Every now and then I get tell messages that aren't full of rage and insults Instead, it'll be a relatively new guy asking for tips. I'm not a very good shooter, I don't normally play FPS games, but I feel these tips could help. (I try to keep it short, the guy just needs a few tips, not a wall of text) So here's just 3. 1. Aim for the head. In this game, shots to the head count a lot, a hell of a lot more than anywhere else. Some experienced players might suggest you aim for the torso and then let the recoil work your way up to the head. Personally, I instead recommend you just go for the head. Period. 2. Shoot in bursts. Guns in PS2 can have a lot of recoil. Stoping firing and starting again resets this. This is super important but not to be applied every time and all the time. For example, some of the recoil can be countered by your mouse movement. There's rumours that shooting in bursts improves hit detection. I won't get into that, but it may be true. 3. Adapt your "aimed mouse sensitivity". This one is important, especially because many people won't ever think of this. Personally, depending on how I choose this setting, it changes everything for me. As a matter of fact, even though I've been playing since 2013, I'm still not 100% sure that I've picked the perfect setting for me. I don't know what others use, but I think the one I use is really low (0.013). But it also depends on your mouse (dpi settings etc) and other things. At the end of the day, play around with these settings until you find something you feel comfortable with. Having a really low setting like I do means that you can't follow targets very well if they move around, but it does really help you're aiming, and so I do my "following" while not aiming if you know what I mean
Go to VR, shoot at a wall, learn the recoil pattern. Does it pull upwards? Upwards at angle? Does it bounce side to side?Compensate for it and experiment with longer and shorter bursts, i.e. some weapons are bullet hoses while others favour a high headshot ratio. When you know how the weapon behaves and how you behave with the weapon you will get a much better idea if this weapon is for you. Then move on to do it while moving around so you get better with compensating while also adjusting your aim. However, there's no substitute live play and that's where you also will get familiar with bullet speed and how you need to adjust to player movement. You probably also meet people who have very strong opinions on weapons. Just know that their opinion is informed by their own preference most of the time. So don't let anyone dissuade you from using a weapon you're doing well with and/or have a great time with.
^ pnkdth your post made me think of something else. A very common question players ask me is "which weapon is better"?. It's important to understand that in PlanetSide 2, it's not that easy. There are different factors and variables. As pnkdth was saying, what it usually comes down to is preference. Some players will perform better with a weapon that shoots less bullets but that do more damage, others players will perform better with a weapon that has a high rate of fire, just to pick this example. It's not that one weapon is better than the other, they might have the exact same Time To Kill, it's about which one is better for you.
