Battlefield 1: 17 beginner's tips for multiplayer combat, elite class locations, best weapons

Battlefield 1 multiplayer: Top tips for multiplayer battling

Battlefield 1 is finally in the hands of some of the series' most dedicated fans now that it's launched for players that are part of EA Access on Xbox One and Origin Access on PC. In short order, even more fans will get access with the Early Enlister edition, and then it'll be the final release. Thanks to the beta and this early access period, some are already properly stuck into Battlefield 1, developing strategies that they'll then probably continue to use to stomp people for some time to come.

We've been playing too, however, and we've got a few key tips of our own that'll be especially useful for beginners - but one or two might even be helpful for a seasoned Battlefield pro.

This guide covers a little about the new and significantly changed of Battlefield 1's mechanics, plus some of our subjective advice of what some of the best guns, gear and strategies in the game are. We'll try to update it over time. Disagree? Have some strategies of your own? Let us know in the comments.

Learn the location of the elite classes and use them correctly

Elite Classes are the Battlefield 1 replacement for the pick-ups that featured in both Battlefield 4 and Battlefield Hardline - and they're powerful, tide-changing stuff.

There's three Elite Classes in the game: The Sentry, the Tank Hunter, and the Flame Trooper. We have a whole other guide page all about this, but here's the important bit. We'll update with the locations for each map as we get them.

Sinai Desert Map Elite Class Locations

• The Sentry Elite Class is near the F capture point. Its spawn point will be marked on your map. He has a massive machine gun and very heavy armour plating. He can spray death quicker than anybody else, but can’t aim down sights and can’t equip a gas mask.
• The Tank Hunter Elite Class is out in the middle of the desert near the E capture point. He uses the anti-tank rifle. This is slow firing and can be used on weaker vehicles or infantry but is really for taking down heavy armour from a distance. The lighter the vehicle, the easier they are to take down. The gun can only be fired when mounted behind cover or when in prone, meaning this is a more static class.
• The Flame Trooper Elite Class is found near the B capture point near a half-destroyed building. This class has a flamethrower and incendiary grenades, making him lethal against infantry. However, his vision is impaired by a gas mask but is also more potentially vulnerable. He’s bloody deadly up close, though.

We happen to think the Flame Trooper is the best of the bunch - though it's a more vulnerable class, the stopping power it has with its flamethrower is really quite something. The Tank Hunter is the one we've had the least luck with.

Keep in mind that only one of each Elite Class can be on the map at any given time, and also keep in mind that while these classes are very powerful, they're highly specialised - using them incorrectly will only lead to a swift death. Used right, they can change your team's fortunes.

Flying? Get the Bomber Killer load-out for the fighter plane

Battlefield 1 features different types of airborne attack vehicles - the Attack Plane, the Fighter, and the Bomber. Our favourite by far is the Fighter.

The fighter is the fastest and lightest of the planes, but you also need to keep in mind that it's the least survivable of the bunch. If you run into some strong anti-air or an accurate Tank Hunter elite class player you might run into some serious trouble.

If you pick the fighter we have a further recommendation - hit up the 'Bomber Killer' load-out for the vehicle. The bomber killer features manually aim-able rockets that have a large hitbox. They're bloody good. You can lay some serious waste with this thing.

Use gas grenades to deal with snipers

While gas grenades won't help you to clear out snipers from a long, long distance, once you're within the range of a good throw or if you've managed to sneak up on them they can prove vital.

Gas can easily be avoided in Battlefield 1 because soldiers typically carry gas masks. Gas masks have a little catch, however - you can't aim down the sights when you've got one on. A well-placed gas grenade will force a sniper to either make a hasty move, outing themselves, or force them to put on their gas mask.

If a gassed sniper moves, this forces them from a good position and is an ideal shot to take them down. If they stay put with a gas mask on they can no longer raise their unwieldy one-shot weapon to aim, which is basically a death sentence - that'll let you get in close and finish them off. Damn snipers.

Fighting a mounted solider? Focus on the rider, not the horse

One of Battlefield 1's most significant new additions thanks to its time period is that of mounted combat - many players will spend a lot of time on horseback trying to ride up on the enemy to slice them with their sabres.

Horses are actually pretty hard to use, and we've got an an entire page detailing how best to use them, but if you come across somebody with some decent skills you're in for a nasty surprise. If you're fighting somebody on horseback there's one key tip to remember: aim for the rider, not for the horse.

Horses are of course vulnerable, but they've got significantly more HP than your average soldier, even those who are more heavily armoured. The rider will die more quickly, so aim for them.

Even if the rider is dead, if you see a horse running at you get the hell out of the way - if you get trampled, it'll hurt. It'll kill.

Playing Assault? Prioritise unlocking the Automatico M19 submachine gun

This is more of a personal preference, but of all the weapons we've used so far in Battlefield 1 the Beretta Model 1918 - aka the Automatico M1918 - is one of the most striking and fun to use.

There's three different variations of it available. The trench variation with reduced accuracy and control but a ludicrous hip fire rating unlocks at class level 1. A factory variant is also available for 40 warbonds from the very start of the game.

The best and most balanced variant is the Light Infantry version. This is available once you hit class level 3 with assault.

Don't forget Smoke Grenades when you play Rush - they're really useful

Battlefield is such a wide open game that often the likes of smoke grenades are forgotten by players in favour of grenades that can do some killing or destroy cover. That's not entirely the right approach to take, as in the right situation smoke grenades can actually be pretty useful.

The Rush game mode is tighter and more directed than most. In Rush in particular, smoke grenades can end up being pretty useful, so try taking them along with you once or twice to see how they help you.

Any class can equip smoke grenades in place of normal grenades via the customisation screen, and the medic will unlock a rifle-mounted variant later on if you keep levelling that class up.

Defenders can now call in artillery in Rush mode

One of the changes made to more accurately represent the nature of the first world war is in the objectives of rush mode, the 24-player objective-driven battle. The defenders must protect telegraph poles, which are in turn used to call in artillery strikes.

If you're defending, don't forget this! Make sure to actually use the artillery strikes throughout the game. Keep in mind you can't aim these attacks - you order them and then the game decides.

If you're attacking, your job is to destroy the poles, but keep in mind that once you've placed the explosives they can be disarmed if you don't protect them.

Don't run away from capture points as soon as you take them - you might miss something

This is a tip that more seasoned Battlefield players may well be familiar with, but it's still a little tidbit that bears repeating with new players joining the fold. Don't run off from capture points as soon as you take them!

Why, you ask? Well, a freshly-captured point will often spawn in some vehicles for the team that just captured it. Keep an eye open after hoisting your flag to see if a jeep or tank has appeared in the base after you took it over - if it did, it's going to make your journey to the next capture point a whole lot easier.

Fire your Flare Gun upwards in an arc

The Flare gun is a great way to spot players indoors or outdoors, provided you can land the flare in their general area. It's only available to the Scout Class, and there's a way to make each shot count.

When you're using it, make sure to arc your shots upwards so that they take a bit of time to fall down, maximising the time enemies are spotted. This also expands the coverage area.

Although it's sometimes tempting to fire it at an enemy to set them on fire (yes, you can do that!), it's best used as a tool to help your teammates - or yourself if you're struggling to find targets to pick off.

You can change the ADS zoom level on most weapons, even without scopes

Although it may not make much sense, you can adjust weapon zoom levels when aiming-down-sights without having a scope equipped on your weapon. If you click the little cog icon to customise your weapon, you will see an option to set a zoom level.

There's the regular zoom, 1.25X, 1.50X, and another for 2.0X. This is great for a couple of reasons. First, weapon customisation is limited in Battlefield 1 due to the WW1 setting. As a result, you won't find a selection of scopes you can attach to any weapon you want.

Weapons come pre-modified and each variant carries a different prefix. Sometimes the one that handles better doesn't offer a scope, which is where this option comes in.

Another reason this is convenient is that it helps players find a good ADS level where enemies in the distance don't appear too small, or too big.

A lot of weapons can be fired in full-auto

This may be WW1, but it's video game WW1. Contrary to what you may think, many of the weapon variants have a full-auto firing modes. The weapon stats page will actually display the firing modes each gun has on the right side. Full-auto will be represented by an icon that looks like a clip, or a few bullets stuck together.

The only issue is, you'll have to switch to it after spawning. Many of the guns that offer full-auto will default to semi-auto, so you'll need to change it. Part of why it does this is because of how inaccurate auto fire can get compared to semi-auto, which you have more control over.

You won't have to do this each time you spawn, as the weapon will remember your preference, only the first time you use it.

Whatever was DICE's reasoning behind this quirk, the weapon you're currently using more than likely has a full-auto mode, try it out.

When you die, check to see if there's a Medic close by

Battlefield 1 will show you if there are any Medics around on the death screen. In the lower left corner, just above your killer's name, it will show how many are around you and how far away they are.

All you need to do is sit tight until someone revives you. Although you can skip this and go back to the deployment screen, you're actually not saving any time by doing so. There's a set time that has to pass before you can respawn, so it's much better to take your chances with nearby Medics than stare at a countdown.

This doesn't guarantee someone will come to your aid, of course, but the revive icon is much easier to spot now than in the beta, so there's a good chance a Medic will pick you up.

The Cavalry Class can drop ammo and health packs, use them

The Cavalry Class is the one you spawn as as if you ride a horse. This bad boy has more health than any other regular infantry, but what he carries can be even more useful than his large HP pool.

For example, he can throw an ammo pack and a health pack. They're the small ones, but they do wonders in supporting teammates around you. Cavalry units also carry Light Anti-Tank Grenades, which do decent damage to armoured targets, not to mention make you look pretty cool.

Don't put all your focus on swiping enemies with your sword, Cavalry units can be a help to their teammates.

Don’t waste your Warbonds early on

Warbonds are earned through levelling up your character, but you don't get many of them. Early on, when you have more locked than unlocked, you're going to need to prioritise unlocks for the classes you use most.

Because of this, we recommend not spending them on less-important items like the different melee weapons, or the various guns for the Tanker and Pilot classes, since these will be used less than the main four classes.

Later on, when you've unlocked all the necessary stuff, you can splurge all you like.

Battlepacks are earned only by finishing matches

Battlepacks are loot boxes that get you weapon skins of different rarities, as well as melee weapon parts. In Battlefield 1, Battlepacks are random drops, and they only drop at the end of the match.

On the end-of-match screen you'll be able to see the names of the lucky few who won them. Your name could be on that list, you'll just need to stick out until the match ends. As of this writing, these drops are rare, and staying until the end of the game doesn't guarantee you'll get one, but it's your only choice.

You can buy Battlepacks using Scraps, the other in-game currency. However, Scraps area earned by dismantling skins you don't want. Skins you got from Battlepacks that dropped in the first place - see where we're going with this?

Operations mode is only available through matchmaking

Operations is the new game mode in Battlefield 1. It's a series of matches played together to form a narrative, complete with in-game cut-scenes and different narration depending on the side you're playing on.

Operations is a mix of Rush and Conquest. Basically, you're attack or defend to occupy two or three flags at a time in various sectors through the map. The only trick is, all of them have to be captured/defended at the same time.

This mode is only available by clicking on Multiplayer, and choosing the Operations tile. You can't use the server browser to join Operations games at this time.

You can have multiple loadouts for each class

Battlefield 1 allows you create and name multiple loadouts for each of the four classes. Simply click the class you want, and you'll be able to choose which one to activate at the top.

Once you've created a few, you won't even have to get into that screen to choose any of them. Right from the deployment screen, just click the class icon and you'll be able to select the one you want.

It's pretty handy, especially if you have two or three favourites you switch between all the time.