How can I get better at aiming?

[Elyse]

Like the title says. I never really played fps games before, so I'm terrible at aiming. Any tips on how I could get better? Maybe turning the sensitivity down, or practice with only snipers? Any tips will be great!

 

[GBstep]

Try lowering the sensitivity down to the lowest possible you're comfortable with. It helps a lot to make your shots more steady.

 

[Aweshucks]

Practice. That's how you're going to improve at almost anything in this game. There's no magical trick that you can use to get better, you just have to practice.

Also, I wouldn't recommend changing your sensitivity from what you're comfortable with now.

 

[Charlight]

Try lowering the sensitivity down to the lowest possible you're comfortable with. It helps a lot to make your shots more steady.

Actually, I'd even suggest the opposite. Try a higher sensitivity, you might like it. In general, just try out different sensitivities on motion controls to see what fits best for you.

 

[Kaliafornia]

Practice in the weapon practice area or on "recon" mode. I do that with any new weapon (or old for a refresher) so you know how far your weapon will hit from certain distances, how close or far you need to be in choke points.

I would also say that there is nothing wrong with changing sensitivity. Some days you are going to be more twitchy or heavy handed with weapons. Keeping withing 1-2 max points in either direction wont screw your play up. I use 2 sensitivities lower with charger weapons.

Other than that practice and patience, as others have said.

 

[Rex]

Turn on motion controls. Lower your sensitivity down to the least possible, or where you feel your aim is solid. Lower sensitivities are easier to aim. Get used to that sensitivity. You should feel that your aim is better, though you may not be able to maneuver or turn as well. Up the sensitivity once you adjust to that level. Once you master that, up it again. Gradually up it until you feel your aim is what you want. It took me a good month or two and I am at +2 very comfortably.

As far as practice goes, you can sort of practice in the Weapons testing area. Imagine the dummies are enemies you're going to swim up on and shoot at from max distance. Pop out of a swim mode and then try to aim and shoot. Repeat those drills several time until you get a feel for the sensitivity; or, just goes balls to the wall and try out each sensitivity in turf wars.

 

[Achamo]

Just as everyone says, so it most likely key.
Adjust your motion controls to your suitable desire.

 

[LMG]

As far as practice goes, you can sort of practice in the Weapons testing area. Imagine the dummies are enemies you're going to swim up on and shoot at from max distance. Pop out of a swim mode and then try to aim and shoot. Repeat those drills several time until you get a feel for the sensitivity; or, just goes balls to the wall and try out each sensitivity in turf wars.

I would also add "try shooting at the dummies while running and make sure the first shot hits". Using accurate weapons might help in that regard (or the L-3 Nozzlenose since you move debatably faster than most shooters while keeping near-perfect accuracy), and by using the test feature in Ammo Knights you don't have to own the weapon to practice like this, but you can do that training with whatever weapon you normally use too (but keep in mind that inaccurate weapons like the Aerosprays will often miss even if your aim is spot-on due to how it works).

 

[C Gritz]

If you haven't completed story mode then I guess just keep playing turfwars until you master it
Make sure you get familiar with the analog

 

[Elecmaw]

I usually have my sensitivity set to -4 so i'll have an easier time playing charger. I've seen that a lot of rollers go the opposite way, having +5 sensitivity so they can quickly turn and flick at foes.

There's also this thing called Y-targeting where you use the Y button to quickly shift your camera in the direction you're facing, but i find that real disorienting because it also resets your position of the y-axis. Up to you whenever you want to use that, really.

 

[Nintendome]

Aiming is tertiary in this game. Focus on positioning and movement. FLC and I are going to put out a series on this soon. I will post the script here when the first video is uploaded.

 

[Agosta44]

Play 96 deco. Not only will the splash wall save you from head-on fights, its not 100% accurate so even if you miss you still have the chance to 1-2 shot someone.

 

[Kat]

One point that I never, ever see brought up and bugs me is the lack of discussion about positioning. This video covers CS:GO stuff but the concepts can be applied to Splatoon. It's not always necessarily your aiming but positioning and cross-hair placement before the actual fights. If you're having to pull your aim over a lot for every engagement you're going to loose a lot of them, you're not going to be able to hit nice flicks and stuff every time so try and position yourself and move so that you're only engaging one or as few angles as possible at once.

 

[Drez]

Do we have data on weapon accuracy? Because sometimes I get lazy (or panic) and just hope my shots hit, and they don't. I just want to know if I should be as on point as possible with certain guns.

 

[Friendan]

Aim
Shoot
Repeat
Also, focusing on what you do wrong after you die helps a lot, including predicting where people will move (which helps with aim, since you are prepared). I see a lot of people jump when they shoot (especially blasters) which is not a good thing since it lowers your accuracy physically and in-game.

 

[LMG]

Do we have data on weapon accuracy? Because sometimes I get lazy (or panic) and just hope my shots hit, and they don't. I just want to know if I should be as on point as possible with certain guns.

You can usually guess by the size of the reticle. Aside of that, most short-range shooters tend to have bad accuracy (with the Splash-o-matic being an exception), and most long-range weapons tend to have higher accuracy (with the Splatlings being the odd-one out, although they're not too bad either. I know they're not shooters, but still...). Anything in between scales with the range, with the exceptions being the Blasters and the Nozzlenoses (all seem to have perfect accuracy or near-perfect). Chargers always hit their mark, Rollers always throw a wall of ink in front of them and Brushes pretty much throw ink all over the place.

 

[Squidderp]

Try a weapon you don't have to aim much, such as the Luna Blaster.

 

[Box]

Do we have data on weapon accuracy? Because sometimes I get lazy (or panic) and just hope my shots hit, and they don't. I just want to know if I should be as on point as possible with certain guns.

 

[Hope]

Try lowering the sensitivity down to the lowest possible you're comfortable with. It helps a lot to make your shots more steady.

My aim with motion actually improved when I moved from the default to +5. Really it's whatever you feel the most comfortable with. As for improving your aim, like you this is also my first fps. I kinda let my instincts guide me through learning it and didn't really practice, but now I'm on the level where I can't really afford to miss so I do a lot of warmups on the training area. I would suggest practicing snapping to targets from all directions, and then hitting 3 shots and moving before the 3rd shot hits etc...

 

[Power]

My aim with motion actually improved when I moved from the default to +5. Really it's whatever you feel the most comfortable with. As for improving your aim, like you this is also my first fps. I kinda let my instincts guide me through learning it and didn't really practice, but now I'm on the level where I can't really afford to miss so I do a lot of warmups on the training area. I would suggest practicing snapping to targets from all directions, and then hitting 3 shots and moving before the 3rd shot hits etc...

Agreed that once you get comfortable with your sensitivity, you should practice and warmup in an attempt to avoid those off days. I would say try to be creative in practicing your aim, and don't make it too easy. Challenge yourself and you will improve over time.