Improve Planetside 2 KDR with this one trick

Unlike other FPS games, kill-death ratio (KDR) isn't everything in Planetside 2. The game provides a lot of features that can be used to measure progress and success. Taking over the continent, constructing support bases, leading air squads, rolling armor columns, completing preset objectives, the list goes on.

But if you're the player who has unlocked the right unlockables to be flexible in any situation, you'll soon feel stuck. The same equipment, the same play style, the same strategies. It all starts to feel grindy. You start looking for other metrics to measure progress. You start looking at KDR.

But KDR is a hard metric to maintain, especially in a game where two-thirds the continent population is out to get you. A 5 KDR is near-impossible, even 2 KDR is a stretch. How do you improve KDR? Well, it's a simple mindset change really. All you have to do is...

Get even.

That's right. For one respawn you get, you must take down one opponent. That's it. You don't have to excert a lot of effort. You don't have to build up a lot of skill. The first step of getting a better KDR is to have it sit at or a little over 1.

Now it sounds silly, I know. When I started doing this, I even told myself that it's impossible. I run with a very "heroic" outfit, one that puts the faction above the individual. This means hot-dropping into highly contested outposts and taking the hit to get others to move forward. KDR is not our priority.

But it's possible. It's an attainable goal. It's not 5 KDR, not even 2 KDR. It's just 1 KDR. Even if you're being farmed, even if you're outnumbered. If you're serious about it, it is totally possible to get at least one kill everytime you walk out of that spawn room.

Now having this 1 KDR goal isn't a fancy goal. It's sort of braggable, but not to more experienced players. But what it does is gradually change how you play the game.

First, it changes your strategy. In a 1v1 scenario, the best case on equal footing is a draw - you both take down each other. But when you really want to maintain 1 KDR, you start playing conservatively, time abilities correctly, strafe and crouch to evade, even take advantage of the environment - anything to give you that slight edge.

Once you do this, you've also done one other thing: step off the live-die-repeat treadmill. Death in Planetside 2 isn't as penalizing as other FPS games, but it can be very demoralizing and make the game feel even more grindy. Keeping your KDR up means dying less, and thus avoiding the grindy feel.

Once you have the habit of keeping it at 1 KDR, you can gradually ease in to higher KDR. Something like 1.1, or 1.2, or 1.3 even. Again, don't be over-ambitions with your KDR goals. Keep it within the realm of possibility first, then work your way upwards.

Conclusion

The game can get really grindy at times, especially when the other factions steam-roll you with a really good zerg. But as long as you keep up that 1 KDR goal in mind, the game won't be as grindy. Once you get the momentum going, you're on your way to braggable KDR. And in the long run, it will also make you a better player.

PS: I highly recommend getting an SSD for this game. If the deaths don't demoralize you, the really slow loading screens caused by running the game on mechanical drives will.