Battlefield 3 Guide & Gameplay Tips Part 1

Note originally posted on Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 3:13pm

Introduction:
Hey everyone. Recently I have been trolling the halls of Google for tips and strategies for Battlefield 3. There is a real shortage of information online for advanced players unless you want to go ahead and buy a proper guide. Well, I thought; fuck that. I have racked up 90+ hours on BF3 now so I feel like I am qualified to throw out a few tricks that I have picked up along the way.

This guide will be written in a few different parts as if I were to put it all in one note it would likely be very long. So sit back, relax, have a drink and hopefully you'll pick up a few hints to help boost your Score Per Minute (SPM).

Guide Overview:
This guide will not cover anything to do with the Single Player or Co-op modes of Battlefield 3. I am focusing solely on competitive multiplayer in the Conquest and Conquest Assault modes as they are the ones I play most. Some of the tips may be applicable to Rush and the other modes and I may write a seperate guide for those modes later. This also will be an Xbox 360 guide as that is what I own the game on.

Battlefield 3 Vs. Call Of Duty:
I think that it's necessary to compare these two games before we start, as a lot of people are moving from the COD series to Battlefield. While both games are First Person Shooters they are very different games. I find that COD is much more of an Arcade style game. It is a fast paced, run and gun, pure adrenalin shooter. Playing COD doesn't require much more skill than to keep moving and be decent at aiming. Sure there are some naunces that take some time to work out, like where to place your Claymores for max damage or the finer points of being a Sniper, however it is essentially still an Arcade experience.

Battlefield 3 is much more of a war simulation than an Arcade game. It features much more realistic ballistics (bullet drop), gun sway, reload times etc than the COD series. As such a player moving from COD to BF might initially be frustrated on most levels, especially the larger ones as quite often firefights happen over a long distance and require a different style of shooting than COD. One thing that people don't realise about BF compare to COD is that kills don't matter much anymore. I can get the MVP (most valuable player) Ribbon on any given map without making a single kill. It is much more important to be focused on your objectives and using your abilities to the full, rather than worrying about kills.

Tickets:
Battlefield 3 uses as a ticket system where each team starts with a set amount and they are drained as each team respawns, like reinforcements. Once you hit zero you lose. Holding all the Command Points causes the enemies tickets to drop very fast, so this is the main objective of any battle.

Squads:
A prime feature and one I feel is much underused in BF3 are Squads. Within each 12 player team are a number of Squads. Each Squad can contain up to 5 players. Squad mates can spawn on each other and receive bonuses for teamwork related activities, such as Spotting (see Spotting section), Suppressive Fire, Healing, Repairs and more. It is highly important that you try to work with your squad as much as possible. Spawn on them and stay with them for support, especially if you are a medic or an engineer. You will survive a lot longer on the battlefield if you are with your squad. Depending on your class you should be using the following tactics:

Storming: 

Medics with M230's, Engineers with Rockets and Mines and Support with shotgunsor smaller LMGs (not the M60) and C4 should be up front laying down a heap of fire, attacking vehicles and storming towards the objective.

Supporting: 

Medics with Medpacks, Snipers with Radio Becons and SOFLAM and Support Soldiers with Ammo kits or Mortars should be to the rear either healing, re-arming or laying down suppressive fire for the boys at the front.

Within each squad will be a squad leader. The squad leader can mark objectives for attack and defense. Again this is a feature that is not used as much as it should be. If you are the squad leader, make sure to mark your objectives so that your team mates know what they should be doing and then (this is important) actually attack/defend that objective. Do not go off on a tangent. You can tell the squad leader from the star that appears next to their name.

Spotting:
Another feature of BF which I feel is extremely underused is Spotting. Unlike COD where the UAV provides the locations of enemy soliders; in Battlefield you are required to 'Spot' them. When you see an enemy, place your sights over him and press the 'back' button on your Xbox control. This will 'Spot' the enemy for your team, marking him with an orange arrow and making him show up on the map. This is a very cool mechanic as it makes it a lot harder to know what your enemy is doing unless your team is good at Spotting. The only other times you will see enemies on your map is if they fire an unsuppressed weapon or if there is a MAV (Micro-Air Vechile, similar to a UAV) around.

Make it a priority to spot BEFORE you shoot. If you spot someone, shoot at them, miss and they escape they are at least marked for one of your team mates to take out. Snipers & Pilots (Tanks, Helicopters, Jets) should all prioritise Spotting. It takes less than a second to Spot someone and then start shooting at them, so SPOT BEFORE YOU SHOOT (can't emphisize this enough).

Classes:
Battlefield 3 features four distinct classes. Each have their own advantages and disadvantages which I will discuss here. I will write up the Engineer and Assault classes in this guide. The Support and Sniper classes will be in the next one.

Assault (Medic):
Since BF2 the 'medic' class has been merged with the assault class. The assault class has lost the ability to drop ammo packs and has gained medipaks and the defibrillator instead. Assault can be played in two ways:

Assault:

For this version of the class you should be using a rifle and the M320 grenade launcher, rather than the medipak. The idea with this class is to be the frontline of any battle. You need to be constantly attacking objectives, using your rifle to pick off targets at mid-range and your grenades to destroy cover and take out groups. The advantage of this class is that you still have your defib so you can revive fellow frontliners (and get a ticket back), even if you can't heal them. Storm and take Command Points and then move onto the next one, don't hang around, don't defend unless there is no other option. Rifles like the AEK-971 and the AN-94 are EXTREMELY accurate and powerful at mid-range. Your M320 is your best friend with this class. It will cause huge Suppression on enemies and force them to keep their heads down. It is also a one-shot-kill weapon on enemy Jeeps, provided that you can land the grenade square on the front or side. The Squad Grenade or Squad Sprint specializations should be used here.

Medic:

For this spec you should be using either a rifle or a shotgun with the Medipak instead of the M320. This class should hang slightly back, picking off targets when able but mostly concentrating on getting your medpaks to the people that need them. As you get refunded a ticket every time you defib someone, this should be your top priority as potentially you can almost stop losing tickets altogether if you have a few good medics. Keep your eye open on the map and your surroundings for the distinctive symbol (skull) that shows someone on your team has died, get to them and defib them ASAP. This spec is absolutely awesome for racking up points. If you can get your medpak into a group of friends taking fire, you will watch your points skyrocket. Squad Sprint is a must here as it will let you get to your downed team mates and defib them faster.



Engineer:
The Engineer is an extremely versatile class. Armed with a carbine, rocket launcher, grenades and gadgets; an engineer can be a very formidable opponent. There are many ways to play the engineer class but there are a couple of things that Engineers must do to be sucessful:

• Do not neglect your rocket launcher. You can use this to take out enemy cover and allow your squad into buildings. It is not necessary to actually kill enemies, just taking out their cover is usually enough to either make them retreat or allow your team mates a clean shot. If you are not using your rockets, you're not using your class properly. 
• You are on the map to disable vehicles. DO NOT NEGLECT THIS ROLE. The Engineer is the only class capable of consistently taking out enemy vehicles. An enemy tank with a competant driver is a HUGE problem for your team and your job is always to take them out as soon as possible.
• If you have the Repair Tool equipped then use it. Too often I will be duking it out with another Tank with engineers all around me, not one of which can be bothered to repair my Tank. If you are near a Tank you don't need rockets, you need to repair the Tank. 

Again here are a couple of ways to play this class that I enjoy:

Tanker: 

Without doubt the most time I have spent on the battlefield has been in either the MBT (Main Battle Tank) or the IFV (Infantry Fighting Vehicle). I currently have 2 service stars with the MBT and 605 kills. Your objective when Tanking (lol) is just like in WoW. You are there to draw fire from the enemy, deal damage and capture points. There is no need for funny, tricky manuevours in Tanks. Drive in, shoot anything that moves and capture the point and then move on quickly. When taking on other vehicles the key is speed, flanking and being a good shot. It's no good charging in at full throttle or sitting in one spot if every shot goes wide. You have to be able to consistantly land hits, even from long distances and while moving at top speed. It takes a lot of practice, but there is not much better in BF than roaring down a highway on Caspian Border or Kharg Island pumping shell after shell in to some poor T-90 driver who has no idea what to do. Squad Suppression is the go here.

My recommendations for the MBT are; HMG/Canister Shell, Thermal Optics & Reactive Armor.

The HMG is great for anti-infantry at moderate to long distances but it is unweildy and inaccurate close range. The Canister shell is much more suited for close range work as it is basically a massive, tank sized shotgun. Canister shells are perfect for taking out people in Jeeps as it will just shred them.

Thermal Optics is a must. It highlights everything in black and white and makes spotting enemy armour very easy. It also allows you to see and kill enemy Engineers much quicker and easier. Enemy Engineers are your worst enemies and I find I die a lot more to them than to other vehicles. Finally it will allow you to spot mines on the road. They will show up bright white and should be shot with your main cannon before proceeding. Zoom Optics is okay for extremely large maps like Operation Firestorm and Caspian Border, but I perfer thermal.

Reactive Armour gives you extra armour on your flanks and rear. I cannot tell you how many times I have been saved by this perk. Basically it will allow you to absorb almost 100% more damage than usual. Make sure you turn side on to any enemies if you can.

Tank Hunter: 

With this spec I spend my entire time on the map laying traps and ambushes for other enemy vehicles. Find choke points that vehicles pass regularly and either mine them or wait in ambush. This is a great spec to use on very large maps. You should always hang around Command Points as that is where the vehicles will go. When laying mines, always lay two very close together. One mine will definetly disable a vehicle but won't always destroy it. Two will light that puppy up like a christmas tree. When attacking with the RPG or SMAW try to hit the rear of the vehicle where the armor is lightest. One good rocket fired up a Tanks arse can sometimes destroy it outright, so don't be afraid to take a few seconds to get behind it first. When using the Javelin however, you want to be far away. It's much harder to lock-on and get a kill from close range as most tank drivers will go fairly spastic when they hear the Lock tone. Don't waste time with this class trying to kill infantry. Your Carbine/Shotgun/PDW is for personal defense only. If you see an enemy who is a decent distance away, spot them and move on. Don't bother trying to light them up as 9 out of 10 times they will kill you. If you have to attack them, use a rocket and aim at their feet. Squad Explosives is easily the best specialization for this class as it will give you TEN rockets and a few addtional mines.

Well that will do for Part 1 of my Battlefield 3 Multiplayer guide. Hopefully I will have more written soon.