In this guide you will find ranked lists, some with tips and tricks, others just general map and operator information from the PVE player’s perspective.
Operators Guide PVE in 2024
Assaults provide a team with additional DPS to dispatch foes, explosives to deal with hard targets and cover, or crowd control to manage threats effectively. Some get unique abilities to disguise as a target, to deploy decoys, spotting flares, or a drone, and to use kit like battering rams or throwing axes. They are not the front of the formation, but attack from the flank, and deal with threats as they close in on the squad.
Supports provide the backbone for the squad, often being front and center to take bullets for their team. They often provide bonus HP in the form of a Shield, deploy a literal shield in front of them, or carry one into battle. They can fly banners to revive teammates, launch explosive rockets to great effect, deploy a turret for additional firepower, or penetrate hard cover with gunfire. If the support falls, a team’s offensive push will often stall and enemies gain the advantage to push back.
Medics provide the healing that keeps their team alive. The speed with which a squad can complete objectives, and dispatch foes often depends on the health they have in reserve. Heavily wounded teammates are timid and cautious, and a heavily wounded team is close to failure. Besides healing, medics can provide smoke grenades for cover, deploy robotics to block enemy explosives, revive teammates from afar, replenish their ammo, or even their armor. They also carry the most revival syringes of any other class. If the medic falls and cannot be revived, mission failure is almost a guarantee.
Marksmen provide the long range firepower to deal with threats like Chemists, Grenadiers, and hostile Marksmen that wish to see the special forces fail. They reward good aim the most with headshots, and provide additional gear that can break destructible cover, reveal enemies out of sight, or even make you invisible. They can also boost their team’s speed and kill waves of enemies effortlessly. The marksman is often the last man alive if all goes wrong, and is usually the most lethal of the four.
Evaluations are made on operators I own and have had some gameplay with. Guide will be updated with pictures and as more operators are purchased.
Assaults
Perun: Russian assault that uses a high damage assault rifle and carries stun grenades with him that can be modified to detonate on impact. His ability changes the rifle’s fire mode to single or burst, increases rate of fire, removes horizontal recoil, and pierces targets while also bypassing their armor. Single shot can be toggled for his ability, increasing effective range by 20 meters.Regular kills or headshot kills made while the ability is active can heal him. Kills made with the ability active allow for 50% faster reloads and can replenish stamina. He moves 50% faster with his pistol out.
Very exotic kit and a very powerful ability. He’s an assault that plays like a marksman. Initially rather squishy and not a lot of health. His rifle has a bit of spread to it. I chose 4A, 6B, 7B, 9B, 11A, 13B, and 14B as upgrades. I use Hemostatic Serum, Regen. Materials, Flat Trajectory/Precision Rifling, and Vengeance as skills. Medkits or Stims are fine, and Ammo.
Koszmar: Polish assault that uses a suppressed assault rifle and carries a standalone grenade launcher firing tear gas rounds. His ability lets him apply Confused with hits from his primary, and removes all buffs from the target except Healing, Shield, and Link. Wears a gas mask that provides immunity to being Poisoned. Thunder can increase the damage enemies take from Gas. His tear gas can apply Slowed.
Good choice of assault with gas immunity and crowd control baked in. I chose 2A, 4B, 6B, 7A, 8B, 9B, 11B, 12A, 13A, and 15A as upgrades. I run Shooting Posture/Hemostatic Serum, Regen. Materials, Quick Release Mags/Armor Piercing Rounds, and Vengeance as his skills. Medkits and Ammo.
Corsair: American assault that uses a suppressed assault rifle and carries C4 charges with him. His ability lets him Mark targets that are hit with the primary. Enemy mines take 1 second longer to trigger. He can Slow enemies in addition to Marking them. He can block them from being healed or shielded. He can also get 10% damage resistance or move speed when killing an enemy with C4.
His kit is very basic, but his skill is useful on almost everyone. He starts off fairly squishy and easy to kill. I chose 2B, 5A, 6A, 7B, 8B, 10B, 11B, 12B, 13B, 14B, and 15B as upgrades. I run Hemostatic Serum, Regen. Materials, Quick Release Mags/Armor Piercing Rounds, and Vengeance as his skills. Medkits and Ammo.
Sly: American assault that uses a loud, low capacity battle rifle as primary and shorty shotgun as secondary. She also carries stun grenades that can be modified to detonate on impact. Her ability lets her disguise as an enemy target, copy their look and current HP, and drop enemy aggro except when close to the initial target. Her rifle’s accuracy is 50% better when crouched. She moves 10% faster with the shotgun out. She can replenish 10 HP when she gets a shotgun kill. She can replenish shotgun ammo when executing an enemy.
She plays a lot like Avant does, except she can heal on command, and drops aggro like a bad habit. She’s hard to play and has a high skill curve – poor timing gets you killed. I chose 2B, 5B, 6B, 7B, 8B, 9A, 11B, 12A, 13C, 14A, and 15A as her upgrades. I use Hemostatic Serum, Regen. Materials, Quick Release Mags, and Personal Priorities as her skills. Stims and Ammo. (Fun fact: you can disguise as Delgado during the Forest point sweep mission.)
Avant-Garde: French assault that uses a semi-auto mag-fed shotgun, and carries gas grenades that Stun enemies upon detonation. His ability lets him reflect a fraction of the damage taken back to his attacker, and also provides a Shield that’s replenished on enemy kills. He is immune to being Stunned. He takes reduced damage to his limbs.
Avant is hard to play because he needs to be aggressive and close to his opponents to deal substantial damage. He weaves in and out of cover, and closes the gap with Payback. Chaining kills together keeps him alive. High risk, high reward. I chose 3A, 5B, 6A, 7B, 8B, 10B, 12A, 14A, and 15C as my upgrades. I use Hemostatic Serum, Regen. Materials, Quick Release Mags, and Vengeance as his skills. He’s worth buying for his skill alone. Stims and Ammo.
Mustang: Kazakh assault that uses a high damage assault rifle, a grenade launcher with DART rounds that can penetrate cover, has a Radar ability to easily find enemies, and wears a gas mask that provides immunity to being Poisoned. Moves twice as fast when crouched. Executing enemies gives you DART rounds back. Enemies affected by Radar that are killed can also give you 50 SP back, or increase your rate of fire by 20% for 8 seconds.
His primary hits hard and is very ammo efficient, but is unusually inaccurate. His DART rounds can let you hit enemies in hard cover, or let you destroy destructible covers outright. I chose 2B, 6B, 9B, 11B, 12A, 13A, 14B, and 15B as upgrades. I use Hemostatic Serum, Regen. Materials, Precision Rifling, and Vengeance as his skills. Stims and Ammo.
Shaowei: Chinese assault that uses a suppressed assault rifle with high armor pen. and a drone on treads that can follow basic commands like attack, follow, or move here. Very good PVE choice. Doesn’t pull a lot of aggro to himself, has a drone to deal additional damage, guard objectives, or pull enemy fire. Xigou, his drone, does best when placed behind or above enemies. His drone will attract Chemist aggro and they will gas it to no avail.
I chose 4B, 6A, 8C, 9B, 10B, 12B, 13C, 14A, and 15B as upgrades. Shooting Posture/Healing Touch, Regen. Materials, Armor Piercing Rounds, and Vengeance/Spare Syringe are my preferred skills. He doesn’t need stims because his ability doesn’t cost stamina, and can run spare revival kits if desired. I run Medkits and Ammo.
Martelo: TBD
More Assaults
Supports
On supports I primarily run Shooting Posture, Regen. Materials, Armor Piercing Rounds, and Vengeance. If I deviate from this skillset for an operator it will be mentioned, but the above is default. Stims and Ammo are also typical for me.
Almaz: Kazakh support that wields a weak-for-caliber belt-fed machine gun, and has a grenade launcher that fires smoke grenades. His ability applies Shielded to himself, with a considerable pool of bonus HP to draw from, and regenerates over time when not taking damage. He has a lot of health and armor as well. He can revive teammates even when incapacitated?
Almaz is the unmovable object you’ve heard of in myth and legend. Something has to go seriously wrong for Almaz to go down. Even when he does, he still has the last laugh, and a revive syringe in hand for his best buddy. His machine gun does less damage, but has better armor penetration than most.
I chose 2A, 4A, 6B, 9B, 10B, 11B, 12A, 13A, and 15A as his upgrades. I use Shooting Posture/Sleight of Hand, Regen. Materials, Armor Piercing Rounds, and Counter Attack as his skills. He doesn’t really need Vengeance because of his ability, so better damage is preferable.
Kit: Russian support that wields a drum-fed machine gun, and carries deployable anti-personnel mines. 3 drums mean 225 rounds for his primary, 25 more than most supports. His gas mask makes him immune to being Poisoned. Firing 7 consecutive shots (4 with the short barrel) grants immunity to being Stunned for up to 3 seconds after you cease firing. He revives with 10 more HP. He can receive 10% damage resistance to bullets and explosions when firing continuously. His ability places a banner that can provide bonus HP in the form of Shielded, and can revive an operator if they’re downed and in the radius. It can also improve stamina recovery by 50%.
Kit is considered a top tier PVE support and with good reason. His loadout is rounded and solid, his ability is not only useful, but Kit is the only operator that can revive teammates infinitely, albeit on a cooldown. It’s usually preferable to let Kit revive someone rather than the medic. I chose 3C, 7A, 8B, 10A, 11B, 12A, 13B, 14A, and 15C for upgrades.
Stern: German support that wields a belt fed machine gun, and carries an anti-tank wire guided missile launcher. His ability allows him to apply Shielded either to himself, or to an ally. Teammates that revive Stern get 75 SP back. Guardian, his ability, can grant immunity to either: Slowed, Crippled, and Trapped, OR Poisoned, Bleeding, Burning, and Suppressed. His missile launcher can be guided. He can boost his primary’s rate of fire when applying Guardian to a teammate. He can boost the movement speed of the person Shielded by 10%.
Actually a very good and well rounded operator, Stern provides a solid basis for the squad’s backbone. His shield can get friendlies out of a tight spot, and his launcher can destroy vehicles with ease. His machine gun is lethally accurate, and his skill is a must have. I chose 2A, 5B, 6B, 7A, 8A, 9B, 10A, 11B, 12A, 13B, 14C, and 15B as upgrades.
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Bourbon: American support that wields a mag fed/belt fed machine gun, and carries a sawn off M79 grenade launcher. His ability allows him to stun enemies hit with his primary. Killing an enemy with the ability up can boost teammate speed within 20-30m by 15% for 5-8 seconds, or removes/provides immunity from Crippled, Slowed, and Trapped for the same range and duration. Enemy mines take 1 second longer to trigger. He gets 10 more HP after revival. His explosives can have a time delay fuse.
His loadout is fine but not exciting. Timely use of Crackdown can help your team move around more quickly. Explosives help with destroying cover. I chose 5A, 7A, 9B, 10B, 11B, 12A, 14B, and 15B as upgrades.
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Bastion: French support that wields a full auto handgun with extended mags, and carries with him a bulletproof shield on his left arm. His ability allows him to wield the shield in both hands, and reflect incoming damage back at the enemies that shoot it. He can move 50% faster while crouched. He takes 20% less damage to his limbs. The duration of Stunned and Slowed debuffs applied to Bastion can be reduced by 30%. He can recover stamina faster with just the shield out.
His loadout is exotic and takes some getting used to. His pistol is surprisingly accurate, but has steep range falloff, even worse with the shield out. His job is to take ♥♥♥♥ and get hit, while being mobile enough to push the enemy line and possibly a flank. He’s great at drawing aggro, but the shield can only do so much. I chose 4A, 7B, 8A, 10B, 11C, 13A, 14B, and 15B as upgrades.
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Hagana: Israeli support that wields a mag fed/belt fed machine gun, and carries with her some incendiary grenades. Her ability allows her to place an automatic turret on a tripod with a time limit and a long cooldown. She takes 50% less burning damage. Her pistol is a little weak.
Her kit leans into her turret, and with good reason. This thing is lethal, dealing just as much DPS as a player can, with a long duration and more HP than she has. It’s not exactly mobile, so picking the right spot to place is important. It has trouble looking down if there’s cover in the way, but it’s virtually unkillable when behind waist-high cover unless RPG’d or flanked. Good PVE choice.
For upgrades I went 4B, 7B, 9B, 10B, 11A, 12B, 13A, 14B, and 15C. For skills I do Sleight of Hand/Shooting Posture, Regen. Materials, Armor Piercing Rounds, and Vengeance.
Zubr: Ukrainian support that wields a high damage belt fed machine gun, and carries smoke grenades with him. His ability roots him in place, and gives him considerable damage resistance, nearly invincible when his bipod is deployed on a piece of cover. He can crawl faster when incapacitated. He can recover stamina 200% faster. He can be immune to Stun while the ability is active, or can heal 30 hp when activated. He can destroy destructible covers while the ability is active. His pistol is rather weak.
Another strong contender for the support spot, trading some of Almaz’s mobility for more lethality. His machine gun hits like a truck and is very ammo efficient, not to mention fairly accurate with mild horizontal recoil. His skill is also rather good. He’s one of the few, if not only, operator to destroy cover with gunfire. This dude is a chad.
I chose 2B, 3A, 5B, 7A, 9B, 11B, 12B, 13A, 14A, and 15B as his upgrades. I run Sleight of Hand, Regen. Materials, Armor Piercing Rounds, and Vengeance as his skills – he doesn’t really need Shooting Posture.
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More Supports
Barreira: (Presumed) Brazilian support that wields a belt fed machine gun, and carries with him stimulant boxes to dole out drugs to his teammates, as well as a ballistic shield he mounts his guns into. His ability reduces his firing mode to burst, but allows his shots to pierce cover with a significant damage reduction. He also has a 7 shot revolver on hand. He’s immune to Bleeding. His stim boxes can provide temporary immunity to Stunned, Slowed, and Trapped OR Bleeding, Poisoned, and Burning for 30 seconds. His sidearm can receive buffs when getting headshot kills. His primary can become more accurate when the bipod is deployed. His ability, Sieve, can either slow the target when hit through cover, or prevent them from being healed and shielded.
Barreira is an unusual operator to play, and there’s a few ways to play him. You can lean into his ability, which lets him threaten enemies buried into cover, or to into his stim boxes, which can support teammates that chose first aid kits. His shield makes it easier to stay alive, and when behind waist-high cover he’s nearly unkillable. The spread is atrocious on his primary though because of its super short barrel.
For upgrades, I personally chose 2A, 4B, 5A, 6A, 7B, 8B, 9C, 10B, 11B, 12A, 13C, 14A, and 15C. He has a lot of variation in his upgrades though. As for skills, I run Sleight of Hand (doesn’t really need Shooting Posture), Regen. Materials, Precision Rifling (AP Rounds is fine), and Vengeance (Personal Priorities is also fine). If you use Personal Priorities, run medkits.
Tower: TBD
Medics
Ded: Russian Medic that uses a short range, low damage, suppressed SMG. He carries smoke grenades with him, and his ability heals a teammate within 3 meters for ~40 HP, or himself for ~30 HP. Cooldown is fairly fast at sub-10 seconds. Stamina cost is low at ~35 SP. He can crawl for longer when incapacitated. He can have 30% burning damage resistance. He can have 8 revival syringes, 2 more than most medics.
Ded is easily acquired, and his skill is not bad, but his kit leaves some things to be desired. It’s very easy for Ded to fall behind due to healing teammates instead of himself, and become more vulnerable due to low health. Upgrading him or giving him Vengeance helps alleviate this problem. He’s a mobile medic that has to follow teammates closely to keep them healed.
I chose 2B, 5B, 8B, 10B, 12B, and 13B as his upgrades. His upgrade tree is very simple and doesn’t have many branches. I use Healing Touch, Regen. Materials, Quick Release Mags, and Vengeance as his skills. Stims and Ammo.
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Karavai: Belarusian Medic that uses a mid range suppressed assault rifle. He carries smoke sticks that can be attached to people. His ability allows him to throw a capsule that explodes with medical healing goodness. Area of effect is ~4 meters, heals about ~30 HP, refreshes fast at ~10 seconds, and is cheap at ~30 SP. His AR has a lot of different upgrades that can be applied via attachments. It also has decent range when subsonic rounds aren’t applied.
Karavai is when it’s time to upgrade from Ded. His capsules can reach farther, can heal multiple people, and can have additional effects. Innately, he can revive teammates 40% faster. Enemies can be Poisoned and Trapped with the capsule. He revives with 10 more HP. Capsules can remove Burning from teammates, and give immunity for 5 seconds. His stamina regenerates MUCH faster when in smoke. Fairly good medic choice.
I chose 2A, 5B, 7B, 9B, 10B, 12B, 13A, 14A, and 15B as upgrades. Healing Touch, Regen. Materials, Armor Piercing Rounds, and Vengeance are the skills I chose. Stims and Ammo.
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Mikolaj: Polish Medic that uses a short range pump-action shotgun. He carries stun grenades with him, and his ability places down an AOE radius of healing that depletes as allies are healed. Can heal about ~120 HP in total before depleting. Lasts a long time, has about a ~3 meter radius, cools off in about ~25 seconds, but is costly at 70 SP.
His handgun can gain a suppressor. He has one less revival syringe at 5. He takes 50% less Poisoned damage. His ability can help revive teammates 50% faster, OR help them reload 30% faster if they’re in its radius. Enemies hit with 2 shots by his shotgun slow them for 2 seconds. His special gear can return 75 SP to him for every enemy affected by it.
Mikolaj’s kit is a bit strange and seems to contradict itself. His shotgun requires being up close and personal, but his healing kit is a deployable that doesn’t move. So, really, he does better by bunkering down and punishing any enemy that dares get close. Not an optimal medic choice, but his skill isn’t too bad and is useful on some ops. I chose 4B, 6B, 8B, 9A, 10A, 11A, 12B, 13B, 14A, and 15B as upgrades. Healing Touch, Regen. Materials, Quick Release Mags, and Personal Priorities as his skills. Stims and Ammo.
Schatz: German Medic that uses a short range SMG. He carries stun grenades with him, and his ability allows him to throw down little medkits that teammates or himself can walk over. The ‘dressings’ apply significant healing over time, and can apply other effects too. He can have two in reserve, and two on the field at a given time. Can heal about ~50 HP, the dressings exist for up to a minute, they cool off in ~20 seconds, and are fairly cheap at ~40 SP a piece.
He can have 7 syringes for revival, 1 more than usual. Teammates that revive him gain 75 stamina. Dressings can temporarily block Bleeding, Burning, and Poisoned for 30 seconds. When he’s downed, he drops a dressing for a teammate to pick up. All in all, Schatz is a fairly good medic, with his biggest weakness is that he can’t easily shove a dressing down someone’s throat – they have to willingly pick it up.
I chose 3B, 6B, 7A, 8A, 9A, 10B, 12B, 13B, 14A, and 15B as upgrades. I went with Healing Touch, Regen. Materials, Quick Release Mags, and Vengeance as skills. Stims and Ammo.
Spark: Bri’ish Medic that uses a short range, suppressed SMG. He carries a defibrillator with him, which can seriously harm an enemy, or bring a downed teammate back with full or nearly full health if charged up. His ability is a chain heal in the form of a projectile he casts, and it can bounce between teammates or harm enemies within a given radius. His heal has a long cooldown at ~20 seconds, heals others for anywhere between 30 to 60 HP, and heals himself for 30 HP. It can bounce between 2-4 targets, first target being up to 10-15 meters away, and the following targets being up to 7-10 meters away.
He has full immunity to being Poisoned because of his gas mask. He can use his sidearm when downed. His ability can allow downed teammates to move for an additional 5 seconds, OR give 50 stamina to allies. His reserves can have their effectiveness and cooldown increased, or total amount and cooldown decreased. He can carry an absurd amount of revival kits, up to 7 + 1 defib charge, or 5 + 2 defib charges. He’s immune to Burning for 5 seconds after revival. Killing an enemy with the defib can replenish all of its charges.
His SMG is deadly but runs out of ammo quickly – it’s great for killing Gunners up close. His defib is like a powered up syringe kit, and is best used when under fire. His healing is inconsistent and can sometimes miss, wasting the ability. His upgrade tree is very diverse and has multiple branches. I chose 2A, 4A, 5A, 7C, 8A, 9B, 10A, 11B, 13A, 14C, and 15A as upgrades. Fresh Forces, Regen. Materials, Quick Release Mags, and Vengeance/Personal Priorities as upgrades. Stims and Ammo. He’s a strange medic to play and requires some practice to get good at.
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Buggy: Kazakh Medic that uses a mid range SMG with deployable bipod. He carries with him a unique Iron Curtain system, which comes in the form of 2 deployable devices that block enemy explosives within a certain radius, about ~6 meters. They can block an infinite number of explosives, but are fairly fragile and require careful placement. His ability is a grenade launched that creates a large AOE radius that heals allies within it over time.
Buggy can easily be considered the king of medics for PVE due to his strong kit that makes Al-Thurir militants a joke. His healing can vary, but it’s 4-6 meters wide, 6 HP a second, lasts 16 seconds, cools down in 20-30 seconds, and is expensive at 90 SP. He can lock down an area like no other, and the amount of healing he can provide to a team is considerable. He also gets 40 round mags for his primary, and almost feels like a Support in some ways.
I chose 4B, 5B, 7A, 8A, 9B, 10B, 11A, 12B, 13B, 14A, and 15A as his upgrades. Fresh Forces/Healing Touch, Regen. Materials, AP Rounds/Flat Trajectory, and Counterattack are the skills I chose. Stims and Ammo.
More Medics
Kaval: Belarusian Medic that uses a short range, suppressed SMG and handgun. He carries concussion grenades with him, and his ability allows him to not only heal, but provide fresh armor to himself and teammates. His ability has to be used within 3 meters, heals ~30 HP to allies or to himself, restores 30-40 AP, has a quick cooldown of 10 seconds, and costs a moderate 55 SP.
Kaval’s kit is very unique, being the only operator (to my knowledge) that can heal armor that’s been broken, teammate’s or otherwise. He carries 7 revival syringes, 1 more than usual.He has full immunity to being Poisoned due to his gas mask. He regenerates stamina faster than normal at 3 SP a second. He has an unusually high stamina pool at ~700 SP. It’s possible to have him run 0 armor with certain upgrades chosen. His weapons are a little weak.
I went with 3A, 5A, 7A, 8B, 9B, 10A, 12A, 13B, 14B, and 15A as upgrades. He might be the only op I don’t use Regen. Materials on because he can give himself armor. I went Healing Touch, Regen. Mats./Anti Shrapnel Layer/Snug Fit, Quick Release Mags, and Vengeance as skills. Stims and Ammo.
Acai: (Presumably) Brazilian Medic that uses a short range, double barrel shotgun. He carries a dart launcher that can heal teammates or poison enemies, and his ability is a self heal that allows provides more ammo for the dart launcher. The healing delivered is pretty good at ~8 HP a shot, can be applied within ~2 meters if shot at the ground or a piece of cover, and carries 2 mags of up to 9 shots a piece. His self heal is for 30 HP, and costs ` moderate 70 SP to use. It cools off in ~17 seconds.
A very fun medic to play, Acai makes it very easy to bring people back from the dead and apply healing over distance. If you can see them, there’s a good chance you can heal them as long as drop is accounted for. His healing darts can also apply additional effects. He’s immune to both Bleeding and being Poisoned. His shotgun can apply Bleeding to enemies, and can return 30 SP with enemy kills. Every dart applied to a downed ally allows them to crawl for 3 more seconds. 2 darts can remove Burning from a teammate. He can either provide 10 SP to allies for every dart applied, OR reload 30% faster for 3 seconds after killing an enemy.
I chose 3B, 4B, 6B, 8B, 10B, 11C, 12A, 13A, 14B, and 15A as his upgrades. I use Healing Touch, Regen. Materials, Quick Release Mags, and Personal Priorities as his skills. His shotgun is not efficient for killing so I primarily use his sidearm and hide in cover. Stims and Ammo.
Marksmen
Sokol: Russian marksman that carries a magnum caliber bolt-action rifle into battle. He’s equipped with anti-personnel mines that he plants himself, and the ability to significantly boost his rate of fire and reload speed with either weapon. Sokol is a sniper of extreme highs and lows – at his lowest, he has great damage that lets him kill most enemies in a body shot, but at a slow rate of fire. At his highest, he is a frightening headshot machine capable of killing enemies faster than most marksmen can pull their triggers. His ascension to godhood is limited by the 5 round magazine in his rifle.
He can move 20% faster with his pistol out, and the pistol has a 33 round magazine. With his ability active, he reloads 50% faster, is 50% more accurate, and headshots can extend the duration. I chose 3B, 5B, 7B, 8B, 9A, 12B, 13B, 14A, and 15A as his upgrades. I use Hemostatic Serum/Shooting Posture, Regen. Materials, Armor Piercing Rounds, and Personal Priorities/Vengeance as his skills. I recommend playing him a little further back so you don’t get shot as often. I use Stims and Ammo.
Tien: Russian marksman that carries a suppressed semi-auto rifle into battle. He’s equipped with a 6 round rotating-drum grenade launcher, and the ability to significantly increase his primary’s rate of fire, as well as his own movement speed. As his description implies, Tien plays like an assault who’s been given a DMR. He wants to go fast and blow ♥♥♥♥ up. Good accuracy is rewarded, because headshots reduce 2-3 shot kills to 1-2 shot kills.
His ability can decrease his primary’s spread by 20% while active. I chose 5B, 6B, 7B, 9B, 11B, 12B, 13B, 14A, and 15B as his upgrades. You can either lean into the rate of fire OR the movement speed, and I prefer move speed. I run Shooting Posture, Regen. Materials, Armor Piercing Rounds, and Vengeance as his skills. He’s fairly healthy so he can do well on the front line as an assault-assist.
Sztylet: Polish marksman that carries a suppressed semi-auto rifle into battle. He’s equipped with a shorty-shotgun that’s been given breaching rounds for destroying destructible cover. His ability allows him to apply Bleeding to targets hit with his primary. The large 20 round magazines he carries, high damage per bullet, and strong special gear make him a force to be reckoned with. His ability is the weakest part of his kit, which is fine, because his kit is very strong otherwise.
He doesn’t wear a gas mask like his brethren, but he does have 50% Poisoned resistance in exchange. He can move 15% faster with his shotgun out. I chose 4B, 5B, 7B, 8B, 9B, 10B, 12B, 13A, 14B, and 15A as his upgrades. I use Shooting Posture/Healing Touch, Regen. Materials, Armor Piercing Rounds, and Vengeance/Spare Syringe as upgrades. You can play as a more aggressive assault-assist or lean back and play off-duty medic.
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Archer: Bri’ish marksman that carries an anti-material bolt action rifle into battle. He’s equipped with a high-caliber handgun, tear gas grenades, and the ability to use exploding bullets to inflict damage to enemies in a small radius. His rate of fire is slow, but the sheer damage per bullet allows him to kill 90% of enemies in a single shot. His skill is also fantastic and is a must have. His rifle is a pain in the ass to start because the bullet velocity is shockingly slow – it’s what gives Archer his name.
He moves 50% faster for 2 seconds when he’s been struck by a bullet. He can either have 30% faster bullet velocity, or his ability can destroy destructible covers. He has 50% resistance to the Poisoned effect. I chose 3B, 5B, 6B, 8C, 9B, 11B, 13A, 14A, and 15A as his upgrades. I don’t use his ability to destroy cover, so I went with Shooting Posture, Regen. Materials, Quick Release Mags, and Personal Priorities as his skills. Medkits and Ammo. Use Stims and Vengeance if you want to bust covers instead.
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Sultan: Kazakh marksman that carries a high caliber bolt action rifle into battle. He’s equipped with a full auto handgun, EMP jamming devices, and an ability to keep enemies from healing, remove their shielding, and block those effects. Even though his special gear is virtually useless in PVE, his kit still makes up for it in other ways. He rewards high accuracy, and his ability can be used to support the team if applied wisely.
He can move twice as fast when he’s crouched. His ability, if active, can either provide 10 seconds of damage resistance to allies within 20 meters, or heal 10 HP to allies within 10 meters, for every headshot made. I chose 4B, 6B, 8B, 10B, 12A, 13A, 14A, and 15C as his upgrades. Medkits and Ammo.
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Canglong: Chinese marksman that carries an anti-material semi-auto rifle into battle. He’s equipped with throwable anti-personnel mines, and his ability is an optical camo that makes him invisible to all enemies outside of 5 meters, or enemies that haven’t been damaged by him yet. This man is the PVE king of the Marksman class. Although completely shedding aggro can put his team in danger, he makes up for this by being able to control objectives and lines of sight all on his own. His optical camo can, if used to maximum potential, last for 100 seconds. Moving drains the battery faster, however.
Just like Archer, his primary’s bullets travel slowly, but he gets an upgrade early that helps make them faster. He also gets an upgrade to his rifle that lets him load in bullets that will pass through cover, if the fire button is held for ~2 seconds. You will hear a click once it’s loaded, and swapping to your pistol will leave it chambered in the rifle.
I chose 4A, 5B, 7B, 9A, 10B, 12B, 14B, and 15A as his upgrades. I use Healing Touch, Regen. Materials, Armor Piercing Rounds, and Spare Syringe as his skills. Stims and Ammo. This man is a chameleon, and invisibility is what keeps him alive. Vengeance and Medkits would only hold him back, but he makes a good off-duty medic as an apology for the aggro placed on his teammates.
More Marksmen
Skills
There are four different columns of skills you can ultimately unlock and equip for a given operator. Some are better than others, some are highly situational, and some are must-haves in almost every scenario. You always unlock the first tier at level 4, second tier at level 8, and third tier at level 12. I don’t recommend leveling an op past 8 unless you really like the skill or operator.
Some skill descriptions were either shortened or rewritten to better convey the benefits provided. Priorities are in bold. Skills are listed from left to right within their column.
For Physical Fitness: Sleight of Hand, Respiratory Training, Stay Frosty, Hemostatic Serum, Second Wind, Shooting Posture, R&R, Clinging to Life, Treatment Factor, Fresh Forces, and Healing Touch.
For Protective Materials: Sealed Materials, Anti-Shrapnel Layer, Regenerative Materials, Snug Fit, Lightweight Protection, Internal Reserve, and Enhanced Protection.
For Weapon Systems: Thermal Coating, Precision Rifling, Quick-Release Mags, Bolt Assembly Modernization, Armor-Piercing Rounds, Heavy Ammo Pack, Tech Calibration, Heavy Barrel, Lightweight Chestrig, and Zeroing.
For Combat Tactics: Spare Syringe, Sure Step, Counterattack, Headhunt, Vengeance, Shoulder to Shoulder, and Personal Priorities.
Physical Fitness
Sleight of Hand (Ded): Applying reserves is 15/20/25% faster, and the cooldown is 15/20/25% quicker.
(Very good skill to have, even if Ded isn’t an optimal choice in most cases. Supports benefit a fair bit from having it.)
Respiratory Training (Volk): Stamina Recovery increases by 1/1.5/2 SP a second.
(TBD. Sounds good.)
Advanced Training (Mustang): Return to battle with no less than 125/200/275 stamina.
(I suspect this applies even after revival? Haven’t been able to test it much. It definitely doesn’t increase your maximum stamina.)
Fully Equipped Run (Rein): You sprint 5/8/10% faster with your primary weapon out.
(Also not a bad bonus, but I wouldn’t call it a game changer. Also, some ops run faster with their sidearm or special gear.)
Duck and Weave (Plut): You take 9/12/15% less bullet and explosion damage while sprinting.
(A bit specific for the size of the bonus. Doesn’t help you when you’re doing anything other than sprinting.)
Stay Frosty (Koszmar): Stunned, Suppressed, Slowed, Trapped, and Stiff effects wear off 20/30/40% faster.
(Not a bad skill, reduces vulnerability. Passive skills tend to be pretty strong.)
Hemostatic Serum (Bourbon) Your operator’s max HP is increased by 5/10/15, but maximum stamina is reduced by 100.
(Downright necessary on some ops that start with 60-70 HP. They feel really squishy. Also handy on ops that don’t need stamina for anything but sprinting, like Shaowei.)
Second Wind (Watson): After being revived, you recover 30/40/50 HP over 2.5 seconds.
(As some people would say.. if you’re going down, you’re doing something wrong. It does, however, give you a bigger buffer to work with if you go down often. Takes the load off medics that can’t heal often.)
Shooting Posture (Canglong): 2/1/0.5 seconds after aiming, you receive 10/12/15% less bullet and explosion damage.
(Very good skill given by a very good operator. This usually occupies this slot for me, and is a must have for most ops.)
R&R (Zubr): While over 400/350/300 Stamina, the operator is immune to being Stunned, Suppressed, Slowed, Trapped, or Stiff by hostiles.
(Also a very good skill, since flashbangs are frequent and leave you exposed. Great on ops where being stunned can make or break a defense.)
Self Treatment (Perun): If the operator’s health drops below 20/30/40, they will regen up to that value at 2 HP a second. You must not take damage for 5 seconds.
(Used to be this skill would regen you up to your max, but not anymore. 40 HP is still dangerous territory to be in, and having a higher max HP can often be what keeps you from being downed.)
Clinging to Life (Sterling): You can crawl 50/75/100% faster.
(I still wouldn’t pick this in most circumstances, but it can get you out of a hot spot for your medic to pick you up.)
Treatment Factor (Odin): You receive 20/25/30% more healing from any source.
(You may not always be going down, but you are often being healed by something. Unsure if this stacks with Vengeance. Great skill in theory though.)
Sixth Sense (Vidarr): Movement speed increased by 8/12/15% when you are Marked.
(In PVP this could be more useful, but hardly anything marks you in PVE.)
Cold Blood (Matador): When affected by any debuff, you take 10/12/15% less bullet damage.
(Not necessarily bad in theory, but explosions aren’t resisted, and you’re not always debuffed.)
Adrenaline Buzz (Eima): When you have less than 30/40/50 HP, your movement speed is increased by 20%, and your incoming healing is increased by 45%.
(Only useful if you’re fairly wounded, and it also makes it hard to retain the effect. Not sure what ops this would be useful on.)
Hidden Movement (Busel): Crouched movement speed is increased by 10/15/20%. All sounds, except for shooting, are muffled by 75%.
(Okay, I can see this being useful on some characters. In PVE though, I’ve never felt a reason to go after this skill.)
Gunpoint (Avalanche): Movement speed while aiming with a primary weapon is increased by 10/15/20%.
(Most guns get more inaccurate if you’re moving while aiming. This might be more useful on Shield users or shotgun users. I wouldn’t put this on a marksman.)
Fresh Forces (Martelo): Primary Ability cooldown reduced by 33%, but maximum HP is reduced by 30/25/20%.
(That’s a lot of HP taken away.. but on some operators, like Medics, cutting your cooldown by a third is a big deal. As long as you manage your stamina wisely, you can use your ability much more often.)
Healing Touch (Spark): Revived allies recover 15/25/35 more HP.
(Great for medics in general, but easily for ones that can’t heal often or quickly. It helps you bounce back faster when your team is already at a disadvantage. It does NOT affect Kit’s banner unfortunately.)
Protective Materials
Sealed Materials (Bard): Fire and Gas (poison) damage reduced by 20/25/30%.
(Not a bad skill to have, especially since fire can easily kill an op, and not all ops are immune to gas.)
Subdermal Meldonium (Voron): Recovers 120/150/210 Stamina over 4/3.5/3 seconds when your armor breaks. Becomes active every respawn, but not after revival. Requires having armor to begin with.
(Meh. Easier ways to regen stamina.)
Anti-Shrapnel Layer (Almaz): Reduce explosion damage by 30/40/50%.
(Highly specific, but i’ll be honest, RPGs can kick your ass at the best of times, and kill your team at the worst. Not a bad choice.)
Subdermal Morphine (Travnik): Recovers 30/35/40 HP over 5 seconds when your armor breaks. Becomes active every respawn, but not after revival. Requires having armor to begin with.
(Better in PVP.)
Regenerative Materials (Stern): Automatically restores the most recently damaged armor plate if you haven’t been hurt for 5 seconds, at 2 AP a second. Tier 1 can restore the first (lowest) plate, tier 2 the second, and tier 3 the third plate and beyond. Cannot restore bonus armor.
(Universally considered a must have, and is king of this skill slot. Infinite armor over time? Yes please. Do note: only the bottom most plate can infinitely regen, even if destroyed – all others must remain unbroken for the skill to repair them. The first tier is the most useful.)
Adaptive Armor (Yingzhou): Applies the Shielded effect when your armor breaks. Shield durability is 20/25/30 HP, lasts 5 seconds. Becomes active every respawn, but not after revival. Requires having armor to begin with.
(Pass.)
Snug Fit (Velour): While at full Armor, you recover stamina faster at 4/6/8 SP a second.
(Great on ops like Kaval that can replenish their own armor. I generally prefer ammo over armor plates, but this is a great companion to armor plating.)
Composite Armor Plates (Kaval): Armor plate reserves restore HP 10/15/20 HP over 3 seconds in addition to AP. Cooldown raises to 40 seconds, takes 4 seconds to activate.
(Maybe? Infinite armor and a good medic is preferable.)
Head Protection (Aphela): Headshot damage resistance improved by 15/20/25%.
(Better for PVP, I don’t know how often the bots actually hit your head.)
Lightweight Protection (Svarog): You lose 20 max Armor but gain 100/150/200 max Stamina.
(Could be useful on someone like Kaval or Canglong.)
Readiness (Yaowang): When an enemy is within 4/5/6 meters, you deal 10/12/15% more damage with your primary and secondary.
(They basically have to be hugging you. This is not gonna be useful in most circumstances.)
Stimulant Medications (Shersheret): Using First Aid reserves restores 70/105/140 SP in addition to HP over 3 seconds. Cooldown raises to 40 seconds, activation takes 4 seconds.
(TBD.)
Internal Reserve (Bones): If you fall below 75 Stamina, you will restore 225/300/375 SP over 5 seconds once per round.
(Actually very good for Onslaught. Armor refreshes completely, but stamina doesn’t. 7+ chances for this to kick in. Much less useful otherwise.)
Enhanced Protection (Barreira): You gain 20 max AP, but you movement speed is decreased by 30/25/20% in all cases except when incapacitated.
(That’s a rough penalty, but I can see it being useful on some ops.)
Extra Layer (Tower): If you use an Armor Plate reserves while at full armor, you gain an additional 20 AP. Activation time raises by 1 second, and cooldown takes 20/15/10 seconds longer.
(Far more useful in PVP. You’d be stacking numbers before a fight to come out on top.)
Weapon Systems
Thermal Coating (Strelok): Primary recoil reduced by 10/15/20%. If the same weapon is used as both primary and secondary, this skill affects both.
(Meh. Most guns don’t recoil hard enough to make this a necessary skill.)
Precision Rifling (Tien): Primary spread reduced by 10/15/20%. If the same weapon is used as both primary and secondary, this skill affects both.
(Most weapons aren’t inaccurate enough to need this, and the ones that do aren’t helped much, but it’s not useless. Barreria and Mustang are two ops who benefit from this.)
Quick-Release Magazines (Corsair): Primary and secondary weapons reload 20/30/40% faster.
(Universally considered a must have skill, very useful on most ops, and rarely a bad choice.)
Bolt Assembly Modernization (Komar): Bolt Action Rifles can shoot 0.1/0.15/0.2 rounds-per-second faster, and allows for shooting without exiting the scope.
(There’s only a handful of marksmen that can utilize this, but on the ones who can it’s not bad at all. Most bolt guns run at 1 RPS or slower.)
Hair Trigger (Vagabond): Secondary rate of fire increased by 0.5/1/1.5 rounds-per-second. If the same weapon is used as both primary and secondary, this skill affects both.
(Meh. I see the appeal in DPS but I prefer to increase damage over rate of fire when possible.)
Armor-Piercing Rounds (Archer): Primary Armor Penetration increased by 5/10/15%. If the same weapon is used as both primary and secondary, this skill affects both.
(This is the king of this skill slot. Your guns will feel more lethal and effective. In some cases like Archer or Canglong, it allows for complete armor bypass and full damage dealt. This skill can reduce shots to kill, and that is huge.)
Heavy Ammo Pack (Kit): Ammo Reserves replenish Special Gear instead of primary and secondary ammo. Cooldown increased to 720/480/360 seconds, application takes 5 seconds.
(This lets you get more grenades, M500 Shorty ammo, drones, iron curtains, and other gear on a slow drip feed. Makes for some interesting strats.)
Thermographic Sight (Diablo): Targets in smoke are highlighted after aiming for 1/0.5/0.25 seconds.
(Obviously not useful on characters that don’t use smoke, but I’m not sure if it works when you’re inside the smoke looking out. Very tactical choice.)
Expanding Bullets (Sztylet): Damage dealt by Fire, Gas, and Bleeding is increased by 20/25/30% for 3 seconds after hitting the target with your primary weapon. If the same weapon is used as both primary and secondary, this skill affects both.
(Virtually useless on characters that can’t apply Damage over Time. Not necessarily useful even on characters that can. Sztylet kills so quickly it’s not even that useful on him.)
Flat Trajectory (Schatz): Primary headshot damage is reduced by 20%, but effective range is increased by 15/20/25%. If the same weapon is used as both primary and secondary, this skill affects both.
(Obviously useless on sniper rifles, but this can be useful on automatics that have 25-30m before damage starts to fall off. It’s a mid-range kind of skill.)
Tungsten Bullet Coating (Monk): Primary headshot damage is increased by 15/20/25%, but effective range is reduced by 15%. If the same weapon is used as both primary and secondary, this skill affects both.
(The mirror image of Flat Trajectory, and ironically more useful on marksman weapons with far or nonexistent dropoff. Also, who coats bullets in tungsten?)
Additional Pouches (Sputnik): Carry 1/2/3 more of each reserve into battle.
(You’d think this would be really useful, but I don’t remember the last time I ran out of reserves. If i’m not using them all, this would be wasting the slot. You get a lot of reserves.)
Frugality (Scout): At the end of each round, 1/2/3 unexploded mines are returned to you.
(Just a time saver. Doesn’t give you more mines. Pass.)
Enhanced Stimulants (Freyr): Applying Stimulant reserves recovers 60/80/120 more stamina, and increases damage resistance by 6/8/10% for 4 seconds. Cooldown raises to 40 seconds, and activation takes 4 seconds.
(More stamina is more betterer. I run stims on almost all operators, but i’m not confident this would be that much more useful over other picks.)
Tech Calibration (Shaowei): Drone special gear health increased by 10/12/15%.
(Komar, Bones, Vagabond, maybe Matador, Buggy, Vidarr, and Shaowei are the only ops that can benefit from this skill, and I would only use it on Shaowei or Bones. Highly specific skill, but it can be helpful.)
Heavy Barrel (Faro): Primary damage is increased by 5/7/10%, but recoil is increased by 50/45/40% as well. If the same weapon is used as both primary and secondary, this skill affects both.
(The damage buff is smaller than Archer’s skill, but it’s always in effect. Also, some guns are already borderline with their recoil. It can be useful depending on the op.)
Lightweight Chestrig (Hagana): Primary and secondary have one less magazine (minimum of 1), but max Stamina is increased by 100/125/150, and Movement Speed is increased by 5%.
(This can be useful on ops like Acai or Barreira where they don’t lose much from taking this skill.)
Zeroing (Bell): Getting a headshot kill gives you Haste and Focus. Primary weapon spread and recoil is reduced, and your movement speed is increased by 10/15/20% for 5 seconds. If the same weapon is used as both primary and secondary, this skill affects both.
(Man, I gotta admit, that’s a hot skill. Fantastic incentive to chain headshots together.)
Combat Tactics
Spare Syringe (Mikolaj): Carry 1/2/3 more Revival kits.
(Very useful pick, but not optimal on most operators. Great on mid to long range Marksmen, Medics, or ops like Shaowei and Canglong that don’t pull aggro.)
Refined Formula (Miguel): Revived teammates get a 10/15/20% Movement Speed boost, and you restore 100/125/160 Stamina over 5 seconds.
(Meh. Also, Miguel is a trash pick and not recommended.)
Sure Step (Tibet): Sprinting uses 15/20/25% less stamina.
(This is not bad if you use medkits. If you have stims, just use a stim.)
Abseiling Proficiency (Lazootchick): You take 50/75/100% less falling damage.
(There are few maps where this can be useful, and fewer situations where you can’t just walk around.)
Silent Warrior (Prorok): While in smoke, you move 9/12/15% faster, and you deal 6/8/10% more damage with your primary and secondary.
(Makes sense for Prorok, he really loves his smoke. You might be able to get some synergy with Thermographic Sight. Very specific kind of skill. Also, wouldn’t it be Unseen Warrior, not Silent?)
Ambush (Kurt): 1.5/1/0.5 seconds after deploying a bipod, your outline and specialty are hidden, but you can still be marked.
(Literally useless in PVE.)
Blood Rage (Starkadr): You replenish 20/25/30 HP, and 50/75/100 SP over 5 seconds upon executing an enemy.
(You might be able to execute 1-3 special units over the course of a mission, and most will be in Onslaught Legend. Pass.)
Counterattack (Bastion): After being shot 5/4/3 times, your weapons deal 8/10/15% more damage for 8 seconds.
(Excellent skill, triggers very often, and is even better on Medics or ops that use shields to mitigate damage taken.)
Headhunt (Sultan): A headshot kill immediately restores 50/70/90 Stamina.
(Very good skill, great on ops that use their ability often like Canglong or Sokol. Even automatics get headshots occasionally.)
Vengeance (Avant-Garde): Killing an enemy within 3 seconds of taking damage from them immediately restores 8/12/15 HP.
(King of this skill slot. The self-sustain this skill provides is rivaled only by Regen. Materials. If you have both, your medic will love you. You can run stims fulltime with this skill.)
Lone Wolf (Sokol): For each teammate incapacitated, you gain 3/4/5% damage resistance to bullets and explosions.
(So for this skill to work its best, you have to be losing by a significant margin. I get the logic, but I prefer skills with more uptime.)
Emergency Aid (Karavai): Reviving teammates is 15/22/30% faster.
(The skill ingame mentions self revival, but it’s a translation error and doesn’t exist. Only really useful on a medic, but even then there are better picks.)
Mercilessness (Bishop): You take 50/60/70% less damage from bullets and explosions while executing an enemy.
(PVP skill.)
Tough Nut (Buggy): When you have less than 30/35/40 HP, you gain 50% resistance to all damage, but deal 50% less damage with your weapons.
(I get the logic, but there aren’t many instances where this is useful. Medics get the most out of this because they need to stay alive above all others.)
Shoulder to Shoulder (Fortress): You take 10% less bullet and explosion damage, and reload your weapons 20% faster, if you are within 6/7/8 meters of a teammate.
(Not a bad skill, fairly versatile, triggers often. Better on supports and medics.)
Personal Priorities (Sly): You gain 3 more magazines (up to 7), 15% more Armor Pen, 10m additional Effective Range, and 5% more headshot damage for your sidearm, but you lose 1 magazine for your primary, and reload it 20/15/10% slower. This skill has no effect if the same weapon is used as primary and secondary.
(Sly needs this for her shotgun to be remotely useful. Great on ops like Acai where their primary is weak, or on Barreria where there is literally no downside. Not optimal on ops that have a good primary.)
Priority Target (Cacador): Applies the Marked effect for 3/5/6 seconds to the enemy who incapacitates you.
(Meh.)
Shared First Aid Kit (Acai): First Aid reserves heal 10 less HP, but every ally within 3 meters is healed 12/16/20 HP over 4 seconds.
(Unique and cute idea, though I run stims almost exclusively. Acai also self heals when he replenishes his syringe gun.)
Shieldbreaker (Lumen): Damage dealt to the bonus HP given by the Shielded effect is increased by 20/25/30%.
(Obviously intended as a counter for supports like Almaz, Stern, and Kit. Useless in PVE because no enemies use Shield.)
Gamemodes
Point Sweep: The basic PVE mode that sends your team in to complete a set of specific objectives under a specified time limit. This is a good mode to get your feet wet, and it rewards good coordination more than a max-level operator. Poor, or non-existent teamwork can make some maps like Palm Road and Al-Rabad a pain in the ass to finish. The rewards for finishing are not great, but maps can usually be cleared in under 10 minutes. Repeating this will give map familiarity, and most of the objectives don’t change much. Knowing enemy spawns is key to acing this game mode. Friendly fire is not enabled except for explosives. Operators that play defensively like Canglong or Buggy do really well here.
Onslaught – Veteran: A step up from Point Sweep that sends your team onto free roam versions of the maps to complete 7 rounds – 3 being elimination, 3 being objective based, and the last being the escape. There is a lot more movement involved here than in Point Sweep, with a lot of doubling back or rotating as needed. There are also field upgrades dropped by enemies that can give your team significant boosts. Friendly fire is enabled. There is effectively no time limit, but matches usually finish in 10 minutes or less. The rewards are better than Point Sweep for time spent.
Special Operations: The advanced PVE mode that is like Point Sweep but with some twists. Enemies do more damage, and take more damage. Objectives are modified, sometimes being more complex than in their regular counterpart. You will go down more often than in Point Sweep, and good coordination is essential to success. You can fumble your way to victory in Point Sweep, but not here. High level operators are recommended. The map for the Special Operation is fixed, and changes on a daily basis. Friendly fire is enabled. Rewards are significantly better than PS if you win, but worse for time spent if you fail. Matches are about 15 minutes long.
Onslaught – Legend: A step up from Veteran that sees the enemies dealing more damage, taking more damage, and introducing more objectives to finish, as well as 2 more rounds. The margins here are tighter than in Veteran, and a good, coordinated team is essential. A separated team, an exposed rear flank, or a poorly chosen spot to defend can be the difference between failure and success. High level operators are recommended. Friendly fire is enabled. The rewards are significantly better than Veteran, but they’re on par for the time spent – about 2.5x rewards for 25 minutes.
Maps
In Al Rabad (Point Sweep), it is CRUCIAL that you ping the AA vehicles as they arrive, or they will shoot down the overhead drone and fail the mission. There are 3 AA vehicles and the final transmission tower that need pinging. Enemies will also try to attack via the stairs on the left, the ramp on the right, and the open door out front that leads to the staircase in the rear. They will try to shoot the transmitter if possible. It’s also possible to destroy the transmitter with friendly fire, so be careful. Hagana and Shaowei are recommended to cover additional lines of sight.
In Amal Harbor (Point Sweep), there will be a time limit imposed once you get to the main warehouse that has the chemical weapons in it. There will be two distinct waves of enemies you have to get through, and the second has a truck drive in with a Grenadier on the back. If you take too long the chemical weapon will detonate, failing the mission.
In Forest (Point Sweep), at the very end there will be a boss fight with a guy named Delgado. One person will be shot at by him, and has to remain in cover. Everyone else has to focus on killing the enemies that fill the room, and activate the neutralizers they drop, up to 3 canisters. Each one lets you deal up to a third of the boss’s total health. Once he’s killed. you MUST run back to the elevator you came in on, and EVERYONE must be present for you to hit the button. If anyone stays behind, it will fail the mission for everyone.
In Caravanserai (Point Sweep), there will be an objective to inspect the informant’s body, and then a laptop will spawn in one of 3 locations. If you stand on the balcony overlooking the courtyard, you can tell where the laptop spawned due to the enemies that approach from either right side, or nobody (which means it spawned far left). At the end, you have to defend a transmitter from waves of enemies, with the occasional Grenadier and Chemist on the rooftops, 3 a piece. Controlling them and keeping Assaults from flanking you are the keys to surviving this mission. Hagana and Shaowei are recommended for additional DPS.
In Palm Road (Point Sweep), after the first alarm objective, you can go left through the building and bust down the wooden doors that face the second alarm, making it much easier to defend. If you succeed, you will be given a Survival Kit in the alleyway, which protects your team from Gas and Burning temporarily – perfect for the bridge defense. At the bridge defense, there will be 4 suicide bombers driving white trucks. 2 approach from left side, 1 from far right, and 1 from middle right. At least 3 MUST be destroyed to survive the mission, as the bridge can only tolerate 1 truck exploding. Buggy, Hagana, and Shaowei are highly recommended here.
In Object 903 (Point Sweep), there will be a terminal that provides a radius you have to stand within to advance the objective. Enemy waves are delivered as progress is made. A few enemies will try to cross the bridge on the left facing allied spawn, and several will try to flank using the rear catwalk. A few Chemists spawn using left and right doors. After this objective, a generator has to be started and maintained for a few minutes, OR all enemies must be eliminated. It is recommended to start the generator and RETREAT to the building, as it is safest near the catwalk and two destructible walls. Beware the third floor on left, right, and center, as Marksmen, Grenadiers, and Chemists spawn up there.
In Al-Malik Hotel (Point Sweep), once you reach the large room that’s entered by deploying C4, there will be 3 boxes glowing yellow that have to be shot in order to block the Machine Gunner’s line of sight, OR he must be killed several times. It’s recommend to quickly shoot the first box, then run up to shoot the second, followed by a retreat to the entry door. This gives you maximum control of the room. Once you reach the long killzone that the Gunner overlooks, you can either deploy smoke, snipe him carefully, or use Shaowei’s drone to assassinate him from behind. It’s recommended for the Medic to hang back – if the Medic goes down this mission can go sideways fast.
In Hospital (Point Sweep), there’s a few paths that the team can take initially, but the center path is the most dangerous. If you progress too far too quickly, it’s easy for the team to get flanked and destroyed by a squad of Assaults, the Chemist on right, or the Grenadier in the 3rd floor window. One person can move up to bait spawns and retreat, or the whole team can progress through the building on right side. If left side building has the explosives, assaults are sure to spawn and attempt to flank. The final defense isn’t too hard, though it’s recommended to focus on Grenadiers as they spawn in the windows to keep the civilians from dying.
In Dam (Point Sweep), there will be two explosive tanks along the engineer’s ride that can damage the vehicle, but both have to hit it, and this almost never happens. In the turbine hall, there will be 3 windows blocked by steel that overlook each turbine. Two turbines are chosen at random, and the engineer will steadily work his way up to try and repair it. When he goes around to do his repair, the window overlooking him will open and a Machine Gunner will deploy to try and kill him. Dealing with the MG is key to surviving the mission.
In Radar (Point Sweep), the team will start off separated (Marksman and Support, Assault and Medic) then converge together after a short delay. The next part sees a helicopter attempt to land and provide reinforcements – the Support or Marksman can easily destroy this helicopter as it lands to make this part easier. At the final section, the team will have to work their way up a series of stairs and circular catwalks while under a time limit to try and disarm a terminal that’s timed to kill itself. Staying together and pacing yourself is key, as a Chemist, Grenadier, and several Marksmen will attempt to ambush you from on the highest level. The radar dish also rotates, and determines line of sight, as well as when you can kick down the bridge to cross. The final defense objective is rough, with limited cover and grenades galore, so it’s recommended that the Marksman hang back on the second floor behind the piece of sheet metal. Buggy is recommended for blocking nades.
Misc. Tips and Tricks
Field Upgrades are pickups that empower your team with specific abilities or buffs for a limited time. Below are some of their effects. Holding the button that uses the upgrade will drop it for others to pick up. Best used for objective rounds since the team will be on the move and more vulnerable.
Gas Mask (Survival Kit): Provides immunity to Poisoned and Burning. (One is present in Palm Road)
Running Man: Improves movement speed, gives bonus HP in the form of Shielded, and gives a significant injection of stamina as well as a boost to stamina regen speed.
Slashed Shield (Demoralization): Enemies lose all their armor and become easier to kill.
Rotary Cog (Weapons Optimization): Everyone gains a boost to rate of fire, reload speed, and weapon control, which includes enemies as well.
Mortar Shell (Shelling): Explosives will auto-target enemies and detonate on a set interval, regardless of line of sight. Ceilings appear to block enemies from being targeted.
Medical Cross: The whole team gains a healing over time effect, like enemy Medics do for the AI.
Grenade (Special Gear Supply): The whole team gets an immediate restock of ammo and special gear charges. Not sure if it affects syringes or reserves.
Lightning Bolt: Enemies are temporarily stunned, and are revealed through walls via red outlines and specialty icons.
After all enemies are eliminated within a given round of Onslaught, all allies are revived and brought to full HP. Sometimes it’s better to leave downed allies and hunt down the remaining enemies to save on syringes.
Ammo boxes refresh considerably faster in Onslaught than in Point Sweep or Spec Ops.
Supports can often use an ammo reserve quicker than they can reload their primary weapon.
The first four tiers of daily objectives, and the three tiers of weekly objectives are the key to earning credits. Premium helps a lot with this.
Be careful about attempting to kill an enemy with a teammate in front of you. On most modes, it’s very easy to hit them on accident if they move into your line of fire. Also, strafing back and forth is a horrible idea for this reason. It’s better to stay put and not move, or to crouch so allies behind you can shoot over you.
