Battlefield 4 Dos and Don'ts

Many consider the Battlefield series to be the more civilized of first-person shooters. Mere twitch skills may fuel your success in the barbaric team deathmatches of other games, but your well-developed muscle memory must be buttressed with a healthy sense of camaraderie and a keen understanding of tactics to emerge victorious in this thinking man's shooter. To speed your education and give you a proper footing in Battlefield 4, we've formulated this gentleman's list of advice.

Do: Join A Squad And Stick With It
Battlefield games are best experienced when cooperating with your fellow teammates. You earn more points helping out your comrades, and joining a squad allows you to respawn directly on a squad member instead of starting way back at the base every time. Even if you don't always play by the rules, it's better to exist within the squad structure than outside of its jurisdiction. If you prefer lone wolfing it, several other games cater better to that play style.

Don't: Be Shy
Communication is one of the keys to victory in Battlefield, so don't be afraid to speak up when you need something from a teammate. If you're not using a headset, you can use the commo rose (a PC mainstay that has migrated to consoles for Battlefield 4) to request ammo, health, and repairs. Teammates are rewarded handsomely for supporting their fellow soldiers, so most are more than willing to lend a helping hand.

Do: Choose Your Class Contextually
So you've picked a squad. Now, it's time to survey what your fellow soldiers are doing before making your class decision. Are they rushing M-com stations or capturing flags in conquest? If so, go with the assault or support class so you can heal/revive fallen comrades or resupply those short on ammunition. Are they piloting choppers, lobbing shells from a tank, or taking fire from one of the aforementioned vehicles? If that's the case, you should rock the engineer class to repair damage or fire rockets at incoming threats. The recon is more of a jack-of-all-trades class that provides value in many different circumstances. If vehicles are circling the position, you can use the portable laser designator or SOFLAM to allow teammates with lock-on missile launchers to take them out. If you're on the frontlines, recon soldiers can deploy motion sensors to detect enemy movement or use the radio beacon to provide a spawn point deep in enemy territory.

Don't: Ignore Commander Requests
After a long hiatus, the commander role returns in Battlefield 4 thanks to popular demand. A good commander can sway the tide of battle by issuing orders to squads, deploying UAVs to track enemy positions, and even dropping heavy ordinance from time to time on hotly contested areas. The commander has a bird's eye view of the action, so he or she is in a much better position to understand where troops are needed. If your squad receives an order, it's in your team's best interest that you follow it. Chances are, the commander made that demand for a reason. If you disagree with the assignment, the squad leader should at least deny the request so the commander can find someone more agreeable to the task.

Do: Play The F-ing Objective
Few things are as aggravating as being on the offensive in a rush map, only to see half your team positioned on a ridge taking potshots at defenders to boost their kill/death ratios. Leave this deathmatch mindset behind. Battlefield is about winning, and racking up those kills isn't necessarily helping. If you want to emerge victorious, you need to arm those M-com stations and capture those flags. This is best done by moving in swiftly with your squad (and hopefully the other squads on your team), carving out a forward position, and continually throwing bodies at the objectives. If more than a couple guys are hanging back to snipe, chances are your team is done for.

Don't: Take A Vehicle You Can't Operate
Jets, helicopters, tanks, and LAVs are your team's most valuable military assets in any given Battlefield match. Having a noob jump into a jet only to crash it a couple miles away can give the air superiority to the opposing team. Please resist the urge to take control of vehicles you have little to no familiarity with. In Battlefield 4, DICE thankfully included a test range so you can practice without costing your team. Learn the basics there before venturing into live fire, and in the meantime help out in other ways.

Do: Defend In Front Of Your M-Coms
Have you ever seen an NFL defense set up in the end zone when the ball wasn't placed mere yards away? Of course not – they play the line of scrimmage to stop the opposing teams' advancement before it even gets going. The same thinking should apply to playing defense in rush mode. I can't tell you how many times I've seen defenders set up shop well behind their own M-com stations. This is not helping. Instead, move ahead into the hills or buildings in front of your base. Pick these enemies off before they have a chance to infiltrate, because if you miss them when they are already in the base, it's game over.

Don't: Abandon Your Vehicle
Too often I've seen solders drive a tank into an enemy base, panic when their armor level drops, jump out of the vehicle to save their own skin, and thereby leaving it for a nearby enemy to commandeer and repair. I've also seen teammates use helicopters as personal transportation devices, flying to a sniping position only to jump out and leave a perfectly good vehicle ripe for the taking. Don't be that guy. When you assume control of a high-value asset, it's your job to make sure it doesn't fall into enemy hands. Think of it like being the captain of a naval vessel – go down with the ship unless the vehicle redlines and you know it's going to blow right after you jump out.

Do: Spot Enemies
This goes hand in hand with playing sound defense. Tracking enemy advancement is a vital part of protecting your M-com stations and flags. Whenever you see an enemy, quickly tap the right bumper (or Q button on PC) to mark his or her position on the minimap. In the off-chance your enemy gets the best of you, at least your teammates know what direction the threat is coming from.

Don't: Go On Suicide Runs With Tanks
Tanks are precious, wonderful weapons. They are best used at a distance from their target. You could go an entire round lobbing volleys from the other side of a ridge, harassing defenders gathered around an M-com station or capture point while well out of the range of enemy rockets. When you drive right into an enemy base, you are asking for a quick, painful death. Instead of having to worry about one flank in the open, most bases allow rivals to attack from any side. Many also feature stationary rockets available for blowing up fools dumb enough to charge right into the base, and engineers have plenty of cover to dance between as they launch rockets in your direction. While you're foolishly shooting at anything that moves in front of you, someone can casually sneak up from behind and blow up the tank with C4, as well. You're better off roving the perimeter and supporting the soldiers rushing the base.

If you have other do's and don'ts, please share them in the comments section below.