BF: What am I missing?

[Silk]

OK, so I've not played the BF games anywhere near as much as some of the vets in THN and as such I'd never expect to be as good as them, and I'm perfectly fine therefore with being somewhere in the middle of the scoreboard (as you'd argue anyone with reasonable FPS experience should be). I am fine with that. My days of being the best died along with Quake2 afterall.

What I can't accept, or rather, don't know how to "fix" is my uncanny abiilty for everything to go horribly wrong in the game, and on a frequent basis!

BFBC2, and now BF3, both feel to me like a chose you own adventure book. Point in case, I'll be running behind a squaddie (MK1) and we reach a juncture in the metro whereby we can go straight on and down the escalators, or turn right into the red coridoor. MK1 proceeds to the right.

Do I turn to page 56 to glance ahead then follow him.
Do I turn to page 124 to wait and see if enemies come up the escalator.
Do I turn to page 41 to run back down from whence I came, find a hidey hole and play dead.

I pick page 56, dilligantly following MK1. Nary 1second later I get shotdown from behind. I should very clearly point out that this is one example of an alarmingly common scenario where I always seem to pick the wrong "page" and it honestly feels like either I am doing something very wrong or I'm constantly unlucky.

I think this is the reason I like taking to the skies. Up there not one death feels like it was down to bad luck. If I crash, my fault. If I get locked on, I have a warning, time to manouvre and react, not just instantly die. If I die to AA, my fault. If I get shot down my a more experienced pilot, my fault, but I can learn from his skill. Air doesn't seem to contribute much or give decent kills though (that said, I'm noticing a gradual increase in kills/points the more I get used to it).

But air isn't on all maps, and air is usually all taken. So I'm stuck on the floor seemingly with the worst luck in the universe, either that or my playstyle is all wrong. If it's the latter it's something that can be fixed, and hence this thread. Perhaps someone has noticed that I do something silly, and can comment on it. Perhaps someone is bored and can squad-cam me a while to pick apart my playstyle. Honestly I have no real clue what I'm missing, and after coming middling to last a few times night after night (with the odd lucky spike to top 3), I think I need help to identify my flaws.

As MK1 rightly pointed out, playing for fun helps. And I do; the frustration only kicks in for me because K-D is published online and mine is gradually sneaking below 1:1, which some people class as crap, and that bothers me - especially when I see others in our team doing so well compared to me. I follow them, I even mimick them and their routes around maps, and I come off literally three times worse somehow - usually always due to "turning to the wrong page" rather than seeing someone and accidentally spasming and my mouse flying off the mat (which is what I laughed about in TS last night). I also lose count of the number of times my back gets riddled with bullets whilst I follow people who then don't get shot at all. On the exact same path, same speed etc.

 

[comrade_phil]

because K-D is published online and mine is gradually sneaking below 1:1, which some people class as crap, and that bothers me - especially when I see others in our team doing so well compared to me.

I'm going to be completely unhelpful here, but a K/D of 1 would be fine for me. I have exactly the same issue of following "more experienced" squad members and getting shot in the back (of the head usually, and more often than not by bloke) The only way I seem to remedy this is by diving for whatever cover is available as soon as I see some. Obviously this isn't perfect as my K/D will testify to, but I seem to be having some better rounds now. More experienced players will, for the most part, always be better, so I just have to content myself with some revenge/comeback kills...bloke's face will testify to this

 

[thatbloke]

I find the main problem that most people seem to have is with awareness of their surroundings.

I'm already starting to get very used to the layout of most of the maps, so I know in a large number of situations where I can be shot from when I want to move from point A to point B, so let's take the above situation and I'll explain what I would do:

Mk1 decides he wants to cross a corridor, going from point A to point B. I'm on the opposing team, at the other end of said corridor. (Assume we're talking about the B point in Grand Bazaar). You are right behind him. he takes a quick look down the corridor, can't hear any gunfire either, so goes for it and makes it across safely. Now it's your turn.

In that couple of seconds it will have taken him to cross, it's safe to assume that as you're advancing, someone (me) will have spotted him moving. Due to the squad-based nature of BF, if I see one person, it's entirely reasonable to assume that there will be 3 more people just around the corner. Because I saw him, I'm then going to be ready for anyone else that wants to cross that corridor - in this case, you. Because I'm ready, waiting and already looking down my sights, 9 out of 10 times, you'll be killed by me.

How do you avoid this? Suppressing fire. Ideally, Mk1 will realise that you're behind him, start firing down the corridor once he's crossed, causing me to take cover, and allowing you the couple of seconds you require to cross. Does that always happen? no. So instead of you making that move, instead you need to make things safe yourself. Provide your OWN covering fire. poke round the corner briefly, if you get a torch or a laser in your face then step BACK instantly. As you know someone is there, start pre-firing, try and force them to take cover, providing you the space you need.

To take another situation, Seine Crossing. Often you were following other people around, which, while OK, means that you aren't really contributing much - you need to be a little more independent and while also staying close, keep an ear/eye out for things in a direction that the person in front of you is not looking in. If he's about to make a right, you need to be looking left.

There will always be situations where you will get flanked and/or ambushed from behind - unavoidable, sometimes. But things like having a good surround headset can really make a difference - you can hear tanks and other vehicles from a mile off. You can hear footsteps. You can hear enemies shouting either that they are reloading or they just killed someone. All of those, with a good surround sound headset, should give you an indication of the direction that potential trouble can come from.

The other thing is map knowledge - to start, you will not know the maps, so you will often get ambushed by people that do, simply because they know a route you do not. However, as you play more, you will get to know the maps, you will get to know which buildings can be occupied and which can't, which cubbyholes in Grand Bazaar have corridors leading elsewhere, how the hell people get on to the roof of certain buildings in Operation Firestorm, etc. etc.

Also, people don't use their map anywhere near enough. as you're advancing, look for where friendlies are. If there are NO friendlies in the area you're heading to, expect to get shot at.

Another thing - it's not all about the K/D ratio. BF3 is way more about teamwork than that other major FPS. I've seen players quite regularly with a K/D of something like 1/10 on a server, but getting MVP ribbons, due to them being a medic/support/whatever. If you have to worry about a stat, then the one to worry about is your Score Per Minute, not the K/D ratio.

 

[Paddy]

I am probably one of the worse players EVER when it comes to shooting in BF3 (although slowly getting better). I personally don't worry about k/d ratio. As Bloke will testify, (and the same as you Silk) I get a lot of points from kill assists etc. That is why I go for medic/engineer to act in a support role. you do get a lot of points that way.

Failing that, unlike Blokes advice, get a series of cheap head sets, that you can throw across the room at any given moment

 

[Ki!ler-Mk1]

How do you avoid this? Suppressing fire. Ideally, Mk1 will realise that you're behind him, start firing down the corridor once he's crossed, causing me to take cover, and allowing you the couple of seconds you require to cross. Does that always happen? no. So instead of you making that move, instead you need to make things safe yourself. Provide your OWN covering fire. poke round the corner briefly, if you get a torch or a laser in your face then step BACK instantly. As you know someone is there, start pre-firing, try and force them to take cover, providing you the space you need.

This is only true, because as i can attest to from my own playing, as bloke said when you see someone cross, you look at where they went AND where they came from.

And you can't suppress people in cover 20m away with a shotgun


I hate to say this, but following me isnt so great, i frequently dont see enemies, one problem i have noticed with the game, is that it rewards running ahead and playing rambo, frequently i can spawn with a shotgun, run off with sprint special, and get 3-5kills, die, repeat. My K/D stays secure, the kills keep on coming, game gets boring really quick.

 

[waterproofbob]

Copying and holding close to a squad member will often get you killed in bf, for the reason bloke has just mentioned will often if in an aggressive position let the first player pass and watch the followers you can often wipe squad by aiming for the 2nd player.

ALWAYS ASSUME THERE'S MORE PEOPLE THERE

From your comments last night you clearly like air/tanky vehicles and while there is nothing at all wrong with that you don't learn the nooks and crannies of a map in these chaps. I very rarely use vehicles as with the exception of 2142 and the walker I've always been a bit crap with them. It is these little tricks and spots on maps whe you can save your k/d both by having places to escape when under fire and also as places to ambush.

Even if you are following a squad member keep an eye on the map and also on your surroundings. As bloke said being just behind another player will often get you shot at.

Make sure both your prone and chuck nade are bound to keys you can access instinctively. There's plenty of times when you are going to die, coming round a corner into a few guys there's a chance you will die. If you can either get on the floor and gun up or if there is less time just throw a nade you may be able to take some with you.

But ultimately although you want to aim to die as little as possible k/d is not the end of the world. Bf is all about winning as a team. If you want to fixate on a stat as bloke says it may as well be the spm as that is (to an extent) a counter of how useful you are being to your team. If you are medic get the heals and revs in, if you are support drop ammo everywhere you see people and on open maps if you are away fro the action just spot EVERYTHING IN SIGHT.

Hope that all makes sense, I just woke up and am typing in bed in my iPad.

 

[Ki!ler-Mk1]

After spending 9 hours afk in my server seeding it, my SPM is permanently borked. That said, it rises every day i play.

Unsurprisingly.

 

[SgtFury]

What blokey says is spot on. The 3 parts that make a big difference in BF3 for infantry, breaking it down into bullet points.

Awareness of Surroundings.
Map Knowledge.
Awareness of what people usually do.

It still amazes me how much people stick to certain routes through maps. If you get used to those you can take out squads

 

[Silk]

The tips so far make perfect sense & are gratefully received. I will attempt to adapt!

I'm still a little confused over one matter though. I'm aware that people generally don't wander around alone, so I know to expect more enemies are around after seeing one, as pointed out a few times in this thread.

How do you know when to attack? Frequently, I see two, attack, get killed by an unseen third. Or see two, wait for a third that never comes, have the second one turn around and kill me. This is why I generally don't bother camping, it never works out well!

You know there's more than one of the buggers but you can never know how many and therefore never be sure that attacking "now" is the right choice. That's how I feel, but doesn't explain why you see some people getting like 20 kills 2 deaths. Do they always guess right?

I've also had situations whereby I turn around for 1 second to check my ass, only to then get shot from what was my front a second ago, yet I saw no enemy at the time.

 

[thatbloke]

one word: cover.

If you've got the jump on a bunch of guys, try and make sure you've got either something you can hide behind to reload or a corner to run around. Soon as they know you're there, they will be waiting, but time it right and you can let off some bullets, take at least one guy out, duck, reload, wait for the bullets to stop streaming over your head then pop up and wait for em to pop out again. 90% of the time they will do so and as you're already sat there waiting, POW.

 

[waterproofbob]

Also when it comes to going round corners when you know someone is there, start shooting before you are round the corner, some will go through the wall and tag them, some will suppress them and you will have a big advantage once you are actually seeing them.

You also benefit from the effective lag you get from doing this as more often than not the game thinks you are round the corner before your eyes and brain sort that out.

 

[thatbloke]

Also when it comes to going round corners when you know someone is there, start shooting before you are round the corner, some will go through the wall and tag them, some will suppress them and you will have a big advantage once you are actually seeing them.

You also benefit from the effective lag you get from doing this as more often than not the game thinks you are round the corner before your eyes and brain sort that out.

Indeed - I nailed Mk1 a treat last night as I knew he was right around the corner, pre-firing, popped head out, shot him, popped back in.

He moaned that he was dead before he even saw me pop out from behind the corner

The way that the damage worksin this game seems to be similar to how it works in BC2 - there's this little bit of lag between you making an action, and you seeing the effect of that action on-screen. This is why in certain situations you pop out, get shot at a bit, pop back, THEN die. It's quite hard to explain, but think about it and the way it works makes complete sense.

 

[Ki!ler-Mk1]

How do you know when to attack?

When you think you can kill all visible enemies without having to reload, this question includes switching to pistol if necessary. Sometimes i may not even fire. Just wait for them to pass, give them an extra 10 seconds, then follow.

 

[Silk]

Unfortunately these tips don't stop me having badluck, I am 3 kills away from neg k-d so thinking of just retiring, I'm not cut out for battlecamper3 as I prefer games where toe to toe skill matters. Sadly there are none these days.

 

[Ki!ler-Mk1]

Unfortunately these tips don't stop me having badluck, I am 3 kills away from neg k-d so thinking of just retiring, I'm not cut out for battlecamper3 as I prefer games where toe to toe skill matters. Sadly there are none these days.

Well heres another suggestion, hang back, play recon, get the mav unlocked, and through sniping and flying the mav you can observe other players.

 

[Silk]

Well heres another suggestion, hang back, play recon, get the mav unlocked, and through sniping and flying the mav you can observe other players.

Sounds very exciting.

 

[Ki!ler-Mk1]

Well, you get lots of points...

 

[Silk]

Well, you get lots of points...

10 per spot kill? I spot all the time and it's minimal..

Also it sounds boring as hell..

 

[Ki!ler-Mk1]

I'll do it with you if you like.

 

[thatbloke]

I'm going to absolutely hate myself for saying this, but maybe MW3 is more your cup of tea