It's so frustrating being bad

[Electro]

Hello everyone, today I would like to seek advice on Reach. Currently I am a novice player who isn't completely useless with a DMR but its still bad. I believe it is due to my lack in aim that I do poorly in Halo Reach. I have been playing Reach everyday for a week now and I feel lost because I haven't improved noticeably since I started. As some background I have played all the Halos before and have spent hundreds of hours on halo 3 but I say I started a week ago due to it being about a year since I've touched an Xbox controller before then and now I would like to become a skilled Halo player like my friends who are on a tier way beyond what I can handle. When I do play alone, which is most of the time, I go around +3 usually the third highest slayer on my team to give more insight on my skill but there are those games when I get paired with players who 5-6 shot regularly while I struggle not to get team shotted. Anyway I am done with Reach for the day because I can't take another rage session because I lack skill so instead I will be watching mlg clips like I usually do when I want some inspiration. What I would like for you guys is a couple tips on how to progress with the DMR and how long do people normally take to get better at Halo. Please stick to those topics because I have looked for tips and watched videos on how to get good so I know what to look for while I play but most videos talk about map awareness and don't go into depth about the skill progression.

[HC LIGHTING]

Well For The DMR Aim For The Head Get To Know The Maps It Takes Me A Week To Get Better And Everyone Has Bad Days Just Try Not To Rage That Much When Your Mad It Makes You Play Badder

[HC SLIK™]

Kudos to you, for knowing that you have alot to learn and are seeking improvement!

I am more than happy to help you improve your game! I am by no means a "pro player" like the members that you see on the MLG circuit, however I can probably help you out.

What I will need is a video of your gameplay. Just choose any game that you have played recently where you feel you played average. Not your best game, or your worst.

From there I can probably see whether it is aim, bloom, or map placement that you need help with.

You can PM me when you put the video in your file share, and I will download it and check it out

Welcome to Halo Community!

edited to say that when I find out what kind of help you need, I will probably turn you over to Bomber. He is the leader of a group here at Halo Community called HSC, and he is really good about working with people 1 on 1 in improving their game play.

[Electro]

Kudos to you, for knowing that you have alot to learn and are seeking improvement!

I am more than happy to help you improve your game! I am by no means a "pro player" like the members that you see on the MLG circuit, however I can probably help you out.

What I will need is a video of your gameplay. Just choose any game that you have played recently where you feel you played average. Not your best game, or your worst.

From there I can probably see whether it is aim, bloom, or map placement that you need help with.

You can PM me when you put the video in your file share, and I will download it and check it out

Welcome to Halo Community!

Ok thanks I will look for a video now. To HC Lightning I do aim for the head thanks though its tips like those which seem obvious that I may have overlooked in saying that I am doing what I can with a DMR.

[OcR Valto]

Search for a video on YouTube called "noob to pro" by NakedHalo. A very good video to show you some tips you may not already know. Although having a good DMR is useful the only way to get better is practice practice practice. But there is lots you can do in game other then just use your DMR.

Also try and play with a team of people that communicates well and that you like. It will do wonders for your gameplay when you play with fun competent people.

[Rated is chillin]

Now.... What can i say? There are a ridiculously large number of aspects that make a player good. I guess i'll have to list them:

• Game Knowledge
  Halo is a surprisinlgy complex game. If you start to think about what makes a player good, a lot of things come to mind. Game knowledge covers a lot of things.
  First thing, maps. Knowing where the main/initial spawns are, the power weapon spawns, the chokepoints, the flanks and the callouts are is very important for any aspiring player. You need to know where the other team is as often as possible, so you can react accordingly. Knowing were the power weapons is also very important, because easy kills are important to get wins. Basically, the more you play on a map, the more you realise the paths and actions your enemies take to try and win, and the easier it is to beat them in a scrimmage.
  Also knowing the weapons. How many shots does it take to kill somone with a needler? a magnum? How large is the blast radius of a rocket launcher? How far is a sword lunge?at what point does a weapon reach full bloom? How much does a frag throw arch? There are a ridiculous amount of small details that you need to know to be good with every weapon.
  
• Communication
  TBH, this really only applies when you are playing with a team (which is important in helping you get better anyway). For those who know maps well, it is really easy call out your location, and get backup from a teammate when you think you need assitance. When you find out a weapon has spawned that you know a teammate would like to have, you can just tell them it's there (and vice-versa). If you get flanked from a place you dont know of, any informed teammate can tell you. Teammates can help you learn maps and give you tips on playstyles, which is invaluable for your development.
  
• Composure
  Being able to perform under pressure is extremely important against good players. When somebody is DMRing you from behind, the first thing you should do is get to cover. in many cases, with no cover around, being able to 5 shot under fire will save your life. Especially with a skill weapon like the sniper rifle, being able to get your shots on target with your health bar rapidly depleting is a skill in itself. Just remember to keep cool, and focus on where your reticle is instead of the sensing the distracting HUD animations.
  
• Skill
  Without a doubt, there is a lot of talent to being good at Halo. There is a subconscious connection between your eyes and your fingers, and you cant really choose how good you are first off. Practice is the key to improving skill. Find a good friend and set up an Octagon match. Focus solely on your reticle, and just keep on playing, regardless of the score. Practice will make perfect, and can make up for any lack of talent.
  
• Equipment
  Being good at Halo is nothing without settings and equipment that work for you. First, find out a sensitivity that works for your playstyle. A long range sniper would normally go for a sens around 3/4, while i CQC power weapon whore would usually use around 7/8. Making couch toggle or hold makes a difference too, with each option making it easier to either crouch jump or crouch sneak.
  Then there's the controller. For my whole Xbox career, i have been using full-slow wireless controllers. The amount of stick lag i get is close to a 1/4 of a sec. This lag significantly hinders my performance, and pretty much prevents me from trying hard whenever i need to. I recommend either buying a no-slowed controller, or buying a wired controller at minimum (and maybe noslowing it yourself). Also for those who enjoy playing with others, getting a good headset from a quality manufacturer can significantly help your communication and playing experience.

You probably noticed i didnt mention fun or anything of the like. It's because it isnt really part of being good at halo. There are a lot of great halo players that take the game way too seriously and seemingly dont enjoy the experience at all. But on the other end of the scale, being good at halo can really make the game a lot more fun. There's nothing better then getting a game winning multi, a rescuing skillshot, or rebound noscope double.

It feels good being good at a game, and there's nothing stopping you from getting to the next level.

[HC SLIK™]

I just watched your video, and youre not as bad as you think!

Your fundamentals and map movement are really good (probably ingrained from the hundreds of hours of H3).

Your DMR shot is definitely a little shakey, but dont lose hope. If you had a year away from video gaming and have only been a week back, that is to be expected.

You may want to dial your sensitivity down a little ( just until you have the feel for the aiming back) it will help you stay on target a bit better.

Throw more nades - seems kinda noobish, but nades do WAY more damage in Reach than they did in H3. Again, this will come with learning the game. You will learn the best spots to bank nades to get them to your enemies before you start shooting them. I noticed a few places in the video that this could have saved your life.

Hit up Bomber here on HaloCommunity. He will be able to work with you 1 on 1 and get you into better shape

[Tree Man]

Do what you consider to be the funnest aspect of the game. Your game improves immensely if you have fun playing it. everything else will come with time.

[HC Superstar BR]

Hey OP, I feel your pain, I am not great with a DMR myself and I have been playing Reach since it came out. I was horrible at Halo 3 for a long time too, but eventually got the hang of it and was able to get a couple of skill 50s. Reach is a bit challenging for me, but I found a few playlists that I excel in and am building from there. This damn DMR and the bloom is frustrating for me, but practice, practice, practice has improved my shot. I recently started playing more and more Team Slayer and FFA and kinda abandoned my favorite (SWAT) playlist to help me improve my DMR skills. Feel frfee to add me and we can work on this together - HC Superstar BR



PS >

This was an awesome post - - -

Now.... What can i say? There are a ridiculously large number of aspects that make a player good. I guess i'll have to list them:

• Game Knowledge
  Halo is a surprisinlgy complex game. If you start to think about what makes a player good, a lot of things come to mind. Game knowledge covers a lot of things.
  First thing, maps. Knowing where the main/initial spawns are, the power weapon spawns, the chokepoints, the flanks and the callouts are is very important for any aspiring player. You need to know where the other team is as often as possible, so you can react accordingly. Knowing were the power weapons is also very important, because easy kills are important to get wins. Basically, the more you play on a map, the more you realise the paths and actions your enemies take to try and win, and the easier it is to beat them in a scrimmage.
  Also knowing the weapons. How many shots does it take to kill somone with a needler? a magnum? How large is the blast radius of a rocket launcher? How far is a sword lunge?at what point does a weapon reach full bloom? How much does a frag throw arch? There are a ridiculous amount of small details that you need to know to be good with every weapon.
  
• Communication
  TBH, this really only applies when you are playing with a team (which is important in helping you get better anyway). For those who know maps well, it is really easy call out your location, and get backup from a teammate when you think you need assitance. When you find out a weapon has spawned that you know a teammate would like to have, you can just tell them it's there (and vice-versa). If you get flanked from a place you dont know of, any informed teammate can tell you. Teammates can help you learn maps and give you tips on playstyles, which is invaluable for your development.
  
• Composure
  Being able to perform under pressure is extremely important against good players. When somebody is DMRing you from behind, the first thing you should do is get to cover. in many cases, with no cover around, being able to 5 shot under fire will save your life. Especially with a skill weapon like the sniper rifle, being able to get your shots on target with your health bar rapidly depleting is a skill in itself. Just remember to keep cool, and focus on where your reticle is instead of the sensing the distracting HUD animations.
  
• Skill
  Without a doubt, there is a lot of talent to being good at Halo. There is a subconscious connection between your eyes and your fingers, and you cant really choose how good you are first off. Practice is the key to improving skill. Find a good friend and set up an Octagon match. Focus solely on your reticle, and just keep on playing, regardless of the score. Practice will make perfect, and can make up for any lack of talent.
  
• Equipment
  Being good at Halo is nothing without settings and equipment that work for you. First, find out a sensitivity that works for your playstyle. A long range sniper would normally go for a sens around 3/4, while i CQC power weapon whore would usually use around 7/8. Making couch toggle or hold makes a difference too, with each option making it easier to either crouch jump or crouch sneak.
  Then there's the controller. For my whole Xbox career, i have been using full-slow wireless controllers. The amount of stick lag i get is close to a 1/4 of a sec. This lag significantly hinders my performance, and pretty much prevents me from trying hard whenever i need to. I recommend either buying a no-slowed controller, or buying a wired controller at minimum (and maybe noslowing it yourself). Also for those who enjoy playing with others, getting a good headset from a quality manufacturer can significantly help your communication and playing experience.

You probably noticed i didnt mention fun or anything of the like. It's because it isnt really part of being good at halo. There are a lot of great halo players that take the game way too seriously and seemingly dont enjoy the experience at all. But on the other end of the scale, being good at halo can really make the game a lot more fun. There's nothing better then getting a game winning multi, a rescuing skillshot, or rebound noscope double.

It feels good being good at a game, and there's nothing stopping you from getting to the next level.

[Shadow of BMD]

I would recommend playing SWAT to get used to going for head shots then going out into the other playlists to work on overall gameplay. If you can get in with a group of people that are moderately good at Reach, and then run the Objective Playlist, you will play on most of the maps that people generally like.

If all else fails, play Multi-Team as its always a good place to work on fundamentals.

[Electro]

Thanks to everyone who I have played with and has given me tips this far. Currently I still get frustrated and discouraged all the time but the next day all I think about is getting back on and trying again. Now I am going to try a new method of practice, and honestly I couldn't believe myself for being so stupid when trying to come up with why I am doing bad, which is not only be aware of map position but also being aware of my role depending on where I am at on the map and the game type I am playing.

So recently while playing I noticed Bomber pointing out what I should be doing if there is x situation on x map and that made me wonder how do I learn game tactics for situations. Then another friend who I was playing with told me not to rush every time after I caused our team to lose. It is ignorant of me to try and play slayer by searching and destroying and I would like to learn tactics.

Now onto the point, and to keep this simple we will start with slayer since it is the most basic and most played, what should my objective be if while playing slayer when I am alive or respawning. I know you should try toacquire the power weapons and be aware of spawns but where do I take it from there? I end up wondering where the best play is when power weapons are down and I am respawning but I currently am not aware of what to do in game other than seek them out based of where they were or where their spawning and attempt to kill them.

[HC Superstar BR]

every map is different as to where to play it and it also depends on time until power weapons respawn, who has them at the moment and what your team mates are doing. Your bet bet is to keep playing with full teams when possible and look at the video after each win or loss and see what you might have missed. In Halo 3, when I was trying desperately to improve my game play in MLG, I spent more time in films than in games, studying my mistakes and success's and more importantly, what my (better skilled) team mates were doing and even more importantly, what the opponent was doing.

[bigst3ve87]

hey if you want to play octagon and me that will help you out a lot and like br superstar said swat will help get your dmr dialed in also

[xEnchantress]

I got better at Halo 3 by constantly playing custom games with people who were better than me and really focusing on what I wanted to do better. Trust me, it can be frustrating at first because they will probably run you into the ground, but you eventually start thinking smarter. Its all about practice. Just like learning to play sports. You just need to practice, practice, practice. Of course it will take time, but you will notice small differences in your gameplay.

You should get on Octagon map like they had for Halo 3 and a friend and have them stand still while you test out the best places to aim your DMR to get the quickest kill (I suggest aiming with the small circle in the middle and having the spartans neck/chest area within it. This is probaby your best option because then you are right there for the headshot.). Then, you have them move around while you practice keeping your aim in that specific area. This will help you also.

Also, the DMR is about pacing. You can't just pull the trigger like a crazy person like you did in Halo 3. Find a rhythm that you are good with and practice it.

I hope some of this helps.

[HC Raven]

You probably noticed i didnt mention fun or anything of the like. It's because it isnt really part of being good at halo. There are a lot of great halo players that take the game way too seriously and seemingly dont enjoy the experience at all. But on the other end of the scale, being good at halo can really make the game a lot more fun.

This is me alot of the time. But I do dominate at reach so, yea.

[jcgerrard8]

Practice makes perfect

[Darkened Night]

The most important thing I've picked up over the years is that you can't stay mad. The more you fret over a past death, the worse you will get over time. Instead of screaming at lag, or some unfortunate event, use a callout to distract you. If you find yourself getting frustrated: lean back, roll your shoulders, and take a deep breathe. Do your best and nothing more. You can always improve, it just takes time.

[PROBEE]

The most important thing I've picked up over the years is that you can't stay mad. The more you fret over a past death, the worse you will get over time. Instead of screaming at lag, or some unfortunate event, use a callout to distract you. If you find yourself getting frustrated: lean back, roll your shoulders, and take a deep breathe. Do your best and nothing more. You can always improve, it just takes time.

Well said!!!

[Mister B]

If you want a better DMR shot, play lots of SWAT seeing as it is only DMR. It will also help you aim for that head.

[Wonder Waffle]

The key items of being a better gamer in Halo is, Do not rush this will get you killed really fast, also do not get mad when you die the madder you get the more you die, and also get some friends to play with because a team full of people that are bad with communication skills is alot better than single players going in and no communication skills at all, communication is the key in halo if you are wanting to get better and dominate as a top halo player in the future, take it from me ive been playing for 10 years. and im only 18.