Battlefield Play4Free Tips and Strategies

Battlefield Play4Free Tips and Strategies by Funk001

General Strategy

Avoid the low walls…

The low walls and the missing prone ability results in your head staying visible even when crouching.
A skilled player with a steady hand will still be able to take you out.
Avoid staying at the low walls for too long and bail immediately as soon as you’re being fired upon.

Threat assessment…

Instinctively, you automatically make assessments in real life all the time.
The safest route, the shortest line, the easiest way.
Try doing this in the game as well and always take out the greatest risks first.
It sounds self evident but you’d be surprised to see how many of you don’t do this properly.
A little bit of common sense should help you on your way.

Keep ’em coming…

If you’re playing as a medic or assault class make sure to keep those supplies coming.
It doesn’t hurt you to press a button every now and then.
I’m sure your teammates would really appreciate it and you’re helping your team win!

Change your controls…

I’ve said a million times already but this is still one of the best tips.
Got a mouse with buttons on the side or a few spare keys around the “AWSD” keys?
Change your controls, it will take some getting used to but you won’t regret it eventually!

Killcam positioning…
Once you start to know the map a little bit and you’re killed you still have the killcam.
The killcam gives you the opportunity to see someone’s position and perhaps the direction he’s going.
You can use this information to revenge yourself if you happen to spawn nearby that location.
Knowlegde is power…

Watch the indicator…

When you are capturing or defending a flag, keep a close eye on the capture bar in the top part of your screen.
If it suddenly stops moving you have a single target nearby, if it moves down you have 2 or more very close.
Use this information to your advantage.

Buggy stairs…

This bug is as old as the battlefield games itself, Battlefield 2 and Battlefield 2142 had it too.
Whenever someone comes up the stairs you see a short ‘flash’ on top of the stairs, like a ghost.
It’s like a little visual aid that tells you someone is coming up the stairs.
Now I’m sure you can put things like ‘seeing the future’ to good use

Nothing to see here…

After a while you find out where all the spawn points are located.
If you’re ‘that’ kind of player you can use this information to get a couple of easy kills (I personally think it’s lame but that aside..)
But whenever the flags on your side you can drop your guard a little around those spawn points.
Spawning players will be friendly from that point on and you can then concentrate on advancing to the next flag.

Movement Strategy

Stay on the move…

I’m not saying that some occasional camping/defending isn’t alright but always keep moving in general.
If you stand absolutely stil you become the perfect headshot target, the perfect 1 hit kill.
So whatever you do always try to move in all directions by moving in a circular motion.
Also, too much camping and avoiding the occasional risk won’t make you a better player either.

Use your surroundings…

Always move from wall to wall, from crate to crate and from fence to fence.
Always having cover near you will greatly increase your chances of surviving in a fight.
It will also decrease your chances of getting detected.
True combat is all about seeing, not being seen.

Be efficient…

When running from flag to flag, especially with not many people in a server, be efficient in picking your route.
The faster you arrive at the other flag, the quicker you can move on to the next and help your team score.
Usually, the team that captures 2 flags first have a greater chance of winning.

Rear view…

I’m not sure if this feature will be kept in the game but infantry has a rear view mirror (the “F” key by default)
Use this! I find it extremely useful to press the F key and have a quick snapshot of what is happening behind me.

Look around…

There is no ‘real’ front in this game so an enemy might pop up anywhere.
Look behind you and to your sides regularly and don’t concentrate on one area too much.

Have a peek…

Around crates and fences you often finds cracks and gaps.
You can use these to have a peek at your enemy without them seeing you.
In some cases you can even fire through them and take your opponent out.
And when there are no cracks or cracks, just jump over them to have a quick look.

Minimizing fall damage…

Impatient? So am I…. I always used to run off the clifs and have half my health taken away.
There is a simple trick you can use to decrease your fall damage 4 or 5 times.
When you walk off, face the hillside and keep walking into it and slide down the hill more gently.
No detour needed and no unnecessary loss of healthpoints.

Do the opposite…

Being predictable will get you killed in the first place but it’s even worse when it comes to snipers.
When you spot enemy infantry on stairs, in windows, around corners or crouching behind ojects it’s very common that they pop up on exactly the same places over and over again.
For a sniper it’s just a matter of placing the crosshairs on that exact spot and wait for the opponent to simply walk or stand up into it.
Make sure you’re not that guy and force the enemy to retarget you and give yourself a greater chance of survival.

Spawn positioning…

Familiarize yourself with the surroundings and spawn points of each map, especially when the round begins and/or you’re a vehicle player.
React quickly and make sure you know exactly where to go (vehicle or nearest flag)
Whoever get flags first in the game will win if the amount of captured flags per team remain the same throughout the entire game.

Firing/ Weapon Strategy

Stick with your target…

If you’re in a firefight make sure to stick to one target.
I often see gamers switch targets if during a battle another enemy suddenly appears.
Don’t… Once the first target is eliminated, continue with the second one.
If you switch targets in between you’ll notify your position to 2 targets instead of one.
You’ll probably end up with no kills instead of 1, even 2 kills if you’re lucky or skilled.

The line of fire…

Sometimes you simple have no choice but to switch targets.
For instance, if someone pops up who is a lot closer to you or when you are simply too exposed.
In this case it’s better to switch your target but one thing a lot of people forget is to get out of the line of fire of your other enemy.
Concentrate your fire on the biggest threat in that case and move out of the line of fire of the other opponents. (Video Explaining the concept)

Use your sidearm…

Having to reload in the middle of a firefight is a pain and often decides the outcome of who comes out the fight a winner.
Don’t reload, it’s a lot faster to switch to your other weapon!
However, make sure to reload BOTH your weapons again when you have a few seconds to catch your breath.

Grenade throwing…

When you throw a grenade and then jump forwards/run you will throw it much further.
It requires some practice to find out what the exact range of grenades are and not have them explode in mid-air.
But if you find that out and also spent some ability points on them, you’ll find them to be of great help.

Damage Vision…

Grenades also have a nice additional effect that you can use to your advantage.
When you throw a grenade and you see damage points appear you can conclude that you have just located 1 or more enemies.
The amount of points can also tell you sometimes if there are multiple targets or just one.
It also works backwards, if you gain damage from a grenade, your position has been compromised.

He’s a righty…

Your character in the game is a righty, he throws grenades with his right hand.
If you don’t watch out and make sure you have good clearance you won’t throw it right.
If often happened to me that it bounced off the wall and did not went into the direction that I wanted.

The panic button…

If you find yourself in melee range from an ememy, knife him!
I find it to be surprisingly much easier than in other games.
You also save some precious ammo.

At rounds end…

At the end of the round, especially in urban maps, make sure to keep an eye on the game’s progress bar.
Just before the end of the round make sure you use up all your grenades when you have nothing to do.
I’ve had a couple of kills by randomly spamming my last nades in often used pathways and known camping spots.
I guarantee you it will put a big grin on your face if it works out.

Vehicle Strategy

Rockin’ it…

Like being on foot, it’s a bad idea to stand stil with your tank for too long.
Rocking your tank backwards and forwards while aiming to the side will help you avoid getting hit.
If you combine this tactic with moving behind and in front of obstacles you become much harder to take out.
Just take into account that the momentum of your tank also requires you to adjust your aim to this.

Left side, exit side…

Keep in mind that you always exit a vehicle on the left side (IN DRIVER POSITION!)
It’s useful knowing this when planning an exit strategy when you’re getting critical on vehicle armor.
Vice versa, you will also know where an enemy will appear when they abandon their vehicle.

Face forward…

As is the case in many games, the front side of a vehicle has more armor than the back.
Try to avoid engineers or enemy tanks sneaking up behind you and do more damage than usual.
Whenever you go below 300 armor points you’re entering the ‘red zone’ when your vehicle can be taken out with 1 shot.

Repairing your tank…

If you enjoy playing in a vehicle it’s a good idea to keep it in good shape (above 400 armorpoints)
As an engineer you have the ability to repair your vehicle by yourself.
Just watch out that your teammates won’t take it away from you while you’re doing repairs.
Just keep a close eye on the minimap, it will help you keep track of friendly movements.

Splash damage…

Stay away from the walls and obstacles when you’re being attacked by a tank on foot.
The splash damage might just take you out.
Also, if your close to an exploding vehicle you will be killed so abandon your vehicle in time so watch out all you repairing folk out there.

Long Range RPG Shooting…

It’s almost like artillery…
If you you see an tagged enemy vehicle: [ _ ] then you can even hit it behind buildings or great distances.
Just shoot it into air at a 45 to 90 degree angle depending on the distance and the type of obstacles in the way.
You’ll notice that you’ll often get a kill since the rocket homes in on the dart.
I find that if you keep the [ _ ] in your field of vision it tends to work more often…
Keep in mind that you have to shoot and hit the vehicle before the effect of the dart has worn off, so don’t wait too long.

Higher ground, Lower ground…

Whenever your spawn point is being roamed by one of more vehicles, get to higher ground.
It will give you a much better overview of the battlefield and will prevent you from being taken out.
You also do more damage as and engineer when you fire from above.

When your in a tank yourself keep in mind that enemy vehicles will have a limited downward pitch.
Combat vehicles can pitch very high but not very low since their own body is in the way.
That means that if you get to lower ground your enemy won’t be able to fire back.