We've all been a newbie once. When you first entered BF2, you were probably dying every ten seconds, and you wouldn't have known what killed you. So I've made a guide based on my own experiences which will hopefully make you a better player.
Part 1: General Tips
1) Your minimap. Apart from your weapons, this is probably one of the more important things that will help you survive. It will display the positions of enemy troops revealed by your team's UAV or by your team spotting them (this means you should be spotting as much as you can too). Use this information to your advantage. Plan ambushes. Formulate strategies. Or run if it's a tank.
2) Be alert. You can't always have access to the UAV, or if you're working alone it would be harder for you to pinpoint where the enemy is. Hence you must be aware of what happens around you.
- For example you're at a friendly outpost. You notice the flag going down. This indicates there are hostiles in the area capping your flag.
- Then where is the enemy? If you notice a bunch of health/ammo packs behind a wall or something similar, it probably means there is someone camping on them.
- You may notice that sometimes birds fly up for no reason. They don't fly up for no reason.
- Use your ears. If you hear someone babbling in chinese for example, it is not an asian from the USMC.
There are of course many other indicators to the prescence of hostiles, but that's all i can think of at the moment.
3) If you're on a long ladder and you are taking damage from something, don't risk jumping off, if your parachute fails to deploy and you hit the ground... Anyway. Instead, press your sprint+backward key (Shift+S) to do a quick slide down a ladder.
4) I've found binding your pistol key and primary weapon key to another button within easy reach to be very useful. For me I've put my primary weapon key to F, and pistol to my mouse wheel. This enables ease in switching firing modes, and whipping out the pistol if i run out of ammo.
5) If you are killed by a sniper near a friendly outpost, here's a tip: spawn as a sniper, and take him out. Then, go to where you died previously and pick up your kit. Business as usual.
6) When you play in a squad, you may notice you can request stuff from your commander. If you're a squad member and you request something, it does not go through to your commander. It goes to your squad leader, so it's up to your squad leader to realise his squad members need something and go directly to the commander.
Part 2: Kits Overview
Teamwork is a key aspect in BF2, each kit has a role to play, so make sure you know what you're doing.
Special Ops
Special Ops have a weak armor, and are armed with carbines, accurate but weak weapons. I'd recommend taking on enemies at range, but if you play special ops, it isn't about the carbine, it's about the C4.
C4 charges can be very useful in many situations. If you encounter enemy tanks and such, you can sneak up and plant a few charges and run like hell. Remember that it takes two charges to destroy a tank or APC at full health.
C4 can also be used to lay traps. Say you are on a map, and you're defending a outpost. Know of a chokepoint? Rig it with C4. Be careful not to TK anyone. Keep it mind C4 have a large explosive radius, use this to your advantage. Don't be a cock and throw them on the floor in plain sight, put them on walls where they are harder to notice.
Also, special ops are the only kit that is effectively equipped to take out commander assets (the stuff that allows your commander to give UAV, place artillery strikes, etc). Two charges will do the trick.
Sniper
Most people think snipers have no teamwork value. This is not true. Snipers can effectively spot hostiles far away, and more importantly, take out enemy snipers hurting your team.
Unlike most FPS games, the sniper rifles in BF2 do not make one shot kills when you hit the torso. They do however, damage the enemy to a point where only one to two shots from a pistol will clean up the job. If you followed my advice and binded your pistol key, this should be easy. Aim with rifle, pow, take out pistol, putt putt. Win.
Snipers also have two claymores (anti-personnel mines). You should use these to protect your position, and prevent others from sneaking up on you. Some people also find pleasure in spamming these on the ground. You'll see them run into the thick of a firefight throwing clays everywhere and praying for a kill. I don't recommend this. You'd be better off with your rifle. Really.
Assault
The assault kit doesn't really do much for a team, other than killing lots of people. The stock loadouts come with a grenade launcher, which combined with the rifle, well, kicks ass. Again if you binded your primary weapon key, this is a very easy kit to use. Have your grenade launcher out, damage the enemy, whip out rifle, own.
Assault kits aren't completely devoid of teamwork though. They DO have a handy piece of equipment. Smoke grenades (but not when you use the F2000 loadout, you get flashbangs instead, but flashbangs are stupid). Your squad is pinned down by a tank for example. A well placed smoke could cover a hasty retreat to a safer postition.
Support
The support kit is armed with a light machine gun, which is very effective in close range and good for pinning hostiles down at a range. However it really only can be used to its full potential when prone, which can be a dick in the arse sometimes.
Support kits come with an ammo bag which is used to resupply friendly troops. This also applies to friendly armor. Note that enemies can also pick up the ammo you drop, so be careful where you put them.
When you're in a vehicle, you become something like a mobile supply station, and people near your vehicle can be resupplied slowly. You also resupply your fellow passengers in the vehicle with you.
Engineer
Engineers are armed with a shotgun that is extremely effective in close range. If used correctly that is. There are two variants to the shotgun in BF2 the pump action, and the semi/auto shotguns. Both to me are equally good, so it's up to your personal preference.
But the shotgun is not why you use engineer, it's because you can repair stuff! Yup. This means you should be using armor. When you take damage, pop smoke, retreat to a distance, repair. Then go back in and rape. You can also repair commander assets. Sometimes when you are repairing assets but nothing seems to happen, just keep repairing. It's a bug in the game. Similar to the support kit, you become a mobile repair station in a vehicle.
Engineers also come with anti-vehicle mines. Infantry cannot set these off don't bother trying. Like C4, don't lay them in straight lines, try putting them in dark places, around corners, etc. Basically you want them to be out of sight, yet in a place where people will drive. A tip when you encounter a tank or similar, place a mine behind it, then run to the front in plain sight of the enemy armor with a mine in your hands. Usually they will panic and reverse back, and yes, on to your mine. Piece of cake.
Medic
Lol. Anyway. Medics. The most hated and loved kit in the game. Medics are one of the most important team members in a game, since they revive and heal teammates. Coupled with some of the more effective rifles in the game, you can rack up tonnes of points if you use it right.
But being a medic isn't about points. It's being a smart medic. When you're a medic, do what you're supposed to do, heal and revive. Not fight. Please. So if you are walking along and one of your comrades gets pwned, don't just keep walking. Backtrack, assess the situation, and engage any hostiles. Then revive. Don't just go revive, this can result in both dying. Similarly, if a tank takes out a teammate and you're safe, don't be a prick and dash out to rez the guy. You'll both get killed.
You also have a medic bag, which can be dropped and picked up by others to be healed to full health. Everything about this bag is similar to the ammo one I'm not typing it out. And your car also becomes an ambulance blah blah read support.
Anti-tank
Self explanatory. Your job is to kill tanks and vehicles. Mainly tanks. Note that when fighting a tank, you should aim for the rear or tracks if you can, as these spots are the weakest.
A tip when you use your rocket launcher. It can be guided. When you're zoomed in, after you fire, do not release your fire button and you'll be able to guide it to a certain extent. This is pretty useful for taking out moving vehicles. Note that you can also guide the rocket when behind a wall (which i think is pretty magical since i thought it guides following a laser or something). Use this to your advantage. For example, you see a tank. Fire your rocket, and duck behind a wall. Whilst behind it, use your launcher to guide it to roughly where the tank was and you'll score a hit.
Part 3: Manners and Etiquette
Yes, there is a set of unwritten rules that all good players ought to follow.
1) Don't TK for vehicles. That's just... Naughty.
2) Always apologise for a TK, whether it was because of artillery, or you ran over someone by accident.
3) If you chance upon armor without anyone in it, check to make sure that no one is repairing it, because that probably means they want to use it again.
4) Pay attention to what your teammates say. Give them ammo if they ask for it, etc.
5) Don't drive off without your teammates. That's just silly.
6) Similarly, if a teammate requests a pickup, be nice. Drive back to pick him/her up.
Well! That's all I can think of. I hope it helped you. Good luck with BF2!
Part 1: General Tips
1) Your minimap. Apart from your weapons, this is probably one of the more important things that will help you survive. It will display the positions of enemy troops revealed by your team's UAV or by your team spotting them (this means you should be spotting as much as you can too). Use this information to your advantage. Plan ambushes. Formulate strategies. Or run if it's a tank.
2) Be alert. You can't always have access to the UAV, or if you're working alone it would be harder for you to pinpoint where the enemy is. Hence you must be aware of what happens around you.
- For example you're at a friendly outpost. You notice the flag going down. This indicates there are hostiles in the area capping your flag.
- Then where is the enemy? If you notice a bunch of health/ammo packs behind a wall or something similar, it probably means there is someone camping on them.
- You may notice that sometimes birds fly up for no reason. They don't fly up for no reason.
- Use your ears. If you hear someone babbling in chinese for example, it is not an asian from the USMC.
There are of course many other indicators to the prescence of hostiles, but that's all i can think of at the moment.
3) If you're on a long ladder and you are taking damage from something, don't risk jumping off, if your parachute fails to deploy and you hit the ground... Anyway. Instead, press your sprint+backward key (Shift+S) to do a quick slide down a ladder.
4) I've found binding your pistol key and primary weapon key to another button within easy reach to be very useful. For me I've put my primary weapon key to F, and pistol to my mouse wheel. This enables ease in switching firing modes, and whipping out the pistol if i run out of ammo.
5) If you are killed by a sniper near a friendly outpost, here's a tip: spawn as a sniper, and take him out. Then, go to where you died previously and pick up your kit. Business as usual.
6) When you play in a squad, you may notice you can request stuff from your commander. If you're a squad member and you request something, it does not go through to your commander. It goes to your squad leader, so it's up to your squad leader to realise his squad members need something and go directly to the commander.
Part 2: Kits Overview
Teamwork is a key aspect in BF2, each kit has a role to play, so make sure you know what you're doing.
Special Ops
Special Ops have a weak armor, and are armed with carbines, accurate but weak weapons. I'd recommend taking on enemies at range, but if you play special ops, it isn't about the carbine, it's about the C4.
C4 charges can be very useful in many situations. If you encounter enemy tanks and such, you can sneak up and plant a few charges and run like hell. Remember that it takes two charges to destroy a tank or APC at full health.
C4 can also be used to lay traps. Say you are on a map, and you're defending a outpost. Know of a chokepoint? Rig it with C4. Be careful not to TK anyone. Keep it mind C4 have a large explosive radius, use this to your advantage. Don't be a cock and throw them on the floor in plain sight, put them on walls where they are harder to notice.
Also, special ops are the only kit that is effectively equipped to take out commander assets (the stuff that allows your commander to give UAV, place artillery strikes, etc). Two charges will do the trick.
Sniper
Most people think snipers have no teamwork value. This is not true. Snipers can effectively spot hostiles far away, and more importantly, take out enemy snipers hurting your team.
Unlike most FPS games, the sniper rifles in BF2 do not make one shot kills when you hit the torso. They do however, damage the enemy to a point where only one to two shots from a pistol will clean up the job. If you followed my advice and binded your pistol key, this should be easy. Aim with rifle, pow, take out pistol, putt putt. Win.
Snipers also have two claymores (anti-personnel mines). You should use these to protect your position, and prevent others from sneaking up on you. Some people also find pleasure in spamming these on the ground. You'll see them run into the thick of a firefight throwing clays everywhere and praying for a kill. I don't recommend this. You'd be better off with your rifle. Really.
Assault
The assault kit doesn't really do much for a team, other than killing lots of people. The stock loadouts come with a grenade launcher, which combined with the rifle, well, kicks ass. Again if you binded your primary weapon key, this is a very easy kit to use. Have your grenade launcher out, damage the enemy, whip out rifle, own.
Assault kits aren't completely devoid of teamwork though. They DO have a handy piece of equipment. Smoke grenades (but not when you use the F2000 loadout, you get flashbangs instead, but flashbangs are stupid). Your squad is pinned down by a tank for example. A well placed smoke could cover a hasty retreat to a safer postition.
Support
The support kit is armed with a light machine gun, which is very effective in close range and good for pinning hostiles down at a range. However it really only can be used to its full potential when prone, which can be a dick in the arse sometimes.
Support kits come with an ammo bag which is used to resupply friendly troops. This also applies to friendly armor. Note that enemies can also pick up the ammo you drop, so be careful where you put them.
When you're in a vehicle, you become something like a mobile supply station, and people near your vehicle can be resupplied slowly. You also resupply your fellow passengers in the vehicle with you.
Engineer
Engineers are armed with a shotgun that is extremely effective in close range. If used correctly that is. There are two variants to the shotgun in BF2 the pump action, and the semi/auto shotguns. Both to me are equally good, so it's up to your personal preference.
But the shotgun is not why you use engineer, it's because you can repair stuff! Yup. This means you should be using armor. When you take damage, pop smoke, retreat to a distance, repair. Then go back in and rape. You can also repair commander assets. Sometimes when you are repairing assets but nothing seems to happen, just keep repairing. It's a bug in the game. Similar to the support kit, you become a mobile repair station in a vehicle.
Engineers also come with anti-vehicle mines. Infantry cannot set these off don't bother trying. Like C4, don't lay them in straight lines, try putting them in dark places, around corners, etc. Basically you want them to be out of sight, yet in a place where people will drive. A tip when you encounter a tank or similar, place a mine behind it, then run to the front in plain sight of the enemy armor with a mine in your hands. Usually they will panic and reverse back, and yes, on to your mine. Piece of cake.
Medic
Lol. Anyway. Medics. The most hated and loved kit in the game. Medics are one of the most important team members in a game, since they revive and heal teammates. Coupled with some of the more effective rifles in the game, you can rack up tonnes of points if you use it right.
But being a medic isn't about points. It's being a smart medic. When you're a medic, do what you're supposed to do, heal and revive. Not fight. Please. So if you are walking along and one of your comrades gets pwned, don't just keep walking. Backtrack, assess the situation, and engage any hostiles. Then revive. Don't just go revive, this can result in both dying. Similarly, if a tank takes out a teammate and you're safe, don't be a prick and dash out to rez the guy. You'll both get killed.
You also have a medic bag, which can be dropped and picked up by others to be healed to full health. Everything about this bag is similar to the ammo one I'm not typing it out. And your car also becomes an ambulance blah blah read support.
Anti-tank
Self explanatory. Your job is to kill tanks and vehicles. Mainly tanks. Note that when fighting a tank, you should aim for the rear or tracks if you can, as these spots are the weakest.
A tip when you use your rocket launcher. It can be guided. When you're zoomed in, after you fire, do not release your fire button and you'll be able to guide it to a certain extent. This is pretty useful for taking out moving vehicles. Note that you can also guide the rocket when behind a wall (which i think is pretty magical since i thought it guides following a laser or something). Use this to your advantage. For example, you see a tank. Fire your rocket, and duck behind a wall. Whilst behind it, use your launcher to guide it to roughly where the tank was and you'll score a hit.
Part 3: Manners and Etiquette
Yes, there is a set of unwritten rules that all good players ought to follow.
1) Don't TK for vehicles. That's just... Naughty.
2) Always apologise for a TK, whether it was because of artillery, or you ran over someone by accident.
3) If you chance upon armor without anyone in it, check to make sure that no one is repairing it, because that probably means they want to use it again.
4) Pay attention to what your teammates say. Give them ammo if they ask for it, etc.
5) Don't drive off without your teammates. That's just silly.
6) Similarly, if a teammate requests a pickup, be nice. Drive back to pick him/her up.
Well! That's all I can think of. I hope it helped you. Good luck with BF2!
