If you’re just getting started in Battlefield 5, you may feel a little overwhelmed. Fortunately, we’re here to help.
Battlefield 5 is here and it’s loaded with updates and changes to almost every game mechanic and mode. Even compared to the beta, the launch version has seen its fair share of refinements.
To better keep track of everything, we’ve created a series of articles that’ll help you make a good sense of what matters. In order not to bog down our general tips with things like the new class dynamics with Combat Roles, or detailed explanations of crucial mechanics such as attrition, and fortifications, we’ve split them into their own pages.
You can imagine how important they are to the Battlefield experience, then, and we generally recommend starting out with those before diving in below. This is where you’ll find a collection of some of the best tips we’ve gathered so far from playing, for both new players as well as veterans.
3D spotting is gone, but you can adapt
Battlefield 5 has gotten rid of the famed 3D spotting, otherwise known as orange/red doritos. For the first time in years, you’re able to be stealthy but no less deadly. Firing your weapon won’t automatically get you spotted on the minimap, and you won’t be running around with an orange triangle over your head anytime someone glances at your general direction.
If you’re not attacked, you can safely assume the enemy doesn’t know you’re there. The spotting button now places a contextual marker, similar to Rainbow Six Siege. You can certainly use it to alert teammates to an enemy’s general direction, but that’s about it. Depending on the map and terrain, some uniforms blend in with the environment better than others. This is going to make life easier for campers, but you’re not completely defenceless against them.
Muzzle flash is much brighter now, and it’s going to be the thing that’ll help you spot enemies most of the time in Battlefield 5. You can’t hide muzzle flash with attachments in the game, either. Use this to your advantage, and always focus on were the muzzle flash is coming from.
Your teammates will always have icons over their heads, so you’ll instantly know if you’re aiming at a friend or foe. The Recon’s spotting scope is the only gadget that can 3D spot in Battlefield 5, and its flare gun is able to spot enemies on the minimap within a limited radius after being fired, as it always has. Suppressed enemies will also have a very noticeable icon over their heads for those paying attention, but these are not quite the classic doritos and can be hard to miss.
One other thing to keep an eye out for is movement. This is admittedly harder to detect than muzzle flash, and it’s even more complicated thanks to the erratic ragdoll movements going on anywhere you look, but it can help. Snipers can often be the easiest to spot, as their positions are sometimes given away by scope glint.
You can create custom key bindings on consoles
Players on PS4 and Xbox One are now able to customise each individual action in Battlefield 5 just like their PC friends have been able to for years.
Outside of the different control schemes and various other little settings you can mess with, you’re now able to change the key binds using any button on the controller. Some things like the DualShock 4 Touchpad can be a bit tricky, but you’ll know immediately if the game treats it as a single button or multiple.
This is also perfect now that the spot button is perhaps not as important as it used to be.
Always keep track of Assignments and Orders
A great way to earn Company Coin (in-game currency), and XP in Battlefield 5 is to stay on top of Assignments and Daily Orders. Daily Orders are small challenges that refresh every day, and you won’t have to do anything to activate them.
They will track your progress in the background, and all you need to do is fulfil their requirements to earn the reward. Assignments, on the other hand, require a bit more participation. You have four slots, and you’re able to choose which Assignments to take on.
This can be done from the main menu, and you can keep track of your progress anytime during the match by hitting Esc and selecting the appropriate option. Completing Assignments awards you with Company Coin and XP. Their requirements are obviously more demanding than Daily Orders, and may require you to switch game modes or play as a certain class to be completed.
Always take a few moments to read and understand each requirement, and activate the Assignments you think you’ll be able to finish. There’s no point in going in with an empty slot if you can fill it with an Assignment.
Don’t forget about your squad reinforcements menu
Squad leaders have always been able to direct squad efforts by issuing orders, but they essentially have score streaks in Battlefield 5.
Every action you do as part of a squad contributes to your squad’s requisition points (RP) score. The more coordinated you are as a squad, the faster your earn rate will be. Battlefield 5 allows squad leaders to call in various reinforcements using these points.
The most expensive and devastating of which, is of course the V1/JB2 Rocket. You can save up enough points to call it in, or you can spend your RP on much more affordable options earlier. Certain tanks like the Crocodile or the Sturmtiger can only be brought in using RP.
You can also call in a supply package for your team that includes ammo and health packs – sort of a mobile supply station. To deploy any of these just hold the squad reinforcements button (B by default) and highlight the item you need.
Do bear in mind, however, that while you can aim the rocket and supply pods, the tanks only spawn back at your team’s base. It’s annoying to have to die or go all the way back to spawn to be able to use your heard-earned Sturmtiger, but that’s the way it is currently.
Embrace – and understand – attrition
We’ve talked about attrition in Battlefield 5 many times before, more recently in our biggest multiplayer features breakdown. Attrition is the thing that’ll likely take you the longest to fully wrap your head around, but you need to first understand what it does to be able to do that.
Depending on your chosen weapon, you’ll be spawning with limited ammo; about three to four magazines in total. For health, all players spawn in with one extra health pouch. You can swing by a supply station to pick up an extra magazine after spawning, but you can only store one health pouch on your person.
This may seem limiting, but it’s going to better manage the pace of multiplayer. Aggressive players can scavenge ammo from fallen soldiers, but they will have to rely on the help of medics or retreat to a supply station to top up their HP. The same goes for campers who don’t move for the entire round, they too will inevitably run out of ammo and have to relocate or double pack to resupply.
Attrition also controls the way your health regenerates. Now, health regenerates only to the nearest segment on your HP bar. You can use your stored pouch to self-heal, but you’ll have to get more if you waste it. Over time, you’ll learn when to use the pouch and when to wait for your HP to regen.
Vehicles also have to respect attrition, since they no longer have infinite ammo. Like infantry, tankers and pilots will need to retreat to a supply station every so often to resupply. You also won’t be able to self-repair indefinitely, either, because that too requires recharging at a supply station.
For airplanes, these stations are found near the base, whereas for tanks they can be built on at the various capture points or found around the map.
Keep an eye on your health and ammo
Continuing on from the previous tip; you should always be mindful of your ammo reserve and HP status. The time to kill in Battlefield 5 is already very short, and having less then 100HP will make it seem even shorter.
If you decide to take cover and see that your health isn’t regenerating back to full, you’ll need to use a medical pouch. If you don’t have one, find a medic or a nearby supply station. Running with low health is usually a recipe for disaster. Likewise for ammo; don’t take every fight, you won’t have enough ammo to attack players at all ranges.
Respect your weapon’s intended range. Don’t bother going after long-range targets with your fast-firing SMG, for example. You’ll miss most of your shots and end up with a lot less ammo, which may end up getting you killed during your next close-quarters engagement.
Just as with health, make sure you have at least one extra magazine in reserve. If you don’t run around and scavenge ammo from dead players, ask a Support player for it, or find a supply station. Ammo is generally easier to come by compared to medical pouches.
Another good way of conserving ammo is to use your pistol whenever you flank. If you know you’re going to get the kill, there’s no sense in using precious rifle ammo when you can get the job done with a pistol.
Nobody wants to run out of ammo mid-firefight, or die after taking a single shot because they forgot to self-heal or pick up ammo.
Tank classes matter
You may be already familiar with the light and heavy tank class structure from Battlefield 1, but Battlefield 5 takes this a step further with its updated tank mechanics.
On top of the limited ammo and repair capabilities we covered earlier, tanks now also have turret rotation speed that varies by class and the types of Specializations you have unlocked. Light tanks will be able to whip their turrets around faster than heavy tanks. This will make it easier to sneak up on, and surround tanks as an infantry player, so keep that in mind. Another major change to tank combat is that sight alignment is not always accurate in third-person view.
While being in third-person has the obvious advantage of letting you see around your tank, you won’t be able to hit your shots accurately using the third-person sights. Instead, make a habit of shooting from first person, especially if it’s a tricky or long-range shot.
You should also be mindful of which part of your tank has been hit. If your tracks take a lot of damage you won’t be able to move, but you may be able to do some damage yet. Don’t abandon ship right away. Remember, 3D spotting is no longer a thing in Battlefield 5. A tank that isn’t moving is harder to detect. This is actually something War Thunder, and World of Tanks players will know very well.
Just sit for a little bit and wait for your opportunity. Rotate your turret and take the shot. Then back to stealth mode again until you get another opportunity or someone hears your cries and comes to repair your busted machine.
Don’t skip fortifications
The new fortifications system in Battlefield 5 is admittedly much easier to ignore than attrition, but it offers fantastic tactical advantages if you engage with it. Sure, not everyone wants to sit around stacking sandbags in place of a destroyed wall or boarding houses to prevent grenades from coming in, but there’s a lot more to fortifications than that.
As we covered in our class and Combat Role breakdown, the Support is better at building fortifications than anybody else. They also get more options unavailable to other classes.
Not convinced yet? Imagine forcing enemy infantry to be right where you want them. You can easily do this by surrounding a point with barbed wire and sandbags. Most players won’t think to destroy them, so they’ll look for another entry point; this is your chance to mow them down.
You can do the same for tanks by building tank traps to stop their advance and funnel them through more dangerous avenues. And just like it can be used to prevent the enemy’s advance, you can use fortifications to undo destruction.
You’re able to rebuild bridges, create cover in the middle of nowhere by digging a foxhole, or fortify a defensive position that was recently shelled and levelled. You can also build supply stations for your team.
All of that and more can be done using fortifications, and you can easily see what’s available by equipping your building tool (T by default). You should also keep in mind that your fortifications can be used against you, so don’t over-fortify a point if you’re planning on leaving.
All weapons start out with sight options
If you’re tired of the early grind you have to do in every multiplayer shooter in order to get some basic weapon attachments, you’ll be happy to know that it doesn’t return in Battlefield 5.
You’ll immediately have access to a couple of different sights for your weapons, which you can equip as soon as you start playing. Attachments in Battlefield 5 are cosmetic only, so the grind has instead shifted to weapon perks (Specializations) – this is what you’ll be levelling up weapons for now.
Functions that have been traditionally mapped to attachments, such as lower recoil with a compensator have also become part of the perk tree. Take a few moments to read their description before deciding to invest.
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