There's a total of 15 duels in this gamemode. I generally put them all into 3 groups.

The formalities consist of EVERY duel prior to Bob & Grat dalton, because they are all very similar and basic. They pretty much all feel the same with some slight exceptions.

Old-man Clanton:
He has two movement patterns so he tends to trip up beginners.

Henry Plummer:
He just stands still and draws fast. It's usually not too hard to deal with but that's his niche.

Bob & Grat is the single defining duel of a high level duel run. You can gain or lose hundreds of points on this duel. After a certain point, your PB will depend entirely on this duel. A run is only alive once Bob & Grat are dead. My best score on Bob & Grat so far is -85.

The Executioners consist of every duel AFTER Bob & Grat.
Really, Flat-Nose and Jim Reed play as if they're just another formality. Jesse and Billy really have a tendency to trip runs up and kill them. There's a certain difficulty spike with these two that makes you really have to pay attention, particularly on Billy. With practice, Sundance & Butch are usually really easy. Sometimes they can look at eachother for a long time and starve you of focus, but that's about their biggest threat. They usually take forever to draw, so you should have plenty of time, and as long as you keep calm, your score will be fine.

Duel Pattern:

Focus is the most important part of getting a good score. To gain focus you have to get your target circle to be yellow and over the center of your opponent's body/head, then jerk your mouse to the left and right quickly, as if you were trying to draw this on your opponent. We'll call it the "duel pattern":

Sliding and Countersliding:

When an opponent is moving, you have to force the target circle to slide with them and continue doing the duel pattern on them with less intensity so that you're still getting focus, but your target circle doesn't stop sliding. When your opponent stops moving, you have to speed up the intensity of the duel pattern starting with the opposite direction to stop and continue getting focus. Here's an example of what you should be doing to slide and counterslide, and this is IN ADDITION to a weaker duel pattern. Ideally you don't stop your duel pattern to slide, just slow it down.
Here's a video of me getting 100% focus on Pat Garrett for an example of how your mouse should move:

Speed is less important than focus, but still very important to getting a >1/12 score. Speed is the much easier of the two to manage. You should see the tips of Silas' index and middle finger at all times but do not go too far to the left. You want the inside of Silas' index and middle finger to be as close to the gun as you can get it without reducing your speed. I find that generally you can just set the groove between Silas' thumb and the rest of his hand directly above the grip of your gun, then tap the A key in a certain rhythm and usually get 100% speed or close to it. I've also noticed it's helpful to use the groove between Silas' fingers and the rest of his palm to line up with the corner of the grip later into the duel. With enough practice, this element of dueling can stay almost entirely in your peripheral vision.

Early duel position:

Late duel position:

Generally you want to keep your aim (center of the target circle) over the body of your opponent until he is done with his movement pattern, then move it up to his head. I find it is also generally better to be closer to the very left side of the cheek than closer to the middle of the head when you draw because of the way drawing moves your screen. It's annoying but doing this will often stop giving you focus right before you draw, so try to keep your target circle fully yellow yet as close to the left as possible. I am fairly certain that pre-draw target circle yellowness is a factor in whether you get a headshot or not. Having your target circle less yellow also makes the draw animation move much faster and thus makes it harder to manage. For Henry Plummer, the two Daltons, and the Sundance Kid and Butch Cassidy fight, use the body to get to 85%+ focus then move to the head. Most opponents only have one movement pattern, so you can definitely memorize the way each opponent walks and take advantage of that. Old man Clanton is an example of an enemy with two movement patterns. After enough practice, you'll be able to tell which one he is using by the time it matters, and muscle memory it out. Other opponents with two movement patterns may be more tricky as the differences are subtle.

Bob Ollinger/Jim Reed:
I think these two are the only opponents where it is optimal to keep your target circle in the middle of their head as opposed to left. Their heads move slightly to the right when they draw, so it more or less balances with the way the screen moves.

Old Man Clanton:
He tends to draw relatively fast after he stops moving, so it's best to have your target circle tracing his head before he stands still.

Curly Bill:
I don't think it's really worth it to go for the left side of his face because of how screwy his hitbox is and how aiming over the left side of his head makes you lose focus. It's better in my experience to aim around the chin/lips.

Henry Plummer:
Henry's hat counts as part of his hitbox. This is actually huge and gives you way more to aim at. If you want to, you can aim a little higher, around the monocle. I don't really do this out of habit because my spot works just fine almost always, but it definitely gives you a lot of room for error.

Bob & Grat Dalton:
Grat's draw pushes his head down slightly. You can account for this by putting your target circle a little closer to his chest. You can then dodge left and very quickly hit Bob in the very right side of the head. The best score I've gotten on this fight is -85. Faster IS possible, but -85 is about as good as you can reasonably expect without exploiting some hitbox jank. Here I found out that you can actually aim OFF Bob's head. Idk how reliable or viable this is but it's happened to me once. Here's an example:

Sundance Kid and Butch Cassidy:

For this fight it is as if you're fighting two Henry Plummers. You can draw on which ever one ends up being the one looking at you, fire and instantly hit the switch target key and take a short moment to aim for the other opponent. You do not need to wait at all between clicking and pressing q/e. If you had a good draw, you timed your crosshair, and your aim was right, the bullet will go where it needs to go and the first opponent will die offscreen. When one opponent looks away, the other opponent is guaranteed to look at you next. If one looks away, look at the other opponent and hold it until he looks at you then looks away, then switch again and repeat until draw.

If you're feeling lucky and need to go for a particularly high score to beat your PB, hit the switch enemy key and slide your mouse and click almost instantly right after the camera stops, but not instantly - just within a couple milliseconds. This is a VERY slight mouse movement. Your crosshair will drag across the second opponent's head but you will not really be able to gauge it yourself, you'll probably just have to trust where your crosshair is, and not micro-correct it yourself because that usually ends with a miss and a ruined run. You will need to drag to the right no matter which opponent you're switching to, because no matter who you're switching to, your crosshair will end up on the left of their head. The timing between the two is slightly different, but you'll always be dragging right. I have examples for each:


Here's an example of a dragshot switching to Butch:

In these videos, I'm pretty sure the mouse movement happens during the switch, which is why it looks like I stop directly on their heads. This actually SHOULDN'T be necessary if you're getting a good reaction time (under 0.225). In this clip I get perfect even though I overshoot the dragshot and re-adjust. The dragshot is a nice tech but I think it's only making you go faster than necessary and not gaining you more points, unless you know you got a slow reaction time.

Here are images of where I generally try to keep the center of my target circle on each opponent:
Non-prediction -0 potential, 180ms reaction time
Standard PB improvement meta, and prediction meta

Drawing is the most self explanatory part of this guide. When you start hearing heartbeats, your target circle should be on your opponent's head, and he will not be moving. You can both watch and listen. If you see your opponent make a sudden move and/or hear a noise, you can safely draw. When you draw, your screen moves to the right and up slightly. There is not really much you can do to get better at this part. It pretty much comes down to reaction time.

Henry Plummer:
Henry Plummer is the opponent with the quickest draw in the game. He stands completely still. This makes it pretty easy to get 100/100 on him, but still not always guaranteed because of how fast he actually draws. You can time his draw with the heartbeat. He always draws after 1 and a half heartbeats. Example:

Firing is probably the most delicate part of dueling. You have to draw, and be patient enough to wait for your crosshair to show up. You can fire confidently only when your crosshair shows up on screen, not a milisecond before. If you fire before your crosshair appears, your bullet will go in the ground and you will lose a lot of points. I do not have confirmation for this, but it feels like, if there is a great enough percentage of the crosshair filled up with the opponent's head hitbox, you're guaranteed a headshot. This makes firing feel and seem much easier than it otherwise would be. Sometimes I still get unlucky, but that's really not something that can be compensated for. It's best to just have the left side of the enemy's head in the exact middle of the target circle before you draw, then draw, wait until the exact moment you see your crosshair, then fire. I would say with this strategy, you get perfect, fast headshots 99% of the time, as long as you execute it properly. You really should not be moving your mouse after you draw, except on Bob & Grat and Sundance & Butch for obvious reasons. Only move your mouse if you know you're off target and need to get back on. Remember, even keeping your mouse perfectly still, drawing alone will move your screen slightly up and to the right, which includes your crosshair.

The best tip I can give about firing is to remember that this gamemode is designed in such a way that if you react fast you can get a -0 consistently. The few miliseconds between you recognizing your crosshair is up and you clicking isn't going to make a difference, so don't bother trying to go fast for the sake of going fast, because it probably won't give you any higher of a score.

You really, REALLY should not get to the point where you're dodging. The only time you should be dodging is in the Bob & Grat fight, and you should only be dodging left as a movement mechanic, not to actually dodge. If you have to actually dodge, you're not getting a high score and might as well reset.

Patt Garret:
Patt Garret takes one step to the left. That's it.

Bob Ollinger:
Bob Ollinger takes:
One step to the right
Two steps to the left

Old man Clanton:
Pattern 1 -
Two steps to the left
Three steps to the right

Pattern 2 -
Two steps to the right
Two steps to the left
Always ends up to the right of the vulture


Curly Bill:
One step to the right
Two steps to the left

Johnny Ringo:
One step to the right
Two steps to the left

Henry Plummer:
Never moves. Stands still for the entire duel.
Always draws after 1 and a half heartbeats.

John Wesley Hardin:
One step to the left
Two steps to the right
Always ends up in front of the wanted poster

Kid Curry:
One step to the left
Two steps to the right
One step to the left
Always ends up to the left of the tree

Emmett Dalton:
One step to the right
Two steps to the left
Two steps to the right

Bob & Grat Dalton:
Never moves. Stands still for the entire duel.
Grat draws first. Killing Grat first is the optimal strat.

George "Flat-Nose" Curry:
One step to the right
Two steps to the left
Two steps to the right

Jim Reed:
Pattern 1-
One step to the right
Two steps to the left
One step to the right

Pattern 2-
One step to the right
One step to the left
Short pause
One step to the left
Two steps to the right

Jesse James:
Pattern 1-
One step to the left
Two steps to the right
Two steps to the left

Pattern 2-
One step to the left
Two steps to the right
One step to the left
Short pause
One step to the left

Billy the Kid:
Pattern 1-
One step to the right
One step to the left
Short pause
One step to the left
Unusually fast direction change
Two steps to the right
Always ends up in the bushes

Pattern 2- (this pattern can definitely trip you up, so watch out for it)
One step to the right
One step to the left
Short pause
One step to the left
Unusually fast direction change
One step to the right
One step to the left


Sundance Kid & Butch Cassidy:
Both stand still for the entire duel.
First opponent to draw on you will always be the one looking at you.
First opponent to draw is randomized.
When one opponent looks away, the other opponent is guaranteed to look at you next.
If one looks away, look at the other opponent and hold it until he looks at you then looks away, then switch again and repeat until draw.

Some of the opponents have a predictable draw timing. This is great for being able to predict instead of react, or react better because you are expecting it to happen at a specific time. Here is what I've found so far.

Patt Garret: 3-5, usually 3-4

Bob Ollinger: 3-5, usually 3-4

Old Man Clanton: 3-5, usually 3

Curly Bill: 3-5

Johnny Ringo: 3-6, usually 4-5.5

Henry Plummer: Always 1.5, but the audio on the heartbeat is always so unclear I don't recommend trying to time it. It's better to just react and miss 1-2 points unless you need them for PB.

John Wesley Hardin: 2-5, usually 4-5

Kid Curry: 2-6, usually 3-4

Emmett Dalton: 3-6

Bob & Grat Dalton: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 6.5 or 7 A clean feeling draw right after the heartbeat. No real way to time this unfortunately aside from getting lucky with 7 heartbeats and predicting it.

George "Flat-Nose" Curry: 2-7

Jim Reed: 2-7

Jesse James: 2-7

Billy the Kid: 2-7

Sundance Kid & Butch Cassidy: 10-14 (Uncertain, but this gives so much time it shouldn't matter)

The clock:

The way the clock works, I'm pretty sure, is that it won't start ticking until the duel's total time reaches 0.500. After it starts moving it doesn't move very much at first. I think it takes off 1 point instantly after it starts, then a second point after 0.530, and rapidly decreases from there. This means if you predict your opponent's draw to a perfect 0.000, you have a huge 500ms to take your shot and still get a perfect score. This would be massive for Bob & Grat, if you were able to perfectly predict it. These numbers are assuming you have 100% speed and 100% focus.

Bob & Grat + Sundance & Butch: I'm not exactly sure at what point the clock starts ticking, but it's definitely a lot longer than normal duels. I think it starts ticking at around 0.645, takes its second point after 0.660 and rapidly decreases from there.


100/100:

When your PB gets higher and higher, it becomes more and more important that you have a perfect 100 focus and a perfect 100 speed. I've noticed it becomes significantly easier to consistently get a -1 score (score where you only miss one point in a duel) if you have 100/100. There is a little bit of wiggle room of about 0.6% but for all intents and purposes you should be going for 100%, especially on speed. The final point in the duel generally comes down to reaction time being under 210ms. For a -1 score you shouldn't need a reaction time much faster than 240-235ms, which is much easier than sub-210ms.

1v1 duels now look a certain way to me:
100/100 and -0 score: Perfect execution
100/100 and -1 score: Perfect execution with slightly slow reaction
Anything less than -1: Can be improved upon

Perfect -1 run pace for Formalities is 155,991.
Here's a clip of the first 9 duels with perfect 100/100 execution:
(Missed 1 on JWH but made up for it on Curly Bill and Emmett Dalton.)

The theoretical best score for EVERY duel except Bob & Grat is -0. This includes Sundance & Butch. So far the theoretical best score on Bob & Grat without prediction is around -85 (My PB is -85).
This means that the current theoretical best score for the whole mode is 532,915.
If we allow for all of the scores to be a -1 then it decreases further to 532,900.

Bob & Grat prediction:
It is technically possible to get a -0 on Bob & Grat, if you predict Grat's draw. You can be off by about 100ms and still get perfect, as long as your shots both hit as fast as possible and you have 100/100. Here's an example of me drawing within 99ms of Grat and getting a perfect score:
With a Bob & Grat prediction, you can technically, theoretically, get a perfect 533,000 score. Assuming you predict Bob & Grat, and every other duel except Sundance & Butch is a -1, the highest score is 532,987.

This might seem obvious, but you definitely do get serious benefits from having a higher framerate at a lower resolution. This includes extra frames on top of your monitor's refresh rate. Somehow it's been able to cut milliseconds off my reaction times and make it way easier to get -0 scores. I had no idea how much my resolution was handicapping me, because I figured that maxing out my monitor's refresh rate would be good enough. It's not. You have to squeeze out every frame per second you can get. Unfortunately this also means low end graphics cards have a harder time competing. My first run after reducing my resolution to 1080p and getting 300-500 fps, I immediately noticed I was getting consistent -0 scores and having a much easier time. I beat my old PB, my old prospect for a perfect run, and did it even though I missed 2 bullets. If I hadn't missed those 2 bullets and instead got -1 on those two duels, my score would have been 532,812, just because of how many -0 duels I got.

This is my PB (532,909). I'm pretty confident calling this the WR. There are higher scores on the leaderboard but you can obviously cheat that so easily. There's even a score higher than the max possible you can get if you do everything perfectly plus Grat prediction (533,000). This is about as good as a duel run gets. This is what you can achieve by following this guide. I find this gamemode to be a ton of fun to optimize and keep trying to beat my PB. Hopefully with this guide, dueling in this game will get less hate. Thanks for reading!