1 - Stance Adjustment:
Holding left control + WSAD will allow you cycle through an array of different stance positions. A and D will shift your upper body left and right respectively (separate from Q and E), which is particularly useful for popping in and out of doors or around corners. W and S cycle through the 8 stances, from fully erect (huehue) to a nifty prone-lean kinda thing. This is useful for utilizing and firing over awkward cover (too high, too low), or firing underneath cars. Rolling while prone is also particularly useful, such as when you have to get through those cracks in the concrete walls in a hurry.

2 - Weapon Mounting:
Pressing C will allow you to mount your weapon on most surfaces, providing you with significantly reduced recoil when you fire. This is vital for higher caliber machineguns, and you can even do it on the ground! Kinda negates the purpose of a bi-pod, so don't go wasting points on that.

3 - Free Look:
Hold Alt (double-tap to lock) to move your head free from your weapon. This is great for when you are camping a spot with your muzzle trained on one approach, but need to scan your surroundings without moving your weapon. You can also do this while aiming, allowing you to rotate your aim about 45 degrees left and right from the direction your body is facing. Releasing Alt will snap your weapon back forward.

4 - Aiming Deadzone:
By default, Argo has what is called an "Aiming Deadzone"; that is to say your weapon will move freely to a degree without moving your screen. I personally hate this, as I find it way too sensitive. You can reduce or disable this feature from the main menu in Settings>Game>Aiming Deadzone.

5 - Headbob:
While you are in the game settings, take a look at the other things and ask yourself if it is helpful or detrimental to your gaming. Headbob makes your screen move around as you run, which is just totally unnecessary and prevents you from having a steady view of the battlefield. I pretty much disable everything in the options; I'm not playing Argo for immersive/realistic gameplay. Save that for Arma.

6 - Motion Blur and PP BS:
It sucks, its stupid, and it kills your FPS. Same with bloom. Turn all that crap off. Put your sharpen filter to maybe 50 (that's 50 points, not half-way). Don't let the faux beautifiers get in the way of your game performance when there is griding to do! It is worth mentioning that vsync caps your framerate at 60fps, so if you want it higher, disable vsync!

7 - Tactical Ping:
Press "T" to place a nifty little red circle on whatever you are aiming at. This is great for calling out targets or places of interest for your team to engage or move on. Use it, but don't abuse it. Make sure you say what you are pinging... Not enough people do that. You can also ping on the map by placing your cursor over a location and pressing T.

8 - GPS:
The "mini-map" as the new folk affectionally call it is a GPS device. To open, press ctrl+m. This thing displays several pieces of vital information: The top left number is your grid coordinate on the map of Malden. The top center number is the compass bearing your are looking (0-360 degrees) - this is vital for calling contacts, though keep in mind it is relative to your position. The top-right number is the time of day. Doesn't matter all that much in Argo. Below that you see a map display that shows you and your teammates, as well as basic map features (terrain, buildings etc).

While the GPS is very useful, you shouldn't rely too much on it. Coordinate its data with what you see and hear, and for the love of god don't kill teammates - You can see where they are!!! (*Easy way to remember: If the GPS player icons are Orange, shoot the blue/grey people you come across and vice versa)

9 - Footsteps are OP:
STOP RUNNING AND LISTEN, DAMMIT! Footsteps are extremely loud in Argo, and it would greatly behoove you to stop for a minute and take a good long listen. Watch your GPS, know where your buddies are, and find the enemies based on sound alone. It may require a decent pair of headphones (haven't really tried without) but it is absolutely vital for defensive play. Also, if a buddy is clearly trying to be quiet, dont go running past him like a bat out of hell. Play it tac.

10 - Weapon Penetration:
Most surfaces in Argo can be penetrated by rifles and even SMG's. Wood, canvas, sheet metal, those sorts of things can almost always be shot through. Combine this with the OP footstep hax and you are golden.

ENCORE
As a final tip that doesn't really fit into the vibe of the list, body armor costs 6 points. That means anyone under lvl 6 will NOT have body armor. On top of that, helmets and headgear are purely cosmetic in Argo (unlike in Arma where helmets have armor values), so don't restrict yourself to helmets when customizing your character. Get decked out! Considering this factor, it may be advisable to use the Vermin .45 SMG (Vector). It has an insane rate of fire and comes with 9 30rnd magazines as opposed to the 6 assault rifles get. Food for thought.

*Remember, this game comes with the EDEN Editor and the full Malden Island map. The editor tree contains soldiers from both factions with every weapon in the game, so you can make scenarios to test your skills against AI. There's also a helicopter (Orca), so you can fly around the island watching the battles you orchestrate erupt below you. And seriously, if you have never flown a chopper in Arma, GO DO IT!!! Its so fun. Youtube is loaded with editor tutorials, I'm not going to explain that all here.

_________________________________________________

That concludes my list of things new players seem unaware of. Use them as you will, mix and match and combine them all - I really think they will help improve your game. I will try to add any other things that become glaringly apparent as I continue my grind. Feel free to mention your own tips and tricks in the comments, and click the thumbs up to help spread the word!



GL:HF o7





29th ID is an Arma 3 realism unit. We are always recruiting! Hone your skills and knowledge by enlisting at www.29th.org/enlist