***Intro***
Hi everyone!
This is my guide to Battlefield: Vietnam. I made this so that the noobs (i.e. many of the LAN party BFV players) will learn more about the game.
Although there are lots of BFV guides in the internet, most of them were made for large internet games (32 or more players). We play on a LAN with fewer players (a maximum of about 20); some parts of these guides are not applicable.
***Character Classes***
There are four main character classes in BFV (assault, engineer, heavy assault, recon). Similar to Battlefield: 1942, the class equipment may vary depending on the map. There are two versions of each class (e.g. USA Assault 1, NVA Engineer 2, USA Recon 1).
All classes carry a knife and a handgun.
1.) Assault
The two USA Assault classes (and NVA Assault 1) are nearly identical. Each has an assault rifle, a few grenades, and binoculars. There's not much to say here, except that the USA Assault classes are useful for noobs because they're well-balanced and easy to use. Counterstrike players will master these three in no time.
The second NVA Assault class has a machinegun instead of an assault rifle. It is important that you go prone when using the machinegun to improve its accuracy. Well... Still not much to say here...
2.) Engineer (my personal favorite)
The engineer class is NOT for noobs, so if you're new to this game, you might want to stay away from this one. All engineers carry a weak rifle and a wrench (useful for repairing vehicles).
The first Engineer class (both sides) has a mortar and some mines (on some maps, Vietnam Engineer 1 has poisoned spikes). The mortar is powerful but difficult to use (see below for more information on artillery). To deploy the mortar, select it and left-click. It takes a few seconds to setup the mortar. Press "E" to use it and "E" again to stop. To pick it up, press "G".
And as for the mines, be careful where you place them. They can't tell friend from foe, so you could end up blowing up your own teammates. Tell your teammates about your mines so that they can avoid them. I suggest doing this while the map is loading. In one game my score dropped to zero because my teammates kept triggering my punji sticks (the poisoned spikes)!
The second Engineer class (both sides) is the weakest class in the game. However, Engineer 2 is very useful for sabotage (I call the second Engineer class the "saboteur").
The USA saboteur has some C4 and a blowtorch in addition to the standard Engineer equipment. The C4 is useful for booby traps (Hint: Place C4 around your flag and detonate when someone tries to capture it). The blowtorch is useful for destroying enemy vehicles. It's not very useful, in my opinion, since it takes time to cut through armor and you have to get close to use it.
The NVA saboteur has some dynamite and a shovel (this is cool). The dynamite is very fun to use. You stick it to an empty vehicle, and when someone enters, it blows up. A nice way to drive your enemies paranoid is to booby trap the vehicles in their main base.
The shovel, on the other hand, is useful only on some maps. On some maps, a few minutes after the game starts, an NVA tunnel entrance will appear. This serves as a mobile NVA spawn point. If you're an NVA saboteur, you can pick it up by pressing "G". Then you go to where you want to place it, press 5 for shovel, and then left-click. Your character will then dig a tunnel (i.e. he drops the tunnel entrance) that your teammates can use as a spawn point.
Starcraft players may find this similar to the Zerg Nydus Canal. C&C Generals players may find this similar to the GLA Tunnel Network.
3.) Heavy Assault
USA Heavy Assault 1 has an M60 and a grenade launcher, while USA Heavy Assault 2 has an M60 and a LAW (light anti-tank weapon). Many consider these two classes (especially USA Heavy Assault 2) to be overpowered. Though the M60 isn't as unbalanced as the AWP in earlier versions of Counterstrike, it is still very powerful.
However, the grenade launcher and the LAW are very weak. Though they deal a lot of damage, they also have an extremely long reload time. Also, the LAW isn't as powerful as the BF1942 rocket launcher; the former can destroy tanks in 2 to 4 shots, while the latter could do it with one shot!
NVA Assault 1 has an RPG and a weak rifle. I'm not sure about this, but the RPG seems a lot stronger than the LAW...
NVA Assault 2 has an SA-7 and some explosives. The SA-7 is a HEATSEEKING rocket launcher, and you can use it to destroy aircraft. To destroy a plane, wait for it to pass over you, aim at its engine, and fire! If done right, you should deal huge damage to the plane (it brings it down to 25% health, if I'm not wrong).
The explosives come with a detonator... Place explosives around a flag and detonate them when somebody approaches. Or you could set up an ambush at a chokepoint with it. Use your imagination!
4.) Recon (WTF? This sucks!)
The main advantage that the BF1942 recon class had over the others was the binoculars. In BF1942, only scouts (the term for "recon" in BF1942) could designate artillery targets. Now that all except engineers have binoculars, the recon class loses its primary advantage (WTF?).
Both USA Recon classes have sniper rifles, smoke grenades, and binoculars. USA Recon 1 has a single-shot sniper rifle while USA recon 2 has a semi-automatic sniper rifle. When sniping, it is important that you aim for the HEAD of a nonmoving target (hitting a moving target with a sniper rifle is extremely difficult, trust me). As for the smoke grenades, WTF? Wow, it hides you from enemy view at the cost of alerting the enemy team to your presence! Again, WTF?
NVA Recon 1 has a sniper rifle and some caltrops. Much better than the USA Recon classes, but not by much. NVA Recon 2 has a rifle and some Bouncing Betty traps. A Bouncing Betty is basically an anti-personal mine.
I do not know what the makers of this game were thinking when they nerfed a class that did not need nerfing. The BF1942 scout had frag grenades instead of smoke grenades!
***Spawn Points***
The objective of Battlefield: Vietnam is to bring the enemy team's tickets to zero. One way of doing this is to kill enemy players. Whenever an enemy dies, his/her team loses one ticket.
A much faster way of bringing down the enemy team's tickets is to capture spawn points (a.k.a. bases). If your team controls more than half of the bases on the map, the enemy team will lose tickets at a steady rate. If your team captures ALL the bases on the map, the enemy team will no longer be able to respawn. If your team captures ALL the bases AND kills all enemy players, the enemy team will automatically lose.
To capture a base, go to its flag. When you're close enough, a timer will appear, indicating how much longer you have to stay there in order to capture the base. When it's halfway done, the base will be neutralized (i.e. the flag will turn grey and enemy players can't respawn there anymore). When the timer reaches zero, the base is captured. Your teammates can now respawn there.
The more players capturing a base, the faster it is captured. One simple but effective tactic is to fill an APC with your teammates and then driving the APC to the bases all over the map. A full APC can capture a main base in no time.
And finally... As an incentive for capturing bases, all players involved in neutralizing a base gain 1 point each. All players who captured a base gain 2 points each. Thus, if me and some of my teammates successfully capture an enemy base, we would get 3 points each (1 for neutralizing an enemy base and 2 for capturing it).
***The 3D Map***
This is a very simple but very useful feature of BFV. Press "Q" to turn on the 3D map. The 3D map shows all the flags (so you won't get lost), and more importantly, all your allies. When the 3D map is turned on, your teammates will have icons on them, allowing you to easily distinguish between friend or foe. Friends have icons on them, foes have none. If you see someone with no icon on him/her, OPEN FIRE!!!
***Artillery***
MORTAR KOMBAT!!!
There are three types of artillery in BFV. These are the artillery platform, the mobile artillery, and the mortar. There used to be naval artillery in Battlefield: 1942, but there is no naval artillery in the maps that came with BFV (maybe there will be some in new maps).
The first type is the artillery platform, usually found in a main base. Artillery platforms deal massive damage over a very long range. Unfortunately, they have a limited firing arc, and they are HUGE (i.e. a bomber can easily see it from the sky).
The second type is the mobile artillery. The USA mobile artillery resembles a tank with a huge turret. The NVA mobile artillery is a rocket launcher (it looks cooler than the USA version). Both versions have space for two players (one driver and one gunner). Because it is extremely difficult to aim the mobile artillery while moving, it is recommended that one person act as driver and gunner.
Note: IT IS CONSIDERED RUDE TO JUMP INTO A MOBILE ARTILLERY WHILE SOMEONE IS INSIDE, EVEN IF THERE'S STILL SPACE FOR A DRIVER OR GUNNER. It is very annoying when you're calibrating (see below) the artillery and then someone jumps in, drives to the battlefield, ruining your calibration and placing the mobile artillery in harms way.
There are two ways of firing the artillery, namely, direct fire and indirect fire.
Direct fire is basically firing at a target within visual range (e.g. enemy soldiers in front of you). However, using direct fire places the fragile artillery at risk. Furthermore, its range is limited by YOUR sight range.
Indirect fire is firing at a target NOT within visual range (e.g. the enemy base at the other side of the map). To use indirect fire, you will need another teammate as a spotter, who designates the artillery target.
Any class except engineers can be spotters. To designate an artillery target, select your binoculars (hotkey "5"). Then, right-click to zoom. When you've found a suitable target, left-click.
The player at the artillery then right-clicks to use indirect fire.
Note: It's not easy to understand how to properly use indirect fire using only this guide. This is easier to demonstrate in the game, so if anyone's interested, I'll create a practice game before the main BFV game at the next LAN party.
******
Anyway, that's all for now, folks. Tomorrow I will post a guide on how to capture and defend bases, as well as tips on how to use the planes. Feel free to add to this guide with guides of your own; I was rather annoyed by the large number of clueless noobs at the last BFV game.
J_Amarillo's Guide to Battlefield: Vietnam
nyways can't w8 for me to shoot you down... 
oh, wa lagi kay guide para sa mga chopper and aircraft pilots
Originally Posted by CrasHBURN
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