The first time I ever played CoD multiplayer was Black Ops. I had played the campaigns before, as early as Call of Duty 3, but I very rarely dipped my toes into competitive play because I'm honestly pretty lousy at shooters. My aim is erratic and unrefined and I tend to have really terrible battlefield awareness. In my time playing games like Halo, CoD, and Destiny I feel that whenever I ended up being MVP on my team it was due to a combination of luck and the other players on my team also being kind of awful.

So I submit myself to the mercy of my fellow duders. As veteran shooter dudes I beseech you to help. I honestly really have fun with this new Call of Duty and I'd love to have fun with Halo this week and, yeah, I do still enjoy playing (and losing) multiplayer to a point... But sessions quickly become frustrating as, for example, I seem to just get killed over and over again regardless of whether I keep moving or just sit still.

So what say ye, friends? Do you have any tips to help a grizzled old loser to stop being so terrible?

Pick your battles. In Halo, I see people blinding running into 3 on 1 situations. Maybe you're sprinting at dudes as soon as you see em? I find that a little patience goes a long way.

Stay low in the maps. It's very tempting to get up high with the new jump/boost abilities but it makes you an attractive target. Assault rifles have a greater penalty to mobility but they're much easier to use than SMGs or sniper rifles so I recommend finding one of those that you like. Play some modes like Domination or Momentum where players aren't solely focussed on killing you, it'll let you get a few sneaky kills in. Practice using the sideways dash around corners and out of another player's line of sight, I've found that it can give you a fighting chance if someone gets the jump on you. Also the Exo Stim ability is a good way to recover health quickly so if you find yourself being finished off by a passing player popping that may help you out. You might want to run a silent class as well if you're unsure of your ability to take other players head on, you'll have to sacrifice a bunch of attractive perks but it'll make you less of a target.

These are just a few things I've picked up over a week of casual play. Unfortunately, it's still a reflex-heavy game that requires you to be quick with your aiming and be a decent shot so a degree of practice is necessary.

Generally I accept the fact that I'll never be twitchy so my best bet is usually figuring out the maps that you play on, where people tend to be at what times, and how to shoot them in the back. Map Knowledge is very important for players of all skill levels and is mainly something that comes with time and observation; if a map is badly designed then don't play on it pure and simple. If a map is brilliant like Station in World at War then play that shit as much as possible. I also broke my mouse once upon a time and played a whole month just knifing people, think that made me a lot better at the game as well.

Things like Smoke Grenades are really, really good.

The most important thing to learn in any multiplayer game is how to survive. Only once you know how to not die can you focus on picking up kills. If you can read the geometry of a level you should be able to determine where the hot zones are gonna be; where are you most likely to die? Hang around the perimeter of these hot zones and cycle from one to the next after two or three kills.

I haven't played CoD or Halo. These are skills I learned in arena shooters like UT99 but it's transitioned well to games like Warhawk, GTA Online, Killzone 2/3 and Uncharted 2/3.

With Call Of Duty, there are 2 ways of going about improving and both involve how you set up your loadout. You can either enhance your strengths or cover for your weaknesses. I tend to be a cautious player so I pick perks and items that help me hide from the other team. I'm not very good at fighting at close range so I could use attachments like laser sights to help me but I prefer to enhance my strengths and reduce the chance of me being in a situation that is unfavourable. It's a good idea to identify what you good and bad at and then decide if your current playstyle is how you wish to continue. With this game's loadout system, it is very easy to eliminate things you don't need so look at how you play closely and see what parts of your arsenal don't get that much use. For example, I don't have a secondary weapon on any of my classes as I tend to die before I can even pull the damn thing out(even the pistols which are the fastest to switch). By eliminating the pistol, I'm able to have a second tier 3 perk so I pick toughness which means that my shots don't miss as often so I find that I don't need to reload as much.

A few general tips

1. After a kill with an unsilenced gun, you should move away as fast as possible because good players tend to be more aware of their minimaps and will hunt you down.
2. Don't feed! I know this is a moba thing but dying a bunch to the enemy helps them get killstreaks easier which makes your job harder. So don't dive onto objectives unless you know it is safe to do so.
3. Stop sprinting everywhere - It takes longer to pull up your gun from sprint so running around a corner is not a good idea.
4. Check your minimap every few seconds. You only need to glance at it to see where red dots are appearing
5. If you are not good at getting killstreaks put the support ability on them, it means that the points you earn towards getting a kill streak continue after death.

That's all I can think of right now.

shoot that guy.

don't die.

You're welcome. =)

One of the best pieces of advice I ever got when it came to CoD was to be stealthy. Use perks that prevent use from being seen with a UAV and use silencers on your guns (that way you won't be show on the map when you fire). People tend to depend on the mini map, so it helps to have an advantage there. It's a strategy worth trying out.

Or be one of those guys who relies on the minimap. Some people play COD by watching the red dots and anticipating where they will be. This is where corner camping and other stuff comes into play.

Eat Doritos and drink Mountain Dew before every game. It'll supercharge your results!

I haven't played AW, but I've been a huge fan of the multiplayer since 4. Maybe these tips don't apply, but they worked for me -

Find the sensitivity that you're most comfortable with. It's pretty important, especially if you find yourself losing a lot of 1v1 gunfights. Everything else, really, just comes down to map knowledge and being familiar with the general flow of the game. Play defensively, be smart, use cover, and know where the enemy is. They're where your team isn't. Rushing around and playing like a lunatic is only viable if the other team is god-awful. Investing in a decent headset might also help, but I don't know how essential being able to hear the enemy is in this game; In cod4 and MW2, it was pretty damn important, especially in Search and Destroy.

Learning the maps is the biggest thing for me. I'm always terrible at new competitive shooters for a couple weeks. If you're playing with a controller, tweak the sensitivity a bit. I prefer to have it a bit more sensitive so that I can react quicker. Most of my deaths from AW were coming from not being able to get on target quick enough. Find out what's killing you most often, then figure out how to adjust for that. Mine was map knowledge and aim sensitivity. I'm still working on the former.

Don't rush head on into fights and don't run off alone if you can help it. Staying alive is more helpful to the team than trying to rush in and get kills. Even in TDM, don't feed the other team points. Also, don't obsess about your Kill/Death ratio (though it does show if you're feeding the other team). I play much better when I'm not worried about how much I suck.

Haven't played codaw but this is just a general cod tip. Stay as far away from your teammates as possible, you'll catch the enemy running to the front and they won't be expecting you.

@hunkadunkasaurus: Do the unmentionable in any FPS game ... camp!!!!! There is a reason why it is an actual real life war tactic that works. Keep yourself to a corridor were you can easy cover (it can be of any shape mind you , corners , an intersection etc.) just keep moving a bit from one spot to the next in said corridor as to prevent being sneaked upon or flanked , also find the werid ones , say a smoke stack or something of the like and use it to your advantage. Use your ears , many of these games have foot sounds pay attention to them , also dont go effin berserk rambo style , that never works. and when you use a rocket launcher (well if you use them in this game anyway) always go for the feet. etc.

Play smart and pay attention. If you aren't the fastest or most accurate shot, you can still have great success by being more careful. Always try to shoot people in the back, take people by surprise and avoid confontrations with a lot of people. Just by listening to footsteps and paying attention to your surroundings you can beat most players. Straight up just standing still when you hear someone run outside the room and wait until they pass the door is pretty much free xp!

@hunkadunkasaurus: I can't help but think a lot of advice in this thread is being given by people who have played other COD games, and assume that AW is more of the same. It is actually very different.

Do everything you can to win gun battles, and stack the odds in your favor. Keep using the same gun--I'd suggest the BAL--and unlock the attachments. The quick aim grip and the recoil reducing grip both give you a large advantage. Use primary gunfighter and make your third attachment a laser sight if you like to engage at close range, or a sight if you feel you need one for long range. Silencers are also good, but can add an extra bullet to the amount you need for a kill.

Speaking of guns, try to pre-aim before you round a corner, or enter a section where you expect any enemy. If you do unexpectedly see an enemy at close to medium range, start to shoot at the same time as you start to aim. While your aim isn't anywhere near as good when not aiming down your sights, aiming before you start shooting is a sure fire way to slow down the process. The combination of a lucky hip-fire bullet hit and/or the assurance that you'll be shooting your weapon from the split second that you're aiming down sights is often enough to make the difference.

Watch your radar, as for the first time you can see an indicator explaining which of your teammates is firing their weapon. When you do kill someone, expect there to be someone else near by who will have been watching their teammate shoot at you, and expect them to want to engage you while you're reloading.

If you've been shot from a long range and have yet to hit your enemy, consider pushing in on the left stick and back in any direction to quickly boost away into cover. Once you've been attacked first, the odds are not in your favor. If you're shot from far away, you'll have a much easier time escaping the fight, as it takes more bullets for a kill at long range.

Unlike other COD games, keep moving. There are attachments to even make silenced weapons appear on the minimap, so you can and will be found often. The minimap has changed a lot, and unless you can get a friend to watch your back, it's pretty much impossible to successfully camp in this game. Here is a good video explaining the changes. Because of this, I'd suggest that you either try to sick to the outer areas of the maps in team death match, or play objective modes such as domination or hardpoint.

I like running around so I try to stealth up on my perks and silence my guns. I also try to use low level perks that helps to team. UAV for example is low level and handy for everyone. There is an exo suit item that also gives you a short UAV that is handy. Try to ignore the K/D. It really is kind of dumb and doesn't matter in the long run. Also realize at the moment AW's connections really suck. One moment you are running circles around people the next it looks like you are getting one shotted. Patience.

Make heave use of the HUD map and learn people's fav camping spots cause you can try to sticky grenade those areas. Finally know when to run. If someone starts shooting at you from behind gtfo. Recover and live to fight another battle. That last one is something I'm trying to do more. I'm not the best or even that great at FPS but these have helped me from getting into the negatives. Unless I'm trying out a new gun then I'm going to suck pretty bad. Using the shotgun lately and its rough.

I'll also add what really changed the way I play was those Sandy Ravage Booster Justice videos. After watching those my style of gameplay really did change for the better.

LEFT TRIGGER RIGHT TRIGGER RINSE REPEAT.

Basically this:

Yeaaaaaah~ repeat it.

• Learn the maps
• Pie your doorways and corners
• Avoid the fatal funnel (the choke point going through a door)
• Don't rush into a fight
• Don't get tunnel vision - the guy that usually kills you is the guy that you didn't see right in front of you
• Practice. Unfortunately, most people playing CoD these days have been playing it years and years and are reallygood at it. It's gonna take some time to get to a decent level if you are a new player.

@stonyman65: So true. I was kind of unprepared when I came into the first Modern Warfare. People were kind of jerks too at first until I mentioned I was new to FPS. After that they were cool. Took a while and I'm still working on getting better. My roommate who stopped playing CoD a long time ago took about two months to get pretty decent. I think he was better than I was. Much more patient and took note of everyone's position on the mini-map.

Wow. All the comments and stuff here have been super helpful. I'll try to put these things into consideration next time I play. The firing before aiming thing is something I certainly need to practice, as I do notice myself taking way too long to start shooting the moment I see an enemy.

Now, of course, Halo is out. Let's see how terrible I can be at Halo multi too.

Biggest tips i can offer for AW are:

1. resist the urge to dash and double jump everywhere. I know it's fun but it also draws attention to yourself and leaves you very exposed.
2. pie corners and doorways. allows you to peek areas before moving through leaving you a chance to retreat from danger before dying.
3. learn the maps and which routes are the most high trafficked. I do this by observing other players instead of just immediately shooting them until I have a feel for it, then implement the knowledge and and "attack the weak point for massive damage."
4. Don't chase the first guy you see, they usually have friends nearby.
5. Equip the BAL-27 with foregrip, red dot and potentially a 3rd attachment. i like the parabolic mic (makes silencers show up on the mini map) or the stock (makes pieing corners faster) I say to do this because it's one of the most effective weapons in the game at this point and you'll see a lot of people using it.
6. Don't get frustrated so easily. People often make terrible choices when under stress or are upset. This game is tough, even for seasoned vets. Shooting people who can ostensibly almost fly around the map is hard even for me and i've played every call of duty's multiplayer since CoD4 and generally do pretty well.

Like others have said patience is very important. But more importantly actually think about why you are dying. I've seen so many people get killed endlessly in the same dumb cycle of mistakes.

I suck at shooters.

I have been rocking a TEC-19 (I think?) shotgun for the entirety of my AW-playtime, and I am kicking serious ass. As long as you keep moving and remain aggressive, pushing yourself against the enemy, that thing with an extended clip is guaranteed to take some fools down. I've always sucked at aiming down sights so you can just hipfire this thing to the point where aiming is secondary. A lot of people have advised to stay low in the maps, I say do the opposite. Jump and dash as much as possible. A lot of players on the PC at least appear to be having difficult adjusting for the new things. You learn how to dash in the ground to dodge bullets before they do and you're the winner.

Let me drop some hot pro tips for ya:

1. Press left trigger, then press right trigger.
2. If you want a different gun, press Y or triangle. If you are a man, fuck switching guns.
3. Fuck guns. Stab everything.
4. In the immortal words of Gary Whitta: "Shoot that guy."

I don't want no scrub, a scrub is a guy who can't get no love from me. Hangin' out the passenger side of their best friends ride, tryin' to holla at me.

Left trigger, right trigger.

Works for me in Battlefield.