MicroVolts Weapon Swapping Guide

MicroVolts Weapon Swapping Guide by Bacon

Alright, the first thing I’d like to say is that Weapon Swapping is not cheating and is not a bannable offense. Though I’m unsure of whether or not Weapon Swapping originated as a glitch or was purposely added to the game, I’m positive it will never be taken out of the game. However using macros, hacks, or other third party programs to assist with a more rapid fire rate with weapons is bannable. (Not sure on macros… but there’s no need for them)

Contents of this Post
– What Is It?
– Why Learn It?
– Basic Information
– Weapon Swapping
– Tips
– Different Methods
– Keyboard Layout
– Terminology & Wrap-Up

=================What Is It?==============
Weapon Swapping is a technique drafted from the Taiwanese and Thai version of MicroVolts – known as H.A.V.E. Online – that allows a player to shoot particular weapons faster than its standard fire rate.

=================Why Learn It?==============
Weapon Swapping will be in this game forever and anyone who intends to play both competitively and casually will benefit from learning this technique. Although it’s typically best used for close to mid-range combat, there will always be a time and place where it should be used on any map no matter what kind of strategy you play.

=================Basic Information==============
Now the first thing you need to know about this ‘technique’ is that it only works with the Shotgun, Bazooka, and Grenade Launcher. Both the Bazooka and Grenade Launcher’s ammo is a projectile that runs from the hosts connection. If the host lags to the server then your rockets and grenades might take considerably longer to fire than usual. On the flip-side, if you’re the rooms host then the rockets and grenades will launch perfectly smooth.

Sum-up:
Only works with Shotgun, Bazooka, and Grenade Launcher. Lag affects Bazooka and Grenade Launcher’s ammo.

===================Weapon Swapping==============
Weapon Swapping in a nutshell is switching back and forth between 2 (sometimes more) weapons while keeping one or both (explained later) weapons equipped just barely long enough to fire before switching again.

Now there are two kinds of weapons in weapon swapping:

Active Weapon – Weapon that will be fired while weapon swapping.
Passive Weapon – Weapon that will not be fired during weapon swapping.

A quick example is this :
Fire Active -> Switch to Passive -> Switch to and Fire Active

Note: The sequence can continue until your Active Weapon’s clip is out of ammo.

Once you’ve taught yourself to instinctively switch, it’s time to make it quicker. Weapon equip speeds vary so you have to be careful not to switch too fast. If you look closely while you pull your weapon out you will notice that your player pulls it up from their waist until it’s aiming straight forward. Your weapon will fire the moment it’s aiming straight forward, so try to learn the timing and predict when your weapon will shoot so you can get a headstart on the next shot.

Now players can use a Passive and a Active, two Actives, or sometimes a Passive and two Actives. We’ll address this in the Methods section.

=================Tips==============
– Buy hands for your character from the shop, they increase weapon equip speed by 10%.
Hands no longer increase weapon equip speed.

– Keep your fire button held down the entire time while weapon swapping.

– Practice by holding your fire button down and only firing a single shot from your rifle.

– Don’t use “Q”, the auto-swap feature. Hitting a single button twice is no where near as fast as hitting two buttons at nearly the same time. Auto-swap also can lead to problems if you forget which weapon you pulled out last.

– Rebind all your weapons to a format that comforts your hand reach. Reminder that both Q and R are useless and can be binded over.

– Use different fingers for your Active and Passive weapons. If you use the same finger on both, you’re better off using the Auto-swap.

– Use the Bazooka weapon swapping as an alternative to the Mini-Gun when using some jump pads.

– Use the Bazooka to knock enemies around so they’re unable to control their character. A fast 3 rockets can easily save your life.

– When using a combination of Rockets and Shotgun weapon swapping, try to use the Bazooka first to knock your enemy into the air so that you can hit them easier with the Shotgun.

– When approaching a dangerous corner use the Grenade Launcher, the first of three rapid fire grenades should be able to stop or slow your opponents mobility from avoiding the next two. Almost always results in a kill.

– If you want to shoot weapons faster, use the versions with higher clip ammo (faster fire rate). They may do less damage, but they also swap much faster than their more powerful counterparts.

=================Different Methods==============
Earlier I mentioned there is more than one way to apply the weapon swap technique and there are different combinations of Active and Passive weapons that can be used. Here are the basic styles with really bad names that I’ve just come up with:

Wave Step – One Active with Melee as the Passive. Double jumping with the Melee while performing the weapon swap.
Fire Active -> Switch to Passive + Jump -> Switch to and Fire Active -> Switch to Passive + Jump -> Switch to and Fire Active
Pros/Cons
+ Lots of Movement/Harder to Hit
+ Can Empty a Weapons Clip Fastest When Needed
+ Less Damage from Close Range Rockets
– Slower Damage Compared to Tank Swap
– Bad for Ledges
– Easier to Approach

Tank Swap – Two Actives. Specifically the Shotgun and Bazooka. Using and firing both weapons, typically starting with Shotgun as it has more ammo per clip.
Fire Active#1 -> Switch and Fire Active#2 -> Switch and Fire Active #1
Pros/Cons
+ A lot of Damage
+ Hard to Approach
+ Weapons Ammo Lasts Longer
+ Slower Swapping/Easier to Handle
– Not a lot of Movement
– Can Deal Plenty of Damage to Oneself with Rockets
– Needs Constant Aim Adjustments

Conditional Swap – A variety of Actives and Passives depending on the circumstance. Easily the best, but also the hardest to control and master.
No Set Combination
Pros/Cons
+ Best Circumstantial Damage
+ Hardest to Approach
+ Saves Ammo
– Hardest to Master

=================Keyboard Layout==============
This is my current keyboard layout which seems to have been adopted as the standard layout with most players using this as their reference when building their own personal layout. The reason to change your layout is to minimize how far your fingers must reach for each weapon. The shorter the distance, the quicker you can pull it out and the less room for error.

Melee – Left Shift
Rifle – 3
Shotgun – E
Sniper – Q
MiniGun – 2
Bazooka – R
Grenade Launcher – F
Use Item – 4

Your left hands fingertips should rest on the following:

Thumb – Spacebar
Index – D
Middle – W
Ring – A
Little – Left Shift

Your index finger should be able to cover E, R, F, 3, and 4.

=================Terminology & Wrap-Up==============
Active Weapon – Weapon that will be fired while weapon swapping.
Passive Weapon – Weapon that will not be fired during weapon swapping.
Auto-swap – With default keyboard settings applied, the “Q” button.
Jump Pad – Any object that launches the player toward a certain location.
Keybindings – The buttons on your keyboard to which weapons or other actions are assigned.

Well I hope that this is a helpful guide to users just starting to learn Weapon Swapping or maybe gave more insight to users who already use this technique. If anyone would like me to post my keybinding layout for examination for further insight or if anyone has a question about Weapon Swapping that you would like answered, please reply!
If anyone can help clean up my terrible grammar or explanations, please reply with your advice or findings.

Thanks!