse the opposite way you're strafing to circle the person and take them out. I've found this extremely useful, but of course, no technique will work 100% of the time. It's just about practice.

**Bomber** · 06-01-2008, 12:52 PM

You must also know when to run. People forget that in BF2142 it is important to keep tickets because there are sooo many of them. In any other fps like halo, it is impertinent to stay alive. I played you last night and we were shooting each other from a distance and I got you down to 30 health while I still had about 90. At that point, there is no use just trying to outshoot your opponent and lose a ticket if your at a major disadvantage. Some battles can't be won immediately, you just run away, re-heal, and keep trying to kill someone until you have the decided advantage. To reiterate what these guys said, never fight fair. Also you must be aware who your enemies are shooting at, if they're shooting at someone else it doesn't matter how little health you have as you gun them down while they're crouch aiming for another teammate. And finally, do not even pay attention to this post anymore, we can give you hints and mindsets and such but you must learn them for yourself.

**daithi1** · 06-01-2008, 01:05 PM

It will really come down to practice. The more you kill the better you'll get. To increase you're chance of winning don't go for a fair 1 on 1 fight. Obviousl 2 is better than one but if you don't have that option get some sort of advatage. Always try to have better cover, a path of retreat. I you see an enemy don't give away your position. Hold your fire and, as previoulsy said, hunt them.

Flanking is a big thing. Try and get round the side of someone or ideally behind. This is so crucial. As you will have noticedd squads usually don't stick very close together. They usually stick in twos or threes. If you can flank a set of three like this with a shotgun two will be down before anyone notices. Then as medics trickle in to revive them take them out while they are distracted. Once you get to flank those three with a shotgun you gain a huge advantage. If you hit the three head on it'll take a headshot to take down one.

BAsically the best thing you can do is to learn to fight on yur own terms. I play with a ping of about 100. Yet I can get kill after kill once I make sure I fight on my terms. Just make sure every time you go for a kill make sure it is to your advantage. The more you practice taking things on your terms the better you'll get at it. It will become natural.

If you are forced into a straight one on one fight make sure you shoot, scope and crouch all at the same time. I tend to aim for the higher chest neck area and let the gun 'ride up' slightly going for that headshot. My ping is too high to aim for the head all the time.

**roguesniper** · 06-02-2008, 10:12 AM

Stark:

First of all I must say that is great playing with you, because i know their is always going to be someone in my squad ready with a revive, so keep up the good work in that regard. I have the same problem with markmanship, however my problem is I tend to run around a little and get caught out of position and in the open. I think one of the more important parts of marksmanship is using cover, and catching your enemy out in the open so you have time to line up a good shot. You also have to practice with the weapon you feel most comfortable with. As for stats I really dont care too much about it, in the end as you get better the stats will take care of themselves. Keep up the good work, and your welcome in my squad anytime!

**R.Stark** · 07-10-2008, 05:58 PM

First off I want to thank everyone that responded to this tread and offered up Great advice and game playing tips and as well as all of the encouragement. Its been little over 2 months since I posted the first message and from the advise my end of round score has gone up, and I've surpassed 5000 revives.

I do want to mention that I did receive private messages from other newbies saying they where having some of the same experiences, and that your advice has helped other player here as well. Once again Thank you all. I'm looking forward teaming up with everyone of you.

Oh a tip of my own to keep your deaths down, if you know that there are snipers around, and you are approaching a flag to cap, you better crouch because there is Claymores (APM) or worst RDX waiting there for you. If there is RDX try to get to the perimeter of the flag zone and hopefully its far enough away to be out of the killing zone of the RDX, because once that sniper sees the flag change, he'll set of his RDX. Don't give that Sniper 6 kills or more in one shot. I've also started announcing over VOIP about RDX and APM on the Flag there has been times where I've been crouching and a team mate is follow behind me and he isn't crouch which in turns sets off the APM and kills use both.

Cheers!!!
Stark

**SharinganTH1422** · 07-10-2008, 07:31 PM

Good to hear you're improving...looks like I need to read up on this thread again, after arriving back late June, my shooting is probably the worst aspect of my game, which doesn't help hugely when you're playing a first-person-shooter

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