Best crosshair and how to aim.

[Ser Aland]

So after taking a break from this game and coming back I see theyve added new crosshairs and i'm wondering which one is the best for an accurate shot? (for example if its easy to just have the target in the middle of the scope, or if you have to aim at a lower line and so on). Also I'm wondering how to aim. Last time I played this game you had the default crosshair and to hit people you would want to use the lower line just above an enemys head. Is this true and have theyve changed any velocity, power yararara. Thanks for all answers!

[MiSFiT77]

The new crosshair can be disabled by unchecking dynamic crosshair in settings. This will stop the crosshair pulsing in and out as you try to aim. Then you can chose what your crosshair looks like, one of them is the old crosshair. So selecting the old crosshair and disabling dynamic crosshair means there is no change. You can also select the colour of your crosshair now by adjusting the colour sliders. I use red because it shows up nicely on snow, desert, grassy and dark maps. As far as I'm aware the only thing they intentionally changed was melee, however this caused a hit box problem at close range for all guns, meaning you would miss by about 6 ft at close range. I once shot a tree and killed swordsman charlie.
This has since been fixed, part fixed or not depending on varying opinions, so it's hard to say if velocity and power are any different because that was never intentionally tinkered with. As for aiming IMO it hasn't changed once you reset your crosshair by unchecking dynamic.

[Ser Aland]

Okay, thanks for the update. But does unchecking dynamic help my aim any or should I leave it as it is since it said something about it being unchecked makes the game less accurate?

[Kieko]

The only thing dynamic crosshair does is make the crosshair move while you aim, move etc. It doesn't affect the accuracy of the gun whatsoever.
It probably helps to have it unchecked but then again, maybe you prefer a moving crosshair. It's up to you

[Grumpy Goblin]

Originally posted by Ser Aland:

So after taking a break from this game and coming back I see theyve added new crosshairs and i'm wondering which one is the best for an accurate shot? (for example if its easy to just have the target in the middle of the scope, or if you have to aim at a lower line and so on). Also I'm wondering how to aim. Last time I played this game you had the default crosshair and to hit people you would want to use the lower line just above an enemys head. Is this true and have theyve changed any velocity, power yararara. Thanks for all answers!

Hi, I don't know what the best one is, but I like Arrow or Nail, the little lines pointing inwards making lining up longer shots a little easier, you can kind of bite down on your target.

Dynamic doesn't effect my play, I think it might be more of a thing if you play Rifleman. You want to get that crosshair as small as possible before firing at any decent range, small movements open up that crosshair, so having it on will mean you'll be letting your shot off with the exact bonus you want for the range you're shooting for.

I use a teal colour, it doesn't clash with any of the uniforms, the grass or any buildings really. I think that is even more so preference.

[Epx.]

In my opinion it does not change in (practically) anything because the logic of Holdfast ballistics is random and meaningless. The only benefit of aiming (as well kneeling) on ​​a target is increasing the chance of hitting it. But whether or not to actually hit him will never depend entirely on your ability to aim, since that "Deviation Angle" is a random float, that is, it would be something like luck. In fact when aim you give only a push to your luck.

Example: The wind always tends to the north in the game, but when you shoot, the Deviation Angle can send your shot to the side completely opposite the wind. If you help your luck by aiming (or kneeling), you can, perhaps, reach a Deviation Angle near 0 and hit your target. Otherwise you're back for reloading animation and try your luck again.

As for crosshairs I have tested them all and it makes no difference. Those who have arrows may just place you in time to calibrate the shot for long range targets, but that sensitivity is high and now beyond Deviation also depends on the speed of the projectile (which also seems to be random but still need to test more to have 100 % sure of this). Continuing on long-range targets, the Deviation Angle's random factor will make you relying on a bit more luck than before, because the greater the target's distance, the more Deviation Angle's influence your projectile will suffer, and in that case you will also need the velocity factor to assist in the vertical calibration that causes the projectile to reach the target.

What I said above is for the lines class muskets. The pistols also have some similarities to the Deviation Angle. Rifleman is a class I do not even use for testing cause it's unnecessary to test or train the easy mode.

[Grumpy Goblin]

Originally posted by Epx.:

In my opinion it does not change in (practically) anything because the logic of Holdfast ballistics is random and meaningless. The only benefit of aiming (as well kneeling) on ​​a target is increasing the chance of hitting it. But whether or not to actually hit him will never depend entirely on your ability to aim, since that "Deviation Angle" is a random float, that is, it would be something like luck. In fact when aim you give only a push to your luck.

Going to have to disagree with you on this for the most part. Yes, you are correct luck plays a factor on hitting and killing, but what you will see is a level of consistency between good shooters and poor shooters without a doubt. If you take an experienced player with a good skill, they'll regularly out shoot someone with little skill/experience. Anyone stating that they are never getting kills or don't play consistently due to luck is way off.

Your ability to score kills with shooting rests on several factors which are completely under YOUR control, these include:

Range finding - This is both learnt and tacit in nature, you'll get a good feel of how high you need to aim in order to increase your chance on hit, aim to low and you'll ALWAYS miss, aim too high and you'll ALWAYS miss. Using both your tacit knowledge and perceptiveness while taking shots will thus, by your own actions increase your chance to hit. This can easily be demonstrated between an experienced line battle team facing off against another.

Target selection - If you're trying to regularly pick off a single zig zagging targets at 70+ meters then get used to sitting at the bottom of your table. You should be instead combining your range finding with the best target to pop at. If the target is stationary they are more predictable. If the target is in a clump you reduce your chance to hit something. You will get frustrated quickly by not picking good targets to open up on. If hitting a single target is just a dice roll, add more dice to your roll.

Positioning - If you have to move a lot, you're probably not shooting. If you have to stand to fire, you're increasing spread. If you're having interupt loading to get into new cover you're not firing. If you want to be successful with shooting you have to be shooting, if you're not, you can't hit. How many balls can you fire off in 10 minutes? Not that many if you're always running back or always making your way back to your spot after getting killed. Situational awareness will increase your productivity.

Twitch - Not much twitch in this game, but it happens, when you're in close proximity (5-15 meters) and both loaded up and ready to go, you'll have a damned good chance of hitting them, it's all about who can get that shot off first.

So, here are 4 ways to make you a more effective and consistent shooter. Yes you are rolling the dice with every shot and you will fall prey to the balls trajectory, but you can certainly through your own actions improve your chances, and it's that ability to do so that will turn it into less luck and more ability.

[Epx.]

Originally posted by Voodoo Velkro:

(...) So, here are 4 ways to make you a more effective and consistent shooter. Yes you are rolling the dice with every shot and you will fall prey to the balls trajectory, but you can certainly through your own actions improve your chances, and it's that ability to do so that will turn it into less luck and more ability.

So lets me complement, my response was just in the raw sense of Aim. Because apparently the creator of the topic thinks there may be a better crossair or a better way of aim. It does not matter your crossair, nor the color and not even if you are fitting the target in the crosshairs. What exists is just a better way to help your luck when you aim. Obviously other aspects such as positioning, coverage, targeting will increase your chances of success as shooter not only in Holdfast. My answer about the "luck" factor does not address an overview including how to be a better shooter in Holdfast. I agree with you that for a better overall performance you need to have some complementary skills like to control the vertical adjustment of the crossairs to distant targets since the vertical axis is not influenced by a random variable.

However, as I said, everything will always fall on the idea of ​​giving a boost to your luck when it comes to aim. If the success of your shot depends on one random variable and you have a zig-zag and a stationary target, what you can do is just help your luck and work with the mathematical probability of hitting the target that is standing still. But never, it will never depend only on the ability to point targets like in other games, where you hit on whom you aim (whereas you have mastered the ballistics variables).

In Holdfast what happens if you aim a little more left or a bit more right? You do not know, because the Deviation Angle can send your projectile either in the direction or in any other direction (within the range of the variable). In the context of aim and not in an overview of the gameplay, It will always be a matter of helping your luck. As for being a better shooter and getting a better performance in the match then you will need complementary skills like those mentioned.

[MiSFiT77]

Isn't pretty much everythiing in life a matter of helping your luck. If you take a free kick in football you make small approximate adjustments to account for wind speed and direction, the adjustments don't guarantee that you'll score but they do increase your chance. Yet some players are free kick specialists who are clearly better at boosting their luck than others. If boosting your luck is a skill (I happen to think it is) then scoring hits in game isn't just luck. The randomisations are obstacles put there deliberately by the devs to create the impression or approximate a feeling that we are firing muskets. Wether that could be better/worse more realistic/less realistic is another topic. To be honest this has gone off topic. But it is true that some players are better at navigating through or around those obstacles than others.

[Ser Aland]

I feel very grateful for all of your answers and now I think I have a bit more understanding of the game. Although it went a bit off-topic I would say it led to some other things that are also important to know when playing the game, my conclusion is gonna be to use either the Standard crosshair or the Arrow one (i'll probably try out the others aswell) and use the Red/Teal color. I will probably disable Dynamic and see if it helps otherwise I just might keep it on. Thanks for all your answers, if there is anyone else that wanna add any tips about crosshair or just things in general, feel free as I will be happy for any improvements I can make. Thanks everyone!

[Kuro]

I personally don't use the crosshair at all in most cases on public servers. If you navigate to "Settings", "Game" and scroll down to "User Interface" it should be the second tick box on the left. Unticking this gives you the same dot in first person as in third person. I believe Lafayette uses this if that means anything.

The dot is much more precise than having to guess the center of the crosshair, especially when your aiming at a small target (eg a head behind cover). You also of course don't get the advantage of being able to so easily adjust for drop however so i'd advise that you use the crosshair just to get a hang of things first.

As far as general shooting tips, you want to make sure you do the following:

-Always crouch when possible. Crouching significantly increases accuracy.
-Always try to stay still when firing. Moving reduces accuracy a lot.
-Whenever possible, play Light Infantry. Light Infantry has up to a 10% bonus whilst crouching. It might not sound like much, but you need to squeeze every bit of accuracy out that you can in this game and there's no reason not to. Light Infantry is stat wise superior to normal Line Infantry and is almost always available (unlike the rifleman). The only real downside is that the French Light Infantry has a very tall ploom which while very fashionable, also gives away your posistion.
-Take terrain into consideration. If your on a hill shotting downwards, aim lower than usual. Likewise if your aiming up at a hill, aim higher.
-At 50m range you want to be aiming at or slightly above the enemies head with the CENTRE of your reticule on even ground.
-Always try to get as close as possible; try to stay within 50m range. This doesn't mean get within breathing distance of the enemy however, make good use of cover and don't do anything stupid.

It's worth remembering that the biggest contributor to hitting in publics by far is RNG. It's possibe to miss people at extremely close ranges (5-10m). Remember to not take this game too seriously. I did before and all it does is agitate you and put you off the game. Always follow the golden rule: Never expect to hit anything. This way when you do hit it will comes as a pleasant suprise and you won't be as bothered when you miss either

Hope this was helpful!

[Kieko]

Originally posted by Kurolus Rex:

I personally don't use the crosshair at all in most cases on public servers. If you navigate to "Settings", "Game" and scroll down to "User Interface" it should be the second tick box on the left. Unticking this gives you the same dot in first person as in third person. I believe Lafayette uses this if that means anything.

The dot is much more precise than having to guess the center of the crosshair, especially when your aiming at a small target (eg a head behind cover). You also of course don't get the advantage of being able to so easily adjust for drop however so i'd advise that you use the crosshair just to get a hang of things first.

As far as general shooting tips, you want to make sure you do the following:

-Always crouch when possible. Crouching significantly increases accuracy.
-Always try to stay still when firing. Moving reduces accuracy a lot.
-Whenever possible, play Light Infantry. Light Infantry has up to a 10% bonus whilst crouching. It might not sound like much, but you need to squeeze every bit of accuracy out that you can in this game and there's no reason not to. Light Infantry is stat wise superior to normal Line Infantry and is almost always available (unlike the rifleman). The only real downside is that the French Light Infantry has a very tall ploom which while very fashionable, also gives away your posistion.
-Take terrain into consideration. If your on a hill shotting downwards, aim lower than usual. Likewise if your aiming up at a hill, aim higher.
-At 50m range you want to be aiming at or slightly above the enemies head with the CENTRE of your reticule on even ground.
-Always try to get as close as possible; try to stay within 50m range. This doesn't mean get within breathing distance of the enemy however, make good use of cover and don't do anything stupid.

It's worth remembering that the biggest contributor to hitting in publics by far is RNG. It's possibe to miss people at extremely close ranges (5-10m). Remember to not take this game too seriously. I did before and all it does is agitate you and put you off the game. Always follow the golden rule: Never expect to hit anything. This way when you do hit it will comes as a pleasant suprise and you won't be as bothered when you miss either

Hope this was helpful!

Agree with everything but that lights have a higher accuracy, all musket classes share the same stats as of right now but will be changed in the future.
Another thing to note is that musicians and flag bearers increase accuracy if you're in range and they're doing whatever it is they do (e.g. waving a flag around or performing some music)

[Kuro]

Originally posted by |51st|.Gren.Tachang:

Originally posted by Kurolus Rex:

I personally don't use the crosshair at all in most cases on public servers. If you navigate to "Settings", "Game" and scroll down to "User Interface" it should be the second tick box on the left. Unticking this gives you the same dot in first person as in third person. I believe Lafayette uses this if that means anything.

The dot is much more precise than having to guess the center of the crosshair, especially when your aiming at a small target (eg a head behind cover). You also of course don't get the advantage of being able to so easily adjust for drop however so i'd advise that you use the crosshair just to get a hang of things first.

As far as general shooting tips, you want to make sure you do the following:

-Always crouch when possible. Crouching significantly increases accuracy.
-Always try to stay still when firing. Moving reduces accuracy a lot.
-Whenever possible, play Light Infantry. Light Infantry has up to a 10% bonus whilst crouching. It might not sound like much, but you need to squeeze every bit of accuracy out that you can in this game and there's no reason not to. Light Infantry is stat wise superior to normal Line Infantry and is almost always available (unlike the rifleman). The only real downside is that the French Light Infantry has a very tall ploom which while very fashionable, also gives away your posistion.
-Take terrain into consideration. If your on a hill shotting downwards, aim lower than usual. Likewise if your aiming up at a hill, aim higher.
-At 50m range you want to be aiming at or slightly above the enemies head with the CENTRE of your reticule on even ground.
-Always try to get as close as possible; try to stay within 50m range. This doesn't mean get within breathing distance of the enemy however, make good use of cover and don't do anything stupid.

It's worth remembering that the biggest contributor to hitting in publics by far is RNG. It's possibe to miss people at extremely close ranges (5-10m). Remember to not take this game too seriously. I did before and all it does is agitate you and put you off the game. Always follow the golden rule: Never expect to hit anything. This way when you do hit it will comes as a pleasant suprise and you won't be as bothered when you miss either

Hope this was helpful!

Agree with everything but that lights have a higher accuracy, all musket classes share the same stats as of right now but will be changed in the future.
Another thing to note is that musicians and flag bearers increase accuracy if you're in range and they're doing whatever it is they do (e.g. waving a flag around or performing some music)

Forgot to mention musicians and flags, cheers!

As far as the lights are concerned, Bales has told us this numerous times and it's supposedly been "confirmed" by the devs though don't quote me on that. According to the HF website the lights should also have a higher movement speed and weaker melee too though so it could be that someone has misinterpreted it and that the buff would be a PLANNED addition (i believe the website also states this).

[Kieko]

Originally posted by Kurolus Rex:

Originally posted by |51st|.Gren.Tachang:

Agree with everything but that lights have a higher accuracy, all musket classes share the same stats as of right now but will be changed in the future.
Another thing to note is that musicians and flag bearers increase accuracy if you're in range and they're doing whatever it is they do (e.g. waving a flag around or performing some music)

Forgot to mention musicians and flags, cheers!

As far as the lights are concerned, Bales has told us this numerous times and it's supposedly been "confirmed" by the devs though don't quote me on that. According to the HF website the lights should also have a higher movement speed and weaker melee too though so it could be that someone has misinterpreted it and that the buff would be a PLANNED addition (i believe the website also states this).

I can say fairly confidently that every musket class is the same, looking at the scoreboard you’ll see a range of musket classes all bunched together in random arrangements which shows that if there is a difference it doesn’t have an effect to public players. You don’t see lights just below the rifles and grenadiers filling the kill feed with melee kills.

In the cases that it does happen it’s more because of the skill of the player. You see the kill feed fill up with melee kills and notice it’s Cilawyn. That’s not a big surprise and you know he didn’t get it simply because he played as a grenadier. He can play what he likes and will still get the same result. What is surprising is when someone you’ve never heard of before gets it, and that’s because they’re not getting the advantages they’re supposed to from playing as the class that you’d expect them to get an advantage from. That’s why it happens so rarely.

In lbs lights are usually at the top because they’re allowed to crouch and fire at will. Which is what they get their bonuses from, not because they’re playing as light infantry. Maybe that’s what haybales meant about accuracy. Lights are also usually only played by the best players in their respective reg so you’d expect them to do better than most even if they were in the line.

As to lights moving faster than line infantry, you don’t see them over taking their lines. I’ve tested it and can tell you they move at the same speed.

What it says on the website is more for future plans rather than a help sheet. It will be a help sheet in the future I hope but for now it isn’t, and I hope it won’t be for a while because right now the devs should have much more important stuff to work on.

Sorry for rambling a lot. Its been too long since anyone has said anything in the discussions lol and I’m hyped up with caffeine :)

[Peregrin Took]

Originally posted by Voodoo Velkro:

You will get frustrated quickly by not picking good targets to open up on. If hitting a single target is just a dice roll, add more dice to your roll.

I think this is a great way to put it. To me, Holdfast (and Napoleonic Wars before it) is a uniquely fun 'shooter' game because of this. It's not about the single target or the single shot. Each shot is invariably random, difficult, and often frustrating.

You have to have patience and experience to know when to take the shot.

It's all about the long run. A good/experienced player is killing with, say, 30% of their shots, instead of 20% - and they will see consistently good results across those 10 minute rounds.

Positioning, as Voodoo said, is also incredibly important. Know your maps and move along the right spots, and you will rarely be shot at.

[~ Requiem ~]

So, after all that thing, which is actually the best crosshair?
I heard that someone prefer nail but arrow seems good too!