PvP close combat advice needed

  • So I’m looking to get better at PvP on an Xbox controller, but I’m having a bit of trouble with my aim because my screen moves too fast when people are jumping everywhere. I’d say I’m above average in PvP in this game, but there is definitely room for improvement.

    In particular, I want to get better at staying alive and taking out rivals when I board their ship (I can usually do just fine defending mine)

    Does anyone have any suggestions that ISN’T use a PC or mouse/keyboard that would help?

    What sensitivity levels do you use for each weapon as an example? Slow enough to aim, but fast enough so you don’t die first? Lol

    Any help would be welcomed!

  • 12
    Posts
    4.6k
    Views
  • Because you can't snap your camera around as much, I really like to be aware of nearby corners and doorways. If you have something to fall back to, the enemy has to take a predictable path to attack. The captain's cabin on the Galleon is a perfect example!

    Of course, you don't need to play with a controller to use this tactic, but it's saved my butt in a couple 1v3s using a controller. You can also use an Eye of Reach in scenarios like this.

  • @cyberguardian77

    1. Focus on survival over the kill, especially when boarding as distracting is just as important as slaughtering them all. I fall for this trap myself way to often, you know they are almost dead and rush for the kill and die by not considering your position, life total, the counter play, etc. Keep in mind that on their ship you just have that one life.
    2. Positioning is key, fight in situations that you can control, plays towards your strengths as a player and your loadout or the weaknesses of their loadout. If you don't like the spot you are in, move.
    3. Sensitivity levels is very personal, play around with it and practice on inanimate objects till it feels good for you and tweak accordingly. Are you to slow or to quick during combat, finding the balance is hard and might even change once you get better and between weapon types, attack ranges.
    4. Analyze every battle, win or loss. What could have gone better, what could you have done differently and keep at it.

    Good luck, I am also still improving and consider myself average, as I do get beaten by players that out class me. Hope this helps.

    My buddies always joke around that they will just let me lose on the opponents ship and the fight will be over before they circled around to pop a hole in their hull. Though not sure how objective they are, as it really matters on the other crew.

  • Before they nerfed the sword i cant tell you how many times ive either fully wiped a crew or killed 2 or 3 for them to subsequently sink because the time it took to kill me wasted their time foe bailing and repairing.

    The time of the boarding is the biggest factor in this obviously because ive also been killed climbing the ladders, sometimes by the same crews i end up wiping.

    You have to take opportunity when you see someone on cannons, go for the immediate 1 shot with a blunderbuss, run down the stairs reloading then immediately catch any chasers with your sword at the chokepoint, if you manage to chain the combo on them all good job, have gotten 3 at once like this before, if not then try and take atleast one out with your blunderbuss and proceed to rinse and repeat on the bottom deck stairs, and if you think you are unable to pull this off a second time, run all the way to the end of the bottom deck and heal, and use your Blunderbuss to force an opening to then run back to the top deck and either hit anchor if you already hadnt or hide in the captains cabin or above it and use the high ground or the doors as another chokepoint.

    Catching crews unaware when boarding is half the battle, but it still is good to isolate targets when you can afterwords otherwise you
    Can easily get ganged up on.

  • @a-cranky-eskimo I miss the old sword combat that felt like a dance instead of the rush and slice it has become.

  • @cotu42 said in PvP close combat advice needed:

    @a-cranky-eskimo I miss the old sword combat that felt like a dance instead of the rush and slice it has become.

    Totally agree, if you are going to remove the one thing that added depth and skill and knowledge based advantages, atleast add something else that provides that depth. As is swords no longer are effective against multiple attackers unless you are literally perfect at chaining combos and they dont know what flanking is lol.. even then there are still those moments when you are stuck in movement limbo for no good reason...

  • Also, i play with LB as jump and A as my map radial and RB as my item radial, remapped emotes and nonverbals to left and rigt d pad so i could have up be planks and down be bucket, and havd food on right thumbstick. These changes improve combat effectiveness drastically on both offensive and defensive ends.

  • theres nothing really that complex about sea of thieves pvp, people make it out like your in an advanced warfighting simulator.

    just block as many sword hits as you can, don't tire your swing, and regen health as much as you can without making yourself vulnerable. sword step to dodge shots.

    most good pvpers just make sure they have a route to the fruit barrel/ammo crate and stop you from doing so

  • @a-cranky-eskimo

    I did something similar but didn't take it that far. "A" brings out my food, and pressing down on the right joystick makes me jump. That just those two little things helped me stay alive longer. And I suck at PvP.

  • @cyberguardian77 said in PvP close combat advice needed:

    So I’m looking to get better at PvP on an Xbox controller, but I’m having a bit of trouble with my aim because my screen moves too fast when people are jumping everywhere. I’d say I’m above average in PvP in this game, but there is definitely room for improvement.

    In particular, I want to get better at staying alive and taking out rivals when I board their ship (I can usually do just fine defending mine)

    Does anyone have any suggestions that ISN’T use a PC or mouse/keyboard that would help?

    What sensitivity levels do you use for each weapon as an example? Slow enough to aim, but fast enough so you don’t die first? Lol

    Any help would be welcomed!

    A change was made a while back...most of us were using 10.0 at the time. 10.0 is now ridiculous. Alot of people that play other FPS games with a controller have shifted to using 5.5 to 6.5. Obviously it always comes down to preference and there is no wrong choice but 10.0 isn't a thing anymore. Give it a try. I have a video of in this tips section right now and there is some PvP in it...if you wanted to see an example of what 6.5 or 6.0 looks like since that is likely what my sensitivity is set on. I would post the video in this message but I don't like hijacking the thread. It is in the tips and guides section hopefully you find it if you are looking to see an example.

  • Ill give some advice/tips based off of my own experience and how I improved as a player to where I am today! First off! Don’t listen to those that say that “keyboard/mouse is the only way to play” I play exclusively with a controller myself, fell in love with the game on xbox and then transitioned to a Pc, and bought a nice controller specifically for this game. (You’re not alone!) In reality the only time that a mouse might win out against a controller is at the highest level of competitive play, and lets be honest, you aren’t going to be running into those at that level, ever.

    So what I did when I first started out in this game, I realized that combat is on a completely level playing field (one of my favorite aspects of this game) meaning that a skilled sailor can compete against a pirate legend, if they’ve got the skills to match. Nobody gets any improvement in their equipment as they progress, etc.

    So I play mostly solo, started solo, and I had the same desire to improve my aim and combat skills so that I could hold my own in PvP encounters. How I worked on my aim was that I started on a very low sensitivity, and I used a pistol almost exclusively. And then I grinded out Order of Souls, and would practice my aim on the skeletons. I would practice shooting from my ship when they would crowd around, and as my aim improved, I increased my sensitivity. I think I started around 4, and now I am on 10.

    THE BIGGEST FACTOR IN PVP
    is just remaining calm. Remind yourself that a shot missed, is 100% worthless, and so it’s better to wait for a shot that you can guarantee, then take a quick shot that’s a 50/50. And you’ll probably notice really quickly that if you pull out a pistol, the enemy typically starts dancing around, trying to get you to miss, but a lot of the time they will remain at a perfect distance for a pistol shot, so take a deep breath, and wait. And remember they are in the exact same position that you are, so when they miss a shot, jump on them if possible. But most of the time I have found that a fight can be won or lost based entirely on whether or not you can keep your cool. A lot of the people you will run into will be just as frantic as you might be, and so if you can stay cool, you will hit your mark.

    And seriously, order of souls is a great over way to improve your overall combat abilities.

  • In om PC but I prefer playing with a gamepad.


    General info
    My General sensitivity was 8.5, but I recently toned down to 7.5.
    Blunderbuss aim is either 6
    Pistol aim is 4.5
    EoR aim is 4.5

    I have my jump button mapped to my Right Bumper
    My food to A.
    My objectives/voyages to D-pad right.


    When it comes to Sensitivity, I think its OK to have low sensitivity, but try to go tiny bit higher every time you have become comfortable with your sensitivity. Higher sensitivity does not necessarily mean better, but being fast enough to snap around can be nice. If your snapping around is inconsistently off, you may be too high in sensitivity.

    My first things that got me to play better is to relax and think more about being in a stance that you are certain of, than being in a stance that gets you to Panic. So for example in arena: I can continue to stealthily be stealing the enemies chests and hand them in, and there is only one more. But there is one person inside that is about to come up and maybe spot me. Do I get rid of him while he doesnt see me? Or risk stealing the treasure? After stealing 4 chests, I made the choice to go after him in the claustrophobic spaces of the galleon, I managed to loose track of him in such a way that even M&K would and got killed in the sword fight. I put myself in a place I am just not comfortable with.

    Another example is: Thinking about ship tactics more than Boarding has made me more succesfull. So My loadout has become mostly Pistol+Blunderbuss. With ship tactics only, I try to not get borded, so my blunderbuss is my main gun in thwarting boarders from the ladders and fight them if they ever get on my ship. But pistol for assisting teammates, indoor fighting (funnily enough) or underwater fights.

    Look before you aim is a another thing that helped me in pirate fights, and that comes mostly with patience, and accepting to not desperately kill anyone when I think im about to kill them before they heal up, as that puts me in a bad position. So with Guns, I look without aiming and evaluate when to start aiming. When I do aim, I try to make my shot within 0.5 or maybe 1 second of aiming. If its longer, im becoming desperate.

    Maybe we are the same, but I have an easier time hitting someone with my pistol after a reload, and that is usually because im out of aim, reloading and walking in a defensive manner. The timing of when the reloading is complete puts me in a good comfortable aim outside of aiming, enough to aim down and shoot straight after. Sorry if you dont understand, but its just a subtle game flow that I noticed in myself, and im just applying outside of reloading.

12
Posts
4.6k
Views
2 out of 12