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HOW TO PLAY INFANTRY:
(ASSAULT RIFLES, CHEAP TACTICS AND SMOKING GOOD)
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AKA: A 25 page book about how to play BF2 infantry... lol
Revised as of March 17th, 2007 - Added "the grenade trick" and some introduction stuff.
Are you sick of dying all the time and typing capslock insults at people for bunnyhopping and generally shooting you in the face? Read this and maybe things will improve.
Keep in mind that no amount of knowledge or strategy is going to carry you alone. You will probably need to play the game quite a bit to get the muscle memory filling in for you.
One last thing before I begin, there is no substitute for a video when it comes to learning how you need to play. There are many out there, but I recommend watching these videos. While I do not recommend every single thing depicted, watching a video enables beginners to see what the screen looks like as kills are happening. Any video that depicts many kills from a variety of positions and weapons should help players learn which techniques are rewarded with kills.
RiceKrispie:
Streaming/Download
warchild.jerunk:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=CUyztyCoXk0
Nero:
http://files.filefront.com/neroninja1wm … einfo.html
x6.Acura
http://www.mofivegaming.com/CPL/acuracpl5v5.rar
C-Sh0t:
http://rapidshare.com/files/7287371/controversyvol1.wmv
I know some of this stuff can be found elsewhere but i think anybody except maybe the best infantry players can find something in here that will help them. I focus on medic and assault playing because i consider them the most powerful infantry kits, and this guide is geared toward maximum damage playing. you will find that most of the combat tips are useful regardless of your kit. You will also notice that this guide is biased towards karkand. This is because i am a karkand whore and i know BF2 could just as soon be called Strike at Karkand for about half of the people that come to this site. With that said, you get good on Karkand, and suddenly infantry combat is easy on any map.
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KARKAND IN A NUTSHELL
Use those tree planters as cover whenever they are near. Also use the burnt out cars, random pallets, walls, boxes, and dumpsters as cover. Just stand right behind them facing the enemy and take quick shots at their visible head. Figure out when the enemy is about to come into view and begin firing before that moment (ie, advance and retreat quickly in close quarters combat against many enemies to draw them into view). Sprint perpendicular to the enemies fire whenever possible, never remain motionless when fired upon unless you are landing kill shots. Try to maintain at least 50% sprint for those moments when youre under fire. Sprinting really fucks up the hit boxes. Turn up your mouse sensitivity so its easy to snap from running perpendicular to aiming directly at heads. always play medic and keep your teamates up (afterall teamates are pretty useful cover/bait).
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THE GENERAL CONCEPT
The central idea is that your time should always be split either dealing lethal damage or being impossible to kill (due to cover or movement). You cannot accomplish this without knowledge of the enemies position. This guide will describe how to be aware of your surroundings in order to deal damage and recieve little.
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AWARENESS, HAVING COVER, AND MOVEMENT
Owning doesnt necessarily mean controlling the situation. It normally is a matter of adapting yourself to a situation as well as possible. If you attempt to always be an aggressor and to simply run anywhere, dominating everything, you will die a lot in BF2. Good camping spots, claymores, grenade lobbers, unexpectedly large squads, artillery, vehicles, and very distant snipers are the reality of BF2. No matter how good you get at killing things that cross your path, things such as these can instantly kill you if you dont adapt your playing style, every single round, to what is being "whored." i cant tell you how many times i have tried to force close combat gunfights on servers, only to be claymored over and over again out of stubborness. Its basically bringing a knife to a gunfight (which isnt always bad, i will probably touch on it later).
In order to be responding perfectly to the enemy, you have to know exactly where they are. Always be searching for enemies to either kill or take cover from. Never simply sit or run while vulnerable. You should never find yourself in a wide open place unless you are sure (UAV or deep behind the lines) its safe. Always watch the map so that you can hunt all of the spotted or UAVed enemies. You will have a tremendous advantage if they dont also see u on the map. The meat and potatoes of your recon will be simply popping out into open places for a second, looking around, listening for an attack, and either proceeding to to kill something or proceeding to leap back behind cover to devise an intelligent attack. Just respect that any noob can kill you if you just try to charge through some place while people are shooting at you.
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PAY ATTENTION TO THE BALANCE OF FLAGS AND TICKET COUNT
If you have all the flags or a huge lead on tickets (over 100) don't think about taking any risks. Dont run across open terrain or around corners that they have claymored. Just figure out where they need to go and flank them as they try to get there. Think about getting on top of a wall and patrolling with the grenade launcher.
The only time to take territory and risk yourself is when your team is down on flags and the tickets are currently in close enough competition (or even worse if you are losing).
Don't be dumb though. Sometimes the battle is far gone. Dont be the guy who is still charging out of his main every spawn when his team is losing and there are 20 tickets left. Just look out for yourself. That team probably doesnt deserve your help. Know when to give up on them.
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UNDER ATTACK!!!
Because it is not possible to know where everybody is, you need to know what to do when you are randomly attacked. When you are being shot at, if possible, find out where it is coming from by frantically looking 360 degrees (or less if necessary!) so that u can move in the direction of some cover like a box or the corner of a building. Particularly if you are hit, it is important to run and bunnyhop a few times to make your (hopefully) short trip to cover safe. Running zigzags can help a little when taking cover but realize that the time it takes you to reach cover is critical so keep it simple. Zigzagging, is actually not all that important, however realize that hitting people running perpendicualr is quite difficult, so if u can turn a straight run at or away from the enemy into two slanted paths, you are much better off.
If somebody has hit you unexpectedly, don't count on being able to find and kill them from the same position because you are essentially depending on them sucking miserably and not hitting the same shot again. You have to move to some cover unless you just did some incredible shooting. Now that you are behind something you have the opportunity to initiate your own attack. And most likely the person that watched you ditch has now left their advantaged position to simply run at you because they know that they already hit you once and think you have panicked.
You always want the privelege of making the first move when it comes down to kills happening and now that you are behind cover you have some control. If you are a medic, then you immediately healed yourslef once behind cover. This is a large part of why you want to avoid sitting still as much as possible in BF2. Unless you are a sniper at very long range or support, you are majorly disadvantaged to fight motionless. Even if you are camping the corner of a building it is smart to repeatedly get up and check the other corner of the building. This way you are always running into the enemy as opposed to them surprising you. If you are defending one area or flag for an extended period of time DO NOT assume that the smartest thing to do is find the ultimate camping spot. this gets you knifed or artied and makes you wait around for kills. Instead consider running little curcuits around key choke points so that each time you approach you are potentially surprising the enemy.
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BUNNYS AND DOLPHINS ARE SOME OF THE FRIENDLIEST ANIMALS KNOWN TO MANKIND
Bunnyhopping and the dolphin dive (run jump prone crouch run) are great tactics because of the way they provide defense and time for scanning territory. in addition to being very useful when moving toward cover, the dolphin dive is also a good way of entering possibly dangerous cramped areas like the karkand square flag. This is because for the couple seconds you are diving and getting up, you are somewhat difficult to hit for the camping enemy. During this moment of slight safety you have the opportunity to fully scan your surroundings and then land perfectly accurate shots if you spot someone (while hes just struggling to hit ur moving body and giving away his position). Any time you need to buy yourself a half second to scan for somebody shooting at you, a dolphin dive can keep you alive while looking around. I almost think of it as the infantryman's smoke, as in armor, or flares, as in jets. However it is crucial to understand that a dolphin dive is only there to save you for maybe one dive, beyond that (or even before) u will most likely get hit. It serves its purpose only when cover and quick shooting are also happening.
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PRONE SPAMMING (more like prone/crouch spamming)
Prone-Crouch-Prone-Crouch. With prone, you drop, and crouch, you stand. Notice that you can stand much sooner by pushing crouch than prone. Waist-high inanimate objects are the shit. Stand behind them and shoot at anything u see. While standing be scanning. If u see somebody that is shooting you or even looking directly at you, start going prone and then using the crouch key to get up and shoot them. By bobbing like this, u initiate all the opportunities for shots to be fired. Your enemy will always be delayed because they are the one reacting while u are the one forcing the shot. This bobbing can be done just as effectively while using small hills and the slope of surrounding terrain as cover from which to pronespam. If you are a medic, use the prone time for dropping health before getting up with your weapon out. It is essential to use the crouch button for standing if you want good timing. When you stand up from being prone, the first shots you fire can actually be taken before the enemy sees you standing. So if you are coming up fast and shooting almost immediately (almost while you are still on the ground) then you will just be taking easy pot shots. Its pretty sweet.
To counter this strategy, sneak up on the person if they hide for long, or simply detect a rhythm in their bobbing and start shooting just before u expect them to stand so that they literally stand up into your shots. This is easily done in a tank or apc but be careful not to waste your ammo doing this a lot on foot. Respect that the guy behind the waist high wall or hill crest has the advantage of cover, dont simply duel him on his schedule or he will get the easiest kill you can imagine!
You will hear a lot of people recommend against "skylining." While I agree that the horizon is easy to spot a person on, know that it is very difficult for people to headshot you if you are bobbing up and down behind a hill crest. It doesn't matter if they can see you on the crest of the hill if they are tasked with headshotting each time you pop up in a new location. It is more important to have access to cover in BF2 than to be unseen. In reality there are very few places you can hide in BF2 that will prevent people from doming you the way pronespamming will.
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SETUP THE KEYBOARD AND MOUSE (thanks blademaster for reminding me to add this section)
You need it to be comfortable running in any direction while jumping, crouching, going prone, switching kits, switching items, and using items (ie, shooting). I personally recommend setting E to crouch and CTRL to prone. this will mean getting into vehicles using the F key, which is fine. In order to rebind the F key you will have to unbind its weapon swapping ability for each vehicle mode individually. I dont do it myself because i am used to using 9, but i have heard of setting the scroll wheel's button to the parachute and i would recommend this to people starting off. I do not recomend binding any function to the mouse that u might use while shooting or aiming (ie, jump, teamspeak, any movement). your left hand can be a little sloppy with anything that it does so its ok to burden it with many tasks. your right hand is for aiming so i recommend dedicating it to this task almost entirely. I also recommend turning up the sensitivity a little. 1.7 is what i use, just remember that u are balancing ease of long range precision with ease of close combat movement. Its possible to be precise with a sensitivity this high (probably higher) so i recommend getting used to it because the end result will be you reacting to people in close quarters combat faster.
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SHOOTING
ASK YOURSELF: DO I NEED TO ZOOM RIGHT NOW?
I recommend trying to play ONLY in non-zoomed mode at first. This is because in non-zoomed mode, u are guaranteed that the bullet will begin its tragectory perfectly in the middle of the colored crosshairs. You can shoot people out to probably 50 meters this way by carefully centering the targets head, shooting, and recorrecting. The best thing about this is that the technique is identical for almost all weapons, as opposed to being unique for each weapon the way iron sight shooting is. The iron sights and scopes can be misleading as to where the bullets land so it is better to avoid using them when u dont need to and learning exactly how far u can shoot without them. When i say the iron sights are unique to each weapon an example would be: with the SVD u shoot high, with the M24 you shoot low. or with the mr-444 u shoot low and the 92fs you shoot high. All the iron sights (even when they look identical as in the G36's) have different "sweet spots" that u'll have to get used to (id save yourself all the deaths and do it in singleplayer a bit). Once you learn the sweet spots, if u will, u will start landing your first shots almost every time even at really long range.
Ever wondered why X, Y, or Z gun sucks? Well it probably doesn't. Many of the guns in BF2 have very misleading iron sights.
Numerous people around bf2s.com have accurately marked croshairs in the past (such as scoutstrike, jemme and todd_angelo). In this thread I use their method of coloring the center pixels. By coloring in the center four pixels at 1280x1024 resolution, we are able to see which pixels on each iron sight represent the true center of your crosshair. You may need to download and zoom in on the images to use them to their full potential.
SIGNIFICANT UPDATE: All of the images in this thread have been replaced since my original post. I originally defined the center of each iron sight as it corresponded to BF2's unzoomed crosshairs. I have since learned that BF2's unzoomed crosshairs are misaligned for ALL weapons and appear accordingly:
Close-up: You must aim slightly down and to the left.
It should be reiterated that all weapons featuring BF2's standard unzoomed sight suffer from this same alignment issue. So for example the m249 mounted guns, pistols, and 0.50 cal mounted guns (vodnik, DPV, roof of tank) all aim slightly up and to the right as depicted in the previous screenshot.
Assault Rifles
m16assault - sights aim differently from medic
m16medic
ak101 (assault and medic sights identical)
ak47assault - sights aim differently from medic
ak47medic
L85medic
G3
F2000
G36E
SCARH
FAMAS
L85A2
With recoil what it is, I suggest referring to neros images for most of your vertical alignment and my images for horizontal alignment.
Pistols
92FS
QSZ92
MR444
Notice how high above the iron the sweet spot sits.
SMGs
TYPE85
MP5
PP19
P90
MP7
MP7 (Note this is the only weapon in BF2 with bobbing iron sights, they deviate vertically between 4 and 3 pixels)
LMGs
TYPE95
RPK74
M249
Another weapon that requires aiming well below the target.
PKM
MG36
Look how far down the iron the bullets land.
EU support LMG
Carbines
M4
QBZ97
AK74U
G36C
SCAR-L
G36K
Aims more like a G36E than a G36C
HK53 EU carbine
Red Dot Sights
Every weapon with a red dot sight in BF2 has essentially the same center point. So on your first shots, you aim a P90 the same as you would an M4, AK74U, or SCAR-L.
Grenade Launchers
Take note of their tendency to fire to the right.
Shotguns
All shotguns share this centerpoint, regardless of zoom.
Iron sight variation
The background can actually cut into the pixels you see on your iron sights making them vary slightly in different situations. This only jumped out after seeing screenshots of the same weapon next to each other. Its something to think about while looking at the SS but it may not matter much. This can be seen clearly in the following M24 sight.
Sniper Rifles
SVD
M24
PLA sniper
M95
L96
AT Missiles
SRAW US and UK(SF) notice its way off
ERYX China and MEC sights (vanilla and SF) notice they are quite accurate
RPG (SF)
Vehicles
Yep. Note that orientation of gun mount can significantly affect aim at short range.
Jets
Mig29 and Su34
J10, Q5 Fantan, and Su-30
F15, F18, F35, & Eurofighter
MEC attack jet in Armored Fury
A10
Tanks
T90
PLA Tank
US & EU tanks
APCs
USMC APC
MEC APC
China APC
Mobile AA
Linebacker (US & EU)
MEC AA
PLA AA
Essex
Mini Choppers in Armored Fury
US, PLA, & MEC are the same (but dif color).
TOW Missiles
All the TOW missiles (mec, china, us, EU) are the same.
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THIS IS SO IMPORTANT IT DESERVES ITS OWN CATEGORY
Always be ready for them to suddenly go prone or jump! (u know its going to happen the moment they hear the bullets landing on them).
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LEARN WHEN TO SPRAY AND WHEN TO SHOOT SINGLE SHOTS
Within 30 meters, just start at their waste and go full auto (or almost full auto with repeated bursts) letting the muzzle climb direct the bullets onto them and not over their head. So if u start too high on on their body with full auto, you may not end up getting the kill unless you counteract the muzzleclimb especially well (an unecessary challenge). The goal in doing this IS to get a headshot, however starting at the waist ensures youre doing damage even if the first shot doesnt land. Chances are, if they are close you (10 m) do not want to stop moving while shooting. If you must go prone, make it a quick dolphin dive followed by crouch and run. They don't deserve to get an easy kill on you when you decide to go prone right at their feet as they run past spraying.
If they are outside 30 meters, put it in single shot by pressing 3 once and attempt to fire at their head at half second intervals always recorrecting until you get consecutive hits (only zoom if they are way the hell out there). If you attempt to spray full auto or repeated 3 shot bursts in these situations you will almost never get a kill unless your very first burst is a perfectly lined up headshot. Dont depend on that happening every time.
I am over simplifying here by dividing it into two clear cut distance categories but with practice you will get a sense for the importance of how to balance rate of fire with range.
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WEAPONS AND HOW TO LEARN THEM
You can't go wrong with any medic or assault gun in bf2 but it helps to figure out exactly where the bullets are going to go. The g36e is very simple but you might want to experiment in singleplayer to see exactly where your bullets are landing with the other guns. Especially the M16. This gun is almost the most consistent shot, but it can take practice to get used to the way the recoil effects it and where on the sights the bullets tend to land.
the weapons are all pretty balanced. M16 owns long distance, ak101/47 owns close range with its powerful spray, and g36e and L85 probably outperform all three except at extreme close and long range (The L85 can only be called a better gun than the M16 at long range because a headshot is a kill, it would be easier to land a head shot with the M16 but you still need to hit them once more due to lower damage so u find L85s sometimes winning the long range battle).
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A NOTE ON MOVING AND SHOOTING
If you are jogging in any single direction, your aim will still be pretty decent with SMGs, carbines, ARs and sniper rifles. For the former 3, this is probably true out to 10 or 15 meters. For sniper rifles, you can be moving in one direciton while shooting and still have LONG accuracy. I almost always move while sniping (although sniping is pretty boring compared to fighting people that aware of you). Your steady movement while shooting can actually help you resolve that last pixel of precision before firing.
But a HUGE exception to this matter of moving and shooting is that it can only be done in one direction at a time. If you move forward and sideways while firing the sniper rifle, it will suddenly be crap. If you move just sideways or just forward it will be fine. With assault rifles I follow the same rule, however within about 5 m I will move however i want while shooting because it just works out.
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WINNING THE HEADSHOT GAME (ITS JUST A HEADSHOT GAME)
When you spot someone and begin shooting, a lot of the time they will see you and attempt to shoot at you before dying. If you see that sequence happening--them instantly going prone at u, before they can start to shoot, just get back up, run to cover (or even just jump once) and then go prone at them again to finish them off. (or if you are behind waist high cover like i recommend, then simply go prone to deprive them of their big attack move and immediately respond with your own). The reason for doing this is to prevent them from having an opportunity to take one clean headshot at you while u are motionlessly shooting at them. Since they are not dead, obviously u failed to get the one shot kill already. by moving, u deprive them of their opportunity (most likely) and then essentially turn the table, now they are the motionless one that u get to try and land the headshot on. The only exception here is if u know the person is especially good and will definitely kill u with their first shots. In that case you better hope you are landing all of yours before they get started.
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DONT BOTHER FIGHTING HEAD ON WHEN YOU DONT NEED TO: FLANK
Did you just make it behind cover while some people shot at you? Well try to circle them by a substantial number of degrees (like 90) before you expose yourself again for the attack if you want an easier gunfight. When not under UAV, people tend to just run to wherever they saw you last, even if you could be a block away behind cover before they make it to that door you disappeared through. Take advantage of this and always try to sweep them parallel to the perceived battle front line whenever one seems to form. Once I am close to a densely populated flag, this almost turns into a matter of circling the flag and spawns. If you are moving the whole time you are difficult to attack and yet capable of barreling through even large numbers of people (3 is easily within reason) that dont really expect somebody simply patroling the flag but not running one of the usual routes straight to it.
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THINK ABOUT THE VIEW ANGLES YOUR MOVEMENT OPENS AND CLOSES
Use whatever cover you have to cut off the angle on all members of their team except the one you are killing. This piece of advice is crucial to taking on groups of people by yourself. Additionally, do not bother to attack when more than one enemy is in view unless you are killing both at once somehow, or unless one of them is completely oblivious and its obvious to you. Only expose yourself to multiple enemies if you need to in order to kill whichever enemy is closest (ie., dont let somebody simply run up to you by waiting until the last second to enter the angle u have established, but dont expose yourself unecessarily).
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FALL BACK
Always think about how you will fall back if suddenly there is a squad of three rounding a corner on you. Large squads are surprisingly dumb as they roll together because they have a false sense of security. If you are one person that just ran a block back and hid behind a box, they normally will just charge directly at you expecting that as a squad they will somehow take you out. In reality the AK can easily kill four people that attempt to run directly at you from close up.
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THE GRENADE LAUNCHER
Its good fun. It will work best at close range, but too close (within 5 feet) and it may bounce unpredictably. If you are at this kind of obscenely close distance, aim just below their feet and when it bounces it will probably hit their body for the kill. You will have to simply get used to the arc that it makes. Remember that it probably wont arc much at all when firing downwards. It is wonderful to find out when the enemy is coming uphill towards your flag. Simply peek off your cliff, etc and start launching the grenades directly into them. This way you have a full clip ready when they reach the stairs or what have you. I don't recommend using the GL a lot at long range. While it is fun to just ace people from 100 m away with grenade rounds, the reality is that this is much more challenging than simply firing bullets directly at them so you are probably fghting less effectively and wasting nades if you do this. But more power to you if you are fighting very consistently this way. GL rounds kill the fast attack vehicles and jets in one shot so go crazy (maybe 2 shots for the jet? either way its good). It takes 2-3 to kill a Hummer I think. They are better for evacuating a hummer than actually blowing them up.
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SWITCHING WEAPONS/ITEMS
You are horrible at BF2 if you use the little scrolly wheel to switch weapons. It isn't that hard to use the buttons 1 through 7 at 1 to 2 second intervals (or as you need to) so get used to doing this.
Medics: You need to be instantaneous about going from shooting, to reviving, to throwing health bags, to reloading, to grenading. Unless you are switching between all of these tasks seamlessly, you will not keep up. (in other words, its impossible to keep up with good players while using the wheel). (and while im at it, if u fly jets, get a fucking joystick, they really work).
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SWITCHING KITS
Alright, so you you just mowed down those 5 douchebags on that corner. Unfortunately, the nade u threw at them bounced off the sign and back at your feet, so now youve got about 3 bars of health. You need to run up to the support and medic kit you see and: G, 5, click, stand over bag (pick up bag), then G back on your kit or the next kit you want to borrow from. Whenever you throw a bag, think of it as you designating where you want to stand. so if u have a piece of cover, throw the bag there.
You can just as easily do this to pull out some shockpaddles and revive a friendly but ONLY if you are sure the coast is clear. Don't get killed lying there reviving people, the enemy just doesn't deserve to get a second kill doing whatever retarded strategy they are doing.
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SHOCKPADDLING & REVIVING (AND KNIFING)
It is very ballsy to shockpaddle or knife anyone that sees you. But it is very easy to shockpaddle a friendly or enemy mid-jog that is laying prone. DO NOT EVEN STOP FOR A MOMENT WHILE REVIVING. I always see people going prone to revive. This is normally just a way of getting shot over the same vulnerabe spot the last guy did. If possible, run at the corpse lengthwise and aim at the the closest edge of the body as you run up to revive it. Click the moment your cursor is over the body, but make sure it remains over it for another .5 secs or so because the shockpaddles have a little delay. This is easily accomplished in the time that it takes for your body to jog over the corpse.
If you are shockpaddling enemies, try not to be seen. If you are seen and have missed your first paddle (sometimes its the hit detection), use some run that you saved to bunny hop wildly and unpredictably around him so you can have another go at shocking the guy. If there are multiple enemies use the knife because it can be used repeatedly and it wont disable your option to heal if you end up getting shot at.
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BEING A GOOD MEDIC THAT ALWAYS GETS HIS HEAL POINT
Just dont fuck it up. Revive anyone you can possibly get to safely. And always be throwing health bags. If somebody needs health, and is approaching you, just throw a bag a forget about it. If you see somebody that needs health but isnt asking for it then you will need to be more proactive if you want the heal point. I recommend holding the bag next to them until u get a point, and then throwing out the health. This way you are sure that they are informed of your presense (the cross symbol and tape sound), you are assured of your heal point, and you arent wasting time standing their healing them if they are dumb enough after this to not pick up the bag u left to get fully healed.
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THE MEDIC HAS A UNIQUE COMBAT ROLE
If you are assault, you can think about being the guy that rounds the corner first. As medic, you are throwing away points by leading the pack. Instead hold back, let your squad get mowed down at every single jucture, and then revive them from cover so that they always get a few tries against the enemy. Resist your tempation to run out front and 'not miss out on anything.' The reality is that its a race to die as much as for the next kill, and if you are always in the back of the squad behind the wall, you will accumulate many more kills and revives than deaths.
If you ever see your teamate getting killed over an over again by something and you know you are safe from it while reviving, then just simply revive over and over again. You will get handsome point rewards and even if your teamate is too dumb to realize it, they probably COULD simply bunnyhop away and be healed by you if they just tried. The battle is only over when you stop reviving people, dont just give away tickets because somebody is pinning your squad mate down with some decent headshots (or a tank) on some corner (fyi, your team doesnt lose a ticket on revived people and your teamate doesnt accrue a death if he is revived--if you revive him ten times before losing him, he gets one death). dont listen to idiots whining about how it makes them wait. You have to put the team ahead of their selfish impatience (and nevermind your selfish teampoint enterprise).
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PISTOL
It is very accurate with little recoil but it does little damage. Be sure to carefully line up shots, but remember that u can fire as quickly as you want (tap as fast as u can with a steady hand when they are up close). Assault rifles, carbines, and LMGs are far superior at all ranges so avoid confronting people with pistols. It is very useful to reflexively pull out the pistol any time you need finish a damaged enemy. If you are amusing yourself by using the horribly disadvantaged sniper kit, remember that the pistol will be doing about half of the work while sniping. An M95, M24, and L96 will turn the pistol into a 'second shot' kill weapon.
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ANTI-TANK
Using the rocket: Within 20 meters make sure your initial aim is precise. For long shots it is ok to be off at first but you must quickly train the missile continuously on the target for it it land where you need it. You don't have to compensate for any drop in the missile for long shots. However, closing the zoom window after shooting will slow down your missile and cause it to fall short. Guiding the missile into far away targets makes you very vulnerable so you almost only want to do it against unaware targets. Because the missile cant instantly damage things, PLAY DEFENSIVELY by taking into account all of my advice on using cover.
Killing Vehics: Never shoot a rocket at armor that is looking in your direction.
Against APCs aim wherever, it takes 2 to get it flaming.
Against tanks, aim for the leading or trailing edge of the tracks. 2 perfect shots to this spot will leave it flaming. Hitting the body, sides, or turret can result in a 3-4 shot kill. If the tank is by a supply drop or if it has a gunner on top, instead guide your missile at one of these (but the supply drop is a priority, only blow up the gunner if you have good cover and dont mind killing the tank more slowly).
2 shots to any part of an AA vehicle are an instant kill. Always take cover between shots.
A single AT rocket kills a plane but only shoot at planes on the runway.
The DPVS are one shot kills. The vodniks and hummers will take 2 shots or one if they are damaged.
Two AT rockets will flame kill a chopper. It is only possible to hit choppers that are very close or that are hanging in place mid air. If you see a chopper raping your base that isnt looking at you, take an opportunity to shoot at it if you see it stop mid air to camp. This will send the chopper away for repairs or bring you one shot away from the kill. Be aware of any vehicles around you if you are attacking the chopper. AT missiles can help but nothing works better than hopping in the main gun of a hummer, vodnik, or DPV. About 8 seconds of directly lined up fire (no bullet drop) will kill the attack chopper. Always aim missiles or gun shots at the glass.
Killing infantry: Use the AT rocket on people that are either motionless and more than 20 meters away or against people running directly at you. If they appear to be dodging a lot or even moving much at all at long range do not waste a missile. At close range the SMGs are awesome. Try not to expose yourself to the enemy until you can be within about 20 meters. Just immediately line up on them below their head and hold down on the mouse button until you see white writing.
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ERYX: THE MEDIC KILLER
Do they have a horde of medics overwheliming your team and making you angry? Hang back a bit and start picking off the motionless, camping ones with the AT missiles. These missiles have a very unique role for infantry in their reliable way of killing people and rendering them unrevivable.
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ASSAULT: THE MEDIC KILLER
Most people would agree that the ARs are the most dynamic infantry weapons in BF2. They can be used well from any position including moving, and they are lethal at any range. For this reason, the medics and their health bags are quite powerful. The assault kit wont necesarily keep you alive as long, but the fact that it sports the same weapon but with armor, makes it perfect for taking revenge on the point-whoring medics that you hate. Think of it this way: you and medic face off and end up firing the EXACT same shots at eachother (barring headshots), the result is he dies and you live every time because you can take that extra bullet. But this is a mindless tip, if you are following the rest of my advice, then you will very rarely have these "fair" faceoffs with people because you usually don't have to. Just keep in mind that the odds of ravaging medics are in your favor as assault.
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SPAWNKILLING
This is a controversial tactic but because it is so rampant in BF2 i personally dont mind capping some fools in the back the moment they spawn. I have found that a careful player can escape spawnkill deaths by bunnyhopping away so as far as im concerned its pretty much fair game if u are infantry. With that said, i think it is almost always VERY stupid to stand and stare at a particular spawn point you know of. Guaranteed, somebody is going to run up behind you from another spawn or flag and you will be knifed like the bottom feeder you are attempting to be. Remember: never stop moving. On the other hand, Most all good players end up discovering where all the spawns are, and then monitoring them as well as possible as they approach and capture flags.
Sometimes I think it is good to sit off a hotly contested flag and cover some area with a spawn or 3 in view. This can provide a lot of relief to your teammates as they capture and if u are a squad leader your squad will almost inevitably win that battle. Alternatively flags can be captured with the knowledge of the spawns and what directions they indicate the enemy coming from. While sitting in certain positions it is possible to camp (or be safe from) all the spawns at once at the suburb while capturing the flag (an exceptionally well placed grenade could get you). If winning is the bottom line then using such a position is good strategy so be looking out for spawns. There are positions in the suburb, square, gatehouse and US N uncaps that let u cover at least 3/4 spawns from one position. EA basically tells you where the enemy is always going to come from so why ignore it?
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GRENADES
Just remember that you have them. They are unlike your guns in that you can inflict damage on people you cannot see. Thus throw as many grenades at people as u can when you know roughly where they are, but are behind cover. Never throw a grenade at someone in plain view. Your only chance of getting that kill is if they suck (which admittedly goes for a lot of the enemies but whatever).
Grenades allow you to control the enemies movement. Did they just run into a building to ambush you as u chase them in? well make them run out into your ambush with a grenade. Did you just empty your clip the moment an enemy rounded a nearby corner? Well if you have a second to at least escape around the corner behind you, throwing a grenade at your feet will force the enemy to die or wait five seconds while u reload before rounding the corner at you.
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THE GRENADE TRICK
Did you know a grenade can go off literally touching your body in BF2 and you can survive? The trick is putting your head's hitbox in a wall or solid object. It only works while prone. With your head in the wall, the grenade doesnt do its triple damage to your head, and you get away with half of your life. If you are a medic and have three med packs at your feet, then you can literally take three consecutive nades to the body and still be alive. Since you can't see anything while doing this, it only works when you have some amount of cover and it requires that you play intelligently/have UAV (knowing when youre going to be attacked etc). It is excellent for when 2-3 people capture a flag together, because one person can be hiding on the flag staying alive while the others keep the coast clear of any potential gunners. Most top CAL teams use this trick when capturing flags and when camping (like in the fountain at karkand square 16 player size or out in front of mashtuur's mosque, if u hear a grenade coming, just go prone face first against the little wall in the fountain by the flag and youre good. throw down more health then pop up the next second and gun the nadewhore down, repeat).
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BE IN A SQUAD
If you are doing a good job for them you will soon find yourself in a squad full of helpful medics. Go ahead and be leader if you want to get the most out of it, but it will probably be up to u whether the squad functions so take responsibility and promote teamwork (be the guy whoring the revives or throwing ammo bags at the antitank guy every single time he shoots. People really catch on to this stuff. You can make a dull average round into something fun and different once you have a squad of people all contributing to the scene (plus youll be winning).
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SWITCH TEAMS (you dont need those losers)
When a game ends, provided the map doesn't reload, if you press join game as soon as possible and then switch teams the moment that becomes possible and create a squad, then you will 100% of the time be able to escape that horrid team of goons that wouldnt revive you. Creating the squad is important to do because when servers autobalance, they only switch people that died and werent in a squad. If you arent in a squad you will get switched back when u die and be stuck on the crappy team again. Only do this if the conditions truly call for it.
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SMOKE THEM OUT
For all of history people have modified their combat abilities with various psychoactive compounds. I highly recommend you keep a packed bong in your holster for when the combat stress becomes overwhelming. UAV is a big help, but in general you want to find a nice piece of cover that is at least 30 seconds away from the view of any approaching enemy. Once you are in position, arm your lighter and take a toke. However the most important part of this step is immersion. You must actually see yourself pushing aside your weapon and picking up the bong while sitting indian style amidst the karkand dust. Deploy a smoke grenade on your position. See that sniper across from you? Try sending him a "follow me" so that he realizes he is next in the rotation. Be sure to manually spot any boats or mobile AAs you hear creeping up.
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FANCY GEAR AND VIDEO SETTINGS
I use a 7 year old intellimouse (that i use over a newer generic veiwsonic mouse) and random viewsonic keyboard. Mice with adjustable sensitivity may harm your performance if they prevent you from becoming deeply accustomed your way of movement and aiming. I have an AMD 3200, 2 GB of RAM, and Geforce 7900GT. The computer basically meets BF2's minimum requirements and not much more, but the newer video card has helped a lot. I play at 1280x1024 bc its my flat panel's native resolution however all the settings are on low except for geometry (high) and view distance (100%) because these setting are important for long distance visibility. i could play with higher detail but it makes it harder to see in some cases and occasioanlly gives me low fps.
UPDATE 3/1/07 - I've been using a Razer Diamondback mouse and Logitech G11 keyboard. They are both excellent. I play with much higher mouse sensitivity than I was using when I originally wrote this guide. Its a major improvement because a high resolution mouse can allow you to turn very fast but with a lot of precision when aiming. Changing the sensitivity on the fly also helps you slowly ramp up the sensitivity to get faster. i definitely recommend a high quality logitech or Razer gaming mouse if you want to make things more interesting.
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GET A BETTER VIDEO CARD
If you are experiencing any kind of low frames per second, then you are putting yourself at a disadvatage. A video card cant make you good, but in some way you can't be good without a *good enough* video card. I just upgraded from a geforce 6800XT to a $200 7900GT and while there is no difference in performance between now and when my old one would behave, the performance is much more consistent than with the slower card. Its pretty nice to no longer have to just accept some deaths as crappy low fps that you could do nothing about.
Should you buy a $500 dollar card? Probably not.
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NOT RECOMMENDED FOR THE FAINT OF HEART (no fat chicks)
If you are referring to the spawnkilling note, i see why you dont like the spirit but spawns are a reality and people begin memorizing them without even trying. You can choose to play blind, but if u are trying to win, spawncamping will just happen if u are protecting your ass capturing flags and supporting your team. I have killed so many people while they tried to spawn camp me, that i hardly feel bad for shutting down a spawn for a bit. If they really earn it they can survive.
But in short you are right: these tactics do piss people off. People get mad when you kill them over and over again. Thats why i wrote this guide. I feel bad for all the people that whine in every server about dying and are obviously desperate to tears for an explanation on how to reliably not die like a bitch all the time in BF2.
HOW TO PLAY INFANTRY:
(ASSAULT RIFLES, CHEAP TACTICS AND SMOKING GOOD)
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AKA: A 25 page book about how to play BF2 infantry... lol
Revised as of March 17th, 2007 - Added "the grenade trick" and some introduction stuff.
Are you sick of dying all the time and typing capslock insults at people for bunnyhopping and generally shooting you in the face? Read this and maybe things will improve.
Keep in mind that no amount of knowledge or strategy is going to carry you alone. You will probably need to play the game quite a bit to get the muscle memory filling in for you.
One last thing before I begin, there is no substitute for a video when it comes to learning how you need to play. There are many out there, but I recommend watching these videos. While I do not recommend every single thing depicted, watching a video enables beginners to see what the screen looks like as kills are happening. Any video that depicts many kills from a variety of positions and weapons should help players learn which techniques are rewarded with kills.
RiceKrispie:
Streaming/Download
warchild.jerunk:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=CUyztyCoXk0
Nero:
http://files.filefront.com/neroninja1wm … einfo.html
x6.Acura
http://www.mofivegaming.com/CPL/acuracpl5v5.rar
C-Sh0t:
http://rapidshare.com/files/7287371/controversyvol1.wmv
I know some of this stuff can be found elsewhere but i think anybody except maybe the best infantry players can find something in here that will help them. I focus on medic and assault playing because i consider them the most powerful infantry kits, and this guide is geared toward maximum damage playing. you will find that most of the combat tips are useful regardless of your kit. You will also notice that this guide is biased towards karkand. This is because i am a karkand whore and i know BF2 could just as soon be called Strike at Karkand for about half of the people that come to this site. With that said, you get good on Karkand, and suddenly infantry combat is easy on any map.
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KARKAND IN A NUTSHELL
Use those tree planters as cover whenever they are near. Also use the burnt out cars, random pallets, walls, boxes, and dumpsters as cover. Just stand right behind them facing the enemy and take quick shots at their visible head. Figure out when the enemy is about to come into view and begin firing before that moment (ie, advance and retreat quickly in close quarters combat against many enemies to draw them into view). Sprint perpendicular to the enemies fire whenever possible, never remain motionless when fired upon unless you are landing kill shots. Try to maintain at least 50% sprint for those moments when youre under fire. Sprinting really fucks up the hit boxes. Turn up your mouse sensitivity so its easy to snap from running perpendicular to aiming directly at heads. always play medic and keep your teamates up (afterall teamates are pretty useful cover/bait).
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THE GENERAL CONCEPT
The central idea is that your time should always be split either dealing lethal damage or being impossible to kill (due to cover or movement). You cannot accomplish this without knowledge of the enemies position. This guide will describe how to be aware of your surroundings in order to deal damage and recieve little.
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AWARENESS, HAVING COVER, AND MOVEMENT
Owning doesnt necessarily mean controlling the situation. It normally is a matter of adapting yourself to a situation as well as possible. If you attempt to always be an aggressor and to simply run anywhere, dominating everything, you will die a lot in BF2. Good camping spots, claymores, grenade lobbers, unexpectedly large squads, artillery, vehicles, and very distant snipers are the reality of BF2. No matter how good you get at killing things that cross your path, things such as these can instantly kill you if you dont adapt your playing style, every single round, to what is being "whored." i cant tell you how many times i have tried to force close combat gunfights on servers, only to be claymored over and over again out of stubborness. Its basically bringing a knife to a gunfight (which isnt always bad, i will probably touch on it later).
In order to be responding perfectly to the enemy, you have to know exactly where they are. Always be searching for enemies to either kill or take cover from. Never simply sit or run while vulnerable. You should never find yourself in a wide open place unless you are sure (UAV or deep behind the lines) its safe. Always watch the map so that you can hunt all of the spotted or UAVed enemies. You will have a tremendous advantage if they dont also see u on the map. The meat and potatoes of your recon will be simply popping out into open places for a second, looking around, listening for an attack, and either proceeding to to kill something or proceeding to leap back behind cover to devise an intelligent attack. Just respect that any noob can kill you if you just try to charge through some place while people are shooting at you.
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PAY ATTENTION TO THE BALANCE OF FLAGS AND TICKET COUNT
If you have all the flags or a huge lead on tickets (over 100) don't think about taking any risks. Dont run across open terrain or around corners that they have claymored. Just figure out where they need to go and flank them as they try to get there. Think about getting on top of a wall and patrolling with the grenade launcher.
The only time to take territory and risk yourself is when your team is down on flags and the tickets are currently in close enough competition (or even worse if you are losing).
Don't be dumb though. Sometimes the battle is far gone. Dont be the guy who is still charging out of his main every spawn when his team is losing and there are 20 tickets left. Just look out for yourself. That team probably doesnt deserve your help. Know when to give up on them.
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UNDER ATTACK!!!
Because it is not possible to know where everybody is, you need to know what to do when you are randomly attacked. When you are being shot at, if possible, find out where it is coming from by frantically looking 360 degrees (or less if necessary!) so that u can move in the direction of some cover like a box or the corner of a building. Particularly if you are hit, it is important to run and bunnyhop a few times to make your (hopefully) short trip to cover safe. Running zigzags can help a little when taking cover but realize that the time it takes you to reach cover is critical so keep it simple. Zigzagging, is actually not all that important, however realize that hitting people running perpendicualr is quite difficult, so if u can turn a straight run at or away from the enemy into two slanted paths, you are much better off.
If somebody has hit you unexpectedly, don't count on being able to find and kill them from the same position because you are essentially depending on them sucking miserably and not hitting the same shot again. You have to move to some cover unless you just did some incredible shooting. Now that you are behind something you have the opportunity to initiate your own attack. And most likely the person that watched you ditch has now left their advantaged position to simply run at you because they know that they already hit you once and think you have panicked.
You always want the privelege of making the first move when it comes down to kills happening and now that you are behind cover you have some control. If you are a medic, then you immediately healed yourslef once behind cover. This is a large part of why you want to avoid sitting still as much as possible in BF2. Unless you are a sniper at very long range or support, you are majorly disadvantaged to fight motionless. Even if you are camping the corner of a building it is smart to repeatedly get up and check the other corner of the building. This way you are always running into the enemy as opposed to them surprising you. If you are defending one area or flag for an extended period of time DO NOT assume that the smartest thing to do is find the ultimate camping spot. this gets you knifed or artied and makes you wait around for kills. Instead consider running little curcuits around key choke points so that each time you approach you are potentially surprising the enemy.
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BUNNYS AND DOLPHINS ARE SOME OF THE FRIENDLIEST ANIMALS KNOWN TO MANKIND
Bunnyhopping and the dolphin dive (run jump prone crouch run) are great tactics because of the way they provide defense and time for scanning territory. in addition to being very useful when moving toward cover, the dolphin dive is also a good way of entering possibly dangerous cramped areas like the karkand square flag. This is because for the couple seconds you are diving and getting up, you are somewhat difficult to hit for the camping enemy. During this moment of slight safety you have the opportunity to fully scan your surroundings and then land perfectly accurate shots if you spot someone (while hes just struggling to hit ur moving body and giving away his position). Any time you need to buy yourself a half second to scan for somebody shooting at you, a dolphin dive can keep you alive while looking around. I almost think of it as the infantryman's smoke, as in armor, or flares, as in jets. However it is crucial to understand that a dolphin dive is only there to save you for maybe one dive, beyond that (or even before) u will most likely get hit. It serves its purpose only when cover and quick shooting are also happening.
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PRONE SPAMMING (more like prone/crouch spamming)
Prone-Crouch-Prone-Crouch. With prone, you drop, and crouch, you stand. Notice that you can stand much sooner by pushing crouch than prone. Waist-high inanimate objects are the shit. Stand behind them and shoot at anything u see. While standing be scanning. If u see somebody that is shooting you or even looking directly at you, start going prone and then using the crouch key to get up and shoot them. By bobbing like this, u initiate all the opportunities for shots to be fired. Your enemy will always be delayed because they are the one reacting while u are the one forcing the shot. This bobbing can be done just as effectively while using small hills and the slope of surrounding terrain as cover from which to pronespam. If you are a medic, use the prone time for dropping health before getting up with your weapon out. It is essential to use the crouch button for standing if you want good timing. When you stand up from being prone, the first shots you fire can actually be taken before the enemy sees you standing. So if you are coming up fast and shooting almost immediately (almost while you are still on the ground) then you will just be taking easy pot shots. Its pretty sweet.
To counter this strategy, sneak up on the person if they hide for long, or simply detect a rhythm in their bobbing and start shooting just before u expect them to stand so that they literally stand up into your shots. This is easily done in a tank or apc but be careful not to waste your ammo doing this a lot on foot. Respect that the guy behind the waist high wall or hill crest has the advantage of cover, dont simply duel him on his schedule or he will get the easiest kill you can imagine!
You will hear a lot of people recommend against "skylining." While I agree that the horizon is easy to spot a person on, know that it is very difficult for people to headshot you if you are bobbing up and down behind a hill crest. It doesn't matter if they can see you on the crest of the hill if they are tasked with headshotting each time you pop up in a new location. It is more important to have access to cover in BF2 than to be unseen. In reality there are very few places you can hide in BF2 that will prevent people from doming you the way pronespamming will.
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SETUP THE KEYBOARD AND MOUSE (thanks blademaster for reminding me to add this section)
You need it to be comfortable running in any direction while jumping, crouching, going prone, switching kits, switching items, and using items (ie, shooting). I personally recommend setting E to crouch and CTRL to prone. this will mean getting into vehicles using the F key, which is fine. In order to rebind the F key you will have to unbind its weapon swapping ability for each vehicle mode individually. I dont do it myself because i am used to using 9, but i have heard of setting the scroll wheel's button to the parachute and i would recommend this to people starting off. I do not recomend binding any function to the mouse that u might use while shooting or aiming (ie, jump, teamspeak, any movement). your left hand can be a little sloppy with anything that it does so its ok to burden it with many tasks. your right hand is for aiming so i recommend dedicating it to this task almost entirely. I also recommend turning up the sensitivity a little. 1.7 is what i use, just remember that u are balancing ease of long range precision with ease of close combat movement. Its possible to be precise with a sensitivity this high (probably higher) so i recommend getting used to it because the end result will be you reacting to people in close quarters combat faster.
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SHOOTING
ASK YOURSELF: DO I NEED TO ZOOM RIGHT NOW?
I recommend trying to play ONLY in non-zoomed mode at first. This is because in non-zoomed mode, u are guaranteed that the bullet will begin its tragectory perfectly in the middle of the colored crosshairs. You can shoot people out to probably 50 meters this way by carefully centering the targets head, shooting, and recorrecting. The best thing about this is that the technique is identical for almost all weapons, as opposed to being unique for each weapon the way iron sight shooting is. The iron sights and scopes can be misleading as to where the bullets land so it is better to avoid using them when u dont need to and learning exactly how far u can shoot without them. When i say the iron sights are unique to each weapon an example would be: with the SVD u shoot high, with the M24 you shoot low. or with the mr-444 u shoot low and the 92fs you shoot high. All the iron sights (even when they look identical as in the G36's) have different "sweet spots" that u'll have to get used to (id save yourself all the deaths and do it in singleplayer a bit). Once you learn the sweet spots, if u will, u will start landing your first shots almost every time even at really long range.
Ever wondered why X, Y, or Z gun sucks? Well it probably doesn't. Many of the guns in BF2 have very misleading iron sights.
Numerous people around bf2s.com have accurately marked croshairs in the past (such as scoutstrike, jemme and todd_angelo). In this thread I use their method of coloring the center pixels. By coloring in the center four pixels at 1280x1024 resolution, we are able to see which pixels on each iron sight represent the true center of your crosshair. You may need to download and zoom in on the images to use them to their full potential.
SIGNIFICANT UPDATE: All of the images in this thread have been replaced since my original post. I originally defined the center of each iron sight as it corresponded to BF2's unzoomed crosshairs. I have since learned that BF2's unzoomed crosshairs are misaligned for ALL weapons and appear accordingly:
Close-up: You must aim slightly down and to the left.
It should be reiterated that all weapons featuring BF2's standard unzoomed sight suffer from this same alignment issue. So for example the m249 mounted guns, pistols, and 0.50 cal mounted guns (vodnik, DPV, roof of tank) all aim slightly up and to the right as depicted in the previous screenshot.
Assault Rifles
m16assault - sights aim differently from medic
m16medic
ak101 (assault and medic sights identical)
ak47assault - sights aim differently from medic
ak47medic
L85medic
G3
F2000
G36E
SCARH
FAMAS
L85A2
Ive posted these numerous times but since they are on topic here, also have a look at these sight pics. The difference is Nero drew them from memory based on what he thinks works best. The main difference you notice is how low he aims the AK101. I also tend to use it this way, and I believe the reason it works is that recoil after your first shot causes the next ones to land further above the labeled "sweet spot," so in reality you want to aim roughly where where Nero marks when you are spamming and go for the spot marked on mine with your first shots. I find the M16 has so much less recoil so that consecutive shots dont appear to cause as much climb and hence Neros drawing shows the placement much lower on the sight than the AK101.Nero wrote:
Sight Screenshots for M16 and AK:
With recoil what it is, I suggest referring to neros images for most of your vertical alignment and my images for horizontal alignment.
Pistols
92FS
QSZ92
MR444
Notice how high above the iron the sweet spot sits.
SMGs
TYPE85
MP5
PP19
P90
MP7
MP7 (Note this is the only weapon in BF2 with bobbing iron sights, they deviate vertically between 4 and 3 pixels)
LMGs
TYPE95
RPK74
M249
Another weapon that requires aiming well below the target.
PKM
MG36
Look how far down the iron the bullets land.
EU support LMG
Carbines
M4
QBZ97
AK74U
G36C
SCAR-L
G36K
Aims more like a G36E than a G36C
HK53 EU carbine
Red Dot Sights
Every weapon with a red dot sight in BF2 has essentially the same center point. So on your first shots, you aim a P90 the same as you would an M4, AK74U, or SCAR-L.
Grenade Launchers
Take note of their tendency to fire to the right.
Shotguns
All shotguns share this centerpoint, regardless of zoom.
Iron sight variation
The background can actually cut into the pixels you see on your iron sights making them vary slightly in different situations. This only jumped out after seeing screenshots of the same weapon next to each other. Its something to think about while looking at the SS but it may not matter much. This can be seen clearly in the following M24 sight.
Sniper Rifles
SVD
M24
PLA sniper
M95
L96
AT Missiles
SRAW US and UK(SF) notice its way off
ERYX China and MEC sights (vanilla and SF) notice they are quite accurate
RPG (SF)
Vehicles
Yep. Note that orientation of gun mount can significantly affect aim at short range.
Jets
Mig29 and Su34
J10, Q5 Fantan, and Su-30
F15, F18, F35, & Eurofighter
MEC attack jet in Armored Fury
A10
Tanks
T90
PLA Tank
US & EU tanks
APCs
USMC APC
MEC APC
China APC
Mobile AA
Linebacker (US & EU)
MEC AA
PLA AA
Essex
Mini Choppers in Armored Fury
US, PLA, & MEC are the same (but dif color).
TOW Missiles
All the TOW missiles (mec, china, us, EU) are the same.
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THIS IS SO IMPORTANT IT DESERVES ITS OWN CATEGORY
Always be ready for them to suddenly go prone or jump! (u know its going to happen the moment they hear the bullets landing on them).
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LEARN WHEN TO SPRAY AND WHEN TO SHOOT SINGLE SHOTS
Within 30 meters, just start at their waste and go full auto (or almost full auto with repeated bursts) letting the muzzle climb direct the bullets onto them and not over their head. So if u start too high on on their body with full auto, you may not end up getting the kill unless you counteract the muzzleclimb especially well (an unecessary challenge). The goal in doing this IS to get a headshot, however starting at the waist ensures youre doing damage even if the first shot doesnt land. Chances are, if they are close you (10 m) do not want to stop moving while shooting. If you must go prone, make it a quick dolphin dive followed by crouch and run. They don't deserve to get an easy kill on you when you decide to go prone right at their feet as they run past spraying.
If they are outside 30 meters, put it in single shot by pressing 3 once and attempt to fire at their head at half second intervals always recorrecting until you get consecutive hits (only zoom if they are way the hell out there). If you attempt to spray full auto or repeated 3 shot bursts in these situations you will almost never get a kill unless your very first burst is a perfectly lined up headshot. Dont depend on that happening every time.
I am over simplifying here by dividing it into two clear cut distance categories but with practice you will get a sense for the importance of how to balance rate of fire with range.
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WEAPONS AND HOW TO LEARN THEM
You can't go wrong with any medic or assault gun in bf2 but it helps to figure out exactly where the bullets are going to go. The g36e is very simple but you might want to experiment in singleplayer to see exactly where your bullets are landing with the other guns. Especially the M16. This gun is almost the most consistent shot, but it can take practice to get used to the way the recoil effects it and where on the sights the bullets tend to land.
the weapons are all pretty balanced. M16 owns long distance, ak101/47 owns close range with its powerful spray, and g36e and L85 probably outperform all three except at extreme close and long range (The L85 can only be called a better gun than the M16 at long range because a headshot is a kill, it would be easier to land a head shot with the M16 but you still need to hit them once more due to lower damage so u find L85s sometimes winning the long range battle).
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A NOTE ON MOVING AND SHOOTING
If you are jogging in any single direction, your aim will still be pretty decent with SMGs, carbines, ARs and sniper rifles. For the former 3, this is probably true out to 10 or 15 meters. For sniper rifles, you can be moving in one direciton while shooting and still have LONG accuracy. I almost always move while sniping (although sniping is pretty boring compared to fighting people that aware of you). Your steady movement while shooting can actually help you resolve that last pixel of precision before firing.
But a HUGE exception to this matter of moving and shooting is that it can only be done in one direction at a time. If you move forward and sideways while firing the sniper rifle, it will suddenly be crap. If you move just sideways or just forward it will be fine. With assault rifles I follow the same rule, however within about 5 m I will move however i want while shooting because it just works out.
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WINNING THE HEADSHOT GAME (ITS JUST A HEADSHOT GAME)
When you spot someone and begin shooting, a lot of the time they will see you and attempt to shoot at you before dying. If you see that sequence happening--them instantly going prone at u, before they can start to shoot, just get back up, run to cover (or even just jump once) and then go prone at them again to finish them off. (or if you are behind waist high cover like i recommend, then simply go prone to deprive them of their big attack move and immediately respond with your own). The reason for doing this is to prevent them from having an opportunity to take one clean headshot at you while u are motionlessly shooting at them. Since they are not dead, obviously u failed to get the one shot kill already. by moving, u deprive them of their opportunity (most likely) and then essentially turn the table, now they are the motionless one that u get to try and land the headshot on. The only exception here is if u know the person is especially good and will definitely kill u with their first shots. In that case you better hope you are landing all of yours before they get started.
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DONT BOTHER FIGHTING HEAD ON WHEN YOU DONT NEED TO: FLANK
Did you just make it behind cover while some people shot at you? Well try to circle them by a substantial number of degrees (like 90) before you expose yourself again for the attack if you want an easier gunfight. When not under UAV, people tend to just run to wherever they saw you last, even if you could be a block away behind cover before they make it to that door you disappeared through. Take advantage of this and always try to sweep them parallel to the perceived battle front line whenever one seems to form. Once I am close to a densely populated flag, this almost turns into a matter of circling the flag and spawns. If you are moving the whole time you are difficult to attack and yet capable of barreling through even large numbers of people (3 is easily within reason) that dont really expect somebody simply patroling the flag but not running one of the usual routes straight to it.
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THINK ABOUT THE VIEW ANGLES YOUR MOVEMENT OPENS AND CLOSES
Use whatever cover you have to cut off the angle on all members of their team except the one you are killing. This piece of advice is crucial to taking on groups of people by yourself. Additionally, do not bother to attack when more than one enemy is in view unless you are killing both at once somehow, or unless one of them is completely oblivious and its obvious to you. Only expose yourself to multiple enemies if you need to in order to kill whichever enemy is closest (ie., dont let somebody simply run up to you by waiting until the last second to enter the angle u have established, but dont expose yourself unecessarily).
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FALL BACK
Always think about how you will fall back if suddenly there is a squad of three rounding a corner on you. Large squads are surprisingly dumb as they roll together because they have a false sense of security. If you are one person that just ran a block back and hid behind a box, they normally will just charge directly at you expecting that as a squad they will somehow take you out. In reality the AK can easily kill four people that attempt to run directly at you from close up.
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THE GRENADE LAUNCHER
Its good fun. It will work best at close range, but too close (within 5 feet) and it may bounce unpredictably. If you are at this kind of obscenely close distance, aim just below their feet and when it bounces it will probably hit their body for the kill. You will have to simply get used to the arc that it makes. Remember that it probably wont arc much at all when firing downwards. It is wonderful to find out when the enemy is coming uphill towards your flag. Simply peek off your cliff, etc and start launching the grenades directly into them. This way you have a full clip ready when they reach the stairs or what have you. I don't recommend using the GL a lot at long range. While it is fun to just ace people from 100 m away with grenade rounds, the reality is that this is much more challenging than simply firing bullets directly at them so you are probably fghting less effectively and wasting nades if you do this. But more power to you if you are fighting very consistently this way. GL rounds kill the fast attack vehicles and jets in one shot so go crazy (maybe 2 shots for the jet? either way its good). It takes 2-3 to kill a Hummer I think. They are better for evacuating a hummer than actually blowing them up.
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SWITCHING WEAPONS/ITEMS
You are horrible at BF2 if you use the little scrolly wheel to switch weapons. It isn't that hard to use the buttons 1 through 7 at 1 to 2 second intervals (or as you need to) so get used to doing this.
Medics: You need to be instantaneous about going from shooting, to reviving, to throwing health bags, to reloading, to grenading. Unless you are switching between all of these tasks seamlessly, you will not keep up. (in other words, its impossible to keep up with good players while using the wheel). (and while im at it, if u fly jets, get a fucking joystick, they really work).
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SWITCHING KITS
Alright, so you you just mowed down those 5 douchebags on that corner. Unfortunately, the nade u threw at them bounced off the sign and back at your feet, so now youve got about 3 bars of health. You need to run up to the support and medic kit you see and: G, 5, click, stand over bag (pick up bag), then G back on your kit or the next kit you want to borrow from. Whenever you throw a bag, think of it as you designating where you want to stand. so if u have a piece of cover, throw the bag there.
You can just as easily do this to pull out some shockpaddles and revive a friendly but ONLY if you are sure the coast is clear. Don't get killed lying there reviving people, the enemy just doesn't deserve to get a second kill doing whatever retarded strategy they are doing.
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SHOCKPADDLING & REVIVING (AND KNIFING)
It is very ballsy to shockpaddle or knife anyone that sees you. But it is very easy to shockpaddle a friendly or enemy mid-jog that is laying prone. DO NOT EVEN STOP FOR A MOMENT WHILE REVIVING. I always see people going prone to revive. This is normally just a way of getting shot over the same vulnerabe spot the last guy did. If possible, run at the corpse lengthwise and aim at the the closest edge of the body as you run up to revive it. Click the moment your cursor is over the body, but make sure it remains over it for another .5 secs or so because the shockpaddles have a little delay. This is easily accomplished in the time that it takes for your body to jog over the corpse.
If you are shockpaddling enemies, try not to be seen. If you are seen and have missed your first paddle (sometimes its the hit detection), use some run that you saved to bunny hop wildly and unpredictably around him so you can have another go at shocking the guy. If there are multiple enemies use the knife because it can be used repeatedly and it wont disable your option to heal if you end up getting shot at.
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BEING A GOOD MEDIC THAT ALWAYS GETS HIS HEAL POINT
Just dont fuck it up. Revive anyone you can possibly get to safely. And always be throwing health bags. If somebody needs health, and is approaching you, just throw a bag a forget about it. If you see somebody that needs health but isnt asking for it then you will need to be more proactive if you want the heal point. I recommend holding the bag next to them until u get a point, and then throwing out the health. This way you are sure that they are informed of your presense (the cross symbol and tape sound), you are assured of your heal point, and you arent wasting time standing their healing them if they are dumb enough after this to not pick up the bag u left to get fully healed.
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THE MEDIC HAS A UNIQUE COMBAT ROLE
If you are assault, you can think about being the guy that rounds the corner first. As medic, you are throwing away points by leading the pack. Instead hold back, let your squad get mowed down at every single jucture, and then revive them from cover so that they always get a few tries against the enemy. Resist your tempation to run out front and 'not miss out on anything.' The reality is that its a race to die as much as for the next kill, and if you are always in the back of the squad behind the wall, you will accumulate many more kills and revives than deaths.
If you ever see your teamate getting killed over an over again by something and you know you are safe from it while reviving, then just simply revive over and over again. You will get handsome point rewards and even if your teamate is too dumb to realize it, they probably COULD simply bunnyhop away and be healed by you if they just tried. The battle is only over when you stop reviving people, dont just give away tickets because somebody is pinning your squad mate down with some decent headshots (or a tank) on some corner (fyi, your team doesnt lose a ticket on revived people and your teamate doesnt accrue a death if he is revived--if you revive him ten times before losing him, he gets one death). dont listen to idiots whining about how it makes them wait. You have to put the team ahead of their selfish impatience (and nevermind your selfish teampoint enterprise).
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PISTOL
It is very accurate with little recoil but it does little damage. Be sure to carefully line up shots, but remember that u can fire as quickly as you want (tap as fast as u can with a steady hand when they are up close). Assault rifles, carbines, and LMGs are far superior at all ranges so avoid confronting people with pistols. It is very useful to reflexively pull out the pistol any time you need finish a damaged enemy. If you are amusing yourself by using the horribly disadvantaged sniper kit, remember that the pistol will be doing about half of the work while sniping. An M95, M24, and L96 will turn the pistol into a 'second shot' kill weapon.
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ANTI-TANK
Using the rocket: Within 20 meters make sure your initial aim is precise. For long shots it is ok to be off at first but you must quickly train the missile continuously on the target for it it land where you need it. You don't have to compensate for any drop in the missile for long shots. However, closing the zoom window after shooting will slow down your missile and cause it to fall short. Guiding the missile into far away targets makes you very vulnerable so you almost only want to do it against unaware targets. Because the missile cant instantly damage things, PLAY DEFENSIVELY by taking into account all of my advice on using cover.
Killing Vehics: Never shoot a rocket at armor that is looking in your direction.
Against APCs aim wherever, it takes 2 to get it flaming.
Against tanks, aim for the leading or trailing edge of the tracks. 2 perfect shots to this spot will leave it flaming. Hitting the body, sides, or turret can result in a 3-4 shot kill. If the tank is by a supply drop or if it has a gunner on top, instead guide your missile at one of these (but the supply drop is a priority, only blow up the gunner if you have good cover and dont mind killing the tank more slowly).
2 shots to any part of an AA vehicle are an instant kill. Always take cover between shots.
A single AT rocket kills a plane but only shoot at planes on the runway.
The DPVS are one shot kills. The vodniks and hummers will take 2 shots or one if they are damaged.
Two AT rockets will flame kill a chopper. It is only possible to hit choppers that are very close or that are hanging in place mid air. If you see a chopper raping your base that isnt looking at you, take an opportunity to shoot at it if you see it stop mid air to camp. This will send the chopper away for repairs or bring you one shot away from the kill. Be aware of any vehicles around you if you are attacking the chopper. AT missiles can help but nothing works better than hopping in the main gun of a hummer, vodnik, or DPV. About 8 seconds of directly lined up fire (no bullet drop) will kill the attack chopper. Always aim missiles or gun shots at the glass.
Killing infantry: Use the AT rocket on people that are either motionless and more than 20 meters away or against people running directly at you. If they appear to be dodging a lot or even moving much at all at long range do not waste a missile. At close range the SMGs are awesome. Try not to expose yourself to the enemy until you can be within about 20 meters. Just immediately line up on them below their head and hold down on the mouse button until you see white writing.
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ERYX: THE MEDIC KILLER
Do they have a horde of medics overwheliming your team and making you angry? Hang back a bit and start picking off the motionless, camping ones with the AT missiles. These missiles have a very unique role for infantry in their reliable way of killing people and rendering them unrevivable.
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ASSAULT: THE MEDIC KILLER
Most people would agree that the ARs are the most dynamic infantry weapons in BF2. They can be used well from any position including moving, and they are lethal at any range. For this reason, the medics and their health bags are quite powerful. The assault kit wont necesarily keep you alive as long, but the fact that it sports the same weapon but with armor, makes it perfect for taking revenge on the point-whoring medics that you hate. Think of it this way: you and medic face off and end up firing the EXACT same shots at eachother (barring headshots), the result is he dies and you live every time because you can take that extra bullet. But this is a mindless tip, if you are following the rest of my advice, then you will very rarely have these "fair" faceoffs with people because you usually don't have to. Just keep in mind that the odds of ravaging medics are in your favor as assault.
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SPAWNKILLING
This is a controversial tactic but because it is so rampant in BF2 i personally dont mind capping some fools in the back the moment they spawn. I have found that a careful player can escape spawnkill deaths by bunnyhopping away so as far as im concerned its pretty much fair game if u are infantry. With that said, i think it is almost always VERY stupid to stand and stare at a particular spawn point you know of. Guaranteed, somebody is going to run up behind you from another spawn or flag and you will be knifed like the bottom feeder you are attempting to be. Remember: never stop moving. On the other hand, Most all good players end up discovering where all the spawns are, and then monitoring them as well as possible as they approach and capture flags.
Sometimes I think it is good to sit off a hotly contested flag and cover some area with a spawn or 3 in view. This can provide a lot of relief to your teammates as they capture and if u are a squad leader your squad will almost inevitably win that battle. Alternatively flags can be captured with the knowledge of the spawns and what directions they indicate the enemy coming from. While sitting in certain positions it is possible to camp (or be safe from) all the spawns at once at the suburb while capturing the flag (an exceptionally well placed grenade could get you). If winning is the bottom line then using such a position is good strategy so be looking out for spawns. There are positions in the suburb, square, gatehouse and US N uncaps that let u cover at least 3/4 spawns from one position. EA basically tells you where the enemy is always going to come from so why ignore it?
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GRENADES
Just remember that you have them. They are unlike your guns in that you can inflict damage on people you cannot see. Thus throw as many grenades at people as u can when you know roughly where they are, but are behind cover. Never throw a grenade at someone in plain view. Your only chance of getting that kill is if they suck (which admittedly goes for a lot of the enemies but whatever).
Grenades allow you to control the enemies movement. Did they just run into a building to ambush you as u chase them in? well make them run out into your ambush with a grenade. Did you just empty your clip the moment an enemy rounded a nearby corner? Well if you have a second to at least escape around the corner behind you, throwing a grenade at your feet will force the enemy to die or wait five seconds while u reload before rounding the corner at you.
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THE GRENADE TRICK
Did you know a grenade can go off literally touching your body in BF2 and you can survive? The trick is putting your head's hitbox in a wall or solid object. It only works while prone. With your head in the wall, the grenade doesnt do its triple damage to your head, and you get away with half of your life. If you are a medic and have three med packs at your feet, then you can literally take three consecutive nades to the body and still be alive. Since you can't see anything while doing this, it only works when you have some amount of cover and it requires that you play intelligently/have UAV (knowing when youre going to be attacked etc). It is excellent for when 2-3 people capture a flag together, because one person can be hiding on the flag staying alive while the others keep the coast clear of any potential gunners. Most top CAL teams use this trick when capturing flags and when camping (like in the fountain at karkand square 16 player size or out in front of mashtuur's mosque, if u hear a grenade coming, just go prone face first against the little wall in the fountain by the flag and youre good. throw down more health then pop up the next second and gun the nadewhore down, repeat).
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BE IN A SQUAD
If you are doing a good job for them you will soon find yourself in a squad full of helpful medics. Go ahead and be leader if you want to get the most out of it, but it will probably be up to u whether the squad functions so take responsibility and promote teamwork (be the guy whoring the revives or throwing ammo bags at the antitank guy every single time he shoots. People really catch on to this stuff. You can make a dull average round into something fun and different once you have a squad of people all contributing to the scene (plus youll be winning).
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SWITCH TEAMS (you dont need those losers)
When a game ends, provided the map doesn't reload, if you press join game as soon as possible and then switch teams the moment that becomes possible and create a squad, then you will 100% of the time be able to escape that horrid team of goons that wouldnt revive you. Creating the squad is important to do because when servers autobalance, they only switch people that died and werent in a squad. If you arent in a squad you will get switched back when u die and be stuck on the crappy team again. Only do this if the conditions truly call for it.
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SMOKE THEM OUT
For all of history people have modified their combat abilities with various psychoactive compounds. I highly recommend you keep a packed bong in your holster for when the combat stress becomes overwhelming. UAV is a big help, but in general you want to find a nice piece of cover that is at least 30 seconds away from the view of any approaching enemy. Once you are in position, arm your lighter and take a toke. However the most important part of this step is immersion. You must actually see yourself pushing aside your weapon and picking up the bong while sitting indian style amidst the karkand dust. Deploy a smoke grenade on your position. See that sniper across from you? Try sending him a "follow me" so that he realizes he is next in the rotation. Be sure to manually spot any boats or mobile AAs you hear creeping up.
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FANCY GEAR AND VIDEO SETTINGS
I use a 7 year old intellimouse (that i use over a newer generic veiwsonic mouse) and random viewsonic keyboard. Mice with adjustable sensitivity may harm your performance if they prevent you from becoming deeply accustomed your way of movement and aiming. I have an AMD 3200, 2 GB of RAM, and Geforce 7900GT. The computer basically meets BF2's minimum requirements and not much more, but the newer video card has helped a lot. I play at 1280x1024 bc its my flat panel's native resolution however all the settings are on low except for geometry (high) and view distance (100%) because these setting are important for long distance visibility. i could play with higher detail but it makes it harder to see in some cases and occasioanlly gives me low fps.
UPDATE 3/1/07 - I've been using a Razer Diamondback mouse and Logitech G11 keyboard. They are both excellent. I play with much higher mouse sensitivity than I was using when I originally wrote this guide. Its a major improvement because a high resolution mouse can allow you to turn very fast but with a lot of precision when aiming. Changing the sensitivity on the fly also helps you slowly ramp up the sensitivity to get faster. i definitely recommend a high quality logitech or Razer gaming mouse if you want to make things more interesting.
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GET A BETTER VIDEO CARD
If you are experiencing any kind of low frames per second, then you are putting yourself at a disadvatage. A video card cant make you good, but in some way you can't be good without a *good enough* video card. I just upgraded from a geforce 6800XT to a $200 7900GT and while there is no difference in performance between now and when my old one would behave, the performance is much more consistent than with the slower card. Its pretty nice to no longer have to just accept some deaths as crappy low fps that you could do nothing about.
Should you buy a $500 dollar card? Probably not.
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NOT RECOMMENDED FOR THE FAINT OF HEART (no fat chicks)
You will be hard pressed to find a server where there arent people using some of these tactics, so if u want to have a high score, ull just have to adapt by both out shooting and out maneuvering the enemy and by doing a better job of predicting the enemies location (where do they spawn?). I have made a point of playing rounds with many of the people that are called the best infantry players around bf2s.com and BF2 in general and how good they are is almost always a function of how fast they are able to move and shoot. In other words, they are always flagrant bunnyhoppers. And who doesn't start bunnyhopping on a 10 or more kill streak? I mean you know you have 10 people (maybe every single person on their team) all pissed as hell shooting at you from any angle. At that point its just not worth taking any risks. If somebody on the other team plays as wisely and takes some good shots without getting killed by you, then they have a fair chance of taking you out, but its not just going to be some noob that happened to spawn behind you as you ran past in a perfectly straight and predictable line across an open street.GotMex? wrote:
This should just be titled "How to gay infantry"... in other words, good tips, but they're bound to piss people off.
If you are referring to the spawnkilling note, i see why you dont like the spirit but spawns are a reality and people begin memorizing them without even trying. You can choose to play blind, but if u are trying to win, spawncamping will just happen if u are protecting your ass capturing flags and supporting your team. I have killed so many people while they tried to spawn camp me, that i hardly feel bad for shutting down a spawn for a bit. If they really earn it they can survive.
But in short you are right: these tactics do piss people off. People get mad when you kill them over and over again. Thats why i wrote this guide. I feel bad for all the people that whine in every server about dying and are obviously desperate to tears for an explanation on how to reliably not die like a bitch all the time in BF2.
Last edited by Marinejuana (2007-06-08 17:31:39)
