FPS Mouse Sensitivity Guide To Improve Your Gameplay

FPS Mouse Sensitivity plays an important role in FPS (First Person Shooter) games. Everyone has a different choice of sensitivity and movement of the mouse in games, but if you have a high FPS and DPI mouse, it will definitely improve your gameplay. Pro Gamer uses high DPI and FPS mouse so that their response in shooting much faster than a normal gamer. Some people can respond to situations in an FPS game quickly while others take some time to aim and shoot accurately. Through this FPS mouse sensitivity guide, we hope to inspire each of you to find the sensitivity value that suits you the most.

Before moving on to the fps mouse sensitivity guide, let’s first explain a few terms you will be coming across in this write-up.

What Is Mouse DPI?

The DPI stands for Dots Per Inch. It is the fundamental measure of your mouse sensitivity. It means how many dots on the monitor can your cursor travel when you move the mouse an inch on the mouse pad. So higher the DPI Mouse, the more sensitive your mouse is in the game. DPI is therefore always set on the mouse, and it is not just limited to the game, but it will affect the entire computer system.

FPS Mouse Sensitivity

Sensitivity or sens is the in-game sensitivity settings. Contrary to DPI, these settings only apply to the game you are opting these settings in. Therefore players can have multiple sensitivity settings for various games. In windows, sensitivity is regulated by pointer speed. While fps games have in-game options like “sensitivity slider” to adjust sensitivity for the players.

What Is eDPI?

Effective DPI is the actual sensitivity. It can be calculated by multiplying the DPI with Sensitivity. It gives gamers a way of comparing the real sensitivities of different players. Consider Player A playing Overwatch with a mouse DPI of 1600 and in-game sens of 2. Now another player B is playing with a mouse DPI of 400 and in-game sensitivity of 8. Although both configurations look wildly different, in reality, both players are equally sensitive to in-game movements. This is because their eDPI is same.

cm/360

It means how many centimetres do you have to travel the mouse for your in-game player to do a complete 360-degree turn. It is also an excellent metric of measuring the in-game sensitivity of the fps mouse.

Level: Newbie

If you are a novice, then the chances are you are not very comfortable with your mouse. You don’t know much about high-end gaming mice available in the market specifically designed to help in gaming. Moreover, you play at a very high sensitivity level.

Beginners have to go through a journey of self-discovery. Play at different DPI and sensitivity levels and check out which feels more comfortable and natural for them. Initially, however, it is always a good idea to play at the average eDPI level of pro gamers. For Overwatch, that value is 4800 for eDPI. You can use a simple calculator to calculate the eDPI or use any online option like this one.

How to change Sens:

The sensitivity option is usually available in the settings menu of FPS games, but it is too high for beginners. Often the default setting is 15. Go to settings then Mouse settings and there you will find the sensitivity option.

How to change DPI:

The DPI settings depend on the mouse you are using. You can’t change the settings from the windows. If you are using office or any other ordinary mouse, then chances are you can’t change your DPI settings. Most gaming mice, however, can change their DPI to insane 16000 levels. Such mice come with their own drivers and software. We have mentioned support links for most popular gaming mice below for your ease:

LogitechSteelseriesZowieCorsair.

Some other gaming mice come with a DPI switch on top of the hardware. You can easily switch between different values without having to download any software or drivers. Our list of best gaming mice contains a few such options.

What is my mouse DPI?

To check the DPI of your mouse, you will have to look at the box it came in. If you don’t have the box, you can google the mouse model and find out online. If all else fails, try this online DPI Analyzer

Why you should go with Low Sensitivity

Because, why not? Many professional gamers prefer low sensitivity, even if they initially started with a higher value. To make it clear, players can be more precise and consistent with low mouse sensitivity levels because small adjustments are easily manageable then. If you are a beginner, higher sensitivity means your player will get harder to control.

Some extra gaming tips for the beginners

  • Never aim at the ground. Always keep your crosshair where you expect your enemy will turn up.
  • Aim first, shoot second. Many beginners start shooting first before aiming, which hinders their ability to hit the target accurately, and they blame mouse sensitivity for it.
  • Focus properly on your posture and grip. Make sure you are comfortable before starting the game.
  • Don’t autopilot your shots. Be conscious of where you are shooting. Always.

Level: Skillful

The intermediate gamers are already acquainted with major aspects of the fps mouse sensitivity guide but they still run into some troubles. And we would like to discuss a few here:

Consider a bigger mousepad

It is no brainer that a bigger mousepad is more comfortable. So that you don’t have to pick it up and reposition as often and can go for more massive swipes in the game. Gamer community has a consensus that going from one end of the mouse pad to the other your player should turn 360 in the game. However, this preference comes down to personal choices, as well. The way you aim, do you need to reposition a lot? Do you think adding more space to your mousepad will actually benefit your gaming experience? Alternatively, you can just adjust your game sensitivity.

Physical shape and structure of your hand

Everybody has different hand dexterity, shape and physical features. Some people can be more precise with a higher sensitivity than others. It takes time to build muscle memory properly. Therefore finding out whether you can perform better with a different sensitivity takes some time. However, it is necessary to know a few things:

  • If you are using your fingers all the time and barely move your wrists, it means your eDPI setting is way too high. Consider lowering it down.
  • If your wrist is straining a lot, but your arm barely moves, it means the same, i.e. your eDPI setting is way too high. Lower it down.

It doesn’t matter what shape and structure your body is, make sure your arm, hands and wrist are working in tandem to aim.

Know your game

If you are playing a game like Overwatch in which enemies can come quickly from any angle, lowering your mouse sensitivity may not be the right decision. This is because you will need to turn around quickly. If your sensitivity is too low, your player will have slow movements. Therefore knowing the requirements of your game is always a better idea.

Know your heroes

FPS games have various heroes to choose and play with. In case you like playing with aim reliant Sniper heroes, it is better to play with a lower sensitivity. Because low sensitivity helps in steady aim. On the other hand, the hitscan characters benefit from a higher sensitivity to make significant movements more quickly. Such heroes require quick jumps, flips, running and readjustments of shields etc. Therefore you should always adjust your mouse sensitivity considering the hero you are playing with.

Adjust yourself with using your arm

Most intermediate level gamers are not comfortable with using their arms. Make sure your seating arrangement is suitable for the arm movements. As we said earlier, gaming requires that your hands, wrists and arm are working in tandem. Move one organ less and the others will strain. Keep playing. There is no shortcut to it. You will get comfortable eventually.

Level: Expert

Experts are usually already there and don’t need an fps mouse sensitivity guide. Nonetheless, there are a few considerations that can great help:

Fine-tune your sensitivity

Experts need to fine-tune their sensitivity over a long period. Remember that overshooting and undershooting does not mean that a player needs to lower or raise their mouse sensitivity, respectively. You can reduce your sensitivity and still overshoot and vice versa. The more you are consistent with a particular sensitivity level more comfortable, you will get overtime.

DPI

Your mouse DPI should be native to your mouse; otherwise, there will be smoothing and jittering problem in the game. Modern gaming mice come with native DPIs. Some mice native DPIs can be changed at every 50 steps up to 16000. It means you don’t have to worry about mouse performance anymore. Just keep going with one setting that feels more natural to you.

Mousepad friction

Friction is a very significant factor to consider for mouse sensitivity. If the mouse glides over the mouse pad and is harder to control, you might want to lower the sensitivity down so that overshooting won’t spoil your gaming experience. Make sure the friction is enough to support better control over the mouse.

Know when to go for higher sensitivity settings

Wrist movements have lesser inertia when compared with arm movements. Therefore you can easily track an enemy with the help of wrists and make accurate strokes using arms. Due to this reactivity, higher sensitivity can be an acceptable trade-off for accuracy. So tracers are likely to get benefit from higher sensitivity.

In-game sensitivity, what is pixel skipping and why it is not an issue

The 400dpi setting on a mouse means that for every 400 display pixel steps, the mouse has to move an inch. FPS games measure these steps in angles and multiply with in-game sensitivity settings. A higher sensitivity, therefore, means that these steps are less subtle. Theoretically, 10 sensitivity and 400 DPI settings move your player at the same speed as 5 sensitivity and 800 DPI, but you will only hit 400 steps instead of 800 steps. Due to this reason, players often cannot address each and every pixel on the screen. This is called pixel skipping

Pixel skipping is not an issue unless you are playing with a sensitivity of 15 or higher. This is because no one has perfect aim. FPS games don’t even require pixel-perfect aiming. If your aim is one pixel off the enemy due to pixel skipping, there is an equally likely chance of a one-pixel missing shot to land right on the money instead. FPS games calculate aim in angles. With 800/12 sensitivity you are unlikely to skip a pixel on a 720p resolution.

That is all for now, we hope that whether you are a novice, or an intermediate level player or an expert you can equally benefit from this fps mouse sensitivity guide. Happy gaming.

Also Visit: BEST FPS GAMING MOUSES

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