Hi! So just a note about me real quick: I don't post in forums very much (I get afraid of mob mentality should I do something wrong) but I decided to do this because I want some help getting better. I know, everyone's seen this a million times "Help me get better! I've been playing for a week and I can't play 5 star maps!!" but I've been putting a lot of thought into what I'll say here so hopefully this won't just be another generic "help me plz" post.

So anyway, I've been playing for about 7 months (since November 17th to be exact) and I've gotten an alright amount of skill (I think at least for my level). About a month ago, I decided, "hey I actually want to get good at this game" So I started playing maps with a higher difficulty to kinda get my skill.

I did a test on myself just before writing this to see where my playing boundaries are before I just kinda insta-fail. (I almost forgot to add this in so I'm just gonna stick it here and say that I'm a tablet-only player and I use this kinda big sized tablet I got for drawing a couple of months ago)
Anything 1 star is of course a breeze, no issue there. Kinda boring
2 stars is where I can occasionally get a random 100 if I start thinking about something (sometimes I just kinda go into auto pilot for a few seconds lol) but mostly I'm good there too.
2.5 stars is where I mostly play and it's where I do my best. That's where I get all my S's and SS's.
3 stars I'm ok with. I can play a map decently and I'll get an A or a B on those maps.
At about 3.3 is where I hit my limit before I either fail or just nope out before I get a C or something. (the last song I was able to play was 3.29 and the next song directly at 3.3 I was just like "yeaaaaah no. Can't."
3.5 is a nope.

So my comfort range is around 2-2.5 3.0 is ok. 3.3 is where my limit is.

I've noticed my main issue is stacks and streams. Stacks in a 3.0 song I can do if I know that one's coming (meaning I've played the song a few times) but stacks or streams in a map any higher than that I just kinda tap wildly and hope that I hit something

So, sorry for the long post! I have a tendency to talk a lot and ramble. But I guess my main question here is, how do I get better from here? How do I get better at stacks and streams and bridge the gap from 2.5 over to 3 and get comfortable there? I know learning takes time and I'm not saying "I've been playing for 7 months!! Why am I not Cookiezi yet?!!?" but I just want general tips as to how to advance from here.

Thanks for your time if you read all of my ramblings I hope I'm not going to post this in the wrong place or something. But I guess that's it for now! Thanks for reading!

Play more new maps. Watch auto play some songs after you play them, so you can understand better the rhythm. Also what the time what you play it's pretty low. In less than a week i play more than you in 7 months xD
Also number play /= skill.

ManuelOsuPlayer wrote:

Also what the time what you play it's pretty low.

What exactly do you mean by that? Was that a typo or something?

ManuelOsuPlayer wrote:

Also number play /= skill.

And also what do you mean by "number play"?
Thanks for your response!

Download more maps and play more. There's no tricks except this.

CharielDreemur wrote:

ManuelOsuPlayer wrote:

Also what the time what you play it's pretty low.

What exactly do you mean by that? Was that a typo or something?

ManuelOsuPlayer wrote:

Also number play /= skill.

And also what do you mean by "number play"?
Thanks for your response!

If you want to get "good" at the game you have to play much much more.
I mean this number "Play Count: 2,185" dosn't mean nothing/ isn't related to skill.
Just play new maps to learn new things.

If you want to improve you have to force yourself out of your comfort zone. Get more maps that are at the level where you can barely pull a C and you'll begin to improve.

Zedek117 wrote:

If you want to improve you have to force yourself out of your comfort zone. Get more maps that are at the level where you can barely pull a C and you'll begin to improve.

I don't think you should ever try and play stuff you get a C on. This may be OK at lower levels but as you get into harder stuff you won't be getting enough HP back from misses to stay alive. Generally when I play hard stuff to where it's a 50-50 pass/fail rate I generally when I fail, fail with an A rank ACC. Getting that low of ACC to get a C means you are just reacting to circles and clicking and aren't really following the rythmn anymore.

Stop worrying about streams, as you're not gonna encounter them at this stage. At least not a proper stream.

Take it slow, and if you want a fast improvement -- take a hit in acc. department and play harder maps (stuff that's out of your comfort zone). Tho this might backfire. https://osu.ppy.sh/u/867939 take a look at this, if you really want to improve your streams THAT much.

There is no hidden secret to getting good. Play more, even if you feel like you've hit the wall, just keep going. Don't make excuses, and don't be afraid to experiment with things.. just don't go too far.

yeah. basically, play more... one day you'll realize you're doing better.

Edgar_Figaro wrote:

Zedek117 wrote:

If you want to improve you have to force yourself out of your comfort zone. Get more maps that are at the level where you can barely pull a C and you'll begin to improve.

I don't think you should ever try and play stuff you get a C on. This may be OK at lower levels but as you get into harder stuff you won't be getting enough HP back from misses to stay alive. Generally when I play hard stuff to where it's a 50-50 pass/fail rate I generally when I fail, fail with an A rank ACC. Getting that low of ACC to get a C means you are just reacting to circles and clicking and aren't really following the rythmn anymore.

Yeah I'm only suggesting it because I'm just about his skill level and have been consistently improving by playing songs out of my comfort level and getting C's on them and then going back and getting A's later on.

I'm a bit late here, but I just recently started playing 4* maps and practiced on a somewhat consistent basis since starting this game 2-3 months ago.

It takes a lot of time. I've clocked in 60 hours so far, and most of it has been actually somewhat productive (basically not smashing retry every single time I mistime something, replaying and failing maps that are way above my skill level, playing maps once for a C and then moving onto the next without trying to learn the patterns, etc.).

Since you seem eager to understand the process, I have a couple of observations that may or may not help you out:

• It's okay to be frustrated, and feel as if you aren't improving. Everyone else just likes to give you a simple answer: to just play more maps. And it's true. Look for maps with difficulties you think you will be comfortable with, and expose yourself to more songs. More likely than not, maps share patterns, so the more you play, the more you will get used to them (and anticipate them too).

• Learn to look ahead. One of the most pivotal changes in my understanding of osu! was learning to read the map ahead of my clicks. For example, I will be going through a slider, and notice that there is a triplet coming up. Instead of panicking and spamming clicks when reaching that triplet, I would have already mentally prepared myself to alternate clicks when my cursor reaches the circles. I have been doing this when approaching streams, and have found the transition to be very helpful. This is also a skill that's naturally picked up the more often you play.

• Don't overthink. Just play. This may seem ironic, considering how much I seem to over-analyze this game, but the reality is that the more you enjoy the game, and the more you are relaxed when playing, the better you will get. You can certainly find other threads and resources about techniques and tips on approaching difficult maps, and they help, but the only way you will ever improve is to just play. The higher difficulties will come to you, slowly but surely.

Good luck!

Just play more. Anyone can become consistent at 3 star maps because it doesn't push human physical limits like +7 star maps. You're limiting yourself by not playing frequently enough.