How do I get better?

[1ronclaw]

I've been trying to improve my skills, but I just can't seem to find a good way. I've mostly been playing public CTF. What should I be playing to learn basic skills and improve my fundamentals? I've seen climbing maps, are those good ways to practice? Should I play against bots? I always seem to either die immediately upon spawning, or fly around a bit before being one-shotted. Do I just need to tough it out and learn from lots of experience, or are there exercises/drills etc. I can do to get better? Any thoughts or tips would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance

[zakath]

its like everything else higher competition makes you a better player. so what I suggest is that you checkout gather #soldat.gather for europeans and #sna.gather for north american on quakenet where you get to play with better players.

[~Niko~]

Years will make you better, no matter how bad you play, you will be getting better by the time. All the situations you've been in all the matches you played for years will help you to choose a right decision, etc. Climb servers is your best choose to improve your movement, backflips, late backflips, straight backflips... well there are heaps of jumps you can do to evade the enemy shots.

Also I'd recommend to choose a primary and a secondary and stick with them. Play a bit and choose the two weapons you feel more comfortable with, then stick with these. A bad thing that could happen because of choosing two guns, is that maybe when you try to play with another weapon you suck with it (quite likely to what happens to me) but if you manage to learn the arc/bink of the Barrett, and you can handle the knife well, I tell you, you will never ever need another weaponset.

[-Major-]

Play on gathers. learn to play well with a set of weapons. don't just aim to win and try to think about the game like "where should I go" etc.

Later when you've learned to aim well and kill. you can start using weapons you suck with. and train on getting speed and dodging and just being useful with a minimum of killing.

also~ out of boredom I've been planning to make a soldat tutorial~

[~Niko~]

Kill only the needed enemies. If while you rush, some enemy goes past you, don't turn back, and try to kill him, just keep moving until the flag, your teammates will take care of him.

[ValiS]

Let him go past, but inform your team about the incoming enemy and his position.

[~Niko~]

Let him go past, but inform your team about the incoming enemy and his position.

You have eyes for something.

[jrgp]

Let him go past, but inform your team about the incoming enemy and his position.

Personally, I don't usually trust my teammates as they do the dumbest things, like boosting the flag towards the enemy, camping, being douche bags, etc. So I'll just turn around for a second or two and spam the hell out of him with MP5 bullets or knock him out with a single sniper shot.

I very rarely let enemies get close to my base.

[pavliko]

i got some tips for you.
Have more sex,Browse more 4Chan,Listen to dnb And have the most fun in playing soldat..
You won't get any better if you wont have fun from it.<-- Renember this,Everything else that i said is s**t.

[LtKillroy]

Play play play play play play play then play some more. Its really the only way to get better. You'll figure it out if you stick with it.

*Edit*
Forgot, there is one thing. Learn the backflip.

[1ronclaw]

So I guess I should play climbing maps to build jumping skills and gathers for general playing experience? Are people in gathers ok with inexperienced players like me joining in? It seemed to me like it was for a more elite crowd.

Thanks guys.

[~Niko~]

So I guess I should play climbing maps to build jumping skills and gathers for general playing experience? Are people in gathers ok with inexperienced players like me joining in? It seemed to me like it was for a more elite crowd.

Hah. I guess not, but you gotta be quite good anyways.

[xurich]

Also I'd recommend to choose a primary and a secondary and stick with them. Play a bit and choose the two weapons you feel more comfortable with, then stick with these.

This is excellent advice. When you're new, one of the most important things is to find a single set of weapons that you enjoy, and then practice continuously with them. Learn the arc, the number of bullets generally required to kill, how often and when you should reload, etc., and then stick with it.

Beyond choosing your weapons, the only other thing that I think will really help you right now is what LtKillroy offered:

Play play play play play play play then play some more. Its really the only way to get better. You'll figure it out if you stick with it.

Practice is what will make you good. There's no magical way to improve beyond what you've already been doing. Once you think you've mastered the public scene, try gathers. You might not find most gather players terribly excited to see you if you're not up to par with their skill level, but over time you'll improve just by playing with them. Make sure that you're at least moderately good in pubs before you consider gathers though, as gathers are not a place for complete newbies.

Let him go past, but inform your team about the incoming enemy and his position.

Personally, I don't usually trust my teammates as they do the dumbest things, like boosting the flag towards the enemy, camping, being douche bags, etc. So I'll just turn around for a second or two and spam the hell out of him with MP5 bullets or knock him out with a single sniper shot.

I very rarely let enemies get close to my base.

It's a matter of personal style really. There are some players who will rush passed everybody but will generally end up capping the flag, while other players play more defensive roles to prevent their own flag from being taken. There's no right or wrong way to play in this regard, and it'll largely fall to new players to decide their individual play style on their own.

Play the way that you enjoy playing, but at the same time, try to compliment what your teammates happen to be doing as well. If you've got a team full of defenders, all it takes is one opportunity for the enemy team to rush in and cap to win the game, whereas a team full of absolute rushers will leave their own base unguarded and allow the enemy to grab their flag a lot of the time. Even if you're generally a rusher, if you see your entire team doing nothing but going for the enemy flag, take it upon yourself to be a bit more defensive during that game. You might end up winning the game for your team. Being versatile in situations like these is what often separates good versus poor players. Players who can't adjust to changing situations will almost always find themselves lagging behind those who can and do.

[1ronclaw]

Ok thanks very much. That gave me a better idea of what gathers are like. I guess I'll spend more time playing in pubs before trying gathers out though. So it looks like the only thing for it is to practice a lot; back to the killing fields for me then.

Edit: Just wondering, does anyone have a link to a good video or other description on how to do various useful maneuvers (backflips, cannonballs, etc.) I can't seem to find any.