Battlefield Hardline guide: how to unlock weapons, Battlepacks, Assignments, wolf mask and more

News by Staff Contributor

Published on March 17, 2015

Need to know how unlock weapons and what all those patches are for? We've got you covered.

Battlefield Hardline guide: how to unlock weapons, Battlepacks, patches and more

The progression system in Battlefield Hardline's multiplayer game is fairly simple to understand. The biggest change over previous Battlefield games is that you buy weapons with in-game cash. You earn that cash by getting the usual kills and other standard achievements.

Cash

But you also earn a lot more cash by playing as a team. If you're in the car with other team members during a Hotwire match you'll earn more cash for your kills and you'll earn bigger rewards for sticking to the objectives of whichever mode your playing. Hardline rewards team work.

This simple cash system means you can see exactly how much you need to earn for your weapon or gadget of choice. Just remember guns are expensive so don't be in a rush to buy the first thing you can afford.

Coins & Bounties

You'll unlock special Coins and Bounties as you complete various tasks. Coins are awarded for anything from a set number of headshots or deflecting damage with a shield or more specific objectives, such as winning a Crosshair match as a cop with at least three team mates surviving.

Collect enough Coins and you'll be awarded with Bounties, which work in a similar way to Medals in previous Battlefield games. There are 63 Bounties and 63 Coins to unlock. Both Coins and Bounties give you a score boost which helps you rank up. Battlefield Hardline has a level cap of 150.

Patches

Patches are vanity items to wear on your sleeves. There's hundreds of them. Some are awarded for completing the single player game, others for veterans, some for subscribers only, etc.

Service Stars

Service Stars come in three different flavours - bronze, silver and gold. Bronze stars give you rewards you can use in-game, such as loadouts, attachments and modifications to vehicles. Silver and gold stars are vanity items to customise your character with items more unique than the regular patches.

Battlepacks

Battlepacks come in bronze, silver and gold and contain a mixture of boosts, camo, weapons, loadout slots, patches and more. You can earn Battlepacks easily during the singleplayer campaign and then apply them to multiplayer. You can also buy them with in-game cash for the price of $10,000, $25,000 or $50,000 but their contents are a surprise.

They are also awarded through multiplayer progress and if you go to the Battlepacks menu you'll be able to look up what's next on your unlock list and work towards it. You can also sell on some of the Battlepack items if you don't want them for a little in-game cash, but it's not a big amount.

Assignments

Assignments are geared towards the hardcore players with big objectives, such as killing 500 players with the a helicopter gun or reaching the higher ranks. Some Assignments have multiple objectives and prerequisites: the Enforcer Assignment 2 demands you have completed Enforcer Assignment 1, unlocked the Enforcer Bronze Service Star 7, then got 25 shotgun kills and deflected 250 points with a shield. Assignments unlock special patches, and some will unlock specific weapons.

On top of regular Assignments are Syndicate Assignments, which are made all the more difficult by having hidden criteria: at least three prerequisites and 5 requirements at the highest end. You're just going to have to work damn hard at everything and see what pays off.

Zebra print camo

Most camouflage unlocks from Battlepacks and if you've played the single player game you'll start multiplayer with loads of regular military camo patterns to apply to your weapons. Where this changes is with the frankly nasty-looking zebra print camo. These cost a whopping $500,000. But, once you've paid for them you can apply it to any and all weapons you own, even if you unlock/pay for them after the fact.

Weapons license

The weapons license allows you to switch weapons between cop and criminal. So weapons that were once only for criminals, such as the AK47, can now be used by the cop if you hold the licence. In order to do that you'll have to get 1,250 kills with that weapon before you can buy the weapons license.

The wolf and dinosaur masks

To unlock the wolf and dinosaur masks you'll need to have $10 million in your bank. By that we mean not just earn $10 million through play, but have a whopping $10 million spare. The masks don't cost that much, but you need to have that much before they unlock.

For a rundown of the camo, weapons license and masks, check out the video below from StoneMountain64.