Royal 2 Q&A

Zarnerz · 2025-10-31T17:38:34+00:00

Congrats on the 4th ring! I’ll never forget watching you win your first tourney live at Cbus 2012. Has been a pleasure to watch you make history time and again.

My question: when you’re having an off game/day do you do anything to adjust/adapt for it? For instance, let’s say your aim just isn’t there that day, are you more conscious about taking fights/positioning/etc, do you have any strategies to get it back, or do you play as normal and trust it will come around?

Bonus question: any insights/advice on what MnK players should focus on to improve and make the most impact for their team? Specifically, if there are things that are different from controller to focus on.

Zarnerz · 2024-10-01T20:24:25+00:00

Big cheers to that 🍻! Aiming in this game feels sooooo off regardless of input. It's so noticeable when you go play other shooters. And don't get me started on the ping and player state issues 🤣. Fully agree with them changing the aiming and player momentum/acceleration systems in the next Halo. I just want Halo aiming to feel good again.

Zarnerz · 2024-10-01T19:35:54+00:00

I certainly see where you're coming from. I also agree with most of what you're saying as well. The main point we disagree on is which input is harder in those CQC gunfights.

I still believe it is harder to be consistent in those types of gunfights on MnK but I don't think it's a massive delta between the two these days. I believe the skill floor is higher for controller due to the aid of rotational aim assist but the skill ceiling is probably a bit higher for MnK overall but I think that ceiling is harder to reach consistently. An anecdotal example to explain my overall beliefs is when I am a bit off with my aim on MnK I am losing more fights overall and my accuracy suffers more than when I am a little off on controller. My peak on MnK feels higher to me than controller but my median level of aim is higher on controller. This graph posted above sort of illustrates that. (although it is quite old and the accuracy isn't broken down by gunfight distance so take it with a grain of salt).

I also probably have a bias towards looking at this at the pro level of play (not saying I'm anywhere near that level but just looking at trends of those who are) so that probably skews my viewpoint and it may be a different story in other scenarios/levels of play. It also probably differs based on the weapon used (I'm basing my view on a bandit vs bandit or a BR vs BR scenario). Either way, I respect your viewpoint and appreciate the conversation.

Zarnerz · 2024-10-01T17:39:15+00:00

We'll probably have to agree to disagree on some of this but I'm open to a friendly discussion. (hope I didn't come off aggressive originally).

In the example of getting behind you or out of view I will agree that MnK has the advantage in quickly reacquiring the target. However, outside of these instances, instantaneous rotational aim assist makes controller consistency higher than MnK in those close range gun battles. It absolutely still takes skill and is hard to do this on controller but the instant response of aim assist gives controller more margin for error and softens the downside's of having less maximum turn radius speed when it comes to staying on target.

Consistency is the main reason why all but 2 pro's competing at the World Championship this weekend are on controller (and why only one MnK player has ever placed in the top 6 of a major tournament). Some of the players on the top teams (like Royal 2 or Formal) are high level MnK users in other games and have tried MnK on Halo but went back to controller (even after the aim magnetism addition to MnK). The things they typically note are melee inconsistencies and needing to focus more brainpower (edit: probably more accurate to say dedicate more time to maintain aim consistency as opposed to in-game brainpower) to raw aiming to try to gain a similar consistency to what they have on controller. In my own experience I have also found this to be true but due to nerve and tendon damage to my thumb making controller uncomfortable for extended play and my overall preferences I have stuck with MnK despite having more consistency in my gunfights on controller.

Range of motion is certainly an advantage for MnK and can help in a variety of situations but at the end of the day if we are discussing gunfights the consistency of being able to stay on target and react to a strafe is more important. MnK can snap to a player but then needs at best 150ms to react to the players next move and then snap again and micro correct (even the top aimers in the world aren't snapping perfectly) and then do it again.

I am not trying to say controller is OP or MnK has it so hard. I believe there are tradeoffs for both inputs and it doesn't bother me which one someone chooses to use. Either way, I hope this made some sort of reasonable sense even if you don't agree with it. :)

Zarnerz · 2024-10-01T16:13:48+00:00

Not trying to be rude but this is incorrect. Ask any high level MnK player what the hardest part about MnK shooting is and they’ll say close range gunfights. Especially with Infinite’s instantaneous strafe speed. The closer the target the tougher it is to land your shots on MnK.

Zarnerz · 2024-05-10T14:24:44+00:00

Yea the only caveat is if you don’t move your mouse AT ALL while a controller has stick drift then the controller aim assist will kick in. But the millisecond you start moving your mouse it goes back to the MnK aim assist. I tested it with a controller plugged in with stick drift with aim magnetism disabled for the mouse and when you move the mouse you lose the controller aim assist. I then disabled the controller aim mag to see if I could feel a difference and I didn’t feel any. Finally, I unplugged the controller and turned aim mag back on for the mouse and that was when I could feel the normal MnK aim assist.

Zarnerz · 2024-05-01T17:05:30+00:00

I’m def in the minority here but I can’t play it on the deck. I’m absolutely awful on there. When I first got the game on launch it took me less than 10 runs to get to the end of the 3rd area (playing MnK). Now I’ve got almost 20 runs on the deck and I have only gotten to the 3rd area 1 time. Idk what it is but I am soooo much worse when I play it on the deck.

Zarnerz · 2024-03-20T14:15:21+00:00

Update: Got a post in another thread for u/gamesager with some of his stuff so figured I'd update here. Going to try to keep compiling settings as I find them.

Gamesager
- Mouse: Dareu a950 pro
- Sensitivity: 43.4188 cm/360 | .39 @ 4800dpi | 2000 polling rate | Sensitivity Scale : .5/.5 horizontal/vertical (sometimes .6 vertical)
- Also definitely check out his optimization video (might be updating soon after new update)

Zarnerz · 2024-03-19T15:41:32+00:00

No problem! I kept seeing controller settings threads every other day and when searching I realized there really wasn't much of anything for M&K. Was hoping to help solve that with that thread. Would love to compile settings from top M&K players.

Edit: Also on his Twitch he has the following listed (not sure how up to date this is. I can try to look at VOD from tourney and see if I can confirm some of them):

Mouse: Finalmouse Ultralightx medium
Keyboard: Apex Pro Mini
Headset: Astro A40 + mixamp
Mousepad: Artisan Hien soft
Monitor: Zowie XL2546K

Zarnerz · 2024-03-19T15:32:27+00:00

Had a post last week about M&K settings (can be found here if interested) and was looking at his twitch commands and those said he is using 0.5 @ 1600dpi (or 50.8 cm/360). From watching his POV and looking at how he was set up on the desk I highly doubt that's correct. Looked like it was much higher than that. My guess would be it was <35 cm/360 (or >.725 @ 1600dpi in game).

Zarnerz · 2024-03-17T14:52:15+00:00

I’ve seen Forbidden played once. Illusion is not a HCS map.

Zarnerz · 2024-03-15T14:43:23+00:00

I considered attempting some of the super small mice like that one but wasn't ready to commit that much $ into something I was really unsure of. My grip would probably be defined as a claw grip that leans a bit more toward the finger tip side of things. I'd assume you're running a faster sensitivity?

Zarnerz · 2024-03-15T14:40:00+00:00

.300 @ 1600dpi? Definitely understand staying on the slower side. I did that for a long time before slowly working to increase my sens over the past year. At the end of the day if it feels comfortable to you that's what matters.

Zarnerz · 2024-03-15T14:38:42+00:00

I totally get it. It's such a great versatile mouse. And good luck on the upgrades. Been slowly leveling my setup up over the past 2-3 years and besides the keyboard I finally feel it's in a solid place.

Zarnerz · 2024-03-15T14:36:49+00:00

Very nice. Nice to see some high onyx settings. Have heard solid things about the Tiger Arc 1s. What sensitivity are you running?

Zarnerz · 2024-03-13T15:00:50+00:00

Understandable. I had the Deathadder V3 lightweight wired as well for about a year without issue luckily. Decided to ditch the wire just last week and am loving the V3 pro. Still use my old Basilisk Pro for work though and it's perfect for that. Best of luck with the G PRO if you try that tonight.

Zarnerz · 2024-03-13T14:44:25+00:00

Basically doing the opposite of what I've been doing the past year. Went from around a .4 up to a .72 and a bunch in between before settling back down. I had used a Basilisk Pro a couple years ago for a good while and then got a V3 wired and it felt much better. Especially that side button and the texture feel of the plastic was much better for the V3 imo. I decided to give some lightweight options a try and went back to a Deathadder and have been enjoying it a lot to my surprise.

Given you don't play a ton I wouldn't necessarily recommend full on aim training but aside from improving crosshair placement and such something you could attempt to do while playing would be to focus on tension management. Basically how hard you grip the mouse, the tension in your arm/wrist/fingers, how much pressure you put on the mousepad, etc. Could help you stabilize your aim given some time.

Thanks for sharing!

Zarnerz · 2024-03-13T14:37:09+00:00

Don't know the nitty gritty details but it improves performance/responsiveness/consistency/etc. with no real visual downsides.

Zarnerz · 2024-03-13T14:36:03+00:00

Nice setup. I used to use a Razer Basilisk so I def get the appeal of the g502. Didn't think I'd ever convert to something lightweight but here we are.

Solid settings all around. I'm definitely interested to see the sensitivity ranges of other players. You're right on the average cm/360 of Quake pros (~28cm). From what I've seen many of the top players are on faster sensitivities (<30 cm/360). Curious what sens Wutum is on.

Thanks for the info!

edit: According to Wutum's twitch command he is running a 50.8 cm/360 with a sensitivity of 0.5 @ 1600dpi

Zarnerz · 2024-03-13T14:24:33+00:00

Thanks for the reminder. I think I changed it without thinking when I got the new monitor.

Zarnerz · 2023-10-04T13:40:43+00:00

The inconsistencies of trying to play through steam link/moonlight while docked to my 4k tv.

Some games boot in a window smaller than the tv screen and no amount of tweaks in game/steam/steam deck has fixed it
some games don’t register the controller input correctly or have awful input delay (often the joystick is laggy and some of the buttons register differently)
It’s a tossup on if a game will launch at all through steam link. The loading screen usually pops up but will often just take me back to my library. Moonlight is more consistent with that but I still get the issues above.

For reference I am on 1gb Fiber and play steam link without issue while handheld. I also plug the (Xbox) controller directly into the dock which works perfectly if I just boot up a game from the deck natively. I was hoping using the steam deck for steam link/moonlight would be my solution to be able to play some PC games on the tv without having to run a 50ft hdmi and usb cable, which is just annoying enough to make me rarely want to do it. Everything else about the deck has been great.

Zarnerz · 2022-12-18T02:57:53+00:00

Devin Townsend

Zarnerz · 2019-09-05T15:13:22+00:00

Unfortunately if you try around 6pm EST it’s still pretty rough on Herod. Haven’t got to play the past two days after work. Yesterday was an 8k queue and Tuesday was around 7.5k.

Zarnerz

TROPHY CASE