Paintball Tips & Strategies 2023 - How to be Good at Paintball (2023)

There are always some spaces to improvise any game, no matter if it’s paintball or what. You will find thousands of unique ways to get better at the game. Paintball is a game that involves lots of strategies and tricks to compete with the opponent. Whether you are beginner or a maestro at paintball, every new paintball game reveals some new technique to win the battle.

Players often look for paintball tips and tricks that can help them win the game. Here we have compiled some basic paintball strategies along with paintball tactics to improve your game. These tips and tricks are sourced by renowned paintballers and some experts and marshals. So if you are curious to know about how to get better at paintball, stick to this article.

Paintball Tactics – Step by Step Guide

Paintball Tactics – Before Game

Essentials for your game and equipment

Before jumping into the field, make sure to keep the following necessities with you, which you might need during the game;

Know your marker

You know, paintball depends entirely on a paintball gun. So you should have complete information about the mechanics of your marker, so that if your marker gets out of order right on the ground, you may quickly fix it.

The majority of the paintball markers are gravity-fed, which means paintballs roll into the barrel under the action of gravity. Keep in mind that In such types of markers if a barrel is above the hopper, the paintball marker won’t work.

It can even happen if you position your marker upside down or even sideways. Therefore, keep the better position of the marker intact. Instead of rapid firing in style like Tom Cruise, it’s better to keep the position of the hopper and barrel maintained.

Ready your marker before the game:

Clean the barrel of your paintball gun as the dirty barrel makes your accuracy poor.Properly and generously lube the o-rings of your gun. Do check the hopper, it should be dry and clean. If any of the pellets are cracked inside the hopper this will cover all the pellets with paint, which causes paintball gun blockage.

Related: Do Paintballs expire?

Pop up your tank

Firing paintballs without air in the tank is impossible. You can’t fire at any cost. Before game starts, fill the air tank. During the game, keep an eye on the pressure guage to see the amount of air in the tank. Pressure gauges are located near the grip of the gun. It’s a circular gauge with numbers ranging from 0 to 5. Each number represents a certain pressure in psi. For instance, if the needle is towards 1, it means the pressure is 1000 psi, which means the tank needs to be filled up. Always fill the tank up to 3000 psi.

Know your game

There are many variations of paintball games which include elimination, capture the flag, and many others. Before heading towards the paintball field, understand the main objective of your game. If it’s an elimination-style game where you have to hit the enemy team to eliminate them, design your strategy accordingly.

Therefore, before the start of the game, have a clear and definite understanding of your paintball variation. Without having the proper understanding of the game, your chances of success are less.

Communication is the key

They say communication is the key to success, and that’s 110% right. If you want to win the first paintball game, try to have decent communication between you and your teammates. If teams communicate properly, it will be easier to attack and move around the field. Therefore, before starting a paintball match, try to arrange a short meeting regarding your strategy and your team movement.

Paintball Tactics – During Game

Move with aim

Experts say to keep moving so that you can hit the opposing players as soon as you get a chance. But we have modified it by saying, keep moving but with AIM. Yes, wandering here and there with no aim simply exposes you to the opponent, and you may get eliminated easily. So it’s better to choose a certain move and move on it. However, you must know when to hide behind a tree or bunker and when to expose yourself.

Related: Are Paintballs Toxic to Humans?

Always be ready to fire

Your posture and the way you move look like you are ready to fire. Don’t bob your head up and down, especially on the rough terrain. Instead, keep your head at the same level, don’t look down. Your body will adjust the balance itself. Keep your marker pointed up and hold the trigger and foregrip firm and tightly. This is how you are in the position to fire. Move just like this.

Observe the playing paintball zone

Before starting the match, carefully observe the playing game zone. Make a mental map and design your strategy likewise. During the game, when you move to a new position, don’t react immediately. Wait for a few seconds, take a deep breath, and observe the playing paintball area. Re-design your next step.

Use pyrotechnics

Certain pyrotechnics such as flashbangs and smoke grenades, are very deceptive to competitors. They are like sudden surprises to your enemies. By using pyrotechnics, you can indirectly attack enemy team. Paint grenades are the most favorite pyrotechnics among paintballers as you can attack multiple opponents at a single time.

Keep an eye on Marshall

During paintballing, keep noticing Marshall especially if he is standing close by. Marshals are responsible for refereeing the game and taking care of safety measurements. They move with the players, especially during firefights, to make honest decisions. If your Marshal is standing near to you, observe what he is looking? Maybe someone is ready to attack you.

Expose a little of your body

When you are peeping out of the bunkers, make sure to expose as little part of your body as you can. You can just pop out using your half face only.

Shoot with the velocity of 300FPS

Paintball velocity varies with the type of game and the ground. But frankly speaking, the majority of the variations of paintball offer the opportunity to play with a velocity of 300FPS. Just ask your referee or marshal about the permissible velocity limit. The moderate velocity of 300 FPS is the one that gives an immense difference in the performence of the gun.

At this velocity, you can hit the target accurately, and the paintball hits very forcefully. No matter what happens, adjust your velocity to 300fps with the help of the Allen key. But yes, if you get to know on the field that your paintballs are too brittle, only then it is acceptable to shoot at a lower speed than 300FPS.

Double-check the paint stain

If you are playing elimination-style paintball, where players get eliminated after they get hit by a paintball and get a paint stain.Then you must double-check yourself for paint stains before declaring that you are eliminated. Sometimes, paintballs just hit and bounce off. Yes, it happens, and interestingly, you are not out if the paintball bounces off.

For that reason, it’s a great idea to double-check your clothes to find the paint stain. Do not remove yourself from the game until or unless you find the paint stain. Remember, you cannot re-join the game regardless of whether you have not been shot.

Move in Pair

Single and alone can be easily hit without any fear of elimination, but if two or more players move together, it will give a slight fear to enemy team. Like, if a player is pinned down by the enemies, the other teammates can quickly fire from another angle to hit the enemy.

Paintball Tactics – After Game

Hydrate Yourself

As soon as the game ends, drink plenty of water and make sure to maintain your water intake for the remaining day. Paintballing involves, running, crawling, and creeping, which makes you sweat a lot. Therefore, to avoid being lethargic for the entire day, it’s best to consume at least 8–12 glasses of water.

Clean your equipment

Right after the game is over, take wet wipes or microfiber cloth and quickly clean your gun, hopper, and other equipment. We are not saying to clean them deeply, just a superficial cleaning would be enough. This way, if you are planning for another round of the game, your equipment will perform well.

Change the game plan

So luckily, if you have won the first match, communicate with your teammates and change the plan for the second game. Opponents have noticed and seen your performance, so they must be well aware of your moves. So the best trick to win the next game is to change the game plan.

In case, you lose the first match, don’t get disappointed. Call your teammates; communicate with the eliminated teammate if they can survive in the other match. Design the other strategy keeping in mind all the flaws that your team made in the last match.

Tips for Paintballing

Take some practice shots

With the permission of the marshal, try to have a few shots before the start of the game. It will give you a clear picture of the performance of your marker and you can get Paintball gun fixed right on the spot.

Keep the hopper lid closed

A lot of newbies face this embarrassing situation; they forgot to tighten the hopper lid. This results in the spilling of paintballs. Spill paintballs are a headache to use, as they get dirty and might jam the barrel. Therefore, it’s better to waste it.

Dedicate some hand signals

Instead of yelling out your strategy to your teammates, it’s better to assign some hand signals for particular moves in the meeting before jumping onto the field. This way, your moves, and tricks won’t reveal to your opponent.

Keep an eye on the hopper

Due to crawling and leaping on the ground, some paintball pellets may crack inside the hopper. During the game, do check the inside of your hopper. If you notice any crack pellets, quickly take off the hopper from your gun and head towards the neutral game zone. Wipe the inside of the hopper with some tissue paper, discard the pellets, and fill the hopper with new pellets.

Use paintball pods

Transferring paintballs into a hopper is a bit tricky task. You will need someone to hold the gun in the upright direction so that you can pour the pellets from the pouch into the hopper. It is time-consuming, especially when the battle is heated. So the best way is to use paintball pods, before the start of the match, keep multiple paintball pods filled with you. Pouring pellets from pods into the hopper is a really simple and single-handed task. It can be done alone without wasting any time.

Discard the fallen paintball pellets

Dropped paintball pellets look tempting to use. They are free pellets, but they sometimes cost you so much. Since the pellets have an outer gelatin coating that instantly absorbs moisture as soon as it comes in contact with any moist surface. This may lead to soft pellets that just bounce off. Some pellets start swelling and become big in size. Such a type of pellet won’t fall into the barrel from the hopper and may cause the jamming of your gun.

Even if you have dropped some pellets during hopper loading, never use them. They are fine to be discarded.

Change your position while hiding behind the bunker

Peep out from the right side of the bunker when you see your opponents have noticed you. Now wait for a few seconds and pop out from the left and take a shot. This is a misleading trick. Opponents must be thinking that you will again pop out from the right. Therefore, just by simply changing the position, you can give your foes a hard time.

Related Post – Paintball bunkering

Follow leapfrogging strategy

It’s an advanced trick to succeed or win in the paintball game. It is often used by military people. It consists of two players. Let’s consider them player 1 and player 2. Players move forward in the field while covering the other members of the team. Let’s say player 1 wants to move forward, so player 2, who is behind player 1, shoots toward opponents so that player 1 can safely reach its base camp.

Leapfrogging is very effective. Remember, Leapfrogging requires effective communication among team members. A single flaw in communication can fail the strategy.

Follow DMW strategy

DMW or Dead Man Walk is an old but effective strategy where an active and Pro paintball player pretends to move to the dead zone with his gun down as if he is out of the game. Therefore players considered him dead or eliminated but in actual he is not. But once the dead paintball player reaches near the enemy, he suddenly takes into cover and opens the fire.

Some people consider it a cheating tactic, but it is a fair trick if you:

• Haven’t raised your gun or hand or made any gesture of being eliminated.
• Haven’t declared that you are hit.
• Remain within the boundary of the paintball field.

Don’t panic when you are short of pellets

Remember, your gun still makes a noise and nobody will notice that you are not firing any pellets. So if in the middle of the game you are out of pellets, stay calm and don’t let anyone notice it. You can still manage to grab the enemy’s flag. Just communicate it to your closest team member so that he may cover you.

Wear camouflaged clothes

This is the most useful tip while playing paintball woodsball. Try to wear clothes that camouflage the atmosphere of the paintball field. This way, you can advance in the field without being noticed by the opponents. You remain invisible as long as you are not moving. So move cautiously towards the base of the enemy team.

Carefully aim

Shooting recklessly without any aim is just a waste of paintball ammos. Though it’s fun, it won’t help you in the game. You will run out of pellets very soon. Paintball is a strategy-based game. So, carefully aim your target and shoot carefully. Initially, you will miss your target, but a time will come when you will become a pro and can hit the target accurately. This way, you will have a high chance of winning the battle.

Shoot at a distance of more than 3 meters

Don’t think yourself lucky if your enemy comes closer to you, like less than 3 meters. Remember, they are your enemies in the game only. It might hurt the player and eventually put him in a revengeful situation. So if the opponents are too close, immediately notify your Marshall so that he will be out of the game for disobeying the rules. You don’t need to shoot them from such a close distance.

Use middle finger for firing

The middle finger is comparatively stronger than the index finger. So if you are using an electro pneumatic paintball gun that fires rapidly, try using the middle finger for a fatigue-free and faster firing rate.

Use a smoke grenade

Different pyrotechnics are used in paintball. But the smoke grenade are the most effective of all. So if you are stuck in a tight place with enemies around, use smoke grenades. But first, check the direction of the wind, then ignite it and throw the grenade in the direction where you want to smoke. After a few seconds, dense smoke will start forming which will hinder the vision of the opponent and you can easily escape. Smoke grenades and other pyrotechnics are allowed to be used by players aged 18 and over.

Conclusion

Paintball is a true example of a thrilling game. It’s a game for which you have paid to play. So, besides following the above-mentioned paintball tips and tactics, do not forget to have fun on the field. Stay positive, help others, especially the ones who have invited you, and have lots and lots of fun. If you don’t win the game, don’t worry. It’s just a game. Instead of being sad try to enjoy the moment to the fullest. Don’t forget to follow the paintball game safety rules.