Help, I'm terrible!

[Sethsocrazy]

So I'm bad at this game, it's no secret. Whenever I get a kill, I drink it in like it's the last one I'll ever get. I don't think I've had a battle where I've killed another person without someone else's firepower to stack upon. If I escape a battle without dying, I count that as a win. I've oddly enough gotten accused of hacking at one point when I was driving in my ATV between bases and happen to accidentally run over an infiltrator. If I'm cheating in this game, I'm bad at it.

I don't get it. I'm usually pretty decent at an eclectic assortment of first person shooters like Call of Duty, Battlefield, and Halo, but when it comes to Planetside, I just can't get the hang of it. When I played back in the day, I had an old system and a crumby internet connection to blame my poor gameplay on. Now that I have a decent computer and a good connection, I don't have that excuse anymore.

When I first made this character, I tried just about all of the certifications I could get my hands on in the amount of time I was allowed, but got my ass kicked in each role I played. I feel like there's something I'm missing. Like there's some simple fundamental strategy that I can't grasp. Can anyone give me tips and tricks and what not? Strategies that help you net dozens of kills?

At the moment I'm set on being a pilot (mosquito and reaver) and a hacker, but I would like some tips on general gun fights as well.

If anything, this proves how much I love this game. Even when I get the shit kicked out of me, I still play for hours.

[krnasaur]

this game is very different than the COD and BF series. the gameplay is more slowly paced and tactical. When flying, the first thing I tried to master was avoiding AA. i found it pretty effective attacking from the flanks( atleast 90 degrees away from the main front) . With hacking, by itself its pretty underwhelming. If your looking to get better, from the start try to focus on support oriented certs like medic, engineer, and the support vechs (AMS's and loadstars)

[Sethsocrazy]

this game is very different than the COD and BF series. the gameplay is more slowly paced and tactical. When flying, the first thing I tried to master was avoiding AA. i found it pretty effective attacking from the flanks( atleast 90 degrees away from the main front) . With hacking, by itself its pretty underwhelming. If your looking to get better, from the start try to focus on support oriented certs like medic, engineer, and the support vechs (AMS's and loadstars)

I've found hacking is easier than I remember however. Back in the day I remember getting caught pretty quick by people spamming their darklight vision. Now people constantly pass me, even bumping into me and thinking nothing over it. An enemy walked right passed me while I was hacking their tower, and at one point I even snuck behind someone guarding the tower's CC and hacked it right under his nose. It was funny watching him suddenly realize his empire didn't own the tower anymore, trying to figure out what happened. I suppose I've just been lucky so far though.

As for piloting though, I'm especially frustrated. It feels like every time I get near a base or tower, no matter from what angle or altitude, I'll get shot down by a wasp or AA max. The afterburners on my mosquito just aren't enough to get away :c

[krnasaur]

well 1) mossies are terrible IMO, get a reaver. and 2) It depends on who you are facing, the TR are very direction dependent. if you attack a locked down TR AA max from behind he is dead before he can unlock. against the VS and the NC (I play as the NC idk how to counter them pretty well) you want to practice flying very low, weaving in and out of trees, and saving your afterburn for the right time.

[Effective]

Basic stuff.

Medkits, Strafing, Aiming/leading. These 3 things are key, especially the last 2. Aiming always comes first, for 1 reason, if you can aim better then your opponent then you'll almost always win, adding in strafing makes you harder to hit, and can let you kill multiple people. Medkits, should have at least 3 in rexo and 1 in agile, more doesn't hurt in either. (On a side note, Audio amp, is the BEST implant in the game for a newer player)

Key binds, resetting key binds to be more efficient helps alot.
For me my keys are.
F = Jump
Space bar = Crouch
Shift = inventory
Mousewheel forward = Audio Amp
Mousewheel back = Medkit
Mousewheel push = Surge
Mouse Button 4 = Talk button for Vent/TS/Mumble
Mouse button 5 = Third person
Ctrl = 3rd Implant, ET, DL, Sensor shield, or Pshield if I felt like abusing broken game mechanics.

These key bindings look weird, and it does take time to adjust to it, but this way, my fingers never leave my movement keys and my mouse, i can strafe and aim with no interruptions.

Last but most certainly not least (arguably the most important thing) is situational awareness.

A little more advanced stuff for improving is hardware/accessories. Buy a good headset, being able to hear which directions things are coming from is helpful. Buy a decent mouse (a MX518 is what I use to use, now I'm using a G500) and a nice big surface. Get your sensitivity to where you are comfortable with it (too high and you'll always overshoot a target, too low and you can't keep up with a target that's warping). Do what you can to keep your FPS as high as possible.

There's so much more I could put up. But I'm not feeling it in me today. If you see me online feel free to send me a tell with any questions you may have (I don't play as often as I use to though). If I don't answer I'm probably afk or getting shot at).

Note this doesn't cover everything, planetside is a game completely different from any other FPS.

You can look at some planetside videos, to maybe get an idea of what it looks like on another players end, such as videos here

http://www.trxclan.com/forums/index.php/topic,1213.0.html

[Bags]

If you see me online feel free to send me a tell with any questions you may have

The above poster's ingame name is TRxEffect, by the way.

[Sethsocrazy]

Aiming always comes first, for 1 reason, if you can aim better then your opponent then you'll almost always win, adding in strafing makes you harder to hit, and can let you kill multiple people.

I did notice I have terrible aiming. in a controlled situation I'm alright, but when a enemy is thrown in front of me, I start to panic and my crossfire gets shaky. As for strafing, I try to do that when I can, but more times than not, when I'm in a battle, I'll be in a group, and a lot of strafing gets really frustrating for the people behind me when they want to avoid friendly fire. I've shot more than my share of friendlies because of their constant strafing.

I might hit you up, but I am NC, so I don't know if that goes against anyone's morals!

[Robert089]

Effect seems to have covered the basics, one thing I'm going to reccomend is to find a decent and active outfit.

I know this isn't a tip that you can apply directly to your problem but you constantly learn new tips and tricks from other players that you have direct contact with and you can have sweeper duels and the like to improve strafing and aim.

[The Desert Fox]

Man iv been playing this game for years and when it comes to flying if I have a positive K/D I am happy. Getting kills while flying is hard as hell considering every person and there brother has some sort of AA, on top of the dozens of new AA additions (looking at you Cerberus turrets/ungraded base turrets) plus the GOD DAMN VS/NC AA MAX MOTHERFUCKING PEACE OF SHIT...Sorry, so trying too maneuver around that, then going after a mossie or a tank only to have your kill taken at the last second is quite common. I fly because it's fun and Il take a 1-2 hard earned dog fight kills then a dozen infantry kills any day.

If your looking to get good, flying is probably the hardest to master IMO, but whatever u want stick too it. I jumped around a lot my first few months back.

EDIT: to the people who I am sure will jump in saying "idk what hes talking about flying is OP" Yes I know I am not very good, but I speak the truth on this one.

[Azren]

If you can't do good in close combat, just switch roles. Get engi and medic certs, and heal up your teammates. You could also get special assault cert, which allows you to do good damage without having to get too close. It is also possible to just forget about that stuff and get MAX certs, all that armor will give you enough time to win many fights.
I personally am not good at close combat, so what I did was get assault engi, one MAX and tank certs. Tanks are the most fun in this game anyway for me.

[Firefly]

Join Black Widow Company. We'll train you to work with a team, and your skills *and* your kills will go up. We've found that, individually you probably need a fuckton of skill - as a team, many guns killing one target is a lot better.

http://www.the-bwc.com

[TexasRainger]

Yep PS is a team work mmo - get into an outfit - get on voice conference with your mates, try to act your battle movements in shooting-range, learn there how every weapon works. Also change your vid settings to minimal and be confident when facing an enemy , but remember that your renegade is a man, not a bot.

[dachlatte]

please dont just switch roles and be "a support guy"(not that support guys are bad or anything). that way you will just avoid the problem and you said you want to get better at shooting stuff.

effect had some really good tips. altough his key bindings are a little strange :D

my advice would be:
obeserve the other players. your allies and your enemys as well. you will notice certain patterns in standard situations.

check your minimap as much as possible. you have to know whats going on around you at all times. otherwise you are easy prey.