DID SOMEONE CALL ME
(thanks
@isaac4 lmao)
If you want I'd be more than happy to give you tips! Though keep in mind I've been playing it since s2 so I don't really remember what being new to the weapon is like :')
The playstyle is kinda weird to describe. What you want to do is hold important areas down by yourself and push the enemy back with your shield, the narrower the corridor the better lmao. Its best strength is survivability, so your goal is to be an absolute nuisance as much a possible while the rest of your team cleans up the enemies, since tent isn't the greatest at getting kills
But I know that's usually really overwhelming for new players, so at first I'd say focus on abusing your range to chip at short range weapons, and launch your shield when you're getting rushed down, or whenever you want to approach the other team
It also paints pretty well, so you can totally paint for

magic zooka

and you might be fine lmao
Also to learn it, I'd recommend starting with splat zones, since it's a lot easier to understand what you should be doing. Bonus points if the map is really linear! Brinewater, Barnacle, Wahoo, that kind of stuff
And for gear, for the record, this is my build:
But the only abilities I'd consider
necessary for newer players are two subs of swim speed and some main saver (probably around a main). Quick superjump is also really good but you need to know when to jump out and that can be a bit complicated at first.
You can do whatever you want with the rest, put some qr since you're learning it, or heck maybe special charge up for
getting carried skillfull usage of trizooka
Don't beat yourself up too hard if you're not doing great at first, it takes a
while to get a grasp on what you're doing.
I hope you have fun with it! Obviously I do, I think it's such a cool weapon