So, I'm not so bad at the game, I've gotten a lot better lately and I've started to get more into the game (in the past I made a lot of negative posts against Dust, I still find the community a little toxic but that's the same on every forum everywhere.) Recently I've been using the Breach and Tactical AR's (they just feel nice to use I suppose, I've done a lot of damage with them and actually done well for once!) and I've also started actually doing well with the starter dropsuits.

What completely baffles me though is that I still manage to get into games where people have similar gear to me. This one guy just a few minutes ago, wielding what I think was either a Minmatar or Amarr Medium dropsuit, dunno which, along with an SB Rail Rifle. This guy is just melting everyone with that and a standard Submachine gun. I noticed a lot of players on my time were a mix of both standard to advanced gear, but this one guy went 22-0 or something, topping their team. Any clue on what the hell he was using? As much as it pains me to say his skill level was on pair of a damn aimbot, the guy barely missed, never died, etc. Still a total **** though. Either way, when I use the rail rifle it's just... worthless. I most often run out of ammo long before I can kill an enemy, and more often than not I can never, ever finish off an enemy especially at medium range.

What's even more frustrating was I was damaging the Heavy's more than I was this one guy. How the hell did this guy have so much health?

Some people just possess the fine motor skills and reaction time that makes the superior at FPS games.

Your best bet against people like this are to out-think them -- engage them in a situation which tilts the odds in your favor -- by bringing a suit that matches up well against them, or bringing friends with the intent to outnumber them....engaging them from two directions typically gets the job done.

Lastly, never underestimate the power of core skills (and weapon skills). What I mean by that is the starter suit of a player with the core skill tree (or any particular weapon) completely filled will be much more powerful than the starter suit of someone with 5m SP.

There could be a number of reasons:

1. Player skill: Dust rewards practice, it's a game of nuance
2. Team support: the player may have been supported by coordinated players
3. Passive skills: can increase everything from raw damage to weapon handling
4. Equipment: he may have been using damage mods or eWar
5. Practice: not just with the game, but with the specific fitting
6. Rout: the opposite of having a coordinated team, your team is simply not available to help
7. Target selection: an armor-strong weapon works best against Amarr and Gallente
8. A Logi: they can make a squad punch harder and faster
9. A Sniper: they can prepare a squad with info and weaken targets before engaging

Based on your description of the match, it's likely that they player was a high SP, long term player, with a squad of combatants, logis, and intelligence officers. They couldn't have gotten that many kills without restocks, which supports my theory.

Have patience, and you too will mount the summit of what you can do in Dust...

it sounds like the pot calling the kettle black

you have set a trend amongst the community. they are trying to mimic your success..

I noticed a lot of players on my time were a mix of both standard to advanced gear, but this one guy went 22-0 or something, topping their team. Any clue on what the hell he was using?

I've been play this game for two years. Don't tell me to have patience. It isn't getting better, practice really doesn't seem to exist (I can't practice something that isn't my fault i.e shocking frames per second.)

I'm all for some strategy and intelligence to an FPS but when people start applying it to something like Dust it just starts to bore me, when every player I meet sounds like they smoke pot and probably wouldn't have any intelligence outside the game. Snipers never do a thing but get the odd kill or hit, and being a general pain in the ass, and being one is too boring because you have to invest in a dropship if you hope to get the best vantage point. In any case I don't see practice playing a role in it at all, it seems you're either good at it or you aren't and I just can't be bothered to investing any more time into such a broken game.

If you can actually give solid evidence of Dust rewarding practice then show me. But to me I just think it's a total load of rubbish. I mean I can't even find the time in-game to practice any setups because tbh I haven't got a clue what I'm doing, so all of my setups are pretty average/standard. Plus when I'm trying to use one and it just goes wrong I end up hopping onto another setup with a different weapon, and I find myself constantly having to switch up what I'm doing to keep up with the battle.