I've not been playing PVP long, and when I started I was...well, honestly I was terrible. I usually play solo, so I had to learn to improve by trial and error. My scores are *slowly* improving now. To save some other poor newbie from duplicating the tortuous process, I'd like to ask the forums to help compile a handy guide to gitting gud in crucible. A "scrub to sweat" how-to. I'll start with some basics, I'd welcome any genuine tips the community could signpost people to in future. (rather than "play x, it's broken then you don't need skill lololol".) 1) before you even load in, check your load out. Are you using weapons that you're familiar and comfortable with? Do you have a feel for their range and ttk? If not, keep practicing in PVE before moving to PVP. Be aware that there are PVP meta weapons, think about how your load out matches up. Quick play is a good place to test against other Guardians before launching into competitive. 2) Are you using a set of weapons that compliment your play style /game plan? If you plan to get up in people's faces, a sniper might be less advantageous than a shotgun. Likewise, if you load into a map with lots of long sniping alleys and very few short corridors, consider how that fits with your game plan and whether you need to shift load out accordingly. 3) Exotics can be your friend. They're limited to one a side for a reason - that reason being a generally higher utility than legendary counterparts. Ace of Spades is still a solid utility hand cannon with some additional perks which make it relevant in PVP still for example, and it's relatively easy to earn over some of the other exotic hand cannons. 4) Likewise with your armour. Individual exotic pieces can have perks that put them above counterparts for PVP. See how they interact to improve your game plan and the rest of your loadout 5) Speaking of your armour, there's a couple of things to consider - your armour may have toggleable perks which work in your favour. If you're running a pulse rifle as your main weapon, look for armour with appropriate perks. Perks can improve your ready speed, hit tracking and the ammo you pick up (which is especially important for special and heavy weapons) for example. Enhanced perks are (obviously) even better. 6) Mods are a thing. Slotting the right ones in your weapons and armour can make a big difference to your lethality and survivability. You could slot 5 super mods to really accelerate getting to your power move, or focus on upping your regen to give you the edge in a close call. Likewise with your weapons. Mods can limit or control recoil, improve hit chance, grant extra ammo etc. Look at your weapon characteristics and perks and slot to augment those (or counter any downsides) 7) Masterwork your stuff. Masterworking not only improves a weapons stats, it means you drop orbs to get to supers more quickly not just for yourself, but your teammates too. This can be a game changer. Masterworking armour buffs damage reduction which can be a literal life saver. 8) Running away is sometimes the play. Even if your foe is a hair from death. Charging after someone only to be immediately gunned down by the rest of their team will net you one kill, one death. Better to retreat, isolate enemies and guarantee living on after getting the kill. 9) Related to the above. Peeking on minimal health is a big risk. If you're shot to pieces, even if the enemy is isolated and you can one shot kill them, they can do the same. You might be successful, you might not. Consider letting a team mate get the final blow and settling for an assist and surviving. 10) Radar is your friend. I can't stress this enough. It shows directionality and proximity of foes. That lets you select the correct weapon and engage as you want to. It also shows where teammates may need support (or where you can run to for it!) 11) on the subject of team mates, keep them alive if you can. Help out, cover them. Having two guns (and two bodies to absorb incoming fire) improves the survivability of both. Moving in a group is usually beneficial since supers and power weapon (as the main aoe sources) are rarer. 12) learn maps. Learn where choke and spawn points are, and how to exploit that. Learn where power ammo appears. Learn the different routes around the map and which are the most commonly used. I hope these basics get the ball rolling, please feel free to chip in with advice!