Having a solid amount of firepower at your disposal is all well and good – but landing it on your target is what is going to convert it into damage dealt.
So let us take a closer look at aiming your weapon, and go over a few considerations that may improve your aim.
As mentioned previously, within the game, the mouse cursor takes the form of a crosshair (to be continued).
As you know by now, usually, when you fire your weapon, any projectile travels in the direction that your cursor is pointing.
Some weapons’ damage levels will drop off over distance slower than others, and a few don’t drop off at all.
Some weapons fire a single projectile when you hit the fire button, while others will continue firing projectiles if you keep the fire button held. And the bow or BCG fires on release.
To more consistently deal damage over the course of unloading your clip there are a few things you can do.
Rather than aiming directly at your target instead aim at where you think your target will be when your projectile would reach them. This is known as leading your shots.
When holding down on fire, automatic weapons’ recoil increases, reducing accuracy as the spread of projectiles increases. This is more of a factor for consideration when you are taking on encounters at medium and longer ranges.
At such ranges it can be beneficial to burst-or-individual-fire your rounds. Being more conservative on ammunition and being mindful to reload when appropriate can increase your overall damage output per projectile fired, as more find their target at range.
Speaking of ranges, it is helpful to get familiar with what ranges a weapon is most effectively used at. A classic example would be the SMG versus the AK. The one weapon having a faster rate of fire means that it can outperform the AK when at short range. Even at longer ranges, tagging an opponent and stripping away one or more ticks of armour can afford you advantage.
A poke weapon like a magnum is most effective at longer range while a scatter weapon like a shotgun can do a lot of damage up-close.
Different weapons work better for different scenarios, and you can use your movement to help manage the range of your engagement. Just keep in mind that in a pursuit situation the defender tends to have advantage.