When Halo 5 launched, I’m sure many of you competitive Halo fans had high hopes to improve your skill in the game. Although I have seen many of my own friends improve greatly in Halo 5, I have also seen some struggle with their aim and adapting to the new player movement. Here are a few tips that will hopefully help you improve as a player.
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Aiming
As you have probably noticed already, Halo 5 has a significantly reduced auto aim compared to other Halo games. This means that players can no longer rely on auto aim to help them hit accurate head shots and are forced to improve their raw aim.Pacing Your Shot
The first thing players should focus on when shooting in Halo 5 is the pacing of their shots. I see a lot of players spam their shots in the hopes that those 7+ shots can connect with a kill, and that’s just a terrible way to go about it. Not only is spamming shots extremely unreliable in a gunfight, but it also ruins your level of accuracy. The proper way to pace your shot is to first focus your reticle on your opponent’s head, shoot, and repeat. This process may seem like you’re killing people at a much slower time at first, but over time as you improve your pacing, you will be able to do this process at a much quicker rate. This also improves your overall accuracy so you will eventually be able to win gunfights you thought you would lose. [Improve your game even more with this Halo 5 Guide.]Sensitivity
One problem that many players struggle with is their sensitivity number. Whether it’s a 3 to a 10, your sensitivity number should be adjusted to what you feel more comfortable using. There seems to be a bit of a rumor going around for years that raising your sensitivity number means you’re a better player and that’s simply not true. All the sensitivity number means is that you feel comfortable with it. I see great players all playing on different sensitivities. With accuracy in Halo 5 being a very important factor to win, it’s crucial that you find your true sensitivity number. Also, keep in mind that the sensitivity in Halo 5 is a bit different than in other Halo games, so you may have to bump it up a bit than higher what you’re used to using. For example, I usually keep my sensitivity at 6 in all Halo games but in Halo 5 I was forced to bump it up all the way to a 10 to feel as comfortable as I did before.Strafing
Having good strafe technique has been important in every Halo and it’s no different in Halo 5. With gunfights being much more challenging in this game, it’s important to take any advantage you can get in a gun battle. For those who don’t know, strafing is when you move left and right when having a gunfight with your opponent. However, just moving left and right while shooting is the most basic strafe possible, and many players have added their own unique styles to their strafe, making it harder to kill them. Here are a two examples of famous strafes that have been notorious for their effectiveness in battles:- Gandhi Hopping: When getting into a battle, move left, right, and then jump right after. While in the air, spam the crouch button. This will make your spartan jiggle in the air making it harder for your opponent to hit a headshot on you. The strafe was created and made famous by MLG Halo pro Gandhi back in Halo 2 and is still a popular strafe to use today.
- SK Strafe: When getting into a battle, wiggle your left analog stick left and right without actually hitting the ends of your analog stick. This will create glitch effects for the opponent, making it harder for them to hit their shots. It also helps to add a crouch to the strafe every once in awhile just to make it even harder for the player to hit your head. The strafe was created and made famous by MLG Halo pro SK back in Halo 3. It is still one of my favorite strafes to see and one of the hardest to master.
Player Movement
One problem that I see a lot of players dealing with is adapting to Halo 5’s unique player movement. The game can get very fast paced at times but can also become slow paced depending on how you or your opponent play your match. Here are a few tips to help you adapt to Halo 5’s movement.Pay Attention to the Environment
Having a strong knowledge of the map you’re playing on and knowing every single nook and cranny you can take advantage of is very important when winning a game. Halo 5 is in no way a run and gun game where you can just sprint around the map killing people. You are better off knowing all the shortcuts and power weapons on a map and making sure you have control of at least one power weapon. For example, look at the map ‘Empire’. Making sure you have control of Over shield and Shotgun in many cases will guarantee a victory. Since neither power weapon shows up on your screen when spawned, it’s important that you roam around the weapons and keep track of time to make sure you go near them right when they spawn. Good habits like this one will not only allow your teammates to have an easier time out slaying a team, but you will most likely apply this good habit to other power weapons on other maps.Switching from Fast Paced to Slow Paced
Like I said earlier, Halo 5 is a game that can switch from a fast paced game to a slow paced game in an instant. It is very important that you are able to determine when these switches occur and change your play style depending on the pace of the game. One way to find out if a game requires you to play at a slower pace is if your opponents have a solid team shot. This is pretty easy to do: just run out and see if you get melted within 2 seconds by your opponent. Bait and Switch is a good strategy you and your teammates should work on. You can practice this skill by maintaining control over power positions that are close to each other so that your team can bait and switch. Being able to do this is a very important as a team, especially if one or two of your teammates don’t have a great shot. It allows those teammates to put off a few shots, and if they are weak, you can simply bait and switch with them to increase your team’s chances of getting kills. This is a strategy that most teams use to win close matches, but it may take some time to understand how to do it efficiently. When in a faster-paced game, it is very important to be able to switch power positions over time. Typically, the game becomes fast paced when playing an objective game such as CTF, which means that many times, you or your teammates will infiltrate your opponent’s base to pull out their flag. Having a strong knowledge of map rotation will help you and your team transition from your base all to way to your opponent’s base. Always make sure that when someone from your team is attempting to pull a flag, you have a one or two teammates in a power position – either on top mid or an area on the left or right side of the map that’s elevated so they can put shots on opponent’s defending their flag, making it easier for the infiltrator to clean up those kills and hopefully pull the flag out of their base.
