Having played for two weeks now every night, there is a massive difference from TF2 which I played for 2+ years in terms of community and player behavior (I wasn't expecting much to begin with, so not that disappointed). a) Stay the feck away from 'noob' servers, even if you are one, you'll just develop an ulcer. b) Stay away from 32 man servers, you'll develop a twitch in your eye from all the recon retards with automatic snipers that hit at 500 meters with pinpoint accuracy. Don't get me started on spawn camping pricks who also happen to be, guess what?, recons. Thing is, you'll be dead most of the time and won't be able to do anything from all the spam. c) When in doubt, shoot it. Then shoot it again with a rocket launcher. Repeat until it stops moving. Friendly fire? TOUGH! d) If you want teamwork, play hardcore, but I sure hope you got nerves of steel. e) I know you want to, but FOR THE LOVE OF GOD AND EVERYTHING THAT IS HOLY, do NOT fly the god damn helicopter if you can't have it in the air for more than 30 seconds. Get on a empty server (Valparisio and Oasis maps) and practice your flying. Adjust your mouse settings (theres a nifty yaw and pitch slider in options). It took me 2 hours to get the hand of the blackhawk alone and countless other games to test what I've learned. You are far more useful in the air harassing the enemy than mindlessly driving it to the ground because you wanna get to the front lines faster. Its a nice game if you don't wanna invest too much brainpower. ^^
Spotting is one thing I miss in HC, medic squad rush are less effective in HC as you die faster a single grenade will take you all out if you are too close to each other. in HC move from cover to cover, check your surroundings, and NEVER run across open terrain without at least visual cover. Patience will be your best friend in this game, take your time and you will be rewarded. For easy points and a frustrated enemy, C4 on Mcom stations, 50 points pr C4.
I somewhat wish that the on screen spotting effect was still around in HC. The little orange dots on spotted players that goes through walls, that is. It's a feature I'm really used to from playing BF2142 for more hours than I'd like to admit, but non-hardcore makes all the guns feel so weak. It's a tough trade-off. Spotting is still pretty effective, though. Your character will still make the vocal call out of what you spotted so nearby teammates can hear what you saw. It may not give the location, but a vocal "Eyes on enemy tank!" can alert nearby teammates and prompt them to look around for themselves. It's also a free twenty points if someone kills a target that you recently spotted. I try to make a habit of spotting everything I can for this reason, particularly when sniping. You may not be able to take a clean shot at the target, but you can always spot anything you see on the off chance that someone else does have a shot.
I usually play as engineer (no I don't use the CG) and spotting is hugely important, I hunt tanks and other armoured vehicles and if you spot I can check on the map where it is, and thus plan my best route. Even though there is no mini map to me it makes a world of difference especially on the bigger maps.
I recently realised that shooting in short bursts is the best way to get kills and you keep a lot of ammo in your mag. * May be a noob comment - but it's amazing how much you can learn when you watch and listen to other people's comments in gaming videos on YouTube *
- Use a scope. Running slightly faster or having more ammo are not nearly as useful as the massive increase to effective range that having a 4x scope gives you. The maps are massive and this allows to you take people down from those ranges. - Use your pistol! Those things are beasts and can easily be used to extend a killing spree. Taking down 2 people with your primary and then doming a 3rd with your pistol will happen quite often once you start remembering to switch. This applies even more so if you are playing Vietnam. I often use my pistol to engage extra targets after emptying my M16. If you can get a good cadence going to your shots you can even take down people at long range. - Don't be a bush wookie. "BUUUUT I WANNAAA SNIIIPPPEEE lyke an azzazzin!!11one!" Recon is fine if you are actively contributing and trying to push. People playing recon and sitting a mile away from the action are absolutely useless. Especially if only have 400 points by games end. Don't be one of those guys. - Play a medic! If your squad already has a medic, then you can ignore this one if you want, but a team absolutely cannot win without medics. These are the guys that make it possible to fight in enemy territory for extended periods, and change the tide of battles. In non-Vietnam this is my primary class.
"absolutely cannot win without medics" if you push hard enough and fast enough, arm and cover you don't need medics. They are nice to them have but PLEASE don't abuse there power, I played with one guy tonight. 0/20 with 2000 points just from reviving. This isn't a bad thing but he was reviving anyone without looking at his surroundings first. A lot of people were pissed, in the chat he said he was only doing it for the points and didn't care where you were when he revived you. Everyone was pissed, even some of the enemies said that was a dick move. Use pistols and shotguns, you only need 4 kills to get there pin, which is a free 200 points. 4 is easier than the 7 kills required for the other pins. Also try to get the objective pins as soon as possible, like 500 assault rifle kills or 100 mine kills..... Again free points that help you level up quicker. Also if you find a weapon you like, stick with it. Once you get the platinum, sadly part ways with it and start with your next favorite weapon for that class. Once you get the platinum you can't earn anymore gold pins, so it's kinda a waste to keep using that weapon. Yet another suggestion, just because it's the last weapon you unlock, doesn't mean it's the best in the class. All the weapons server a purpose and no one weapon stands out so much that it puts all the other ones to shame.
Alright, so 'absolutely cannot win' may be an over statement, but they are fairly vital to a team's success and there is no reason for a team to not have at least two medics. Preferably one per squad. In the case you gave, idiots can ruin anything in nearly any way. That is crap though. Also, with shotguns: use slugs. Buckshot is random and short ranged. Slugs make your shotgun a very high caliber rifle. In Hardcore a slug fired from one of the pump action shotguns is an insta kill anywhere on the body. I'm not familiar with non HC damage, but I'm assuming it is also very high.
2 slug shots for a non-body-armoured kill. 25 health left for body-armoured people. speaking of body armour, use it! i never get magnum ammo, it doesn't do much if you are good with guns anyway. with body armour, you get protection from bullets and explosives. very useful if you keep getting killed by that noob tuber or CG user. because with body armour, you can only be killed in one hit by C4 explosives, you will survive CG and tube. i only agree with ditching platinum weapon to some degree. only switch if you can find another gun suits you. eg. M416 to XM8, both are pretty much the same. i tried to use Aks74u in place of UMP, and it was terrible, i can't kill anyone with one clip, whereas i can kill 2 people with single clip of UMP at any range. so after 5 gold starts with the AKS, i went back to my beloved UMP. (might try SCAR-L instead) totally agree with using pistol. it is so useful and powerful. if in doubt, don't even aim-down-sight, just rapidly fire. avoid fire as-fast-as-you-can with the burst one though. about being sniper wookie: only do it if you are good. good as in can get to top 5 of your team by actively helping. there's nothing wrong with sitting at the back and sniping, but make sure you are spotting for your teammates and try to hit each and every shot. main duty of a sniper is to make sure the turrets are clear from enemy gunners, and provide mortar support on choke points. shame most newbie wookie just sits in one spot and hitting the air. scopes are only useful depending on your play style. i find light weight much more useful because it allows me to run around the corner (with body armour) and re-engage enemy on my own terms.
If you are starting from new, download the 'nam pack. All the guns are unlocked and all the points you get in 'nam count for the normal game modes. This means you can rank up all your classes in the normal game. The AK47 in 'nam is great. Also the expansion pack is awesome. Also, run less.
I’ve just returned to this thread! So many awesome tips! I’m getting better already! My KD ratio is usually over 1.0 (seriously, an improvement!) One thing I’m still not sure about is the x4 scope on the medics heavy weapons, the scope takes up about half the screen when I’m zoomed in and I can’t see much else around it. Not only that but the shake is so bad its almost impossible to hit anyone (yes, even in burst fire)
Compensate by doing single shots, once you find your mark, you'll be able to put down 10-20 rounds pretty damn accurately even with the x4 scope. The pistol really is easily forgotten, use it instead of reloading unless you know you can safely do so. The one thing to remember when you get revived, even in crappy situations, is that you are invulnerable for 2 seconds if you DO NOT MOVE or change stance. This give you a tiny bit of breathing space and the possibility to leg it to cover. It's not much compensation when someone has you lined up with a G3 for a single-shot-drop. Run is usually your best bet With ranking up, I have all the weapons up to Gold Star 1 minimum and about 50 kills short on 2 others for platinum. Even just 100 kills gets you the familiarity with a weapon that you will know which one you want to go Platinum with first and it gets you the bronze star awards and the gold star awards. Using shotties, you might as well join the other gits (I was one too) and use the slug rounds making them very effective sniper rifles. There is very little bullet drop in them at all, so even long range shots are a doddle. Doing this to 100 kills for each shotty gets you the gold stars as well as the shotgun badge, so 2 bird with 1 stone essentially. The USAS-12 is great fun on White Pass Conquest mode though Basically, stick with your squad, communicate (voice transforms Hardcore into a real team experience), go for the objectives and don't focus on your KDR. Do those things and be aware and you'll end up dropping so many people as a team that your KDR will rise dramatically.
All very good tips/advice, my tip take in all above advice but above all do as you please you only learn by making mistakes (said the hegdehog to the hairbrush) and have fun.
If you're hiding behind a wall, don't move too quickly to look around/over. The hit detection box that encompasses your body increases with the speed you're moving. Which sometimes combined with lag means you can be shot even though you're hiding behind something that can't be destroyed. If you get hit by a CG though, the splash will kill you Oh and spot, it's the Q button. Do this always.
Actually I think things are tougher because PC gamers are better. Honestly. I went from PC to Xbox/PS3 and whoamygod am I all of a sudden good. Or is that because they're bad.... Usual tips apply though, pace your self and don't run down gung-ho. Reload when necessary and SAFE. Concentrate on getting higher kill/death ratio as opposed to just kills and you'll do better in the long run. Pistols save your life, and err....don't run when in close quarters combat as the time needed to pull up your gun can mean death.
I did my time. I am well and truly finished with the slug-rounds. They're as broken as can be. Also, the comment of the USAS-12 being great on White Pass, I meant with standard scatter rounds I only used slugs to get the challenge done. They're still fun on normal ammo in the right setting.
SPOT, SPOT, SPOT, SPOT! ...if not for yourself then for your team. Look out for those awkward snipers far off in hiding spots then tag them for veichles or your own snipers. Get proficient with all vehicles, Helo is hardest! Use cover in a tank and always court the attention of engineers. When in tank combat, momentum is the freind of accuracy, land a hit then move, out flank the target while he's reeling, I've got rather good at this. Work as a squad!!!!! SPOT, SPOT, SPOT, SPOT! Look out for unstable buildings, either for self preservation or to bring it down on an enemy. Dont get distracted by killing the opposition, yes kill on the way but dont miss an opportunity to dominate or destroy an objective. Its fun to give or carry out orders and then get it done! It brings in the points too SPOT, SPOT, SPOT, SPOT!
Teamwork/Comms/Spotting and being a medic/assult to revive/heal and give ammo to team mates. Thats all thats needed to succede in any Battlefield game.
Ok so I've been messing about practicing on empty servers (actually the bit tech one when it went down yesterday and there was only 2 of us in the game), I've found using the keyboard keys much easier than the mouse. What does everyone else think??
