Top 5 beginners’ tips for Battlefield™ 2042

Here is some of the intel you’ll need before you put boots on the ground in Battlefield 2042:

Understanding your role on the battlefield
Who/What are Specialists?
Understanding the difference between Conquest and Breakthrough modes
How to earn XP and progress in the game
How Player Card and Specialist customization works

Classes

In Battlefield 2042 Specialists are organised under the banner of Classes, they are

Assault. Aggressive, frontline combat experts with a focus on high-risk gameplay.

Engineers. Fortifiers that can hold a position and force the enemy to go through them. Limited in mobility but able to dig in.

Support. Focused on aiding their allies, keeping them alive or sustained in battle.

Recon. Focused on information warfare, either using it against their enemies or providing it for their allies.

Your preferred playstyle will dictate which Class makes the most sense for you. Want to be in the thick of all the action all the time? Assault is probably a perfect fit. Prefer to support your squad and team from a safer distance? Recon may work better. Understanding what playstyle best suits you will help you select the right Specialist to take into combat.

Specialists

Every Specialist has a focus on a particular playstyle, represented by their unique Specialist Equipment, Specialty, and Trait. These elements combine to form the starting point for your approach to gameplay. Do you want to come to the aid of your allies and keep the war machine churning? Do you want to focus on mobility and ambushing, or dig in and really hold a position? Answering those questions will help you determine which Specialist(s) will work best for you.

In All-Out Warfare mode you can change your Specialist in the deploy screen to try a different approach or to synergise with the selections of your squad. There are no Specialist restrictions in All-Out Warfare. On the other hand, in Battlefield™ Hazard Zone your selection is restricted to one instance of a Specialist per squad.

While Specialists offer a different approach to play, your selection of Loadout equipment can supplement that and create new and unique gameplay options. A Loadout contains your primary weapon, secondary weapon, additional open gadget, and a throwable. You can attach any Loadout to any Specialist. This means if you feel that your squad or team need more healing, you could swap over to Falck in a game of Conquest without having to compromise or reorient your Loadout. Likewise, whenever you unlock a new piece of equipment you can integrate this into your Loadouts and try them out. Experimentation is key.

When you start the game you have access to four preset Loadouts to get you into the more traditional roles of the game, however you can edit these Loadouts through the Customization menu and create your own as you progress to broaden your playstyle.

The combination of your Loadout and Specialist are, of course, complemented by your squad. Bringing a Recoilless M5 may be useful against a tank in medium range, but can be enhanced to lock onto targets (both land and air) when an ally uses a S.O.F.L.A.M. Likewise your highly limited ammunition can be replenished by an ally throwing down an Ammo Crate. Using Irish and his ability to set up cover positions dynamically, protected by his APS – Shootdown Sentinel can create a fortifying platform further enhanced by other players. A Boris sentry, some Ammo and Medical Crates can quickly create an outpost.

These different skills are where you can excel and have an even greater impact on the outcome of a match, especially in Hazard Zone, where the cost to failure is so great. Teaming up with a Boris and Irish can help you hold down a position or to cover multiple entry points in a combat zone. But this could leave you vulnerable to an EMP attack from Casper’s drone, or to a vertical ambush by Mackay. There will always be counters to the choices you make, and your friends and allies can help plug the gaps and cover for all combat situations. For those looking for a more ally-focused approach, Falck and Angel allow you to directly heal and supply your allies, as well as being far more effective at reviving them. You can choose to complement them with a Loadout that provides even more Support equipment, or you could try to cover another base.

Conquest vs. Breakthrough

Fan-favorite modes Conquest and Breakthrough are back and bigger than ever in Battlefield 2042 – featuring the largest maps ever. How big? Well, on Xbox Series X|S, PC, and PlayStation®5 we’re talking up to 128 players!

But if you’re new to the series you may be wondering what these two modes are all about, just as veterans are probably curious about what (aside from the size of the maps) has been updated for Battlefield 2042 in these two modes.

We’ll start with a quick rundown of each of the modes. Conquest is straightforward, capture and hold as many sectors as you can on the map. The more territory you and your allies can capture (and keep), the faster you bleed the enemy of reinforcements. Breakthrough is a bit more aggressive, it’s all about attacking the enemy and pushing the line forward. It all comes down to securing simultaneous objectives and capturing the enemy sectors. You’ll be able to play Conquest on all 13 maps (the new maps from 2042 , and those maps included in Battlefield™ Portal) and Breakthrough will be available on the maps from 2042.

While the fundamentals may be pretty familiar to some, there are definitely some new elements to both modes. Given the massive size of the maps, Conquest now features something we’re calling “clustering”. That is, the creation of smaller “clusters” of activity and capture areas. These spaces will contain a variety of elements to facilitate multiple gameplay styles in a single area.

For example, close-quarter combat areas and interior spaces combined with large open geography and multiple capture flags for teams to battle over.

Instead of teams battling over control of individual flags like in past versions of Conquest, teams must now seize control of sectors housing multiple flags in one capture area. In order to successfully capture the sector, teams must seize and maintain control over all flags contained within it, otherwise it will be treated as neutral ground. In Breakthrough, you now battle over larger-scale sectors as attackers push towards the final objective. Each sector is designed to house a larger number of players, enabling more strategic choice and more flanking opportunities because you’ll be able to approach the capture areas from multiple locations.

Progression

The first thing to understand is how you earn XP:

Performing in-round actions such as capturing objectives, kills, assists and other actions
Earning Ribbons in-round
Completing rounds, winning rounds and earning round bonuses

Note: there is a substantial XP bonus for playing your first round of the day!

How do you earn Ribbons? Here’s a few examples:

Objective Ribbon - Play the objective
Wingman Ribbon - Support teammates with revives and various assists
Logistics Ribbon - Heal and resupply others and repair vehicles
Intel Ribbon - Spot and disrupt enemies, such as via EMP’s or destroying drones
Combat Ribbon - Score kills and destroy vehicles

XP feeds into your Player Level, and by leveling up you earn weapons, gear, vehicles and Specialists. But that’s not all, you also earn a variety of cosmetic items available at higher Player Levels.

To unlock attachments for weapons and parts for vehicles, you need to use that specific piece of hardware and progress your mastery with them. For weapons you do by getting kills while vehicles have different criteria based on the vehicle’s role. You also earn cosmetics for hardware and Specialists by progressing their mastery.

Customization

You unlock cosmetic options by progressing mastery of weapons, vehicles and Specialists, and (of course) by increasing your Player Level. In Battlefield 2042 you’ll also be able to customize your Player Card, a place where you can show off your Player Level, Player Icon and Title, Player Card Art (background) and up to three Badges you’ve earned by mastering your weapons, vehicles, gadgets and Specialists.

Player Card cosmetics are earned by performing various actions in the game, such as exploring different areas in the maps, progressing your mastery on different hardware and Specialists, performing special actions such as melee takedowns. You can view the different Player Card cosmetic options in the Player Card section and the criteria to earn each item will be displayed there.