Advanced Combat Techniques

This page is dedicated to the numerous little techniques that will give you an edge on the battlefield. Many of these techniques are specific to Battlefield Live but some still apply just as well to paintball and airsoft. If you're just starting to play Battlefield Live's specific brand of laser tag but you've played lots of paintball, airsoft or even traditional lasertag in the past then many of these techniques will be helpful for you right off the bat as long as you can remember to keep them in your head while you play.

One more quick note: this page is devoted only to techniques, not tactics. While tactics are your overarching strategies the techniques we'll discuss should affect not your overall approach to combat but rather the way that you handle your gaming gun or yourself a little differently to improve your performance in a strategic situation.

Back? To Basics!

     Rule #1 for winning: Don't turn your back on an opponent! As simple as this sounds, many players (even experienced airsoft and paintball players) will turn around to run for cover when they realize (or simply decide) that they're outmatched, outgunned or otherwise in trouble. Unless you have absolutely no rounds in your clip and you need cover from multiple opponents or a highly skilled (read: someone with awesome aiming skills) you should NEVER turn your back on an opponent.

     It's going to take you a good two seconds under most circumstances (even in an arena setting) to turn around select a cover location and sprint behind it. It will probably take even longer to get to a location far enough back that your opponents would be concerned about your teammates catching them in crossfire. At one hit per second that's death in the most hardcore games and it's crippling in most any other game. Not only that, but when you turn your back and run you give your opponents free license to move and surprise you when you try to pop out on them later.

     The ultimate application of the "don't turn your back" philosophy comes when you realize that most players will back up or take cover when you charge or rush them. The most vulnerable seconds you have in any game are the seconds while you wait for your gun to reload. There's no rule, though, that says you must be behind cover while you reload. Watch your opponent. If they seem skittish then charge them when you reload. The best effect is if you actually round the corner on their cover before they see you.

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Taking Advantage (of Your Opponent)

     Because Battlefield Live gear includes a momentary delay when hit it can be crucial to get in the first shot when you and an opponent bear down on one another. How can you maximize that advantage when you get it, though? If you get the first hit in how long can you maintain the advantage and cause additional damage to your opponent? What is your best action if someone gets the drop on you and they have the advantage rather than you? Let's take a moment to look at the answers to these questions.

     Amazingly enough, many players, even experienced Battlefield Live gamers (but especially paintball and airsoft players), will break off contact with a solo target after about 2 seconds. Don't make that mistake! Unless you're receiving fire from a second opponent then do the following:

• Continue to fire, ideally in 2-3 round bursts about 1/3rd of a second apart.
• Don't give your target a free ticket out of the line of fire! If they don't duck behind cover then they'll either continue standing there or turn their back and run, either of which is ideal for you. Continue firing until either they're dead or out of your line of sight and behind cover.
• If they do find cover then by all means reload! That's probably what they're doing anyhow. While you reload don't duck down where you can't see if they move, but stay up and watch to make sure they don't try to make a break for it.
• Whether you reloaded or not when they broke contact watch for them to either bolt or pop back up when their gun should be done reloading.
• Not sure whether you should reload when they find cover? Consider the following:
1. Are they close enough that you should rush them instead and hit them while they reload? Remember that if they ARE reloading that you'll force them to leave their point of cover and find a new one which might make them vulnerable to further shots from you or your teammates.
2. If you rush them will you have enough ammo to take them out and also defend yourself from any of their teammates in the vicinity? If not then you might want to consider whether you'll end up taking more hits than you'll deal out.
3. Is it possible that you can charge their position while you reload (see above) to cause them to be flushed without significantly risking additional hits to yourself? If so, don't forget to make noise as you charge to let them know you're coming. You want to scare them, not surprise them long enough for them to realize you aren't firing yet.
4. If you stay in your current location long enough to reload and re-engage your target will you become likely to fall under crossfire or other additional incoming fire vectors? If so then it might be time to retreat while you know that you won't be taking hits.
5. Is it time to retreat? Consider whether you will need to fight your way back behind your team's line. Will you need more ammo before you get there? Will there be a better location to reload at along the way?
• If you retreat, duck behind cover, change targets, etc. then either you are giving up or already lost the advantage. Keeping the advantage requires that you perform consecutive, uninterrupted actions that require your opponent to react or respond immediately to avoid taking lethal damage.

     Now that you know how to maximize your use of the advantage, how do you minimize someone else's advantage? There are two things that are critical to your survival in a one-on-one situation where you don't have the advantage:

1. Fire targeted on their location from your gun.
2. Fire targeted on their location from a teammate's gun.

     Be aware that the techniques and principles you should use to break someone's advantage are almost exactly the opposite of what you would do to maintain the advantage. Here's a quick list in no particular order:

• Crouch behind any nearby object. DO NOT turn your back and run from an opponent who has a tactical advantage! You only need to be hidden for about one second. Sit, lay down or dive behind any suitable object. It doesn't matter how you get there as long as you get there NOW. If you're going to need to move again the moment you get behind cover then you're diving to the wrong place. All you're looking for is an opaque object between you and them for at least as long as is required for your gun to allow you to commence firing.
• Continue to pull your trigger repeatedly while firing at your opponent. With any luck you'll get in a shot between your hits and actually recover the advantage yourself or at least give yourself the time to retreat.
• Call to a teammate for assistance! Hopefully you're keeping in near constant communication with teammates when you're trying to perform at the top levels of play already. The point of that communication is to be able to help your teammates and call on them to help you.

     Most people when under fire will attempt to break contact and run. Note that this is simply a slow, risky version of finding cover NOW and returning fire ASAP. Remember: the sooner you eliminate one opponent the sooner you can find another one to shoot at.

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Timing

     There are a number of intervals that you need to learn to intuitively tick off and count in your head in different situations. Here's a partial list:

     Mastering these intervals takes LOTS of time on the field and practice. If you don't learn to anticipate these intervals, though, you'll suffer a lot of damage (and lose opportunities to cause damage!) that you could have prevented. Learning to time how long actions take can give you loads of information that will give you the upper hand such as:

• Save your ammo and prevent you from firing at someone who hasn't "come back to life" yet.
• Let you know how much time you have to charge someone who has to reload.
• Let you know that someone is probably reloading or at best has only a few rounds left.
• Help you estimate your own ammo without checking the counter.
• Help you estimate whether you need to find different cover or whether your charging opponents will only get to your location after you've already reloaded.
• Minimize the rounds you use against an opponent by pausing when they can't take additional hits.
• Calculate when you should charge someone while reloading to make sure that you have a full clip the moment before you round the corner on opponents who aren't yet aware of your charge.
• Calculate when it's safe for you to reload because your opponent is nearly out of rounds, too.

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