Skip To...
Much like Arsenal, Rivals has a notable learning curve due to its movement and combat. I’ve only ever experienced a handful of Roblox games that hold the former in such high regards; in fact, movement is so important to the game, you need to master a series of techniques. In addition to speed and movement, there are a couple tips and tricks you need to take advantage of to go from a newb to a pro in Rivals!
[Updated February 28th – Added new tips.]
In-Game Menu Settings To Adjust
Before we do anything in Rivals, there are a bunch of settings you need to adjust. These QoL changes will give you the best baseline to work off of. Along the bottom, select the Settings button, then change the following in…
General:
- Auto Sprint: ON
- Easy Slide: ON
- Disable Wraps In Duels: OFF
- Signals: ON
- Weapon Picker List Mode: ON
- Accessible Flashes: ON (if you have a disability)
- Camera FOV: Set between 90 and 110
- Camera Zoom Effects: Set to 0
Crosshair:
- Static: ON
- Bars Enabled: ON
- Bars Color: Set to a color that works best for you
- You may also adjust the length of the bars and thickness to your liking
- Outline Enabled: ON
- Again, set the thickness and color to your liking
Other than that, you can also adjust the hotkeys however you want. Rivals even lets you adjust the buttons on a controller. I highly recommend trying out a layout you like, especially if you have a controller with extra buttons at the back.
Learn the Tricks of Movement and Pre-Shooting
I’ve mentioned at the start that Rivals is all about movement; it’s the defining mechanic of the game. If you want to win, there are a series of techniques you need to learn and master. Everyone else will be using these moves, so you should, too.
Double and Triple Jumping
Starting with the easiest is double and triple jump. Now, double-jumping is simplest because all you need to do is wield your fists or a bow. When you do, you’re allowed to double jump. If you switch from the bow to the fists or vice-versa quickly, you can triple jump while you’re switching.
Tricks to Sliding
On to slide canceling, which can be incredibly helpful for stopping your momentum: after sliding, simply jump and your slide will be canceled. If you cancel your slide right after you start your slide, you’ll actually keep your forward momentum and “hop” forward. And if you do this at the top of a ramp, you’ll be launched quite high.
The Explosive Jump
The explosions from your own grenades, rockets, and grenade launcher do no damage to you, but you still feel the knockback effect. This means you can throw a grenade and jump onto it just before it explodes to launch yourself into the air and reach places that are unreachable from a single jump. The same goes with rockets!
Pre-Shooting
Pre-shooting is the art of shooting in direction you think your opponent is going to be before they appear. Now, this does take some level of experience and map awareness to get the hang off, but with enough practice, you could be getting extra damage on your opponent before they get the drop on you.
Spend Plenty of Time in the Shooting Range
It should go without saying, but practice makes perfect, and that includes Rivals. You don’t just immediately start running with the best of the best; it takes time to master the weapons and movement. That’s why the Shooting Range is so important, which you can access from lobby at the one end.
The Shooting Range is nothing more than a practice room. It features two dummies, a bunch of targets to shoot, and access to weapons. You can test out a new gun that was released or work on your movement techniques.
While the targets are great for practicing your aim, the two dummies are especially helpful. One is purple and the other is yellow. The purple one has as much health as another player, while the yellow one is invincible and tallies up the damage you do. Maybe you’re testing out the damage output of two weapons—that’s what the dummies are for!
Focus On 1v1 Before 5v5 Matches
Immediately jumping into group matches may sound incredibly tempting. After all, if you’re new to the game, having a team to watch your back sounds awesome. It’s not a bad idea, but here’s a better one: focusing on 1v1 will give you the best tools for 5v5 and, by extension, 2v2, 3v3, and 4v4.
The flipside of playing 5v5 right away is that your inexperience is a detriment to the team, especially if the rest of your team has played long enough to learn common techniques and strategies. They’re picking up your slack, so in a way, it’s more like 4v5 as opposed to 5v5.
I recommend playing strictly 1v1 matches. That way, if you make a mistake, you don’t have a team that suffers because of it. More importantly, it gives you the opportunity to flex the skills I hope you’ve been mastering at the Shooting Range, such as movement.
Canceling Reload Animations and Swapping Guns
Since Roblox Rivals lets you choose several guns in your loadout, you might be tempted to stick to your favorite one, especially in the heat of battle. Just duck behind cover and reload, right? Wrong! Rather than reload, swap to your sidearm. The animation is much faster and you may get an easy kill if someone else makes the mistake of reloading their gun.
However, there is a way to help speed up your reload animation, but it takes practice. When you reload, your ammo goes up before the animation ends. When you see your ammo go up, switch to another weapon and back again. It’ll shave off a second to your reload time!
