Warmup
Grounded Warmup Routine Before You Launch a Session
Loading in cold into Hedge Lab or Hedge Lab tunnels is how you lose your gear set. A short Grounded warmup — even ten to fifteen minutes — makes your first real fight feel like your third.
Why your first session should not be the warmup
Most players boot the game, slap on a kit, and die to the first clean peeker. Hands are cold, audio is not dialed, and map timing feels off. Treat warmup as part of the session, not optional fluff.
Offline practice, practice yard habits, and a couple of low-stakes solo explorations exist so your expensive gear set is not the experiment.
A simple 15-minute routine that scales
Minutes 1–5: tracking and quick hits on a range or practice dummies. Minutes 6–10: combat practice on common angles — jiggle, dodge roll timing, pre-aim insect weak points. Minutes 11–15: one focused insect or practice fight block where you only work one habit, like holding an landmark or clearing a room.
Keep the routine identical for a week so improvements are measurable. Rotate maps later — the Backyard one day, Hedge Lab the next — after the habit sticks.
What to do right before you ready up
Check inventory meds and ammo, confirm your map landmarks, and skim tool status if you use overlays after a patch. Pair warmup with settings and weapon tiers so you are not reinventing the kit every night.
If the first two player deaths feel mechanical, stop stacking gear sets and repeat five minutes of combat practice. Jumping in while tilted is not a strategy.