Of course, if you want to increase the odds of winning you are going to need some kind of a plan. Each map requires a different approach or tactic, yet there are definitely some general strategy concepts that apply to all maps as well.

In this post I will give a basic introduction and discuss some important strategies for the 1v1 UT3 duel. Let’s start by going over the very basic rules.

The objective of the game

The goal in a duel match is to have more points than the enemy before the time limit is up.

• One kill = 1 point.
• Crater, blowing yourself up, melting yourself in goo, … = -1 point.

Picking up Health and Armor

Your entire duel strategy should revolve around picking up the Armors and vials before your opponent does. If you have more hit points than the enemy does, you will most likely to survive much longer. Can’t be more logic than that, can it?

There are several health and armor items around the map. By far the most important items are the Shield Belt, 50 chest, 30 Thighs, 20 Helmet, and vials. You should focus on collecting the 50 Chest, 30 Thigh Pads, or Vials before any other items in the beginning of the game.

Item re-spawn timings

Of course, if you are going to be fighting over the Shield Belt and Armors, you should know when they re-spawn.

• Armor: Re-spawns every 29.5 seconds.
• Shield Belt: Re-spawns every 59.5 seconds. (Basically one minute but it is always better to be there early.)

At first you might find it hard to keep track of even just one item. Yet with time and practice this becomes a natural thing. Estimating the spawn times is often more than enough if you can’t both play and remember times.

Timing the Belt: You pick up the belt around 5:21. All you need to do is just add one second and subtract one minute! So the time of the next belt will be 4:22. UT3 = Educational Game :D

You can get a lot of information by just listening to the enemy sounds. There are many different sounds you should be paying attention to:

• Movement: Dodging, jumping,
• Item pickups: (Vials, health bubbles, armors, weapons… they all make different sounds)
• Health status: When the enemy’s health is decreasing you can estimate the health left by listening to the moaning sounds. Use the right weapon to finish the enemy of (Minigun, Link Secondary,…).

These many different sounds give you information about the enemy’s location, where the enemy might be going to and what items he might have. Sounds also allow you to fire prediction shots with the rocket launcher, flak or link gun and kill the enemy before he even sees you.

For a beginner it’s not easy to detect all these sounds. The amount of information input can be quite overwhelming at first. With practice this becomes a lot easier though.

Adapt to the game flow

If an enemy has control over the map and is stacked with 150 health and 180 armor, don’t keep mindlessly rushing the enemy, giving away countless frag points.

When losing it might be a good thing to slow down, stay on the defensive part of the map and collect the weaker armors and health vials.

Keep hiding until you have enough armor. When you think you’re ready try to take back the map control. There are several things you could do:

• Use a hit and run strategy with the Sniper/Shock.
• Ambush the enemy.

Surprise the enemy!

If you’re losing and you want to try and take over map control, try surprising your opponent with an ambush.

Most of the time the enemy will be very busy running from one item to the other, often following the same route.

Try hiding behind a wall or door with a rocket launcher when you think the enemy might pass this way. Make a prediction shot and follow up with 2 or 3 more well placed rockets.

Positioning yourself to get an edge

Choosing the right route and positioning yourself optimally in the map is probably the most important part of playing a good duel

By choosing your route and position wisely you can gain several tactical advantages:

1. A tactical position could help you control entrances to important areas such as Shield Belt or 50 Chest, or Health Bubbles. (Vice versa, choosing the right path could mean getting cornered by the enemy or gaining access to an important area).
2. In a combat situation good positioning could mean the difference between life and death.
   • Example #1: Hide behind a wall when your Snipe, rocket launcher or shock is reloading (very effective).
   • Example #2: Battling from on an elevated platform makes killing the enemy a lot easier (the enemy has a harder time hitting you).
3. Having control over a certain area could give you quick access to many other different areas (for example when you have the control over Thigh Pads area on Deck, you can quickly go to Amp, Shield Belt and Health bubbles, Health Vials and 50 Chest).

Practice!

Last but not least. quoting the both loved and hated legend Fatal1ty: if you want to get better you have to practice, practice and practice!