Player Unknown Battlegrounds

little P

Super Mod
Tips for staying alive in PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds

From looting to shooting, everything you need to know to jump confidently into the new battle royale game.

Quite a few of us here at B2O have picked this title up and are enjoying it, I think it's a fantastic game! I've never played a battle royale style game before but I'm completely taken with it. It's very edge of tomorrow ie. with each death you learn. What could you have done differently? How can you apply that in the next round? Will I ever find Lvl.3 body armour? It keeps me going back for more, and it's bloody brilliant. If anyone is thinking of picking it up, just go for it. Even in it's early access state it is a ton of fun, and most importantly it has longevity. There is none of this xp nonsense, no levelling up, for once (FINALLY!) there is a game to play that keeps you coming back becaus eit's just so much damn fun, not because you need 12,000 more kills and 50 million xp to unlock a bloody red dot sight. HUZZAH!

Anyway, here are some quick tips on getting started with the multiplayer shooter which I wish I knew before I started, and if you fancy giving it a go and see me on feel free to ask if I want to join in and show you the ropes. It's a game that's easy to learn but tough to master, like all the best games are :) Enjoy!

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PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds hit Steam Early Access yesterday, and while thousands participated in the alpha and beta, many more are playing for the very first time this week. While Battlegrounds doesn't have the raw complexity of Arma, there are still a few things you need to know before your boots hit the ground (and you swap them for different boots).

So, what is it?
Battlegrounds is a battle royale game: roughly 100 players parachute from a plane onto a 18x18km island, search for weapons and gear, and fight to the death. All the while, a shrinking circle closes around the island, a blue energy field that damages the health of players caught in it. Players must travel, by foot or vehicles, into the safe area, drawing closer and closer to the remaining players for a final showdown.

The last player left alive, wins. Now, some tips.

Press Ctrl+T immediately
Ctrl+T mutes voice chat. You will want to do this the moment you enter the lobby, which places all the players on a tiny island together to run around, punch each other, pick up weapons, and blast each other in the face. Your time in the lobby, typically, is under a minute, but trust me: you'll want to mute voice chat right away. What do players choose to do when they know others are listening? Chant the N-word over and over because they're so damn edgy! They're not edgy, though, they're just dumb racist garbage and you should mute them before you go insane.

After a minute in the lobby, you'll appear on the plane with everyone else. The shrieking of racist slurs will continue, naturally, so don't unmute, ever, not even for a second.

Every keybinding needs to be assigned before you apply and save changes
Another thing you'll want to right away do is change your keybindings, because Battlegrounds defaults to 'C' to crouch and 'Ctrl' to walk. C to crouch? I don't think so.

After changing your crouch bindings to what a normal, well-adjusted person would use, make sure you click Apply. Is Apply grayed out? Possibly: it was for me. This means you have an unbound command, and unless every command is bound to a key you won't be able to apply your new settings.

You can fall quickly by pointing yourself straight down, but don't
You can switch between first and third person view at any time (default key is V), even when in the plane, and looking in third person while airborne is useful because you can see where other players are ejecting if you want to try to avoid the crowd. Most jump earlier rather than later (perhaps they haven't muted voice chat and simply can't stand it any longer).

Once you've ejected from the plane, you'll plummet to the island. You can angle yourself downward to fall faster. Thing is, you won't necessarily want to make a beeline to the ground, because that's what a lot of other players are doing. Typically, you don't want to land where everyone else does, because then it becomes a mad scramble to be the first person holding a gun.

It's a better idea to freefall out of the path of the plane, and find a more distant and remote area to start looting: there will be less competition and more unlooted buildings to choose from. I know if feels strange to take your time in a game like this, but you do have some time before the circle of death begins closing. You don't always need to rush straight to the ground.

Use freelook
Battlegrounds is as much a game of Where's Waldo as anything else, and you've got to use your eyes well to win. Hold the Alt key to move your head, along with the camera, independently of your body. This is especially useful during the aerial decent, when you'll want to be scanning in all directions to spot parachutes.

You should also use freelook to scan for enemies while prone—turning your whole body is more likely to give away your position.

You can fall further from the plane by pressing W instead of holding it
While falling, you can hold W to increase the distance you fall away from the plane's path, but by pressing it intermittently, you'll actually push yourself even further, almost by swimming through the air.

Also, you'll be prompted to pull your chute as you fall, but the chute will deploy automatically when you get close to the ground so don't worry about pulling it yourself. With your chute open, you can again angle yourself down to descend more rapidly. Make sure you use free-look by holding Alt and moving your mouse: it lets you look around without changing your direction, so you can see if other players are landing nearby.

Loot with Tab, not by picking up individual items
Once on the ground, you'll need to gear up. Gear is mostly found in houses and buildings (occasionally outside as well), typically on the floors but sometimes also on tables. It can initially be hard to spot loot among the other random house clutter, but eventually it will get easier as you learn what everything looks like, and gear has a slight glow to it.

When you approach loot, you'll see a prompt on the screen to pick it up. You can obey the prompt to collect items one by one, but it's much easier to use Tab instead: it will present a column displaying everything in vicinity, right next to your own inventory. Right-clicking on the loot you want in vicinity view will quickly add it to your inventory. Picking up loot this way also spares you from the loot-grabbing animation that plays when you pick up items one at a time.

Found guns are empty
You've found a gun, and more than likely (but not always) the ammo for that gun will be sitting right next to it. When grabbing a gun and its ammo, remember that you still have to load the weapon—all weapons are unloaded by default.

While holding a gun, even in third person, right-clicking will bring you into scope/iron sights view. Currently, switching weapons with the mouse wheel is a bit sketchy—there's often a little hiccup as the weapons cycle—so you might want to stick to using number keys 1-5 for now.

Put attachments on guns with one right-click
In addition to guns, you'll find lots and lots of attachments. Red dot scopes, holographic sights, stocks, compensators, flash-hiders, extended mags, and so on. Once they're in your inventory, attaching them is a snap.

Each gun has slots for attachments, represented by empty gray boxes. Hover your mouse over an attachment, and the attachment slot for the gun it fits will show a white dotted line around the edge (see below). Right-click the attachment, and it'll be added to the gun. Have two attachments for the same slot, for the same gun? Right-clicking the second attachment in your inventory will automatically remove the first attachment and add the second.

You can drag-and-drop attachments onto guns, too, but right-clicking is faster and easier.

You can swap which shoulder the camera looks over
While in third-person, if you click and hold your right mouse button, then tap Q and E, you can swap shoulder views. This is useful if you're trying to peek different sides of cover or carefully work your way around corners.

Some gear is leveled
Got a backpack, vest, and helmet? Great! But if you come across another backpack, vest, or helmet, make sure you stop and examine it. Gear comes in three levels, so just because you have a backpack doesn't mean you can't find a bigger and better one.

When it comes to armor, it appears that levels aren't as necessarily as important as durability. Level 1 armor with a high durability is most likely still better than level 3 armor with a low durability. However, the higher the level armor you have, the more inventory slots it will provide.

Helmets can save your life, and level 3 helmets can save your face
Below, you'll see a gif of me running stupidly across a field. I'm shot, and you'll notice my helmet vanish a moment later. That's because I was shot in the head. I still take a ton of damage, but the headshot that would have killed me is prevented by the helmet, which gives me a second chance. Unfortunately, I used that second chance to die a few minutes later, but still. Helmets. Put them on your head.

Keep in mind, level 1 and 2 helmets won't do anything to protect you from a shot to the face. Only level 3 helmets will.

Turn up the volume
Seriously, put on headphones and crank the volume as high as you can without doing damage to your ears. Sound is incredibly important for everything from distant gunfire to really really distant gunfire, car and plane engines, and especially footsteps. While there is a walk button, most players run all the time, and running makes noise. Keep your ears peeled for telltale footsteps, and keep in mind that other players can hear yours as well.

Close doors—usually
Doors, by default, are closed. Upon entering a building, make sure you close the door behind you. Typically, you don't want to announce to other players that you're inside a building, and an open door signifies that pretty clearly. If someone doesn't know you're inside a building, they may just waltz in without a care in the world. In the gif below, I'd closed the door behind me and was looting when someone pulled up in a car (and naturally I heard the car before I saw it).

Since the door was closed, the player had no reason to think anyone was inside, which let me easily kill him even though my aim was pretty shit.

The other benefit of closing doors is when you leave. An open door not only signified you're in a building, but that you have been in a building. Someone coming across a building with a closed door will probably assume the building hasn't been looted, so making them fruitlessly search the rooms and find nothing is a good way to waste someone's time.

Usually. There are times you may want to leave a door open as you leave, to let someone think you're in a building. They'll creep carefully around outside for a couple minutes long after you're gone. Again, wasting other players' time isn't ever a bad idea.

Watch out for red zones
There are two circles you need to keep an eye on: the one showing you the safe zone, and the one showing you the blue death-field. But don't forget red zones. Red zones show you an area that is about to be fire-bombed, and with your head down collecting loot or eyes out looking for enemies, it's easy to miss the on-screen text warning you about an impending bombing. You might suddenly realize you're standing in a red zone—it'll show on your minimap as well.

Being in a red zone doesn't mean you're definitely be killed—I've made it through several even as the bombs were dropping—but it's still not a place you want to be if you can avoid it.

Don't jump out of moving cars
It's tempting, I know, to leap out of a car while it's still moving. It's the kind of thing an action hero would do. But exiting a car while it's in motion will cause you damage, and if you're driving really fast you may actually run yourself over. I am my own source on this: I did it during the beta.

Believe it or not, the Dacia is actually the fastest car in the game. It's the little blue jalopy you can see below. If you're in a real hurry, choose it over the buggy.

Keep in mind, vehicles are incredibly loud—drive one and absolutely everyone will know where you are and where you're going. It's best to only use them if you're a good distance away from the safe zone and have no hope of reaching it by sprinting. If you're inside or near the safe circle, it's best to travel on foot.

Cycle through grenades by pressing 5, right-click while prepping to throw underhand
I guess the heading says it all, but if you've picked up more than one type of grenade, you can put it into your hand by pressing 5, then switch between the different types of 'nades by pressing 5 again. Also, if you want to lob or roll a grenade instead of throw it overhand, right-click while preparing to throw it.

Below: how not to throw a grenade.

A bunch of gun tips
Guns, guns, guns. There are lots to find, from assault rifles to pistols to shotguns, and even a crossbow. Here are some quick tips when it comes to guns:

The AKM is the deadliest assault rifle. However, it comes with greater recoil and less range than the other ARs.

The M16 is the best long-range assault rifle.

Shotguns aren't just for close range. They're surprisingly good at medium range, too—provided you've got a choke attached.

The Kar98 will deliver a fatal headshot, even through level 1 and 2 helmets. Players wearing a level 3 helmet can survive one, however.

Pick a pistol that uses .38 ammo. They're more powerful than pistols that use 9mm ammo, with the exception of the magnum.

Hold down shift while aiming through a scope or sights. It steadies your aim since you're holding your breath, and gives you a bit more zoom. This applies to all sights and scopes, even iron sights.

Keep in mind, if you completely run out of breath, you won't be able to sprint until your lungs recover, just as if you were holding your breath underwater (you'll see a lung icon on the lower portion of your screen).
 
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Jerad

TS3 SA
Game seems pretty neat so far. Been spending more time watching Summit play than playing myself though. I find the Solo Queue is kinda boring but the duo or squad queue looks pretty entertaining.
 

little P

Super Mod
It is a massive amount of fun, we've done duo's and squads with three of us and it really is an absolute blast to play. Something different happens every time you play which is what I love about it. The highlight from last night was me and Wappy leaping off a lighthouse clifftop around 100 feet into the water and landing right behind someone swimming away from us then getting into a firefight with him and his mates under the main bridge while FP (our deceased squadmate) cheered us on. Epic gaming, it really is.

Also: http://playbattlegrounds.com/news/65.pu News from the dev

Any time you see us on and want to squad up just fire us a message :)
 

Jerad

TS3 SA
I'll be down for that. I was wondering if the gun/bullet noises were correctly simulated and looking at that post it seems they are! Pretty cool to see... or hear in this case.

I'm hoping they can fix up the game a little so I can get more than 60-90fps on very low settings as well.

I'll hit you guys up if I see you online. I wonder how laggy the Euro servers will be from NA.
 

little P

Super Mod
Week 1 Patch Notes

This patch will be deployed for both clients and servers Thursday, March 30, 5PM KST/1AM PDT/8AM UTC

Out-game

Added Oceanian & South American servers
Server Performance/Stability
Resolved an issue where game server performance would degrade over time
Resolved several server crash issues
Client Stability
Resolved several client crash issues
Client Optimization
Added View Distance setting to graphics options

Gameplay

Adjusted movement speed of endgame play zones
Adjusted weapon sound volume in the lobby


UI

Removed crosshair while in a vehicle and not in the aiming state
Added ability to see item durability state directly in vicinity pane
Bug fixes
Fixed a bug with the volume of crouch walking
Partially addressed performance degradation when opening inventory
Fixed a problem which would allow characters to go under the map in certain areas
Removed the depth of field effect when spectating in team-play modes.
Fixed a bug with the character creation system
Fixed an issue in the REVIVE system where a player would get stuck in the revive animation when the downed player died
Fixed a bug which would cause the PLAYERUNKNOWN hi-top trainers to render incorrectly
Fixed a bug where a character would receive damage from vehicles while behind trees/walls



See you in-game,

PLAYERUNKNOWN
 

Kitlope

Hardcore
Picked this up a couple weeks ago, other than some drunken first night gaming didn't really play it much for the next while. Tried it again recently and just love it. Did some solo, duo and 4 man squad yesterday... was great. This is so not like a game I should enjoy but the way they have done this is unreal. All the perfect elements of Battle Royal neatly wrapped in one (almost) perfect game. And a good way to get the heart beating extra fast ...

And got my first (and probably only ever) first place Chicken Dinner win!
 

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Jeeve79

Casual
This game had to grow on me a bit. And still i sometimes have huge issues with the fact that it is mainly 3rd person.
Once u realize its not a "shooter", its kinda fun.
The only kills u need to make, are the other guys at the very end of the game. :)
I like duos the most although 4 man squad should be great with the B20 crew.
What if we make several teams and click "ready" all at the same time? could get interesting. hahaa

I usually go for UMP9 on auto and a SCAR-L or AKM for distance in single fire.
4x and 8x scope are great but in endgame i like to have a 2x as well.
 

Jerad

TS3 SA
I've been playing a bunch with friends. We've been playing on the Asian servers a bunch because there are no arma players there. It is extremely tilting when you get screwed by circles
 

little P

Super Mod
On August 3rd, we will be adding the following to the game in our monthly update.
  • 1st Person server options are coming to NA and EU SOLO & DUO game-modes


    FINALLY! :D
 

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