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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
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