Let's talk about mouse sensitivity

[seth]

So I've recently gotten somewhat into CS:GO and have realized that my old sensitivity was really not going to cut it in a series as precise as CS. I've been playing on a 4.8" 360 for the past year and a half or so. For those that don't know what in/360 is, it means I move my mouse 4.8" to turn around 360 degrees in-game. In CS, this is outrageously fast.

A couple months ago, I boosted my sensitivity up to a 9" 360. Yesterday, I discovered this spreadsheet. It's an aggregate list of 200+ professional CS players and their sensitivities, equipment, DPI etc. According to that spreadsheet, most pros play at 17-22" 360's. That feels like absolute molasses to me, but it is around what's needed to be very accurate at long and medium ranges, which is where a lot of CS fights take place. I'm probably going to jump up to around 15" and play around with that for awhile.

TF2 is on a different level. A majority of fights in TF2 take place in close range, due to the emphasis placed on mobility and most weapons' damage falloff characteristics. We also have the soldier, who needs to flick around approximately 120 degrees very quickly to perform a rocket jump. A lot of fights involve players dancing around the other in an attempt to confuse the other player, or at least make himself harder to hit. For these reasons, I feel TF2 necessitates a higher sensitivity.

This brings me to my questions.

1. Do you think it's okay to have two different sensitivities for two different games? I have changed my sensitivity so many times in the past few years and I know it really screws up your aim due to muscle memory.
2. What is your in/360 in TF2/CS:GO or any other Source game? You can calculate it here.
3. If you play at a low sensitivity, how do you handle your mouse? At high sensitivities, you almost never have to worry about resetting your mouse and keeping it away from the edges of your mousepad since it will most likely never leave the center, but at low sensitivities, you're constantly having to lift the mouse to reset. Seems like a whole 'nother skill to aiming.

 

[Egan]

Apparently I've got 2.7" 360, my mousepad is small and for the moment I'm comfortable not playing sniper like a pro. I've only ever changed my sensitivity when I buy a new mouse to fit my mousepad, or if I play a new game to fit approximately what I was used to in TF2.

I know that surf requires low sensitivity to aim yourself smoothly so you don't lose too much momentum unnecessarily, here is a 'handshow' i found on youtube about that: https://youtu .be/QTHi7UUZRDk And then for the 'spiral' surf sections where you do need to spin very quickly down a spiralling staircase of obstacles I've heard that some pros just use keybinds for +left and +right.

 

[Tumby]

I just had to google my mouse to find out what my DPI is because it doesn't say it anywhere on the package. Turns out it's 1k. Windows Multiplyer at 1 and ingame sensitivity of 6.3 yields 2.6 in/360.
I would like to point out that changing my screen resolution somehow seems to affect how fast I can turn. I'm not sure if that is because less pixels = less distance or if it's my framerate doing it.

 

[Lain]

It all depends on which game you want to be more proficient at tbh.

As a high level competitive player (Medic,Pyro,Scout,Soldier) and LEM in CSGO these are the settings I use;

As for handling, I use a Zowie EC2-A mouse, and a Puretrak Talent mousepad which is 19x14" (so, very large) and allows me to use both aiming styles which is basically paramount to becoming a better player, a lot learn in unconsciously; I usually aim with my whole arm which gives me better flicks, then go into a wrist pivot for smaller movements which is good for Scout and Sniper close range. When I flick I always try to reset to the center of the mouse pad

In terms of if you should use two sensitivities for two games, I am 99% sure that most pros and high levels players actually have a sensitivity that they stick to, but I know a few people at a higher level of tf2 who use a different sensitivity for their shotgun than their rocket launcher, which baffles me. As long as your sensitivity isn't anything extreme like Tumb and Egan (sorry) you should be completely fine in both games, but if you want to be better in general regardless of game i'd recommend turning down your sens to something closer to 10".

Edit: Completely forgot to mention that I use a Zoom sensitivity of 0.5

 

[YM]

396 degrees per inch, or 0.9"

Razer Deathadder at default settings - 1800 dpi, TF2 sensitivity at 10, no idea how to find windows' sensitivity but I haven't changed it so I'm guessing it's default.

A few years ago I started getting incredibly frustrated by constantly picking my mouse up to reset its position while turning so I cranked up the sensitivity to avoid this. Not to mention how painful my wrist was getting during play. Wrists are fragile

 

[Lain]

396 degrees per inch, or 0.9"

Razer Deathadder at default settings - 1800 dpi, TF2 sensitivity at 10, no idea how to find windows' sensitivity but I haven't changed it so I'm guessing it's default.

A few years ago I started getting incredibly frustrated by constantly picking my mouse up to reset its position while turning so I cranked up the sensitivity to avoid this. Not to mention how painful my wrist was getting during play. Wrists are fragile

Holy shit

 

[YM]

@Lain that's what I'm saying about your 10" per rotation. I've cranked mine up to the extreme in TF2 and I play at far lower settings in other games but still I think I'm aiming for <2-3" in every game. I couldn't play _anything_ at lower than about 5" it's just horrible.

 

[seth]

396 degrees per inch, or 0.9"

Razer Deathadder at default settings - 1800 dpi, TF2 sensitivity at 10, no idea how to find windows' sensitivity but I haven't changed it so I'm guessing it's default.

A few years ago I started getting incredibly frustrated by constantly picking my mouse up to reset its position while turning so I cranked up the sensitivity to avoid this. Not to mention how painful my wrist was getting during play. Wrists are fragile

Oh my god. How do you hit anything at all? You must only move your fingertips when you play.

 

[Lain]

@Lain that's what I'm saying about your 10" per rotation. I've cranked mine up to the extreme in TF2 and I play at far lower settings in other games but still I think I'm aiming for <2-3" in every game. I couldn't play _anything_ at lower than about 5" it's just horrible.

Well, most high level players play at an even lower sensitivity to me. Just to put it in perspective, I'm actually on the faster end.

 

[YM]

Fuck me their arms must be pure pain.

@sevin I plant my elbow on my armrest and pivot there, using an incredibly light grip on my mouse, really just with my fingertips. Elbow+knuckle bending gives me the subtle movements I need.

I don't know how playing with 10"+ is possible, if you need to do a snap 180, your hand is now close to the limits of your mousemat and arm is in an awkward position, if you need to keep turning the only option is to pick up and replant the mouse. HOW can that be good for skill? Sounds awful :/

 

[Lain]

Fuck me their arms must be pure pain.

@sevin I plant my elbow on my armrest and pivot there, using an incredibly light grip on my mouse, really just with my fingertips. Elbow+knuckle bending gives me the subtle movements I need.

I don't know how playing with 10"+ is possible, if you need to do a snap 180, your hand is now close to the limits of your mousemat and arm is in an awkward position, if you need to keep turning the only option is to pick up and replant the mouse.

I would handcam if i had a camera tbh, it's extremely easy for me because of the size of my mousepad + the way i've learned to aim. I also don't have to reset my hand every time i flick / turn, It only takes up 1/2 the mousepad, so i still have plenty of space to aim and then reset, which is just reflex to me now.

HOW can that be good for skill? Sounds awful :/

Ditto

 

[seth]

@YM, some friendly folks over at r/globaloffensive linked these two videos of a couple pros warming up before a match. Friberg has an 18.6" 360, which is pretty medium-high among those on the spreadsheet. And here's an old vid of Krimz when he had a super slow 31" 360. Still incredible. Check out that arm work.

 

[YM]

Christ that mousemat is bigger than my largest monitor. Hoooooly fuck

 

[Lain]

That's about as big as mine.

Edit: Mousepad

 

[Hyperion]

1600dpi, Windows 1, TF2 1.6, results 6.4"/360°. My mousemat is pretty small, 8" wide with wristsupport (or what ever that is)

In MvM when I play sniper to pick medics I halve my sensitivity to 800dpi, no scripts but sensitivity buttons on mouse, 800/1600/2000 and actually by specs the native dpi is 3200

 

[Vel0city]

I have no idea how many inches per 360º. All I know is that TF2's sensitivity is set to 3.0, that's it.

 

[Samniss Arandeen]

I'm just under 2.75 in/360 (sensitivity=1.5 on a 4000dpi mouse) which I hear is on the sensitive side. Of course, I'm apparently in the majority of respondents, but given the small sample size, I'm not going to draw conclusions from that data quite yet. I quite like a high DPI - I was just playing Sniper today and I found myself putting headshots right on the mark and predicting Demoman nades with greater accuracy than I remember being able to.

I have no idea how many inches per 360º. All I know is that TF2's sensitivity is set to 3.0, that's it.

That's one part of it. Do you have "Raw Input" enabled? Have you disabled mouse-acceleration both in your OS and your mouse driver software? What DPI is your mouse?

 

[Vel0city]

I'm just under 2.75 in/360 (sensitivity=1.5 on a 4000dpi mouse) which I hear is on the sensitive side. Of course, I'm apparently in the majority of respondents, but given the small sample size, I'm not going to draw conclusions from that data quite yet. I quite like a high DPI - I was just playing Sniper today and I found myself putting headshots right on the mark and predicting Demoman nades with greater accuracy than I remember being able to.


That's one part of it. Do you have "Raw Input" enabled? Have you disabled mouse-acceleration both in your OS and your mouse driver software? What DPI is your mouse?

Mouse acceleration is turned off, raw input is enabled. I have no idea what DPI my mouse is, it's some random Trust mouse that cost like
€10. But it works, so yay.

 

[Tumby]

Am I the only one here without a mousepad?

 

[Vel0city]

Am I the only one here without a mousepad?

If you count my bed's mattress as a mousepad, no.