Planetside 2 Tips For Beginners

Planetside 2 has been properly out for a couple of weeks now and anybody who has played it for that long is going to have at least picked up the basics. Let me tell you from experience: being a newbie and being surrounded by talented pro-like shooters is massively overwhelming and not very fun. How can you improve your game and avoid that horrible negative K/D ratio? Below we’ve compiled a few tips and hints for Planetside 2 in the hopes of helping you “get good at Planetside 2". Naturally no amount of hints will replace good old fashioned practise and hard work. Instead, you should use the below to gently fix problems you might be having and hopefully the positive K/D will come with time.

If you have any Planetside 2 tips of your own or any sort of hints for the MMOFPS, be sure to jump into our comment section below and help your fellow players!

Get your Bearings

I can’t stress this one enough. Planetside 2 feels like any other FPS, but it’s much, much bigger. If you get annoyed by constantly being shot in the back in Call of Duty, expect that times a thousand. Not only do you need to get used to the size of the map and the many locations and items at your disposal, but you’ll need to get used to constantly being seen by people you have no way of seeing. This means you can’t play Planetside 2 as if it’s Battlefield 3 or Black Ops 2.

Read our Planetside 2 Review here>>

When you spawn for the first time, take a few minutes to look around you, to reacquaint yourself with the controls and the speed of the aiming reticule. Take a look at a point in the distance and aim towards it, then a point closer by and alternate between the two for a moment. Always be aware of your surroundings and try not to run ahead of your allies – they’re your wall of defence and they are going to die. Don’t join them if you can help it.

Know your Class

Each class in Planetside 2 is slightly different, and knowing the advantages and disadvantages of each is an important part of the game. I could list my thoughts on each class, but to be frank that probably wouldn’t help you at all. Depending on your play style, each class is going to feel slightly different, and classes that I think are useless are going to be far better in the hands of somebody else. What this comes down to is experimentation and knowing your class.

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Don’t jump into a sniper role just because you always play the sniper role in other games. Don’t be scared of the assault rifle classes because you’re usually not good at mid-to-close range combat. Tackle each class as if it’s something completely new, take a few hours to get to know it and then and only then should you make your decision.

As a side note to knowing your class: don’t play a lone wolf. During the day, when matches are slightly less busy, you’d be forgiven for trying to work on your own, but the chances are that this isn’t going to work out. People with assault rifles are easy picking for snipers and there’s a 100% chance of it being you that’s shot if you’re the only one raiding a base. Learn to play in a new, more team-based way or suffer the consequences.

Learn your Limits

Moving on from knowing your class: know your own limitations. If you’re fantastic up close and personal, but a terrible vehicle driver, rely on other people to make up for your lack of skills, and let them rely on you for their lack of skills. Don’t think just because vehicles are fun to drive that you should always be the one in the driver’s seat. Learn your limits and the limits of those around you and you’ll have a better game every single time.

Build a Team

Even if the team you’ve built in Planetside 2 doesn’t realize it’s part of a team, be sure that you stick with people who you feel play well and play fairly. Ideally you’d all have microphones and play as part of a team each and every time, but we all know that online gaming rarely works as perfectly as that. Instead, try and communicate in actions rather than words and see things in both the bigger and smaller picture. Go where you’re needed, but realize that you’re part of a bigger team. Shoot for yourself, but work with the guy standing next to you as well.

It sounds corny, but the best way to win is to play as part of a team.

Don’t Expect to Win

Don’t worry about K/D ratios and don’t expect to win the game you’re joining. The beauty of a game like Planetside 2 comes out of the fact that the world is so large and there are so many players in it. Taking each section of the map feels like a major victory but never before has a game better represented the phrase “won the battle, not the war.” Take each victory at face value and enjoy it, but you’re unlikely to join a game that you’ll see through to the end. More than that, on this scale you’re unlikely to have some amazing K/D ratio and you should be batting for 1 rather than 6.

Still, if you have negative K/D, don’t worry too much. Hard-core shooter fans may see this as the be all and end all of their experience, but the truth of the matter is that Planetside 2 is an objective based game, and so long as you’re capturing objectives and not making silly mistakes that will cost your team, you haven’t got anything to prove to anybody. As you play longer and get better, the positive K/D will come, but you need to relax about it first.

Don’t be scared to Move

Another Planetside 2 tip; Hitting the M button will allow you to bring up your map at any time. Become an expert at reading this map, because it’s your biggest asset. Knowing what the enemy are doing and where your skills are most needed will be irreplaceable and getting to the front line as quickly as possible will prevent the boredom of travelling by foot, or the confusion of getting lost via road. Remember: you can re-spawn at any time using the map, so if you’re miles away from the enemy, use your time wisely and just skip to a new location.

Know What You’re Getting Into

This might seem obvious, but it matters less in other shooters than it does in Planetside 2. Don’t run into a random room in the hopes of taking a mysteriously unprotected objective. You’re going to get shot through the brain or stabbed in the back. Take everything very slowly unless you have a fantastic team behind you. If you’re going to stick your neck out, be careful that it’s not met with a knife. Scout: it’ll make your life, and the lives of your teammates, much, much easier.

Conclusion

Planetside 2 is a different sort of game. It’s familiar, something you’ll have a feel for right away, but it’s all grown up. If you don’t adapt, you’re going to struggle to make a dent in anything but your own death count. This hints and tips won’t turn you into the top player, but they might just save your life. The most important rule is to have fun: getting good will come with that. Go to where the action is, fight with those around you and feel the satisfaction when you rip a facility out of enemy hands.

That's all Planetside 2 tips we have at this time, good luck, soldier, and good gaming. Visit our MMOFPS games section for a selection of our favorite shooters.