Surviving BFBC2 Multiplayer – Part 5

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Read Part 4 here

In this part we’ll look at the best ways to level up to prevent you from getting fed up with the game, throwing your console out the window, and kicking the dog.

Let’s not be under any illusions here – when you first play this game you might as well be naked and armed with a peashooter. I’m fairly confident that there isn’t a single player out there who has levelled up and thought: “You know what, the gun you get first is actually pretty good compared to the others…” they’re not. The initial weapons are crap, you have no gadgets to help you and the only way you can change this is to level up, but to level up you need to score points…… Which can be difficult when you’re the most pathetic creature on the map.

Don’t worry – help is at hand!

There are two ways to level up depending on your preponderance for playing with friends, or random peeps. If you can get in a squad with some friends then your chances of levelling up are significantly increased due to the amount of squad points you are likely to get by working as an effective team – especially on Rush or Conquest game modes. If you’re on your lonesome then it may be better to head to Squad Deathmatch where the onus is on kills rather than objectives so if your squad are a bunch of donkeys you won’t be penalised as much and have a better chance of achieving something.

Level up Class, or Rank?

You should be aware that there is a difference between levelling up your rank, and levelling up your Class. As we already know there are four classes: Assault, Engineer, Medic and Recon – along with the Vehicle and All Kits sub-classes. In order to get decent weapons and gadgets you need to be levelling up the classes – if you’re a level 20 and only ever used the Assault class then the assault class will be the only decent class you have. But in order to be an effective player you need to level up at least three out of the four classes in order to adjust to situational changes in the gameplay. This is also a good time to quickly mention the All Kits sub class – as you level up you gain access to a number of extra weapons and gadgets which can be used with any class. These All Kits items are unlocked regardless of the class you are playing.

Now everyone is going to have their own idea as to what the best level up route is. Make suer to leave your suggestions in the comments section as I like to know what other people think. Here’s my take:

1st – Engineer
2nd – Medic
3rd – Assault
4th – Recon

I didn’t actually do this myself, but in hindsight it is what I should have done. I used the Medic Class first, but found it hard going as you unlock the health kit until you score 1400 points and the defibrillator at 5800 points. It also takes 3300 to move on from the frankly pathetic PKM LMG. The Medic class is good for getting points, but as a noob class it’s not such a good idea.

Engineer Class

The Engineer class is quite efficient from the get-go. The 9A-91 Avtomat is excellent at close range and you have the RPG-7 immediately which means that rocket noobs like me are laughing. Straight away you can take out tanks and helicopters (if you’re good enough or have watched Geoff’s taking down choppers vid) with an average of two hits. If someone on your team is using the tracer dart then you’ll be a god. It only takes 1000 points to unlock the repair tool and 2500 for the next gun in your arsenal. With the repair tool you can get oodles of points repairing friendly vehicles and tearing up enemy armour. If you enjoy being a Sneaky Pete around the map and blowing shit up, then the Engineer class will probably be your first, and most used class.

Medic Class

It’s a lot harder for new players to level up the Medic Class than those who played the game when it first came out as the default Medic weapon – the PKM LMG – is weak and inaccurate compared to pretty much everything else. Even your secondary is more powerful…..surely there’s something wrong there straight away? You don’t unlock the med pack to help heal your team mates until you get 1400 points and you can’t revive using the defibrillator until you hit 5800 points….. that’s right, until you have almost 6000 points you’re absolutely useless to your team other than as a guy who can spray a load of ineffectual bullets at the enemy. So why is this the second class I recommend to level up? Because once you’ve got 3300 points you can unlock the M249 saw LMG. By that time you’ll be spamming your team with med kits so the points will be rolling in and before you know it you have the defib! If you could only take off the red “shoot me here” cap the Medic Class would be the perfect assault class.

Assault Class

The Assault class is a bit of a paradox. On the one hand you’re supposed to be the bad ass at the front dishing out pain to the enemy by the shovel full. In reality, as a new Assault guy your gun is crap. It’s weak and fairly inaccurate. The upside is that you have the grenade launcher with which you can mash people with or take down buildings. You have to battle hard to get the 1200 points that allows you to get the ammo box. But once you have that, if you spam the battlefield with ammo boxes you can make it to 3000 points for the infinitely more desirable XM8 Prototype – which is, in my opinion, easier to use and more effective at range than the next gun, the F2000.

Wookie Class

And then we have Recon…… Chewbacca never looked so good. Okay Wookies, listen up! If you must play Recon, please bear in mind that the name of the class is recon, NOT sniper! In BFBC2 the RECON role is a support role. Yes, get kills, but use the goddamned spot function (Select on PS3, Back on Xbox and Q on PC) to help your team! Spotting gets you points and points help you level up. If you actually want to help your team out AND level up then wait until you unlock the All Kit weapons and then become an Assault Recon guy. There’s nothing more confusing for the enemy than a wookie with a Thompson machine gun.

Ironically, when you do level up the Recon class you’ll find that the second gun you unlock (the Type 88 Sniper) is not as powerful as the initial M24….but it is semi-auto so that could make up for it, but it doesn’t. You unlock the motion sensors at 900 points, the Type 88 at 2200 points and the Mortar Glasses at 4000 points – they’re particularly useful for Squad Deathmatch on Laguna Presa for destroying snipers on the central hill by the cargo containers.

So what game mode is best to level up?

This brings us back to the original premise of playing with friends or playing alone. If you’ve got a good bunch of people you can squad up with then Rush is probably going to serve you well. Obviously you can still give it a go on your own, but you need to join a squad to benefit from all the juicy squad points on offer. However, at the time of writing, finding random people who are actually playing the objective let along communicating is quite difficult. If you find that is the case then head to Squad Deathmatch where it is much easier to do well as a solo player. You’re not going to win a game on your own though as it is impossible to get 50 kills on your own before another squad manages it.

This was the final part of the Survival Guide. There will be more BFBC2 topics for discussion so don’t be a stranger now y’hear!

Have I missed, misrepresented, or got something plain wrong? Let me know – use the comments.

Peas and loaves.

Find me on PSN – evaDlivE

Check out BackslashGaming.com for gaming news, views and reviews.