To be good at Battlefield 2042, you need to have a steady aim. With large maps and difficult to use weapons, there are many things to consider – and many aspects to improve. MeinMMO shows you the most important tips for aiming and how to get better.
In Battlefield 2042, many gameplay situations occur in one of two extremes:
- Fights for a control point are chaotic close combat battles.
- To reach a control point, fights against enemies at distances of 100m (or even more) are not uncommon.
Both extremes require good aim if you want to survive.
The importance of aiming in Battlefield is also highlighted by the frustration of Battlefield fans regarding the bloom mechanic. Thanks to this, especially assault rifles are currently intentionally made imprecise. You can find a list of all weapons on MeinMMO: All 22 weapons of Battlefield 2042 at a glance: Their pros and cons
However, bloom is not responsible for every missed shot. Therefore, it is important to critically examine and improve your own habits. We will give you 5 important tips to improve your aim and win more fights.
1. Don’t just aim for the head
What mistakes should I avoid? In most shooters, your bullets do different amounts of damage depending on where they hit the enemy:
- Hits to the upper body deal normal damage,
- Hits to the legs deal the least damage,
- Hits to the head deal the most damage
Many players aim exclusively for the head because they want to deal the most damage. While this is generally a good idea, it’s not always the right approach.
Mechanics like recoil or bloom prevent your weapons from being perfectly accurate during sustained fire. Often, the recoil of a weapon pulls your aim upward.
If you only shoot for the head, you will encounter the following problems:
- The head is the smallest area of the opponent that you can hit.
- Even the best aimers in the world do not hit heads 100% of the time.
- If you are solely focused on the head, you make your life harder than necessary.
- Even if you hit the head with the first bullets, your aim will drift upward due to recoil.
- For the crucial last hit, you will then shoot over the opponent’s head – into thin air.
- This gives even less precise opponents the chance to kill you.
How do I play better? Instead of always aiming for the head, shoot for the upper body at short and medium distances. This has two major advantages:
- The upper body is a large area that you can hit much more easily – especially when the opponent is moving.
- If the recoil pulls your bullets upward, they will not miss – but rather hit the head.
By aiming for the chest, you not only hit more easily, but the recoil also helps direct your aim toward the head. This way, you use the actual disadvantage of recoil to your advantage.
This tip does not apply or only applies in limited ways at long distances and with sniper rifles: Here, you should always try to hit the head because it deals more damage and recoil plays less of a role. We will explain the reason for this in the next tip.
2. Shoot in short bursts
What mistakes should I avoid? Sure, firing away with a fully automatic weapon is fun. However, in Battlefield 2042, this is rarely a good idea.
While this playstyle might make you feel like Rambo, you hit less than a Storm Trooper from Star Wars.
This lack of precision is naturally amplified by the bloom mechanic. But even without bloom, you should try to use sustained fire primarily in close combat. This is a generally applicable rule – but depending on the weapon, it holds true to varying degrees.
How do I play better? In Battlefield 2042, it is important to focus on short bursts. This minimizes weapon recoil.
You don’t even have to change the fire mode of your weapon – although you can. Just try to shoot in short bursts, especially at distances. Press the fire button briefly and then let go quickly before shooting again with a new burst.
The correct rhythm for the duration of each burst and the waiting time between bursts depends on the weapon. Try to interrupt the burst just when you feel the recoil of the weapon. Shoot again when the weapon has returned to its normal position.
DMRs also benefit from this tip, albeit for different reasons:
- Instead of countering sustained fire recoil, you must wait for the DMR to recenter on your screen after each shot.
- Too high a fire rate causes DMRs to become imprecise.
3. Move less
What mistakes should I avoid? In Battlefield 2042, your weapon becomes very imprecise when you move while shooting. This clip from reddit illustrates this error vividly:
The player in the clip blames bloom for this. However, that is incorrect: The SVK used in the clip has little to no bloom.
The weapon becomes incredibly imprecise when fired while moving. However, the SVK is just the most extreme example – every weapon in the game becomes less precise when you move while shooting.
This mechanic also exists beyond Battlefield 2042. It serves for balance and is intended to prevent you from being too hard to hit due to high mobility while still allowing you to hit everything.
How do I play better? Try to stand still while shooting when a fight occurs at medium or long range. While this makes you easier to hit, the opponent must follow the same principles if they want to hit you.
However, if the opponent stands still and you are moving, you will miss and get hit. This should be avoided.
An advanced tactic is to move and then briefly stop to shoot exactly when you are standing still. YouTuber Kugelmagnet Eddie shows this in this video:
When shooting crouched or prone, your precision is also higher than when standing.
This tip only applies to a limited extent in close combat: When an opponent is directly in front of you, the lack of precision is not as important as your mobility.
4. Learn your weapon’s recoil
What mistakes should I avoid? Your weapons have recoil, but you do not have to succumb to it. Players who use sustained fire with their weapon without compensating for the recoil waste ammunition and miss their opponents. You can prevent this.
If the recoil of your weapon pulls your aim in a certain direction, you can use a technique to compensate for that recoil.
How do I play better? Each weapon has a specific direction in which the recoil pulls you. Observe this direction while firing your weapon, and then aim in the exact opposite direction with your aim.
If your weapon is pulled up-right by the recoil, you need to aim down-left with your right stick or mouse. Do this at the same speed at which the weapon moves due to recoil.
With some practice, you can balance the recoil with your favorite weapon. Pros can also shoot accurately with sustained fire at medium distances.
5. Test other settings
What mistakes should I avoid? It is a myth that changing your aim settings (too often) harms your aim skills.
Especially those who are still searching for the right settings benefit more from experimenting than from stubbornly sticking with their old settings.
A common saying among gamers is: The more you play, the better you get at hitting “with closed eyes.” This concept of muscle memory is widespread but completely wrong on all levels. Aim professionals also say so (via Voltaic).
Even Shroud uses significantly different settings for almost every game. Nonetheless, he is one of the best aimers in the world and is affectionately called a “human aimbot” by his fans.
How do I play better? It’s not a disadvantage to change your aim settings. On the contrary: Change can reveal bad habits and train better ones.
Even if you have used a setting for years, especially a new game may require new settings. This is not only not a problem, but also a great opportunity to improve your aim skills in Battlefield 2042 and any other game.
We hope these 5 tips help you hit more opponents in Battlefield 2042. But these tips also apply to other games.
Did you know these already? Do you perhaps have additional tips and tricks that you would like to share? And how do you like the gunplay in Battlefield 2042? We would love to hear your opinion in the comments.
If you want to unlock more weapons quickly to practice these tips, we recommend a strong loadout that gives you tons of XP and helps you win fights.
