This image below will also give you a fairly good idea as to what each class is about:

And below we’ll go into more detail for each class and explain their ins and outs.

Assault Class

This guide will tell you all you need to know about the Assault class in Battlefield 3. It includes a basic overview, a few leveling tips, combat strategies and weapon unlocks

1. Overview
2. Leveling Tips
3. Strategies
4. Mid-Ranged Combat
5. Assault Kit Unlocks

Assault Class Overview

The Assault class is perhaps the most familiar class to any FPS player: the standard assault rifle-wielding run-and-gun class which does best in short to mid-ranged combat. The Assault class’ special ability is a health pack, which can be thrown on the ground and then used to heal injured teammates.

Many players struggle with the Assault class as sniping classes are extremely popular in Battlefield 3, but with the tips in this guide, it will be no problem!

Leveling Tips

One of the best ways to level up in as an Assault player in Battlefield 3 is to always use your health pack. The health pack can be accessed by hitting the left arrow key on the numpad on your controller.

Players who are injured have a “+” sign over their heads need health, which makes it convenient for knowing where to place your pack.

Every time a friendly player heals from your health pack, you get 20 points every half second or so, which really adds up. You can easily earn a few hundred points from a single pack, which is worth the same as several kills just for the push of the a button.

The best thing you can do is put your health pack down by an area of combat. Think of your team in Operation Metro trying to storm up a heavily fortified escalator. You can put your health pack there so your team can run back when they take damage, immediately heal up, then re-enter the fray, all while you earn tons of points.

Strategies

The Assault class is effective both as a short-ranged and close-combat fighter. Both work and depending on how you set up your gun depends on how you play the class.

The most basic set-up you will use early in the game is an assault rifle like the M16 or AK74-M. These weapons are decent at both mid and short-ranged combat, but not particularly great at either.

For short-ranged combat, contrary to popular belief, most of the time you do not want to aim with these guns. The problem with aiming is that it takes too long to aim. By the time you aim and actually can see, you will already be dead.

There are really two ways you can get around this. The first way is to strafe which is the recommended method of this Battlefield 3 Assault class guide. In this case, you move side to side, not zoomed in, but keeping your opponent centered. This is known as strafing.

Since you are not zoomed in, your character can move pretty fast side to side so it makes it hard for your opponent to take you down, and if your aim is good you only need a few shots to take them out. The best part about strafing is that since you are not zoomed in, the heavy kick-back from the M16A3 and AK74-M are not a big deal.

Some pro players get around this by aiming and shooting at the same time – just aiming in order to get an accuracy boost, not to actually see the target better. This allows them to get a head shot and take the player out in 1 hit. This works better with a Sniper Rifle (or at the very least a heavy barrel) as many Assault class guns are not all that accurate and have high kick back, so if you miss on your first shot, you may have trouble getting a second one off.

To simplify, automatic guns work best for strafing, whereas single-shot or semi-automatic work best for the aim and shoot method.

Mid-Ranged Combat

For mid-ranged combat, the Assault class is okay as well. What you want to do is fire your rifle in short, controlled bursts – just 1-3 bullets at a time. Any more than that and the kick-back from the weapon will interrupt your aim.

One of the best tips I can give you in this Battlefield 3 Assault guide is that if players are too far away, do not shoot them and give away your position as this may just cause you to get sniped.

Instead, aim at them and press “Q” on PC, select on PS3, or back on X-Box; this will place an arrow over their head so that your entire team can see them. This is called marking an opponent and someone closer on your team can then take them out. You get bonus points too for doing this.

One of the best things you bring to the table though as a mid-ranged combatant is actually your health pack. Be sure to throw these down if you are advancing through a choke point in a game mode like rush.

Assault Kit Unlocks

The Assault class usually uses a rifle, and optionally has a shotgun or a grenade launcher as mount. The assault rifle can be customized with different unlocks for many different kinds of situations. They are also equipped with a medical pack for healing and a defibrillator for reviving as paramedics do. Assault s a good all-around class, but if you like to be specialized at one area you can do so with unlocks. You can use various upgrades and different equipment and make your Assault specialized for certain situations at the cost of loosing specialization in some other.

Engineer Class

Battlefield 3 Engineer is a class that specializes in vehicles and heavy machinery. If you like taking out entire fleets of enemies with your bazooka then this is then Battlefield 3 Engineer is your man.

In Battlefield 3 there is an extensive use of vehicles and war machines. They give you an advantage in the Battle, however, the same on the enemy team can also pose a great threat to you. An attack helicopter can determine the fate of your entire team in a matter of seconds, only if it wasn’t for Engineer. It’s Engineers job to take them down before they cause any serious destruction.

The Engineer is extremely good at close range combat, thanks to his machine gun. and has a very good advantage against enemies. Other weapons are only used for defensive purpose. Their greatest strength is arsenal of weapons at their disposal for taking out vehicles and is therefore essential for the team.

1. Overview
2. Leveling
3. Strategies
4. Weapons
5. Engineer Kit Unlocks

Overview

The Engineer is a class which specializes in the usage of machinery, explosives, and close-quarters combat. The Engineer needs to use all of its special abilities to gain an advantage over the other Battlefield 3 Kits, so making use of all 3 strengths is a must for this class.

For weaponry, the Engineer primarily gets access to submachine guns, which give it the ability to protect itself and take down players at close ranges.

The Engineer is not very good at fighting players from a distance. Instead of trying to battle it out in long-ranged combat with a Sniper or Assault player, you should use your explosives (such as the SMAW) to blow up the cover your enemy is hiding behind. Sometimes you will kill them, but at the very least you will expose their hiding spot so your teammates can take the opponent down (or you can move up to a better striking position).

Finally, the ability to easily repair and destroy machines is what gives the Engineer its power. Machines play a big role in Battlefield 3, especially in certain game modes and maps. You might want to get good at the Engineer Kit so you can use it on maps where machines are particularly advantageous, when there happens to be few if any Engineers on your team, or when you need to stop enemy Engineers.

Leveling Guide

As an Engineer, you will earn points by winning matches and taking out enemy players just like anyone else. However, you can really rack up a lot of points by controlling machinery, repairing it, and destroying enemy machines. This can be a great way to boost your leveling, and if you are ignoring machines as an Engineer you might as well play another kit.

Play through the matches and use machines as often as you can in order to maximize your score in order to level up quickly and win more games.

Engineer Strategies

As an Engineer, you need to learn to make good use of explosives in order to be competitive and gain an edge on non-Engineers. By mastering explosives in addition to machines, you can really make the Engineer shine. If you ignore explosives and try to run around with a submachine gun, then you are wasting your time.

Many newbie Battlefield 3 Engineers grow frustrated early with the class due to lacking the ability to take down other players with the SMAW. The missile has a somewhat slow travel time, and many players find that the enemy will sprint out of the way of the rocket before it lands.

If you are having trouble with this, it is because you need to predict where the enemy player will be in about a second’s time. If they are laying prone or crouched, you can shoot at them and you have enough time to land a hit. However, if they are standing up or moving, you need to think about where they are going to be.

The good thing is, it is easy to predict where players are heading – they are always heading for cover. Shoot at the nearest door and there is a good chance your opponent will run right into your rocket. Their other option is to stay out in the open and get taken down by someone on your team – either way its a winning play for you.

The other major strategy you need to master is the destruction of walls and cover. Through regular use of your Rocket Launcher or other explosives, you can literally put holes in the walls of buildings. This is particularly useful when your opponents are camped out inside a building. Keep blasting the door and walls with rockets and it will fall away. This will take away your opponent’s cover and allow your team to pick them off.

Weapons

Engineers are able to handle machine guns, tank mines and rocket launchers. They can repair allied vehicles with wrench on the battlefield. Players with right skills as an Engineer can completely change the game in a matter of seconds.

Engineer Kit Weapon Unlocks

The following is a list of Engineer kits and unlocks that you get in Battlefield 3 along with their respective scores and kills.

Recon Class

This Battlefield 3 Recon class guide talks about one of the two support classes in Battlefield 3 guide. Recon is also known as Sniper. I will go over basics of the Recon class along with some game play tips, tricks and strategies.

1. Overview
2. Leveling
3. Gameplay
4. Strategy
5. Weapons
6. Kit Unlocks

Recon Class Overview

The Battlefield 3 Recon Kit is the kit which contains Sniper Rifles and gadgets geared towards the gathering or concealing of information. Anyone who wants to use a high-powered Rifle and scope is encouraged to choose this class.

It is a common mistake to think that the Sniper is strong at long-ranged combat and weak at other types of combat. Once you have a lot of practice, mid-ranged combat is actually one of the Recon Kit’s greatest strengths. All you need to be able to do is be very quick with aiming, and you can get a 1-hit kill via headshot much more accurately than any other gun.

The one weakness that the Recon Kit does have though is short-ranged combat. You are best off pulling out a pistol if you are very close to an an enemy or are chasing down someone from behind. There is no need to aim a pistol – it is usually better to fire from the hip and strafe so you do not get taken out yourself. Pistols tend not to be very accurate, even when aiming, unless you are very close to the target, so it is hard to get a head shot even if you align your aim perfectly.

In addition to their prowess in combat, the Sniper gets access to some interesting gadgets such as the Tactical Unmanned Ground Sensor (T-UGS), which is one of the best gadgets in the game. You can use put it on the ground and it will scan for nearby players that are standing up. Note that it will not detect crouched or prone players and it can be destroyed.

Leveling Tips

As a Recon player, the bulk of your leveling points will be from taking down other players. However, if any player who gets marked by your T-UGS gets killed, you will get a few bonus points. Put this down in a crowded area and you will rack up a lot of bonus points quickly, even if it does not seem to contribute much to the battle!

Gameplay

For beginners it is recommended that you learn scoping from long ranges. Once you are comfortable and once you get a hang of the sniper riles, you can start moving closer to battles. Until then its a wise idea to stay back and support your team.

Mark players as soon as you see them so if some team mate has opportunity, they can kill the opponents. Scoping can be tricky at times and it varies a lot depending on your attachments and customization. Only practice will help you get a hold of these no other guide will. Judgement and patience are extremely important when playing with a Recon.

Unlike any other class, you get one shot in mid range combats. You miss it and you very well be dead and not get a chance again. So until you get a hold of sniper rifles, you know where you should not be – in midst of all the action.

Use T-UGS to get extra points. This helps unlock further items in your kit much faster. For more kills learn mid-range sniping as fast as you can. You will only get so many kills from long ranges, for more you have to play mid-range.

For close range combat use pistols. Practice these, even with playing with other classes at times. This will be extremely important for survival in mid range combats as well when you miss shots and enemies come too close. In situations when you are reloading or in some kind of delay, try to strafe, jump, whatever it takes to make yourself a difficult target to hit.

Strategy

As mentioned earlier in this Battlefield 3 Recon guide, the Recon Kit really excels at mid to long-ranged combat. At long range, you really need a Bipod equipped in order to reliably take out players (unless they are stationary). Otherwise, you should always mark players before shooting them so your teammates that are closer can take them out.

Should you engage in longer-range combat, you will have to account for “bullet drop”. This means aiming above players rather than directly at them. This only is a factor for very long shots, and you typically only aim about half a crosshair up for a very long shot. This of course varies based on weapons and attachments.

The best Recon players push up and do not stay prone sniping all the time. With a lot of practice, you can aim and get a head shot very quickly. The trick is to move your view into the approximate area of a player before aiming. That way, when you aim you will already be on top of them and will have little (if any) adjustment to make in order to get a head shot. The best players are able to do this extremely quickly and can take out players in less than a half a second. They just need a lot of practice to get to this point.

As a Recon player, you are also in charge of keeping T-UGS sensors down in hot areas. This will not only mark where players are at but will also earn you a lot of points in the process. Additionally as a Recon Player, you need to take care to mark as many players as possible for teammates which are a bit further up.

Finally, should you get caught in close-range combat, pull out your pistol and get in the habit of using it. They are a lot stronger than most players would give them credit for, especially if you can aim accurately, strafe, and (or) get the jump on your opponent.

Weapons

Battlefield 3 Recon class is all about snipers and scopes. It’s their best weapon. Extremely good at long ranges, can get good at mid ranges with practice and pistols for short.

Additionally they also have Tactical Ground Sensors that can scan and reveal standing players within a given radius. Doesn’t work for players that are crouching though. This is one of the best and extremely useful gadgets since you might be at times so busy with your scopes that you wont notice enemies sneaking up on you.

Recon Kit Unlocks

The US soldiers will start with a MK11 gun while the RU soldiers will get a SVD. Further weapons can be customized with the use of attachments which are unlocked with the amount of points below.

Support Class

Battlefield 3 support class is designed to help the team and support players in need. It would not be a wise idea just playing a support cause you like it if your entire team is full of support characters. Pick the right character or pick the right team, and you would have more fun, more level up and more unlocks!

Support class is well known for its suppression fire, or as I call it cover fire. They have light machine guns, low accuracy, but very high on ammo. These are good for long ranges rapid fire. They don’t really kill some one due to lack of accuracy, but the fact that you can keep on going helps your team when in need. These guns are good at mid-ranged combats, but not so much at close and long.

Another good feature of support class is ability to drop ammo for your team mates. Every time some one picks up your ammo, you earn points. This way you can end up earning a lot of points.

You may not see yourself having a good Kill to Death ratio, thus the important thing to note while playing any class is that you play your role and do your part in the team. It’s not about who has the best K:D ratio but about who played their part the best.

1. Overview
2. Leveling
3. Gameplay
4. Strategies
5. Suppression Fire
6. Weapons
7. Weapon Unlocks

Overview

The Battlefield 3 Support Kit is, as advertised, designed to support other players. As a result, this is a class you will want to choose if you have a good team which is worth backing up. It is not all the useful if you are playing random pick-up games and your team is not working together.

This class uses light machine guns, which can put out a lot of low-damage bullets but also lack accuracy from a distance. This is good for suppression fire at long ranges and can be used to take down opponents at short-mid ranged combat (but not too close).

The general weaknesses of this class are both short and long-ranged combat. The position of the Support player would be in between Engineer/Assault players and Recon players. You can drop Ammo Kits on either player and use your light machine gun to spray enemies behind fortified targets.

Leveling Guide

Whenever someone on your team gets a kill from a target that you are suppressing with target fire, you get 50 points (which is worth half a kill). You can really rack up a lot of points just by using Suppression fire and making the most out of your large ammo clip.

Speaking of Ammo, another great way to earn points is to drop your Ammo Kits (directional pad left button) so that your teammates can get more ammo. Every time people on your team pick up ammo from the pack, you earn points (double points for squad members). This adds up to a lot of points.

As a result, the Support class may actually get the bulk of its points from ribbons, suppression fire, kill assists, and ammo packs rather than from direct kills. This is something to keep in mind because you do not need to have a high K:D ratio to be an effective support player (though you want to avoid deaths as much as possible).

Gameplay

Suppression fire is something you would be doing majority of your time. Due to the inherent nature of their light weight machine guns, i.e. rapid fire with tons of ammo, they are able to ensure that enemies do not dare confronting you until you are done. When used right along with team, you can help them push through some of the tough spots as well as help ones that are stuck in a no-where-to-go situation.

Additionally throw ammo for team when you see them reloading. Typically when you are with a team, you would easily recognize players who need ammo the most, try to help them for free points.

Focus on your game play to Support, rather than to maintain a high kill:death ratio. It might need some practice but look for some right opportunities and help your team to your best.

Strategies

As mentioned above, one of the things you bring to the table as a Support Class is the extra ammo. One of the best things about the Ammo pack is not that it replenishes ammo though but rather that you can also get extra explosives out of it. This can really come in handy.

For example, lets imagine you are on Rush Mode and your team just lost the first set of objectives. You and a player with C4 can start taking down cover on the way to the next set of objectives. Throw C4 all over the trees on the map and then blow them up. Throw down an Ammo pack and let your teammate reload.

By taking out all of the trees, the opponent will have less options for advancing through cover on the way to the next objective. Advancing head-on is suicide as your Recon and Assault players can then pick off players as they run across the map.

Suppression Fire

As mentioned above, the Support class’ weaponary is good at Suppression fire. Due to its low bullet accuracy, it will not take down enemy players easily from range unless they are standing out in the open for a long period of time. However, their guns do have a very high fire rate and a lot of ammo in each clip.

How does this help? Imagine this situation: you are on Operation Metro on offense and are trying to push the third objective, but the enemy is firmly entrenched in the hallways in the back of the building. You can start spraying the enemies encampment with your machine gun.

This will not likely take anyone out, but it does force them to take cover until you are done shooting. During this time, your Assault Kit teammates can push forward to try to flank the opponents or get in position to arm the objective. Your Engineers have plenty of time to line up their Rocket Launchers to take out enemy cover (or even get close enough to plant C4).

Weapons

The light weight machine gun is an excellent as well as must-have weapon for Support class in Battlefield 3. These weapons have higher recoil but also come with plenty of ammo. You can go on and on and help your team mates in need until they are safe.

However, that’s not it. They have a whole bunch of unlocks and customization that can make Support class even more fun to play.

Weapon Unlocks

Just like all other classes, even the Battlefield 3 Support class comes with a series of unlocks that you can achieve by gathering more points or kills. Every time you help your team with ammo, or explosives, or killing enemies with suppression fire, you get points.

The number of unlocks we have for Support kit is so huge that it really makes it fun to play. With so many customization, you can expect almost everyone to be on unique in distinct in some or the other ways.

I sincerely hope this post shed some light on BF3 classes and that you find it useful. If you do, don’t forget to click some like buttons below! You can also check our other articles for BF3 strategy guides with more detailed guides.

Battlefield 3 features a wide variety of weapon attachments for most of the weapons that are available to you. Ranging from sights, to barrels, to bipods, each weapon has a number of attachments that can be unlocked by playing with that particular weapon. Below you’ll find a comprehensive list of Battlefield 3 weapon attachments along with some instructions on how to use them and comparisons of their benefits.

1. Sights/optics
2. Under barrel attachments: Foregrip, Underslung rail, M320 Grenade Launcher, Bipod, Tactical Light, Laser Sight
3. Barrel attachments: Heavy Barrel, Suppressor, Flash Suppressor
4. Other attachments: Extended Mag, Straight Pull Bolt

Sights/optics

ACOG 4X

The ACOG 4X zoom is often the first attachment unlocked for assault rifles. It’s a 4X zoom sight that doesn’t reflect or glare, thereby doesn’t give away your position to the enemy.

Ballistic sight, 12X

The Ballistic sight offers a powerful 12X magnification and is best suited for sniper rifles. However, enemies can easily spot you due to its powerful glint.

Reflex RDS

The Reflex RDS sight offers no zoom but is very useful in tight quarters where precision and reaction times are important.

IRNV Infrared sight

The IRNV Infrared sight brings infrared capabilities, making it easy to pick out enemies from the environment. It has a 1X zoom.

PKS-07, 7X

The Russian-made PKS-07 comes with 7X zoom and is the standard scope op Russian-made sniper rifles.

M145, 3.4X

The M145 has a slightly less powerful zoom (3.4X) than the ACOG 4X, but offers better visibility and is better suited for in-door combat.

PSO-1, 4X

The PSO-1 is the Russian answer to the ACOG 4X, and works in much the same way, offering the same zoom and aiming capabilities.

HOLO Holographic sight

The HOLO is the main holographic sight for the US forces.

PKA-S, Holographic

The PKA-S is the Russian answer to the American HOLO sight, and works in much the same way.

KOBRA, RDS

The KOBRA RDS is the Russian answer to the American Reflex RDS sight, and is nearly identical in its function, although its appearance is quite different.

PK-A, 3.4X

The PK-A is the Russian counterpart to the M145, and offers the same zoom and features.

Under barrel attachments

Foregrip

The foregrip increases accuracy by decreasing horizontal spray when used on assault rifles and sniper rifles.

The Foregrip reduces horizontal sway from firing your weapon. Automatic guns will have the most horizontal sway, making the Foregrip a good choice for any automatic. There is no real downside to using this attachment. You would pick this over the extended mag if you were doing a lot of mid-ranged combat with an Assault Rifle or Light Machine Gun.

For weapons that can use it (not every weapon can) the Battlefield 3 Foregrip is one of the first attachments you will unlock. You get it just by getting 40 or so kills with your weapon of choice.

The Foregrip is a really good weapon attachment for any automatic or semi-automatic weapon. It makes shooting players at any range much easier. Anything which increases your ability to aim is an excellent customization to have.

In fact, the Foregrip is so good I would recommend it for all players in any situation. If you are using a gun that can have the Foregrip, it is definitely something you will want to use. The Foregrip should be your default attachment, and you should only use the other primary weapon attachments if you have a specific reason for doing so (i.e. using the Extended Magazine for a short-ranged combat build).

One of the best ways you can use the Foregrip is for pushing the limits of the range of an Assault Rifle or other ranged automatic or semi-automatic weapon. You can add on a Heavy Barrel and combine that with the Foregrip. This results in increased accuracy, less horizontal drift, but more vertical climb.

Since Vertical Climb reverts to normal as soon as you stop firing and the foregrip practically removes horizontal drift, these two together make it very easy to shoot targets at your weapon’s max distance.

What you want to do is set your gun to single or burst-fire (turn off automatic mode) and just fire out bullets one or two at a time. Pause very briefly in between shots, just long enough for the gun’s vertical climb to fall back down. You can usually get off 3-4 shots (more than enough to take out an enemy) in a second – just pause very briefly and its all you need to counter the vertical climb of the Heavy Barrel.

Without the Foregrip, many guns would drift too far to the right or left in between shots so you would actually have to aim again before shooting, which is what makes the Foregrip so good for this purpose.

Underslung Rail

The Underslung Rail allows you to attach things like the M320 to the bottom of your gun. This is a basic attachment for Engineers and allows you to use the Grenade Launcher while you have your gun out (as opposed to switching weapons which takes longer).

The main downside to using the Underslung Rail is that you cannot equip a Foregrip at the same time. The Foregrip is a great accessory and really increases the accuracy of your gun throughout longer fire-fights.

The Underslung Rail is the default option on many guns. If you do not see the Underslung Rail on your gun of choice, it is likely that the particular weapon in question is unable to use this particular accessory.

The reasons for using the Underslung Rail are certainly the most straight-forward of any of the weapon attachments: so you can access your Shotgun or M320 and related other explosive weapons easier.

As a result, if you use your grenade or rocket launchers (when applicable) frequently, you will want to use an Underslung Rail to make using them easier. If you are not the type of player who makes much use out of ballistics, then there is no real point behind this attachment for Engineers.

Likewise for Assault players, you may want to use the Underslung Rail to attach a Shotgun. This will naturally make you more effective at short-range combat.

Of course, you actually have some of these ballistics or shotguns unlocked or be playing an Engineer or Assault class in order to actually make use out of this attachment.

Another good reason to use the Underslung Rail is to use Smoke Grenades with the M320. These are probably the most potent weapon in the entire game for Rush mode strategy. What you do is launch smoke grenades at an objective you are trying to cap. Your team can then run in and cap it and your enemy will not be able to stop them since they cannot defeat them due to smoke.

M320 Grenade launcher

The M320 grenade launcher is unlocked for assault rifles and can be used with a frag round, shotgun round, or smoke round:

• M320 – Launches a frag grenade which explodes on impact. If you hit a player with this, it is nearly always a 1-hit kill.

• M320 Dart – Essentially acts just like a shotgun. Turn this on when you want to bust into a crowded room.

• M320 Smoke – Launches a smoke grenade. This is a great item to help take down objectives on Rush.

The M320 is unlocked within the Assault Kit by leveling up. It may be available in other kits, but it is not something leveled merely by kills with a specific gun or by leveling up your overall job level.

The M320 really is a great utility weapon to have access to. The default M320 which has a frag grenade on it is best for just general Team or Squad Deathmatch where you want to take out as many enemy players as you can. You only get a few shots with it per spawn, but you can definitely take players down with it.

The M320 Dart is something you can switch to whenever you are fighting in a tight space or if you are guarding a door while your team is in the top of a building. It works best when you make your Assault Rifle a little more oriented for long-range attacks.

You do not need to worry about close-range attacks when you are using a Shotgun attachment, so there you can focus your other attachments on ranged attacks by using a scope and heavy barrel. Alternatively, you could put on a Tactical Light so you could essentially have a shotgun class with a tactical light that still has long-ranged capabilities.

Finally, you have the M320 Smoke, which is excellent in Rush games. You want to use this to create smoke around objectives when on offense. This allows your team to run in and arm the M-COMs and makes it very hard for the enemy to see you when you are capping them. You can also do this on defense when disarming an M-COM – once it has been capped, throw down a bunch of smoke grenades and start capping.

Bipod

The bipod is available for assault rifles, sniper rifles and light machine guns and. When mounted on a surface, it greatly reduces recoil and increases accuracy.

The Bipod is a Sniper Rifle attachment which significantly reduces the kickback you get from shooting the Sniper Rifle. More importantly though, it eliminates the drifting of the scope when you are zoomed in. Normally if you aim with a Sniper Rifle, the scope moves a small amount constantly. The Bipod stops this.

The only downside to using the Bipod is that you have to actually be laying down prone with a flat surface in front of you for the Bipod to take effect. This naturally limits your mobility, but nothing is stopping you from dropping prone when you need to make a long shot and then getting up and moving on.

The Bipod is one of the first things you unlock when using a Sniper Rifle. Just get a handful of kills with any Sniper Rifle (that can equip the Bipod) and you will unlock it in no time at all.

Since the Bipod requires you to lay down to use it, it does take a little bit of planning to use. However, the gains from actually using it are well worth it, depending on the map.

What a lot of players do is when they reach an area with low cover is to actually go prone and then slowly back up. This will let you get the bipod set up and allow you to back up just enough to get a good angle on your opponent. Players often do this when engaged in a really tight, narrow area, such as the metro tunnels in Operation Metro.

However, the very best players do not rely entirely on the Bipod and only use it when they have to make a really long shot. If you are at mid-range, you can simply aim, get a head shot, and keep moving. Standing still in an exposed position, even if you are laying prone, is just an easy way to get killed.

Tactical light

The tactical light is a powerful flashlight which can be attached to all weapons, including pistols. Other than making it possible to see in the dark, the flashlight can be used to blind opponents as well.

The Tactical Light’s effectiveness depends on the proximity and level of brightness of the map. The closer you are to your target, the brighter and more intense the blinding effect is. If you are far away, the tactical light typically does not do much except let the enemy know where you are.

Additionally, the darker the area, the more intense the Tactical Light shines. If you use your Tactical Light outside, it hardly does anything aside from give away your position. However, if you use it in a dark area like the metro tunnels in Operation Metro, it completely blinds your opponent and practically removes all of their vision (if you are close).

As mentioned earlier in the guide, the Tactical Light has the major downside of giving away your position. This is not just like the Laser Sight which lets your opponents know they are being targeted but rather a bright light which can be seen by all players around you. You cannot sneak around behind walls and through cover with a Tactical Light.

Note that you can press “up” on the directional pad to turn on and off the tactical light. When you are sprinting it should always be off, and when you are about to engage in combat you can turn it back on.

You can unlock the Battlefield 3 Tactical Light just like any other secondary weapon attachment – by getting kills with the gun you want to unlock it on. It only takes about 100 kills or so to get a Tactical Light (varies gun to gun) as it is (I believe) one of your first 5 unlocks, regardless of weapon.

Now that you know what the Tactical Light does and what its downsides are, we are ready to discuss strategy. The first thing is that I need to re-emphasize how easily the light gives away your position. It is like a beacon that lets everyone know exactly where you are. You can only sneak up on players from behind with a Tactical Light – you will never creep through brush and approach from the front.

The other thing that should be re-emphasized is that the Tactical Light’s effectiveness is dependent upon the brightness of the area. On any bright outdoor maps (like the first portion of Operation Metro) you never want to use a Tactical Light. It just gives your position away and it is so bright outside it does not blind anyone.

Additionally, remember that the further you are from your opponents, the less effective the light is. As a result, you never want to engage in long range combat with a Tactical Light. It just shows the opponents where you are and does nothing to blind the enemy.

For this reason, I think a tactical light is best to use in indoors fights which involve a lot of closer quarter’s fighting. Use an automatic weapon and bust into crowded rooms, using your light to blind the opponent and then take them out before they can recover.

Laser sight

The laser sight emits a powerful laser which is useful and increases accuracy when firing the weapon from the hip / unscoped. however, the laser also easily gives away your position.

As an added side effect, your laser slightly blinds the target if you shine it on their face. It is not quite as strong as the tactical light, but it can blur the vision a bit. You have to be very accurate when you point it though as the laser beam is very tight.

The blinding effect of course lets your opponent know that you are aiming at them. In my opinion, this alert is actually more detrimental than the blinding effect is a positive. It allows players to duck out of range before you can shoot.

This is amplified by distance. The further you are from your opponent, the more the blinding effect will be a warning rather than a bonus for you.

You unlock the Laser Sight just like all other secondary weapon attachments – by getting more kills. However, this is one of the later attachments you unlock so you will need a lot of kills with a single gun in order to unlock it. Expect to play at least for a few hours with the same gun (and not go 0-20) in order to unlock this attachment.

The Battlefield 3 Laser Sight is one of the top attachments for short to mid-ranged combatants. In fact, it is my favorite attachment when using an assault rifle or carbine in close-quarters combat (such as the metro portion of Operation Metro).

The Laser Sight is a “lite” Tactical Light – it does not blind the opponent nearly as much but it also is much less likely to give away your position to the opponent. Even when you shine the beam on your opponent’s face, it hardly tells them where you are just rather than you are aiming at them.

The Laser Sight’s real strength is for those that want to fire their gun without actually aiming. This is perfect when you are playing the Assault Class and are about to head through some close quarters as you advance on enemy territory.

The best way to use the Battlefield 3 Laser sight for close combat is to spray your gun (automatics work best for this) while strafing left and right. Meanwhile, you can use your aiming joystick to keep the laser centered directly over the enemy’s body. You will take them out in a second or two and can dodge most bullets due to your strafing.

An Assault Rifle with a Laser Sight can handle even players that are camping. The only real thing that stops this in close combat is if you get too close to a person using a Shotgun with Buckshot. You can of course beat players using a Shotgun by keeping your range. With the Laser Sight, you would be surprised at how far away you can take down players without actually aiming your Assault Rifle.

This is best combined with an automatic gun which has a low kickback such as the M416. You do not want to have an Assault Rifle with a lot of kickback like the M16A3 or AK-74Mas this will mess up your aim. Of course good players can make these work, but its much easier and more effective to use an M416.

Combine your Laser Sight with a Foregrip for best results. The reduction in horizontal kick makes it much easier to keep your Laser Sight aimed on the target while spraying your gun and strafing.

A lot of players think that the Laser Sight will somehow improve their aim when attacking from a very long range. This is not the case because in Battlefield 3, Snipers have to account for bullet drop. This means that if you fire at a player across the map, you will have to aim slightly above his head as gravity will pull the bullet towards the ground as it speeds across the map.

This means that your laser is not accurate from a very long distance, so there is no point in even trying to use it for these types of attacks. You will only let your opponent know that he is being targeted, which gives him time to go prone and take cover.

Barrel attachments

Heavy barrel

The heavy barrel, available for assault rifles, increases long-distance accuracy, but the trade off is that it’s less usability in close ranges.

As a downside, the Heavy Barrel significantly increases vertical climb. When you fire this gun, you will get a lot of vertical kickback. You cannot spray bullets with this active or your aim will be off very quickly.

The Heavy Barrel is one of the first things you will unlock with your gun, should it be capable of using it (not every gun can equip this). Once you get about 20 or 30 kills with a gun, you should have access to this. You have to unlock the Heavy Barrel for each gun you use though – unlocking it once only gives it to you on that particular weapon.

The Heavy Barrel is a very effective add-on, depending on the weapon, combat preference, and map. Many players are able to successfully use this add-on.

Due to the high vertical climb, you cannot accurately shoot multiple bullets at once when using the heavy barrel. You may get away with a 2 or 3-round burst, but you cannot hold down the trigger. I recommend turning off automatic mode if possible. You can do this by pressing down on the directional pad on your controller. This will turn your gun to single-shot or burst fire.

Once you do turn on single-fire, it becomes very accurate and the kickback is not all that significant. There is no horizontal climb with a heavy barrel, so if you fire off bullets in 1/3-1/2 second intervals, you do not even notice the kickback.

For best results, combine the Heavy Barrel with the Foregrip (which reduces horizontal kickback). When you combine the two along with just using single shots, your gun becomes much more accurate with little to no kickback.

Think of the Heavy Barrel as the complete opposite of the Flash Suppressor – it is something you use when you are pushing the limits of the range of your gun. The Flash Suppressor is good when you are fighting on the short-end of your gun’s range, whereas the Heavy Barrel is perfect for long-ranged combat.

It increases your accuracy at the cost of not being able to fire multiple bullets at once, but single target shots work best anyway at a far range so it is not a hindrance at all.

If you are playing rush mode where the map and terrain changes with each objective, be sure to swap this out where appropriate. For example, the heavy barrel is great for the initial portion of Operation Metro, but when you actually hit the metro station, a laser sight, flash suppressor, or tactical light is a much more appropriate attachment.

Suppressor

The suppressor is available on most rifles and sniper rifles, reduces the noise and reduces the muzzle flash when equipped.

The downside to using the suppressor is it reduces your accuracy, range, and even bullet speed. This means if you are sniping with a Suppressor, you will have to account for more bullet drop than normal. The Suppressor reduces accuracy and range to the point where it is not really a viable attachment for long-ranged combat.

Unlocking the Battlefield 3 Suppressor can be done just by getting kills with your gun. You unlock the Suppressor pretty late, so you will have to use the same gun for quite a few matches before you get access to this weapon attachment. This varies from weapon to weapon as some weapons have less attachments that they can use.

Many players get a bit confused about the difference between the Suppressor and the Flash Suppressor. Both are secondary weapon attachments and serve similar functions, but the best way to use them is quite different.

The Suppressor removes muzzle flash (the actual fire and explosion you see when someone shoots their gun) as well as significantly reduces the sound your bullets make. The Flash Suppressor only removes muzzle flash and does nothing to actually silence your bullets.

Why would you use the Flash Suppressor then? Well, the Suppressor has the side effect of reducing the accuracy and range of your bullets, whereas the Flash Suppressor only reduces accuracy and has no significant effect on range.

This means that if you are using a Suppressor, you will have trouble hitting players from range. Your bullets will not travel as far or as accurately.

The best time to use the Battlefield 3 Suppressor is in close-quarters combat when you want to sneak up on your enemies. It is ideal for a build which relies on sneaking up on opponents. You are better off with something like a Laser Sight if you are looking to head in from the front – as if the players can see you coming, why bother with a Suppressor? Its function is to keep you hidden.

As a result, you will want to use the Suppressor should you be trying to flank your enemy. This is good for flushing out snipers as well as marking enemy players once you are behind enemy lines. From a safe position, you can mark enemies for your team while you take out anyone who gets too close without actually giving away your position.

In order to help foster this goal, Sprint Specialization is actually a pretty good combo for a Suppressor. This way you can move around more quickly and easily behind enemy lines.

There is no real point in using a Suppressor for long-ranged combat. It reduces your accuracy too much and has no real function. Players will not really be able to hear your gunfire anyway from across the map, so a Flash Suppressor is more than adequate to keep your position hidden should you be attacking from range.

Flash suppressor

Unlike the regular suppressor, the flash suppressor doesn’t dampen the noise, but it greatly reduces the flash weapons give off, while still retaining the same damage inflicted to opponents. The major downside to using a Flash Suppressor is that it reduces your accuracy, especially over long distances.

Since the Flash Suppressor reduces accuracy, and accuracy is something the best players all prize, its usefulness is fairly limited. You never want to snipe from a distance with a Flash Suppressor as it reduces your accuracy too much – a good Sniper only needs a single shot, and you do not want your Suppressor ruining your head shots.

The best time to use a Flash Suppressor is when you are shooting your weapon at a range well within its accuracy. For example, a lot of players use Sniper Rifles at mid-range. If you are one of these people, a Flash Suppressor goes well because your gun is more than accurate enough at that position.

An example of this would be recon players working through the second and third stages of Operation Metro in rush mode. Since the quarters are fairly tight and the rooms are dark, a Flash Suppressor can really come in handy. You will rarely attack from long-range here, and the Flash Suppressor helps keep you hidden as the muzzle flash in the dark metro area gives away your position.

Other attachments

Extended mag

The extended magazine is available so SMGs (sub machine guns) and offers a larger magazine holding more ammunition per clip.

The Extended Mag is a weapon clip which expands your magazine size by 50%. This would give your AK-74M 46 bullets per clip (45 in the clip and 1 in the chamber) instead of 31 (30 in the clip and 1 in the chamber).

This is good when you are fighting in very short ranged combat and are doing a lot of shooting from the hip against multiple opponents. You need more bullets for short-ranged fighting that than mid or long-range combat.

Unlocking it is easy – just get kills with your weapon of choice. You unlock a new customization every 10-20 kills. The Extended Mag is not one of the first attachments you get so it will take a bit to get this for your gun of choice.

So now that you know what the Extended Mag does and how to unlock it, you are ready to learn the best time to use it. The truth is the Extended Mag is only useful if you have a very specific sort of playstyle – short-ranged combat with a lot of shooting from the hip with an automatic weapon. Additionally, it can be very beneficial for slow-loading weapons like Sniper Rifles. Let’s examine both cases below:

The first situation involves someone using an automatic weapon to shoot opponents from the hip while strafing side to side. This makes it hard to be hit with bullets, but also decreases your accuracy. If you shoot from a short range though, it works great and you can often take down multiple players. The biggest downside is that you use a lot of bullets with such an approach. That is why the Extended Mag is good for this sort of playstyle.

The other situation is when you are using something like a Sniper Rifle which has a very long reload time. This gives lets you stay in the fight 50% longer before you have to take cover and reload, which can make a huge difference for pro snipers who do not need much time to aim and don’t have a use for a Bipod.

Straight Pull Bolt

The Straight Pull Bolt allows you to reload your Sniper Rifle when completely zoomed in on bolt-action rifles. Normally you have to stop aiming in order to reload the bullet. Most good players prefer the Bipod over this, as you should only need 1 shot to take your opponent out, and you move the trigger much faster when you aren’t zoomed in for the next target while you are loading the next bullet.

The Straight Pull Bolt is one of the later attachments you get for your Sniper Rifle and is unlocked via kills. Just keep using the rifle you like and as you rack up kills you will eventually unlock this.

The Straight Pull Bolt is something that allows you to essentially take multiple shots at an enemy without zooming out. This allows you to track them for long distances as you fire at them.

Personally, I don’t really like the idea behind this attachment because the whole point of using a Sniper Rifle is to go for head shots so you can take out the opponent in one hit. The whole point of using a Bolt-Action Rifle is so you have more power and accuracy than the semi-automatic versions. What is the point of using a bolt-action if you are not going to take opponents out in 1 hit?

One argument would be that when you are shooting over a very long range, you do not always get one hit kills. While this is true, when you are shooting from a very long range, you should be using a bipod anyway.

The best Snipers though do not shoot from too far away anyway though and prefer to go for mid-ranged combat. In this situation, the Straight Pull Bolt is not all that great either as you do not have time to stay zoomed in for long periods. You have to be the master of 1-shot kills to make a close-range Sniping class work.

With that in mind, the Straight Pull Bolt does help with practice. Since you get more shots off when using it, you will get more practice with aiming a Sniper Rifle. For this reason, it will give you more shots (which is more practice) and may speed up the learning time involved in getting used to a new Sniper Rifle.

Additionally, one situation where the Straight Pull Bolt may shine is if you are fighting in mid-ranged combat and there are multiple enemies in the same spot – you can move from one to the next without having to zoom out. However, the downside here is that moving your aim is pretty slow when zoomed in. If the players are any distance apart, you are best off zooming out and re-aiming once you get into the right area.

If you have ever seen screen-recordings of the best snipers, they are constantly zooming in, getting a 1-shot kill, then zooming out and immediately zooming back in again. They only zoom in for a brief second for the accuracy boost, and spend most of their time not zoomed in so they can see what is going on around them.

Source: Battlefieldstrategyguide