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.

Surviving BFBC2 Multiplayer – Part 2

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

Read Part One here

In this part we’ll being looking at the classes available to a new player. I am only going to post the STARTING loadouts: i.e. what you get when you begin your multiplayer journey. There are a variety of weapons, gadgets, and specialisations available to each class and we’ll get to them in time…..patience, Grasshopper.

The Classes

You should be aware that the standard classes are very basic. Even though this game has not been out long (at the time of writing) there are many players of much higher levels with stronger and more effective weapons, gadgets, and specialisations. This puts the new player at a very distinct disadvantage (think ‘cannon fodder’), but it also means that those who put the time into the game get some real rewards for their effort (think ‘duck hunt’).

All classes have access to a basic fragmentation grenade and combat knife.

Fragmentation Grenade

The Knife

The standard secondary weapon is the M9 pistol:

The M9

The M9 pistol does 20.0 – 14.3 damage per bullet with a headshot multiplier of 2.1 (we’ll come back to bullet damage later). It holds a maximum of 15 rounds. The description states: “[..] lack of power.” which is not strictly correct when comparing bullet damage of this weapon to the other class primaries.

There are four classes available to each player:

Assault
Assault troops rely on their superior firepower to overwhelm the enemy – that’s the idea anyway.

What’s in the box:

Weapon:

AEK-971 Vintovka

The AEK-971 Vintovka Assault Rifle does 14.3 – 12.5 damage per bullet with headshot multiplier of 2.1. It holds a maximum of 30 rounds. Remember I said “rely on superior firepower….” it’s unfortunate then that you get a weak ass gun like this as your initial primary assault weapon. Thank goodness for gadgets…..

Gadget:

Grenade Launcher Gadget

Nothing says “I love you” more than a grenade round to the face. For those times when a bullet just won’t do – this gadget is accessed via the D-Pad. Standard load out for this gadget is two rounds. Can be used against personnel, objectives, buildings and light skinned vehicles.

Engineer

The engineer class is designed for damaging and repairing vehicles. That is damaging enemy vehicles, and repairing friendlies – it’s important not to get mixed up.

What’s in the box:

Weapon:

9A-91 Avtomat

The 9A-91 Avtomat does 20 – 12.5 damage per bullet with headshot multiplier of 2.1. It holds a maximum of 20 rounds. As this is equipped with a silencer you can be a Sneaky Pete and scurry around the map to use the this higher damage weapon to kill with impunity. In a close up fight against most of the other initial weapons you will win hands down – as long as you are actually hitting the enemy (that’s always important in any firefight).

Gadget:

RPG7-AT

The ‘AT’ in RPG7-AT stands for Anti-Tank, which is handy when your job is destroying enemy vehicles. However, don’t let the name fool you. The RPG7 is just as good at taking out helicopters, other vehicles, objectives, buildings, and squishier targets such as snipers. This gadget is accessed via the D-Pad. It is also compatible with the Tracer Dart which you won’t know about because you’re new to the game and EA didn’t provide any instructions. Needless to say, we’ll get to the Tracer Dart in good time.

Medic

“Medic!” – we’ve all seen it in the films. The enemy opens fire, someone gets hit and the call goes up. The heroic medic runs through a hail of fire to scoop up their comrade’s brains, stuff them back into his skull and make it all better. Oh yes, the medic is where the action is. And they get all the women too!

What’s in the box:

Weapon:

PKM LMG

PKM LMG – the crappiest light machine gun known to man. That’s the case in BFBC2 at least. In real life it’s probably a fantastic piece of equipment, but in this game it’s as dangerous as a wet towel…..and just as accurate. The idea is that as a Medic you’ll need to clear an area to get to a downed team mate to revive them. Unfortunately, by the time you’ve unlocked the Defib paddles (all in good time) you’ll also have unlocked some decent weapons to use instead of this POS. Bullet damage is 16.7 – 14.3 per bullet (yes, your M9 secondary is more powerful) with a 2.1 headshot multiplier. 100 bullets per magazine.

Gadget:

……..No, I didn’t forget to include a picture of the gadget you get when you start. You don’t get any gadgets at the beginning of this class. “Medic!”……”Oooh, that looks nasty. I can rub you with my LMG, but not much else…..”. In order to be of any use to your team you’ll need to unlock the Med Kit gadget first. This can be a painful experience as the PKM LMG is fairly weak and inaccurate, it may be better to switch to your M9 and go for some close up kills.

Recon

Look like a Yeti? Like hiding in bushes? Filthy beast? Then the Recon class is for you. In every other game it’s called sniper, but BFBC2 obviously wants to give you the hint that your role is actually more than kill whoring on a hill – not that the average player pays any attention to that point…..

What’s in the box:

Weapon:

M24 Sniper Rifle....not Recon Rifle?

The M24 – potentially a one hit killer in the right hands, and due to the long reload time you want to make sure that you’re on target. But you are the Recon class – so try doing your recon job by spotting enemies and help out your team. When you sight an enemy press Select (PS3), Back (Xbox360), Q (PC) to put an orange triangle over them. This notifies your team as to the enemy positions (the role of Recon) and also allows you to reacquire your target when you miss with the first shot. The M24 does 100 – 75 damage per bullet with a 3.25 headshot multiplier. You have 5 bullets per magazine.

Gadget:

C4 - not be confused with the Sinclair C5

C4, the non-sticky sticky stuff……or was that something else? Anyway, use C4 to take out enemy vehicles, set traps on friendly vehicles, destroy objectives or just blow stuff up. Just make sure you’re clear of the area when you hit the trigger.

Bullet Damage

For each of the primary weapon I’ve reported bullet damage stats. These are correct at the time of writing, but are subject to change depending on the amount of people complaining about weapon X being “overpowered”. The stats that I have used are from Den Kirson’s site. You can find the stats for pretty much everything that has an in game stat there. The address is: http://denkirson.xanga.com/722757523/bad-company-2/

An example of the way I have related bullet damage is this:

16.7 – 14.3 per bullet

The higher number is the maximum damage before any multipliers the bullet will do. This would normally be at close range. As distance to target increases the damage level per bullet is reduced until the lower figure is reached omitting the effect of any damage multipliers or reducers in use.

That’s Part Two wrapped up. In Part Three we’ll be looking at in game communication.

Read Part 3 here

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

Special thanks to sasbenjr for the images, and Hypermole for helping with the gadgets.

Peas and loaves.

Find me on PSN – evaDlivE

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