Getting past Vassili's massive difficulty curve.

(Arri_Shi) #1

Alright, apparently there’s more to playing Vassili than just git gud, believe me, I tried. He seems to have a much higher difficulty floor than other mercs, so I figured with the sniper in rotation and several coming out of the Humble Bundle, it may be a good time to ask how to play Vassili.

So, let’s ask some questions, when should you use Vassili, what positioning do you have to take, how should you use his sensor, which weapons are good for what situations, how long should you take when lining up a shot, which kits do you advise, things like that. Honestly, I’ve been trying to learn myself but all I seem to do it piss off pubs.

(SirSwag) #2

The trick to using him is that you can be aggressive and move up with your team, but only if you are at the back of the pack. In this way you are likely to soften up the next enemy merc to half health and get your team mate an easy kill.
Most players hang back on the same spot and wait for enemy mercs to wander into their sights. This will only make it easier for them to find you and kill you. Always move around to unexpected locations, and always let your team mates draw fire if you can help it.
As for the heartbeat sensor, just make sure you keep throwing them as soon as the cool down is over, and try to hide them in heavy traffic areas.
Basically don’t be a Vassili who hides at the back and gets a kill every 5 minutes. Look for kills and you’ll be rewarded with them. I hope this helps.

(KattiValk) #3

Playing Vassili comes down to throwing the sensor where your team needs it and having good aim really, so his actual learning curve is kind of nonexistent because there’s not much to him besides sniping and figuring out nice places to dump the sensor. You should be able to do things like snap shot effectively, if not, you should probably practice your aim with something more forgiving like a Dreiss or GSR.

(blisteringOwlNest) #4

Vassili = playing for assists instead of kills. You’ll do so well.

(Recin) #5 
I'll try not to repeat any of the advise above. Try to predict your enemy's movements. Always play near cover. A rifle needs a lot of bullets and therefore more time to deal the same amount of damage of that of a sniper shot so just shoot, get behind cover and shoot again. If you hit a low HP merc, get your secondary out and kill them, but finish them while they are downed with your sniper if they aren't very close. A body shot and a headshot after that will not only kill some of the mercs, but also finish them,  but I suggest you go for body shots only until you gain some experience.

Knowing the enemy’s position is crucial so use your heartbeat sensor wisely. You can use it not only for heavy traffic areas, but to cover your back also, so that you don’t get flanked. His sensor is especially useful in Execution mode. I use it to spot the enemy’s and not waste time typing to my team, or throw it in one direction and look at another. That way I cover two routes and prevent a potential rush.
As Vassili one of your biggest strength’s is finishing downed enemy’s with a single shot. Medics are often quite anoying with their constant revives. Also guarding a planted bomb is also a good scenario for Vassili, because people are vulnerable and easy to get headshoted while disarming.
Personally I use the MO11ShieldedSniper. Bombsquad perk is pretty useful for dodging grenades, meant to flush you out of your spot. Extra magazines are also important for when your teammates don’t give ammo and so that you don’t have to leave your spot as quickly to go and refill somewhere (therefore being vulnerable). Last but not least the reduced flinching after getting hit while looking through the scope. Also the MOA sniper just feels better than the other ones.
Hope this comment was of help and sorry if I don’t make sense in some of the sentences. Not my native language.

(Matuno) #6

“git gud”.
Heh, no, but seriously, the only advice on playing Vassili is to not play Vassili unless you’re so good, you’re topping the scoreboard with normal mercs.

Long, long story short; a hung-back Vassili has very little control of the objective perimeter which is usually surrounded by cover. If you don’t kill someone in a spawn wave, and you’re not in that perimeter, your team is a man down.

Vassili is a very skill intensive merc and comes down to quick aiming at any range, a feat you should practise with a normal merc and a normal gun before focusing on playing Vassili.

(TheHel1x) #7

Use your movement to aim… if that makes any sense. The only thing people above have not mentioned is how to actually aim with Vass. You are going to want to use the MOA as your main for sure, don’t use the Felix. AS you hold down a doorway or lane be moving ALL THE TIME. Never stand still. What you want to do is use your movement to assist your wrist flick. Don’t try to slowly put your cross-hairs on target, flick them there. Don’t jump shoot either as that just don’t work any more. If you can master moving into your flick shot you will instantly get much better at head shotting. IDK why this works but it does… a lot. Good luck man!

(Sinsanatis) #8

@TheHel1x known as twitch aim. to me in DB its harder to aim with your movement because of the sway. when u move, the scope sways almost like a infinite figure or just up and down.

(TheHel1x) #9

IDK man, that’s just how I do it and I’m a pretty good Vass with a 49.1% accuracy.

(Dysfnal) #10

Get Rekt M8 @TheHel1x 52% acciracy with the Felix, 63 woth the MOA

(TheHel1x) #11

How many hours with each of those weapons though?

(cunningMuffler) #12

It really depends on your play style. For instance, I would always use him as more of a defensive merc, keeping the enemies health low or just knocking them down one by one. I usually stay near a health station or medic, because I hate continually taking cover and the othe team will take you as priority if you are to obvious. It would also be good to use your heart sensor for the benefit of the team; near less defended paths for an instant team reaction or in the heat of battle, so your team knows where the enemies are taking cover.

(Dysfnal) #13

@TheHel1x not many with the moa, and I was a patient worthless bastard when I played Vassili… But now I main Aimee with the Felix, which I had barely touched prior