Aim True, Nerfers!

Alright, well my last bit of advice for this week on Nerf-related topics is making the most of your shots.  Whether you're a foam spammer or a one-hit-kills kinda player, at the end of the day, you want your hits to count.  In recent indoor games, I've averaged 7 kills for every 1 time I've been hit, which isn't bad considering where we play.  I'm not trying to say that this is an impressive stat or you may do better than I, but in the environment I have played in, that's a pretty good record.

I suppose the first piece of advice I would say is to be familiar with the range of your blaster first.  I do lots of testing with my blasters before I use them in games not only to see how they perform, but to become comfortable with being able to gauge what I can and can't hit.  If you do angled range tests to get the maximum distance of your darts and just go with that when you get to an indoor game, you'll quickly realize that because you can't lob your shots as much, you can't reach out to that maximum range you were hoping for.  It's important to test out your blasters in the environment you'll be playing in so that way you can judge distances of what you can and cannot hit in the heat of the game.  You'll waste less ammo on opponents you can't dream to hit if you know this ahead of time.


With that in mind, you can still get more of an angled range out of your blaster if you drop down low.  Firing from a prone position upwards will give you enough room to lob your shots and get a little more range.  This is a tricky maneuver though, since you kill your mobility by setting up for a low shot.  It can be useful when used at the right time in a game, but I wouldn't suggest going prone when you're in the middle of a firefight.
Remember, if you're using XLR Disks in a Vortex Blaster that "lobbing shots" doesn't work with the disk system.  They need a straight firing path to work best.  Disk blasters are best when fired at standing height.  Don't angle them, or else you'll see your disks falling out of the air (or coming back to you, depending on how steep the angle is)

Finally, LEAD your target.  If your opponent is making a run for it, unless they're incredibly agile, you can predict where they're going and fire ahead of them.  They'll essentially end up colliding with the dart or disk that's being fired in front of them.  There's nothing more dissatisfying than emptying a Magstrike into the wall where your opponent used to be, only to be left with a lot of reloading and pumping to do before you can fire again.  That being said, using a full auto blaster like a Magstrike can be very easy to use when leading a target.  Single-shot blasters are tougher to nail opponents on the run unless you get VERY good at judging how to lead your target.

That does it for my 5-part set of Tactical Advice for Nerf!  Here's the links for all of them for reference:

1. ...and a Tactical New Year!
2. Dress Code
3. Nerf Blasters, Inside and Out
4. Clever Customizing
5. Aim True, Nerfers!

Durka durka!

Starting next week on January 30th, I'll be delving into my other area of focus:  Laser Tag!  I've admittedly been Laser Tagging much longer than I have been an avid Nerf fan (15 years vs 3 years!) so for those who haven't had much exposure to laser tag, next week is your time to read up!