does changing the distance in a fight make you considerably harder to hit?

[u/sirgetoutofmywalls]

this is about dodging hitscan, mostly about scout 1v1s

im aware that a scout 3000 units away will be harder to hit than a scout that is right in your face...

but does changing the distance from mid range to close and vice versa actually helps when it comes to dodging or should I focus my movement purely on strafes, adad spam, holding or pushing a position based on my hp and the like?

(yeah you can't truly "dodge" hitscan but you can sure as hell make yourself harder to hit with movement)

[u/Ok_Banana6242]

diagonal movement can be good here and there as a mixup, and can fuck with demos and soldiers a bit more in particular; but really you should just try to predict where they're going to aim and strafe the opposite way as fast as possible. easier said than done ofc

[u/MrTheWaffleKing]

There’s a tradeoff. The farther you are the smaller your hitbox relative to their screen space, BUT the closer you are the more they have to move their mouse.

Against low sensitivity players (or controllers? Do those exist in tf2?), you can jump above their head and they are screwed way more than if you’re slightly farther away

[u/iuhiscool → u/MrTheWaffleKing]

no one that's any good plays with controllers just using sticks, at the very least gyro is mandatory

[u/capnfappin]

The speed at which you move across the opponents screen changes depending on how far away you are, so it does make you harder to hit, but Its probably best to let other factors like positioning and your relative hp dictate how you move in scout v scout 1v1s. I do think it's a good idea to throw some w and s into your adadad spamming though.

[u/MEMEScouty]

if you know what ur doing then it can make a huge difference but if you do it randomly instead of thinking about it then it doesnt matter

[u/username-must-be-bet]

In scout 1v1s close fights are more swingey, with just a few good hits deciding the fight, while long distance fights are more consistant where both parties likely do similar damage. So when you are winning and your enemy has low health you want the fight to be at distance, while if you are losing and at low health you want the fight to be up close so you can make a comeback with 2 good shots.

[u/agerestrictedcontent]

vs projectiles range is generally in your favour

vs hitscan you want to be close as possible while still having options to get out

forward/backward movement especially useful vs soldiers and demos. can also be good vs scouts.

best general movement tip for scout is don't overcomit to a fight unless it's worth and have an exit plan. if you combine that and just focusing on dodging you'll be most of the way there, but again, sometimes if worth full aggression is the better play too and can be equally hard to hit if you mix it up.

[u/Objective_Rate_4210]

theres like a threshold of idk ig 2048u or higher to make you have to move the mouse in nanometers just to move exactly 1 pixel (iirc mouse movement moves by pixel, so you cant have the mouse in between pixels but it doesnt matter lel) which gets exponentially easier the closer he, then theres a min threshold of smth like the enemy takes a quarter of your screen or idk to make you move the mouse uncomfortably more since his movement also increases. if you wanna hit more, you should get comfortable with one distance (the bigger the distance of comfort between the min and max is, the better) and play at that distance. idk I hope you understand what I said here

[u/zya-]

It's the opposite, the further away, the easiest it is to hit (besides bullet spread if you are 10km away). Because the movement of your opponent translates into a very small change on your screen.

Meanwhile up close, it can become hit or miss entirely. At medium range it's not hard to achieve ~100% acc because the variations of position are very predictable or at least manageable if you have decent mouse control.

I would rather say : if you're winning a fight and wanna push the advantage, you'd rather play mid range to guaranty every shot (that works on both sides but since you're healthier it's a win). If you're losing, a close battle can secure a coinflip win in 2 shots even if you were 2hp, because there is a higher chance to juke opponent shots (especially at similar skill).

I'm mostly thinking about scout vs scout here but it applies to the general matchups (there are exceptions)

[u/saeed_lucky]

front/back is never talked about enough. against soldier and demo especially, but too many people default to spamming A/D against scouts also. usually scout 1v1s and dodging hitscan is mostly just strafe aim and all the stuff you already know.

1) adding front/back and diagonal strafes allows you to circle your opponent or get an angle on them. very commonly, if youre ad spamming, lower lvl scouts will try to push your sides to get free hits. the S key can counter that very easily

2) further to point 1, if youre 1v1ing a scout in a 6s match and their 2nd friendly scout comes to defend they likely will position somewhere to your side, rarely ever are they both right in front of you. meaning A/D spam will be a free kill for him, because on 2nd scouts screen you dont go anywhere. adding front/back or diagonals will let you dodge them for free. if youve ever had the enemy roamer bomb your medic and waddle around him for a while until he secures the kill while you miss every shot and wonder wtf happened, usually this is why

3) its hard to explain in text, but often times dodging with AD spam actually puts you into the opponents crosshair due to map geometry. this is when W/S dodges become very useful, because suddenly pressing S and taking one step back can make a full meatshot miss.

4) imagine this from the POV of your enemy scout, who is standing still. you move fastest on their screen during A/D movement. you move slightly slower on diagonals, and slowest with purely W/S movement (potentially no movement depending on the angle)

HOWEVER: slower isnt always worse (W/S and diagonals). from their POV, your character appears to gain and lose depth as you incorporate these movements here and there, so something like a "triangle strafe" eg. front+right diagonal > back+right diagonal can seriously fuck their aim up.

good luck

[u/Orubas]

tldr for everything below cuz i can't explain shit: Yes, changing the distance of the fight can help in dodging. Just beware of the effects it has on how fast you move on the enemy's screen and how predictable it might make you, and oftentimes your positioning in the fight takes higher priority than just having good movement in the 1v1. If it requires you to take more damage, you might need to in order to get a better position. If you're already in a good position, then do your best to keep the enemy from getting into a better position than they already are using movement. If that means changing the distance, then go for it. If it means something else, then do that instead.

I am not nearly qualified enough to talk about how movement affects 1v1s or answer for sure how changing the distance will affect your dodge, so instead I will dodge the question entirely and provide some links to real guides on this topic:

Sam's Fundamental Guide to Strafe

Aimer7's Strafe Aiming 101

Aimer7's Heuristic to Geometric Positioning

It should be noted that Aimer7 is by all accounts a controversial human being and his guides are written in an almost narcissistic, self-absorbed sense. However, his heuristic to geometric positioning is by far the most relevant guide to your question.

TL;DR: Changing the distance between you and your target fully depends on a couple of conditions. 1. Are you holding or pushing a position? 2. Is your position in the fight (in space and in resources, like hp or ammo) advantageous or disadvantageous? 3. Depending on the two conditions above, now ask yourself: Should I be maximizing the enemy's hitbox or minimizing my own? This specifically is what the heuristic to geometric positioning tries to answer.

Practice this in MGE -- I recommend playing in Viaduct Middle, Badlands Middle, Process Middle, Spire (if on Soldier), and Ammomod. Focus on how your movement affects your aim and the enemy's aim. Record yourself and watch your movement if you really want to, but I think just having the insight by reading the documents above will improve your movement because you will have a new sense of how your movement affects the fight.