Vehicles
Any good Battlefield 2 player knows how to use their vehicles effectively. With such large maps, vehicles are the best way to quickly traverse the land and get into the action. Additionally, vehicles are extremely powerful. They're hardy, fast, and have great destructive capabilities. Even if you're just riding along in one, you'll still get points for a Team Vehicle Assist every time someone in the ride makes a kill. Practice in your rides and you'll be moving up the leaderboards quickly.
In all vehicles, the F1-F5 keys will switch you through different seats in the vehicle, with the driver/pilot always being the F1 Key.
By Land
Land vehicles are great no matter what your purpose is. Whether you want to get to another Capture Point quickly, take out enemy vehicles, or simply blow tons of stuff up, a land vehicle can serve you well.
Controls
Land vehicles are easy to control using the default settings, so
unlike aircraft, you won't really need to configure a joystick to work them.
| Key | Action |
| W | Accelerate |
| S | Decelerate |
| D | Steer Right |
| A | Steer Left |
| Boost | Shift |
| X | Pop Smoke (APC only) |
| E | Enter/Exit |
Jeeps
Jeeps are your best bet for getting from point A to point B quickly and in one piece. There are two varieties of jeeps. The
smaller ones can carry 3 total passengers (including the driver) and are a little faster, while the larger jeeps can carry 4 troops. Either
one is a good choice for covering terrain quickly and taking out infantry. Even in the larger jeeps, the armor oftentimes
seems nonexistent, so trying to take on anything larger than another jeep is not suggested.
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In terms of firepower, the first passenger in both varieties of jeeps can use a heavy machine gun. This gun is great against infantry, helicopters, and other jeeps. In the smaller jeep, the second passenger has access to a light machine gun capable of clearing out infantry blocking your way. The speed of these vehicles also makes them capable of just running over unsuspecting infantry who have wandered out onto the roads.
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Mark Ryan Says: Using the Spec Op kit, strap C4 all around a jeep. Then, drive it into an enemy Capture Point and detonate it as a car bomb. |
The jeeps you have access to are the smaller DPV (USMC) and FAV (Chinese/MEC) as well as the heavy HMMWV (USMC), NJ 2046 (Chinese), and GAZ 39371 (MEC).
APCs
Armored Personnel Carriers work great as both a troop carrier and an assault vehicle. They come fully loaded with strike
force power, can hold up to 5 total passengers, have good armor, and are even amphibious. That's right, you can drive an APC
across a lake, river, or through the ocean! The driver has access to an autocannon, 6 missiles, and smoke grenades. Each of the
four passengers mans a machine gun capable of taking out any infantry in the vicinity.
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There are three varieties of APCs on the battlefield: the LAV-25 (USMC), the Wz 551 (Chinese), and the BTR-90 (MEC)
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Tal Says: Always attack tanks and other armored vehicles from the back if you can. The armor is much thicker in the front of vehicles than in the back, so it takes less shots to take them out. |
Tanks
These are the big boys and their speed reflects that. Don't expect to move very quickly, but when you do everyone
will get out of the way. Tanks are capable of carrying a driver and one passenger, although the passenger only has
access to his normal weapons. The driver, in contrast, has access to an autocannon and 12 anti-aircraft missiles that are
heat seeking. Use the missiles to lock on to helicopters and planes as they fly by and you'll soon be rid of them. The autocannon
works well if helicopters keep using flares in addition to its good strength against troops and small vehicles. Drive one
of these alongside a fully loaded APC to cover it from above and you have a nearly unstoppable strike force - just watch out
for Special Forces and their C4.
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The three tanks available for your use are the M6 Bradley (USMC), Type 95 (Chinese), and the Tunguska (MEC).
By Sea
There is only one boat available in the game, but it works great for doing quick troop insertions where the enemy doesn't
suspect it.
Controls
Boats control similar to vehicles and are easy to steer using just the keyboard.
| Key | Action |
| W | Accelerate |
| S | Decelerate |
| D | Steer Right |
| A | Steer Left |
| E | Enter/Exit |
Boats can hold 5 passengers plus the driver, making it possible to fit an entire squad into one. The first passenger has access to a machine gun, although it is really only strong enough to be effective against infantry. Boats don't need a dock to land, so use them to bring an entire squad in behind the enemy's main defenses for a surprise attack.
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By Air
Helicopters and jets are the trickiest vehicles to operate, but are extremely versatile and tough to take down when a good pilot is behind the stick. All air vehicles can carry at least one passenger, so don't take off before they get in. They'll help protect you and attack the enemy by manning extra weaponry.
Controls
If you have a joystick, you'll want to configure it for controlling air vehicles. It
makes maneuvering a plane or helicopter much simpler and you'll be less likely to crash. If
you don't have access to a control pad, the default controls are here.
| Key | Action |
| W | Accelerate |
| S | Decelerate |
| D | Steer Right |
| A | Steer Left |
| Arrow Up | Pitch Forward |
| Arrow Down | Pitch Back |
| Arrow Right | Roll Right |
| Arrow Left | Roll Left |
| Afterburner (plane only) | Shift |
| X | Flares |
| E | Enter/Exit |
You can also control the pitch and roll with the mouse, which is a somewhat easier switch from land to ground control. The only way to get the hang of these air vehicles is through practice. If you find you're having trouble steering where you want, try adjusting the mouse sensitivity for these vehicles.
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As soon as you get into the air, the enemy is going to try to shoot you down. Make sure you hit the X Key for flares as soon as you are alerted to an enemy lock-on (red warning signals will flash on your screen). Flares will redirect any heat seeking missile that has locked onto your craft. For the truly skilled, try flying by an enemy craft as you let the flares out. If you're lucky, the missile will lock on to the enemy craft and take them down instead of you.
Planes
There are two types of planes, fighters and bombers. The fighters are solo aircraft with high
speed and agility. Due to their lack of effective ground ammunitions, the main role of a fighter is to attack other aircraft.
Every fighter craft is equipped with an autocannon, 6 heat seeking missiles, and 2 bombs. If you find yourself being dogged by heat flares at every attempt to missile another pilot,
try switching to the autocannon to tear your opponent to shreds. The available fighters are the F-18 E/F (USMC), F-35B (USMC),
J-10 (Chinese), and the Mig-29 (MEC).
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Tal Says: Vehicles respawn fairly quickly, so don't be afraid to jump in a jet or helicopter and use it as a transport to get to a far base by jumping out and parachuting in. Chances are the enemy has moved away from their farthest base to try and capture one of yours, so it's a great time to swoop in and take a flag back. |
Bombers can have a co-pilot and are equipped with a better armament for taking out ground based troops and vehicles. They're much more effective with a second passenger, so if you see someone running towards you, wait for him to get there. Use bombers to take out any enemy aircraft you see, as well as to target enemy Capture Points, vehicles (especially tanks), and large concentrations of infantry. Each bomber is equipped with an autocannon, 4 heat seeking missiles, 5 dumb bombs, and 20 laser guided missiles that can be controlled by the passenger. The available bombers are the F-15E (USMC), SU-30 (Chinese), and the SU-34 (MEC).
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Remember, if you run out of ammunition or lose control, eject yourself from the aircraft and parachute down. The plane or helicopter will keep flying (and can be used in an almost kamikaze style) while you drift down to continue fighting. Plus, this will make the plane respawn back at your base, fully reloaded, for the next person to use.
Helicopters
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Fran Says: Use the Apache-style (more mobile) copters to hover over flag points with a passenger (to help accelerate the capture). Take off as soon as you've captured and repeat… |
There are two types of helicopters available; transport and fighters. The apache-style attack copters are two seaters with room for a pilot and a passenger. Each attack copter is armed with 56 rockets for the pilot, while the passenger can control either an autocannon or 8 guided missiles. These rides are highly mobile, and their ability to hover in one place while laying down fire makes them devastating during an assault on a Capture Point. Don't forget to use the flares, as helicopters are an easy target for any other enemy looking to use their heat seeking missiles. The three fighter copters available are the AH-17 (USMC), Z-10 (Chinese), and the Mi-28 (MEC).
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Transport helicopters are much less equipped for battle. They can carry a total of 6 people (the exact number of troops in a squad) including the pilot. Only the first two passengers have access to any weapons, and then it is only a turret machine gun. They do work perfectly for a squads looking to infiltrate enemy Capture Points. If a team parachutes in dropping C4 and grenades as they fall, they should have a nice clear spot to bunker down for a battle. The three transport helicopters available are the HH-60H (USMC), Z-8 (Chinese), and the Mi-17 (MEC).
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Fran Says: Use air support to drop teammates via parachute into enemy's bases. This works especially well to get Special Ops members into permanent or original-spawn bases to destroy artillery, etc. |