If you’re a First Person Shooter player looking to improve your skills, then my FPS Self-Improvement Series of articles is exactly what you’re looking for.
I’ve played FPS games competitively for nearly a decade and have decided to share my knowledge of FPS gaming in six thematic articles. Each entry takes a look at a different aspect of FPS gaming and how to improve your performance in that regard.
This third entry in the series focuses on mastering the weapons at your command.
Learn to better recognize, counter and use weapons that you’re unfamiliar or uncomfortable with. Discover new ways of using the weapons at your disposal and methods of training for optimal weapon usage.
1. Determine your skill level – and improve it
The first step in improving your mastery of weapons is determining how well you master them already.
Are you an awesome marksman with sniper rifle and railguns, or are you better with tracking weapons such as machine guns and plasma guns? Maybe you prefer prediction-based weaponry such as rocket launchers, grenades and flak cannons.
Now that you know which weapons you’re capable of handling: ignore them.
Try to play several matches with just a few of the weapons you’re not as good with. Game modes like Clan Arena (Quake Live) or Team Arena Master (Unreal Tournament 2004) can help with this, because they let you spawn with all weapons.
So you’re not very good with the shotgun? Use it exclusively for an evening, hell make it a week.
You’ll notice an improvement relatively quickly. Why? Because you’ll likely have been (un-)consciously ignoring these weapons in your previous matches. Using them intensely allows you to spot their uses more easily and get more familiar with their feel.
Can't handle the shotgun well? Use it exclusively for a week or so
2. Know your weapons. And your enemies’ too.
Before you get any ideas of becoming a skilled player, you’ll need to know all of the weapons in play.
You don’t just need to see them in action, or know what they do. You need to use them, get a feel for how they work, memorize the sounds they make.
This will not only help you judge which weapon to use in a given situation. But also to identify and counter these weapons on the battlefield/in the arena.
A major part of becoming a better player is listening to the sounds you hear in-game. If you can identify each weapon by the sound they make, sometimes even when not in use (e.g.: railgun and lightning gun in Quake Live), then you’re on the right track.
3. Pick the appropriate weapon for the situation
You’ve just picked up a shotgun and you’re moving into a wide open-area. Not the best location to pack your shotgun, is it? So ditch it and use something with a bit more accuracy at range.
Every weapon has its uses, and most of these are simple to figure out. A railgun is not – usually – a weapon for close-range, nor is a rocket launcher particularly effective when taking on someone who is on higher ground.
And if all you’ve got is a gauntlet and machine gun (Quake Live) or pistol and knife (fill in generic realistic shooter) then don’t take on someone who is fully stocked! Run away!
Okay, so these aren’t laws and you obviously can make kills with railguns in enclosed spaces, or shotguns on open fields. That doesn’t mean it’s a particularly bright idea.
Yes, you’ll run into players who are great at that sort of thing. But as a beginning player, you’ll merely do worse than if you were switching to the logical appropriate weapon for the situation.
Don’t try to grow too skilled too fast, you’ll just end up slowing yourself down.
Tracing weapons (plasma gun) are most easily countered by engaging from a distance
4. Counter their weaponry
Once you know how each weapon is used, and can identify them by their sounds. Then you can start to counter them.
You’ll know not to fight a railer who has the high ground. And you’ll know not to follow a shotgunner into enclosed spaces.
You’ve learned this – and more – by using these weapons to optimal effect yourself.
And if you know when and where they can be used to optimal effect, then you can start to avoid those situations.
5. Counter their weaponry – part 2
Another method of countering weaponry is by carefully controlling your movement.
Having used a railgun, you know not to jump when facing someone handling one. Likewise, plasma guns and machine guns are frequently best taken on by jumping about erratically. But when facing someone with a rocket launcher, jumping will simply make you an easy target for splash damage.
Oh sure, you can give it a try, you underdog you. But why do things the hard way, when the easy way is so obvious?
6. Turn their movement against them
You know how to best avoid getting hit by specific weapons, so you turn this around to know when you can get easy shots in. That sounds a bit simpler than it is in practice.
During a match you can usually get a feel for your opponent’s movement. You know he has a tendency to jump, or to strafe a bit more to the right than to the left. Use that to your advantage.
If you’re up against a jumper, then you might opt to wait a little before railing him… a jumping target is an easy target after all. Likewise, if you’re facing a strafer with a tendency to turn right, you fire your machine gun on his right side.
You can even apply this to their movement across the map. If you know that your opponent has a tendency to come at an item spawn or specific objective from a certain location, then that’s where you aim your rockets/sniper rifle at.
Most players, even experience 1 vs 1 duelers in hardcore shooters like Quake, are predictable in their map routes. You can quite easily use this against them; either to avoid them, or to trap them.
If you’re going to be up against a known player in a 1 vs 1 battle, then it might be a good idea to check out some of their demos. Or talk with some players who have faced them. If you know some of their predictable moves or routes, then you could get an early advantage.
GameDrone FPS Self-Improvement Series:
- 6 Hardware Tips for FPS Players
- 5 Tips for Improving your Accuracy
- 6 Tips for Weapon Mastery
- 7 Tips for Improving Map Control
- 5 Tips for Better Practice Sessions
- 10 Tips for Becoming a Better FPS Player
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