So, first things first.

This guide builds upon this one:
http://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=941362109

So if you haven't checked it out yet, I will warn you: this will get freakin' complicated and confusing if you don't have the basic requirements (Wanna go back and train on some bots? If yes, then now is the time to do so)

The way a Veteran (or let's just say high-skilled and no-life person) plays is NOT straightforward, so I can't really tell you what sections I will go through. I will try my best to expand on the maps and weapons, as well as some playstyles to employ depending on what weapons you use and what map you're on and what weapons your enemy is using...... Confused yet?

If not, then you're on the right page. Let's get it started! (And no, you dont need your math book)

There are 2 components to survival - prediction and dodging.

As an example I made these pictures, they should give you an idea of how and where to predict.
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In this example your enemy is flying towards you, the red lines show the area where they can be while flying and the green area shows the directions they can dodge left/right.
As you can see, the area gets bigger and bigger, making it harder to predict their movement as they get closer to you. Your best chances are to hit them early.
Of course, the red and green area will "cycle". For example, if your enemy decides to dodge left twice.
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Here you are flying towards your enemy while they are hovering in place.
The red circle shows the area your enemy can hover around and the green area shows where they can dodge.

Note #1: The closer you get to you enemy, they become on your screen. However, the prediction area grows as well.

Note #2: Now it gets complicated. Depending on your weapon, your playstyle, and your enemy, you want to either get close or keep distance. I will talk about this later on - just keep these 2 pictures in mind.

Lets have a short talk about the different abilitys and in what situations they can be usefull (or useless)

Note: It could be that i will note some of this stuff at the weapons section
Note2: The perk "Infrared Sensors" is atm. kind of useless, since it doesnt do much more as you already can.

Perks:
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Long Range Radar


This increases your detection radius on the radar map up to 60%
Literally what it says, u see the enemy vector "orange arrow on the minimap" very early, before he sees you on the radar.
This can allow for some sneaky trap placement by knowing where ur enemy is heading before he notices you.
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Sealth Enhancer


Vise Versa of the LongRangeRadar, it decreases the detection range "of your enemys" by 42% before you show up on the minimap.
(This one has to be confirmed, if i am correct it also counts towards the HUD Indicator (Big orange arrow indicating that theres a enemy close to you))
This could be usefull for some sneaky plays, i can aswell imagine this to be used at some CTF maps like Firestorm.
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RCS Enhancer









This increases your Hover speed by 20%
It is super usefull for those staying in Hovermode for most of the time as it allows them to dodge slow weapons (like Rocketlauncher) without needing to doubletap (dodge to the left/right)
Or keeping distance from the enemy long enough by also hovering backwards.
If your not that kind of guy using hovermode that often u might just want to stay away from it, but its definitly a usefull perk to choose.
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Nitro Booster









This increases your Jet mode speed by 17%
If your that kind of guy that likes to fly fast then this perk might be for you, just keep in mind that its full potential comes into place with shortrange weapons especially Shotgun and Swarms as it allows you to close the distance to your enemy faster.
Otherwise, there might be better perks to choose from.
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Heavy Armor









With this perk u recieve 15% less damage (From everything)
If u want to Tank alot of damage or just need that extra splitsecond to shoot down your enemy then this perk might be for you, it is aswell very usefull against damaging abilitys like mines or tesla.
I recommend this for people who still feel unsafe in dodging 90% of the enemy shots and want to train it, ofc. u can stick to it forever (like i did)
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Copernicus









This Perk allows you to zoom in more by 180%, it comes with one downsight though and that is aiming sensibility - it will be very slow.
The only real effective way to use this perk is in combination with the plasmagun and if you are good in flickshots then this might be for you, otherwise u can choose another perk and stick to the normal zoomgrade (If you like shooting ants on your screen)

If u cant hit your enemy then outdodge him, keeping u alive wich increases the chance to land a few "luck shots"

I will go through several examples on how u can Dodge, going from smooth to superb crazy.
At the end it really depends on what you prefer and what style your enemy has as u want to be unpredictable at all times.
Note #1: Depending if you play in 1st or 3rd person the way u dodge can feel quite different, thats why i will try to show the same dodge patterns in both views so u get a good example of what i ment.
Note #2: Remember the dodge cooldown
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Number 1:
The Hover-Dodge, this can also be imagined as a zickzack pattern while in hover mode.
You move up/down and dodge left/right, to make it fancier u can move forward and backwards at the same time.
Pros: U allways have your enemy in sight, allowing you to shoot at him while dodging.
Cons: U cant close the distance between u and the enemy









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Number 2:
The crazy Jetmode Dodge, imagine your vector on drugs.
Pros: If done right it is very unpredictable and you can close the distance between you and your enemy
You are mobile enough to cut those corners and use your environment to dodge bullets
Cons: If done wrong it is VERY predictable
Alot of mouse movement involved









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Number 3:
The Oldschool "Circling your enemy by smashing your spacebar and turning your Vector as fast as you can" U can Imagine this dodging as a "flyby", after each turn u can shoot at your enemy that you are circling. (Thirdperson gif gives a very good example on how to use this dodgestyle offensive)
Pros: Fast paced dodgefights garanteed
Confusing your enemy and still aware of your surroundings
Very good with shortrange weapons like Shotguns
Cons: Very hard to pull off, as u can confuse yourself
It gets predictable very fast
If u have explosive weapons u might damage yourself









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"But Tzero .. This is all nice and good, but my enemy allways outdodges me, nomatter to what dodge style i stick to, he allways outplays me!"
Well, when ur at that skilllevel and have to fight those kind of people, then do what they do.
Now dont ask me "what do they do?" U just thought it for yourself.
Sometimes dodging differently has a upper hand above another style.
For example: If i am at Hovermode and u do the Circlingdodging around me then i have almost no problems following your vector on my screen spamming those rockets at you, while u on the other hand have to dodge those rockets, spamm your spacebar, do a tons of 100-180° turns WHILE trying to hit me.
So get experience with all the different dodging ways and try to learn switching between them for a more smooth kinda playstyle.

This may be one of the hardest and complicatet topics to go through, so your brain may feel blended after this one.

ATTENTION:
I will not say anything about the Homingmissiles, should u have reached a higher matchmaking rating you should keep your hands away from it unless you want to troll around or have some fun, currently they only work good vs. bots and new players since they can easily be dodged.

Know the Weapons, try them all out, play a few matches with them, try to be first place with every weapon.

People will tell you (me including) that there are shortrange and longrange weapons, but the truth? the only shortrange weapon is the shotgun and the only midrange weapon is the gattling.
What does this mean? If u can predict your enemys movement like a god u can snipe them with a rocketlauncher across the map.
If you have a super fast aim and reflexes u can shoot your enemys with the plasma, while scraping their paint.

So again, learn how to use those weapons in all kind of situations.

I will now try to explain how to use each weapon against each weapon, as well as counting in different playstyle (indlucing that of your enemy u are facing) so this is the complicatet part.
To make it less chaotic i will also categories the use of the weapons into close range and long range combat.

Lets start the journey:
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Carabines:
Quite effective in close and long range as its bullet speed is quite high, wich aswell makes this weapon very hard to dodge.
(Unless u suck at it... then ur enemy doesnt even have to touch his keyboard)
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Close Range














When using this Weapon in Closerange it is recommended to stay in HoverMode while dodging.
If u get hit alot try mixing it up with the 90° spacesmashing dodgestyle like u see in the gif (requires a good feeling of your surrounding since u wont see your enemys when u turn away to circle him)

How to fight such players: Best option would be shotgun, stay close, dodge like a maniac and just shoot into his direction.
Same works with Swarm missiles if u lack that feeling of your surrounding or if your enemy gives his best to stay out of your sight (SwarmSpamm time)
It gets a bit tougher with the other weapons, with Rockets u should not be too close since u will damage yourself (Blastradius) - fit his dodging style, dont spamm rather watch him dodge and take a break from shooting here and there wich will make your enemy nervouse, this results into early dodges and u need to predict his movement less.
With gattlings you need to stay at midrange and almost everytime in Hovermode - this makes u a super easy target so get a constant DPS on your enemy (This will make his screen flash and dirty increasing your chances to dodge the next bullet)
With Carabines and Plasma it gets real tough, now every hit counts - again read his dodge pattern and dont get confused, try to predict, make him dodge early by not shooting when u should be and make it count.
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Long Range














Stay in Hovermode, preferable with some obstacles near u (for emergency hiding/dodging).
You also need the skill to predict enemy movements on distance to make your hits count before the enemy gets close to you.
U can zoom in for this, with enough practice it will look like in the gif.
If necessary dodge behind a obstacle (or search one in Vector mode) and get to a new "camping" spot.

How to fight such players: Best option, Plasma as this allows you to stay in longrange yourself and u dont need to predict as much (Hitscan)
As well as Carabines, it will require a bit prediction but not much - since your enemy is lso in Hovermode so his movement is rather less (If u prefer Carabines at close range just bombard him while flying at him, this makes him rapidly dodge even if u dont really aim at him)
And again, it gets tougher with the other weapons, rockets and swarms, well... u can snipe with the rockets if u do a certain technique or if you are just plain lucky (or your enemy has a reactiontime of 2 seconds) but best bet is you do so while closing the distance as fast as you can. (And if your enemy has a solid aim, dont forget to mix it up between Vector and Hovermode etc. this will slow u down but also increases the chance of dodging some bullets)
Shotgun... hahaha.. if u face Whoracle dont even try, just hide and shoot something else, if its not him just take the long path behind obstacles and try your best to get closer.
Gattlings, well if your enemy decides to be longrange with carabines then u can expect him to have a solid aim and prediction, since u have to stay midrange to "almost close range" to your enemy and in hovermode u can expect to get hit alot.
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Rocket Launchers:
Very effective and popular weapon for close combat dogfights especially on maps with tight corners and alot of obstacles.
Players using this weapon profit alot from the blastdamage it brings with.
The further away your enemy the harder it gets, since the projectiles are quite slow and u will need alot of prediction.
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Close Range














The most common way u will use the Rocketlauncher, stay close to your enemy and just bombard him.
Due to the big explosion radius u dont have to predict as much as u might think.
If you are playing on a tight map with alot of walls and corridors and you miss, then the rockets will explode behind your enemy on the wall resulting into a bit a blast damage.
But be carefull, the blast damage can damage you aswell, so dont try to shoot your enemy while he stands right in front of you, especially not when u are low health u might kill yourself.

How to fight such players: Almost similar to how u engage a closecombat fight vs carabine.
Shotgun ofc. selfexplaining by now.
Rocketlaunchers, resulting in heavy adrenaline explosive boomboom dogfights - just be better then your enemy, read his dodging style and adjust yours.
Same goes for using Carabines, lesss prediction needed ofc. so u might stay in hovermode.
Swarms are a good option aswell, especially if u can outdodge your enemy.
If you are using Gattlings things might get difficulty, u need to dodge alot while having a constant deadly stream of bullets on your enemy.
Most importently - dont get confused by the shakes and explosions.

Long Range














Using a Rocketlauncher on Longrange is nothing that is done easily, 95% of the time it really just happens when u spawn and u are flying towards your enemy.
Ofc. it works best when the enemy ur shooting at is already fighting someone else, like that he doesnt see your rockets coming and might not dodge those.
The other 5% is something that happens when 2 highskilled players face eachother from the distance with rocketlaunchers, resulting into a minute long dogfight till someone gets hit.
Theres only 1 reason why those occasions happen and that is when both players know eachothers skill level - they know what the other one can pull off if either of them gets too close, so they rather stay in a longrange fight hoping that some random player or bot helps out or one of them gets bored and slowly works his way closer to the other guy.
So should this scenario happen to you then just keep calm, either wait till your enemy dares to get closer or spamm those rockets - alot of prediction is needed - both of you will stay in hover mode. Making your enemy dodge early by not shooting helps out alot due to the cooldown, now you can just shoot into the direction he might dodge next resulting into a 50:50 chance of a hit.
Dodge only when u see him shoot/when u see those rockets flying towards you.
If your facing other weapons then dont bother to much in a longrange fight, unless you feel lucky or u wanna go the hardcore way in improving your skills.

How to fight such players:
If its that type of enemy that just spawned he will most likely fly towards you while shooting, sooo if you have a carabine or plasma - easy game, predict his dodge wait for the cooldown, shoot him.
If u have a close range gun such as shotgun wait till he gets close to you, ofc. dont get hit and then engage him with full hatred.
Same for swarms.
With gattlings, just wait till he is in range of those bullets and make him know why this map is called "skyhell" :D (old name of airshotcity)
If he is that type of player that stays in longrange on purpose then either be scared to death or shrug your shoulders and ignore him.
Use the plasma or carabine to snipe them.

Plasma Gun:
This is the sniping weapon everyone fears in every FPS.
It's a oneshot gun leaving raging pilots behind and is able to clean up a entire server.
Ofc. theres the 1% chance that the second gun does not hit or that your enemy magically survives with 3hp (yes its allways 3hp if your enemy had 150hp)
If u get used to this weapon without copernicus congratz, u got eagle eyes and can use another usefull perk instead - especially helpfull should u want to engage closerange fights with this weapon.

Close Range














If u mastered the game like a boss then this is the playstile for you, it cant get more intense and satisfying then this.
I cant even really explain what to do here, in fact im sure nobody really knows what they are doing when they use plasma in close range fights.
Some players like to fly towards their enemys in suicide style and move their crosshair to the edge of the screen in last second to get that flick shot.
Others like to do the same but instead stop instantly in hovermode and pointblack adjust their aim in a splitsecond to make that headshot happen.
The reaction times to pull that off are insane though, thats why "nobody really knows what happens there"
How to fight such players:
Have fun, those people are super crazy unless you'r the one who closed the distance.
Stay confusing with your dodgestyle, dont give him any chance to readjust his aim to pointblack kill you.
Spamm your weapon (whatever it is), all those effects on his screen will keep him in bay untill he is dead.
Should u be using plasma your self in that moment, keep calm and be crazier then him.

Long Range














For longrange sniping u wanna move as less as possible before shooting, becouse this could give away your position on the enemy radar and depending how skilled they are they might notice and take cover or react fast enough to it.
There are 2 types of longrange snipers - the ones that like to go up high above the map where they have time to snipe the players before they reach them and the kind that likes to get into a sneaky peeky little spot with alot of cover to make sure they can escape should the enemy get to close.

Type1: Best option is, right after u spawned u get into hovermode and move UP while carefully having the radar in your sight (as well as looking for white stripes of flying vectors) - now all u got to do is oom in and snipe whatever u can.
If a enemy trys to gap the distance u will mostlikely see them frequently dodging left/right, dont follow his vector with your aim instead point there where he might dodge next (since most players dodge left and then right (never left left or right right) this is just a matter of practice till u got the crosshair there where it is needed)
Should they be that experienced and calm to dodge into the same direction several times, just be cool and remind yourself of the 0,7 second cooldown - might not sound much but if u react faster then 0,7 seconds u got the kill (u got 4-6 chances for this)

Type2: Find yourself a neet little spot without getting killed, something that surrounds u and blocks all shots going towards you.
To pull that off u need some experience in dodging like a pro especially in a full server.
And from there on, have fun - just snipe out of your little hole and if a player gets lose to you just escape, dodge around and search the next spot.
Rest is similar to "Type1"

How to fight such players:
2 Options:
1: Similar to "how to fight longrange carabine players" - just with more crazy dodging and luck since it only takes one shot to kill you.
2: Ignore him, know your surroundings, kill other enemys while being covered from him. (unless it is a 1v1, u have to risk it)
If it is a "Type2" player just spamm your weapon into that direction wich will most likely cause atleast some blast damage and make them nervouse, making them come out of their spot.
Or u simply ignore them, wich is in this case alot more easier, since they dont have a 360° free vision on their surroundings.