General Gameplay Tips

General Gameplay Tips

Adapt to survive. Don't stay as the same class. For one thing, you level up much slower if you play as only one class. For another, while always playing as assault means your squad will never run out of ammo, if everyone else is also playing assault there will be a gap in your team's skills. The same applies to everyone playing as engineer on a vehicle map. Engineers run out of RPGs very quickly, so they need assaults to boost their supplies.

Don't be afraid to stay in a mould. This will seem contradictory to the above statement, but it is important to emphasise that on any given map, it is vital to have roles (whether communicated or not) and functions to stick to. On Conquest this is particularly useful. If you capture a difficult enemy base and begin to hold it, your team will assume you are in control of the situation and pile on to the next one. If you then also move on, the base will undoubtedly be taken by any lone enemy infantry passing through. Conquest is notorious for everyone rushing to the next base and leaving massive defensive gaps. Play cleverly; you may have to sacrifice a little action to defend a base and help your team win.

Use the destruction. Bad Company 2 boasts a brilliant engine which allows entire buildings to be destroyed. Use C4 to bring down buildings overlooking M-COM stations or providing enemy cover around bottlenecks. If you are constantly being sniped from a building, flank it and blow it up!

Use the UAV properly. The UAV is not primarily an anti-infantry device. Evidence of this is that the machine gun is only available if you use the Alternate Weapon Package. Use the missiles, which have a very long recharge time, against tanks and buildings only. You can destroy a tank in the back with one of these, or two if you hit it elsewhere. This gives a massive bonus to your team, far more than just buzzing around gunning at infantry. In Rush, use the UAVs to target the M-COM buildings if Destruction 2.0 is possible. Unarmed UAVs are supposed to spot targets – don't forget this just because you can call in a laser-guided missile.

Use UAVs to spot, and to target vehicles and buildings.

Burst fire. Very few guns can be accurately used in fully automatic mode without some regulation of recoil. Your gun may look level when you hold down the right trigger, but it takes far more bullets to kill someone if you just spray the gun as opposed to firing three or four bullets at a time. This is especially important at range, but it is easy to forget in close-quarters where you may expect spraying to kill the enemy – it often won't do it in time.

Pick your class intelligently. If you have a team of snipers, don't join them. Whether you love sniping or not, this is absolutely terminal to a team, particularly on Rush. If only three or four of your team are playing as close-quarters classes, you will not be able to win the game, regardless of how good your snipers are. Not only that, but the enemies will be spread around ten snipers instead of the few that is all each team really needs.

Use the environment to your advantage. We have already looked at using Destruction 2.0 to help in objective modes. You can also use explosive barrels and tanks to kill enemies and damage buildings. It is amazing how many players ignore these and you see explosive scenery even late in a game that has yet to be used.

Explosive barrels make for easy kills.

Don't hog team assets. You may think you are the best tank, helicopter or UAV pilot in the game, but the chances are someone will use them in a different way to you. If you remain in the same role for the entire game, the enemy will adapt and get used to your tactics. Similarly, your allies will get frustrated at not being able to use the UAV, for example, for their own squad's needs. Consider your team when playing.

Avoid getting spawn-killed. While Rush has safeguards in place to prevent spawn-killing, it is a necessary part of Conquest – if your team loses all its bases, you will be penned back at your deployment base. An exception to the above rule of not hogging vehicles is if you are being selfless on a map like Isla Inocentes and ferrying players from a spawn to the front line in a vehicle – this is crucial to stop yourself from being closed in at the deployment. On a map like Atacama Desert in particular, this can be a serious problem.

Focus on vehicles. Some maps are extremely vehicle orientated. Engineers and Recons with mortar strikes have absolutely no excuse for shirking their anti-vehicle duties, yet few recons use their mortar strikes against tanks – against which they are very effective. Snipers rarely get into close combat, but they can certainly assist their team mates on the front lines. Just be careful when you are using mortar strikes not to catch a tree or telegraph pole, as this can bring the strike down on your own position!

Mortar strikes are great against tanks. Even if the crew gets out, they will be hurt and should get picked off by your allies.

Never leave your vehicle unattended. This may sound like a recommendation from the Metropolitan Police, but it is good advice. If you are rolling a tank towards an enemy position, don't get out unless it is absolutely necessary (to make repairs for example). On some maps, especially in Rush, giving the enemy a free vehicle can be catastrophic. The maps in Rush are often balanced so that one team has offensive vehicles, and the others defend against them. Allowing the enemy to get a helicopter or main battle tank can be lethal to your team's chances. If you are abandoning a vehicle, blow it up first, or C4 it so you can blow it up when it's in use again.

Suicide is sometimes necessary. This is another Rush recommendation. If you are defending you have unlimited tickets, so you can die as much as you want. If an M-COM station is armed and about to blow up, just throw yourself at the room. If there is any chance that you can disarm the station, you must at least try. Forget about your kills to deaths in the objective modes, they do not matter. The same applies to taking on vehicles in other modes. Don't waste ten lives taking out a M3A3 Bradley, but risk a death to get an RPG away at the back of the tank.

Have a last-ditch strategy. If you feel yourself getting shot, have a plan of action in place. This may vary based on where you think the bullets are coming from. Personally, if I am in a building I will pull a grenade and try to throw it where the enemy is likely to be coming from. Outside, a medic strategy is to spray whatever is left in your magazine to try to suppress the enemy. Assault classes may prime a 40mm grenade, as this can kill in one and potentially save your life. Think about it for each class and try to work out a strategy. You could of course just run.

Grenades are a good way to get out of intense situations.

Listen. The game gives you a lot of information over your speakers. This is not just limited to bullet directions. It may be worth you using the options to set English voices so that you know what is being shouted at you even when playing as the Russians. You will be informed which M-COM or flag is under attack, and when your team is winning or losing. Furthermore, players can press the spot button over a team mate to request their services, such as ammo, health or a vehicle repair. You can also ask for a vehicle pick up, and such commands are a useful tool to keep a team running successfully. Don't ignore this aspect of the game. You can also hear enemies. If you hear an American voice and you are playing as the Russians, you will know the enemy is near. Also, hear a grunting noise and the chances are someone has tried to knife you. Turn round and teach them a lesson.

Use squads. If you are not in a squad, you will have to do a lot more walking than everyone else. You will also not have access to a squad's potential abilities, such as med kits, revives, unlimited ammo and vehicle repairs. While sometimes it is impossible to get into a squad, this is not usually the case. Spawn on a team mate in a tough situation and you can help take out an enemy. They can do the same for you, and it might just save your life.

Squads are an integral part of Bad Company 2, and using them effectively can help rack up large kill streaks.

Spot. Spot. Spot. This is the biggest recommendation of this guide. So many Bad Company 2 players ignore the spotting system in the game. This involves targeting enemies and highlighting them for your team to see. You should always spot anyone you are firing at, unless doing so would physically lead to your death, because the game does not spot automatically, even if you are under fire or actually hitting an enemy with your bullets. If you do not spot an enemy or vehicle (particularly frustrating with tanks) and then die, you have not assisted your team at all. If, however, you spot the tank, then your team know what killed you, where the danger is, and can move in to deal with it. The game provides UAVs, motion mines and spotting scopes for this purpose, but they are underused. You get points for spot assists, so there is even a benefit for you! You can also press the button when you can't see anyone, in case the game picks someone out for you.

Sneaky tip...
On Xbox 360, installing the game to your hard drive means you load the game and spawn before anyone who hasn't done it – a real advantage!