I'm trying not to suck...

Ok, so I'm tired of sucking at this game. I've been playing since the beginning of October and while I really enjoy it I've actually gotten worse over time as I try new things. I don't belong to an Outfit but I try to make sure I'm in a squad every time I log in.

Till a week or two ago I just played as a heavy and would spam Phoenix rockets from a safe location. Being that I play NC it was a good way to rack up XP and certs since TR and VR groups tend to bring A LOT of ground and air vehicles with them. I didn't get many kills because people had a good amount of time to decide to bail out before I could follow up with a kill shot rocket...but it still removed a enemy armor from the playing field so I considered that a good thing for my side.

Getting bored with rocket launching I decided to try my hand at Infiltrator. I really like playing medium/close style and hacking but I am horrible at front line conflicts. Sometimes I can get a good kill streak going on and even occassionally clear a room so NC can advance...but most of the time I just get my Nanites pushed in. I am either seen and shot (my fault) or the hit registration goes all wonky and after unloading an entire clip from my scout rifle into someone (and see the red X's on the screen) the person turns around and shoots me and the kill screen shows I did little to no damage. It makes me feel like playing cops and robbers as a kid: "I shot you!" vs "No, I shot you first!"

The only aspect I really enjoy and don't feel horrible at is flying. There are definitely pilots out there that run circles around me in terms of skill but manage to win about 70% of my dog fights if numbers are equal and I don't wander into range of enemy ground vehicles. I am fairly decent at using the anti-personnel and anti-vehicle rockets as well but still have the problem of getting too far into the fray.

I guess I just want to be good at something besides rocket spamming and I'm not sure how to go about it.

well...Honestly dude, the most I can say is keep at it. I've been playing since Beta..and I don't even have a 1.0 K/D. But this game isn't about K/D.

I would suggest using something other than the phoenix. Almost all ESRLs are very situation based. Try using others first. I would also suggest going to the VR and testing ALL of the guns and pick the better one for you. I see that you were using the Stalker scout rifle. You should be using the Gauss Saw instead. Muzzle velocity is a better option than Rate of Fire. I don't know if you are trying to hip fire or what, but practicing always aiming down sites. With LMGs (or other close quarters guns), I would suggest NOT going over a 2x scope.

Just keep playing and try out different things in the VR. I probably have as much VR time as I do Playing time. Still trying to find that niche.

What server do you play on? If on Emerald, I can meet up with you in VR Training and go over some tips that I've been taught, and have been using the last two months, that REALLY improved my gameplay.

Here is what I would recommend. Keep in mind this may not work for you, as everyone's ideal play style is different:

1. Join a good outfit. Best decision I ever made, watching other experienced players do their thing really helped me.

2. Steer clear of HA or Infil if you are kind of a beginner. Stick with engi or medic, or even LA. Also, Phoenix is more of a having fun, hur dur weapon than a truly useful killing machine. Except for killing engi turrets. It's very good at that.

3. Being good at this game does NOT equal KD ratio. With my abilities, I am able to help my team a WHOLE lot better repairing tanks/sundies/MAXes and giving ammo than killing stuff. This is absolutely horrible for my KD, but in a game like this, KD should not be a number 1 priority.

Again, this might not be the best route for you, but it helped me. Hope it helps you.

Aim for head.

The first one is a problem, the second is not.

Put down the scout rifle and get a SAS-R action or a SMG, and learn to live without the cloak. It will gives infiltrators away more than it protects them. Rely more on your (I assume is max certed like they should be) sensor darts. Cloaks imo are for the "oh **** moments" and reloading. The SASR can put down pretty much anyone close range with a single shot.

As for the reaver problem, its a combination of 'a reaver problem', not having a wingman, and not knowing what to do. Reavers are fast and thrust like madmen. Could be setup with it as well, but im sure you found what you like. For me rotary/ab tanks/fire supress/ repair/racer frame. But its all preference and opinion.

Moin

What's the gaming background you're coming from? Did you play other FPS before this? What are your PC specs, can you maintain 60 fps?

There can be hundreds of reasons why you don't have as much success in PS2 as you'd like, you have to tell us a bit about you .

It will take awhile before you "git gud" your system specs also play a large part in this. Take me for example, when I started I had a .3 KD and I had that for months due to several reasons (Performance, lack of map knowledge, feeling overwhelmed due to the sheer scale, not knowing what weapons were good for what, etc). Gradually I clawed it up to a .4-.5 over a few more months and then in November of last year I got a PC that could run at 60-90fps Ultra and my KD skyrocketed from a .5 to a 3-5 playing infantry. Also over that time period I learned the bases, weapons, strategies to attack/defend, etc.
TLR Getting good will take time, be patient, you will eventually "gitgud".

watch some planetside 2 videos on youtube about other players.

my K/D is about 0.75 but my main is medic and on medic i dont care much about killng. i mostly stay in corners and behind friendlies reviving and healing.

Then again when i play Light Assault i play very aggressively and my priorities are to blown up tanks and sundies while i try to stay alive. If i decide not to go for vehicles i try to stay on higher positions so i have an advantage on others.

Keep on playing and remember K/D is nothing in this game.

Dont rush into rooms. Check left right and up before u want to go into a room. Check out iridanis tips. he have good ones.

Sounds like you are doing really well if you have only been playing a couple of months. I've been playing a couple of years and have never cleared a room using an infiltrator, and my dogfight win ratio is probably um... 7%? If you are actually destroying 70% of enemy aircraft you engage, I hope you stay in the NC air force and are flying over me often!

The way to get a great K/D is to see what people complain about on the forums, and do that

i.e., in short;

- HA/LA//medic/infil are cannon fodder classes. You should generally be in an ESF for small scale fights, or ones where the terrain makes AA cover hard, a MAX if you're indoors, or an MBT in any other situation. Everything else is basically a fallback for when you have no resources, and once you get better with ESF/MBT/MAX, you'll always have resources to pull another.

- Pick you fights looking for large-scale ones where the enemy are attacking in roughly equal numbers, or defending outnumbered at least 2/3. You'll have plenty of targets, and the enemy will be more exposed trying to attack or collapsing before the friendly zerg and spawn-farmable. If you're defending it's usually a lot easier to fall back to safety, provided you're not too outnumbered.

- Keep checking the map and redeploy to the best fight that meets the above criteria

- Don't squad, it's counter-intuitive but you'll ultimately be slowed down in your flexibility to redeploy to the best farming site, and waste time you could be killing. This doesn't mean don't teamplay, you need to be aware of where people on your empire are and in particular where you can safely retreat to at any given moment.

- With ESF, run AI primary with thermal and pods. Don't dogfight, as you want to avoid fair fights (50/50 chances are not a good way to pad a K/D), just run to friendly AA. Prioritise infantry kills over vehicles.

- With MBT, the same applies. HE or HEAT are usually the best options; don't bother to engage enemy armor unless it's got no cover to retreat to otherwise you're wasting your shots. Infantry, on the other hand, will just die to OHKs.

- With MAX, play conservatively; you'll get more kills farming the enemy guys that try to push towards you, than pushing forward yourself and risking C4 etc.

These are all the negative playstyles people hate, but they're the way to get a 20+ K/D reliably.

I can tell you a few things that I do.

1. Always look at the map and where the enemy is most likely coming from, know where the actual front is.

2. Pick a class that meshes with the base design or what's lacking at respawn, such as lots of tall buildings, LA or if there are wide open areas or tons of enemies in one centralized area, infiltrator for long ranged fighting or motion darts.

3. Always utilize cover when moving, even as an infiltrator.

4. Limit your angles of exposure. If near a door way then peak out, leaving only some of your body and gun visible.

5. Take cover a little before you think you are getting too low on HP because usually a few more bullets will hit after you move.

6. Always check your six and watch rooftops. You can't rely on team mates to keep you safe.

7. Spot enemies that you are firing at. This will help you keep track of them if they run behind cover and also helps with your aim. Be sure to not spot enemies that don't know you are behind them, as they will usually notice and you will lose your advantage.

8. Always pay close attention to your minimap. This will help you out tons. You will be able to tell if spotted enemies are near as well as notifying you of when your team is being pushed back/died and you are about to get swarmed.

9. Check every corner, do not just run into a room and keep moving forward with out looking side to side.

10. Learn when to ADS and when to hip fire. If you are too close then try to hip fire because if the enemy is moving it is easy to lose track of him. You also move faster when hip firing so use that to your advantage, try to circle around him if he is engaging you.

More than likely you just need to give it some more time. A couple of months is nothing compared to how long most of us have been playing this game. Occasionally it might feel as if you are taking a step backwards in your progression, when in reality you are moving forward. I'm pretty sure we've all felt that way in the past, grew accustomed to a certain play style and then when trying to branch out, we don't do quite as well. Such as doing well while playing conservatively then trying to play more aggressively and failing. Stick with it, it will all come together soon.

I've sucked for two years, but I still play every day and still earn my XP/certs. BR96 and I'm oh so close to achieving my goal of BR100. I'll be there before the end of the year for sure.

Proof that I suck? 0.47 K/D ratio. LOL I'm seriously wondering if that will be the lowest K/D of all BR100's when I finally get there.

Edit to add: I love this game so much I paid to be a member and help support it. PS2 is the greatest game out there IMO!! Who cares about K/D anyway?

^^^ Farming, I suppose that's one way to play, albeit a boring one. Playing solely to farm kills is not fun to me. Picking only the big fights is not fun to me. I could give two $hits about KDR in this game, especially when one plays Medic and gets caught with the med applicator out 75% of the time and if we start going for kills, team mates get pissed we aren't right there to rez or heal them. It's a hollow number and with the large amount of ground and air vehicle farming, I aintcare about it in the slightest. I'm sure you'r e not impressing anyone with that number either.

I have 4131 Repair ribbons. LOL All I ever do is farm repair points. Is it boring? I sure don't think it is. I enjoy the play style, and I greatly appreciate the fact that Sony hasn't "pigeon-holed" us into only playing one certain way. My K/D is low because I know I suck at fighting, so I don't do it very much. I found my own way to play the game - not for everybody, but obviously I enjoy it or I wouldn't still be playing 2 years later. Congrats to Sony on this milestone!! Still going strong!!

My post was in reference to ashen up there about KDR and farming kills. Farming XP from repairing and reviving is much different to me than farming kills solely for ones' KDR. I love when I get into a revive/heal farm as medic far more than going for kills!

I was just replying in general too. I love playing a support role in this game. Even tho you could say "you're just farming certs" when they see me behind the lines repairing busted turrets, the fact is, I'm helping the team by making sure the base is ready if/when it comes under attack. And I should clarify - I DO indeed "fight", but I generally help heal MAX's and tanks and stuff, drop ammo packs, etc. But I like to soak up that XP and fix every turret I can find before I go "fight" and help my team out.

Step one: Join Recon Team 6 if your on Emerald. We'll help you out!
Otherwise, There are thousands of videos for you use! Look them up!
Play a lot! I no-lifed this game for days on end sometimes, and I saw how good I got! You do it too!

Personally i would opt for the HA as your starting class with the extra shields, the LMG with lots of ammo to splurge and compensate for itchy trigger fingers and poor accuracy and with pretty much a majority of people being HA, it would be better off to be one.

But that said, being a medic is a good option as the AR are accurate and you have an all important healing abilities that allow you to survive longer by healing yourself (whereas the HA uses its shields) and plus you can rack up a lot of points and a decent medic is ALWAYS welcome in a squad of team.

But both of those points are stating the obvious, here are some of the things i do to alive in this game and get kills.

1. Never go first and charge into rooms, chances are the enemy is waiting or its booby trapped. you've probably noticed how many people dump AI Mines in objective areas like doorways and around blind corners and stairs. Let someone else go in first, take the explosion and bullets, move in once enough people have made the initial breach and join in the fight.

2. Pick your angles. aim and cover from odd angles, For example, rather then stand in the front of the door straight on, try to aim from a 45 degree angle or more extreme. Try and find ways to gain the advantage of seeing the enemy without them seeing you until you've its too late and you're firing at them. if you need to cover a door from the front, try standing a fair distance and preferably behind some cover (pillaring). Hell sometimes i would try to stand in the next room behind a console to make things less predictable. Plus let other people stand near the door, draw the enemy attention. Who knows? maybe you'll steal the kill from your allies. Just remember, always assume that if you can see the enemy, the enemy can see you as well.

3. Aim at head height or around that region when you're moving or at least aim from the chest upwards and ideally the head/neck area.

4. Use common sense. Some people, zergs and outfits will stupidly attempt to brute force their way into an area or charge across the open without cover and become prey. When that happens, i'm not stupid enough to follow them in. Don't bother trying to capture objectives alone, as soon as you do, the whole base will come crashing down on you and its usually a death sentence. In most cases, i back off and see if i can pick at the enemy from a distance and farm them instead.

5. Think devishly, doing things that the enemy doesn't expect does wonders. This means shooting through gaps in a solid wall, standing in front of engineer turrets as cover, shooting from trees and in one tactic i like to do is to stand on the objective itself. The elevated position will give you an open space to shoot over your allies who are covering and blocking the door, the faction color of the objective will hide you and even give you protection, most people will be aiming at the people from the door way and too busy trying to avoid their fire to notice yours. As you get better you'll know when to run and when to stay.

6. observe and learn from others. As you die and watch other people, you'll eventually find all the best spots in a base and you'll pick up some nifty tricks.

7. When you're getting zerged. Leave that fight. Why should you be prey and their play thing to amuse themselves at your expense? find a fight where you know you stand a chance and have some fun. Hell if you're feeling butt hurt, stay in the spawn room and shoot through the shields and laugh at their stupidity in attempting to attack through what is indestructible. When its down to the last 20 or seconds, redeploy and you escape and laugh at how they can't get any payback. The last piece of advice is poor sportsmanship, but i have done it once or twice to get some free certs and when the base i was holding was about to fall anyway, i was going to make the most of it.

8. I play medium to long range.

9.Invest in one or 2 classes, its nice to be flexible and choose different classes, but you'll last longer if you invest resources to strenthen that class. You know, buy nanoweave lvl4 and purchase nanoweave for the others etc. With the cookie cutter design, what you learn in one base will usually work in one similar to it.

There could be more tips but thats the ones i can think of atm. But i'll be honest these tips aren't exactly what you call team player and i'm sure a fair few people will frown at it, but its kept me alive to kill and survive.