OK, there has been a LOT of assault bashing recently. To be honest you are wrong. The assault has no means of healing, reviving, repairing and resupplying anyone (Here on know as 'HRRR') and that puts it at a disadvantage of earning teampoints. Now understand that I am not telling you how to play Assault for the entire game, because, face it, if a tank turns the corner your gonna want a launcher in your hand, and thats fair enough. This guide is to tell you how to use the assault when necessary.
1. Your rifle has its ups and downs.
Damage Chart:
G3 - 40
AK47 - 38
AK101 - 37
F2000, L85A2, SCAR-H - 34
M16 - 30
100 damage kills an unarmoured in torso or legs. Headshots multiply damage by 3, so you need at least 34 damage for a 1 shot kill in the head.
If you shoot an armoured (Assault, Support or AT) in the torso, the damage will be reduced by 30%. This means a G36C will kill you with 4 shots (normal damage 25) in the legs and 7 shots (reduced damage of about 17) in the torso. Crouching helps to keep your legs away from damage, but most aim for the torso anyway.
AK 101 and 47
These two guns are the most versatile in the game. They're effectively the same (the 47 does 1 more damage and the 101 has less maximum deviation added per shot). In english, you can use them for everything. Close up spraying has effects similar to a shotgun. The 30 shot magazine will take a large group down on close-quarters maps. Firing in 4/5 round bursts can be very accuratce, and since you only need 3-5 rounds to take down a target, not many need to hit. Finally, going prone, zoomed and single shot gives you very good accuracy and you can drop snipers with 3 bullets. The 101 is always superior to the AK-74U. the AK47 only appears on large maps (and some SF ones), so the QBZ spec-ops gun tends to be better. Still, if you like capping bases and rushing the enemy, it is a must-have.
M16A2
This is very accurate, regardless of stance. The 3 round burst does not make it a popular choice, however you must adapt if you are going to use it. Try to crouch when firing at an enemy, just to make your shots count. Many of you will have unlocked the G36E, this gun is the slightly less effective version. Going prone will give you a little extra accuracy, but zooming makes the real difference. Try not to engage in close combat, you can easily take out other assaults and spec ops from medium range. This gun is pretty useless for flag capping, so be prepared to sit back and cover the flag while your teammates take it. Overall, this gun is best used on larger, open maps such as Dalian Plant, Dragon Valley and Zatar Wetlands. Stay away from it on Karkand and Sharqi. Finally, it will kill armoured in 6 shots, and non-armoured in 4. So 2 bursts should take anyone down.
G3
Welcome to the highlight of the assault class. This fires 7.62mm ammo, like the 47 but has tremendously more damage. 40 per shot. That means, like the AK 47, it will take 3 shots to a non armour and 4 to the torso of an armour wearer. Remember you only have 20 bullets though, reload often (thats still at least 5 kills). On smaller maps like Mashtuur, Sharqi and Karkand, you'll find yourself king, at the cost of your K/D ration. Unless you're careful, the 20 will run out, and you'll die. Still, the kills you get before dying will send your score up alot. As a bonus, you recieve normal grenades, not a GL. This gives you the option of changing while still using the Assault class.
F2000, SCAR-H, L85A2
The F2000 is an all-rounder. Its good at everything, but not the best at anything. It does 34 damage, enough for a 1 headshot kill. It has a grenade launcher with fast draw and reload time. Although it has roughly the same accuracy as the AKs the scope allows you to place the shots better. The flashbangs allow you to surpise the enemy (especially in regular BF2 where they dont expect it), try chucking them into buildingss or near flags to blind the enemy, then follow it up with a grenade or some good old spraying.
The SCAR and L85A2 are very similar to the F2000. SCAR has a laser dot scope which works excellently on night maps in conjuction with night vision. The L85 is almost identical but lacks the scope, the so the F2000 is better if you have it.
This gun works very well on maps with long and short range combat, like Mashtuur City and Warlord.
Thanks to my good friend Joey-Joe-Jo-Junior for the added input!! (A.K.A Talon!!)
2. The Grenade Launcher is tactical now.
After a patch which eradicated n00b tubing the GL is less used, and the result is probably the assault bashing. It is still alright if you know how to use it.
Check out this image:
As you can see, I have ringed the new crosshair that should pop up. Don't worry about the thing your soldier will pop up. This is basically a tool for working out the trajectory of your shots. The top bar should be put on the torso of soldiers up to 10 metres away. Then, working in 10 metre intervals, adjust your crosshair to the distance you want your shot to go. You're going to have to use your intuition to judge where it will land, and take into consideration the speed and direction your target is going, to anticipate the kill. Bear in mind that if you are walking down a narrow alley, just keep the gun flat, its not really necessary to use distances. If you are firing from above to directly below, also use the top bar only. (IronFerret reminded me that) Keep the GL reload times in mind. It is better you retreat and reload as it takes a while.
Have another image!:
This shows the trajectory if you wanted to hit the box at the back.
3. Know your role!
You a not part of HRRR, and you cannot take on tanks. You shouldn't be anyway. You are there to thin the numbers of enemies and be the one advancing under cover. Not giving cover. You should be the one who is running alongside the medic as he goes to revive your teammate. You should be firing your GL at groups of enemies before you squad charges. You should be the one at the flags first. You should be on the front lines, spotting the vehicles and 'danger' troops (I.E Anti Tank) to your team. Think about those
4. Smoke grenades are your friends
The manual says 'Your smoke grenades provide cover for a stealthy retreat'
Stealthy bit aside ("Hey Bob, i think they went through that cloud of smoke!"), this is true.
For example:
As you can see our marine buddies have retreated from Sgt.Mahmood and his PKM succesfully thanks to the use of smoke.
Think of the possibilities. Support gunner surpressing you. Pop a smoke and flank him. Tank tearing through your men, but the APC nearby is preventing your buddy who is Spec Ops from C4ing his metallic arse to Hell? Smoke that APC's view and let him put his bang pack on the tank! If you are driving a tank, also remember that you can pop smoke. If an engineer is repairing you, have the common courtesy to shield him from sniping fire. Make a smokescreen for the rest of your squad to advance on. When using smoke, think of the possibilities, think tactically and think of others around you.
In this situation on Karkand, MEC troops like to cut down US who try to advance. Pop a left click smoke at my crosshairs roughly and flank around to the East till you are level with the spawn point and GL them from behind!!
5. In some situations of combat you are superior
Ever been a Medic and despite having your L85 pumping into someone the still killed you with some deft shots to the torso?? The Assault has body armour!! That sucker wil have to go for your legs and arms which are smaller targets. You can drill him with a few rounds!! And you only have to worry about a lesser health loss and that medic who would be writhing in pain trying to defibrilate himself can heal you, for you to then go and cause more carnage. You can take out groups of enemis at once. Master the GL and you can wipe out that squad of supports being revived by medics in a single shot!! Then quickly switch back to your main rifle and mop up the rest!!
6. Flank attacks can be hugely succesful if you are initiating it.
Everytime you and your buddy are pinned down, pop a smoke round the corner, get your buddy to lay down cover whil you find a flank and GL/shoot them from the sides! You can also provide the cover, just don't with a G3 or your buddies cover fire will last for around 5 seconds!
7. Unlock the G3
To be honest the defaults can only get you so far in this guide. The G3, whilst sacrificing the GL, makes up in firepower. If you are in a situation where the GL would be useful, use the defaults or F2000. In open maps the G3 is the Assaults best friend. In open areas the GL is rendered pretty much useless, unless you have mastered it, and so the extra damage will make up for that.
8. Learn to use single shot
I know its awfully tempting to charge down enemies in Auto, but with a max of a 30 round clip, there is gonna be another coffin under the sea that night. Instead hang back behind decent cover, popping off single shots before ducking back to let their pathetic, innacurate auto fire whizz around you. If you are facing a sniper, you do not have to ignore him or fire random shots whilst he lines up that headshot. Switch to single, find a hiding spot and take shots. He will be confused and either look for you (thinking you are perhaps another sniper with a SVD/Type 88) or run away and stop harrasing and wounding your team.
9. Assign the main rifle to a hotkey
Ok. This is fairly useful in situations where you have fired your GL to surpress/kill groups of the enemy and then want to quickly advance to clean up. I currently have my rifle (number key 3 by default controls) secondaried to clicking in the mouse button. I also have another hotkey that scrolls through windows outside of BF, secondarily assigned to the GL (number key 4 by defaults) to switch between. However as usmarine2005 quite rightly pointed out, it might be worth putting the pistol to the 2nd mouse hotkey. Especially with the G3
10. The pen may be better than the sword, but in combat, the knife can be your best friend
With assault it may be 2nd or 3rd due to Smokes and GL, but this goes for all classes. Especially those with clips that run out fast. This is generally Anti Tanks, Engineers and G3ers. The pistol is great to fall back on but but the one hit power of the knife is also brilliant. Run towards the enemy and click, going especially for the head. Knife combat really confuses the enemy. It causes them to fire like a headless chicken, teamkills will be expected. Then when the eneemy have finally killed you it is likely they will be facing a firing squad of your buddies who have caught them off guard. Don't however dolphin dive and bunnyhop like a newb. And especially don't blame this tip when you are the subject of many a flame!!
11. You are not part of HRRR, so make up for it!
You have no standard means of earning teampoints as an Assault, but that doesn't mean the majority of your points sould come from kills! The GL, has splash damage, damage you or someone else could take advantage of. If a team member kills the guy you weakened, hey presto! A point! Now it may only be one but combined with the other damage assists and kills it'll be the extra difference. Don't forget also that you should be on the frontline capturing a flag. A full convert is 4 points, plus the guys who tried to rush you, and if they get the better of you its likely you got the neutralize at least!! Remember that you don't have to limit yourself!!
I may update this later. If you have suggestions to add just say and I'll post it with your name.
Thanks to the BF2s Wiki. Imageshack for hosting the pictures. And the places that i got the pictures from. And thanks to you guys for critisizing Assault so much I got off of my lazy arse and wrote this!!
1. Your rifle has its ups and downs.
Damage Chart:
G3 - 40
AK47 - 38
AK101 - 37
F2000, L85A2, SCAR-H - 34
M16 - 30
100 damage kills an unarmoured in torso or legs. Headshots multiply damage by 3, so you need at least 34 damage for a 1 shot kill in the head.
If you shoot an armoured (Assault, Support or AT) in the torso, the damage will be reduced by 30%. This means a G36C will kill you with 4 shots (normal damage 25) in the legs and 7 shots (reduced damage of about 17) in the torso. Crouching helps to keep your legs away from damage, but most aim for the torso anyway.
AK 101 and 47
These two guns are the most versatile in the game. They're effectively the same (the 47 does 1 more damage and the 101 has less maximum deviation added per shot). In english, you can use them for everything. Close up spraying has effects similar to a shotgun. The 30 shot magazine will take a large group down on close-quarters maps. Firing in 4/5 round bursts can be very accuratce, and since you only need 3-5 rounds to take down a target, not many need to hit. Finally, going prone, zoomed and single shot gives you very good accuracy and you can drop snipers with 3 bullets. The 101 is always superior to the AK-74U. the AK47 only appears on large maps (and some SF ones), so the QBZ spec-ops gun tends to be better. Still, if you like capping bases and rushing the enemy, it is a must-have.
M16A2
This is very accurate, regardless of stance. The 3 round burst does not make it a popular choice, however you must adapt if you are going to use it. Try to crouch when firing at an enemy, just to make your shots count. Many of you will have unlocked the G36E, this gun is the slightly less effective version. Going prone will give you a little extra accuracy, but zooming makes the real difference. Try not to engage in close combat, you can easily take out other assaults and spec ops from medium range. This gun is pretty useless for flag capping, so be prepared to sit back and cover the flag while your teammates take it. Overall, this gun is best used on larger, open maps such as Dalian Plant, Dragon Valley and Zatar Wetlands. Stay away from it on Karkand and Sharqi. Finally, it will kill armoured in 6 shots, and non-armoured in 4. So 2 bursts should take anyone down.
G3
Welcome to the highlight of the assault class. This fires 7.62mm ammo, like the 47 but has tremendously more damage. 40 per shot. That means, like the AK 47, it will take 3 shots to a non armour and 4 to the torso of an armour wearer. Remember you only have 20 bullets though, reload often (thats still at least 5 kills). On smaller maps like Mashtuur, Sharqi and Karkand, you'll find yourself king, at the cost of your K/D ration. Unless you're careful, the 20 will run out, and you'll die. Still, the kills you get before dying will send your score up alot. As a bonus, you recieve normal grenades, not a GL. This gives you the option of changing while still using the Assault class.
F2000, SCAR-H, L85A2
The F2000 is an all-rounder. Its good at everything, but not the best at anything. It does 34 damage, enough for a 1 headshot kill. It has a grenade launcher with fast draw and reload time. Although it has roughly the same accuracy as the AKs the scope allows you to place the shots better. The flashbangs allow you to surpise the enemy (especially in regular BF2 where they dont expect it), try chucking them into buildingss or near flags to blind the enemy, then follow it up with a grenade or some good old spraying.
The SCAR and L85A2 are very similar to the F2000. SCAR has a laser dot scope which works excellently on night maps in conjuction with night vision. The L85 is almost identical but lacks the scope, the so the F2000 is better if you have it.
This gun works very well on maps with long and short range combat, like Mashtuur City and Warlord.
Thanks to my good friend Joey-Joe-Jo-Junior for the added input!! (A.K.A Talon!!)
2. The Grenade Launcher is tactical now.
After a patch which eradicated n00b tubing the GL is less used, and the result is probably the assault bashing. It is still alright if you know how to use it.
Check out this image:
As you can see, I have ringed the new crosshair that should pop up. Don't worry about the thing your soldier will pop up. This is basically a tool for working out the trajectory of your shots. The top bar should be put on the torso of soldiers up to 10 metres away. Then, working in 10 metre intervals, adjust your crosshair to the distance you want your shot to go. You're going to have to use your intuition to judge where it will land, and take into consideration the speed and direction your target is going, to anticipate the kill. Bear in mind that if you are walking down a narrow alley, just keep the gun flat, its not really necessary to use distances. If you are firing from above to directly below, also use the top bar only. (IronFerret reminded me that) Keep the GL reload times in mind. It is better you retreat and reload as it takes a while.
Have another image!:
This shows the trajectory if you wanted to hit the box at the back.
3. Know your role!
You a not part of HRRR, and you cannot take on tanks. You shouldn't be anyway. You are there to thin the numbers of enemies and be the one advancing under cover. Not giving cover. You should be the one who is running alongside the medic as he goes to revive your teammate. You should be firing your GL at groups of enemies before you squad charges. You should be the one at the flags first. You should be on the front lines, spotting the vehicles and 'danger' troops (I.E Anti Tank) to your team. Think about those
4. Smoke grenades are your friends
The manual says 'Your smoke grenades provide cover for a stealthy retreat'
Stealthy bit aside ("Hey Bob, i think they went through that cloud of smoke!"), this is true.
For example:
As you can see our marine buddies have retreated from Sgt.Mahmood and his PKM succesfully thanks to the use of smoke.
Think of the possibilities. Support gunner surpressing you. Pop a smoke and flank him. Tank tearing through your men, but the APC nearby is preventing your buddy who is Spec Ops from C4ing his metallic arse to Hell? Smoke that APC's view and let him put his bang pack on the tank! If you are driving a tank, also remember that you can pop smoke. If an engineer is repairing you, have the common courtesy to shield him from sniping fire. Make a smokescreen for the rest of your squad to advance on. When using smoke, think of the possibilities, think tactically and think of others around you.
In this situation on Karkand, MEC troops like to cut down US who try to advance. Pop a left click smoke at my crosshairs roughly and flank around to the East till you are level with the spawn point and GL them from behind!!
5. In some situations of combat you are superior
Ever been a Medic and despite having your L85 pumping into someone the still killed you with some deft shots to the torso?? The Assault has body armour!! That sucker wil have to go for your legs and arms which are smaller targets. You can drill him with a few rounds!! And you only have to worry about a lesser health loss and that medic who would be writhing in pain trying to defibrilate himself can heal you, for you to then go and cause more carnage. You can take out groups of enemis at once. Master the GL and you can wipe out that squad of supports being revived by medics in a single shot!! Then quickly switch back to your main rifle and mop up the rest!!
6. Flank attacks can be hugely succesful if you are initiating it.
Everytime you and your buddy are pinned down, pop a smoke round the corner, get your buddy to lay down cover whil you find a flank and GL/shoot them from the sides! You can also provide the cover, just don't with a G3 or your buddies cover fire will last for around 5 seconds!
7. Unlock the G3
To be honest the defaults can only get you so far in this guide. The G3, whilst sacrificing the GL, makes up in firepower. If you are in a situation where the GL would be useful, use the defaults or F2000. In open maps the G3 is the Assaults best friend. In open areas the GL is rendered pretty much useless, unless you have mastered it, and so the extra damage will make up for that.
8. Learn to use single shot
I know its awfully tempting to charge down enemies in Auto, but with a max of a 30 round clip, there is gonna be another coffin under the sea that night. Instead hang back behind decent cover, popping off single shots before ducking back to let their pathetic, innacurate auto fire whizz around you. If you are facing a sniper, you do not have to ignore him or fire random shots whilst he lines up that headshot. Switch to single, find a hiding spot and take shots. He will be confused and either look for you (thinking you are perhaps another sniper with a SVD/Type 88) or run away and stop harrasing and wounding your team.
9. Assign the main rifle to a hotkey
Ok. This is fairly useful in situations where you have fired your GL to surpress/kill groups of the enemy and then want to quickly advance to clean up. I currently have my rifle (number key 3 by default controls) secondaried to clicking in the mouse button. I also have another hotkey that scrolls through windows outside of BF, secondarily assigned to the GL (number key 4 by defaults) to switch between. However as usmarine2005 quite rightly pointed out, it might be worth putting the pistol to the 2nd mouse hotkey. Especially with the G3
10. The pen may be better than the sword, but in combat, the knife can be your best friend
With assault it may be 2nd or 3rd due to Smokes and GL, but this goes for all classes. Especially those with clips that run out fast. This is generally Anti Tanks, Engineers and G3ers. The pistol is great to fall back on but but the one hit power of the knife is also brilliant. Run towards the enemy and click, going especially for the head. Knife combat really confuses the enemy. It causes them to fire like a headless chicken, teamkills will be expected. Then when the eneemy have finally killed you it is likely they will be facing a firing squad of your buddies who have caught them off guard. Don't however dolphin dive and bunnyhop like a newb. And especially don't blame this tip when you are the subject of many a flame!!
11. You are not part of HRRR, so make up for it!
You have no standard means of earning teampoints as an Assault, but that doesn't mean the majority of your points sould come from kills! The GL, has splash damage, damage you or someone else could take advantage of. If a team member kills the guy you weakened, hey presto! A point! Now it may only be one but combined with the other damage assists and kills it'll be the extra difference. Don't forget also that you should be on the frontline capturing a flag. A full convert is 4 points, plus the guys who tried to rush you, and if they get the better of you its likely you got the neutralize at least!! Remember that you don't have to limit yourself!!
I may update this later. If you have suggestions to add just say and I'll post it with your name.
Thanks to the BF2s Wiki. Imageshack for hosting the pictures. And the places that i got the pictures from. And thanks to you guys for critisizing Assault so much I got off of my lazy arse and wrote this!!
Last edited by Sgt.Davi (2006-05-08 11:28:50)
