nifemare's
guide to dog tagging There
is a lot of discussion about how to appropriately knife someone.
To be honest, it will take time to get knifing down. Once you
get knifing down, you will be able to get dog tags at will.
This will greatly increase your enjoyment of Battlefield 2142.
nifemare
began as a project to figure out how best to knife people.
You
can knife in any mode on any map. However, I find that
Conquest
mode is my preferred knifing mode.
Recommended Maps
There
are several maps which I recommend for knifing.
The best map for knifing is Fall of Berlin. Cerebre
Landing
is excellent. Belgrade is very good. You should
also have
no problem knifing at Camp Gibraltar. Nevertheless, Fall of
Berlin stands head and shoulders above the others because of the
patterns of traffic in which people fall into on the map.
They
tend to walk along the corridors where you can spot them easily.
We will get into the maps a bit later.
Basics of knifing
The
best set up is to choose recon once you
have unlocked the cloaking device. I recommend going
with
light armor because you need extra speed to knife people. If
you
equip your kit with APM mines, you will be able to knife people without
worrying about your kill to death ratio. It will take
practice to knife people successfully.
The
second thing you
should do is you configure your controls so that you can pull your
knife out quickly. If you are using a standard keyboard, you
might consider the "R" or the "T" key for example. I use a
Nostromo N52. This has better spacing than most keyboards.
It is quick keyed for
easy access. You do not have time for mouse scrolling or
reaching
up for the one key. The weapons change must be fast.
(I
also have my pistol
keyed below the knife, and the grenades below the pistol).
There
are only two types of players in Battlefield 2142- the quick and the
dead.
What
I like to do is try to sneak up behind them. It is much
easier if
they do not know you are there. I get as close as possible.
Sometimes I decloak from a distance so they do not hear me.
Other times, I make a run, release the cloak, quick stroke
the
knife key, release the run, and strike the primary mouse button.
It can happen in an instance. It is actually easier
to get
a knife kill than a pistol kill.
You will
need to
practice. The hardest people to knife are people who are
crouched
or on stairs. If they are on stairs, just shoot them.
If
they are crouched, you need to aim low, crouch or go prone to knife
them.
Knife
Fights
Occasionally,
someone will have the dignity to try to knife you back. When
this
happens do not panic! The worst thing you can do is to draw
back.
You will almost always be knifed. Instead rush past
them
and draw your knife. Bunnyhopping will do you no good.
It will tire you out and delay the inevitable knifing.
Now the key to a good knife fight is to keep your cool.
Anyone can prevail in this contest. Each opponent
will
present a different knifing style. Some like to go prone,
which
makes them hard to knife. Fortunately, they are more
vulnerable
in this situation.
I like to aim my knife slightly
lower than
normal. I believe you will have an advantage if you
lower
your sight just a titch when knifing. This seems to have
given me
several advantages. Remember, you may have to make several
passes. The important thing is always to find your opponent
and
rush towards him. During a good knife fight, you should rely
on
steering your direction with the mouse more than the keypads for left
and right. You will lose some of these fights, but with
patience
and practice you will win more than your fair share.
Dodging Bullets
It
always happens that someone will decide to shoot at you-usually at the
worst possible time. The easiest strategy is to rush
at
them while moving the mouse from left to right at a very high rate of
speed. Many people will shoot too far to the left or too far
to
the right to actually hurt you. They will in fact be
surprised
that you are not dead. The truly noobish will quickly empty
their
clip and while they are trying to reload *slice*.
The
more experienced adversary will shoot low to the ground in bursts.
Such a person should be respected by a knifer and you may
wish to
reconsider the timing of your attack. You have a cloak for a
reason and you can always run away to try at a more opportune time.
You should also be careful not to waste too much time trying
to
knife people when a good commander is spotting you out or people have
the infantry PDS detection systems in play.
Locations
Fall
of Berlin.
Just
about anywhere on this map is a great place to knife. There
are
plenty of bottlenecks and people like to walk along the corridors.
You can usually sit off to the side somewhere
cloaked and
watch as they approach. You can then get behind them and
surprise
them with a knife. This is a knifer's paradise and a good
place
to start knifing.
Belgrade
This
is an excellent place to
knife. Still, some of the best knifing occurs around the Com
Tower and the Playground. Areas such as Pond and Ruin are not
quite as good because you are exposed to more. I generally
avoid
the Statute area. But, honestly, it is still a good overall
knifing map.
Camp Gibraltar
Has
some excellent knifing
opportunities- especially if you are on defense. It is always
easy to pick people off as they advance from Harbor to Toll; at the
bottlenecks between Toll and Central Camp; and in the corridors along
Ruins and even Eu Base. I set my personal best on Camp
Gibraltar-
31 knife kills in a single round. Usually though, I only pick
up
8 or 9 dog tags. I still think Fall of Berlin is more
consistent.
Cerebre Landing.
Compressed
into nice pathways of traffic, this map presents solid knifing
opportunities everywhere except perhaps the Command Center. I
personally prefer picking up traffic as it heads between Roadblock area
and the Town Center.
Titan Mode
In
general you can get
knife kills near silos all the time. People rush into silos,
and
crouch down to avoid being seen. This is when you move in for
the
kill and pick up a dog tag. In general avoid open areas.
A
good area for knifing is Silo 2 on Sidi Power Plant. You can
sit
at the periphery and watch for incoming infantry or wait until the silo
begins to turn. Cloak in and hopefully before they realize
the
silo is no longer turning, you will be upon them. Other
opportunities will present themselves in the titan corridors and when
your reactor core is exposed to enemy attack. You can usually
sneak up behind a band of grenade throwing attackers and pick up a dog
tag or two. Knifing is not recommended on Titan assault, but
upon
occasion, I have had to stoop to such levels to clear a corridor.
Other thoughts
The
maps in Battlefield 2142 have two hues to represent the desert and ice
combat scenarios. In my opinion, the blue maps are better for
cloaking than the orange maps. I think I knifed the
best when my mouse sensitivity was set to 1.5, but am currently using
2.0. Play around with the mouse sensitivity a little bit. You definitely want to
be comfortable with your knifing.
