Welcome to my Battlefield 3 Multiplayer gaming guide. This will by no means be exhaustive but should get you off to a great start. Questions? Leave them below in comments and if I have time and am still able, I’ll address your question.

If you want tips, hints, strategies & tactics for BF3 Multiplayer, look at the BF3 Multiplayer Tips & Hints page. This multiplayer guide more addresses the WHAT of BF3 online gaming whereas the tips & hints page more addresses the HOW for BF3 online.

First Things First: Join A Game

I’m going to assume you are playing the game on an Xbox, but some of this info will apply regardless of your gaming platform. From your main Battlefield 3 (BF3) menu, and using your multiplayer disc select Multiplayer. On the next screen you have lots of options. I usually just click Quick Match, then go down to Game Mode and select Conquest, Team Deathmatch or Squad Deathmatch because those are the game types I prefer [read about the BF3 Game Modes]. You can also select a map, but I usually skip this and just click Find a Game. When the game stats select a class and, if you want to, customize your loadout.

Next: How to Quit a Multiplayer Match

For some reason it can be a bit confusing about how to quit a Battlefield 3 Multiplayer match. After the game you see the scores, then you get a run-down of your ribbons, points, new unlocks etc. Then it goes back to the score board and the whole time you have been able to see in the upper right a countdown to the next match. But there is no quit button.

Here are the ways to quit a BF3 Multiplayer match in order of preference:

  • when a match begins, you can press the Start button to get to a menu where you can quit (I don’t think players would prefer this since you ‘disappear’, but it seems to be the way EA/Dice set it up)
  • Hit your guide button and go back to Xbox Home, or another selection that takes you out of the game
  • Hold down the guide button and then shut down the Xbox

Shoot the Enemies

I’ve been shot at a bunch of times by friendlies, so let’s talk colors and squads. First off, when you see orange icon/indicator above a player they are enemy. If you see blue or green, they are friendly. Blue and green are different colors for friendly squads, and in Conquest the blue & green colors separate those who are in a squad and those who are not, but friendly is friendly. Also, don’t go around your spawn area shooting up the place, go shoot the enemies! I’ve seen two or three guys join a game an sit back in the spawn shooting at each other, while that team is short 2 or 3 players. If you want to do this, go buy the Superman video game and marvel at being bullet-proof.

Get Used to Dying As You Progress

When you start off you may feel like you are running around with a butter knife (because yuo aren’t killing anyone) and a bright orange uniform with a GPS marker that shows you on everyone’s map (because everyone seems to see you). Your weapons at the beginning feel pretty weak, but you also have iron sights for the most part and aren’t used to thinking before moving, and you don’t know the “flow” of the maps.

Learn the maps, figure out where the other team spawns, and progress up through playing (possibly dying a lot at first) so you can improve your weapons.

Learn the Vehicles

Some vehicles give you great advantages, but balance the disadvantages so you can make more informed choices on using them. For example, on Conquest a great tactic is to take a jeep (VDV Buggy, M1114 HMMWV, GAZ-3937 Vodnik, Growler ITV, DPV) with 2 or three guys in it and make your way to the flag closest to the enemy spawn and carefully (that means without getting killed) kill off their soldiers trying to take the flag. Now you can hopefully take the flag before they get back with fresh ammo and maybe more buddies. But the really cool thing about the “jeeps” listed above is that, with the exception of the Vodnik, they get you places really fast. So after you’ve taken that flag, you can zip over to the next objective to try and take that flag, too.

Vehicles make it easier to spot you, and some guys are running around with their RPG, SMAW, Javelin or AT4 just dying to use them. Also, you have to contend with AT mines, and other vehicles.

Learning how to fly the jets and helicopters has not been easy. With much practice after watching a YouTube BF3 Helicopter Tutorial I am finally able to keep one in the air for over 10 seconds. Even the tanks and jeeps have a learning curve, though its a shorter one.

Game Types

There are 5 multiplayer game types: Team Deathmatch, Squad Deathmatch, Rush, Squad Rush, Conquest not counting Co-Op. Different game types open up more of the maps and some open up different portions of the map. For example, Operation Metro in Squad Deathmatch is smaller than it is on Conquest, and gives you a smaller map to play on.

Conquest

Conquest focuses on the capture and control of Flags. Once a team captures a Flag, its members can spawn into the Flag area. Each spawn the teams a Ticket and the first team that drops to zero Tickets loses. If on team controls more than half the Flags on a map, the enemy team will also bleed Tickets.

Squad Deathmatch

In Squad Deathmatch, four squads are pitched against each other in a close-quarters battle. The first Squad to reach the required amount of kills will emerge victorious from the battlefield. Each battle features an Infantry Fighting Vehicle that must quickly be eliminated should it fall into enemy hands.

Player Types

There aren’t really player types, but here goes. These aren’t hard-and-fast descriptions that will fits all situations, but they should be good enough to get you prepared for what you’ll face.

The Camper: this guy hangs around in the same spot, either throughout the entire match, or each time he spawns. He has favorite spots to “camp”, and if joined or defended by others, can choke a point in map and determine win or loss.

The Runner: this guy runs around the maps in and out of favored camping spots like buildings, street alleys, edges of the map, anywhere he expects to find a bad guy sitting around camping.

The Supporter: Almost always found near another soldier ready to shoot his target, supply ammo, revive him etc, the Supporter realizes in Battlefield 3 if you run together you live together, and if you run alone you die alone.

The Strategists: you won’t often see this guy, because he’s a unit of 2 or more. Sometimes a temporary pair or more, sometimes a cohesive team that sticks together each time throughout a match and even longer. These guys sometimes just gravitate together, other times they are “friends” (either in real life or just online) and they game together persistently. The latter strategists are dangerous because they know what one another will do on different maps, making them a force to be reckoned with. When 4 or more of these guys get together, it often leads to those games where your team just never stood a chance and you wonder what happened.

The Shoot-and-Mover: following the sound military doctrine of shooting from cover, then moving to new cover as a way of moving forward more safely, The shoot-and-mover sometimes is following the sound of battle to decide where to go next, sometimes he is just making rounds, other times may have “hot spots” he likes.

The Spotter: this guy has a headset and/or the in-game spot/communication feature to call out and highlight targets and enemy movement. This guy often has another style of play and also spots while doing that.

The Close Quarters Combat (CQB) Specialist: this guy will be found, as often as he can, in confined spaces with a shotgun, personal defense weapon or sub machinegun. You’ll run into this one – sometimes waiting for you, sometimes running around – when you least expect it.

The Pro: will do all or any of these, intermingled as mood or best strategy seems fit. The pro is flexible, tactically smart, and knows the maps and where to be (and not be) on them.

The Achiever: this guy is trying to earn a BF3 weapon, accessory, or rank. He may be working on “Best Friend Forever,” “Professional Russian,” maybe its the next scope or weapon he’s after. But he’ll probably keep coming at you the same way time after time until he gets the achievement he’s going after.