44 replies to this topic

[UrsusMorologus]

use lasers so you can spray-n-pray

aim for the legs and the target will move something into your beam sooner or later

[Elizander]

Toast001, on 26 October 2014 - 02:41 PM, said:

There are some people with a natural talent for hitting someone regardless of there speed or there target, i am not one of them. Lets say i am going to fire a ppc, i know if i miss there is a huge heat penalty plus the time to recharge, so i save my shots till i am pretty sure it hits. Now doing so i may not be getting the kills or damage i could potentially get. Now you may say why even fire a ppc, it sucks. Well even if its a ballistic there is a penalty of using ammo and recharge time.

So the question is do you shoot at anything that moves, giving it your best estimates or save you shots for when you think you will be successful?

You take the shot whenever you can. Every miss you make will teach you a little more on how to make it an eventual hit.

[Kiiyor]

Toast001, on 26 October 2014 - 02:41 PM, said:

There are some people with a natural talent for hitting someone regardless of there speed or there target, i am not one of them. Lets say i am going to fire a ppc, i know if i miss there is a huge heat penalty plus the time to recharge, so i save my shots till i am pretty sure it hits. Now doing so i may not be getting the kills or damage i could potentially get. Now you may say why even fire a ppc, it sucks. Well even if its a ballistic there is a penalty of using ammo and recharge time.

So the question is do you shoot at anything that moves, giving it your best estimates or save you shots for when you think you will be successful?

This is a pretty huge topic! The thing is, most advice is utterly subjective, as different players have different results with the same styles. Anyhoo, here's my 10 cents:

Step 1:

Though this is subjective, lower your mouse sensitivity as far as you can comfortably handle (FURTHER, in most cases). I've found that lower sensitivity works better for longer ranged accuracy (but some of my friends swear by high sensitivity for close range stuff). You need to train yourself to work with as much mouse mat area as you are comfortable with, so that smaller wrist movements don't translate to hyper three year old with a crayon movements where the electrons from the mouse meet the crosshair. This may be one of the hardest things to get to grips with, but it will drastically improve your aim.

Step 2:

AIM. Consciously make yourself aware of where the circle is over the target. There is a place for instinctive snap-shots; that place is COD. Unless you're a Jenner facing off against a DireWolf, devote an extra heartbeat to your little yellow circle. On the flip side, If you find yourself spending too much time trying to line up perfect shots, aim instead for the center of seen mass. It works in military shooting, it can work here.

Step 3:

Leading your target. There are two ways to fire on a moving target.

1. Leave your crosshair static, fire when you think you'll get a hit.

Good with predictive shots; waiting for a light at the edge of their turn, etc.

2. Move your crosshair at the same speed as the target, paying close attention to the leading amount.

Good for foes moving perpendicular to you at range.

Switch up your leading style if it's not working for you. If you find that you keep using the same methods and achieve nothing, then you have encountered Einstein's theory of insanity.

Step 4:

Ditch the direct fire weapons if you suck at them. Train yourself with lasers. Try to get as much beam on target as you can. You'll find that as your hand gets steadier, your aim improves. Spec yourself for long ranged builds; you'll survive longer to learn from your mistakes. Also, if you are long range, try to snipe as early as possible in a match. You'll get a better feel for the projectile speed of your weapons and aim off points for foes moving at different speeds.

Step 5:

CONSTANT REPETITION. Practice! Drop in the training grounds! If you have a loadout and mech you want to get better with, then ONLY DROP IN THAT MECH. You'll develop muscle memory specific to that variant that will be lost if you flit between mechs and loadouts.

There are also tools you can use for general mouse precision:

http://aim400kg.ru/en/

Phoenominal site with dozens of different tests and training simulations.

http://www.albinobla...com/flash/shoot

A game, but this one tracks your accuracy visually with marks/bullet holes as you hit a moving target. Nice practice.

http://www.aimbooster.com/

Fantastic site! The precision tests are awesome.

Also, a good mouse to suit your grip style is imperative. I have huge, gigantic hands with freaking alien fingers. I've recently purchased a Proteus Core, and it's phoenominal. You can study up on it if you want, but here's a handy vid on different mouse styles for grip styles:



You know what I would love? Moving mechs with set pathing in the training grounds. How awesome would it be if an Atlas was trudging through buildings, torso twisting at random? It would be MUCH better practice than the static targets we have.

Hope this helps.

[LordKnightFandragon]

Yeah, it took me a long while to find a mouse sensitivity setting that works for me. It wasnt until I removed all mouse smoothing that I finally was able to aim for ****. And truth be told, since I did that, my games have been 570, 770, 444 and nothing below 300 dmg, my kills have increased by probably 10 or so. Ive only played like 8 more games or so since I made that change, but it helped immensely. Sensitivity was wwwwwwwwaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyy to high in this game, way back in beta, I literally couldnt hit a barn cuz how fast everything moved....it turned me off the game real quick, as there was no mouse options back then....and really, until I found a working setting, I was really starting to loathe this game and it's movement....but now ive kinda got it..

Compared to before where I would be lucky to score 200dmg and if I did, id actually be like..wow that was a productive game....lol....

I now run with 0 smoothing, 0 accel and about 25-30% up the sensitivity bar...

[NovaFury]

Shoot everything with a group you can afford to shoot everything with. Take long-odds shots, PUGs are so timid in this game that even passing a single large laser briefly over an assault mech an send him scurrying for cover. Enemies hiding from you cannot effect your team.

Stick precision groups on the left or right mouse button, particularly snapshot ballistic weapons mounted in the arms, and save the thumb buttons for more forgiving or deliberate weapons. I usually reserve thumb button three for a punchy group, like the hextuple ML lance on the Hunchback 4P, alpha strike on a laservomit wolf/crow, or ALL THE SRMS.

Punish mistakes. People stop for a moment when they reverse after peeking or shutdown from overheat. Be brutal.

Engaging arm lock tends to lower your sensitivity and allow more calculated shots provided the enemy is within your torso traverse. Don't ever use it for extended periods, though. I toggle mine, breathe, alpha strike, and immediately disengage it.

Edited by NovaFury, 26 October 2014 - 07:02 PM.

[banjoe]

What helps me allot, I try to not just aim at the body part but instead pick a smaller target on said body part. For example, I want to hit the left torso of an Atlas, I try to put my weapons fire on the missile port. Even at long range I still try to pick out something small.
Also if No Friendlies are near-by sometimes I'll pick a small piece of terrain, Ex. a window or small rock and try to shoot it, really good practice if you use beam weapons trying to keep the beam on target.

[CocoaJin]

Practice

[Felio]

You have to get comfortable with the speed of the projectile and take a split second to notice the speed of your target.

[Hillbillycrow]

If you want but can't see the CT then shoot at the face. Want the legs or the CT? Shoot at the crotch. Generally...

[zortesh]

Don't think, don't try to aim and line up a shot just snap off a shot as fast as possible and leap back behind cover, rinse and repeat.

Eventually you get used to leading targets.. but the key is to shoot first and shoot fast and be back behind cover, it gets infinitely harder to hit someone when there shooting back at you.

After a while it becomes reflex and you will blast stuff that pops up even momentarily without really thinking or putting effort into it.

[Salvag3]

It all just depends, what weapon I have, what's going on in the battle, how much ammo I have, what my goal is at the time, ect ect.

What I mean is, say I'm in my Jenner Vs a Atlas, I'm not going to fire till I'm behind him, all of my lasers are going in his back side I'm not wasting heat on its frontal armor. Now that goes out the window when he has taken a pounding and has full armor on his back but no front.

I'm not going to take the first open shot with my SCrow with my gauss when i can see it's just about to feel shot from its right and face it's rear to me, even if I'm setting my self up for a shot with more defection the reward for a clean rear torso hit is better that the first shot.

I may not fire at all in my kit fox if snuck up on your company and I'm tagging your dire wolf for the team and narcing his buddies, I want to stay hidden as long as I can.

I may not fire my Guass on my DW at you if I'm low on ammo and know that your almost dead and my lasers can do the job in two clean hits, but your buddy behind you is coming at full health

I may fire my Guass at you knowing I can't hit you, if I want you to know someone is pointing two Guass at you to keep you from stepping out and killing my damaged buddy.

It all depends on what's going on in the moment.

[Vaderman]

I'm still waiting for someone to say "just hold the round thing over the square thing and wait for it to turn red."

[The Boz]

I move the mouse and press buttons and things explode. Either the enemy does, or my engine.

[Soulscour]

Toast001, on 26 October 2014 - 02:41 PM, said:

There are some people with a natural talent for hitting someone regardless of there speed or there target, i am not one of them. Lets say i am going to fire a ppc, i know if i miss there is a huge heat penalty plus the time to recharge, so i save my shots till i am pretty sure it hits. Now doing so i may not be getting the kills or damage i could potentially get. Now you may say why even fire a ppc, it sucks. Well even if its a ballistic there is a penalty of using ammo and recharge time.

So the question is do you shoot at anything that moves, giving it your best estimates or save you shots for when you think you will be successful?

It is not a natural talent. It takes practice and experience. Being able to hit moving targets is required to be successful in any shooter. If you do not practice and develop this skill, it doesn't matter how good your positional awareness is. It will not compensate an innability to consistantly hit targets.

[Mudhutwarrior]

Kiiyor, on 26 October 2014 - 06:26 PM, said:

This is a pretty huge topic! The thing is, most advice is utterly subjective, as different players have different results with the same styles. Anyhoo, here's my 10 cents:

Step 1:

Though this is subjective, lower your mouse sensitivity as far as you can comfortably handle (FURTHER, in most cases). I've found that lower sensitivity works better for longer ranged accuracy (but some of my friends swear by high sensitivity for close range stuff). You need to train yourself to work with as much mouse mat area as you are comfortable with, so that smaller wrist movements don't translate to hyper three year old with a crayon movements where the electrons from the mouse meet the crosshair. This may be one of the hardest things to get to grips with, but it will drastically improve your aim.

Step 2:

AIM. Consciously make yourself aware of where the circle is over the target. There is a place for instinctive snap-shots; that place is COD. Unless you're a Jenner facing off against a DireWolf, devote an extra heartbeat to your little yellow circle. On the flip side, If you find yourself spending too much time trying to line up perfect shots, aim instead for the center of seen mass. It works in military shooting, it can work here.

Step 3:

Leading your target. There are two ways to fire on a moving target.

1. Leave your crosshair static, fire when you think you'll get a hit.

Good with predictive shots; waiting for a light at the edge of their turn, etc.

2. Move your crosshair at the same speed as the target, paying close attention to the leading amount.

Good for foes moving perpendicular to you at range.

Switch up your leading style if it's not working for you. If you find that you keep using the same methods and achieve nothing, then you have encountered Einstein's theory of insanity.

Step 4:

Ditch the direct fire weapons if you suck at them. Train yourself with lasers. Try to get as much beam on target as you can. You'll find that as your hand gets steadier, your aim improves. Spec yourself for long ranged builds; you'll survive longer to learn from your mistakes. Also, if you are long range, try to snipe as early as possible in a match. You'll get a better feel for the projectile speed of your weapons and aim off points for foes moving at different speeds.

Step 5:

CONSTANT REPETITION. Practice! Drop in the training grounds! If you have a loadout and mech you want to get better with, then ONLY DROP IN THAT MECH. You'll develop muscle memory specific to that variant that will be lost if you flit between mechs and loadouts.

There are also tools you can use for general mouse precision:

http://aim400kg.ru/en/

Phoenominal site with dozens of different tests and training simulations.

http://www.albinobla...com/flash/shoot

A game, but this one tracks your accuracy visually with marks/bullet holes as you hit a moving target. Nice practice.

http://www.aimbooster.com/

Fantastic site! The precision tests are awesome.

Also, a good mouse to suit your grip style is imperative. I have huge, gigantic hands with freaking alien fingers. I've recently purchased a Proteus Core, and it's phoenominal. You can study up on it if you want, but here's a handy vid on different mouse styles for grip styles:



You know what I would love? Moving mechs with set pathing in the training grounds. How awesome would it be if an Atlas was trudging through buildings, torso twisting at random? It would be MUCH better practice than the static targets we have.

Hope this helps.

Thank you, I am near legally blind and it took a long time to figure out how to guess aim because i cannot see the arm dot most often. Then leading became a huge issue for me. I tried your mods and aiming is like a breath of fresh air. Never played much games before I got wounded so I had no real clue what the tricks were. I am on a very low end system still but plan on building one better suited soon. Maybe my stats will show the difference over time. Again thanks

[MeiSooHaityu]

I try to be mindful of ammo or range when firing.

If I have limited ammo, I'm not going to spam an A/C10 at a range where it might only do 2 points of damage if it even hits. Sometimes a bit of scrutiny I'd a good idea.

I will say this though, I notice some people bring WAY more ammo than they could ever need because they are so afraid to run out. Me, I try to bring just enough and use the additional saved tonnage for other things.

Play 10 matches or so and record how much ammo you used. Take the highest amount used and maybe carry one additional ton or half ton for peace of mind. Just my opinion on ammo.

[A big brave boulder of meat]

When target is moving, Lead your shots ahead of targets slightly with lower velocity weapons.

When fireing beam weapons at moving targets I attempt to match their speed to hold the beam steady on certain components.

[9thDeathscream]

Lead and aim for damaged parts. Mostly Hope that the HSR and Hit rego is going to be kind.

[mogs01gt]

my FPS is horrible and I have to play with a track ball so I just spray and pray!

[Belorion]

I am assuming he is asking about leading the target. With lights you have to lead a lot, Assaults much less. You also have to anticipate any movements they may make. Which is why piloting erratically will get you hit less often. Jumping mechs fall in a predictable arch so just lead along the path.

I was in a match yesterday where I had a Firestarter running away from me in a predicable path, from about 400 meters out I hit his leg with a dual AC-20 hit. Unfortunately it didn't leg him, only made his leg cherry red.