Tips on getting better

General Discussion
1

I’ve had overwatch for probably about half a year, and it’s my first FPS. The thing is, I usually notice that I get better playing a game, be it a fighting game, a platformer, rpgs or whatever. I don’t know if FPS are special in that regard, but I just feel like I’ve been getting worse at it the more I play. I seem to not be able to hit enemies anymore, am not able to dodge them, lose way more 1v1s than before etc. etc. Whenever i put up the numbers thing during the game, my hit %, elims etc. seem to be lower than before and I regularly get stomped a whole evening in a row with no wins in between compared to the beginning, where I felt like I actually won every second or third game.
So my question is just: Can someone give me some general tips on how I may improve my game? I’m obviously doing something really, really wrong and have no clue what, I’ve been to target practise (which doesn’t help much considering how linearly they move), I’ve played quickplay, have stopped when tilted, took a break for a week etc. and I’m really bummed out since I actually like the game.
Hope this doesn’t sound like whining too much, but yeah.
tl;dr: Can anyone give me gameplay tips on how to improve accuracy and dodging skills?

2

git gud;

just kidding, practice makes perfect is all i can say. there is no shortcut to great power. cough, aimbot

3

I’ll just give you the tips that worked for me, I climbed from silver to plat using these tips.

  1. find out which heroes you like to main the most

  2. spend time actually doing your homework regarding those heroes. watching some pro guides on how to effectively play those heroes you chose can save you weeks and months of time getting ahead of the rest, those pros know what they’re talking about and I think I’ve watched pretty much every Zarya pro guide out there on YouTube.

  3. practice what you learned from the guides over and over, there is no short-cut.

  4. Use QP to practice and do drills, don’t worry whether your team wins or not, QP is a random mess so the win isn’t the primary focus, you successfully getting your practice in and doing good drills over and over is what counts, then take that knowledge and experience to comp where it counts.

For example as Zarya, I only use QP to drill getting gravs fast and bubble management, I honestly couldn’t care if my team wins or not, I’ll even listen to music while I’m drilling with Zarya in QP. Then in comp I put my try hard pants on zip and join vc and do call outs, etc, and play like a real team should.

gl and have fun! Remember, it’s a journey, not a race. Enjoy the ride.

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4

Thanks for the good tips :slight_smile:
Another question: Is there any way to be placed with people in matches that aren’t obviously way better than you? Getting stomped every game is kinda boring.

5

No problem, hope they can help. No, there isn’t. I mean, it’s allowed to buy multiple accounts so you will encounter a smurf once in a while. Don’t get disheartened. Whenever I play with players who are clearly better than me, I try not to stress over the fact that I’m losing, I try to learn from the experience and remember key points on how I can improve. Sure that smurf enemy Widow is absolutely destroying my team but at least I’m learning about map positioning, not peeking out behind walls, my awareness is climbing.

Sometimes it’s good to play with players better than us, so we can fail, and learn, and become better in the long run.

6

The fact that you’ve gone so far as to make a post here is a great sign, because it shows that you care about learning and improving.

This lines are pretty much solid gold. Guides - Practice - Drill. Since I recently moved to PC and my mechanics are trash, I want to improve before going into comp. I’ve probably spent hours on the internet looking at Ana/Zen guides to give myself every edge.

If you need some pointers as to where to start with step 1:
-KarQ does a video series where he goes through every hero in the game and gives you a tip to play against every single hero in the game. These guides usually feature pros or very high level plays who specialise in that given hero. Note that not every hero has been covered yet.

-Jayne does coaching videos which go insanely indepth. He specialises in Main Tank, but is so knowledgable about the whole game and reviews all roles across various ranks. He goes over positioning, team work, ult usage, ability usage and awareness.

-Unit Lost also does coaching videos, but those are shorter and go into less detail typically.

-Watch pro games and keep an eye specifically on the person(s) filling your desired role.

-Search for guides online/watch streams. High level players that you probably haven’t heard of will have put guides on YouTube for their hero, and there are many popular Overwatch streamers who broadcast for many hours that can offer an very entertaining and educational experience. These typically cover everything; dos and don’ts, tips and tricks, correct ability usage, positioning etc.

There’s one more thing: when you die or mess up in someway, stop. And ask yourself what went wrong. What could you have done differently to get a better outcome? Now, it’s not going to be your fault every time, but realising things like “Oh, I overextened there and exposed myself” or “Oh, I got tunnel visioned and didn’t shield/armour/heal/whatever my teammate” or “Oh, I used my ability too soon” is very useful. Stuff like that is small and incredibly easy to self-assess and fix. There might be things that you can’t self-assess; things that you think are fine that are, in fact, not fine, and the various guides and coaching reviews will hopefully draw your attention to those.

If I had to guess what’s ruining it, I’d guess awareness/positioning simply because I see it everywhere. People fighting in a Widow’s LoS, people running further out of line of sight of their healer while low hp because they panicked when Genji jumped on them and didn’t think. DPS heroes not stepping up into the space their tanks create meaning that:
A) The DPS can’t do their jobs well
B) The tanks are pretty much alone and are just going to feed
Things like that.

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