A Hello and BF3 Helpful hint guide

Hey guys,

I just wanted to introduce myself. I'm Rob, from NY and 29. You guys run a great server with some good players and good rules. Your Rush server is my current favorite to play on for a good few months now.

In my spare time, one of the things I do is take combatives courses. These courses have been mostly in small arms (rifle, pistol, shotgun), but I've also taken edged weapons courses as well. The picture on my profile in battlelog is from the combative carbine course I took back in March. I've done about 80-90 hours of training in the past 7 months.

With that said, these courses and what is taught in them do apply to the FPS world. FPS' actually can become a "force on force" practice ground to apply the rules of a gun fight. It also has the elements of stress and confusion, which are 2 of the 3 elements that you need to control God forbid you are involved in a gun fight in real life. The only thing you don't get from this is the actual physical attributes of weapons manipulation and movement.

I would like to share with you guys the tips I've put together over the past 8 months. We can all use improvement somewhere, no matter what our skill level currently is. Since I can't link to my squad page, I'll just post it all here. Please feel free to add any helpful tips as well, as I'm sure I missed a bunch of stuff and this is an open topic for improvement . Enjoy!

- Using sight AND sound - While being able to see someone coming after you is good, being able to hear them can sometimes be even better. If you can see them, chances are if they are looking they can see you. If you can hear them coming first, pinpoint their rough location, and then surprise them you will have a tactical advantage. Many times I will wait somewhere to see if I can hear where the action is coming from before I make a move. I probably kill people just as much based upon hearing them and surprising them as I do by sight. You will be surprised how many people run around shooting without any concern to the noise they are making. On the flip side, be careful how much sound you make! If you're just spraying bullets with your M249,chances are someone will notice. Also, the characters in game do say things quite often, and that can give away their position as well (a good example of this is when you toss a nade near an enemy).

- Use your minimap effectively - The minimap in even hardcore will show enemies if someone makes too much noise (unsuppressed weapon, rockets etc.). It will also show enemies if someone sees them or spots them using the "Q" button. The MAV or the T-UGS is very effective in this regard as well. If you see someone and cannot hit them, use the Q button to spot them for someone else that may be near. Also, if you are unsure of an enemy position (you can barely see them or they look like foliage), you can use the Q button to verify if they are there. While your focus should not all be on the minimap, you should keep an eye on it periodically and quickly because it could save your ass. Conversely, using cover effectively can reduce your chances of being spotted as well.

- Using cover effectively - Always have cover nearby to hide your movements and protect you. If you are standing out in the open, you are most likely going to die sooner or later. When you move, move from cover to cover scanning your area of any enemies. Also, using cover effectively means giving yourself the highest chance of success with the least amount of exposure. If you have cover that you can be killed from 3 sides out of 4, chances are you should find a new spot as soon as it is safe to do so. Also, do not pop out of cover from the same spot twice. If someone is watching you trying to line up a shot, popping out of the same spot twice will give him a better chance of killing you. By using different positions/cover spots, you will keep the enemy confused as to where you are, giving you some more time to hit. This will also help you cover your area more effectively against an enemy soldier heading toward your position. Also, if you can leave less of your body exposed, you have a higher chance of surviving. This is especially true with the trajectory system bf3 uses since it is more difficult to hit with.

- Whoever shoots accurately first, wins - in a firefight, whoever can get the first accurate shot (ie center mass or headshot) off will generally win the fight. Your concern should be putting yourself in the best position to make that first shot from the methods i just discussed as well as others. Whenever you are rounding a corner or going into a building or anything where an enemy could be around the corner, be prepared to shoot! For me, that means having my sights up. Try to avoid sprinting around corners or blindly into buildings unless you are sure noone is there or you are trying to avoid incoming fire. If you watch me play, anytime I round a corner my sights are up. At least this way I am prepared to make the shot if I need to. Same thing with windows, roofs, anything where I could potentially be facing a fire fight. The more accurate you are, the more kills you generally will have. My accuracy overall is at least 17-18%, and I dont use sniper rifles .

- Burst fire for auto guns at medium to long range - Full auto is actually pretty useless in real life with the exception of suppressive fire. Therefore if you are shooting at medium to longer ranges, use a quick burst or single shot. I generally prefer to aim at the chest and then have the burst work up to the head. It seems to be effective. At close ranges you can get away with the full auto fire because the accuracy consequences are negligible.

- Use the sides of the map to flank - While everyone wants to storm the castle rambo style and run right up the middle of the map decimating everything living, chances are that just wont happen unless you are the only person in the server. The more tactical way of capturing objectives is to flank up the sides. This will give you an advantage as there is less to cover as you are moving. If you have to cover everything left, right, up, down, and behind on a 360 degree field, it is almost impossible to do without dying (see my using cover excerpt ). By flanking, you have less to worry about and can go from cover to cover quicker. There are times where going down the middle is acceptable, but most of the time its the part of the map the enemy covers the most.

- Don't go the same way too often - If you go the same exact way every time, a smart player will pick up on it and cover that area. This will get very frustrating because the same guy will kill you over and over (yes I do that to people a lot haha). By changing it up, you add confusion and thus make the enemy have to cover more area.

- Know when to run, and when to slow down - Going too fast will get you killed, but so will going too slow (if it doesnt kill you of boredom alone lol). Using these guidelines should help you to know when to do which, but a basic rule of thumb is that if you are in the open with no cover, move your fucking ass lol. If you are in tight quarters, move a little slower, making sure to check your corners and scan your area of any enemies. Eventually you will get the "feel" for the pace of the game and be able to adjust accordingly.

- Be patient - Sometimes the right move is to wait until you are sure you know what is going on and where. If you are paying attention to the sounds around you, there may be someone running around and you are not sure where they are coming from. There may be a tank right near you and you do not want to expose your position. Sometimes the right move is to wait and use your sense of sound to formulate your next move.

- Work as a team - This one is especially important to BF3. The more you work as a team, the better you will do. A good squad can really steamroll through a level. You also have the added benefit of being able to scan and cover more area with more people working together, especially if you are all using the tactics described here. Teamspeak is extremely helpful in this regard as well.

ADDED 12/30

- If you haven't hit in the first few shots, find cover and try again - Sometimes you see someone, you go to shoot them, and you just can't seem to hit them. This is very frustrating and the urge to just spray bullets becomes very intense. This usually results in you giving away your position and dying, not to mention its just a waste of precious ammo. My opinion and what I do in game, is if I don't hit them within the first few bursts, I move away and find another position to shoot from and then try again. This way you can reset so to speak and hit your target. Also, if you shoot and you get hit while your firing, move away as quick as possible and try to outsmart your opponent. If you're a medic, heal yourself and then try again. If you try to engage while they are hitting you, chances are you won't make it (see my guideline about whoever hits accurately first )

- Always reload when there is a lull in the fight behind cover - We've all done it. You just killed a guy and are moving to the next spot when an enemy jumps out and shoots you in the head while you're helpless. To improve this situation, always reload behind cover if possible. If there is a lull or you know you are safe to reload on the move, do so but always keep your finger on the "switch to secondary weapon" button. This way if someone jumps out while reloading, you can switch to your pistol and hopefully still have a chance at killing them.

ADDED 1/15/12

- Mouse sensitivity settings and how it can affect your gameplay - I learned this one from my brother who is an excellent fps player as well. I figure it could benefit some people. Your mouse sensitivity should reflect your gameplay style. A lower mouse sensitivity setting will yield you better long range accuracy, at the sacrifice of close quarters speed. A higher mouse sensitivity setting will do the opposite for you, providing very quick close quarters speed with a sacrifice in precision. Too high of a mouse sensitivity setting will hurt you also as you will overshoot in close quarters more often. I tend to keep my mouse sensitivity settings fairly high. The higher sensitivity you can get used to for whatever game style you have, the better as it will give you more speed while maintaining the precision you previously had. This takes some time to get used to however and in the beginning you will move too much at times. My general rule of thumb is this: I set my settings up so that I can make a 180 turn with what I consider to be the fastest movement that I would do in game. A quick flick of the wrist and I am facing the other way so to speak. In my opinion, 180 degrees is the most you should have to turn, since if you are paying attention to my other tips, you should know where the enemy is coming from based upon your sight, sound, and mini-map inputs Wink. I also don't use smoothing or acceleration in my settings since for me they seem to disturb the linear movement relationship from what I do with the mouse to what movement translates on the screen. But my settings seems to work well with my gameplay style, and my accuracy is not suffering at all since I am still up over 18% with about 20% of my kills being headshots . Hopefully this will help you guys become quicker and more accurate as well. Until next time

ADDED 2/4/2012

- Moving with and around your teammates - Nobody likes someone that gets in their way. Also, effective teamwork will make the entire team stronger and will allow higher scores. With that said here are a few things I've picked up along the way in order to improve that effectiveness:
- When you move together, space yourself from your teammate a little bit. You don't want to be on top of him/her unless you're planning on fucking the two of you lol. Staying too close together just makes it easier for the enemy to kill both of you as there is less movement involved to transitioning between targets. Staying too far apart is not good either because you cannot fight together at this point. You want to be a couple of paces away when you are moving. While you are moving, be sure to scan the area, paying attention to sights AND sounds. If you do not see or hear anything to direct your attention, try to scan the area that your teammate is not. If you spot someone, hit the spot button (Q for me) just before you shoot them. This way if you do not kill them someone at least may see them on their map and can go after them. This can be done very quickly once you get the hang of it.
- When entering, exiting, and moving around in buildings, minimize your time in doorways. This is an easy killzone for an enemy as there is not much variation in aim. Also, if you are standing in a doorway you are blocking any ingress and egress using that entrance point. I can't tell you how many times I pop out of cover, take on some fire and go to run back in the way I came, and a friendly is standing there blocking my way. It is at that point I will usually TK someone so I can save my own ass (I only do this when I am a medic and can revive them immediately after getting through the door). If you are moving with a teammate, let them pass through the doorway and then follow them in a few paces behind. If you see them turn around quickly, that probably means they are in deep shit and try to move out of their way as quickly as possible lol.
- When you are moving around in buildings, pay attention to your teammates locations and lines of sight. Try to avoid getting in their way. Most good players will not stand right at a window or doorway shooting, they will stay a few steps back to minimize their exposure and not give their position away to someone outside the building or area. Keep in mind, by blocking their line of sight, you could potentially be setting the two of you up for a double death. There are many times where I am covering an area and someone runs in front of me and we both die. The person running in front of me is not prepared to shoot and on top of that he is blocking my view. The enemy says "oh easy kill" and ends up shooting both of us lol. If you have to run in front of someones line of sight, be prepared to shoot if necessary, and get out of their line of sight as quickly as possible (move to the left or right to give them a clear view for ex.).
- This is more for the Rush players. When you are about to plant an objective or someone is defusing the objective, cover them. Again, space yourself and scan the area for any threats. While having 2 or 3 people disarming is nice, it is generally more effective to have one person disarm while the other 1 or 2 stay back and protect that person. You can't kill anyone while you're trying to disarm, so you are a sitting duck basically. The other day I must have killed at least 5-10 people in one disarm session because they kept running to disarm without checking to see if I was still there. I actually ran out of all my ammo (rifle AND pistol) and was sending in rockets at that point lol. Which brings me to my next point...
- Whenever you are doing any function (disarming, arming, reviving, etc.) be sure to check your area first. While there is a time and place for sprinting in and being the hero, most of the time it will end up with you dead. It defeats the purpose of reviving someone if you only get yourself and the other person killed in the process. When reviving, keep in mind that if someone died, there is probably something nearby that can kill you too. Be sure you are safe and then rez the person. By "being safe", I mean that you've either eliminated the threat OR you can safely rez the person without getting yourself killed. Running out in the open without looking and reviving someone with no cover and enemies around will usually not work out in your favor lol. The same concept applies to planting/disarming the mcoms. Running in like Rambo without looking will more than likely get you killed unless you are lucky and the other team sucks. It does not take that much time to quickly scan the area and take out any possible threats. If they are a good team and especially if they work together, they will most likely have someone or something covering those stations from some point.
- While in vehicles such as a MBT, the main turret and the secondary gunner should work together as well scanning the area. This is more important for the secondary gunner as he can see where the driver is aiming. My personal opinion on this is that wherever the main gunners turret is, the secondary gunner should be somewhere in the opposite direction. Keep in mind this is while only scanning an area, not while engaging a threat (when you are capping a flag in conquest for instance). This doubles the amount of area you can cover and allows you to eliminate threats quickly without taking much damage.
- If you have a 3rd seat available to you and there are only 2 people in the tank, first make sure the driver has guided missiles. If he does, then switch between the 3rd seat and MG. You can use the 3rd seat to mark targets and scan the area, and then switch over to the MG to engage infantry targets. The 3rd seat is especially deadly to airborne vehicles (helicopters in particular).

ADDED 4/25/12

- The 5 Rules of Cover/concealment - These rules I've picked up from my combatives classes and they do apply in game so I figured I'd post them. Also, the difference between cover and concealment is that cover will provide protection from incoming rounds where concealment only hides your position and will not stop incoming enemy fire. What may be cover for small arms may also not be cover for tank rounds or air fire.

1 - Get behind cover as soon as possible - Most of us tend to want to run to a piece of cover in a diagonal manner (for instance, running to a wall). Cover is cover regardless so instead of doing this diagonal manner, which exposes you for longer then necessary, you can move horizontally behind the cover and then run straight to it. This will protect you from small arms fire and hide your positioning as well.

2 - Don't crowd cover - Our human instinct in real life and in the FPS world is to get right up next to the cover and "hug" it. In real life, this may cause many obstruction problems when presenting your weapon but we will talk about the effects this has in game. If you hug cover, you are giving yourself what is called "visual deprivation". To understand this better, look at an object in the room you are in. Put your hand right up to your face (If someone else is in the room, HIT THEIR HAND LOL JK). Can't see what youre looking at huh? Now move your hand about a foot or two away from your face. Much better right? Humans are visual animals. By crowding the cover, you lose that precious vision you need to identify and engage the enemy. Also, from an in game standpoint, when you crowd cover, you have more of a chance of the barrel of your rifle sticking out, giving away your position. This does apply to windows as well. The ideal situation is when you reach your cover, take a virtual step back and now you will be better hidden and be able to see more.

3 - Conform to cover - While there are more things you can do in real life to conform to cover, the basics positions in game can give us a little bit to practice this. There are 3 main forms of cover - Vertical (Doorways, high walls, pillars), Horizontal (Hood of a car, windows), and diagonal (staircase, windshield of a car). You want to conform to cover as much as possible to protect you while allowing you to put accurate rounds downrange. Just be aware that when you crouch or go prone, you lose a lot of mobility but if that is all you can do, it is better to be behind cover than be exposed. The ideal form of cover is vertical for obvious reasoning.

4 - Get your sights in your face before breaking cover - This one is very important if you want to do well and surprise people with how quick you are. Get your sights up before you break cover. Sure, in game you can hip fire, but it is not as accurate as aimed fire down the sights. What good is popping out only to have a guy who is ready to fire kill you because you just wanted to say hi instead of engaging them. In real life, this is even more important because we are not all super duper hip shot specialists, and in most cases are in a modified low ready or low ready position behind cover. I even have to remind myself to do this one from time to time because I am trying to go too fast. I guarantee if you start making this a habit though, people will think you know where they are and are hacking because of how much faster you will be able to get shots on target.

5 - Don't break cover from the same spot twice - Firefights are all about time and accuracy. If you can give yourself the split second edge to get the first shot, you significantly increase your odds of winning that fight. With that said, don't break from cover at the same spot twice. If someone spots you the first time (like a sniper waiting at the other side of the map), guess where they will be aiming for if they see you pop out of the same spot 3 more times. Yep you guessed it, BOOM HEADSHOT lol. The point is, pop out from different spots in different vertical displacement positions each and every time to keep the enemy guessing. For example, at a window, you can use each side of the window and a standing or crouched position (if you can see) each different time you break cover. Or you can even go window to window. Be creative, and keep the enemy guessing and you will create a significant advantage for yourself.

So those are the 5 rules of cover and concealment, one last thing regarding this. Cover can be compromised very rapidly, especially with the destructive environments BF3 presents so keep that in mind. Be ready to move to another location if something is taken out.

- Tips to using grenades (frag NOT m320 or 203) - Grenades can be a wonderful, useful tool for clearing the way in a fight. However, their proper use makes the difference between helping your team or hurting it. One thing that should be avoided is spamming grenades. In BF3, you can pretty well see a grenade since it shows up bright red on the screen. Spamming nades also can slow down your team since grenades are not discriminatory and will take out anyone near it. When rushing an objective, nothing is more frustrating than the guy that decided "I'll throw a nade to clear the way" and ends up bottlenecking his entire team while they wait for it to explode. If you use a grenade, make sure you are pretty sure someone is where you are throwing it to avoid wasting it, and then make sure you throw it far enough out that it will not impede your teams movement. Also, grenades are useful in confirming where an enemy is at the time. When you throw a nade near anyone, they will yell something, which you can use your sound to pinpoint their location Wink. Oh, and the best time to throw a nade is when someone is either trapped in an area or prone. They will not be able to get away from it quick enough. This tip doesn't apply to the M320 or 203, since they are high velocity and explode on impact they can be very useful in clearing an area without impeding movement.


See you guys on the field

-Rob

-Using MAVs in conjunction with VOIP
MAVs are so much more that just a tool to add targets to the minimap. When using squads with members in TeamSpeak the MAV can become a priceless tool. With a person behind the controls and vocal contact you essentially become a personal wallhack. With the proper practice you can easily guide all three remaining members of your squad safely toward objectives, away from deadly situations, expose ambushes, and spot traps and targets.

-Squad Perks
I cannot stress enough how important squad perks are. That single extra grenade, the reduction of suppression effects, the increasing of your own suppression, and the ability to reduce explosive damage are amazing tools.

-When playing as Assault.
I feel like this shouldn't need to be mentioned, but make sure that if you're going to revive a player, that it's clear to do so. Far too often, I have been revived by someone who just wanted a quick 100 points, only to be killed again by the same person. The transition from revive back to gameplay with your primary weapon, is very slow. If you have M320 smoke equipped, it helps to put up a smokescreen so you can both escape to safety.

Excellent posts guys, thanks for adding to the list. I only started to use the recon class recently (with a shotgun no less lol), but the mav is extremely useful. From the opposite side, if you are crouched and moving the MAV does not pick up that movement. If you hear a MAV beeping, by crouching and moving slower you will avoid being detected by motion. However, if the MAV sees you visually it doesnt make a difference.

I agree 100% on reviving, try to clear out the area as best as possible and then revive.

Please keep it coming!

BTW if any of you want to add me on your origin or BF3 friends list, please feel free, my username is the same as here

Just a heads up guys,

I tried getting into TS the other night, but I think I went into your community meeting server lol, I will try to jump on for a bit with you guys tonight if I have the chance in the right server haha see you guys later

Thursday night after 8pm CST we are all in the Community Meeting channel of Teamspeak. TS pswd = Honor. You're welcome to join us for our Community Meeting as a guest to introduce yourself. Our meetings provide the opportunity to introduce visitors, new applicants, and new members. We also discuss server stability and any issues carried over from the last meeting. Several members have mentioned they've enjoyed reading your Helpful Hint Guide and we thank you for that. If Teamspeak appears empty, you may need to open/join the channels to see who is actually in them. Hope to meet soon when time permits.

-L2- wrote:

Thursday night after 8pm CST we are all in the Community Meeting channel of Teamspeak. TS pswd = Honor. You're welcome to join us for our Community Meeting as a guest to introduce yourself. Our meetings provide the opportunity to introduce visitors, new applicants, and new members. We also discuss server stability and any issues carried over from the last meeting. Several members have mentioned they've enjoyed reading your Helpful Hint Guide and we thank you for that. If Teamspeak appears empty, you may need to open/join the channels to see who is actually in them. Hope to meet soon when time permits.

I will try to jump in and say hello for the meeting but my fiancee is usually over thursday nights until midnight my time (EST), but we'll see. If anything when I start playing I'll jump into one of your servers and say what's up. One day if I'm available I'll make a formal intro. at the meeting.

I'm glad that some of the members here enjoyed my tips. I'm also glad that a few members also contributed as well. Everyone improves if we all help each other . See you guys tonight.

I'll share... heck might even be useful stuff here.

I'll spot a target before trying to take it out.
If I miss or taken out myself, others will know of the target.
This also lets me know when the target has been eliminated (receiving 10 spot points).

I use BF3 editor to put my spot key where it's more useful
(I use the mouse with my left hand).
http://bf3.realmware.co.uk/settings-editor/
( the three jet brakes have been removed from BF3 by Dice.)

I also have a spot key on my Joystick (aircraft) that doubles as a fire button
(I normally use my mouse to fire), a quick burst and the target has been spotted;
or sweeping a jet across a hill lights up the snipers :} (Normal play).
----

I use logitech's 3D Pro joystick for aircraft. I like my Joystick responsive so
I don't let my system know how much play it has. This means I don't have
Logitech's gaming software running, which I see as just more overhead.

To set the joystick I run: JOY.CPL
Then > Properties > Settings > Calibrate.
When asked to move the handle around in a circle I'll move it just a bit off
center. The same with the Z axis, I'll move the handle just a little left and
right, then APPLY.

Not that it makes me any better, in fact I exaggerate actions in a helicopter
cause I can. This has damaged me many times just playin around.
----

I don't think Maintenance loadout does any good for Hardcore,
I can't find a definitive source for an answer either.
Normal play aircraft repair themselves over time, maintenance speeds this process along.
Since Hardcore doesn't have self healing aircraft I don't think it helps at all.
Just one less decision to make...

Trax wrote:

I'll share... heck might even be useful stuff here.

I'll spot a target before trying to take it out.
If I miss or taken out myself, others will know of the target.
This also lets me know when the target has been eliminated (receiving 10 spot points).

I use BF3 editor to put my spot key where it's more useful
(I use the mouse with my left hand).
http://bf3.realmware.co.uk/settings-editor/
( the three jet brakes have been removed from BF3 by Dice.)

I also have a spot key on my Joystick (aircraft) that doubles as a fire button
(I normally use my mouse to fire), a quick burst and the target has been spotted;
or sweeping a jet across a hill lights up the snipers :} (Normal play).
----

I use logitech's 3D Pro joystick for aircraft. I like my Joystick responsive so
I don't let my system know how much play it has. This means I don't have
Logitech's gaming software running, which I see as just more overhead.

To set the joystick I run: JOY.CPL
Then > Properties > Settings > Calibrate.
When asked to move the handle around in a circle I'll move it just a bit off
center. The same with the Z axis, I'll move the handle just a little left and
right, then APPLY.

Not that it makes me any better, in fact I exaggerate actions in a helicopter
cause I can. This has damaged me many times just playin around.
----

I don't think Maintenance loadout does any good for Hardcore,
I can't find a definitive source for an answer either.
Normal play aircraft repair themselves over time, maintenance speeds this process along.
Since Hardcore doesn't have self healing aircraft I don't think it helps at all.
Just one less decision to make...

thanks for the post and information! I usually do the same when it comes to spotting but your explanation expanded on why we do it, I think it definitely helps knowing when someone is eliminated by getting your spot bonus

As for the aircraft tips, I think they are very helpful to anyone that flies and I appreciate the information. I personally stink at flying and avoid jets at all costs lol so if anyone who is good in the aircraft can post up some tips, that would be great and very helpful

I just wanted to say it was good playing with you guys saturday during the day on TS. I'll try to jump on more often with you guys when I'm on as long as noone is in our TS server. My fellow squad member meatshield had good things to say about you guys as well. See you guys next time!

So I finally had time to write up a small guide on room clearing considerations. Hope you guys enjoy . This was in part from information I learned during a low light pistol skills class that had a room clearing section in it back in February. I'm taking the same class again in Sept., so I will update and correct any information as necessary. Hope you guys enjoy.

ADDED 8/8/12
- Room clearing considerations and letting the brass fall in the hallway – room clearing can be one of the more difficult things to do, especially if you are faced with multiple aggressors in one room in different spots and are alone in your clearing endeavors. However, there are some considerations to take into account that can help your chances of succeeding. Every room can be one of 3 types: left feeding, center feeding, and right feeding. There may be multiple entrances, but all of these entrances are either on the left, right, or in the center. Typically, a room has what is called “soft corners” as well as “hard corners”. A soft corner is a corner that is easily seen, and can most likely be seen from outside the entrance of the room. A hard corner is a corner which cannot be seen from outside the room, and basically has to be taken at an angle perpendicular to the doorway to clear. There could be one or multiple hard corners in a room, depending on the make up of that particular room. An enemy that knows you are coming for them will most likely use the hard corner to their advantage, as that is the last place you are likely to be able to check while clearing a room! This will give them the precious fractions of a second to put the first rounds on target and win the fight. With that said, when possible the “brass should fall in the hallway”. What I mean by that is, you can clear most of the room without ever entering the doorway. This may not be possible always especially since there are multiple people in game, but when it can be done it should be. By clearing the majority of the room from outside (the “hallway”), you now know that the only areas left to check for a threat are the “hard corners”. If you are by yourself, you can do a quick peek and back out on one side to check quickly, or you can try and take the hard corner perpendicular to the doorway as best you can with your sights up and be ready to fire if an enemy is waiting for you. If you have a teammate with you, your teammate can clear the soft corners, and you can clear the hard corner almost simultaneously with practice. This is one instance where having a teammate with you is a huge help.

You can actually practice this in your house with a flashlight in low light conditions if you so choose. Stand outside a room, and see just how much of the room you can “clear” before having to step into it. You can probably in most cases clear 80-90% of the room from outside the doorway .

Conversely, you can use this knowledge to your advantage against attackers when you are in the room and plan accordingly and intelligently. Use the hard corners to your tactical advantage against attackers coming in. Try to make the attacker have to come in at as great of an angle as possible. Most likely, they will come in at too shallow of an angle trying to scan the “soft corners” and you will have the extra time to put rounds on target. Then, you can manipulate the environment within the room to keep them guessing as to where you are. Maybe they come in again, this time at much steeper of an angle looking to check the hard corner first, and you are in one of the soft corners or in between. This confusion will greatly aid your speed and ability to put rounds on target first. This is also a reason that if you are clearing a room to clear as much as possible from outside the room first. The less you have to focus on, the more likely you will be able to be faster and more accurate and win the fight. Until next time .

Since nobody has mentioned smoke yet:

Smoke.







When playing Rush, smoke is hands-down the best tool at your disposal. I cannot count the number of games we have won as a direct result of Nimmer and/or myself laying down smoke.

Using it to obscure the enemy's view:
I don't think I really need to explain this.

Using it to distract enemies:
This is very easy on maps like Metro. When moving up either of the escalators you can send smoke over to the tunnel entrances to make the Defenders think you are moving through them when, in fact, you are moving up the escalators to capture A. The opposite is true for B.

Smoke trails:
A single person can do this, but it works best with two.
Simply run forward and shoot a grenade in front of you every time you reload. it will create an obscured path for you and your buddies as well as block your clothmonster friends from view who are camping in the background. This is a VERY effective tactic on Metro.

Smoking MCOMs:
The less the defenders know about the MCOM the more chance you have of surviving until you place the charge.




Also when attacking MCOMs:
EOD bots:
It's better to send in a million EOD bots for the initial arm than a million players. The enemy get less points, you lose nothing, and your team mates get rearm points if this is done right.

Go in groups:
If you feel that the above suggestion is worthless, go in groups when used with the last smoke suggestion.
Smoke the MCOM first and run in with a few buddies. For some reason defenders seem to stop firing having killed a single player at an MCOM. Like it's inconceivable for multiple players to attempt to arm it at once.



Just a few more of my two cents.

C4ples wrote:

Since nobody has mentioned smoke yet:

Smoke.







When playing Rush, smoke is hands-down the best tool at your disposal. I cannot count the number of games we have won as a direct result of Nimmer and/or myself laying down smoke.

Using it to obscure the enemy's view:
I don't think I really need to explain this.

Using it to distract enemies:
This is very easy on maps like Metro. When moving up either of the escalators you can send smoke over to the tunnel entrances to make the Defenders think you are moving through them when, in fact, you are moving up the escalators to capture A. The opposite is true for B.

Smoke trails:
A single person can do this, but it works best with two.
Simply run forward and shoot a grenade in front of you every time you reload. it will create an obscured path for you and your buddies as well as block your clothmonster friends from view who are camping in the background. This is a VERY effective tactic on Metro.

Smoking MCOMs:
The less the defenders know about the MCOM the more chance you have of surviving until you place the charge.




Also when attacking MCOMs:
EOD bots:
It's better to send in a million EOD bots for the initial arm than a million players. The enemy get less points, you lose nothing, and your team mates get rearm points if this is done right.

Go in groups:
If you feel that the above suggestion is worthless, go in groups when used with the last smoke suggestion.
Smoke the MCOM first and run in with a few buddies. For some reason defenders seem to stop firing having killed a single player at an MCOM. Like it's inconceivable for multiple players to attempt to arm it at once.



Just a few more of my two cents.

Thanks for the information, I don't use smoke so I don't have anything helpful, but your points are great ones and very effective especially on a map like metro as you stated. Just to keep in mind, smoke works both ways, so if they cant see you, you cant see them either which could be problematic when you run into a ton of guys where the smoke clears haha. I think it is excellent at crossing open spaces where there is not much cover however like you said, as well as in covering you long enough to arm/disarm an objective, or as stated previously, when trying to revive someone out in the open. Thanks again for the post

My pleasure.

I just remembered an additional point:
When flying the F-35 with an enemy jet following you, never try to out-run or out-turn it. The trick is to fly straight up and brake. The F-35 seems to brake much faster then the Su. There are more than a few times I have been able to pull up and brake in order to get the following plane to overtake me and allow me to send a stream of cannon fire up its tail.

Keep in mind this only works when the plane is within a certain distance of you. Doing this with the enemy plane too far back will only give it the opportunity to murder you as you are stalling.

I added the following tonight:



ADDED 8/28/12

- Where there is one, there are most likely others - We’ve all done it. We set up in a good spot, get our sights ready, and BOOM HEADSHOT as the guy comes through the doorway into your building. “Not in my house” you’re thinking, with a few other choice words possibly . You begin to reload, just as your enemy’s buddy comes through (who just happens to be the medic for his squad) comes running through and takes you out with the quickness. To add insult to injury (or death in this case haha), he revives his downed teammate and they continue on their merry way. What can be learned from this valuable lesson? Always expect more than one attacker. Where this is one, there are most likely others. This is especially evident in BF3, which emphasizes team play more than other FPS’. If a guy comes through to your position, if you take him out expect another guy or two to come through the door. This means waiting to reload, or switching to your pistol. If you have your pistol out already, reload that thing quick! Verify that the area is clear, and then continue on your merry way. Even with the MAV or UGS out, a crouched enemy can bypass that system and not show up on your map. At least by expecting more than one target, you will not be surprised when more guys show up. On the other hand, you will be pleasantly surprised when no one else comes looking for your number so to speak . Always be prepared for the next guy. When you’re not, that’s when you get caught with your pants down. If you fail to prepare, you are preparing to fail .

Also while in game, try to figure out who is communicating with whom on a server like TS or Vent. If you are a regular in a server, you will most likely see the same pairs of people show up when they are playing. Chances are they are communicating with one another to a higher degree than the average players do, and you have a higher chance of encountering them together than separately. This is especially prevalent when you see clan members from the same clan on the same team. Assume that they are communicating your position at all times, and expect them to attack you together. Vice versa, communicate with your teammates as much information as possible to help them locate and dispose of enemies. This information can be critical, and is often under-utilized.


Enjoy guys.

Always appreciate the intel. I enjoy reading these posts.
The passion for teamwork is a shared one. Thanks again.

-L2- wrote:

Always appreciate the intel. I enjoy reading these posts.
The passion for teamwork is a shared one. Thanks again.

My pleasure and thanks for the comment. It always helps to know that people are reading my posts and enjoying them. If it helps us all improve even better .

On a side note, I appreciate the way you guys have participated as well adding your own tips and tricks. I've posted this on a few forums now (any server that bans me and removes the ban gets this guide in return as a "thank you" lol), and you guys are the only ones that have participated and shared some very helpful information as well. So that is my thanks to you guys haha . See you guys next time.

Today's addition is in the form of an article from my friend and instructor Chris Fry. He is the director of MDTS training and is an excellent instructor. If you are in the tri-state area you should definitely check out and attend one of his courses. His website is www.mdtstraining.com.

The article is on the after action assessment following a gun fight. While it is related to real life encounters (and can be very useful if you train for self defense), this same assessment can be performed in game between encountering enemies.

http://www.personaldefensenetwork.com/articles/tactics-defensive-issues/after-the-action/

enjoy guys.

So it has been a while, and while I don't have a tremendous wealth of information like in the previous additions, I just figured I would explain what I consider to be the "staple" squad perks I like to have in my squad. Also, I wanted to share a few words about speed, surprise, and violence of action and how they relate to one another.

My first and most important squad perk in my opinion - SQ AMMO! If you run out of ammo, you lose period. This is one of the most important perks to have and use, especially with the auto's. Usually when I look for a squad to join, I always look for the gun that's running the ammo perk. The only exception to this is when I'm playing a recon class. Since you can control how many rounds you are using and it doesn't take a lot of rounds to eliminate a threat, you can conserve your ammo a lot more. You can also overcome a lot of enemy squad perks with your skill level, but you can't overcome running out of rounds no matter how good you are lol. If you happen to be squad leader and have someone running support class, you can get away without this as well, but you don't always end up in the same spots as your teammates, so keep that in mind.

My second perk and why - SQ SUPPRESSION - This is a personal choice based upon my gameplay style and experience. If you are following my other tips , you will probably be in the position that you are the first to place accurate shots on target. I find that this is the tendency with me and because of this, I would like the enemy to have the least chance of success in the event that I miss them or do not finish them off initially. Therefore, squad suppression is the perk I use in the majority of cases (provided another squad member has squad ammo already). This allows me to have significant advantage and sometimes that advantage is the difference between living and dying in game.

The third staple perk in my opinion is, you guessed it - SQ COVER - So we are suppressing our opponents more when we take first shots at them, but what if they get the jump on us? Squad cover will help reduce the suppression affects of our opponents so that we can still engage accurately. Depending on your game play style and experience, this may be interchangeable with squad suppression. For instance, if you tend to rush more aggressively and are out in the open a lot near the M-com. Chances are, you will have a tough time covering all angles of attack, so this perk becomes very valuable to help you stay alive and engage opponents accurately in order to be able to plant the objective.

Again, these are just my opinions on what would be most important, but they seem to cover the more important aspects of being in a gun fight - having the ammo to continue the fight and to be able to place accurate rounds on target. The fourth squad perk usually depends on the level. If you want to push up faster than the opponents, you may want to use SQ SPRINT. If it is a heavy vehicle map (tanks, lav's, etc.) and you intend on running an engineer class, then SQ EXPLOSIVES would be beneficial. In the same token, if you have a squad full of engineers, maybe you remove the SQ COVER or SQ SUPPRESSION and add SQ EXPLOSIVES AND SQ FLAK, to help you be able to take out vehicles easier. SQ FRAG can be beneficial especially for the 320 guys (useful if you are rushing and using smoke to cover). I'm sure there are other reasons I haven't thought of that others can point out, and please do so if you can, but the first 3 "staples" have done well for myself and the squads I have played in for a while now. The key thing is that you communicate with your squad and work together to get the perks you guys need .

Now for the speed-surprise-violence of action section of this post, again this comes from my friend and instructor Chris Fry of MDTS training. This is located in the MDTS master student information guide available on his website.

Speed - Surprise - Violence of Action:

- Speed will allow you to regain surprise

- Surprise will make up for lack of speed

- Violence of Action regains surprise & counters speed

Nothing crazy about it, but it definitely applies to our gaming and is something I always try and remember. Until next time my friends

Very informative! Thanks again for the tips SHOmestyle.

-L2- wrote:

Very informative! Thanks again for the tips SHOmestyle.

anytime, I've just been so busy lately and haven't had a wealth of information to present regarding the game. I mean, I can't talk about SBU or urban prone in a game where we can't get into those positions (which can be super uncomfortable btw lol). See you guys around!

I would also highly recommend these tips if your an arma 2 or 3 player, especially 3. As the ability to use multiple stances over the standard prone, crouch and standing are immensely useful in a firefight.

Feral Sparky wrote:

I would also highly recommend these tips if your an arma 2 or 3 player, especially 3. As the ability to use multiple stances over the standard prone, crouch and standing are immensely useful in a firefight.

Good to know, I may have to look into the new Arma if it has that much versatility. Thanks!

Oh yeah, it has a lot of different stances depending on what sort of cover your using, all the way to laying on your back and pointing your pistol at your attackers.

All adjustable by holding ctrl and using w or s

Feral Sparky wrote:

Oh yeah, it has a lot of different stances depending on what sort of cover your using, all the way to laying on your back and pointing your pistol at your attackers.

All adjustable by holding ctrl and using w or s

that is pretty freakin cool haha. I must buy this game and try it out. THanks for the info!