How to live longer then 2 seconds

Noob Alert !
I have read some tutorials, watched some youtube vids, learned my controls mostly and started playing and joining squads.

So far I do not think I have actually hit or damaged another player except for when I get in one of the tanks or turrets etc.

I typically go right out of the deployment and get shot in about 2 seconds.
It's really getting old and I'm not sure what to do about it.

I follow a squad and peak out of the shielded area thinking this might prolong things.
I never really see anyone to shoot at in spite of spamming the Q button and the massive firing going on sometimes.

I peak out and get shot instantly.
Occasionally I do get out of the deployment area and can go with a large number of squad but typically I stay pinned down behind a rock or hide under something so I don't get hit by air vehicles.

If i try to shoot at anything I do not damage anything and am usually spotted in about 2 seconds and killed with one shot.
MAX is one shot everytime.

I'm trying to figure out how to play but I can't seem to avoid just being killed in a very short time.

I was able to heal someone as a medic a few times but usually just get killed instantly too.

Is there some auto target feature that lets you aim better. How do people one shot me so easily all the time from far away.
I could never hit them and even at close range I do little to NO damages to them.
If I'm lucky enough to get a shot off before they turn and one shot me.

I'm confused how I can stay in the game and be useful to the squad instead of getting shot in 2 seconds all the time.

Please advise
thanks

Find a battle where you outpop the enemy 2 to 1, or more. This should let the more knowledgeable players carry the battle and form the front lines while you stay back, offer support, and learn.

Also, try joining an outfit. Tell us what faction and server you're in, or even just your character name, and I'm sure someone on here will be quick to invite you. Outfits often are very open to newcomers, and will help them learn, and will be able to teach more relevant info depending on what happens to you.

What class are you playing as? Try not to shoot unless you have a clear target. When you fire you appear as a red blip on the mini map to the enemy. Which makes you easy to find and kill. This might be partly why your dieing so quickly. It's generally better to look down the sights on the weapon. Gives you greater accuracy. Exceptions to this might be if your using a shotgun or smg.

This game does have a steep learning curve. It might be useful for you to watch YouTube. There are lots of tutorials and even just watching game play footage may give you some ideas on how to improve.

Best of luck. It's a very fun game once you get into it.

Hmm... Not sure if serious...

I'll assume you're serious.

1) Look at the map. If you see dozens if enemies outside the spawn building on your minimap, redeploy. You're being spawncamped. Redeploy by hitting "U" or by going to the map and hitting "redeploy" in the upper-left.

2) Use nanoweave armor; located under the "suit" slot, this bonus will give you extra resistances to enemy bullets (but not explosives) and in effect make you tougher.

3) Use Heavy Assault; the HA has a shield you can activate with "F" that absorbs 700 extra points of damage. You have 1000 health points by default, add the shield and it adds to 700.

4) Don't stand still; if you stand still, your head is a big, juicy target for enemy snipers. Always keep hitting a movement key.

5) Don't go into the open; This is pretty self-explanatory. Going into the open when fighting the enemy is certain death.

6) Shoot at ESF's; the small fighters (the Scythe, Mosquito and Reaver, colloquially called "ESF's") can be hurt significantly by regular infantry guns.

My 2 cents

Good luck, and stick with it! The game has a mean learning curve.

Ok, I've looked up your killboard on the players site

https://www.planetside2.com/players/#!/5428201940302803489/killboard

Seems to me like you were in a fight where your side was losing badly, either due to being outnumbered or the enemy having so many force multipliers (eg aircraft, MAXes, tanks) that you are effectively out-powered.

You got killed by a lot of vehicle explosive weapons. You could probably benefit from investing a little in Flak Armour (the suit slot item), the first two ranks cost 11 certs and reduce explosive damage significantly.You died a lot to enemy tanks and aircraft, while the best way to avoid them is to listen out for them and look for them on the mini-map, Flak armour can give you precious seconds to get to cover. Most vehicles running with anti-infantry loadouts use "thermal optics" on their weapons, which pick out very clearly, the only safe thing to do is get well into cover.

You got sniped a lot. The "bolt-action" sniper rifles can kill in one head shot, if you are stationary and visible to an enemy position, it is quite likely you will be sniped. Where possible, keep moving, or at least minimise the angles you are exposed, you can't avoid every getting sniped, but you can minimise it, 99% of snipers struggle to hit a moving target. Learn what a near miss sounds like, and learn to watch for tracers so you can get to cover and not let them have another go.

Infantry combat is a trickier thing to help with in short tips. Situational awareness is the big thing, you are going up against a lot of players who have learned all the sneaky camping spots. Know that when you see "pings" on the minimap (recon dart) or this certain little stick icon (motion spotter) all the enemies nearby will be able to see you moving on the minimap. The best advice I can give, is try and strike a balance between not solo heroing too much (and getting mown down from all the people in your blind spots), and not going with the lemmings (who go the obvious way into a crossfire or get explosive farmed). One of the best ways to boost awareness is to have another set of eyes and ears (or a dozen).

If you have any specific questions ask them.

You've clearly chosen to play TR.

Go back and start again with NC, these guys have shields for everything so they last four times as longer. Their guns also do 4x as much damage as any other faction. They are the developer's favorite and a fundamental part of their business model in order to get more money from those who want to play easymode and also those that need to beat them.

VS have no bullet drop and have a free faction specific night time cloak for every class, so at night they are completely invisible.

The NC and VS have a pact not to fight each other.

Welcome to Planetside 2!

You've experienced the great gameplay designed by the genius's at SOE. That is exactly what SOE intented. Either you are being camped at your spawns or you are the one camping the enemy.

I'm sorry that you ended up being camped and I do realize that the learning curve must have been pretty steep there, but that's fine - it's Planetside 2!

If you are willing to hit your head against a wall and experience failure after failure for a week or so, I would say that you will get over the initial confusion and actually improve. You may even find the gameplay enjoyable (for a little while). Ofcourse it will require constant monitoring of the map and relocating yourself to the brawls where your empire has more players. However, eventually you'll get fed up for fighting over the same small outposts one after the other with absolutely no sense of progress. Yes, I know it's pathetic..

Not the thread for TR whining man, really

Don't be greedy, don't overextend.

There are two areas of knowledge you absolutely need to be successful in PS2 and FPS in general.

1. Situational Awareness
2. Weapon Accuracy

Situational Awareness is simply knowing where you are and what's going on around you. This unfortunately come by playing the game, but there are a few things you can do.

A. Evaluate the challenge of leaving the spawn room.
If you're in a spawn room being shelled by tanks, lots of explosions, people dying all around, then the awareness is "this is a bad fight". Press the "Del" key to redeploy. Look for a smaller fight or a fight that's in the early phases.

B. Evaluate where the enemy is
Use your eyes, look for enemy soldiers, their faction colored bullets. Use your ears, listen for faction specific weapons, listen for people talking to each other who aren't on your team. Use your minimap (Press H to make it bigger, press ] to zoom). If your map is empty, switch class to cloaker and use the sensor darts. Give yourself a chance to see where your enemy is.

C. Keep moving!
If you're getting sniped in the head then your head is standing still too long. Run everywhere! Never walk unless you're shooting a weapon. Remember, Dodge, Duck, Dive, Dip and Dodge! To succeed in the FPS genre you need to keep moving.


Weapon Accuracy is just that how often can you place a bullet on target. There are a few factors for this as well all are in your control, but require different solutions.

A. Computer horsepower is required to run PlanetSide 2
Press, ALT+F to turn on the FPS indicator in the game (Bottom left corner). If you're under 60 FPS you're going to have a rougher time. Find someone to help you tune your computer if you're under 60. Get as close to 60 and above to have a fair chance.

B. Mouse sensitivity is critical
When I first started I thought elite meant having the fastest mouse speed out there. However, after talking to some FPS pros and watching a number of videos I learned that the opposite is true. I've lowered my mouse sensitivity and greatly increased my accuracy. Look for tutorials on mouse sensitivity for PS2 and make sure you're giving yourself a fair chance.

C. Actual accuracy is the last step
You should be 100% able to gun someone down if they're not looking directly at you, but only if you actually hit their body with the bullets. There are two things I use to improve myself. I practice in the VR room. Don't just stand there. Try running, jumping, crouching, walking, strafing in one direction, strafing back and forth. If you can, record yourself and watch your play. See if you can spot anything obvious, like bullets consistently missing left or right.

Planetside 2 is a hard game. It tosses you into the meat grinder right away. I'd love for there to be an area where newer FPS players could fight each other to learn the genre. Aw, well. Good luck!

Cover is good, but you should always keep moving. Because of the slow projectile velocities sadly inherent in the game, shooting at long range is not very effective and you should go to close range by running in a zig-zag.

Also join a squad, rather than simply following them. Most organized forces use teamspeak. A squad marching in a straight line or column over an open field is many times more effective than a few individuals huddling behind a rock.

I disagree about joining battles where you outnumber the enemy; that is neither fun nor challenging. Try to join battles where the forces are equal or slightly outnumbered. Avoid fights where your base is completely surrounded by vehicles.

You should also consider specializing in one or two classes. Medics, heavy assault, and MAXes are the easiest to use, though the latter costs plenty of certifications to upgrade. If you choose MAXes, then, considering how you are TR, choose either Charge or Anchor Mode. Charge is better for storming a base, but Anchor Mode is better for defense, especially effective indoors.

You are incorrect, the glorious Terran Republic is the best faction.

Please report for immeidant re-eduction and recylcing

Sounds like you're being killed by snipers.

There is a huge learning curve to planetside, the best thing you can do is join an outfit and let them teach you as you go.

Nice dodgeball reference. Hilarious film.

Here are some tips that helped me.

1. Your a new player playing with experienced players, when you get in a fight an experienced player will most likely win.
2. Learn to use cover efficiently. This means walking along a wall or running between rocks.
3. Watch videos on youtube. One youtubber who taught me a lot was Wrel. He has awesome guides on how to play ps2.
4. Learn your mini map. Your mini map can tell you where the enemy.
5. learn how to use your ability. If you are a HA the over shield you should pop before leaving cover or going into a room, or if you are LA then you should fly to high advantage points where you are less of a target.
6. Don't spam q. When you spot someone you yell to your team, your enemy can also hear you as well.
7. Use headphones and adjust your sounds in the settings. Things like explosions and bullet fire should be higher than music.
8. When you select a squad chose a squad that has a outfit tag in the squad name. they tend to be more organize and someone has a mic that tells everyone what to do.
9. It seems everyone has mentioned situational awareness, so I guess I will. By this I mean before leaving the safety of the spawn room or cover you should look at your mini map and at potential cover for enemy. knowing where your enemy hides will help you to stay alive longer.
10. Finally, practice to get better. You can do this by either going to the VR training or playing the game.

I suggest playing a support role such as a medic or engineer. Stay back near a sundy or a max. playing as a medic or engineer can give you a whole bunch of exp that levels your character. once your character levels you get certs and you can use your certs to get better weapons and gear.

Sounds like you're trying to rush out of a camped spawn room. Most of the time, in larger battles, once you're pushed back to your spawn room and unable to exit without being shot at by something, you're done at that base.

I advise you open the map, mouse-over the bases you wish to fight at and compare population numbers. Once you get used to it you can pretty much eyeball it and tell how the fight will likely end.

Try looking for less lopsided fights, such as 50/50. Biolabs usually need about 60%+ to take, mind.


Just keep in mind that PS2 is very hectic most of the time. Death is guaranteed.

Most of the learning curve of planetside 2 is learning how to avoid dying to stuff.


also what's your ping? are you on the right server to your region?

Well last battle I road around on my flash looking for a group to help heal
That went better then all them so far.
Stayed in cover didn't bother trying to shoot anything just watched and waited for the opportunity to rush out and heal someone then get to cover again.

Got on the flash the re-deployed but I drove to the new location instead cause I didn't want to lose my flash.

I have AMD FX 8350 with 16GB ram and 650 TiGTX 2GB card
Probably going to upgrade to 660 GTX Ti 2GB or better in the next month or so

I have no jitter or glitchy game play with all settings on max.
FPS is about 55-75 pretty steady there.

Anyhow I'll read all the rest of the posts again it's a lot to read.

Thanks all

Don't sprint unless you know where you are going. If you are engaged while sprinting, your pants are down in terms of the time to ready your weapon. Cover to cover is fine, but until you know an area and where enemies are coming from, hang back, let others go first. Live longer by not running into your own death and you will find more favorable engagements.

A lot of it is learning how to pick fights and when or where to take certain actions. You can be a total mlg-noscope-pro in another shooter and still have a bad time when lacking this. One useful thing is to learn the map and what the information it's giving you means.

Unless you're rolling with a very competent group, avoid hexes on the map that show unfavorable odds when looking at the region information. This can be found towards the bottom right of the screen when mousing over a territory. Since you're just starting out, if you're remaining solo, pick areas with your factions population on the pie chart being at least 50%. Preferebly 60%, in your favor, and nice mid-size fights to minimize both 1v1ing more experienced players and the chaos of huge fights. Small fights being 6-12, mid size being 24-48, and large fights being 48+.

After that, it's just growing pains and knowing when a fight's going bad. It's also good to join squads. A good squad can give good direction and make things a lot easier. A bad squad can be ditched. If you can find a squad with a vocal leader and a team that sticks together, you should be better off. If your squad leader is fairly quiet and everyone scattered, just leave it. You're better off alone, at that point.

Regardless, you'd be surprised at how much difference it makes to be "in the loop" on what's happening around you and why a certain group is doing something.

Also