Hello everyone, it's your favourite coach and the king of run-on sentences and poor formatting back with yet another Valorant guide. This time I will be compiling all my Valorant fundamentals and mechanical training in a single in-depth post, hope you all take something from this that helps you step up your game!
Appreciate all your support!
It's been a year since I first started posted in this sub and even though I have already covered pretty much everything there is to discuss in regards to Valorant, this is a revisited compilation of all my guides.
Introduction
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Before I jump into my analysis of core valorant mechanics and optimal training methods and routines for competitive gaming, I'll introduce myself briefly. I don't believe my achievements / citations are what assign worth to my guides. However, since I know a lot of people are interested in citations:
My Experience in Gaming / Coaching:
I'm an (ex) semi-pro counter strike player with over 7k hours in CS:GO, my peak elo fluctuated around 3.2k in 2016 on Faceit (EU) and I've played at a multitude of local lans and faceit tournaments. When a ranking system was introduced in Overwatch I climbed up to #29 WR as McCree. I've hit top 500 in Apex Legends, as well as multiple top 100 scores in Kovaak's FPS Aim Trainer. I have always stood out as a player due to raw mechanical skill, with a lot of people asking how I got "this good" so I decided to try my luck in coaching.
People assume that my aim got where it is now solely due to inherent "talent", while that is true to a minor extent, consistent training is the main benefactor in the progression of my skill. Everyone has a friend with thousands of hours in a game that still plays like a beginner, that's not due to genetic predisposition acting as a set-back, it's due to the fact that while they have spent time playing the game, they haven't spent enough time figuring out how to train efficiently. Due to my experience and understanding of effective training, and the fact that I don't have as much time to play games competitively anymore but also want to remain involved with the community, I started coaching players in 2019. I began coaching CS players, then moved on to Apex Legends in 2020. Following these two years of experience, I decided to begin coaching Valorant players. I have coached people of skill levels ranging from beginner to professional, along with some smaller Valorant orgs, with unanimously positive results / feedback.
In my years of coaching I've been lucky enough to work with a multitude of other companies / organisations, some of these including: AimLab / Statespace, Aiming.Pro, Insights.gg, Enlyo.com, and a few others that I can't name yet ;)
I have participated in AimLab's CreatorStudio fund which only 5 individuals were initially picked for globally, I have two routines (Valorant & Apex) that are in the top 10 on Aiming.pro, a top 10 Valorant playlist on AimLab's older structure (pre-CS) and have been involved in the product-development phase of Enlyo.
Post Table of Contents
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Due to the lengthy nature of such an analytical post, I am providing a table of contents in order to make the post a bit easier to navigate.
- The importance of a solid training structure + My core Valorant routines for novice & advanced players.
- Finding the right mouse for YOU.
- Why is crosshair placement important?
- Settings: What sensitivity / crosshair should I use?
- Coaching info + Link to my Discord server.
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1) The importance of a solid training structure + My core Valorant routines for novice & advanced players
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Whether you're attempting to learn how to ride a bike, how to play better tennis, or trying to perfect your in-game aim, there are always patterns you can follow which will increase your rate of progress. While gaming isn't a sport in traditional context, there are still physical aspects to it which largely impact your performance. While you won't be relying on full body motion during a game of Valorant for, you're still going to be moving your arm / hand in response to the visual stimuli on your screen.
Obviously playing more of a game will inevitably lead tomechanical improvement, but depending on the skill level you're trying to achieve, simply "playing more" might not be enough to get you there. The problem with just playing more of a game in relation to training efficiently, is that you're not focusing on specific aspects and therefore, you're failing to identify individual weaknesses in your gameplay.
In order to improve at optimal rates, you need to establish a training routine that you consistently abide by. I offer individual coaching services which I will provide information for in the final section of this post, but in this section I am providing information on how you can train on your own. The key to proper training is specificity and consistensy, in order to be effective in your training you must narrow down the aspects of your gameplay that need to be isolated for improvement and then build a daily routine around that which you will habitualize as part of your weekly schedule.
Valorant relies mainlyon holding 90 degree horizontal angles and click-timing (I will shortly explain what Tracking vs. Click-Timing means). In order to retain information / knowledge proper nutrition and a substantial amount of sleep are both extremely important factors, I will be explaining why in further sections.
Kovaak's Routine
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In this section, I will be breaking down the importance of each map subset, and splitting them into categories depending on what aspect of aim they train, and their general difficulty. (Novice - Intermediate players [Below Diamond in Valorant / Platinum in Sparky benchmarks] should stick to the easier maps).
Maps tagged with an asterisk (\) are maps which are "crucial" to Valorant aim-training.*
Maps with a (small) option have a default vs. small variant, your choice on which to play.
Novice - Intermediate Click-timing Training
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> 1 wall 2 targets horizontal - 10m
> Valorant small flicks \ - 10m*
> Wide wall 6 targets (small) \- 10m*
> Valorant Peek Training ( MCA-9 ) - 10m
Advanced Click-timing Training
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> 1w6ts reload v2 ( only play this if your technique on 1w6ts / ww6ts is on point ) - 10m
> Floating heads timing 400% fixed \ - 10m*
> Pasu small reload horizontal - 10m
Reasoning behind map choice:
This set of maps is meant to train your general mouse control in relation to "click-timing", click timing is what the general playerbase calls "flick aim", it is your ability to make a movement or adjust your crosshair to click on a target that isn't centered on your screen, and your ability to time your clicks, being able to click at the correct time depending on when your target aligns with your crosshair. Click timing is the most important aspect of aiming in Valorant. Technically, the most important part of aiming in Valorant is "Crosshair placement" but that isn't really aiming, and not really something you can isolate / directly train. In Valorant, since there isn't much added verticality, your ability to "aim" well is heavily reliant on your horizontal click-timing skill. The maps chosen above, are all maps which prioritize horizontal movements over vertical ones, and for all maps (with the exception of WW6T) you'll usually only need to make a horizontal movement to adjust from one target to the next.
Novice - Intermediate Micro-adjustment Training
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> 1 wall 6 targets adjust \ - 10m*
> Micro flick - 10m
Advanced Micro-Adjustment Training
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> 1 wall 2 targets small reload - 10m
> reflex micro++ flick - 10m
> Valorant small horizontal flicks \ - 10m*
Reasoning behind map choice:
This set of maps is meant to train your mouse control in relation to "micro-adjustments", micro-adjustments are an aspect of click timing which is pretty straightforward, your ability to make minimal adjustments precisely, and in rapid succession. Now, most people may think, "well the smaller the mouse movement, the easier it is to hit a target", however, that isn't true for the majority of players. A lot of the time, making a very short movement requires a lot more control / precision, and relies on muscle groups that you aren't too experienced in utilizing, e.g. I may move my wrist / arm to adjust for a wider flick, but if my crosshair is off just by a couple of pixels, the adjustment is so small that it would require me to use my fingers in order to make the adjustment. Most players (especially tac fps players) aren't experienced in making micro-adjustments, even though it's a crucial skill. In games like Valorant, your goal is to have such good / consistent crosshair placement, that you rarely need to adjust it in order to land a headshot, however, even the best players will be put in situations where their crosshair is slightly off, but not by enough of a distance to warrant a wide flick (usually happens if you're clearing an angle and you move your crosshair past an enemy you didn't see fast enough), and in those instances making a micro-adjustment accurately enough to correct your crosshair placement can be what saves your life. Here is an example of a micro-adjustment map, consistency is more important than speed, beat my scores and get a cookie:
Played on Valorant Settings
The maps chosen above, are a great place to start with training your micro-adjustment aim. These maps don't solely rely on horizontal movements due to the fact that if your crosshair needs to be corrected, it can be a mixture of both horizontal but also vertical misplacement. (valorant small horizontal flicks is a great map for this, but difficult to play as a novice, your choice on this one)
Novice - Intermediate Target Switching Training
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> ValTarget switch - 10m
> PatTarget switch (small) no reload \ - 10m*
Advanced Target Switching Training
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> KinTargetSwitch - 10m
> DevTarget Switch - 10m
Reasoning behind map choice:
This set of maps is meant to train your mouse control in relation to "target switching", target switching is your ability to make a fluid and fast movement from one target onto another. When target switching, you should be doing so in a single movement, rather than overshooting and then correcting, and the movement should be rapid, so more of a flick rather than simply moving your crosshair as if you were clearing an angle. Target switching is important in Valorant because even the best players with excellent positioning will find themselves in situtations where they're open to multiple LOS (line of sight) and can be potentially peeked by more than one player simultaneously, in these situations it's crucial that the player is able to eliminate the first target, and then flick onto the other. Good target switching will save your ass in these situations, due to the fact that this concept may be harder to visualize than click timing / micro adjustment as it's more situation reliant.
https://reddit.com/link/phdkme/video/1srgcxzjncl71/player
In the maps included above in the "novice - intermediate" section, you will be mainly training horizontal target switching, as it's what's most important in a game like Valorant that has such minimal vertical deviation in player model movement. For those of you that want to train target switching further in a map format that doesn't only lay emphasis on horizontal movements, you can go for the "advanced" map recommendations as well. Most of these maps will also train your micro-tracking (since they're low ttk but not instantaneous) which is also beneficial for instances where you're spraying a moving target. When you're playing target switching maps, make sure to keep your LMB held down for the duration of the challenge, otherwise you're not really training your target switching.
Smoothness Training
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> Centering I 90 no strafes \ - 10m*
> Smoothness Training Sphere 30 - 10m
Reasoning behind map choice:
This set of maps is meant to train your mouse control in relation to your "smoothness". In relation to aim, smoothness is simply your ability to make mouse movements in fluid motions without unwarranted micro-adjustments or jitter. Most of you (with the exception of kovaak's grinders / AFPS players) will notice that when making a movement, you're unable to maintain a set speed and your aim slightly "jitters". Although smoothness is an aspect of aim which is far more important in games that rely more heavily on tracking (ow/apex/etc.) it's also important in Valorant as a lack of it can lead to sub-optimal angle clearing. If you're clearing an angle, and you can't maintain a smooth motion throughout, it can increase the chance of your crosshair placement being slightly off, which in turn forces you to make unecessary adjustments to your aim in order to land your shots on the target. The maps included above will focus on training your smoothness in large horizontal movements (the same type of movement required while clearing angles in any tac fps). There isn't a novice vs. advanced discrepancy in this section, as smoothness training doesn't vary as much in difficulty, and the maps included will definitely suffice for getting your mouse control to a decent enough level for Valorant.
Recommended time split = 30 mins of Kovaaks pre-game ( 5 mins of each map ) and 30 mins of Kovaaks when you're done playing for the day
"But Twix, why not play the routine in one go?"
If you want to complete the routine in one go (60m) rather than split it into two segments (30m+30m) that's perfectly fine, and it's up to you. The reasons I personally suggest playing the routines in a split structure are the following:
> Burn-out / Exhaustion is very real, and due to both cognitive and psychological factors, after a certain amount of time of continuous training, you will hit a point of exhaustion / diminishing returns. Informational intake after you've hit this point will not happen at the same rate as if you were at your optimal state. The average time a human can spend processing new information continuously without hitting that point of diminishing returns is around 60m total, but since it's subjective, it's easier to just play it safe and split the training in 30m segments. Here is a graph that may help you visualize this concept:
The \"law of diminishing returns\" visualized
> Difference in mentality / reason for training. This is my personal theory, and I am not making an ultimate statement about this applying to every individual, as once again, it's subjective, but I've discussed this with multiple coaching clients and they have agreed that it applies to them. My theory is, that the way you train prior to a game session, and the way you train after a game session may vary. When playing kovaak's pre-game a lot of people tend to use it as a warmup tool more than a long-term mouse control training tool, and therefore don't focus on optimal training methods while playing through a playlist, as they just care about their short-term performance in the game they'll play after kovaak's. When playing kovaak's as a cooldown, you're already warmed up (don't play if exhausted however) from the day, plus you aren't training with a set short-term gain in mind. This theory is based on psychological effects mainly, which (once again) are very subjective to the individual, so take it with a grain of salt.
> Optimal learning time differs from person to person, this also holds true with training. Some people process new information better at night, some people process new information better throughout the day, either way, the concept here is pretty clear. Do what works best for you, however, if you aren't sure about if you're a "day-time learner" or "night-time learner" you can just play it safe through splitting your routine as suggested. One thing to note is that it is scientifically proven that a smaller time frame between the time of informational intake and sleeping, may improve the consolidation of new information and memory recall, basically meaning that some individuals retain information better if they sleep shortly after training.
> Final reason: boredom. A lot of people find aim-training boring, and therefore it's torture to them to train for an hour non-stop. For these people, training for 30 minutes and then switching to a more enjoyable task (gaming) before completing the other half of their daily routine, can be optimal. If you're completely bored and it feels like aim-training is torture, chances are, you wont be in a mental state that enhances growth / progress.
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My Custom Aiming.pro Playlist ( Kovaak's alternative )
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What is Aiming.pro?
Aiming.pro is a browser based aim-trainer, meaning you can enjoy the benefits of working on isolated aspects of your mechanics without having to download or pay anything. The tool is 100% free to use ( there is a "plus" subscription for map creation tools etc. ) and is honestly extremely well functioning for a browser-based tool, and arguably the only viable one out there. The reason Aiming.pro is actually viable as an online tool for aim-training, is due to the fact that the map creator allows for the crucial Kovaak's scenarios to be "ported" over, basically cloned as tasks. Obviously there are some down-sides, e.g. customization parameters and bot behavior / AI functionality is quite limited at the moment, but I've been in contact with their team and they're working towards upgrading their tool constantly with a correct order of priorities.
Both playlists are in the website's top 10! Appreciate you all!
I want to thank my server moderator Pauer#9861 for taking the time to port the Kovaak's scenarios included in my playlist over to Aiming.Pro using their map creator tool. We appreciate you Pauer.
Much Thanks!
LINK TO MY AIMING.PRO PLAYLIST:
https://aiming.pro/#/training/playlists/282
Should look ilke this
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2) Finding the right mouse for YOU.
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When it comes to FPS games, having a mouse which can accurately translate your hand's movements into mouse movements in your game is of extreme importance, and as I mentioned in my previous guide, is constantly undervalued by the casual gaming community. There is a common gaming myth that I am certain everyone regardless of the genre of games they play has heard which is that if your mouse works without blatant issues then it does it's job. Such misconceptions are usually passed on by casual gamers that don't support spending $50+ for a quality gaming mouse, but unfortunately such statements are false, which is why you will never see any streamer or competitive player using a 10$ laptop mouse. It would be pretty unfair for me to tell you to go out and spend $60+ on a mouse without providing a logical explanation as to why you should, so let's go over the reasons you need a quality mouse, as well as what makes a good gaming mouse good, and how to find the mouse that suits you best.
Why do you need a good gaming mouse? It's pretty simple, when playing PC games, but FPS games in particular, you want your mouse movements to be instantly translated and accurate, and in order to achieve that you need to have a quality sensor, if you try a 180 degree flick on an outdated laptop mouse you will quickly realise the mouse loses track through the movement and is therefore inaccurate and even if it didn't lose track, the built in acceleration would make the movement of the mouse inaccurate relative to the movement of your arm. If you tried something similar as the previous example with tracking a target you will quickly realise the movement isn't perfectly smooth, along with the fact that such mice have delay, which means your reaction time will be slower as a result.
Gaming mice offer precision sensors which will track your movement accurately with no delay or acceleration, this is very important as it will maximise your in-game precision by properly mirroring your arm movements as opposed to a generic mouse, not only that, but training with a mouse that is inconsistent in movement will hinder your ability to train your aim as it will mess with your muscle (procedural) memory. Gaming mice also tend to offer much more comfortable ergonomic shapes which will give you a better grip, fit your hand better, and also allow you to go on extended gaming sessions without your hand feeling cramped / tired. It is important that you choose a mouse that has a flawless optical sensor (laser sensors are inaccurate), most modern gaming mice offer flawless sensors, but be sure to check before you buy your gaming mouse; Any 33XX sensor will work flawlessly, with the best sensors in the category being the 3360 and the 3366 along with the Logitech HERO sensor which is a low-power version of the 3360.
Now, while precise sensors may be important what is even more important is finding a mouse that fits your hand well, this will depend on two things, one being your hand size, and the other being your grip style. I have created a guide (guide within a guide, nice) to help you measure your hand correctly, as well as understand grip styles.
Hand measurement guide:
In order to measure your hands for the purpose of finding a mouse you will want to measure two things, one is the length of your hand, like so:
https://preview.redd.it/ff777bjuncl71.png?width=316&format=png&auto=webp&s=7609fa192d5d14ec8cb82611ed470b3f49512c01
The other is the width of your hand, like so:
(not my hand)
Once you have figured out the dimensions of your hand, the format in which mice are presented is L x W. The most important aspect of the dimensions in terms of determining which mouse is ideal is the length of your hand.
After you have determined your hand size, you need to find out what grip style you use. There are three types of mouse grips, first we have the palm grip, then the claw grip, and finally the fingertip grip. Here is an image showcasing each grip:
Palm / Claw / Finger-tip grips, visualized
Once you have the 'L x W' dimensions of your hand and have figured out what grip style you use, click on this link
and you will be presented with a range of options for mice depending on your hand size and grip style. The recommendations have been put together by RocketJumpNinja himself, for those of you unfamiliar with who he is, he is a Quake player and marginally the best competitive mouse reviewer out there.
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3) Why is crosshair placement important?
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If I was asked about the importance of consistent crosshair placement in games such as PUBG, Apex, Overwatch, Fortnite, etc. I would probably answer by saying that while it's beneficial to maintain solid crosshair placement, it's by no means the most important aspect in relation to performing well in those games, in tactical shooters however, it's a whole different story. Tactical shooters are low TTK ( time to kill ) games, and for the most part, a single bullet to the head is enough to eliminate a player, this means that in contrast to AFPS games, or games like Overwatch or Apex, which have a much higher TTK, first shot accuracy is of extreme importance in Valorant, inevitably leading to the fact that crosshair placement is also extremely important. In a game with higher TTK, even if your first shot accuracy isn't perfect in an aim duel, you can win the fight if you land more shots on the opposing player over x amount of time that you trade with them, while in Valorant, whoever needs to make the least amount of adjustment to their crosshair when engaging in a 1v1 scenario wins the exchange. It doesn't matter if your raw aim is out of this world, even if you have the most precise flicks known to the FPS community, if your crosshair placement is sub-optimal, you will lose vs. someone with consistent crosshair placement, this is simply due to the fact that all they need to do, is click once your head moves into their crosshair, often without even needing to move their mouse. Crosshair placement may very well be the most important aspect in relation to gunplay and generally the mechanical aspect of tac shooters such as CS:GO or Valorant, as it's the deciding factor in the majority of aim duels.
Common mistakes:
A large amount of players tend to underestimate the importance of crosshair placement in Valorant, and especially the underlying complexity of maintaining consistency in that context. People think that all you need to do to maintain solid crosshair placement is aim high enough to hit headshots, meaning that the only factor that affects crosshair placement is vertical positioning, others still stick to making their main source of information on game improvement being players who make statements as un-informative and vague as "just click heads", my main goal is to break down and explain the multiple factors that go into proper crosshair placement. Lets start with the basics:
Vertical Positioning:
As mentioned above, one of the elements which ties into crosshair placement is vertical positioning. this is the set distance that you need to position your crosshair at in relation to the ground to be able to align your crosshair's horizontal axis with player model head-level. The good thing about vertical positioning, is that you can get accustomed to the head level that the player models have in Valorant quite rapidly, as the hitbox sizes in this game are identical, meaning you can always use the ground as a point of reference to determine where the enemy player's head would be.
https://preview.redd.it/n23n2vh0ocl71.png?width=754&format=png&auto=webp&s=5928e8bbec358479c4246b057208cef100ac1702
In order to train your general ability to place your crosshair at the correct height, try to make a habit out of constantly reminding yourself to place your crosshair at head level, regardless of where you are or what you're doing on the map. What I mean by this, is that even if there isn't any imminent threat of enemy players peeking you, try to keep constantly keep your crosshair at head level, the more time you spend doing this, the faster it will become a habit and become something you do subconsciously, without having to actively focus on the action. This habit allows you to build muscle-memory during otherwise useless down-time, another way to do this is to track your teammate's heads with your crosshair while rotating, leaving spawn etc.
While vertical positioning is something that people get used to relatively easily, I have come across a recurring issue among the VODs of people I coach, and that is that people generally struggle with adapting the vertical component of their crosshair's position to varying points of elevation. Here's an image to help you visualize a scenario where this could be an issue:
https://preview.redd.it/mq1lsy51ocl71.png?width=1250&format=png&auto=webp&s=9b8980522c587600602b28e17640a2a9127ffd5c
In the image above I am peeking into C back-site from C long on the map 'Haven', I have highlighted three different positions / angles where an enemy could potentially peak from in an in-game reenactment of this scenario, Platform, Cubby, and back-site. What you'll notice is that these positions all have different points of elevation, meaning that while using the ground as reference will allow me to maintain my crosshair at head-level if someone peeks my position from ground level on C site, in order to clear cubby and platform, I would need to adjust my crosshair accordingly, using their lower levels as a reference for where the head-level position would be in those angles.
Unfortunately, if you are struggling with this due to the fact that you aren't familiar with the map layout yet, the only thing that will remedy your situation is more time spent playing the game, if however, your issue stems from a mechanical inability, meaning that your mouse control isn't good enough to allow you to make such adjustments comfortably, the routine provided later in the guide may help you get past that issue.
Horizontal Positioning:
Just as with vertical positioning, horizontal positioning is pretty self-explanatory in terms of it's function. Knowing at what height to position your crosshair at in relation to the environment is far easier to do than knowing where to position it on a horizontal axis, the reasoning behind this is that with vertical placement you will always have the ground or lower level of the object the opponent is standing on as a point of reference which allows you to instantly know at what height head-level is. When focusing on the horizontal aspect of crosshair placement, there isn't a set point of reference at all times.
A very common mistake which I see a lot of in the VODs I review as a coach, is newer players holding angles too tightly, meaning that they're playing in a position where they anticipate an enemy push and are waiting for the engagement, and their crosshair is a position where it's hugging the edge of the wall the enemy will peek from. Here is a visual representation of what I'm talking about:
Improper CH placement
In the image above, I'm holding an angle where if someone crosses moving parallel to the wall I'm looking at, I'll have under 50 ms to react, my crosshair is so close to the edge of the wall that I will need to click my LMB the milli-second I see the enemy. By holding this angle, chances are that by the time I click the enemy will have already crossed to the left of my crosshair resulting in a miss and most likely my death; It would take inhuman reaction times for anyone to hit a player while holding like this, especially if the enemy player is swinging. Instead, you should allow some distance from your crosshair to the edge of the angle you're holding, allowing yourself to spot the enemy's player model, and then time your click effectively. Here is a visual representation of correct crosshair placement while holding the same angle:
Proper CH placement
As you can see, in the image above I am allowing for some space between the wall and my crosshair, giving me a significantly longer time window to spot an enemy player and react. Holding an angle that's too "tight" would mean I need to make a larger adjustment to hit the enemy, and therefore I increase my margin of error due to vertical overshoot ( see below ). There are exceptions to the rule when it comes to the distance you need to hold at, if the angle you are holding only allows forward movement ( into your crosshair ) you can hold a narrow line of sight. If you are clearing an angle ( moving along it to check for enemies ) and you are the agressor, you can hold tight and move along with the wall / LOS to allow for a faster reaction if you spot an enemy during your movement. If you are the agressor and you want to swing into an angle that you believe / know an enemy is holding, it is sometimes optimal to pre-aim, meaning you position your crosshair in a way where without moving your mouse it will be aimed at the enemy's head once you swing out the angle.
Vertical Offset:
The final common issue I would like to bring up which ties into both crosshair placement and horizontal click-timing, is something I call "vertical offset" or "vertical overshoot", this is a player's inability to move his crosshair horizontally while maintaining the same vertical placement. Vertical offset is a big issue when it comes to switching angles or flicking horizontally, I have seen many scenarios where a player is holding an angle properly with their crosshair at a pixel-perfect vertical position in relation to head level, only to make a 30 degree turn to check a different angle and end up shooting at an enemy's chest and losing the duel. Usually, the larger the movement, the more the player's crosshair deviates vertically. Here is a depiction of what vertical offset / overshooting looks like in-game:
https://preview.redd.it/ca2qk7n5ocl71.png?width=433&format=png&auto=webp&s=fd1731b8992dfbe69bf29daf81674c72fc1d7029
In the image above the green dot is where the crosshair should end up in an ideal scenario while flicking from it's current position to the target dummy, while the green lines represent a theoretical margin of error for overshooting. Fortunately for people that face this issue, I have come up with multiple Kovaak's maps and firing range excercises to help combat it and largely reduce your margin of error when moving your crosshair / flicking horizontally.
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4) Settings: What sensitivity / crosshair should I use?
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First off, don't by any means copy your favorite pro's config, just because something works for a professional player that has probably spent well above 10,000 hours playing FPS games and decided upon their ideal sensitivity and crosshair within that massive period of time, doesn't mean that it's going to work for you, use whatever you're most comfortable with. Other than individual preference, and having gotten used to their sensitivity, the Pros you watch may be using gear which feels different at their sensitivity setting. A lighter mouse, faster mouse-pad, and faster feet can feel very different in terms of mouse movement, even if you're playing on the same sensitivity value on paper. In relation to grip-styles and what mice are ideal for each hand size, make sure to check out my first post in this sub before moving forward with this guide, as playing on hardware that caters to your individual preferences plays an important role in increasing your mechanical potential.
Sensitivity:
As I stated in the paragraph above, sensitivity is something quite subjective and while there's no general rule as to which single sens value is superior, Valorant and CS:GO professionals tend to stick to e-dpi or cm/360 much lower than professional players in other titles and FPS subgenres. Your e-dpi is your in-game sensitivity value multiplied by your mouse's DPI setting. The average e-dpi used by Valorant professionals is around 250 e-dpi, which would be a value of 0.625 in-game @ 400 DPI, or around 50 cm/360.
https://preview.redd.it/xrigpze6ocl71.png?width=1291&format=png&auto=webp&s=ef1ac9b5ed8963ffa5a2fca7f8933fc9d56ad0f5
cm/360 is a universal format for sensitivity measurement, it's the amount of centimeters you need to move your mouse in order to perform a full rotation. This is the format adopted within aimer communities due to the simple fact that you asking someone "what sensitivity do you play on?" And them responding with "1.5 in CSGO" is pretty useless information as they could be playing at any DPI range, and you don't necessarily know what each CSGO sens corresponds to in relation to physical movement, or even movement in other games. "e-dpi" solves the issue of different DPI x Sens measurements within the same game, but the cm/360 format is easily transferable from title to title.
The reason professional players in the tac shooter genre use lower sens on average, is due to the fact that in contrast with other FPS games, tac shooters don't require larger or extended movements, instead they require you to hold or clear angles while maintaining stable crosshair placement, the least adjustments you need to make to your crosshair's position on your screen, the better your "aim" will be. I would recommend sticking to a range of 200-300 e-dpi, while for more experienced players coming from CS or other similar games, I would recommend a similar range with a higher cap, at 200-400 e-dpi ( very few professional players play above 300 e-dpi ).
Crosshair settings:
This is something even more subjective and preference-based than sensitivity even, so what I will do in this section is simply post my own settings which I use for my in-game crosshair, and explain why I picked each value within the menu.
https://preview.redd.it/42wamj77ocl71.png?width=738&format=png&auto=webp&s=acf0a980af0ec5cc90d88edeb6c55aa09077e0d8
So, lets break my crosshair down setting by settings:
- Color: I use "Cyan" as it stands out quite well for me with my current color settings, any color that doesn't match your enemy outline color works perfectly fine here.
- Inner Line Opacity: This setting basically determines how see through your crosshair will be, I like setting mine at "1" as It makes the crosshair stand out more.
- Inner Line Thickness: I set this to "1" which is the lowest value, a lot of professional players like to use "2", I think setting the value to "1" makes it easier to align your crosshair with heads or with other objects in the environment, it is also less obstructive, so I highly recommend either this or "2" to newer players
- Inner Line Offset: This setting determines how large the gap is in your crosshair, I like setting this to "1" as the gap is as small as possible without disappearing, larger gaps make it more difficult to determine where the exact center of your screen is, which can act as a hnderance in your first shot accuracy at longer range engagements.
- Movement & Firing Error: These settings just turn your crosshair into a dynamic crosshair and make the gap widen significantly while moving or shooting respectively in order to give you a visual representation of how the innacuracy factor works. Useless and distracting, would highly suggest that you keep these both off unless you're very new and still don't understand how movement / spray accuracy works.
- Outer Lines: Everything is off here, I don't think playing with outer lines provides any benefit whatsoever and it's an extra distraction.
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5) Coaching Server Link!
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Thank you all for reading! (btw, Donda > CLB)
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