It's perfectly OK to be a beginner. Everyone has to start somewhere, regardless of what the internet may have you believe. Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare is a fast-paced shooter with a variety of maps of weapons to master, all while taking on players with vastly more experience.
Don't worry, though, there are some basics you can employ that will help you start getting a better performance from yourself. These beginners tips are good for Xbox One, PS4 and even somewhat for PC.
Updated December 2016: We've spent more time with Infinite Warfare and picked up a couple more tips to share!
The right sensitivity
The very first thing you should consider is your controller sensitivity. If it's not right for you then your aim will be all over the place. A lot of beginners think it needs to be super sensitive so you can flip around quickly and get people coming in from behind.
If an opponent is behind you then you're probably already done for. Think about what you can see, and if your sensitivity is up to 12 you'll be twitching all over the place and struggle to control your aim and your recoil.
Pro players usually turn the sensitivity right down, and so should you. See what you're set to start with, and then play a couple of rounds at one or two above and the same below. Try out the different settings to find where you feel most comfortable. For example, I started out on 5, then turned it down to 4 and that's what's working best for me. Only trial and error will help you feel out what's right for you.
Don't let the stats get you down
It's really easy to get carried away and super frustrated at your Kill/Death ratio. But guess what? You're going to get killed. A lot.
Instead of worrying about your stats, focus on just playing the best game you can. The stats will improve as your ability does, there's no reason to force it.
And if you find your numbers have dropped significantly from the start of a session, take a break. Grinding on when you're clearly getting frustrated or fatigued won't help. Know when to set aside the controller before you rage quit.
Utilize your mobility
While critics of Infinite Warfare will write off all the jet packs, power sliding and wall running, in a multiplayer setting these are important skills to master.
To reduce your death tally you need to be as difficult to hit as possible and sliding through doors is a great one to try. Don't just run through it and leave an easy target to hit. Slide through and then maybe tag a big jump on the end.
If you're flying through the air or sprinting along a wall then you're more difficult to hit than if you're just running along the ground. This can give you an advantage over the person on the ground trying to get you.
Tweak your controller layout
There are a number of different controller layouts available inside the game that might benefit your style of play. One that's worked well for me is the "Stick and Move" layout. This essentially swaps the function of the right stick and the 'A' button.
'A' becomes melee and pushing the right stick becomes jump. The logic here is that you're using the right stick constantly to aim, so using it to jump means you're not moving your thumb to another button to jump, then back to the stick to aim. It might help you react better while you're moving through the air since you're not moving between buttons.
But just because it's my favorite doesn't mean it has to be yours. Try out the various options available and see which suits your style of play best.
Don't settle on one weapon
You have to level up to unlock new weapons, attachments, and perks (unless you get lucky and score one in a supply drop). That means you'll be pretty limited to start and you'll have to get comfy with leveling up a small selection of weapons. As you have more to choose from, you absolutely need to explore and get familiar with them.
As you hit Prestige and start over from level 1 again to hit the next Prestige, you'll be back to using the weapons you had available in those early levels. The more you've used the more you've leveled up and the more attachments and perks you'll have available. Weapons don't reset when you hit Prestige, and it'll make the grind less, well, grinding if you have a good spread of weaponry to carry on your journey with.
There's also the fact that some maps and game types suit certain weapons better. Terminal is quite open and has space for assault rifles and snipers to do damage, while Frontier better suits an SMG. The best way to be a good all-round player is to be comfortable with all the weapons at your disposal.
Stack the odds
As a beginner, there are still things you can do early on in the game that will make things a little easier on you to get a good score. One you might want to try is using the Warfighter rig with the Persistence perk. This will keep your scorestreaks alive even after you die, meaning so long as you reach the desired number of points at any time in the round you'll get that streak.
Being able to call in a scarab and get a quick double or triple kill can make a big difference! Not to mention those scores then keep stacking up towards your next streak!
See those skulls
Those skulls that keep popping up on the screen are a really useful tool to help you get a handle on where action is going down across the map. When one of your own team is killed you'll see a skull pop up indicating their general direction.
This works two-fold. It tells you where someone just got killed, so giving you a heads-up if someones in your area. It also gives you a heads-up on the general direction to head to find people to slay yourself. That plus the hit markers and UAV streaks that show up on the mini-map, and your opponents have nowhere to hide!
So, there are some tips that should help beginners get a better feel for Infinite Warfare multiplayer. If you've got any of your own beginners tips to share be sure to drop them in the comments below!
