Battlefield 3 Mouse Sensitivity – Best Mice, mousepads, high or low sens?

Ah mouse sensitivity, the bane of almost every gamer out there who is trying to improve.

Mice and pads are also chopped and changed with such regularity that it is hard to imagine the users even get used to them. Is this needed or is this almost compulsive changing a products of the mouse/pad industry.

What is the best sensitivity for bf3?

If you look on the web for Battlefield 3 or any other game you will find two sides to this argument. One side knows what they are talking about and the other side does not. Unsurprisingly the side that does not know what they are doing like new mice and tend to spout the rubbish mice manufactures say.

Selecting a reliable mouse is a large part of mouse sensitivity. Without a reliable sensor you cannot perform.

Lack of unremoveable negative or positive acceleration
Malfunction speed (important for low sensitivity)
Lift off Distance (Distance at which the mouse stops tracking when picked up)
Prediction or angel snapping (smooths out bumps)

Picking the best mice is for another time, however the most important thing is a reliable sensor so you can run a lowish sensitivity. Correct, low sens is the best for almost everyone. This applies to most FPS. Sensitivity numbers and DPI are not needed here. Basically use anything over 400DPI – Not sure you can buy a mouse with lower sensitivity than that anymore. Any gaming mouse will do it. Next up you want to set sens low enough, set it somewhere above 30cm.

Some mice with good sensors: Razer Deathadder, Zowie AM, Microsoft Wheelmouse optical/explorer V3/intellimouse, Razer Abyssus (tape the sensor to fix the lift off distance issue), Logitech 518. This is not the be all end all list but it is something to start on.

Why low mouse sensitivity for Battlefield 3 / FPS?

Gaming is about being consistent. Sure some players perform well with high sens but generally you should use medium, or even better, low. Low sensitivity provides more consistent performance and aim. Your reaction time and close in aim can suffer, but if your objective is to improve your game, reaction is not a huge issue. You should be situationally aware at all times and not reacting to split second changes too often.

Low sensitivity also smooths out problems such as nerves and cold hands. Having low sens is a benefit if you are planning to start playing competitively and suffer from jitters.

I started writing this about three weeks ago and after reading to here can’t remember where I was planning to go with it. At any rate, if you are not awesome (and even if you are), lowering your sensitivity is probably a good idea. After that stop screwing with it and build the muscle memory for good snapping.

On top of this you should pick a scope type and stick to it. The red dots and holo sights have different sensitivity multipliers (yeah you are retarded DICE) so using one and sticking with it would be best. It would be nice to try something along the lines of changing DPI to get a real zoom fov sensitivity multiplier but really at this point in the game with my interest waning I CBF.

Low sensitivity needs a low sensitivity mouse mat

Get something big. I like the Razer Goliathus Extended because it is gigantic. The Extended costs a little more than the other Razer mats but you get two for the price of one. Simply cut it in half when you receive it, twice as long until you need to replace it! Speed has more friction and control has less, go figure. Chopping one of these in half gives you a wide and slightly narrow mat compared to the largest Razer pads. This is a good budget solution.

Before buying or ordering a mousemat I strongly suggest googling for your mouse + mat. Some mice have issues tracking on specific pads.