So what is the intended way to gunfight?

[Teo]

I can't seem to figure this out.

I always keep dying in gun fight and I have a feeling I am missing something crucial.
There is no cover system. The AI shoots as soon as you peek out, giving you very little window to shoot back without getting hit.
Run and gun doesn't work.
There is no information about this in the tutorial either.

So what is the intended way to fight?
Is there some cheap gimmick that requires me to stack a lot of armor and simply tank the shots? If so I am going to be very disappointed...

[xTRACKERx]

I think especially in the beginning where you don't wear any armor or only bad armor and the weapons are not very well developed it is best to play with Hide&Seek. You try to knock down an enemy with ONE Burst of Fire or ONE Shot from a Bolt Action and surround the rest. They will then mostly look in the direction from which you shot first and it is easier to kill the rest. If I hold the position I lose very often. Look out, 1-2 shots and hide again. Never shoot longer volleys. The A.I. aims better than you and (and me^^) and seems to scatter less.

I like to use the SKS and shoot with hollow point bullets at less equipped bandits. With the Bolt Action they are "one shot", with the SKS you need 2 shots.
Later on you need to change the ammunition if you meet better armored enemys.
But at the start and esp. against Animals HP Ammo is gold.

Against other "loner" or better equipped enemies I don't even start without armor because their equipment is much better and you often just have "bad luck". If 2-3 shots from the AK hit you, you are dead, and that happens very quickly.

put your medicine on the hotbar with key 3 and 4. 3 against bleeding and 4 to heal up.
and the most important tip (which I also had to get here from a nice Guy because I was just dying over and over again):
TAKE YOUR TIME. No one is rushing you. Mostly I do only ONE round per day but then it is extremely worth it.
And do NOT play at night (at the beginning) You run much too fast into a pack of wolves or boars.

These are my impressions after almost 150 hours. I play only HC and my longest run has lasted 17 hours (ingame) without dying.


and I've only played in Forest and Makeshift Camp so far and I'm still far from being tired of the game^^

[OUberLord]

I agree with the above, but I'm hitting issues with the sawmill where inside of that building I'm able to shoot one guy, then the other three all round the corners at the same time and murder me. I'm wearing hunter armor and I'm dead faster than I can exit the building.

I do feel like the combat needs a little something else. If not a cover system then maybe stances, or grenades, or some other factor. It's not an issue outside, but inside where your positioning options are much more limited combat feels like a gear check and player agency is drastically less.

[Nameless]

Early game I play with Sniper Rifle since it can 1 shot bandits and you can get started there. Eventually switch to Assault Rifle once you have a fairly good modded one.

Hand gun and SMG feels useless to me.

[xTRACKERx]

I like smgs because of the firing frequency. A quick burst from the "Kerr" is almost as deadly as a shot from the Nagant. Only the "Kerr" is constantly out of ammunition^^
I prefer the Spyder almost more.
But I like best the modded ETS (pistol with 15 dmg BUT with automatic, which is modded with a stock almost as good as a Kerr..but only half as heavy).

and yes..shotguns are unfortunately completely useless...too small magazine against a pack of animals which are coming at you, close combat is unfortunately nonsensical in this game because the opponent always sees you first anyway and shoots and the things also only do damage when san is lucky. And if the opponent wears armor ..good luck...

[fda]

Forget Rambo tactics, Tank way is also not a good way. Keep as much distance as you can (greater aim distance is your biggest advantage against bots), scout further with RMB a lot. If already in combat try to move around (keeping the distance) & take your time hunting the m one by one)
Evacuation is an option - calculate if fight (loot you have, incoming night) is worth the struggle. Repeat untill you'll get a decent armor (Arman's one) & feel confident enough to be more aggressive and push bots (after all death means loosing nothing but time).
If about attacking an group of enemies in certain area (GA Soldiers, Lazar etc) find a (possibly) safe spot where you will regroup to reload & heal before pulling the trigger.

Unfortunately game is yet unbalanced & some Perks are superior (Stealth & Sniper) and some weapons are useless.

But weapon matters. Forget about Shotguns, SMG/Pistol are ok as backup against animals/mutants, AK74s are just bad. Semi-auto DMRs are hardly useful.
As soon as you get AKM (+comfy backup weapon) you are done with searching for good weapon because 7,62x39 is the answer for all problems untill you can afford fair amount of 7,62x51 & SCAR-H (which I don't even use for anything but in-Mall combat).
Basic ammo (no black dots/stripes) is your run-around friend. High penetration ammo (black tip) is your friend for assasinating armored humans with bolt-action & Sniper Perk.

[xTRACKERx]

fda +1 :-)
öhm. what is the SCAR in this game ?

[Teo]

Originally posted by fda:

Forget Rambo tactics, Tank way is also not a good way. Keep as much distance as you can (greater aim distance is your biggest advantage against bots), scout further with RMB a lot. If already in combat try to move around (keeping the distance) & take your time hunting the m one by one)
Evacuation is an option - calculate if fight (loot you have, incoming night) is worth the struggle. Repeat untill you'll get a decent armor (Arman's one) & feel confident enough to be more aggressive and push bots (after all death means loosing nothing but time).
If about attacking an group of enemies in certain area (GA Soldiers, Lazar etc) find a (possibly) safe spot where you will regroup to reload & heal before pulling the trigger.

Unfortunately game is yet unbalanced & some Perks are superior (Stealth & Sniper) and some weapons are useless.

But weapon matters. Forget about Shotguns, SMG/Pistol are ok as backup against animals/mutants, AK74s are just bad. Semi-auto DMRs are hardly useful.
As soon as you get AKM (+comfy backup weapon) you are done with searching for good weapon because 7,62x39 is the answer for all problems untill you can afford fair amount of 7,62x51 & SCAR-H (which I don't even use for anything but in-Mall combat).
Basic ammo (no black dots/stripes) is your run-around friend. High penetration ammo (black tip) is your friend for assasinating armored humans with bolt-action & Sniper Perk.

Yep.
This is the kind of answer I was looking for.
Thanks a lot for your input.

I took your principles and applied them and suddenly it is fine.

I basically went into this game thinking this is Escape From Tarkov 2D.
I thought I could enter a map with a pistol and get out fully geared.

This is not the case with this game. Which makes me slightly disappointed, as I was hoping this is not a "Gear checking" game.
It is a fun game regardless.

[xTRACKERx]

hm you can. if you dont mess with highly equippeted enemys^^(even if they are good equipped you can kill them with good ammunition and little bit of luck.) there are other reccources you can loot in many places without massive defense :-)

[Teo]

Originally posted by xTRACKERx:

hm you can. if you dont mess with highly equippeted enemys^^(even if they are good equipped you can kill them with good ammunition and little bit of luck.) there are other reccources you can loot in many places without massive defense :-)

That kind of contradicts what I said.

[TheLightningfastgamer105]

Just get a Nozin Makant and spyder at the beginning then switch to a Marauder 700 and a F90 modded with a suppresor and scope and you are good for the rest of the game, also specialize in sniper and stealth its just the smart thing to do also smgs aren't "useless" when you are fighting bigs and bandits and blinks in the mall they are awesome. Also Marauder 700 instakills hunters and instakills Kibba the hardest boss (with M61 bullets only) so yah SMGS and Snipers are best.

[HenryWestwood]

Originally posted by OUberLord:

I agree with the above, but I'm hitting issues with the sawmill where inside of that building I'm able to shoot one guy, then the other three all round the corners at the same time and murder me. I'm wearing hunter armor and I'm dead faster than I can exit the building.

I do feel like the combat needs a little something else. If not a cover system then maybe stances, or grenades, or some other factor. It's not an issue outside, but inside where your positioning options are much more limited combat feels like a gear check and player agency is drastically less.

the inside of the sawmill is kinda tricky, my tactic is shooting 1-2 (and getting hit), exiting as soon as bullets hit me and then heal, go in again repeat, just shoot down that corridor and leave again (keep an eye on your health bar and bring an AK)

[HenryWestwood]

Originally posted by Nameless:

Early game I play with Sniper Rifle since it can 1 shot bandits and you can get started there. Eventually switch to Assault Rifle once you have a fairly good modded one.

Hand gun and SMG feels useless to me.

SMG like F90 uses pretty nice ammo and reloads lightning quick, also the ergo is so high that if you need to change to your smg you do it also very fast, i love using the F90 on the warhouses on industrial zone as an example

[HenryWestwood]

Originally posted by xTRACKERx:

fda +1 :-)
öhm. what is the SCAR in this game ?

its called SKOP H

[Corn Flakes]

Yeah

[xTRACKERx]

Originally posted by HenryWestwood:

Originally posted by xTRACKERx:

fda +1 :-)
öhm. what is the SCAR in this game ?

its called SKOP H

ah that one. thx :-)