Hi all, first post, please be kind.
Just wondering if everyone else notices a correlation I’ve noticed in my roughly 1800 games of H4-
disclaimer this is NOT a complaint thread (so don’t bother if it isn’t academic), but more of a thread to discuss what’s really at play here.
On one end of the spectrum, when matchmade against lower-ranked players, I notice that landing shots is a breeze: from snapshots, to rando railgun shots, to precision rifle headshots. Frequently it’s due to their lack of skill and lack of movement and predictability of their actions. But sometimes these low ranked do all the right things, have a solid BR, and I just jock on them.
On the opposite end of the spectrum when matchmade against higher-ranked players, I have to employ the utmost concentration to even land a headshot. To my dismay initially, highly competitive players can simply wheel around when their shields drop and it becomes nearly impossible to land a headshot from behind (or any of the aforementioned shots ie. railgun snapshot etc). I am aware of strong siding and alot of the trickery good players have up their sleeve. But even more evident is the lightning-fast strafing I see with good players – often players who aren’t even host.
So what’s up with this? I play some people who have massive K/D ratios and it seems like their only edge on me are variations in hitbox size and in something I like to call “aim assist box” size, where aim assist takes over for the most part. It upset me for months on end from Jan-Mar, but I’ve come to terms with it, and all it does is make me a better FPS player. The only thing I have qualms about is that there are some quality players lower ranked than me because my reticule is glued on to them. Is a player’s ability to avoid my fire simply due to crazy agile movement and unpredictability? Or is this just an issue of connection? Is there a specific means of strafing to avoid aim assist?
As I play more and more I am learning ways in which to cope with this effect and its actually very fun to try to overcome this difference in aiming as it makes me a much better FPS player. I guess I started this thread as it is an something seldom acknowledged and I want to see if other players see this as clearly as I do. And how do you change your strategy to deal with it (other than playing better).
Thanks all,
Where’s Biggie?
> Is a player’s ability to avoid my fire simply due to crazy agile movement and unpredictability? Or is this just an issue of connection? Is there a specific means of strafing to avoid aim assist?
Strafing is a very, very important tactic that I very rarely see less-skilled players do. Next time you play against some better players, watch the replay film in frame-by-frame slow motion. I’ll bet you that all of those shots you thought you hit were, in fact, definite misses. Theater mode has really opened my eyes to shortcomings in my own abilities.
I believe I’ve observed this exact thing. My theory is that it is host related, and that certain players, based on the way the host selection algorithm works, have an observable advantage because of the frequency with which they get what I’ll call “the speed advantage” (SA). We don’t have a real way to measure SA, but I surmise that it isn’t simply who gets host, but is based on other factors, which may be ping time relative to other players in the game (average proximity to host) or some host/lag compensation algorithm (H3 for example tried to correct for who had host, which created different issues) that favors them for whatever reason.
There are two effects that are really noticeable to me. Some players you just can’t land a shot on and others you can’t miss, as you noted. The other is movement speed - they’re strafing back and forth at like 1.5 normal speed. We have two Xbox’s in the house and me and my family play against each other and we’ve tested strafe speed over and over again. It isn’t actually that fast in H4 no matter what you do w/ the sticks. But nonetheless you go into matchmaking and sometimes you see someone that’s zipping back and forth like they have speed boost or something (and they don’t…).
I think most people will just chock this up to network conditions, and maybe that’s right, but I think that there is some % of players who achieve SA and some % who are victims of it on a regular basis because of the way the host selection/correction algorithm works. For me it has undermined the credibility of online play in H4.
Welcome OP!
This probably has nothing to do with network conditions and more with player skill. Higher skilled players not only know how to strafe, but how to adjust a strafe to desynchronize enemies’ shots. Guessing and adjusting movement patterns is the only way to win 1v1s at high levels in H4 because of the ridiculous amount of aim assist. This dynamic movement can actually give the illusion of faster movement, and is based on the unpredictability you mentioned.
Strongsiding effectively is also pretty dependent on their ability to know when to jump, guess nades, and where to stop. All based on experience from situational awareness. But they aren’t invincible, they just do their best to make you think so.
Basically, I’d try to learn as much as you can from these players in theater. There you can also check if you were landing shots that didn’t register on one specific player, that would be host related.
Delementary,
Tonight I’ll head into theater to see the adjustments I’ll need to make, and do some rumble pit to decide between carbine/br because DMR just isn’t cutting it anymore on most CTF maps.
Is shot resistance a popular perk among high-end players? I imagine it would increase strafe speed and make escaping much easier.
I’ll pm you on live and maybe we could do some 1v1’s in the octagon.
Yeah, its probably time for you to upgrade to the BR, that will help. The shot resistance perk would probably help for escaping, but I wouldn’t learn to rely on it. Skilled players have learned how to play without any AAs or upgrades, I would suggest the same.
I’d be glad to 1v1 sometime and see if I can help. I’m on during the evenings.
I’ve noticed this as well, I think it’s just that the inexperienced players are easy targets due to a few reasons, mainly down to reaction to getting shot, and how to respond to that, and having little awareness of what’s going on around them, for example not noticing somebody down the far end of a corridor.
But yeah, i totally agree op!
> I believe I’ve observed this exact thing. My theory is that it is host related, and that certain players, based on the way the host selection algorithm works, have an observable advantage because of the frequency with which they get what I’ll call “the speed advantage” (SA). We don’t have a real way to measure SA, but I surmise that it isn’t simply who gets host, but is based on other factors, which may be ping time relative to other players in the game (average proximity to host) or some host/lag compensation algorithm (H3 for example tried to correct for who had host, which created different issues) that favors them for whatever reason.
>
> There are two effects that are really noticeable to me. Some players you just can’t land a shot on and others you can’t miss, as you noted. The other is movement speed - they’re strafing back and forth at like 1.5 normal speed. We have two Xbox’s in the house and me and my family play against each other and we’ve tested strafe speed over and over again. It isn’t actually that fast in H4 no matter what you do w/ the sticks. But nonetheless you go into matchmaking and sometimes you see someone that’s zipping back and forth like they have speed boost or something (and they don’t…).
>
> I think most people will just chock this up to network conditions, and maybe that’s right, but I think that there is some % of players who achieve SA and some % who are victims of it on a regular basis because of the way the host selection/correction algorithm works. For me it has undermined the credibility of online play in H4.
I agree with this.
I consider my network connection good/fair (not the best, but not the worst.)
I’ve played in some really glitchy/laggy matches and have noticed other players moving at normal speeds. Which I assumed was the host, or people with just better connections.
I was also playing a match on Adrift, (CTF) where everyone was moving normally, except one guy who was very glitchy. It worked out for him though, as it was almost impossible to get him.
You’re correct about the better, more experience players knowing how to strafe, they perform actions that you wouldn’t normally expect, for instance you might be shooting at one of them, you both have a DMR and you both shot at the same time so, in theory you should trade, but the skilled player might just crouch randomly causing you to miss one shot, and this is where he/she capitalizes. Another tactic that better players use is to switch your controller to bumper jumper. This allows the player to jump without taking his or her thumb off the right thumb stick meaning you can aim easily while jumping. A step up from this is while you are in mid air, you start mashing the crouch button, it makes it much, much harder to land that headshot.
Personally, I sometimes have trouble aiming when I try to move the stick and it just moves too slowly, or I move the stick and them its too fast. Aim acceleration. Mix that with me strafing and the enemy and then my shots and the Lightrifle firing rate I end up missing sometimes.
do you play on a higher sensitivity?
I drop from a 6 to a 4 against higher skilled players to compensate for their strafes
> do you play on a higher sensitivity?
>
> I drop from a 6 to a 4 against higher skilled players to compensate for their strafes
This. I stay with the default 3 and seem problem free unless lagging.
I play on 10. I don’t want to play lower. It doesn’t mean I always miss. sometimes I get these moments.
Nice to see someone else notice this!
Rank doesn’t seem to matter, but some players I can easily get three shot kills in with a BR and some people I have to fire off a whole clip before they drop.
It’s never one thing, it’s lots of things -
I think that latency/lag plays a role. Lag’s definitely noticeable when people are teleporting around and you die for no reason but when it’s so small you barely notice, I’m sure their hitboxes or your bullets can miss by a fraction.
The whole thing with strafing - a lot of higher ranked players know how to “dance” - where instead of running in a long circle and hoping your aim is terrible, they sort of make tiny erratic movements and let your bullets fly inches past their face.
(Hitboxes in this game are ridiculously accurate. I’ve seen grenades fly through warthog doors and the passengers inside)
I guess the only advice I can give you is pray you get good at out-dancing the competition and have a good connection