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Approach rate decides how long you see a note before you hit it. Here is how to train reading at high AR, cope with low AR and Hidden, and find the AR that suits you.
By OSUMAUK Staff
Approach rate (AR) sets how long a note is visible before you hit it. High AR gives you less time but a clearer, less cluttered screen; low AR gives you more time but stacks more notes on screen at once. Reading is the skill of turning what you see into movement in time, and it is trainable - here is how.
High AR and low AR are different skills, and most players are stronger at one. Train the weaker one deliberately - a well-rounded reader can play far more of the map pool than a specialist.
There is no single correct AR - it is preference plus what the map sets. Many players find AR9 to AR9.5 the comfortable middle. If a map feels cluttered, its AR is low for you; if notes feel rushed, it is high. Use HR or DT to raise a map AR, or Easy to lower it, but do not chase a best AR - build the ability to read across the range instead.
For the mods that change AR and how they pay, see the ranked mods guide.