u/skoolkidznerd

I feel like I have been seeing a lot more posts about storm, reworks, and advice on how to play her etc. I personally am a storm main because out of all the characters, this playstyle feels the most engaging / rewarding. She doesn't have a ton of abilities but because of her ability to fly and either speed boost/slow or damage boost your team, it feels like she has an infinite amount of decisions to make which I really enjoy.

I've been playing storm since season 1 (missed season 0 as I was still playing Destiny 2 trials until queue times became unbearable). And main her every season. This season is the least I've played rivals as it feels like there's a lot of toxicity and lack of teamwork in a game that requires it. Destiny 2 is having its last update so I've been playing a lot of that and enjoying it but it reminded me that I paly storm the way I play trials. Very cover oriented and peak shooting until we get a pick and always striving to not be the first pick in a fight. I'm curious how others have played her and how long they have been playing her. I believe across 4 accounts I probably have over 1000 hours just on storm but I'm always looking for tips to improve as well! Been hardstuck for a bit. Feel free to throw some in that have helped in comp and I'm also happy to provide any if people have questions!

For everyone saying the speed boost is useless, this is a prime example of why you'd use tornado mode over thunder. You can be considerably more independent in Tornado and if you notice it's considerably easier to die in thunder mode than it is in wind mode.

Just like you I used to use Tornado to get to point then swap to Thunder and when the enemy team was too much I'd swap to Tornado to kite the fight. Instead I now swap between the constantly. I fight long poke fights in Tornado often and off angle in Tornado.

She's harder to hit and you should always be swapping in between Thunder and Tornado within the 8 seconds Goddess Boost is active as the ttk doesn't get faster for being in Thunder mode except with your first kill within 15 meters. If you hit Goddess Boost, Bolt Rush, and Wind Blade on one target, you can one shot but once you do that, if no one else is low, you should probably swap back to wind to get overshield and be harder to hit unless you're getting pocketed.

Did a bunch of damage testing yesterday as I've been playing wind a lot more and you can survive for so much longer and be more independent if you're in Tornado mode. Popping Thunder in Goddess Boost always resulted in a death after 1 kill unless I hit every shot which rarely happens (Practice range vs 2 starlords and 2 helas). The best way to survive is always Tornado Mode, playing cover, then Thunder when close to hit combo for one shot kill, then back to Tornado Mode. Dare I say you can even flank, you can off angle, you can even win vs hitscan (as long as they hit no headshots, which is hard to do for them when you're in Tornado). All of this of course is dependent upon if you can hit your shots or not at different ranges. If you struggle hitting shots in wind mode past 15m you likely won't get as much value unfortunately.

I made the clips on here if people want to see where I did the testing (have damage #s and combos) but can confirm she is an absolute problem when you use wind because you can sustain for soooo long. You can also see compared to last season my kd has jumped up two points even though I'm using thunder less, I'm surviving more and getting more kills since I'm alive for longer and not dependent on healers to stay in fights.

TLDR: Ran #s and adjusted my playstyle to using Tornado primarily and only swapping to thunder when with all of my team or trying to hit kill combos and I'm winning more games than I ever have.

Some Cel games. Do not miss the Jeff teamup one bit!

Hit Rank 1 Storm on Xbox - Here are some tips on movement, peeking, and controller setup I use as many have been asking

​Hey everyone, I recently hit Rank 1 Storm on Xbox and wanted to drop some tips that helped me push through GM and Celestial and eventually eternity lobbies. I'm not thee most mechanical as I'm turning 30 this year so I need every advantage I cna use to stay competitive. (I included some screenshots below to show peeker's advantage and which side you should be peeking from etc)

​Aiming and Flight Movement

First off, try to stop spamming your flight up and down during long-range fights. It just makes hitting your own shots super inconsistent. If I'm fighting a hitscan player at a distance, I try to shoot when I'm moving in a forward or backwards motion (mostly diagonal as it's harder to hit you). It keeps your projectiles traveling in a straight line, you just gotta predict their strafe a bit to land the shot.

​Up close though? Go crazy. Enemy hitboxes are way bigger on your screen so you probably won't miss, and flying up and down makes you a nightmare to track.

​Also, since I play on a higher sens, I barely touch my right stick for long sightlines. For shorter ones I just tap it slightly. I mostly just use my left stick to strafe in and out of cover to line up shots. Storm actually has a pretty slow strafe speed, but honestly, it benefits you. It makes it way easier to catch a rhythm and time your poke shots.

​The Destiny 2 "Peek & Pre-fire"

If you ever played D2 Trials like I did, you know exactly what this is. You basically pre-fire lanes from cover to cover so the enemy sniper gets flinched the exact millisecond they peek. Same exact concept in Rivals, but with one huge difference: In D2 you peek left, in Rivals you HAVE to peek right.

​My rhythm is basically to shoot while I'm moving back behind cover. The shot travels down the lane while I'm already safely behind the wall getting healed or not taking damage. This allows me to off angle even if I don't have a healer as it minimizes the damage I take and I can always go back to my team with cover. If you shoot while stepping right into the open, you won't have time to get a second shot off before getting two-tapped in higher elo. I’m releasing my shot right before I hit cover, so by the time it hits them, I’m already stepping back out for the next one. It's the exact opposite rhythm of the person peeking me.

​ALWAYS right-peek if you can (Cover to your left)

If you aren't used to shooters with offset reticles, this is huge. Rivals anchors the camera over your right shoulder.

​If you put cover on your right and try to peek left, the physical wall blocks your crosshair. You have to walk your entire character model out into the open just to see them. Always keep cover on your left side so you can right-peek. Your camera clears the wall way before your body does, so you can fire while 75% of your hitbox is still completely hidden.

​Also, don't hug the wall unless you're making a quick, wide swing with goddess boost speed for a 1v1. Makes you seem much faster when swinging wide but it's worse for angles shooting further away. For longer fights, step back a bit from the cover. It still obstructs their view, but the wider angle lets you hit shots before they can even see you.

​My Elite Controller Setup

This setup is a massive reason I can outplay natural counters like hitscans. Currently have a 61% winrate vs Jean and 69% VS hela, 75% vs Hawkeye and 100% vs BW. Punisher isn't a Greta match up the higher you climb because he has the zip line that allows him to fight you behind cover and negates your good positioning.

With this set up on the paddles though, I basically never take my thumbs off the sticks.

​Paddles: Left paddles for flight (up/down). Right paddles for reload and weather swap.

​Left Trigger: Goddess Boost. I used to have this on right stick click, but I kept accidentally pressing it mid-fight. You never want to accidentally blow that cooldown.

​Right Bumper: Bolt Rush. I never use Bolt Rush and primary fire at the exact same time, so I can just hit RB and have my next shot perfectly lined up by the time the animation ends to get the kill.

I'm often talking in the new storm discord and sometimes stream my games in there so if you're interested in learning or me watching your vods feel free to reach out I don't charge anything!

Best of luck storms and hopefully we get a new ability at some point as this Devil Dino looks like it might be a problem for us next season but we'll see.