Hitscan vs projectile: what the difference means for your aim

A hitscan shot hits whatever is under your crosshair the instant you fire: the game checks a straight line with no travel time. A projectile is an object with its own speed, and often drop, so it lands a moment later. Against a moving target, that means aiming at it with hitscan and ahead of it with a projectile; the lead is how far the target moves while the shot is in the air.

Practice tracking in the aim trainer

What hitscan means

When you fire a hitscan weapon, the game checks a straight line from your gun or the center of your screen, and the first thing on that line is hit in the same instant. Nothing travels, so a far target is hit as soon as a near one. Any bullet or tracer you see is only drawn for the eye.

What a projectile does differently

A projectile is an object the game moves through the world, frame by frame, at its own speed. It takes longer to arrive the farther the target is, and many fall under gravity, so at long range you aim above the target as well as ahead of it. Rockets, grenades and arrows usually work this way, and games that model bullet flight make even a long rifle shot need a small lead.

This counts sideways movement and a straight flight only. A target coming towards you or going away needs less lead, gravity adds drop at long range, and a game may use its own units: the arithmetic is the same in any unit, as long as the distance and both speeds use the same one.

Which kind is your weapon?

Games mix both kinds, often in the same weapon list. Wolfenstein 3D's firearms were hitscan. In Overwatch, Widowmaker's rifle is hitscan in both its firing modes. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 used both hitscan and projectile damage, and Apex Legends turned its Charge Rifle from a hitscan weapon into a projectile one. So check the weapon, not the game: in a practice range, shoot a far wall and watch. If the hit lands the moment you fire at any distance, treat it as hitscan; if it lands a moment later, and later still from farther away, it is a projectile.

How to aim each

• Hitscan: the crosshair must be on the target at the moment you fire. Against a strafing target that is tracking, a smooth movement that matches its speed; against one that appears, a flick. Good crosshair placement shortens both.
• Projectile: aim where the target will be. Lead more at longer range, with slower projectiles and against faster sideways movement. With splash damage, aim at the feet: the ground catches a near miss.
• Both: a target running straight at you or straight away needs little or no lead, because its place on your screen barely moves.

Do you need to lead hitscan because of ping?

Not in most current games. Older online games checked a shot on the server only once it arrived there, so a moving target could already have stepped aside, and players led even hitscan weapons. Modern engines use lag compensation: the server winds every player back to where the shooter saw them and checks the hit there. That ends the need to lead a hitscan shot, at a price: you can still be hit just after reaching cover, because on the other player's screen you were not there yet.

How to practice each here

Our aim trainer scores a hit at the instant of the click, as hitscan does, so it trains the hitscan side: the tracking drill for staying on a moving target, the flicks drill and the switching drill for snapping to new ones. It has no flight time, so practice lead in your own game's practice range against moving targets: start close and move back as your lead becomes consistent.

Is hitscan better?

Neither is better on its own. Hitscan rewards a precise crosshair at the instant of the shot; a projectile rewards reading where the target is going. Games balance the two with damage, rate of fire, splash and range, so what matters is knowing which kind your weapon is and aiming it the right way.

To set up your aim first, see how to get better aim; for snapping from one target to the next, see target switching.

Sources: Wikipedia, Glossary of video game terms (hitscan), Deflection (ballistics), History of first-person shooters, Widowmaker (Overwatch), Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 and Apex Legends.