Why some players are elite while others are average. It all boils down to one thing, Situational Awareness. The number one reason people die is lack of situational awareness. Situational awareness allows the player to be the actor rather than the reactor, you do not want to be placed in a situation where you are reacting to other players, which means someone shoots at you and then you shoot back.



The common misconception is that elite players have fast reflexes, but the reality is that most of them have average reaction times, but they acquire targets much faster. More than anything though, they have strong situational awareness, which is why a casual gamer playing against a competitive player often thinks they have been cheated. The key to becoming a better gamer as a whole, is increasing your situational awareness skills. The best way to start increasing any skill is by gaining knowledge on the basic mechanics.



Situational awareness is based on an understanding of 3 key points:



•Map knowledge (knowing the hot/safe zones)

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•Flow (movements, deaths, battle visuals/sounds from around you)​



•Communication (calling out contact positions)



Map knowledge is an often cited strategy; the reasoning behind it is that it conditions you to where you should be aiming. Anyone that plays BF3 long enough will know all the general sniping spots, heavily traveled paths and hot zones. You know the general direction to aim based on where the enemy has come from in the past. We all know the hot spots on our favorite maps this is what map knowledge means.



Flow is the difference between an average player and elite gamer. Flow is the tide of battle that includes zones controlled by allies or enemies, which side has the upper hand and action on routes leading to each. Essentially, a bird's eye perspective of what is happening on the map by using sounds of enemy gunfire/footsteps and knowledge of frequented locations. Flow requires using the limited amount of information available and attempting to understand which areas are hot and which areas are vulnerable. Casual gamers don't apply flow and end up all over the map and see very little action and when they do its reactionary. Flow is best applied toward flanking, because you can identify the routes of least resistance and make your way through to eventually hit the other team from behind. This is almost always high risk/high reward (another reason why casuals don't prefer this method). However, when you do succeed, it will often be devastating for the enemy team and disrupt their position bad enough that your team can break through. You don't always have to flank, you can just recognize when the enemy flow is coming to you, wait just for the right moment and bam. The better you are at flow, the less often you get shot in the back and the more often you shoot someone else in the back. With flow, you know where to aim not because you see contacts in front of you, but because you came to that conclusion logically.



Communications for most players is simple, put a mic on and call out what you see; however in reality it is much more complicated than that. The key in communication is to keep it simple. I have seen so many players over the years (myself included) that die and rather than calling out the position of the enemy they go on a rant about the injustice that has be commented on them. Communications should be limited to helping advance game flow and giving the squad a tactical advantage. This means only communicating information that is necessary. As an example there is no need to call out contacts that you are about to kill, that is unless you are calling for assistance.

 

By increasing these 3 skills you can dramaticly improve your game and be well on your way to becoming an elite gamer.