This title sounds funny, eh? I'm not talking about everyday shooting talent in BB, however. I'm talking about total mastery in the art of firing weapons. Yes. Weapons. Not only cannons, not just torps, not just mortars or grenades. My tips will apply to all weapons.
Before I begin(damn, this is becoming common in my strat threads
) I'd like to clear up some misconceptions.
- *Accurate point shooting is a talent*
It is no more of a talent than driving your ship. It's a skill. You can learn it. Don't let yourself down like that
Anyone can shoot like a god-tier player if they put their minds up to it.
- *You need battle experience to shoot accurately*
I'm sorry, no. Battle experience is not the only factor. Sure, practice makes perfect. But
battle experience, without battle analysis, is NOTHING. I've seen people with 15k+ battles shoot like cameramen(we've all seen the type
). At the same time, I've seen people with 5k battles shooting an overboosting speeder out of the max range of their blast cannon(NOT lying, it was one of my friends that I was teaching evasion to, I forget the name... Could the dude with whom I played without shooting on D9, using purely evade movements, please stand up?
)
So how do you build up your accuracy to a super high level?
Well, first off, there's a few cardinal rules, you can call them the "
Gunslinger's Code":
- Draw to shoot, shoot to kill
The most important rule. You know what's common to all great point-shooters?
They don't cancel shots, because it takes time to recover from that. But you know what's equally important?
Don't pick a target you cannot possibly shoot. If you saw a speeder overboosting away from you, it's a clear sign he's going to try to use every single trick in the book to evade you. You can, with experience, find gaps where others see only obstacles. However, what this rule implies is,
you should have a realistic view of your own ability.
So this next one may sound hypocritical...
- You miss every shot you don't take
Now I know what you're thinking. What the heck? This dude just told us to choose wisely, then he tells us to spam and stuff?
No. What I mean is,
WHEN an event occurs that there's absolutely no cons to taking a shot(like when the battle is just starting and there's one speeder coming at you with his entire team far behind, and you have this blast cannon that'll be useless for the next 10 seconds anyway, OR like when you're in a 1v1 and you KNOW you're not going to get a better window)
you shouldn't hesitate to take it. This will enhance your knowledge of what you can hit and what you cannot, ultimately making you a better point-shooter.
There are a lot of situations where you get emotional. Maybe there's that one dude you have a vendetta with on the enemy team. Maybe there's that opponent you're never able to hit. Maybe there's a spammer out there. Whatever the situation is,
your gun arm must be unbiased at all times. Never, EVER, bring emotion into the picture, unless it's a good emotion(like, "Hell yeah I'm slayin' everyone"). Even good emotions can be bad sometimes. They can lead to overconfidence. You need to draw the line for yourself.
Shoot with a clear mind or don't shoot at all.
Now, if you have followed the Code, I'll impart my personal procedure to shoot to you.
Step-1. Acquire the target.
I note down who it is, what ship and what gear they're carrying. I note down whether their nitro is on cooldown, whether they're locked on to someone else. I break that info down and run it through my experience of situations. Once I'm satisfied that the situation is favorable, I move to Step-2.
Step-2. Ready.
Once I determine that it is favorable to take the shot, I prepare to shoot. It is at this time that everything fades away. People aiming at me, my killfeed, personal matters, emotion, everything. I'm detached.
Step-3. Aim.
I prepare to shoot. I factor in waves, projectile speed, and future movements of the target. For a fraction of a second, I evaluate if I should direct a target somewhere(if I'm using a mort or torp). In the 1/100 chance that the target is not going to be hit AND I know that the shot is going to be impossible beforehand, I cancel it. Also, I reattach myself to the situation at this point in time, checking if someone's about to hit me with a mortal injury(this is only if I'm on a boat with yellow slots, however. With other boats, I cannot help but take the hit, so i proceed anyway). If they are, I prepare to dodge, otherwise I detach myself again.
Step-3. Fire.
It is at this step that two things happen at once. I lead my shot, and release at the same time. This is where experience comes into play. For me, it is one swift, fluid motion. For a less experienced person, it might feel a little more robotic, in my experience with them.
NOTE:- Really experienced point-shooters are capable of doing pre-lead, which allows them to make all the necessary aiming calculations before they actually fire. They often integrate these calculations at the Ready stage because they've already determined, with near-100% confidence, that their shot will hit.
So that's my guide to shooting accurately, hope you learned something from it, TheAntiSnipe, signing off!
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