Hypothetical situation: You're running in a group of four, and you see three
of your teammates get mowed down by machine gun fire. Do you (a) continue and
kill the machine gunner, (b) throw a grenade at the machine gunner, (c) run
away, or (d) wait for the machine gunner to move or reload?
If you answered (a) or (d), rethink your situation. Trying to kill the
machine gunner head on will likely lead to failure, although it is possible to
kill the machine gunner that way. Waiting for the machine gunner to move or
reload wastes your time, and possibly your teams' also if you block a route.
Throwing a grenade at the machine gunner isn't a bad idea, as long as you
don't expose yourself. You can then attack the machine gunner right after the
grenade explodes, assuming he undeploys to run away from the grenade.
Running away is the safest answer. Find an alternate route to sneak around
the machine gunner to kill him, or ignore him completely. This way, you don't
waste time and don't needlessly get yourself killed.
Situational awareness is how accurate your perception is of your environment.
Before you can think about your situation, you have to know your situation.
Before you can make an informed decision, you must be informed. Therefore,
information gathering is the first step to achieving victory. The better your
situational awareness is, the better your decisions and your combat will be.
First, know what your objective is. Are you trying to control all the
flags and prevent the other team from doing so? Are you solely attacking?
Defending? Then, know where the objectives are and where you are in relation to
them. How close are you to the nearest objective? How long will it take to get
there? You know these facts by knowing the maps.
Your primary source of information is your sight. Like your eyes in real
life, you can only see in the direction you are looking. To know your situation,
you have to look around you. Do not always look in the direction you are
traveling. Instead, you should persistently survey your environment to detect
enemies and teammates. (Note that you move faster when you just go straight as
opposed to moving at angle. Therefore, at the beginning of rounds, just move
straight forward.)
In open spaces, look all around you. You have a lot of directions to cover.
Look around you as you travel by strafing and looking at an angle to the
direction you are running. As you pass streets and open doorways, strafe by
while looking in them.
In closed spaces, you only have a few places to look. These are the
directions where enemies can appear. In tunnels, look ahead, behind, in corners,
and entrances. In rooms, watch the entrances and windows. When you approach a
corner, turn so that your crosshair is always aiming off of the corner. For
example, if you come to a 90 degree left turn in a tunnel, keep the crosshair to
the right of the corner.
In both open and closed spaces, you cannot see behind boxes and other
obstructions. So it is best to check behind such obstructions as you pass them.
Watch for guns or parts of the enemy sticking out through walls.
The world is not two dimensional. Enemies can be above or below you, so look
above and below when appropriate.
| Always assume the enemy is everywhere. |
Your HUD provides critical information. From it, you know your health,
stamina, ammunition, who controls which flags, time to next respawn, and
possibly time left to attack or defend.
On standard maps, the objective status, in the top left, tells you more than
who controls which flag. They also tell you when someone is capturing an area
capture flag (as the flag icon slowly changes color) or when someone is near a
team capture flag (when you see 2/3, that means there are two people at a team
capture flag that requires three people). Knowing which flag the enemy just
captured (or is in process of capturing) gives you a good idea of their
position.
On paratrooper maps, the objective status has objectives instead of flags,
otherwise the same information is given.
The death messages, in the top right, are extremely useful. If you know where
your teammates are and see a death message for them, then you know a potential
location for enemies. If your teammate was defending the last flag, then you
know you need to capture an enemy flag or go defend your flag. Death messages
also tell you when you've killed an enemy behind cover (e.g., when you shoot
through a door or when you shoot through a wall with a machine gun).
The icons in death messages show the weapon used to kill. If you see three of
your teammates get mowed down in front of you, and you see three death messages
of an enemy machine gunner killing them, then you know what to expect.
In paratrooper maps with only one life per round, death messages can be used
to track how many enemies remain alive. Count enemy deaths and see how many
players are on the enemy team by looking at the scores.
Chat messages are useful when your teammates tell you something useful. When
chatting, you can type in %l (a percent sign followed by a lowercase L) to say
your location.
When someone captures an instant capture flag, there is a message in the
lower left saying so. Use this to track enemies and teammates.
Sound is an excellent source of information. First, sound provides
positioning information. (Make sure that your speakers are loud enough so that
you can hear footsteps.) You can hear enemies sneaking up behind you or coming
from the sides. You can hear people fall from higher ground and you can hear
doors open. You can hear people jump and you can hear people go prone. But be
aware that you do not make footstep sounds when you move while crouching. Also,
if you are near the enemy spawn point, you can hear the enemy re-cock their guns
when they respawn.
Second, sound provides weapon information. Learn to distinguish weapons based
on their sound and rate of fire. Knowing which weapon was fired lets you know if
there's a friendly or an enemy near you. Listen for the enemy to reload. Also,
the Allied Rifleman's primary weapon makes a distinctive ding after firing the
last round in its magazine.
Compose each piece of information to get a good idea of what's going on
around you. For example, you may hear an enemy weapon fire and then see a death
message that an enemy killed one of your teammates. If you can determine where
the sound was coming from, then you know where that specific enemy is. Perhaps
that was near a friendly flag, so you'll know the enemy is likely to capture
that flag.
A very important skill is keeping track of specific enemies. You can do this
by watching who capture which flags, who kills who, where the killing is taking
place, and who's alive and who's dead. Also, seeing what weapon they use might
give you an idea of what they're up to. For example, a machine gunner mowing
down everyone is probably deployed and staying in one spot. (A smart machine
gunner, however, may move around.)
Offense is the way to win, and therefore should be your primary activity.
Offense means taking flags and territory, whether you are taking neutral ground
or enemy ground. A good offense serves as a good defense, because it forces the
enemy to fight in their territory rather than yours.
If you can, capture flags deep in enemy territory. This will distract the
enemy with recapturing their closest flags and hunting for you. It's better to
hold back the enemy in their territory.
A good stratagem is to place yourself behind the enemy. One way to do this is
coming near the enemy spawn area, hiding, and letting the enemy pass you (or
making sure that the enemy already has passed you). Once you are behind the
enemy, you can easily kill them. (It may be a bad idea to capture flags first,
because that will alert the enemy to your position.)
If the enemy's defenses are concentrated at one objective, then do not attack
that objective. Instead, attack other objective. This will give you some easy
objective captures as well as spreading the enemy's defenses to other
objectives, which weakens his defenses at the first objective.
| Fight the enemy where he is weakest. |
In fact, it is better to avoid the enemy completely. Capture objectives where
the enemy has no defense.
Defense means defending objectives and territory that are already yours.
Offense is usually preferable to defense (except when your objective is to only
defend or you don't want to capture the last enemy flag). Your entire team
defending the last flag is a guaranteed way to lose. Pure offense forces the
enemy back, while pure defense invites the enemy to victory.
But if you are forced to defend, there are some principles to follow. First,
the best places to defend are at chokepoints, where the enemy has no choice but
to go through when advancing. Whenever possible, hold off the entire enemy team.
If you cannot defend at a chokepoint, defend routes that the enemy is more
likely to take.
Second, aggressively defend as far forward as possible. This will give your
team a chance to recover should the enemy break through. (This obviously not
apply to maps where you only get one life per round.) Also, you want to start
shooting the enemy before they capture your flag, not after.
| Keep the enemy on the defensive when
possible. |
Area capture and team capture flags cannot be captured while there is an
enemy in the flag capture area. The same applies for area capture and team
capture objectives in paratrooper maps. You can use this to your advantage by
stepping into the flag capture area just before the enemy captures the flag.
Then, if the enemy cannot see you, you may want run out of the area, so that the
enemy believes that they can capture the flag. Repeat.
Deceive the enemy. If you are hiding, then try to kill the enemy when he is
out in the open (rather than killing him as soon as you see him), so that he'll
think you're somewhere else. Be consistent about killing the enemy in the same
spot, and you can confuse the entire enemy team.
Always be prepared to kill the enemy. When you are traveling, keep your
crosshair where you expect the enemy to appear (for example, doorways when
you're inside). That way you can fire without having to aim.
Move unpredictably. It is easier to kill an enemy who is not moving than one
who is, and it is easier to kill an enemy who's moving in a pattern than one who
is moving randomly. Of course, your shots will not be as accurate when you are
moving, so it may be necessary to stop and crouch before you shoot.
Minimize the number of directions you have to watch for enemies. You do this
by hiding behind cover in directions that you do not want to watch for enemies,
and exposing yourself in directions that you are watching for enemies. Only
expose yourself as necessary. If you want to throw a grenade, try to do it from
a covered position. Kill from covered positions if possible. However, remember
that exposure is necessary to winning; hiding the entire time usually is
ineffective.
When you must expose yourself, use surprise. One tactic is to crouch behind
cover, pop up, shoot an enemy, and then duck back down. Another is to jump
sideways from behind a wall (or other cover), start crouching, and shoot the
enemy. Often times, simply running out shooting from behind a corner will
surprise the enemy.
You can use smoke from grenades, ambient bombs and mortars to hide yourself
from the enemy. It is better to travel when the enemy cannot see you. You also
can hide behind bushes and other vegetation, but be sure that your weapon does
not stick out, else the enemy can spot you.
When swimming (and not jumping), you can go above the surface and fire your
gun or throw grenades.
If you see a stream of enemy machine gun fire, resist the urge to go through
it.
One way to throw grenades is to throw the grenade straight down, start
counting down from 5, pick up the grenade with your use button, and throw it at
the enemy before you reach 0. This will make sure that the enemy does not have a
chance to throw your grenade back or get away.
If you are engaged with an enemy who has as a less accurate weapon than you,
for example, an undeployed machine gun, then keep your distance to take
advantage of range. Conversely, if you are the one with an inaccurate weapon,
then try to close your distance.
When fighting multiple enemies, first kill the enemy that represents the
biggest threat to you. Ideally, you want to kill everyone that you're fighting.
When you're fighting with an automatic weapon, it may be best to spray them all
first and then kill them. That way they will slow down from being hit and will
be less effective. If there's an enemy machine gunner and you know you're going
to die, then try to kill him. Machine gunners can be very dangerous to your
team, so it's good to take them out.
When you start bleeding, first kill any immediate threats. If instead you
immediately apply bandages, then you'll be helpless against nearby enemies.
While fighting, check your health, and if you can survive bleeding for a bit,
continue fighting. Once you're about to die from bleeding, you may want to apply
bandages and hide from enemies.
At near point blank range, a deployed enemy machine gunner is vulnerable as
long as you surprise him and minimize the time you are in his field of fire. The
closer you are to a machine gunner, the faster you'll move on his screen. Once
you out of his field of fire, you can easily kill him without worrying about
return fire.
The fact that you do not have a crosshair with the sniper rifles when
unzoomed should not discourage you from using the rifle unzoomed. Learn where
the center of your screen is and practice firing without a crosshair.
Static stealth involves choosing a position that minimizes the clues the
enemy has of your location. Some good places are inside of rooms, small side
passageways that lead to no where of importance, and above or below the enemy's
path. These are not the only places you can hide; each position must be
considered. A hay stack just outside of the enemy's spawn area may be enough
cover to hide. Some bad places to hide include flag capture areas of enemy held
flags and positions where the enemy normally hides (unless you plan on camping
them).
Going prone may or may not help you achieve static stealth. Being prone makes
you harder to see, unless you clip your legs or gun through a wall. Consider
this carefully when you are hiding near walls. Also, when you go prone, you make
a noise. Try not to go prone while the enemy is near.
Dynamic stealth involves choosing paths to avoid the enemy and timing your
movement. Know which paths the enemy is more likely to take, and avoid those. If
you detect the enemy in a certain path, then you obviously don't want to go down
that path, so choose another. If you're killed going through a certain path,
then you'll probably want to choose a different path when you respawn so that
the enemy cannot ambush you on the same path.
The way to time your movement is to take advantage of Day of Defeat's wave
spawning. Because the enemy spawns in waves, they will likely travel in a large
group. When you suspect the enemy wave is near, take a static stealth position
to wait for the enemy wave to pass, and then move behind them and continue on
your way. In such situations, being able to hear the enemy's footsteps is vital
so that you know when they have passed.
Although capturing flags is the object of standard maps, do not capture flags
while trying to be stealthy. It is a dead give away of your position. And with
instant capture flags, the enemy will see your name and know who to hunt down.
Especially, do not stay in flag capture areas. If you must pass through a flag
capture area, sprint so that you minimize the time the enemy can see you in the
objective status.
Another thing to consider in dynamic stealth is the noise you make. Crouching
is the best way to move without making a noise. It's faster than crawling and
you can shoot while moving. Crouching while climbing ladders also will reduce
the noise you make. Crouching, however, is slower than running, so you should
only crouch when you suspect the enemy is near. Try to avoid jumping and going
prone while the enemy is near.
When being stealthy, you probably will not be able to look for the enemy,
because otherwise they will see you (note that this is not the case if they pass
by you without noticing you). Sound will then become your primary, or at least
your first, source of information. Learn to listen and determine the enemy's
position.
There are some places you cannot be stealthy without being very lucky.
Stealth will give you an advantage, but it will not help if you cannot be
stealthy. Do not become too dependent on stealth.
Your team will be more effective if your team is coordinated. But there are
some Do Nots that will make your team less effective.
Do not obstruct your team. If you are in doorway or small tunnel, do not stop
without a good reason (for example, killing an enemy). Or at least crouch or go
prone so that your teammates can jump over you.
Do not shoot your teammates. If you shoot them in the head, their vision and
effectiveness go to zero. If friendly fire is on, the implications should be
obvious.
Do not travel in large, tight groups. That is an excellent way for your
entire team to get killed by a machine gun or a grenade.
Do not run into your teammates. Running into them restricts your teammates'
maneuverability.
Do communicate with your team. Tell them where you've spotted enemies, where
you are, and where you are heading. This will give your teammates information
they would otherwise not get. But don't say things like, "There's a sniper over
there in that window." (Where's "over there"?) Be specific. Say, "There's a
sniper above their second flag in the left window." On some maps, team saying %l
(a percent sign followed by a lowercase L) will say your location.
When fighting, it helps to cover your teammates. While the enemy is
distracted with shooting at a teammate, you can kill the enemy. Also, you can be
the one distracting the enemy if you have faith in your teammates.
When you're following a teammate, look for enemies in the directions that he
does not look. You do not want to be too surprised to discover an enemy behind
you.
If you have confidence in your teammates, do not defend the same area they
are defending. It's better to defend in a different direction than your
teammate, so that together you maximize the area you are covering.
When your teammates are capturing an objective, move ahead of them to
intercept the enemy. This prevents the enemy from stopping the capture.
Offensively, sniping is for taking out targets that your team cannot take out
themselves. Defensively, sniping is for killing the enemy. Generally, do not
stay in the same position for more than two waves.
After the first moment of a grenade blast, the smoke is a visual obstruction,
but will no longer hurt you. The same applies to ambient mortars and bombs. If
you are pinned down, use these as cover to gain a better position.
Effective sniping on beach maps is of vital importance. You must cover your
team in order for them to get off the beach. As the Axis, Overlord's beach can
be an excessively hard place to snipe. It does provide some excellent practice
for developing a rhythm to sniping that can be applied to other maps
(particularly the skill of ducking behind cover between shots to remain
concealed).
Another important aspect of sniping is learning to counteract sway. In
general, sway is good. It prevents excessive camping to some extent, and
(ideally) keeps the less skilled people from taking up sniper slots on your
team. Sway engages only when you are zoomed in and not moving your mouse. The
most effective way to deal with sway is to practice moving directly to a target
and firing. Once developed, this skill has the additional bonus of allowing you
to cover more area while zoomed in (keep moving, keeping the target more at the
edge of your circle as you scan, rather than the middle).
