Running From Bandit Gunfire...

[Krisfallion 1]

So last week I was walking south down towards Electro, staying in the trees above the road. Suddenly I hear a shot ring out nearby. My flight instinct kicks in and I do a 180, hit the C button to go into full stand mode and start running between the trees. More gunshots ring out as I dash from what, I hope, is away from the person firing at me. I start alternating hitting the A and D buttons while holding down W so that I am zig zagging at random intervals. More gun shots ring out but eventually they stop after about 20 seconds. I keep running for a full minute going into valleys and over hills finally find a safe spot that I can rest and hopefully get my heart rate back down again.

My question is this: Did my zig zagging through the woods help me get away from my assailant? Did I cause a potential bandit to waste a few clips of ammo trying to get a bead on me or was he just a crap sniper? If I had to cross an open field would it be a good idea to crouch run zig zag?

I always wondered the effectiveness of this strategy in both real life as well as in games and wanted to know what all of you (both bandits and survivors) had to say.

Just trying to get along in this crazy world,

Krisfallion

[thefreindlyoldman 47]

Did you hear the distinct "whishes" and "tings" of bullets flying past you? They could have been shooting zombies or killing someone else.

[Sticker704 121]

This theory has been proven to work with the path finding of the Zed, so yes it probably is effective :P

[=ATS= Striker 25]

You are not even sure that he was firing at you, gunshots can be heard from along ways away... that's why people say shooting you're gun attracts attention, because it does!

[Rollonio 54]

Always run at full speed when evading gunfire. Hitting a crouched target isn't that much harder but the extra speed from standing makes it harder.

And i would always zig-zag unless you know you have good cover nearby that I'm are heading to.

[(0161) Jahsus 5]

So last week I was walking south down towards Electro, staying in the trees above the road. Suddenly I hear a shot ring out nearby. My flight instinct kicks in and I do a 180, hit the C button to go into full stand mode and start running between the trees. More gunshots ring out as I dash from what, I hope, is away from the person firing at me. I start alternating hitting the A and D buttons while holding down W so that I am zig zagging at random intervals. More gun shots ring out but eventually they stop after about 20 seconds. I keep running for a full minute going into valleys and over hills finally find a safe spot that I can rest and hopefully get my heart rate back down again.

My question is this: Did my zig zagging through the woods help me get away from my assailant? Did I cause a potential bandit to waste a few clips of ammo trying to get a bead on me or was he just a crap sniper? If I had to cross an open field would it be a good idea to crouch run zig zag?

I always wondered the effectiveness of this strategy in both real life as well as in games and wanted to know what all of you (both bandits and survivors) had to say.

Just trying to get along in this crazy world,

Krisfallion

Depends how you roll ... I'd say the best thing to do in an ambush situation, (if you judge it to be an ambush and not just some nutter popping Z's) is engage the ambush, obviously after you have made a quick judgement on where the fire came from. I find dropping to prone and rolling with E or Q while you look for the shooter helps, it's saved me more than once. Running just makes you a 0 threat target.

Edited July 31, 2012 by Jahsus

[suspense 210]

So last week I was walking south down towards Electro, staying in the trees above the road. Suddenly I hear a shot ring out nearby. My flight instinct kicks in and I do a 180, hit the C button to go into full stand mode and start running between the trees. More gunshots ring out as I dash from what, I hope, is away from the person firing at me. I start alternating hitting the A and D buttons while holding down W so that I am zig zagging at random intervals. More gun shots ring out but eventually they stop after about 20 seconds. I keep running for a full minute going into valleys and over hills finally find a safe spot that I can rest and hopefully get my heart rate back down again.

My question is this: Did my zig zagging through the woods help me get away from my assailant? Did I cause a potential bandit to waste a few clips of ammo trying to get a bead on me or was he just a crap sniper? If I had to cross an open field would it be a good idea to crouch run zig zag?

I always wondered the effectiveness of this strategy in both real life as well as in games and wanted to know what all of you (both bandits and survivors) had to say.

Just trying to get along in this crazy world,

Krisfallion

With the way grass renders in arma 2 over distances, you will in most cases not have a good chance proning or crouching against a sniper thats shooting at you. In real life, you would first of all, not pass a field with no cover, 2nd, you would prone instantly in bush/high grass if you crossed a field with cover.

In ArmA, i would suggest you learn weapon sounds and use a headset to get directions of where its coming from, and then block the line of sight. Haybales, trees, other kinds of objects. If you are completely exposed, zig-zag slightly, while running horizontal away from him, not vertical. This way he will have a much smaller hitbox, and have to adjust zeroing much more.

[garglemouth64@yahoo.com 11]

I've found that the faster you move the harder it usually is. Also, it helps to be running horizontally away from the bandit rather than straight away from him. Zig-zagging can help, especially around trees, etc.. I've only had people try and snipe me maybe 6-7 times, and the most dangerous thing to do is lay prone and try and find him. Crouching keeps your head down, so maybe that's better than running. I always run though because I prefer to get out of there as soon as possible.

Makes sense to me when you say you survived. Snipers in this game usually aren't competant enough for moving targets.

[Arroza 2]

If you actually were getting shot at, then probably yes.

Once I was looting a heli crash site and suddenly I was hit. Luckily the guy didn't get my legs with what sounded like his FAL, so I started to sprint away. I was running serpentine, he unloaded at least a magazine and a half trying to shoot me, but I didn't get hit again a single time. After running for around 45 seconds I started decending down a hill and out of his sight, so I was safe.

You also have to know what direction they are shooting from so that you aren't running straight away from them.

Edited July 31, 2012 by Arroza

[Sutinen 635]

Hahaha, just about 10 minutes ago, I was at the construction site in middle of nowhere (A very exposed place), so I was just about to check the final loot spaces, when a bandit fires me with an AS50. I just went to prone before he shot. My screen went all orange from the suppression effect. Then I started running trough the small buildings and I used the small hole in the wall to crawl trough. Not long after, I heard some smaller rifle hit past me and about 5 more shots from the AS50. I went downhill, so I lost them and went to a big warehouse nearby. I guess not very many people make it trough all that.

I'm not actually sure if it's exactly AS50, but it was semi-automatic and the sound was loud + the insane suppression effect.

And I'm not sure why would they want to shoot me, since I only have a lee enfield, 6 mags for it and I even have the starting backpack.

Edited July 31, 2012 by Sutinen

[Timmymachine109 (DayZ) 235]

British soldiers are taught to zig zag when they are running and being shot at so I'd say it's probably quite a good idea. It means you are harder to shoot...this is proven by the zig zagging zeds! Pretty hard to headshot!

[ltdan 14]

If you don't zig zag your gana have a bad time

[WisdomSnork 42]

Sounds like you did the right thing to me :]

Denying him his kill was good enough.. Most people aren't worth killing for their loot, but +1 murder always feels nice ;]

[Momiji 46]

Zig-Zagging is an effective way to dodge sniper fire, sprinting if your taking a flight route instead of fight to make you faster is preferred to crouching (Slower target means your easier to hit and you take longer to get out of sight).

Best way i learned to dodge shots is to take up the role of what i'm trying to dodge.

Cities for one, I spent a few days sniping Cherno/Elektro, probably made a few enemies right there but i learned what targets were harder to hit, prone was slightly difficult to aim the shot but the slow movement gave me many more attempts, crouched was easiest because it combines slow movement and large target.

Sprinting was by far the most difficult, leading the target is fairly challenging, add in zig zagging and erratic movement and it becomes much more difficult to place a shot.

Also doing this, i learned the field of view snipers have from the prominent nests, where they could see (Most snipers don't move) making my knowledge of the surroundings all the better.

All paid off when i started being fired on by an M107 in Cherno on a fresh character, my count was 2 mags before he gave up on me.

[Izziee 128]

I actually don't know if it would be. In THIS game anyway. It's not so easy to just zig zag at full speed...infact, I think it's impossible. You slow down a bit doing turns, unless ofc you do it very gradual, then it defeats the point.

Also, it can be very predictable, and would make it easier to take the shot when their just about to turn. Had the same scenario, in the woods (but in the middle of no where) saw a guy a long way away, started firing and because he zig zagged, I caught up and killed him. He was a very long way away to start with and I think I ended up zeroing my AKM at 700m after a good chase. I didn't care about ammo, I had like 16 mags and they were taking up too much room, I needed an excuse to use them :P

[tarquinbb 28]

i think moving unpredictably is the key, but obviously there's only so much variation you can do while running to cover/away.

it's certainly something i wouldn't like to try in real life, but i'm an avid shooter in a huge range of video games and it's certainly easy to hit a moving target if they're moving consistantly enough to anticipate their path. almost as easy as hitting a stationary target.

there's always a chance you could get hit, but if you HAVE to move - go as quick and unpredictably as you can.

Edited July 31, 2012 by tarquinbb

[TheFired3mon 33]

Yeah, zig zagging probably helped. I've always heard it called "Running serpentine." Since you aren't moving in a straight line, it's much harder for you to be hit.