How to Improve Your K/D

Part 1/4

By: [LMS]007
5 minute read

Are you struggling to maintain a K/D > 1? Frustrated by players constantly shooting you first? Are you winning only about half the time? If you’re still an average player after years of playing it may be time to have a retrospective.

I have been playing FPS games for over 24 years and reached the top tier in several online multiplayer games (Half-Life and FarCry 3). In this 4-part series, I’m going to share how I did it and what I’ve learned over this decades long journey because there are some simple techniques you may be missing that can improve your K/D.

In this series, we’re going to cover:

Let’s get started.

How long does it take to reach the top?

Improving a skill can be very rewarding. In fact, it’s part of the addiction of gaming. Reaching the top tier in any single game is a major feat and takes nothing less than a full time effort, sometimes for years. There are no shortcuts, but there are definitely ways you can improve faster and break past plateaus.

Failing to be the best single player in the world is not failing. In fact, even getting to the top 50% can be pretty rewarding. Set up small goals and inch towards improvement. It’s important to understand where you are now and keep an eye on your stats & data in order to measure improvements. You won’t get a lot better by the end of the week, but you can get a lot better by the end of the year.

I thought Gaimglass would make me good?

Gaimglass, like any tool, will help unlock your potential, but it’s not a replacement for practice and skill development. You can’t shortcut your way to winning (shy of actually cheating which takes all the fun out of it in the first place). Gaimglass is a unique tool that can generally improve your aim 5% to 10%. It also gives players a means of reducing your time to fire (TTF) by giving you a discernible center point, distinct from the game’s graphics, which in turn increases your confidence. Low latency, high FPS, comfortable input devices, a gaming monitor and a Gaimglass is a good base line, and from there it comes down to practice and development.

Game Preparations

If you are serious about improving, then you need to be serious about how you improve. Set goals and hold yourself accountable. It starts with a routine and discipline.

Schedule your game time

I honestly love to play at night, but I’m better in the morning. Our brains are more alert and focused shortly after we wake up. If you’re going to learn how to get good then its best to do this in the morning. And if you’re intent on getting better, then you need to learn while you play.

Learn from others

Watch a few other players on Twitch or YouTube. Pay attention to what they do, not just how well they aim. Good players set up easy shots and make it look simple. Yes, they can still make quite a few hard shots from time to time, but make no mistake, if you only rely on hard shots, then you’re going to miss a lot more.

State of Mind

Play fierce, but not angry. As soon as you feel emotions rising, you may make really stupid decisions and you’ll likely have less steady aim. Also, if you get too lazy and start to lose focus, then you’ll likely misread the game and find yourself in more difficult situations than necessary. Staying aware, focused and ready is work you put into the game before each engagement and will give you an advantage. The bigger advantage you have, the higher the probability you’ll land the frag and the better your K/D will be.

I went 306-0 (K/D) in a single game once in Half-Life deathmatch. That was not just pure luck but rather hours of intense focus.

Frustrated

When you find yourself frustrated, brief but mindful meditation can be a huge advantage by tempering your emotional state. You’re going to get frustrated–accept it and let it flow through you and move on. It’s okay to lose, the question is, what did you learn and did you meet your own expectations? Sometimes just maintaining your K/D is good enough. For example, in some games, your team may be just significantly out matched in skill. In those games, you’ll have to dual multiple opponents more often. Adjust your expectations so that you take a more defensive posture to give yourself the best opportunity to face one player at a time rather than multiple.

Nervous

In a very intense match, your heart rate can go out of control. This is when you need to focus on your heart and slow it down. Even take a pause in the game and work on your breathing. Break down the game into small steps with reasonable expectations and strive to meet them. When you’re focused and ready, you’ll be a lethal opponent, but when you’re jittery and distracted, you’re going to be inaccurate, and lackluster and your TTK will suffer.

Tired

Don’t underestimate rest. Part of your brain’s ability to learn and retain information absolutely depends on sleep. If you push gaming late into the night and wake up tired, it’s likely that you’re not learning. Sure, you can sometimes do well when tired, but don’t expect to. Knowing when you’re too tired is actually kind of hard. The computer keeps us awake and our brain wants to chase that addictive feeling of playing. It’s okay to shut it down and come back. There is always another time. You’re not going to learn much of anything when you’re tired, even if you’re doing well. You need to be well rested to thrive in the growth mindset space.

Aim is overrated

Before we get into techniques in the next section, its worth prefacing this guide that its not a focus on aim or aiming techniques. While aim is an extremely important skill, it’s often overstated while ignoring other critical skills. The best way to think about aim is that is sits on top of a skills pyramid. We tend to focus a lot on a player’s ability to aim well, but in fact, the aim skill really needs a foundation of other skills before it’s highly effective. Good players don’t just have great aim, they have great skills and often use those other skills to make shots easer and getting shot less likely.

The FPS Skills Pyramid

  • Aim
  • Defense
  • Movement
  • Awareness
  • Strategy

In Part 2 of this series, we’re going to cover 10 gaming habits that will improve your K/D and take you from average to elite.

Continue on to How to improve your K/D (Part 2/4)