Gaming
Battlefield V has landed. Here’s what you need to know to stand a fighting chance from one of the best players we know, who happens to be one of our chief writers!
Battlefield V is a different beast from its predecessors. While the core all-out-war gameplay loop remains, there are new additions like attrition, construction and requisition to take into account. That’s all on top of the already tactically deep moment-to-moment decisions you have to make to have the best fraggin’ chance of staying alive. Here are five quick tips to get you beyond basic recruit and push you closer to seasoned veteran.
Follow the Leader
The squad that stays together, wins together. Wherever your squad leader says to attack, you should follow that order to reap the most requisition points. If you’ve got a lax leader, request an order to pinch leadership from them after a 60-second silent coup. You can also Buddy Revive now. It’s a new feature that lets anyone in your squad, even the ones who aren’t Medics, revive other squad members. It takes time, so let the Medics do the hard work faster if they’re around (or prioritise reviving downed Medics, if all of your squad is incapacitated), but it’s the best way to keep your squad up and fighting. And if you’re the last squad member alive, surrounded by enemies, there’s nothing wrong with hiding away and waiting for your buddies to respawn before getting back into the action. You’re a whole lot less visible in Battlefield V, with stacks of hiding spots on most maps, so use that to your advantage.
Recon is mostly optional, but play it for long enough and you’ll score some handy tools: the spotting flare, which reveals enemies on the minimap, and a spawn beacon for an impromptu new spawn location...
Class War
When starting out, find a class you like and stick with it. The more time you spend with a class, the more weapons and gadgets you’ll unlock. These increase the chances of success. Moreover, you’ll also learn the most effective fighting ranges for the weapon categories by using them more. If you’re scratching your head over which class to start with, pick Medic or Support. Both of these reward easy points just for healing and reviving (Medic) or rearming and repairing vehicles (Support) your squaddies and teammates. Switch to Assault if your buddies are near an enemy tank or if you need an explosive solution to an entrenched enemy position. Recon is mostly optional, but play it for long enough and you’ll score some handy tools: the spotting flare, which reveals enemies on the minimap, and a spawn beacon for an impromptu new spawn location.
Play with Your Tool
Your construction tool, that is. You can still destroy stacks of stuff in Battlefield V, but you can also now build things for the first time ever. Most of these are defences, and the easiest way to see where you can build is by whipping out your construction tool. You’ll see the white outlines of everything you can build in an area. If there aren’t any outlines, you can’t build in that area (or everything has already been built). The more you familiarise yourself with the various construction areas on a map, the more tactical options you’ll have. When capping uncontested points – which you’ll know are free because of the lack of red in the capture progress bar – earn easy points by constructing. You should prioritise building the medical and ammunition stations at the major points. Remember also that Support players build faster and can sometimes build offensive options like machine gun emplacements.
Kinetic Fore
Physicality has been boosted in Battlefield V. This includes simple additions, like the option to sprint while you’re crouched, or more complex manoeuvres like manually grabbing a ledge after jumping. With a bit of practice, you can pull off your best Mirror’s Edge impression at jumping between objects to reach higher places. In terms of vehicles, it now takes time to get in and out. This means bailing out of a damaged tank is something you have to start earlier if you want to survive. The same is true of planes, where jumping too late might have you parachuting outside of the playable area and on a slow descent into respawn land. Infantry fare better. You should definitely take advantage of being able to aim more freely while prone, or diving to the side and on your back while still aiming. Additionally, you can jump in and out of building windows without first having to smash them now. You can even throw back enemy grenades.
The Attrition Position
Attrition in Battlefield V means you have to carefully monitor your ammunition and health. Ammo is more limited than previous Battlefield games and health doesn’t automatically regenerate to 100 percent. You spawn with a couple of spare magazines and a bandage, but you have to manually use the latter to get back to full health. Once used, hit up a medical station or friendly Medic to get another in reserve. For Medic and Support players, you can look for an icon above the head of friendly players as you look at them to see whether they need anything from you. If they do, hook them up. When you get kills, run over the enemy’s body to pick up precious rounds, too. It’s not just infantry who are impacted by attrition, either. Tanks have to rearm and can only fully repair at designated stations, while planes need to fly through specially marked areas at the edges of the map to resupply.
This just scratches the surface of what’s required to find success in Battlefield V. Definitely take the time to look at the training videos and keep the tooltips on when starting out to get a faster grip on some of the newer mechanics you might’ve missed. Apart from that, sink some serious hours into Battlefield V. The more you play, the more you’ll master weapons and start to memorise maps, both of which are two key pillars for finding success on this hectic battlefield.
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