Best ways to practice new weapons?

[Captain Ahab]

Hello there!
I'm a little curious how more dedicated players, or those who are leaning into that area, practice weapons they're unfamiliar with? It's been a struggle trying to figure out my proper niche, and while I know it's partially because I only play with randos due to some struggle with college schedules, I want to find more ways to keep practicing.
Any advice? I appreciate reading this regardless.

 

[QueueS]

For me it helps to watch top level players playing that specific weapon. It can be a little hard to find someone for every weapon but there should be someone out there. After that I try to copy what they do and adjust based on what works or not.

 

[Suchi]

usually I like to mess around in turf war with a weapon and see if I vibe with it or not. Once I get a bit of practice, I play open with the weapon.

 

[zyf_]

usually the general difficulty curve is
1) make sure you can use the weapon comfortably in training room
2) open with friends
3) open/series by yourself
4) x rank if you have it
5) scrims if you're competitive
6) tournaments if you're competitive + have teams

 

[sevenleaf]

yeah, echoing what some others have said, the best ways to learn a new weapon IMO are 1) studying more experienced users of that weapon/any guides for it that might exist and 2) trying it out in low-stakes matches.

turf is often the go-to for the latter since the only stakes are weapon freshness and making your overall W/L ratio look good, but if you typically play ranked (whether in a competitive setting or not) it honestly might be better to practice with open. particularly if the weapon you’re trying to learn isn’t known for its paint output… for example, i was trying out carbon deco a while back (mostly in preparation for the first Too Many Trizookas run) and found it near impossible to effectively practice in turf, but i was able to meaningfully practice with it in anarchy open.

 

[squid-lesbian]

I'm pretty much one tricking tetras, so I actually kinda struggle to give other weapons a chance even.
However, I'm a big Salmon Run fan, and I think to a certain degree that can actually help you. Obviously the weapons don't all play exactly the same, especially since you always have splat bombs and random specials, but you can grow a little accustomed to every main weapon without having to decide for yourself what you want to go with.
Another thing I do, even if that's mostly to grind weapon tickets, is that I forbid myself from playing my main in turf war, especially during Splatfests. That way I get the actual kits, and one-starring every weapon is usually enough to see if I can see myself putting more work into this weapon.
Then I'll take it to ranked and maybe play around with it in scrims, if my teammates are fine with it.

 

[9DB]

Wait until they're in a salmon run rotation (for the main weapon). Another thing is to play a few rounds of turf war and maybe some ranked if you're feeling ****y.

 

[MMOToaster]

Just play it lol, don't know what else to tell ya

 

[Bennet]

equip it go to the shoal or the lobby and just practice hitting the targets or go into a private battle and practice there

 

[Lisku]

salmon run

 

[youre_a_squib_now]

Hello there!
I'm a little curious how more dedicated players, or those who are leaning into that area, practice weapons they're unfamiliar with? It's been a struggle trying to figure out my proper niche, and while I know it's partially because I only play with randos due to some struggle with college schedules, I want to find more ways to keep practicing.
Any advice? I appreciate reading this regardless.

The training room and salmon run can be useful for figuring out the mechanics of a weapon, but to understand and get used to a weapon's playstyle, you really just need to play ranked. Learning a weapon and using it do not have to be two separate things. As you play soloq, test to see what works and what doesn't, and keep doing the stuff that works.

 

[Bennet]

The training room and salmon run can be useful for figuring out the mechanics of a weapon, but to understand and get used to a weapon's playstyle, you really just need to play ranked. Learning a weapon and using it do not have to be two separate things. As you play soloq, test to see what works and what doesn't, and keep doing the stuff that works.

no, ranked is a good way to get your current rank all the way down to C-

 

[zyf_]

gonna have to disagree with this bennet individual theres only so much you can learn in the training room

i would say playing it in anarchy open with friends is probably more responsible than taking it into like
series or x rank or something

though if you have x rank you're probably alright enough at anything to survive