Some tips for beginner :
"This game is frustrating"
Yes, it is, but believe it or not, you'll come back to it again and again (and again). Don't take the game too seriousely, it's way too cruel for that. You die very easily in this game and it's even easier to miss a clear shot. Server lag, frame-drop at the wrong moment, hitching, rollback, bullets not registering just because (etc) will make your life even worse on PUBG. Hear me, it's a great game, I had to erase the game from my library because I became a real junky, but it's really rough around the edge in its actual state. Relax yourself and don't try too hard, because the game will mess with you 90% of the time.
"I can't shoot people for the life of me "
- Don't worry, shooting people accurately is very HARD in this game. You'll miss easy shots on frequent basis. There's no bullet magnetism, no aim assist in this game and the bullets have realistic properties (bullet drop, penetration and such). In order to shoot people, you have to be very precise and have good eyes/hand coordination. I'm coming from Halo 5 and while I'm a decent shot, the first hours in PUBG were brutal.
- Shooting is a thing in itself in this game, it's not just about aiming and pressing a trigger. I can't cover everything, some people on youtube make good tuto, but I'll give you general tips :
1 - hipfire is unprecise in this game, you won't hit anything with it. You want to hold the aim button for better accuracy if you're upclose (3m to 15m) and aim down sight for everything else past that distance.
2 - Almost every weapon has two or three shooting modes. Unless you're fighting someone in close quarters, put your weapon in "single fire" mode and "tap" the shot quickly. You'll be way more precise and 6 shots
are often enough to kill someone. "Auto mode" is only for very close-quarter, like 2 to 4 meters close-quarter.
- If you ever want to be a decent player, you'll have to be good with every weapon since you won't always have the possibility to search for your favourite one. You can't have the luxury to be good with only one of them.
Here's a quick summary about note-worthy weapons (that's a rough summary because balance update can change things) :
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AKM is unprecise at distance, but shred people at close distance. You can put it in auto-mode and go full-round on people without hesitating, you'll shred them to pieces if they're upclose.
- UMP9 is a versatile weapon, it only shoots 9mm but if you don't have an AR, it's your best choice. It has a single-mode and an auto-mode. It's good up-close and at mid-distances.
- Kar69 is the most common sniper and it's still quite a rare weapon to find. It makes tremendous amount of damage, but you have to be very precise. Don't use it if you can't attach a x4 or x8 scope to it. Don't use it upclose, it's a sniper.
- Mini-14 is a mini-dmr, light damage but high firing shot and very precise. You can't put a supressor on it though.
- SKS is like the Kar69 but less precise, less damaging with a better firing rate and more bullet drop. Some people are good with them, but I wouldn't suggest to give it a go, unless you reall have to.
- The best and most versatile AR are the Scar-L and M416, mostly because they're very versatile stock, but also because you can make them OP by attaching them a lot of accessories. The M16A4 is good, but slighlty worse than the two above because of the lack of attachments.
- Uzi is only good upclose on auto-mode, it's bad for everything else.
- The Crossbow will one shot people 99% of the time. It's really hard to hit someone with it though. The crossbow is OP in the fog, at the end-game.
- Don't bother with the VSS, the vector, the tommy-gun, handguns, melee weapons, shotguns or other weapons unless you reaallly have too. A plane often drop OP weapons on the map, but never - ever - get close to them, everyone is looking for an opportunity to shoot people close to those dropped boxes.
- Shotgun are a mess in this game, they're not consistant. Sometime you'll be able to dead snipe people at 30m with one shot, sometime you won't even kill a guy just in front of you landing all the bullets in the upper-body. It's a known-problem in the game.
-AR and Sniper supressors are by far the most valuable item in the game. Shooting without noise in this game can be the difference between life and death. If you're lucky to find one, use it, never let it sleep in your inventory.
"x2 scope, x4, x8, red dot or holo ?"
- The perfect scope at beginner to intermediate level is the x4 scope, it's the perfect balance. x8 is good but at your level, you'll struggle to shoot people at a very long distance. A common mistake in this game is scoping people by mistake when firing. For exemple, you have a guy in front of you, you want to ADS him with your weapon forgetting you attached a x8 scope to it : you're now counting the hair on his head while he's shooting you down.
- Red dot is better than a holo dot because you have a better visibility. I would even argue red dot are better than x2.
"Where should I drop ?"
- If you want to win the game, go as far as possible from the plane and to other people. Loot quickly and go for the center of the circle before the others, wait for them and you'll probably be in the top 15 easily.
- If you want to rush and train your shooting skills, military is basically a training mode. It's a crowded place with weapon on the floor. Pick a weapon, don't even bother with protective gears and just stealth-rush people.
"I'm always taken by suprise in this game"
Sound in this game is the most important aspect of it. 90% of the time, if someone killed you, it's because he heard your steps, a shot of yours or you closing/opening a door. Don't make noise and don't listen to music/podcast/anything else than the sound of the game. You want to hear each shot, each footstep, each broken window. You don't need an expensive headset. I'm broke, I thought a good headset was needed, but I found a 15€ logitech one was way more than I needed.
Remember, it's a stealth game more than a shooter one. It's all about shameless stealth. You want to sneak, you want to crawl, you want be invisible and you want to be the one to take people by surprise. Never shoot if you're not sure you'll be able to kill someone. Learning to refrain yourself from shooting or even moving is the most important aspect of the game.
"I'm bad at fighting opponents".
Avoid fighting people face to face as much as possible. Don't try to pick at the same corner and landing shots everytime from the same place. You want to be less predictable than that, you want to make them think you're behind the same wall while you're in stealth mode, rushing them in their back. This game is about braining your opponent, you want to mind them. If you can't shoot someone from a position, don't try again and again, change your strategy on the go with each failed shot.
- Your opponent is 100m in front of you. You try a shot, you fail. => Let him spot you => move to another spot, try another shot => let him spot you => get back to your first position, shot him again etc. You want to change your strategy as often as possible.
- If you're careful, you won't ever have to fight people face to face at less than 30m. You don't want to.
- Never be afraid to run. This game isn't about killing as much guys as possible, it's about being the last one standing. Killing is fun, but believe me, chicken dinners are way better accomplishments.
"Any tips about looting ?"
- DON'T lose time to loot everything or to perfect your gear at the beginning of the game. It's a common and dangerous mistake. If you're a beginner, you'll die quickly. Looting for hours in the beginning is tempting, but it's useless. You're moslty picking stuff for the better player that will kill you. It's fine when you're an intermediate player and already made some kill, but it's really frustrating when you're a beginner and died with full premium gears, without firing a single shot. The game is cruel and the more you loot, the more you'll be frustrated to die randomly. Pick an assault rifle, pick some protect gear, a red dot and practice movement, space awareness, cover and hunting down people as much as you can. It's way better to loot on the corpse of people you killed rather than spending hours to find your favourite weapon only to die on the first encounter after spending 30 minutes running for the safe zone.
- Ideally, what you want is an AR with a scope (x2 or x4) and some gear to protect you (helmet and vest). Some medic are good to have, but the rest is entirely optional for beginner and intermediate players. Yes, even a secondary weapon.
Three last tips :
- Play on duo if you're a beginner, try to find someone who knows how to play a little, you'll learn from him. Single player is way too cruel for beginners and squad is a mess if you don't have solid people to play with.
- If you're playing with someone else, call a precise direction if you spot someone, don't just say "over there" or "in the field". Call a precise direction like "165 north, three guys behind a three" or "190 east, one guy running". Go for 1 - direction 2 - number of people 3 - small additional detail.
- Don't be the guy who speaks too much, especially on heated moment. People won't call you for it, but yeah, don't speak too much.
