Paste your Google Webmaster Tools verification code here

«

»

Apr 12

Battlefield: Who Is Your Commander, And What Does He Do?

Are you hyped to have Commander Mode back in BF4? Do you even know what Commander Mode is?

 

The Commander is a completely separate role from that of the soldiers in Battlefield 4.  You become Commander either by selecting the Commander button when joining a server, or switching to Commander from the team menu if you are a soldier in a game, with a team which has no Commander.  Once  you take command, you will see a map display similar to the deploy map in the game.   You use this map to give orders and take actions as Commander.

Tutorials like those above can help you learn how to perform the actions of a Commander.   There is a lot to do, and often not enough time to do everything  you want.   In some ways, the Commander’s role is like that of the Squad Leader, providing orders to help coordinate the team.  But the Commander also has many other assets to help the team perform better, and it can take a little time to learn how to best use them.

Commander can be played from a supported tablet, but I am going to address primarily for those using a game platform.  The map details and controls offer a few more options that way, and you also have the nice option to take command as a player, while the tablet commanders have no control over which team they command.  The voice and text communications possible on the game platforms also offer an added benefit for advising the team.

History Of Commanders

First, a bit of perspective.  Commander was introduced to the game in Battlefield 2, and was also present in Battlefield 2142.  It did not appear in subsequent games, until Battlefield 4.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4w5fZuxLBI {Oddbox701}

Excellent explanation of BF2 commander mode vs BF4. Good for anyone who hasn’t played BF2. But since people still play BF2 and it isn’t that expensive, you could check the game out yourself.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKj1OkPDlpQ {TurtleShell83}

Another good look at BF2 and what commander mode is.

 Updating For Battlefield 4

There are three big differences between BF4 and the role in BF2 and BF2142.

1) Off map commander. Given that an in map commander who does anything other than command wastes much of the power of that position, and hiding in a corner all game is almost the same thing, this is an improvement.

2) Some abilities tied to flags, not on map base assets. This means that taking objectives enhances your team’s power as it reduces the enemies.

The base assets could be destroyed, and a dominating team could thus also deprive an enemy commander of much of his powerful abilities. The net effect is similar to taking abilities by capturing flags.

Others are tied to team performance, squad and command point scoring. This also rewards successful teamwork in BF4.

3) Commander enters the game from the server menu as commander. This makes the position open for access from platforms which cannot run the game itself. This offers enhanced flexibility to a role which should focus primarily on coordinating the action, not performing it.

The commander’s position is something of a team spectator. The ability to see in game video action wouldn’t be present on a platform which doesn’t run the game, but you still help coordinate the team.

 Commander Powers

The commander abilities are divided into two categories.

First, the universal capabilities. These are always available, and make up the bulk of a commander’s duties.

Second, the on map special abilities.

These last are themselves divided into two types. First are operational resources — tomahawk missile and AC130 Gunship.. Second are intelligence resources — the vehicle and infantry scans.  High Value Target is information of a sort, marking a specific soldier for tracking and elimination..

The operational resources are the most visually spectactular, and are the only ones which allow the commander to directly take action within the game.

Operational Abilities

Tomahawk Cruise Missile is comparable to the BF2 artillery. It bombards a location on the map. Note that there seems to be ample warning of the missile in game — it shows up on the commanders’ maps. There is a delay of several seconds before it hits, time for an enemy to move away if they see it.  Because of this, selecting a target which is not going to move is critical in order for it to actually damage the enemy.  You can pick an area around a location you want your team to control and see enemy presence, or an enemy unit which is remaining relatively stationary.

AC130 Gunship is essentially similar to the one from BF3 Armored Kill. The difference is that the commander now chooses when to deploy it. It otherwise has the same role, is not operated by the commander but by his team, and has no power unless team members deploy on it.

The flags associated with these are likely to be highly contested. They are also likely to be near the map center, and thus prime targets in any case.

Intelligence:  The Universal UAV and EMP, Plus Infantry And Vehicle Scans

The Scan UAV spots units within a circle on the map, and lasts about 15 seconds, with a cooldown time of about 3 seconds.  This means you can put up a new one right after the old one goes away, and you should be doing that all the time.

The EMP UAV also lasts about 15 seconds, but has a longer cooldown.  This means you need to take a bit more care in how to apply it, as there will be times when you cannot use it for a while. It will negate enemy detection (the minimap) in the area of effect, and also will negate an enemy Scan UAV in the same area.

It has a special effect on enemy Cruise Missiles and the AC130, able to damage them.  This makes the EMP UAV a key defensive tool if the enemy Commander has those assets available.

The intelligence Infantry and Vehicle Scans are like a UAV, but they get the entire map as a one time event. They are tied to specific flags as team assets.  In BF4 they automatically spot everything. This avoids the need to spam the spot key, and the more intelligent “enemy spotted” system in BF4 makes it more useful.  These have a moderate cooldown, but are worth using whenever available for the obvious reason that knowing the enemy locations makes your team more effective.

All scans give you bonus points if your team eliminates enemies spotted, or in the area of effect of the UAVs.

Evac Order sends a message to your troops in the targeted location, indicating that danger is present from the enemy.  Its primary purpose is to warn that a Cruise Missile is targeted at that location — either from the enemy or your own.  But it can also be used to warn troops of powerful enemy forces in the area, and advise them to retreat rather than engage and die.

High Value Target (HVT):  Applied to a qualifying enemy unit (which must have scored 6 kills), it marks that enemy for your team so they can go after it and eliminate it.  Gives both you and the team bonus points for success.

Squad Commander Tools

All of these require you to select a squad leader in order to use them.   All except for the Squad Order require points in the Command Bar before you can use them, and some require more than others.  In order of points needed:

Squad Promotion:  Boosts the squad up one level in the Field Upgrades bar.  Very useful for good squads performing well, as it makes them work even better.

Supply Drop:  Drops a crate which will supply ammo, heal soldiers and repair vehicles near it.

Reinforce Squad:  Decreases the delay before respawning for the selected squad.

Vehicle Drop:  Drops a transport vehicle for your team to use.  On most maps (maybe all), this is a Quad Bike, a fast but unarmed vehicle, useful to get an isolated team member to a more useful location faster.

Squad Orders

This is a core part of the role of Commander, but it is very dependent on the Squad Leaders under your command.  You can give an order for any game objective, in a manner similar to that of the squad leaders themselves.  They can accept the order, and then both you and the squad will get bonus points.  You can see the orders you have given as dotted lines on the map, and the orders accepted or given by the squad leaders as solid lines.

You can also give an order to go to a specific map location, rather than an objective point.  This is sometimes useful when you want a squad to engage forces away from a flag, or go after specific enemy units.

Special Orders

The Proxy Attack is a special Commander tool.  It has a very long cooldown, so it should be used sparingly.  It disables the enemy commander for about 15 seconds, negating enemy Cruise Missiles in flight, disabling UAV and EMP, etc.  It is very useful to use when you are going to use a Cruise Missile to hit a target and you don’t want the enemy commander to interfere.

When the enemy uses it on you, your screen becomes fuzzy and all of your abilities are totally disabled, including the ability to give orders.

What Does A Commander Really Do?

What will a Battlefield 4 commander be doing in the game?

The first task will always be to set up your squads. The commander isn’t a boss. Instead, you are a coach, a coordinator. Find out what your squad leaders want to do, offer them orders to support their goals. Both benefit from giving and following orders. Your primary job is providing information for your team. Warn them of enemy actions. Offer suggestions.

At the start of the game,  there will usually be neither time nor quick cooperation for either verbal or text chatting to get things organized.  You should see where your squads are headed and order them to go where they are already going, more or less.  A good squad leader will accept the orders you give, or even ask for orders or other assets.  You should try to support them as much as possible.

A fundamental element is using your vehicle teams. Their mobility means they are your best choice for immediate action. You want to either give them orders, or let them request orders, and coordinate strongly with their actions. If your squad leaders are vehicle crew, keep in touch with them frequently (a good idea for all squad leaders). If not, this requires teamwork between their squad leader and you.

Orders show up on the map and minimap, as well as in game on the flags themselves. You should be able to see what orders your squad leaders are giving, and where all your team members are at. Action orders show up as a line or arrow, always clearly visible to the squad and commander.

Next, you want to use your abilities effectively.  Most will only work every 30-120 seconds. You cannot “spam” actions. You and the enemy commander will be placing UAVs to support the areas of most intense action. It will always be a duel between your choices, which locations will get the best intel.

Your operational actions will play a small but significant part. Supply and vehicle drops are sufficiently persistent that they can have a larger effect than the big blast of a tomahawk (or artillery). The AC130 adds firepower over a point and may help you take or keep control of a flag. Your team needs to take advantage of these things, which means you have to communicate with them to make that happen.

Scans and UAV will give you information. Your ability to see the big picture will let you tell your team where the enemy force is massing, point out any hiding and camping enemies, and be essential for making effective orders for you and your squad leaders.

Eye In The Sky

You also have (on PC and console at least) the additional advantage of having an eye on everyone. You can watch a video feed from everyone in the team, every flag you own, your UAV and AC130, etc.  This can help you get a better picture of what is going on in the battle.

You can zoom in and out on the main map to get a better view of the battle, and if you zoom in all the way, you will get a “satellite view” of the battle, where you can see the actual terrain and units moving on it.  While you cannot directly spot units for your team on the map, you can see units and communicate the situation to them via text or voice chat.  It also can help you understand the situation in an intense battle area, as the wider view doesn’t let you see every individual unit as easily.

It can be a lot of fun to player as Commander, especially with a team which strongly plays the objectives. It is a very different kind of game play, and works well when I need a break from constant lethal action. For me, it is also a viable way to play the game on my laptop, which while able to run BF4 doesn’t do so nearly as well as my gaming PC.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>