Quick Tips

1. You can gain valuable battle experience by visiting the virtual shooting range, and the virtual driving area within your Sanctuary. In fact, it's possible to gain nearly two battle ranks by going through training.

2. Being a passenger or gunner on a vehicle does not require any certification; so take the opportunity to hitch a ride or man a gun on a friendly vehicle!

3. The armor type you're wearing affects your travel speed while on foot. You can also run faster by holstering your weapon.

4. Implants are available when you reach Battle Ranks 6, 12 and 18.

5. Learn to use the voice macros to your advantage. They are invaluable in quickly communicating to teammates. Press V to access the voice macros while in-game.

6. Friendly soldiers have green and gold names above them. They also show as teal on your proximity map. Enemy soldiers have red names above them, and show as red on the proximity map when detected.

7. Before jumping into battle, be sure to check out the Offline Training. These modules provide the basics on game play in a safe environment.

8. Join squads to increase your chances of staying alive and successfully completing objectives. Squads also share battle experience equally, making it easier to advance in rank.

9. Certifications enable you to utilize different types of equipment. New soldiers start with four certification points, which can be spent at Certification Terminals. It's highly recommended to obtain at least one certification before heading into combat.

10. When using a weapon, watch the size of the reticule. Crouching provides the best accuracy and recoil recovery, whereas standing is reasonably accurate, and running and gunning is less accurate. Crouching and firing assault weapons in bursts is more effective over range than firing in full auto.

11. As a soldier, beware of enemy MAXs and vehicles. Unless you're armed with anti-vehicular weaponry, standard assault weaponry does not fare well against heavily armored targets. Enemy MAXs and vehicles also generally sport superior firepower. Even when engaging these with anti-vehicular weaponry, be sure to find a good vantage point -- don't go head to head.

12. All threats aren't visible -- beware of enemy infiltrators. Infiltrators are cloaked from standard visibility, and can only be partially seen when they're moving or using an item. Another way to detect enemy infiltrators is to obtain the Darklight Vision implant.

13. On your main status bar are Hotkeys. These by default are function key shortcuts. When you obtain medkits or implants, these will be automatically mapped to the first available hotkey. You can, however, left-click on a hotkey icon and move it to a different function key. Right-clicking on a hotkey icon removes it.

14. The default TAB key allows you to switch between mouse-aim and the interface mode. Mouse aim is where you move the mouse to look around. The interface mode is where the mouse pointer appears, allowing you to click on various HUD elements.

15. Your Chat Pane allows you to tune to different channels via SEND and RECEIVE. Just left-click on either to select whatever channel you want to SEND and likewise whatever channels you would like to receive. There's also a Looking For Squad (LFS) button -- pressing this lets you flag yourself as looking to join a squad. You can additionally choose a certification you possess to be shown as well.

16. Whenever you need to return to your Sanctuary, tap the default key and select Recall to Sanctuary. After a brief period elapses you'll be automatically teleported to the Sanctuary.

17. If you want to get into action fast, but don't care where the action is located, tap the default key and choose Instant Action. After a brief period elapses you'll be automatically teleported to a friendly Tower or Facility near a combat zone.