Are you looking for Gears of War 3 Multiplayer Tips for Xbox Live online gaming? Here are some Gears of War 3 tips aimed at helping you live longer and in team matches to be more useful to your team. This post is not GOW3 tips for newbie players, or advanced Gears 3 tips – its somewhere in the intermediate skill range after you’ve mastered the basics of n00b GOW3 tips , and are comfortable with your Xbox controller, etc.

  • ITS A GAME, HAVE FUN.
    Have fun and relax! If you are relaxed, generally speaking you’ll perform better. If you are frustrated and making Gears your life, then you are more likely to get yourself killed.
  • ONE PLAYER MATTERS.
    Even you are not that great, you can still tip the balance in a firefight. Just get in there and be annoying if that’s your level of experience. Shoot at the same stuff your teammates are shooting at.
  • PROTECT THE SNIPER (OR BOOMER ETC)
    Got a player on your team with a power weapon? Protect him. Hang around and spot and shoot opponents attracted to the fire of the major weapon your teammate is using.
  • TEAM PLAYER – THE MOB BEATS ONE MAN.
    Be a team player – you’ll live longer. Being with other players increases your survivability and effectiveness.
  • THE MAGICAL LB (Left Bumper)
    Use LB (left bumper) to find teammates, see through smoke, and see “wall-tagged” (or “floor-tagged”) friendly grenades. When you look at a grenade that’s been tagged to a wall or floor and press LB it will be white if its friendly. If not – shoot it from a safe distance.
  • USE YOUR HEAD.
    Headshots can be accomplished with many of GOW 3′s weapons (including the boomer and digger). I’ve also seen grenade tags end up on the opponent’s head. At any rate a headshot insures its over – for the other guy, that is. Headshots are harder than spraying bullets all over your target’s general personage and more effective.

    Also, don’t forget that multiplayer headshots are generally harder to pull of than against bots. The bots sit still longer in one place, whereas most human players will be moving around.

  • MOVE, DIVE & ROLL.
    This evasive move makes it harder to kill you – up to a point. Its not magic armor. Some players when using slow loading powerful weapons have a habit of doing a shoot, dive and roll. Take for example the sawed-off shotgun, digger and boomer. I’ve seen some really impressive players (the guys & gals that move with tactical proficiency and have good Kill/Death (K/D) ratios, don’t talk smack or whine) that seem to do this. There are 2 things to consider here. The first is that if you are doing dive rolls you are harder to hit (although some players get really good at shooting diving opponents, they are still harder to hit), the second is that when you fire a boomshot, digger, or sawed off (and some others) you immediately can get a lot of attention drawn to yourself – and if that means you’ve got 4 enemies’ attention suddenly it can be good to not be where you were a second ago.Don’t forget to move, in addition to the dive & roll.
  • MOVE. MOVE. MOVE. (REVISITED)
    In GOW3 newbie tips I covered the basics of being on the move. Revisiting that subject I’d add to move tactically as well as simply avoiding sitting still. If you are parked (camping) a spot for any period of time make sure a teammate has your back or you’ve grenade-tagged  an area behind you in case someone sneaks up behind you. And if you are counting on a teammate for backup make sure he doesn’t wander off into battle without you noticing you are alone.

    Back to moving tactically, know your map and what spots are good ways to come from the flanks and rear. Its also good to know the spots where you are out in the open – open to being spotted by a sniper or a mob of enemies.

    Also, travel with a buddy. Especially one who also knows the map and what places to avoid and what places to travel. If you look at the leaderboard you can see who is doing well on your team and follow that person – especially if he is travelling with another teammate. The best matches I’ve been in (from the winning or losing side) have involved 3-5 people on the same team sticking together. Two is good, but more is better.

  • THE MANTLE KICK.
    A mantle kick can stun or kill your opponent. If placed right you can knock down (or kill?) 2 opponents at once. You might be asking, “How do I do a mantle kick in Gear of War?” Here are the HOWTOs of mantle kicking.

    The mantle kick seems to be a bit controversial now, with some saying the Gears 3 mantle kick doesn’t work properly or reliably. But you can also get an instant kill – so I say its worth a look and some practice. Admittedly, I’ve noticed mantling provide temporary protection while the mantling animation is playing when you are moving toward an opponent and they shoot you as you are mantling, you may take no damage or less damage – but once you hit the ground its on! I’ve also seen players mantling AWAY from me and a well placed Gnasher shot from a teammate sent them flying off like a rocket, but in many pieces.

    The best setup is you have an enemy behind cover and a safe way to approach him from the front or one of his flanks (maybe he’s reloading or looking elsewhere). Approach his cover from the opposite side and jump into cover by pressing A on the opposite side. The next IMMEDIATE step is to jump over the cover (mantle) by pressing LT (left thumbstick) forward and pressing A. You should them jump over the cover kicking your enemy in the process. What happens next varies – you might be rewarded with an instant kill, but often the opposing player is momentarily stunned. Most of this time you are unable to attack also, but a split second before the other guy recovers you can attack. In this case it might be a good example to fire off your shot and immediately do a dive roll in case you miss you are not standing there.

    Another thing that can happen is if you mantle kick VS 2 opponents that are in cover, and if they are close enough to one another and you place your mantle kick right, you may stun BOTH of them. I personally was the recipient of a mantle kick to the face along with a teammate. The opposing player mantle kicked both of us, Gnasher in hand, and next thing I knew we were both dead.

  • WEAPON CHOICE.
    Match your weapon to your situation. If you are in close quarters the best ‘default’ weapons (for most) are the Sawed-off shotgun, Gnasher Shotgun and the Retro Lancer.
  • USE COVER.
    Gears of War is all about cover – so don’t forget it! You need to know what cover is safe from what types of attacks, and for how long. If you cover behind some boxes, don’t expect to stay there forever while your enemies are shooting at the boxes. Are you behind a couch? Those aren’t indestructable. Even the concrete breaks away making your cover smaller and smaller to a point.

    If you are avoiding a guy with a boomer and you step behind a concrete column, make sure you are on level ground with him, and even then you are not completely safe. On the other hand, if the guy with the boomer is on the stairs on Blood Drive and you are in between in the lower area, if you take cover behind a concrete column its kind of easy to land a shot behind you and still take you out. If you are in cover VS a sniper you have even less safety because if it sticks out a good sniper can shoot it, even if its only your arm.

    Another thing to keep in mind is cover VS concealment. If you are hidden by bushes (or as mentioned above by boxes) you are concealed. In GOW3 bullets will destroy the boxes and leave you with no cover, and standing behind a wall with bushes at the top while standing up does no offer cover to your exposed upper half. In Gears of War, as well as life, your enemies can shoot right through those bushes.

  • DON’T FORGET MELEE ATTACKS.
    Especially if your sawed off shot missed and you are close quarters with an opponent while it reloading, don’t forget melee attacks. I’d generally say when reloading a sawed-off in most occasions its better to get away from that one-on-one battle, but if you got a solid enough hit on the other guy, a melee hit may be the end of him.

    Don’t forget some weapons give better damage during a melee attack. The boomer does more damage than a gnasher shotgun, and seems to have more reach as well (not 100% sure about the extra reach though).

  • RUN TO FIGHT ANOTHER DAY.
    Sometimes the answer is running to the safety of cover and distance. If your red omen is filling up it might be time to disengage and wait for it to go away.
  • MASTER THE GNASHER.
    The Gnasher will win out over the Sawed-off unless you let your enemy in too close. It has superior range and can deliver a one-shot kill when close enough. Check out this (graphic video warning) Gears Of War 3 Gnasher Shotgun Tips Tricks Tutorial Video
  • WALL BOUNCING.
    Get to know what it is, when to use it and practice. Basically you press A when near a wall and you stick to the wall as you’ve just entered cover, then follow up immediately but moving in another direction. I see this used a lot and it can be over-used in small spaces defensively (bounce-bounce-bounce-bounce) or used to move or as a counter to “stuck to a wall syndrome: where you seem to be stuck to a wall or other cover at a time when you’d rather be running.
  • USE GRENADES EFFECTIVELY.
    Whether for offense or defense you should understand, and respect, grenades. A simple smoke grenade and drop you to your knees. Can you say, “Revive me!” Generally speaking, the smoke grenade stuns and obscures. Generally speaking, the ink grenade damages or kills and obscures. Generally speaking, the frag grenade damages or kills. When you add tagging – whether a wall or an opponent – its a game-changer. Grenade tagging an enemy: With a grenade in hand simply melee attack an enemy. If its a smoke grenade you’ll down them and they’ll need reviving. The ink and frag grenades kill when tagged on an enemy, and you may splash damage (or kill) to other nearby enemies. Wall tagging a grenade: Instead of melee attacking an enemy, get close to a wall or piece of cover and hit B. The grenade will stick if you are close enough, and will detonate whenever an opponent comes near. Just remember to stay back, because if an opponent runs by and you are close to your own tagged grenade, it can explode and kill you or your teammates! Floor tagging a grenade: This can be tricky, but just look down with your grenade in hand directly at the floor and try to tag the floor.
  • ROADIE RUN.
    You should master the roadie run, including unsticking from cover (oops, why am I stuck here?), running around obstacles and the roadie roll (rolling while running).
  • BE EVASIVE.
    This isn’t a good thing for the office, but being evasive on the battlefield can save your hide. Learn to evade immediate damage if you are losing a firefight, or evade a group of enemies when you’re along if you’ve spotted them in time to get out of there.
  • MORE LATER. (Last updated 12/12/2011)

TIPS FROM THE PROs

Gears 3 Controller Sensitivity Settings (by Arctyc on majorleaguegaming.com – no affiliation w/ this blog, just a GREAT link!)