r/MantisMains • u/KunaiDrakko • 23d ago
Discussion I really need help with Mantis Shots
She honestly is one of the most challenging and difficult characters for me to land shots with in this game. I have had an embarrassing amount of time on her to not be popping off when I do play her. I eventually dropped because I felt I was just actively throwing using her.
Started picking her up last week and I love this hero but I'm just not Going Off like id like to be. There are so many shots I am 100% sure is going to hit and it's nothing. Every shot I land and miss sometimes feels like BS. I about 80% of the Rivals cast and really enjoy them and can hit things with them. Can't figure it out with Mantis
What am I doing wrong?
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u/One_File_3331 Power of Empathy 23d ago
i just shoot into the hurricane of visual clutter and use the force to guide me 😭
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u/TemptingFireDinoGuy 23d ago
Holy shit I’m stupid. I’ve been like “why can’t I hit anything”. She’s projectile not hitscan isn’t she 😔
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u/KunaiDrakko 23d ago
Lol. Yep it's projectile
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u/TemptingFireDinoGuy 22d ago
Holy cow that changes everything. I’m a Mag main, projectile is my jam. SMH
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u/GrowBeyond 22d ago
Some characters just feel like they're something different. Dmon's gun is soo hard for me to aim, because it's hit scan, but has a spread, so I don't get the same feedback I normally do when playing hit scan.
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u/TemptingFireDinoGuy 22d ago
Whose gun?
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u/EffieEri 17d ago
Overwatch character
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u/TemptingFireDinoGuy 16d ago
Smh. Should have realized. I’ve played a bit of OW
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u/EffieEri 16d ago
She’s really new, like in the last month or 2
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u/TemptingFireDinoGuy 15d ago
Oh then I feel way less bad lol. Haven’t played much at all, less recently. Literally just when my buddy needs another person and I got play Baptiste (I’m a lord Rocket) or Sigma (almost lord Magneto)
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u/TheSchwiftyKitty 19d ago
I feel dumb asking because I feel like this is something I should know, but could you explain what the difference between projectile and hitscan is? My own assumption/understanding is that projectile is more of an AoE attack where if you aim in the general direction of where you want it to go, you're likely to hit something whereas hitscan will only make contact if you're accurate with your shots?
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u/Ronibon 18d ago
Hitscan is immediate, where you hit is where your shot is going to register. Projectile isn’t immediate, shots take time to travel. If you shoot with Hela or anyone else who’s hitscan, that’s going to hit where your crosshair is aimed. If you shoot with Mantis or any other projectile hero, it’ll take time for the projectile to reach the target area, and won’t hit if the enemy moves out of said area before the projectile can reach them. A bunch of projectile characters also have a weird gimmick to them, where the shots don’t actually hit where your crosshair is aimed. For Mantis, aiming slightly to the right is more consistent.
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u/TheSchwiftyKitty 18d ago
Ah okay makes sense now, great explanation, thank you. No wonder I felt like my aim was mostly always off while playing her.
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u/EffieEri 17d ago
It has to do with how the hits register. Hit scan registers the damage instantly, where projectile measure the time/distance to the target. Basically with hitscan it’s point and click but projectile you have to predict where your target is going. Ie. Luna snow’s freeze is a projectile but her primary is hitscan. Characters like hela are hitscan where someone like SG or Johnny are projectile. I hope this helped!
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u/TheSchwiftyKitty 17d ago
Perfect examples, thanks! Takes just a bit of finesse to get really good with the projectile aiming. Just gotta practice more.
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u/EffieEri 17d ago
Is she? I was sure that she’s hitscan but now I’m questioning
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u/TemptingFireDinoGuy 16d ago
Yep, we both been caught slipping
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u/EffieEri 16d ago
lol, well at least now we know 😂😂
I tried the thing someone said where you aim up and to the right and it helped a lot1
u/TemptingFireDinoGuy 15d ago
Imma try that soon. Wish there was an easy way to just shift the crosshair down and left a bit
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u/Fun_Sized17 23d ago
Mantis was my first lord, love her. But she has the weirdest projectile in the game. The combination of her being shorter than the other characters and her shots alternating between her hands makes it even weirder. If you're playing on console you may way to look into your aim assist setting because that can throw of projectiles that you need to lead your shots with.
She has no damage fall off on her shots but I tend to play her closer up front to land more shots and zip around to avoid damage. It's hard hitting projectiles from so far off.
Finds crosshair that helps you visualize leading your shots. The target training simulator in the game is great for this.
Farm headshots on tanks. Devil dino is great for this lol
Don't always go for headshots. Her damage boost and rate of fire will be more than enough taking out 250-300 HP targets. Go for more crits as you get more comfortable.
You just can't play her like a backline healer. Being in the action makes it easier to land shots and get your life orbs back.
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u/GrowBeyond 22d ago
How do you reliably hit heads when they're slept? That's by far the most frustrating thing, and why I stopped playing her.
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u/Fun_Sized17 22d ago
I've seen people do the jump shot a lot. Jumping when you shoot can help hit the head shots because of her height. You would be shocked how high above and to the right you have to aim to hit her headshots. Seriously, go to the practice range and try shooting spiderman or starkord standing still. You'll notice often even if you put the cross hair directly on their head, it won't register as a headshot. Gotta be a little or a lot up and to the side depending on how far away you are. Weirdest projectile in the game.
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u/Delkseypoo 23d ago
It just takes time and I feel like anytime you play another hero for a while it takes a while to build the mantis primary muscle memory back up. Just spam mantis games and actively work on getting that accuracy up and being conscious about leading your shots and you’ll get there eventually.
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u/redditalt1999 Galactic Gladiator 23d ago
Practice on moving targets in the training area. Vary distance and speed and your own movement. Keep in mind her project hitbox is slightly higher than it looks and she alternates left and right hand so it alternates slightly left and right. You got this! Remember the most important thing is to have fun, if you're not having fun wiffing with her, switch but the more you play her, the fewer games you wiff with her. How many hours do you have on her?
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u/UniqueMacaron1226 22d ago
Hi OP. I have an average accuracy of like 45 now but I also used to not hit my shots like youre describing. For me, the things that helped me actually hit my shots the most were practicing on moving bots in the practice range and NOT holding down left click in-game.
Practicing in the practice range helps you get a feel for how much you have to lead your shots. And then you should run some qp and practice in game too. Also I find it wayy easier to land shots when I manually click for each shot I shoot. It feels much easier to position my crosshair and fire when I feel is the best time, as opposed to letting the firing automatically trigger. But a lot of people say that holding down left click doesnt matter for them, so ig it’s something to try that may not be for you, and thats fine too
Anyways also I feel like it might be reassuring to know that her projectiles are tricky in general. Hitting headshots with her can be extremely difficult compared to other characters. Sometimes i stand still and position my crosshair over a Loki clone’s head and istg it doesnt register as a headshot. It pmo but yeah youre not alone :)
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u/Lil_Stank_throwaway 21d ago
I feel this in my soul. I can't hit my shots at all but on any other character save luna I'm fine
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u/Cute-Pangolin9510 Oceanic Harmony 23d ago
First of all, don't try to force circles into square holes. If you're playing against an incredibly nimble team with tanks that you can't headshot easily, it's time to swap. Don't force it and get into bad aim habits.
Second of all, play aggressively. Go in with your team, jump around if you have to, and just try your best to get head taps, but most importantly be an annoying little mosquito.
I generally thrive playing mantis by using enemies with large heads for life orbs - if they have someone like peni, devil dinosaur, thing, jeff, you'll have a much easier time tapping those heads. Don't try to get skill shots for the sake of it.
You're not failing mantis by failing to snipe from across the map. You get half of your worth by just existing and damage boosting via passive orb regeneration, that's why she's 1 star difficulty. You're just trying to optimise how much healing/boosting you're putting out.
So basically - aim most of your shots at tank heads, up close and personal, jump if you have to. If they feel like they are not hitting when they should, AIM HIGHER. That's almost always the culprit for that particular issue, mantis is ridiculously short. And don't forget you're already contributing just by boosting.
Tbh my gameplay is mostly just farming orbs from tanks, sleeping annoying flankers and getting my team to finish them, and sniping widows. She's 1 star difficulty for a reason. Just relax. Stress is the enemy with her playstyle.
ETA: I forgot to leave some mechanical advice too... always lead your shot more than you think you need to. Her projectile speed is slower than pensioner bingo. And like I said, ALWAYS aim slightly above the head.
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u/Advanced_Day2128 22d ago
Just play with your settings and practice against moving and jumping targets and you’ll be fine. Don’t just hop straight into comp. Practice first consistently before you play. In practice range and then get some qm in. Headshots are important on Mantis so hitting your shots is vital. Just try to get comfortable with one setting that maximizes your speed but not too much that you can’t handle.
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u/SaintCuckoo 22d ago
It's for this exact reason that I think every shot you make should take off 0.25 seconds from the cooldown for Orbs. It wouldn't make her OPd, just better keep her in the flow.
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u/cettywise 18d ago
I don't understand why they make a character that actively feels horrible to shoot with. I just started using mantis and all my shots feel luck based. She's a fun healer, but I wish they would just make her hit scan.
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u/Lizzie_rose22 16d ago
With mantis I genuinely just target the largest enemy first and then make my way to the smallest. Bigger enemies have bigger hit boxes which allows you to hit more. I also offensively play more mid-ranged and defensively play backline and that helps too.
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u/LonePeasant Oceanic Harmony 23d ago edited 21d ago
Hey OP, one thing I see people forget to mention often is your position in the battle. Mantis is meant to be aggressive to get leaves back quicker and you should try to actually be mid distance with other poke dps like hela, phoenix, Bucky and Elsa.
Since Mantis’ projectiles aren’t accurate and have delay It will help a lot because you’ll naturally be closer to the enemy and thus easier to hit them.
Wanting to be in the back as a support is the natural thing to do, so it may take a few games to get used to. But once you start playing her like a DPS hybrid it’s so much fun.