Small tricks

[delanvital]

UPDATED: 12th jan 06

Blue color indicate new additions.

I guess we have all picked up some small tricks that help us during the game. I would like to share some, maybe you guys have some as well:

(all other additions has been added to this post as well):

1. Movement and general close combat
1.1. Jumping down from a high space with no parachute - jump down on an empty vehicle and keep the 'E' key down. You will not get hurt, since you enter the vehicle on your way down. This is not 100% certain though

1.2. Jump the first part of the latter, this saves you a little time.

1.3. Press shift when climbing down, and you slide down instead (quicker).

1.4. Jump/crouch combo allows you to get onto higher ground. Jump/prone works as well but does not allow you to get to even higher ground.

1.5. Use the vehicles to get to roofs on buildings that are not accessible. There are many good spots. Park them close to, jump up on them, and then further up to the roofs. See also (.

1.6. If you want to jump across alleys to higher buildings it can go wrong. Play as a medic and pile up the med paks where you would land if you should fail the jump. If you hit the med pak you will be healed at the instant you hit - and won't die.

1.7. And a quite obvious one - make sure your legs do not stick out through walls etc. Sometimes it is better to stand instead. This also accounts for lying down on roofs etc. - you might pass through the roof and be visible. And yes, you can be shot.

1.8. Hiding - some vehicles you can crawl in under. If you are only fighting against infantry they will have a hard time seeing you (the light from the shot will be hidden to some extend) and even if they spot you you are difficult to hit. If they get close, bring up a vehicle, move in to take the vehicles you are below etc, you can press e to enter it.

1.9. Remember your side arm. It's a powerful weapon and swapping over to it is much quicker than waiting for a reload. I have attached the swap key to one of my mouse side buttons and it has saved my life on more than one occasion.
(contributed by Armitage)

1.10. Halo drop - another sucky egg one. But if you need to quickly get to a far off base, jump into a jet, point it roughly in the right direction, gain altitude and then halo drop. With practise you can deploy your parachute just a few metres above ground so you spend less time as a target. If you need to parachute in, use your weapon on the way down if your positions been spotted.
(contribued by Dewey)

1.11. When swimming, if you look backwards your character in the game appears to do the backstroke and you can see their face... useful no? (one day this will comen in handy - I am sure. So I dared not to leave it out )
(contribued by Dewey)

1.12. Extended view distance. You can see further into the "fog of war" at the edges of your vision/screen" for some reason (similar to many other games using a fog to bound vision) so to see a little bit further turn your view sideways so that the point you wish to look at is at the very edge of your screen. You should be able to see a little further than in the centre.
(contribued by Suicidal Monkey)
Comment by delanvital: to extend the view go to your graphics settings and slide scale to 100% This increases the graphics requirements, so it is a balance, but 100% is important, because you can see the enemy earlier.

1.13. To increase your view through the fog even further use whatever weapon you have that zooms. This mostly implies AT RPG launcher and Sniper kit. The RPG launcher is good at this, because you can, to some extend, take advantage of the better view in the periphery (see 1.12)
Comment/addition: This means that an incoming helicopter will be drawn earlier, compared to a regular non-zoomed view.

1.14. When triggering C4, or generally being close to explosions, lie down. You take less damage.

1.15. If you are on foot and suddenly find yourself face-to-face with an APC or tank, it can sometimes be fruitful to run towards it. The gun cannot shoot down, and if you lay next to him - not to close to the belts/wheels - even the shell explosion from the tank cannot damage you. Keep crawling and sneaking around him. If your plan is to escape then run for it when the turret is facing away.
Do not do this trick on open ground, unless you are good The APC or tank will just drive away, and you cannot keep up. Also note, that the small gunposts inside the APC might be armed.

1.16. If you are being 'picked' at and you can hear the gunfire but not really place it, it can be worth scanning for muzzle fire. This also goes for gunners in helis - this is a good way to spot a gunner taking shots at you.

2. Vehicles, choppers and planes

2.1. APC/Vodnik chicken scenario - if you don't hit each other at too high speed (i.e. the impact blows up the Vodnik) the Vodnik will drive in under the APC and cause the APC to flip backwards (or sometimes, on to the side). The Vodnik might be tipped to the side as well, but in this way you have taken out a more dangerous vehicle - and if you bail just AFTER your vehicle has landed on the side you wont get hurt.

2.2. Playing few people on maps with many vehicles - if you are in an APC against, say, a tank, fight alongside a fresh APC (some CPS have two) and swap before it blows up.

2.3. play alongside a teammate in another vehicle and both choose engineer. If there is a tank put it at the front to absorb the damage.
(contributed by Suicidal Monkey)

2.4. back on the multi-vehicle front...position your apc/tank behind an unoccupied one (damaged/burnt-out work too!) and use it as a shield. chances are your enemies first shell will aim at it first
(contributed by Suicidal Monkey)

2.5. If your in a vehicle MG and come against another jeep/volstock etc aim at the gun theres a thin slit in the MG gunners sheild that you can kill them through.
(contributed by Dewey)

2.6. TV missiles (attack chopper and bomber 2nd seat) . move the TV aim to where you want the missile to head initially and click (don't hold). Correct the aim by pointing and clicking, the missile will correct itself to aim at the point you clicked. You can fly the missiles around obstacles and through tunnels if you're good and a bit lucky! You can also press and hold to pilot them but I find this to be less accurate.
(contributed by Suicidal Monkey)

2.7. When being a gunner in a heli, click F9 to remove the entire HUD, this gives you better all round visibility and effectively allows you to look through the floor and sides of the heli, useful for finding people shooting at you below and keeping track of enemy heli's/planes etc.
(contributed by Dewey)

2.8. When you are in a close range face off between your APC and a tank you usually expect the tank to win (unless heavily damaged)... However, here's a sneaky little tactic I discovered last night that might help you out.
First off - you need to be an Engineer or Special Forces, and what you do is this... When you see the tank coming towards you blow smoke and start to back away so the smoke is the between you and the tank... Nothing unusual there ~ and the tank (thinking he has the better of you) will usually come straight at you THROUGH the smoke...BUT... What you have to do is to jump OUT your APC and RUN forward INTO the smoke and you wait for him (he will suspect that you will be reversing with all speed in your APC to get away!)...
So as he passes through the smoke - you lay your mines in front of him (Engineer) or throw your C4 onto the side of the tank as it passes (SpecOps)!!! Because of the smoke he has no idea you are there!
(contributed by Ranger)

2.9. Zatar Wetlands mostly, seen from MEC side but I guess this can be done from the US side using the Blackhawk. Anways: If you have the center island flag but is about to lose it, take of in the "bus" and land on the helipad. If the opposition only have an APC at the flag the bus is too armoured for the APC to take it out. If he keeps firing non-stop he might be able to take you out, but would take way too long. This buys the rest of the squad some time to spawn at the flag.
Edit: That is, as long as you have the flag you will repaired on that pad, and that equals out the damage done byt the APC - or close to.

2.10. If your in a vehicle with an MG
- When defending, use the advantages of the MG's range and firepower and position yourself a good way from the area - if anyone fires at you, you'll usually have the advantage and be able to take them out before they kill you
- Don't forget to use the buttoned key when your manning the MG especially, if your getting shot at but aren't sure where from, keep popping up, swivelling round for a quick look and then hide again, repeat until you've found the enemy's position
- Try and park your jeep so your exposed legs in the rear of the jeep are facing away from where you think the enemy will be attacking you from, it makes you more difficult to kill
- If your getting sniped or shot at and your not sure where from, don't be afraid to move the jeep

Position your jeep etc behind some wire fencing - your MG can shoot through the fence, but the enemy's nasty AT will explode on contact with the fence leaving you free to dish out carnage devil2.gif
Contributed by Dewey)

2.11. addition to 2.10: particularly pertinent on the bridge/train flag of karkand wink.gif TOW missiles also have trouble making it through chiken wire!
(Contributed by Suicidal Monkey)

2.12. Planes:-

When you are chasing an enemy plane, select bombs. The enemy plane now has no idea that you are behind him as there is no tone. The pilot then thinks he has escaped you and goes into a nice leasurely flight. You can open up with the cannons or......

quickly switch to A2A wait till he drops flares and switch back to bombs again, he now thinks he is clear again and enters level flight, the reload of the flares take ages so he has no flares and you have a steady target. Switch to A2A and blow him out of the sky.
(contributed by Liberator)

2.13. Linebacker:
This is no powerful tip, but should you be caught in a fire with a linebacker, while on foot - when facing a linebacker you can stand in between the rapid-firing weapons. They shoot inwards and if you are close enough the linebacker does not hit you. Me and mono tried it for a while some time ago, and even though the linebacker moves the turret it is still a quite good spot. Of course, if it moves it is no good - but maybe better than nothing.


3. Engineer

3.1. Placing mines - always place them at the top of a road, where it levels out, so that the vehicle coming up cannot see the mines before hitting them.

3.2. Mine-discus. As an engineer you can fling ATmines quite a distance. Take a run up, jump and then release the ATmine. You can often get them from cover out inthe path of, behind, or on top of, tanks and the like.
(contributed by Suicidal Monkey)

3.3. If you need to mine a base entrance thats fairly narrow, do it in a staggered pattern like this:


This allows friendlies to see the mines and navigate safely around them, but an enemy will more than likely be killed by one or spend so much time just outside your base trying to navigate through them they will be dead before they can get through it.
(contribued by Dewey)

4. Anti-tank

4.1. If you play as AT and come across an enemy, let off an AT round, hop into your vehicle and fire off a missile/tankshell chaser. Or vice versa. Tank shell, AT rocket, tank shell, should finish the job!
(contributed by Suicidal Monkey)

4.2. Using your DAO Shotgun:
When playing AT and you have your DA0 unlocked, you quickly realise its a very powerful close up weapon and you need too hit someone twice with it to take them down. At medium to long distances your going to get owned when using your DA0 by anyone with a rifle/carbine/pistol etc so therefore closing the gap on your target is essential.To this end you should always be keeping an eye on your sprint meter as an ATer and making sure its full before closing in on an enemey.
Once you've seen your target, sprint as safely as you can towards them, use stealth and cover to keep buildings/vehicles bushes etc inbetween yourself and your target allowing you to close the gap and get in range.
Try and plan which bit of cover your going to run to before you set of.
If you have ran a fair distance and your sprint meter is empty, wait and let it recover before going in for the kill unless your sure your in range and you know where the target is.
Always try and flank people or kill them from behind. You'll be amazed how many players you will kill laying on the floor or sideways, oblivious to your prescense until you shoot them. Lots of players don't look sideways or behind them, they get tunnel vision.
When you do get in range which preferably should be as close as possible (ie a few metres), don't be afraid to keep firing until they are down. Ammo isn't usually a problem in the game so let them have it.
(Contributed by Dewey)

5. Spec-ops

5.1. A good way to conceal C4 in open areas, or without using terrain, is to load up an undamaged jeep with it and park that near the attack entrance you would expect tanks/apc's to enter through. The explosive packs are near enough invisible when inside the jeeps. You can then move your trap from one base to another as needed in AAS. Especially fun on bridges wink.gif
(contributed by Suicidal Monkey)

5.2. While crawling under some vehicles you can also put C4 onto them at the bottom. I have done that to APC on ranked servers with 64 player maps and left it there. Ppl then fill up the APC and you get several kills.

5.3. As with the AT-mines you can throw C4-packs. You run forward, jump, release the jump key and immediately afterwards click the release button to the C4 pack (fire).

5.4. another C4 trick, particularly good in urban or "busy" areas: Don't lay the c4 on the ground, it's too easy to spot. Instead stick it to something like a tree (case in point - on tree trunks in middle of usmc approach road to hotel flag) then set it off as the tank/apc/etc drives past. This is mainly useful in confined streets as people do not expect/notice C4 on vertical/raised surfaces. Walls, particularly corners, burned out wrecks, anything to camoflage the explosives that is in a narrow street smile.gif
(Contributed by Suicidal Moneky)

6. Assault / Medic

6.1. The Chinese transport chopper - toss GP30/M203 grenades into the rear. It is open and ppl sitting there are not protected by the armor.

6.2. Use walls to deflect grenades/GL around corners. Use the burst radius to good effect, gl at a corner of a wall if you suspect an enemy is on the other side.
(contributed by Dewey)

6.3. This is one for grandmas who like to suck eggs: about 80% of the time I use single shot on assault weapons. Its so much more accurate than burst or full auto. Using s/s you can easily outpeform sniper rilfes taking people out from huge distances and vs a sniper you'll win most of the time as you can fire off rounds quicker than they can reload. Even at close quarters s/s is devastating compared to innacurate burst/auto fire.
(contributed by Dewey)

7. Sniper
7.1. Searching for snipers? Slowly move your sights along skylines. When you see a red tag you got one. Sound simple, but you can find what you cant see.
(contributed by Ranger/Paddy)

7.2. Do not underestimate the sniper's pistol. There is no sound, no muzzle flash and if you lie still the enemy will have a hard time locating you - which is typically done by detecting moving pixels, sound or muzzle flash. The pistol is also very precise, even at a distance. If you have the enemy in your cross hairs, use the fast-firing ability of the pistol.
(contributed by OldBloke/Delanvital)

8. Teamwork/tactics

8.1. Tell your team mates where an enemy position is by spotting them with the comms rose so it appears on your team mates mini-maps.
(contributed by Dewey)

8.2. When defending a base, base yourself on its perimeter. That way you can see the enemy as they approach your base and relay their position to your team mates by using your Comms rose or voice comms - giving your team more time to set up a defence. You can also put a few shots into them from distance if want or let them get into range and ambush them. Don't wait for the opposition to get inside your base unless you've C4 the flag.
(contributed by Dewey)

8.3. Don't fire guns randomly ie on jeeps/helo's etc, you give your position away and may aswell put a large sign up with the words 'shoot me!'
(contributed by Dewey)

8.4. on the spec forces carrier if you ( yanks) get 1 sniper and a enginner ( for rearming) and put claymores in the landing dock right at the top of the stairs and about 10 meters from them and at the stairs behind you near the first flag you are nigh on untouchable, and the other side find it hard to get in
(contributed by Sulky_UK)

9. Squad Leader (SL) and squad tactics

9.1. This works best if your in a small squad say 3 or 4. If your SL and you die, and your squad mates are still alive, leave the squad and rejoin, this allows you to then respawn on the new SL. It can help to keep an attack going or at the least keep the squad together, it also allows you to return as a class thats useful to your current situation.
(contributed by Dewey)

9.2. You cannot respawn on a SL if your side have control of no bases.
(contributed by Dewey)

9.3. If you are SL don't forget that if your in a vehicle with no free slots your squad mates won't be able to respawn on you - very frustrating.
(contributed by Dewey)

9.4. If you are SL, you need to be less aggressive, your no good to anyone if you venture to far into the heat of battle and get killed. The best SLers, lie up far enough away so that they can spot enemies and lay fire down with little fear of being killed and obviously still allowing your squad mates to respawn on your position. As SL good options for classes are, Medic, Sniper and AT.
(contributed by Dewey)

9.5. If you do get shot at, its best to move. As SL your survival can mean the difference between winning and losing a game. The opposition will eventually suss out where a SL is as they see troops keep coming from behind the same hill or building etc, so you need to regularly change your position as often as you can without giving your position away.
(contributed by Dewey)

9.6. If I suspect someone is a SL I will make them a top priority and will go after them while also alerting my squad mates by marking them on the mini-map so my squad mates can see them and voice comms them too so other squad mates can also target them - SL are that important and should be nullified as soon as you suspect someone of being one.
(contributed by Dewey)

9.7. Its worth sacrifcing yourself and/or some of your squad to take out a SL if the suspected SL has covered a lot of distance from their spawn point and is allowing a constant flow of enemy soldiers to respawn near a flag for example, eg on Wake Island - a SLers survival is paramount to have any chance of getting a foothold.
(contributed by Dewey)

I have one for you guys - what is the trick to get onto the top of the big hotel, i.e. the first flag at Karkand? I have been playing ranked and spawned on my SL up there a few times. It is way too high to be jumped from other roofs. It appears that they place C4 packs and "shoot" themselves up - because we kept getting invaded - even up there!

[Anonymous]

...and I'll keep tidying the thread

[delanvital]

C'mon - don't you guys have some other nice tricks you can tell the rest of us so we can wipe you trickers out some more? No? Tell 'em anyway

[delanvital]

So.. on the link OB pinned in the BF2 open forum I found the explanation why I saw people get blown to the top of the hotel on the Karkand map:

http://media.putfile.com/hotel-1

Not much fun - FF has to be off...

[delanvital]

BUMP

All you new Bravo's - tell us all your niffy tricks so we can all improve