BF2142 Squad Leader Guide:
This guide is a compilation of 4 different guides I found in the internet, so the credit goes to those who made the guides mentioned before.
For those who have never played a Battlefield game before, a squad is basically a team within a team. Squads can have up to six players in them, comprised of one squad leader and up to five squad members. There can be up to nine squads per team. Each is assigned a number and name in the order in which they were created. By default, they are named "Alpha, Beta, Charlie, Delta, Echo" etc. The squad leader, if alive, will appear as a mobile spawn point (a green dot) on the spawn map. All squad members appear in bright green on your map and radar.
Why You Should Never Be a Lone Wolf:
A "lone wolf" is a word used to describe Battlefield players who do not join squads and instead opt to play solo. Being a lone wolf can actually hurt your success and greatly slow your advancement in the game overall. There are three areas of success in Battlefield 2142 that can be harmed by being a lone wolf, and helped by being a squad member, squad leader, or commander. These are your enjoyment of the game, your advancement in the game, and the success of your teammates in the game.
Squad Points:
Squad points are single bonus points that you earn each time you do something helpful to your squad and team within the radius of an attack or defend squad order.
There are several different activities that will award a squad point inside an attack or defend radius.
These include:
- Kills
- Heals (that earn points, themselves)
- Revives
- Resupplies (that earn points, themselves)
- Repairs (that earn points, themselves)
- Kill damage assists (seems somewhat random, possibly based on if another squad member finishes the kill)
Squad leaders do not gain any of these bonuses, but instead gain one point whenever a squad member gains one. In this respect, a squad leader has the potential to gain much more than a member if he commands well and has a good squad following those commands.
Squad Leader Commands:
Always point your commands right where your squad is (defend) or is going (attack). The idea isn't necessarily to tell everyone what to do, but rather to organize and support what everyone naturally wants to do. If you ever see a squad leader or commander giving only the "Movve here" command, it's a red flag that they don't know what they're doing. "Move here" is the command that is issued when a squad leader or commander doesn't aim properly at an objective icon. It's identified by a yellow line (instead of a purple one) on your radar between you and the command location, and by an arrow icon in the position of the command.
Trying to attack every objective on the map, one after the other, is a bit foolish, as it will almost always result in you losing as many objectives as you gain, if not more. In conquest mode, this isn't too hard to understand.
Titan mode can be a bit trickier when it comes to commands because there's so many places to go, so many things to think about, and troops can travel so quickly to most objectives via titan pods or air transports. In addition, there is no "acceptable" number of silos, as more will always help more and less will always hurt more. You should also note that the missile count-down of each silo can be more important than who controls it. Each time a silo changes ownership, it launches a missile at the enemy titan. Then, two minutes pass before it launches another. This means that some silos might be more important to catch than others before they send another missile into you're titan's shield or hull. Pressing and holding the "T" menu button will display the count-down for each silo at the top of your screen. This can be used to influence your commands.
The worst thing you can do when trying to command effectively is to forget that you left a command in a completely useless place. There is no limit to how many times you can change commands and, if your commander isn't giving you any or isn't giving you new ones fast enough, never be afraid to take matters into your own hands.
As a squad leader, you have the option of inviting soldiers to join your squad. Though it's perfectly fine to just pick a list of members at random, it's possible to be a bit more selective in your choices. The first rule of squad recruiting is to go for lone wolves first. Open up all the squads in the squad menu while choosing who to send invites to and try to avoid sending invites to those who are already in squads, as they're most likely to just ignore you. Since joining a squad is only a matter of hitting the "page up" button, most lone wolves will join you pretty quickly.
Squad Leader Unlock Equipment:
There are three items in the unlockable equipment menu available for people who lead squads often. These are available as squad field upgrades, but remember that you can only get the first one (or one higher in the tree than you already have unlocked). Effective squad leaders should always have at least one of these with them when going into a fight. These items have their own slot on the soldier customization menu, so they don't take up extra space when used, though you can only have one at any given time. The item will then tuck itself out of the way, bound to your "8" key by default. In addition, an icon will appear next to your name in the squad selection menu to indicate that you are carrying one of these items. When you see a leader with this icon, it typically means they're more likely to know what they're doing and aren't just some person who
decided to start a squad on a whim. In order of unlock, here are the three items:
Spawn Beacon:
It is arguably the most useful item a squad leader can carry. To use it, you simply click and it will be thrown out in front of you. Once on the ground, it acts as a mobile spawn point that you and your squad can come back to when you die. It works for an unlimited number of times until it's either destroyed or picked up by you. The benefit of this is pretty obvious; it allows you and your squad to spawn at places far away from captured objectives or friendly bases, eliminating the time and danger of traveling there by foot or vehicle.
RD-4 Otus:
It is the less violent of the two hovering toasters that squad leaders can use. The Otus tends to find enemies around you and "paint" them for you and your squad with the little red diamond icons that you see when an enemy is spotted for your team, allowing you to see their path even behind obstructions. Though this isn't as powerful as a UAV or as descriptive and reliable as a teammate's "spotted" command, extra tactical data can only be a good thing, and can help lead to the success of you and your squad.
SD-8 Accipiter:
It is the more violent of the two hovering toasters that squad leaders can use. The Accipiter moves just like the Otus, but instead of painting targets itself, it looks for targets that have already been painted by other means, such as squad members spotting them. When found, it uses two somewhat weak chain guns to open fire on the target. These bullets are not nearly as powerful as the ones that come from the support kit's turret, but the drone has the added advantage of being mobile and passive (you don't need to do anything to help it once you've made it). Its main use is as backup fire to an already powerful squad, as it's rare to see it take down an enemy by itself, but it can certainly add to the chaos that you want to throw at your foes. Because it relies on the spotting abilities of you and your squad, it works better when there are more people around spotting things for it.
Field Upgrades:
It's a per-game award system for squads that make and perform commands effectively. Your squad's progress in this system is indicated by a green bar in the upper left-hand corner of the interface. As squad bonus points are earned through normal actions within the radius of a squad's attack or defend command, this bar fills up bit by bit. When full, you and your squad will get a message that a field upgrade is available and you will hear a little notification noise.
This guide is a compilation of 4 different guides I found in the internet, so the credit goes to those who made the guides mentioned before.
For those who have never played a Battlefield game before, a squad is basically a team within a team. Squads can have up to six players in them, comprised of one squad leader and up to five squad members. There can be up to nine squads per team. Each is assigned a number and name in the order in which they were created. By default, they are named "Alpha, Beta, Charlie, Delta, Echo" etc. The squad leader, if alive, will appear as a mobile spawn point (a green dot) on the spawn map. All squad members appear in bright green on your map and radar.
Why You Should Never Be a Lone Wolf:
A "lone wolf" is a word used to describe Battlefield players who do not join squads and instead opt to play solo. Being a lone wolf can actually hurt your success and greatly slow your advancement in the game overall. There are three areas of success in Battlefield 2142 that can be harmed by being a lone wolf, and helped by being a squad member, squad leader, or commander. These are your enjoyment of the game, your advancement in the game, and the success of your teammates in the game.
Squad Points:
Squad points are single bonus points that you earn each time you do something helpful to your squad and team within the radius of an attack or defend squad order.
There are several different activities that will award a squad point inside an attack or defend radius.
These include:
- Kills
- Heals (that earn points, themselves)
- Revives
- Resupplies (that earn points, themselves)
- Repairs (that earn points, themselves)
- Kill damage assists (seems somewhat random, possibly based on if another squad member finishes the kill)
Squad leaders do not gain any of these bonuses, but instead gain one point whenever a squad member gains one. In this respect, a squad leader has the potential to gain much more than a member if he commands well and has a good squad following those commands.
Squad Leader Commands:
Always point your commands right where your squad is (defend) or is going (attack). The idea isn't necessarily to tell everyone what to do, but rather to organize and support what everyone naturally wants to do. If you ever see a squad leader or commander giving only the "Movve here" command, it's a red flag that they don't know what they're doing. "Move here" is the command that is issued when a squad leader or commander doesn't aim properly at an objective icon. It's identified by a yellow line (instead of a purple one) on your radar between you and the command location, and by an arrow icon in the position of the command.
Trying to attack every objective on the map, one after the other, is a bit foolish, as it will almost always result in you losing as many objectives as you gain, if not more. In conquest mode, this isn't too hard to understand.
Titan mode can be a bit trickier when it comes to commands because there's so many places to go, so many things to think about, and troops can travel so quickly to most objectives via titan pods or air transports. In addition, there is no "acceptable" number of silos, as more will always help more and less will always hurt more. You should also note that the missile count-down of each silo can be more important than who controls it. Each time a silo changes ownership, it launches a missile at the enemy titan. Then, two minutes pass before it launches another. This means that some silos might be more important to catch than others before they send another missile into you're titan's shield or hull. Pressing and holding the "T" menu button will display the count-down for each silo at the top of your screen. This can be used to influence your commands.
The worst thing you can do when trying to command effectively is to forget that you left a command in a completely useless place. There is no limit to how many times you can change commands and, if your commander isn't giving you any or isn't giving you new ones fast enough, never be afraid to take matters into your own hands.
As a squad leader, you have the option of inviting soldiers to join your squad. Though it's perfectly fine to just pick a list of members at random, it's possible to be a bit more selective in your choices. The first rule of squad recruiting is to go for lone wolves first. Open up all the squads in the squad menu while choosing who to send invites to and try to avoid sending invites to those who are already in squads, as they're most likely to just ignore you. Since joining a squad is only a matter of hitting the "page up" button, most lone wolves will join you pretty quickly.
Squad Leader Unlock Equipment:
There are three items in the unlockable equipment menu available for people who lead squads often. These are available as squad field upgrades, but remember that you can only get the first one (or one higher in the tree than you already have unlocked). Effective squad leaders should always have at least one of these with them when going into a fight. These items have their own slot on the soldier customization menu, so they don't take up extra space when used, though you can only have one at any given time. The item will then tuck itself out of the way, bound to your "8" key by default. In addition, an icon will appear next to your name in the squad selection menu to indicate that you are carrying one of these items. When you see a leader with this icon, it typically means they're more likely to know what they're doing and aren't just some person who
decided to start a squad on a whim. In order of unlock, here are the three items:
Spawn Beacon:
It is arguably the most useful item a squad leader can carry. To use it, you simply click and it will be thrown out in front of you. Once on the ground, it acts as a mobile spawn point that you and your squad can come back to when you die. It works for an unlimited number of times until it's either destroyed or picked up by you. The benefit of this is pretty obvious; it allows you and your squad to spawn at places far away from captured objectives or friendly bases, eliminating the time and danger of traveling there by foot or vehicle.
RD-4 Otus:
It is the less violent of the two hovering toasters that squad leaders can use. The Otus tends to find enemies around you and "paint" them for you and your squad with the little red diamond icons that you see when an enemy is spotted for your team, allowing you to see their path even behind obstructions. Though this isn't as powerful as a UAV or as descriptive and reliable as a teammate's "spotted" command, extra tactical data can only be a good thing, and can help lead to the success of you and your squad.
SD-8 Accipiter:
It is the more violent of the two hovering toasters that squad leaders can use. The Accipiter moves just like the Otus, but instead of painting targets itself, it looks for targets that have already been painted by other means, such as squad members spotting them. When found, it uses two somewhat weak chain guns to open fire on the target. These bullets are not nearly as powerful as the ones that come from the support kit's turret, but the drone has the added advantage of being mobile and passive (you don't need to do anything to help it once you've made it). Its main use is as backup fire to an already powerful squad, as it's rare to see it take down an enemy by itself, but it can certainly add to the chaos that you want to throw at your foes. Because it relies on the spotting abilities of you and your squad, it works better when there are more people around spotting things for it.
Field Upgrades:
It's a per-game award system for squads that make and perform commands effectively. Your squad's progress in this system is indicated by a green bar in the upper left-hand corner of the interface. As squad bonus points are earned through normal actions within the radius of a squad's attack or defend command, this bar fills up bit by bit. When full, you and your squad will get a message that a field upgrade is available and you will hear a little notification noise.
Last edited by sergeriver (2007-01-09 06:18:32)