Body Movin'

Moving is really important. It gets you from place to place, enabling you to maneuver around and rush toward or run away from foes. You can simply walk around in any direction, but sprinting while moving forward is the fastest way to locomote. You can sprint as much as you want (none of that sprint for four seconds, huff and puff for four seconds, repeat nonsense here), and you can even swap weapons or reload while sprinting without breaking stride. Some characters even increase their movement speed from their Action Skill. For instance, Krieg sprints more quickly when his Action Skill is active. He also gets a speed boost by killing an enemy when using his “Light the Fuse” skill.

Sighting or firing a weapon, throwing a grenade, using an Action Skill, ducking, or veering sideways too sharply will end a sprint. You’ll still be moving forward if you’re still holding forward, but it will be at a walking pace instead of sprinting speed. That might seem like splitting hairs until you find yourself running full-tilt with no shield left from enemies that move just as quickly as you. At that time, you’ll be like, “I should have remembered that guide tip about being efficient with my sprinting!” But alas.

Pandora is a hostile, desolate planet whose conditions on just the fringe of livable have given rise to deadly flora and fauna. The monsters here can routinely outrun you and fire or hurl projectiles faster than you can flee. Avoid them by circle strafing while keeping your target sighted. Against enemies fleet of foot on the ground, the best option is often turning tail and sprinting full speed away—if there’s cover along the way, you can leap over it to buy yourself a little spacing even if they’re breathing down your neck. Disengaging like this will give your Action Skill a chance to cool down fully, and Action Skills are your ace in the hole for snatching victory from the jaws of defeat.

Against monsters with champion aim, like bullymongs hurling objects or crystalisks and threshers with their needle fire, circle strafing while still focusing fire on the enemy like in most first-person shooter games won’t suffice to avoid crippling damage much of the time. When they begin their ranged salvos, turn facing a right angle to either side of the foe, then run laterally around them. If there’s cover to place between you and the enemy along the way, do it; you can drop down behind waist-high cover into a relatively safe crouch, or you can be hidden entirely behind shipping crates, buildings, rock outcroppings, and other full structures. Cover gives your battered shield a chance to recharge, and allows you to find your bearings. (And eventually a recharged Action Skill!)

Crouching makes you a smaller target. An icon appears onscreen on your HUD to remind you that you’re crouching, in case you can’t feel your knees to tell anymore or something. This gives you more assurance when caught out in the open from afar, or when you’re behind incomplete cover at midrange. There are even a few attacks that are unleashed just over waist high, which are avoided entirely if you crouch. If you’re caught out in the open from all sides or at close range, crouching isn’t going to be a great help—it’s time to sprint out of trouble then. Press crouch while falling or jumping, and you’ll land in a crouch, though your position in midair won’t be altered before the landing. Press jump while crouching, and you’ll simply stand.

Skills That Enhance Movement Speed