If you want to get really good at shooters, you have to train a lot. We’ll show you 5 tips on how you can get better without hard training.
There’s a lot to consider in different shooters, and fans of the genre have to constantly learn new mechanics when switching games. If you don’t learn and adapt, your opponents will quickly show you your limits.
But not everyone has time to learn the various movement tricks, skills and special mechanics of the different shooters. That’s why we’re giving you 5 tips that can help you get better at every shooter.
What are these tips? The tips are aimed primarily at casual players and those of you who don’t have thousands of hours in the various titles. So if you’re a shooter veteran or tryhard, you might not find anything new here.
The right crosshairs
In many shooters you can adjust your crosshair or at least the sight. The right crosshair can be the first step to better performance, which is why, for example, we have a guide on how to set your crosshair in CS2.
Various factors are important when it comes to the crosshair. For example, you want it to be clearly visible on different surfaces and not disappear into the color scheme of the game.
At the same time, it should not be too large and occupy too large a part of the visible area or even the enemy. A crosshair that moves a lot and moves according to your shot sequence can also be irritating. Your focus should always be the opponent whose head you are trying to hit. Anything that distracts or obscures your head is bad.
If you are unsure what a good crosshair should look like, you can search for and copy the crosshair of a professional e-athlete on the Internet. What works at the highest competitive level can also work for you.
The right sensitivity
Regardless of whether you play a shooter with a controller or with a mouse and keyboard, the correct sensitivity is one of the most important settings in every shooter. A sensitivity that is too high or too low has a negative effect on your aim and therefore on your performance.
You have to find the ideal sensitivity for you and can’t simply copy another player’s settings. What’s perfect for an e-athlete may be too fast or – especially when using a mouse – too slow for you.
With the following test you can work with both a controller and a mouse to find a sensitivity that suits you:
However, you should keep in mind that finding an ideal sensitivity is a lengthy process. The ideal value won’t suddenly fall into your lap. It may be that you repeatedly tweak your sensitivity, increasing or decreasing values, until you are completely satisfied at some point.
Annotation: Many players have too high a mouse sensitivity on their PC. As a rule, if you make a 180° turn in the game using a “normal” swiping motion with your arm, you are on the right track.
After we’ve looked at two aspects with sensitivity and the crosshairs, which you should ideally have already done in the menu and before the start of a round, we now come to the tips that you should keep in mind during the course of a match.
Better crosshair placement
Crosshair placement is something you have to pay attention to when playing, but you can quickly benefit from it without much training. It’s also very simple:
Always place your crosshairs where an opponent can be – ideally directly at head height.
Good crosshair placement is especially helpful if you don’t have the best aim. Instead of flicking at an opponent who unexpectedly comes around the corner, ideally your crosshairs are already where their head is when they suddenly appear in front of you. If your crosshairs are already on your opponent’s head, you eliminate the time you have to aim at their head.
The best way to do this is to remember what height a head is in which area of a map. Does not aim at foot or chest level. The chance that you miss is significantly lower if you still have to pull the trigger because your opponent is already in your crosshairs.
In addition to the height, the targeted area also plays a role in crosshair placement. You don’t want to be staring at a “dead” area. Instead of looking at a wall, place your crosshairs where an enemy can actually come from.
Communication and team play
In virtually every shooter, communication and team play are a big plus – even if you play with random players and not with your friends. It can help if you discuss which point you want to attack together.
Do you need healing? Then ask for a paramedic. Do you need ammunition? Then it signals your provider. An opponent holds a strong position and your team members keep running pointlessly to their deaths? Then suggest an alternative.
But the same also applies the other way around. If a team member wants to coordinate a joint attack, listen to them and participate. Communication in a team can only work if there are people who speak and who listen.
In every shooter there are situations in which communication and team play can help you win – even if that just means that you always challenge an overpowering opponent to dance in pairs instead of always getting hit in a 1v1.
Use the minimap and other tools
In many shooters you have different options for finding your way around a map. This includes the minimap in games like Call of Duty and Battlefield. But the minimap can do much more than just show you the way.
In many shooters, the minimap tells you where enemies are currently located. They are marked red when they shoot or otherwise attract attention. Marking an opponent not only tells you his position, but also lets you anticipate his next path, which means you can intercept him specifically.
On top of that, a minimap, a compass or a detailed map will help you with tip number 4: communication and team play. If you don’t know what a place is called on a map, try to describe it based on the information given and, for example, use the cardinal directions to be more precise.
In many games you can even place markers on the map that your fellow players can then see. Even in tactical shooters like Valorant you can mark the spike across the map, read the names of map areas or ping the opponent’s last position.
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