Play to win each individual encounter (Destiny)

by Durandal, Sunday, March 08, 2015, 21:12 (3784 days ago) @ Ragashingo

Generally, each encounter with an opponent in PVP is like a aerial dogfight. You want to set it up such that the weapons you are using are at their optimum distance, you are facing your opponent, and he is not aware of you nor at his optimal distance.

Everything else is tactics. Strafe, use a particular weapon, etc is a tactic that adds to your setup. The basic theory though is to win quickly and decisively, or flee.

You can die very quickly. Shotguns, Fusion Rifles, and Snipers are all 1 shot kills at the right range. There is often not enough time to react to these weapons at their optimum range. Primaries are a different story, since they take 3-8 bullets to kill most of the time. So there will be some warning that you are under fire and a moment to act, but just a moment.

In PVP, you must get set up so that you are fighting in your optimum range. Shotguns in close quarters from surprise, fusion rifles charged just as you breach the door etc. That is where knowledge of the map, of people's most common paths and ambush points can be helpful.

Running down a big open area means you are exposed to fire from multiple angles that you can't watch all at once. Rushing a point can mean you face multiple people at once and that usually means you will loose.

As a rule of thumb then:

1. Stay out of the "middle" of areas, keep to the sides where you can cover half the approaches.
2. Conceal your position from the other team (crouch, have some other idiot dancing on the point while you sit off to the side etc)
3. Flee if you are in a bad match up (fighting at long range with an auto rifle, getting shot at by snipers)
4. When fighting do not stand still, move.

There are lots of frustrating things in PVP. When your shotgun doesn't work but someone else's does, or you lose because the other person is rocking a Suros and your For the People can't compete, or your team is losing and feeding your opponents supers.
There isn't much you can do here, accept it will probably result in a loss and move on.