Battlefield 3 Guide & Gameplay Tips Part 2

Note originally posted on Friday, January 27, 2012 at 12:09pm

Continued:
In part one we discussed some basics of Battlefield 3, made some comparisons to Modern Warfare and discussed two classes, the Assault class and the Engineer class.

In part 2 of this guide I will be discussing a few more basics as well as the other two classes, the Sniper and the Support class.

Attacking/Defending:

The objective of Conquest is to capture and hold points on the map, marked A, B, C etc. Capturing points will decrease the amount of tickets you lose per second and increase the amount of tickets the enemy team loses. Holding all points on the map will result in the enemy team losing tonnes of tickets , very quickly. Your main objective when playing Conquest should always be to capture points. Obviously there are many, many different ways to go about attacking points depending on the map, your class, how long the point has been held etc. I will try to outline some basics about attacking.

Firstly, if you are the Squad leader you should be marking any point you're currently attacking. This will (hopefully) rally your squad to you. It is much easier to capture a point with a full squad rather than by yourself. When you enter a certain radius around the point, you will see the enemy control start to decline. Once the point has been neutralised you will see your own control start to increase until the point has been captured. One tactic that you can use in this circumstance is to get into a corner or behind some cover and watch the control meter. If the meter stops moving at any point it means that an enemy soldier has moved into the capture radius and you will need to eliminate him before continuing to capture. It is sometimes advisable to wait for the enemy to find you, as often you will get the jump on him and eliminate him easily.

When defending points (which I don't really tend to do much as I feel it's not as productive as capturing and harrassing enemy points) again, there are countless ways to do this. Again, if you are squad leader mark the point for defence to rally your squad. Common sense says that a 5 man squad will do a lot better job defending a point than one or two soldiers, so rallying your squad is important. Set mines and claymores on roads and around the point itself and then move OUT of the points capture radius. The reason for this is that if an enemy moves inside the points capture radius, you will see the point start to flash and you will know someone is there. It is an early warning system which will give you time to seek and destroy the enemy attacker. Snipers and Support soldiers in particular should set up somewhere that gives them a good field of fire over the whole point, allowing them to neutralise any threats before they get too close.

Breaking Out & Holding The Line:
Sometimes the enemy team will just be too good. They will quickly storm across the map and capture all the points, leaving you with only your squad mates and Deployment point to spawn on. If the enemy team is sitting right at your front door it can be very, very hard to break out and recapture some points. Here are some tips to help break out:

• Explosives are your friends. Often the enemy will be stuck attacking along a road or narrow alley way. This will bunch them up, making them perfect targets for RPG's, grenades and mortars. This is one place where the mortar really shines as you can sit back behind cover and pummel the enemy team with HE and Smoke until your infantry can break through and recapture your first point (the one closest to your base). 
• Use your vehicles carefully. Whatever you do, do NOT charge in and attempt to break through. Sit back and provide heavy cover fire for your team using either your main cannons (MBT, IFV) or your .50 cal machine gun (Hummer, Jeeps). 
• If all else fails use stealth to slip past the enemy cordon. This requires a bit of running around, making sure you're not spotted. When you do break through do not attack your first point. Attack the enemies first point at the other side of the map. You are almost 100% guaranteed that there will be no enemies guarding this point as they will all be at your base, attempting to hold the line. If you're successful, you will provide your team a new spawn point BEHIND the enemy line, which can be very devastating. 

Vice versa to the above point; sometimes your team will be the one storming the map and keeping the enemy locked down. There are again some very important tips to keep the enemy from breaking out and turning the tables on you.

• The point closest to the enemy's base should be disregarded for defence. Forget about it. Spawn on it and attack from it, but do not hang around and defend it. It does not matter if they recapture it as you will still have all the other points to attack from. 
• Defenders should be mobile, preferably in Jeeps making quick trips between your other points to make sure any sneaky stealthers haven't slipped through the line to capture the points behind you. I often play this role and rack up tonnes of kills just driving around picking up strays.
• Tanks and Engineers should be up front. Tanks need constant defence and repair as they will be the bastions of your line. All too often I will see a Tank neglected and then destroyed followed moments later by the entire front line degrading and being pushed back. If you look after your Tanks, they will keep the enemy contained and unable to form an effective counter attack. 
• Snipers should focus on enemy Snipers as they will be looking to pick off Engineers who are repairing your Tanks. If not shooting, Snipers should be using their MAV's over the frontline to keep all enemy soldiers Spotted or SOFLAM's to target enemy vehicles for Engineers with Javelins.

It is very exciting when you are holding all the points and pushing your front line ever closer to the enemies base. Kills a plenty are available in these situations but be careful. All it takes is a few seconds for the whole front line to collapse and the enemy to swarm through.

Classes:

Back to classes; the Sniper and the Support are two very effective classes for their roles. They take more mastering than the Assault or Engineer classes but the rewards are high kill counts and huge points.

Suppression:
I have mentioned Suppression and Suppressive Fire a few times now and before I explain the Support class it is very important to know what Suppression is and how it works. When someone is firing at you and bullets are whizzing past your head and spanking into the cover in front of you, you are being Suppressed. When under Suppression your screen will go blurry and control response will become slightly sluggish, making it very hard to aim and kill your attacker. Suppression provides bonuses for the attacking soldier if the target is killed by another team member. You will gain a Suppression Kill Bonus worth 50 points which makes intentionally Suppressing targets a very valuable tool.

When under Suppression the best thing to do is get your head down. Get into cover as quickly as possible until the Suppression wears off. It's almost impossible to attack an enemy while Suppressed so don't bother trying unless there is no other option.

Support:
Ever since competitive FPS games have been around I have been attracted to the role of Support soldier. From Unreal Tournaments minigun to the latest military LMGs (Light Machine Guns), the idea of laying down huge volumes of firepower has always appealed. Battlefield 3 however takes the Support soldier to a new level with Suppression. Even a few rounds from an LMG passing close to a player will generate almost maximum Suppression and the huge magazine capacity of most of these weapons means that you can keep up the pressure or even Suppress multiple targets at once. Coupled that with the gadgets this class recieves makes it, I believe, the most powerful all-round fighting/support class in the game.

Here are a few ways that I like to play:

Heavy Support:
Using a LMG with the Foregrip, Red Dot Site and Extended Magazine gives you a weapon that is powerful, easy to control and can output a huge amount of firepower. My favourite LMG to use would be the M240 as it packs a 200 round magazine (Extended) full of high power 7.62mm rounds. The objective with this class is to provide your team with covering fire so that they can advance. You should be behind your team mates laying down short bursts of fire at any enemies you see. Firing in short bursts will keep your recoil at a minimum and you will make more kills this way. The exception to this rule is if you are shooting down a corridor or bottleneck. In this case, unload your entire magazine down the hallway. You will Suppress everyone at the other end and probably make some kills too. Make sure you Spot enemies so that your team mates can flank them as you force their heads down with Suppression. Use your ammo pack to keep yourself and your team supplied and drop claymores at choke points so that you can safely retreat if you need to. Squad Suppression is the go here.

Silent Support:
In this configuration swap out the Extended Magazine for the Suppressor. It sounds silly to put a silencer on a LMG but the benefits are huge. Your bullets will still carry huge amounts of Suppression however your recoil will be much lower, allowing you to fire longer bursts without having to correct your aim. Also you will not show up on the map when you fire which is a gigantic advantage on maps like Operation Metro. Your role in this class is essentially the same as Heavy Support. Hang back, lay down covering fire to pin your enemies while your team moves up for the kill.

All-Rounder:
With this config you will be able to do a bit of everything. Use the weapon config from Heavy Support but swap out your Claymores for the C4. You'll be able to hunt Tanks and vehicles and set traps for enemies. I use my C4 like mines, planting it on the road and waiting for enemy vehicles to drive past. This is a VERY effective tactic on maps like Seine Crossing and Kharg Island where vehicles are pretty much forced to use the roads to get everywhere.

Mortar:
I wanted to write a short section on the Mortar as it is potentially a game winning weapon if used correctly. I find that the mortar is almost useless on most maps, especially any large, open map. However on maps like Tehran Highway, Grand Bazaar and Seine Crossing it can be deadly. Swap out your LMG for a Shotgun or PDW as you won't need the long range Suppression of an LMG and sit right back. Use your Mortar to drop bombs on the choke points on these maps, especially on Objective B on Grand Bazaar and Objective C on Seine crossing. The Mortar is also an excellent breakout weapon (see breakout section), allowing you to lay down smoke for your team to advance through.

Sniper:
Last but definetly not least is the Sniper. Without doubt the Sniper is the most difficult class to play. Kill shots must be made on the head or upper chest otherwise you will not get one shot kills. Without one shot kills the Sniper is useless, so accuracy is a must with this class. The Sniper gets a couple of handy tools for it's trade mainly the Radio Beacon the T-UGS and the SOFLAM. The Radio Beacon will allow your squad mades to spawn on the beacon instead of you, allowing you to place it in a safe spot near an objective to get a constant stream of reinforcements. The T-UGS (Tactical Unattended Ground Sensor) will show up any enemies that are moving quickly near your position. Obviously very handy for camping.

SOFLAM (Special Operations Forces Laser Marker):
I think that the SOFLAM deserves it's own section as it is an awesome piece of equipment that NEVER gets used. The SOFLAM essentially is a laser designator that locks on to any vehicle it is pointed at and allows Rockets from your team to home in on that vehicle, even if it is not in their line-of-sight even if left unattended. This gadget is NOT USED ENOUGH. On large, vehicle oriantated maps you should be deploying it high, pointing it at a road or choke point and then leaving it unattended. This will ensure that any vehicle that passes will be marked for at least a few moments. If you are an Engineer and you have the Javelin, USE IT. It is very frustrating to spend time designating targets when no one is paying attention.

There are two ways that I play the Sniper class:

Spectre:
The obvious, classical hollywood Sniper. Set up position somewhere on the map, usually in a very high place. Use a high power, single shot rifle such as the M40A5, SV98 or M98B with a bi-pod. From this position your main goal is Spotting enemy targets for your team and eliminating enemy Snipers. This can be a huge amount of fun as you try and improve your longest headshot score. Mine currently sits at 318m but I have seen headshots as long as 1300m on YouTube. Spotting is very important here as you usually have an unrestricted view of the map and you're not going to be able to shoot every enemy you see. Spotting will mean your team has the advantage of getting a coherent overview of enemy positions. Also you should place your SOFLAM before you set up, somewhere well away from your position as the distinctive red laser WILL give you away if you stay too close. Use the 8x Rifle Scope in most instances. Very rarely should you use the 12x as it is simply too powerful, especially if some of your targets are within 200m. The Marksman bonus is what allows you to rack up points with this class. Any clean headshot over 50m will net you a bonus equal to the distance of the shot, so it's quite easy to rack up a huge score if you can hit a few 100m+ headshots. Squad Ammo should be used here so that you can shoot for a long time without having to go look for a re-supply.

Shoot & Move:
This class is all about moving and shooting. Semi-Automatic rifles like the SKS and the M39 should be used here coupled with either the 8x Rifle Scope or the 4x ACOG to give you a nice, medium range view. If you want to use a higher power, bolt action rifle make sure you select the Straight Pull Bolt for quick shooting. You can use a Suppressor with this class, but I prefer not to the trade off of power for accuarcy is not worth it IMO. Headshots are still the key with this class but don't be afraid to crack off multiple rounds to kill an enemy. This class is also great for Suppression as emptying a clip at someone behind cover will ensure they are fully Suppressed and thinking twice about sticking their head around that corner. Use the Radio Beacon to give you a spawn point close to the center of the map, where you can quickly get to any objective and when you take up a firing position drop your T-UGS to give you early warning of anyone approaching. That being said, do not stay in one position too long. Shoot and move, shoot and move, shoot and move. One of your main targets with this class should be enemy Engineers who are repairing Tanks. It is very satisfying to headshot an Engineer and then watch your squad destroy the Tank he was repairing. Squad Sprint, Ammo or Suppression are generally the go with this class.

Ballistics: Due to Battlefield's realistic ballistics, playing a Sniper is much harder than in any other First Person Shooter. When shooting at long to extreme range you will need to learn to deal with Bullet Drop. This is the effect that gravity has on any projectile fired. It effects every weapon in Battlefield but is much more pronounced when Sniping and sometimes when shooting with an LMG. The rule of thumb that I use is that after about 100m, every addtional 100m requires aiming roughly half a cm higher. Generally I will expend my first magazine on 'practice shots' at various buildings to give me an idea of how much bullet drop I will be dealing with on certain parts of the map. Normally you'll be quite safe doing this as at the start of a round most players will be concentrating on attacking their initial points.

That brings me to the end of the class discussion. In the next episode of this guide I will get into my favourite part of Battlefield; Armoured Warfare.