Perspective time, K/D ratio: What is Good, Bad, Normal??

Discussion in 'PlanetSide 2 Gameplay Discussion' started by Knarfis, Mar 5, 2013.

  1. IMTasty

    Damnit, I feel horrible now, will someone ever love me? :(
    • Up x 1
  2. PaidToWin

    I don't understand how anyone can get ten deaths to a kill and call that "fun." It's like taking up boxing just for the free concussions.

    I've seen that attitude in EVE hundreds of times too. You obliterate a group, and as they hit the unsubscribe button because they're out of game money, they tell you "well at least I had fun." Really? You had fun? Is that fun the reason why you're leaving the game/accusing everyone around you of hacking/begging for nerfs on the forums?
  3. SgtBreastroker

    You obviously don't know how to play like Chuck Norris then.
    • Up x 1
  4. Morpholine

    In an ideal environment, and one where there is no friendly fire or suicide, average would be 1.0 k:d.

    Since we do have both team killing and suicides, slightly below 1.0 would be the true average score.

    Now, as many have said, it's pretty meaningless. The 0.2 average medic who always dies with his heal tool in hand is a far greater value to the overall effort than the 12.0 ratio one-shot-one-kill sniper.
    • Up x 3
  5. SgtBreastroker

    Completely baseless assumption.
  6. TheBigHert

    The more certs you put into your main class, the longer you'll live & more you will kill. 0.3 k/d is a very typical number for just starting & not playing much fps. But this game isn't a DM or a TDM, it's about territorial control.
  7. Zwill

    I hate the player site encourage people look at their KD
    • Up x 3
  8. Devrailis

    First of all, like a few people have already mentioned, KDR is really not a good metric for performance or usefulness in PS2, so kick that habit while its fresh. That being said, if it is a stat that you want to improve, then let me tell you a few things as someone who rarely ever pulls a vehicle and who plays solo 99% of the time.

    If you're new to shooters, 0.3 isn't something to cry about.

    PS2 is my first dedicated FPS as well. I've never played a console shooter, and the last FPS I played at all was Unreal Tournament during a few LAN parties back in the day.

    My first 5 seconds in Planetside 2 involved getting drop-podded into the middle of a TR/VS zergfest (as an NC). I'm fairly certain to this day that the guys who killed me didn't even realize I was there. I was clocking a KDR of about 0.35 on average for several weeks. I suffered from, as a buddy of mine aptly described it, "War Tourism".

    SYMPTOMS OF WAR TOURISM CAN INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO:

    - Ooh shiny explosions, gotta go check em out!
    - Wow, that`s a lot of guys running in one direction, I should try that too!
    - HO.LY SH.IT! That`s a lot of tanks! I wonder how they look up close!?
    - Bah, I died again, let me switch to another class, maybe running through that same door as a medic will work better.
    - I'm an LA, and this wall is begging to be jumped over.
    - If I close my eyes hard enough, maybe those flying machines won't notice me!

    As you can imagine, I died early and often.

    But just because you're clocking a low KDR doesn't mean you can't improve. I died a lot before I learned what things to avoid and watch out for. If you're really struggling, I would recommend picking a class and learning it thoroughly. Learning to play one class well will do wonders for your performance compared to learning to play every class poorly.

    I learned to play one class and one class reasonably well, back then it was infil, I spent weeks learning how to position myself, how to find the right position to snipe, how to cover my ***. I lurked the infil forums, took in the rare useful tip and discarded the more common trash. I learned to use all the tools that the class, which is admittedly half-***** and broken, had to offer. When I do play infil these days, I notice that I'm still one of the rare infils that uses his R.D.D. A LOT.

    I still died a lot too, there's a lot of good players here who have had years of experience in other shooters. They smacked me around like a rag doll. I've run into guys who've gibbed me 4, 5 times in a row before I gave up and turned in to lick my wounds, but I kept practicing at my one class. Keep in mind I also solo play 99% of the time, so I could afford to do things my own way at my own pace. You may find outfit play more rewarding, that'll be up to you.

    I got familiar with the maps. This one is big. If you`re not comfortable with the battlefield you're fighting in, you're already at a disadvantage. I know Zurvan Amp, every single building, the entire area, like the back of my hand. While people were zerg-derping at the Crown, I was running around Zurvan poking into every nook and cranny, trying to find places that people would not expect an infil to get into. Not surprisingly, Zurvan is where I've pulled some of my best early kill streaks. I did this in other facilities too, I'd run 2,3 hexes into enemy territory just to see what the bases were like. Comes in handy these days when I need a place to duck into for cover, or if I'm hunting that infil who thinks he's more clever than me. (No, no you are not).

    By the time I started playing MAX, my lifetime KDR on my infil was roughly 3. I was averaging 5-8 kills per death. I was pulling kill streaks of 20+ on occasion. It still wasn't stellar compared to some of the really good infils who played on my server, but it was a heck of a lot better than where I started. It took me nearly 2 months to get there, and I expected it to have taken longer. I've got a ton of deaths on my lifetime stats, it affects my current KDR significantly, but those deaths added up to where I am and what I know about the game now.

    Point is, where you're at now is not indicative of where you'll be at skill-wise 2-3 months from now, if you're willing to put in the time to really learn the game. And this is still assuming you care about your KDR stat at all, which again, is not a prerequisite for enjoying PS2.

    That being said. You could also just roll NC and play a ScatMAX. That does wonders for your KDR too. :rolleyes:

    TL;DR - Play a ScatMAX, and watch your KDR unleash its true potential. :cool:
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    Okay, okay just kidding. Keep plugging away, you'll get better. If I can do it, what's stopping you?
    • Up x 5
  9. 13lackCats

    K/D is meaningless, unless Victim Average Time On Mission is understood.
  10. Rasczak

    The only stat that matters is how effectively you support your team in an attack or defense scenario. Everything else is secondary.
  11. TheBaronofSD

    if you're in a tank, plane (not galaxy transport), or playing as a LA, HA, MAX, or INF/sniper then KD IS an important metric. if you're in a support role like medic, engineer, or for some reason playing as a spotter INF or trying to infiltrate into a base and hax something then KD isn't indicative of how useful you are or aren't being.

    those who claim it isn't important are kidding themselves. yes, this is a territory capture game however you're not capturing territory if the aggregate K/D ratio on your side is inferior to the opposition presuming of course a relatively numerically equivalent battle is taking place.
  12. Knarfis

    Even if you where trying to be a complete *** about this comment, I cant stop laughing at how funny it really is. Thanks for the cheer up.

    Knarfis[/QUOTE]
    • Up x 1
  13. Total_Overkill

    I wasnt, but seriously... your drill instructor should be court marshaled for allowing a 0.3 into the military.
    Vanu doesnt even allow our fry cooks to have less then a 0.5
  14. Knarfis

    I have a pretty expensive custom built computer. Its about 2 years old now but it cost me close to $900 or so to build it. I average around 30fps or so. I have been recently working on getting those numbers higher with playing around in the graphics. At the warp gate I tend to get around 50-60fps. But out in fights I do not have a clear cut answer for you. I am running an ATI 9800 card so that really should not be an issue. Hell my computer should not be an issue as it was built for gaming in mind. I know its not the best as that would have cost me close to $2k and change. But my system is no slouch.

    Knarfis
  15. Jrv

    Really depends on what your role is.

    If you're full time air, I'm thinking 3.0k/d is a minimum to be considered a good pilot.

    For armor, anywhere from 2-3k/d is optimal.

    For combat-focused infantry(heavies, lights, infiltrators, etc.), I'd say 1.5-3.0 k/d is where you should aim for.
    For support roles(medic/engineer), anything above 1.0 k/d is fine.

    Personally, I'm a heavy. I've spent 90% of my playtime as this class.
  16. Cowabunga

    a KD of 1 is decent enough. I mostly play as infantry and love every minute. If you haven't played since "Golden Eye" you just need to get back in the game. Once you get the hang of it and know how to engage the enemy with the correct loadout(once you get some weapons unlocked) you'll find it a lot easier. In this game it is ESSENTIAL to have the correct loadout for a specific situation.
  17. Being@RT

    You might want to look into score/hour, as score at least considers other activities besides killing.

    Admittedly score isn't valued in accordance to importance of whatever it is you do (and would be impossible to anyway), and you can pad those stats as well without actually benefitting your faction (and membership/boosts make comparison to other players tricky).

    Killing 20 enemies in 5 minutes but dying 30 times may very well be a better accomplishment than killing 20 enemies in 30 minutes without dying once.
    • Up x 1
  18. SgtScum

    I hover around a .6 or .7 ratio as a nearly full time engie who mostly runs with the zerg in his ammo sundy making sure all the tanktards can spam HE to their hearts content at the spawn rooms.

    Then a suicide c4+at mine engie kills me.. :p
  19. f0d

    your K/D should have nothing to do with if you enjoy the game or not - you shouldnt just give up because your k/d is bad

    i constantly threw myself into the meatgrinder in ps1 and probably had something like a .000005/1 ratio or something (never cared to look) i had some awesome fun despite any "ratio"

    but in the end if you are not having fun then you are not having fun - no "ratio" will make you enjoy the game
  20. Littleman

    What's sad about this thread is the number of people shoving their philosophical crap (read: opinions (which are all crap, even mine)) down the OP's throat instead of answering a simple question.

    I average 20-30 an hour, which I imagine is towards the low-mid end of the hour-long infantry-man spectrum, with anywhere from a 3 to 5 K/D ratio after an hour long play session. I could be a little more reckless, but simply throwing myself at the enemy sitting on top of an ammo box does nothing for my team, I need to kill someone(s) to make progress. Medics are only as useful as the people they're picking up. Engineers are only helping their team if the tank they're repairing actually achieves defeating their enemies. Support only achieves keeping potential killers going. Killing achieves progress. Engineers and medics have guns for a reason.

    An objective oriented player with a high K/D is probably the most valuable soldier on the field. Doesn't matter the class, so long as he can lock down a control point and keep it secured, or push through an enemy line and take the area by force. HA/MAXes just do it best is all. Medics and engineers keep them (and themselves) going strong.

    I achieve my K/D by being a Heavy Assault with an MSR-W(TR)/Anchor(NC,) with adv laser pointer, flash suppressor, and 1x reflex attachments, resist shield (rank 1 for 50 certs, the rest are bugged and add nothing,) 2-3 medkits (200-300 certs total,) and at least nanoweave rank 1 (1 measly cert point.) One can opt for any other weapon or restoration kits instead, but I swear by resist shield as the best overall shield ability a baby heavy can pick up. Nanoweave compounds into resist shield, making it even more gorgeous. Resist shield reduces incoming damage by 45% up to a threshold of 500 incoming damage from a single source. That means your life span while taking fire is effectively doubled, especially when taking damage fall off into account.

    My weapon choices are mostly for CQC hip-firing effectiveness, but they're still VERY reliable ADS, though there are better weapons and attachments for med-long range engagements. However, I can't make my hip-fire spread any tighter via skill. I however can improve my ADS accuracy via skill. Coincidentally, since going heavy assault, I've had plenty of chances to improve my aim and learn how to react thanks to not dying in half a second the moment someone opens fire on me. This is a great Lrn2aim and lrn2flank/take cover class in my opinion. The extra durability makes it very forgiving towards simple mistakes, exponentially increasing the number of meaningful learning opportunities when it comes to improving One's own infantry play.

    MAXes are a different beast. Sure they walk on two legs, but they're essentially miniature BFR's without the shields or flight capabilities. Great killing capacity for how durable they are.

    P.S. If you're Vanu, I don't really have advice for a good CQC LMG. They seem to have a weird selection of LMG's that jockey for the same position in just about every role.