OK, let's get the obvious out of the way: I am [i]not [/i]a good PvP player. I never will be. The Crucible favors quick reflexes and precise fine motor skills, and I have neither. Through knowledge, experience, and strategy, I was able to nudge one of my Guardians' overall K/D up to 1.21 at one point, but that's about as good as I'm going to get. Going against an inexperienced Destiny newcomer, I have a decent chance of vanquishing him. However, once that noob gets some experience and knowledge, once it becomes a contest of inherent ability, the outcome will be different. But still, lacking talent has forced me to use the skills I do have, most motably intelligence and insight. And these have helped me to at least survive in PvP, even if thriving is out of the question. Here are some things I've learned: 1. "[u]Git Gud" is "bool krap[/u]". We all have our limits in how well we will do in PvP. These limits are determined by [b]reaction time [/b]and [b]manual dexterity[/b], qualities we may not have much control over. So, I cannot make you good; no one can. I can give you advice that may make you better than you are, but nothing more. 2. [u]Control your emotions[/u]. It is the easiest thing in the world to get frustrated, especially when nothing you try works. The enemy is outplaying you at every turn, everything you do, they counter, and you get multiple GUARDIAN DOWN's one after the other. Aside from the absolute elite, every PvPer gets overmatched sometimes. However, getting frustrated and angry will cause you to play overaggressively and make bad decisions, and this feeds on itself. I have found that I do best when I have a sort of zen going. It's rare, but fun when it happens. 3. [u]Don't assume what works for others will work for you[/u]. I never had much success with the vaunted MIDA Multi-tool, but I know it's effective. I couldn't snipe to save my life, but I've been devastated by snipers; that's why I avoid Trials like the plague. My favored primary guns are Colovance's Duty, the SUROS Regime, and two or three others for certain occasions (like when I am in a certain arena, or need pulse rifle or handcannon kills for a bounty). They work for me. You do what works for you. 4. [u]Try new items, and retry old ones[/u]. If you get a new gun, give it a shot. Worst that can happen is you'll like your old warhorse better. Also, pull a former favorite out of the vault every now and then, it may be better than you remember. I did that with SUROS, and wound up getting some impressive performances with it. Try different sights, or scopes, or perks. Note also that exotic is not always superior to legendary, or even rare. A unique perk is no good at all if it doesn't fit the way you play. 5. [u]Remember how Skill Based Matchmaking (SBMM) works[/u]. Right after those nice performances I just mentioned, I found the PvP experience horribly different. I was getting head-sniped regularly. Guardians I encountered were killing me almost before I could target them. Even if I did target them, I'd reduce them to a sliver of health and then die and watch them scamper off. It wasn't that I got worse, I just got bumped to a higher skill tier: everyone else got better. And the opposite happened in matches I was humiliated in; my next contest was much easier. 6. [u]If you're a beginning player, or one of modest skill, consider an autorifle[/u]. You will probably just be guiding your shots into the other Guardian, never mind trying to puncture his noggin. By and large, autorifles kill faster with body shots than any other primary, because their non-critical damage is higher (80% critical vs. 66.7%). Once you become more skilled, and can target the enemy's critical area quickly, it might be wise to adopt a different primary. AR's time-to-kill with critical hits is [i]longer [/i]than other primaries. Of course, if you like your old auto, feel free to stick with it. The difference is not that much. 7. [u]If a gun is regarded as OP, take notice of it. Give it a try, if you like, but be cautious[/u]. Bungie monitors this forums, and they react to them, and put forth nerfs accordingly. I'll never forget the day my Hunter went into the Crucible with her Lydmilla, a reliable two-burst killer, and found it had been nerfed by a whopping 19%. She got slaughtered that day, and I still haven't found a legendary primary for her that I like. 8. [u]Don't whine about weapons being OP (overpowered[/u]). Quite often, they aren't. The much-maligned MIDA, for instance, is a very nice Scout rifle with some nifty perks. However, in terms of nominal time to kill, a number of scouts and pulses have it beat. And many of the quick killers (like the also maligned Last Word) pay for their efficiency with lost range. 9. [u]Prepare your Guardian for encounters at multiple ranges[/u]. Is your Guardian carrying a Doctrine, an Invective, and an Arc Edge? Good luck engaging distant targets. Do you have a Colovance, a 1000-yard Stare, and a Truth? Up close and personal might be tough. Remember that you can stick grenades into the picture, but you get a limited number of them. 10. [u]You have teammates. Use them[/u]. If you have trouble in head-to-head confrontations, stay behind a teammate or two, especially with a distance-killer like a scout or pulse. Few enemy Guardians can stand against concentrated fire by two adversaries. You'll get more assists and fewer kills, but you'll die less. This is an especially sound strategy for Clash. 11. [u]Try different match types[/u]. My Hunter is best at Rift and Salvage. My Titan does well at Clash and Control. My warlock generally does whatever the Iron Banner is. 12. [u]Don't be a crybaby about trying new things[/u]. It made me kind of sick the way people went all hysterical about Iron Banner Rift and the Crimson Days festival, before either occured. You'd think this community would be happy with Bungie for trying to introduce new experiences, but they went on an epic tantrum-fest. If you try something and hate it, say you hate it here and say why. And you may be surprised! I avoided the Iron Banner for a time because I was worried about the skill being taken into account, thought I'd be up against 31's and 32's (the level cap when I started). But once I tried it, it became a favorite event. I'm still bummed about losing it. 13. [u]Team play doesn't always mean "stay in come hell or high water[/u]". If you don't belong in a match, it may be in everyone's best interest that you leave it. If you finish 4K 17D in a Clash match, you've scored 400 points for your team, maybe a few more if you got headshots or Super kills. But, you've generated at least 1700 the other way. Be that as it may, be careful about leaving non-Clash games; even if you can't get kills, you might do some good as a distraction or zone-capturer. 14. [u]If you get frustrated easily and are prone to rage-quitting, play accordingly[/u]. Avoid 3-vs-3 matches; you'll be leaving your adversaries facing 3-2 odds. Instead, seriously consider playing Rumble. You have no team in that mode, and can pull out with no guilt whatsoever. If you are TOTALLY hopeless, try Mayhem Rumble when it's offered, as a Striker Titan. You're almost guaranteed a handful of Fist of Havoc kills. [b]NOTE[/b]: As suggested by Technohydra, if you're ragequit-prone, really the [i]best [/i]thing to do is avoid the Crucible altogether. But if you can't go that far, at least play Rumble until you can get a better grip on your emotions. 15. [u]Don't worry about being carried from time to time[/u], or about losing the game for your team because you didn't play well. It happens to everyone. I still get carried. Sometimes I do the carrying. But, if you're crazy enough to play Trials, make your teammates aware of your skill level. They might need a warm body and be willing to carry you, but they should know beforehand that they have to do that. 16. [u]SBMM has limitations[/u]. Be advised that when you (a) play a non-featured match or (b) play at a low-traffic time, fewer people are likely to be engaged and there is less scope for SBMM to find players at your level. Also, the people playing are more likely to be hardcores who specialize in that game mode. Try it if you like, but understand that you may get emphatically stomped on. 17. [u]Be sportsmanlike[/u]. By all means congratulate a good performance, but don't hassle an inexperienced player who struggles, either by mic or by message. And for crying out loud, skip the teabagging. Simulating a gay sex act with someone who may be a fourth grader on his big brother's account... do we really need this? 18. [u]Remember to be grateful to Bungie[/u]. Destiny has its issues, but it's an awesome game. It saddens me that my experience with it will soon end, or at least be heavily limited, but it's been an amazing 1600 hours. [b]ADDED SUGGESTIONS [/b](proposed by AslanCat77): 19. No, it's NOT teabag as much as possible. It's [u]use the Radar[/u]. Keep an eye on it. If it's red in one direction, be ready for company. If it's red in two directions, get out of there in a third if you can. If you have two enemies firing at you from opposite directions at the same time, you are almost certainly going to die, and you probably won't kill either of them. This goes with a universal suggestion: [i]don't get into fights you can't win[/i]. 20. Aslan also suggested judicious use of strafing (sidewise motion). A good start, but even better to [u]know all types of evasion available to your Guardian and add them to your arsenal[/u]. Use of strafing, multiple jumps, teleportation, sliding, smoke, invisibility, shadestep, and cover of all sorts will make you infinitely harder to hit.