Posted by pgmoney in World in Conflict tips and tricks and role how to's on Tuesday 11 August @ 03:05

CAPTURE COMMAND POINTS WITH TEAM MATES
You will both receive the score for doing so, and will each receive the TA bonus for capturing the command point together. Don't be stingy and capture points yourself when waiting one or two more seconds can result in your team collecting double the TA and points!

FORTIFY AREAS WITH TEAM MATES
Don't be one of the silly players who piles all their units into a captured perimeter point, fortifies it to full, then moves on to the next. One unit from multiple players will fortify an area faster than a billion units of your own all crammed into the one command point. For instance, 1x Heavy Tank, and 1x heavy AA unit, with a jeep or transport truck from an infantry player will fortify much faster than three of your own medium or heavy tanks.

Also note that infantry units fortify a little faster than vehicles, though are vulnerable to artillery while fortifying.

USE THE REQUEST SYSTEM
It is there for a reason – use it. Your team mates will not know how to help you or what you need doing unless you let them know, fortunately, - and unfortunately in some instances - we can't read each others mind, especially over the internet. Let your team mates know what you need, and try to oblige with any assistance that you can provide when ever necessary.

KEEP ACTIVE ON VOIP
If you've got a microphone, try and get some strategic chatter going and plan some strategies to better overcome whatever obstacles you encounter on the battlefield. While the request system is extremely powerful, it is often more intuitive and faster to just say what you need.

SHARE TA
If a team mate requests TA or needs something done, don't be afraid to give your TA away. Having said this, don't give away all your TA carelessly, share it with players who actually need it and know how to use it effectively. For example, some players think that a light artillery barrage hurts heavy tanks - it doesn't! For one more TA point, a tank buster is the perfect tool for the job.

DOUBLE OR TRIPLE PLACE TA WHERE POSSIBLE
Most of the TA options are cheaper when placing them multiple times. Thus it is wiser to place them more than once to get the most out of your TA points. However, don't waste them on nothing if there is nothing to hit.

DEPLOY QUICKLY
There is a 30 second count down timer to the beginning of a match for a reason, to choose your units, and to quickly discuss any strategies. Hit the enter key the moment the match has started in order to get your units to the battlefield as quickly as possible.

CHOOSE YOUR DEPLOYMENT ZONE WISELY
Always deploy as close as possible to the objective which you've decided to move your units to. This will cut down any lost time actually navigating to the location where the conflict is happening. Remember in assault and tug of war modes to move your drop zone up each time you've made a successful push forward.

DESTROY TACTICALLY VALUABLE BRIDGES
This can be one of the strongest strategies in a game. Destroying a bridge can halt the enemy advance for quite some time, and can cut of an enemy supply line. The most effective way to blow bridges is by dropping laser-guided bombs on them. Support players should be the only ones asked to blow the bridges, as the laser-guided bomb is the cheapest for this particular faction It costs the support player 8TA for a laser-guided bomb, while the other classes have a greater cost for this. Give the TA to a support player and request a laser-guided bomb on the bridge. Most will be happy to oblige.

You are also able to blow up bridges using demolition engineers, but the downfalls of utilising this strategy is that it takes time for the engineer to arrive at the bridge, and they are very vulnerable whilst placing the charges. Often a bridge which needs to be destroyed is near the enemy forces, and can put the entire operation at risk. Laser-guided bombs are the best option for blowing up bridges.

REPAIR BRIDGES ASAP
If you're unfortunate enough to have one of your bridges destroyed, the first thing you need to do is give TA points to your support player. They are the only ones who can effectively repair bridges, as the TA cost for doing so is the lowest for them.

BE AWARE OF YOUR SURROUNDINGS
Watch the map for friendly TA strikes and don't wander into them needlessly. Take advantage of the terrain where possible, and be sure to utilize natural cover – for instance, a building is great cover against a tank, and simply moving a unit 20 metres can negate the tank's ability to hit you.

DON'T UNDERESTIMATE THE VALUE OF AMPHIBIOUS UNITS
Many people assume that just because the bridge is blown, you're safe from enemy units. Enter the amphibious transport. This is able to cross shallow rivers, and other bodies of water to give potential unexpected avenues of attack against your enemy.

UNIT VETERANCY DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Units in World in Conflict gain experience from capturing command points, fortifying, and damaging enemy units. These units have added benefits in that they reload faster, do slightly more damage, and have their special abilities recharge at a much faster rate. These can easily give you the edge in an otherwise even battle. Utilise the help of a support player to keep your units in top shape and regularly reaching a state of veterancy to cause problems for the enemy.


Infantry can be a challenging role to play effectively. Their strengths are in holding ground, and denying passage of enemy armour. However, infantry are extremely vulnerable and very weak when exposed. They can be torn apart by some light vehicles, air units, and especially some artillery. They are also vulnerable to napalm and chemical strikes, and nearly every other tactical aid out there. You need to play infantry carefully in order to be effective, and take advantage of your terrain.

There are many, many ways that you can deploy initially as infantry, and you have the distinct advantage that you're able to be somewhat self sufficient, and don't need to rely on team-mates as much in order to do your job effectively. Don't try to be Rambo. Pick an area on the map, and choose to hold it and hold it well. That said, Infantry when used aggressively, can be devastating and a real pain to enemy armour.

I'll not be suggesting any specific initial deployments, as it is wise to experiment extensively with infantry, and practice is a very valuable commodity. Infantry takes considerably longer to learn how to play correctly and effectively than the other classes, but is far more satisfying and very resilient when played correctly.


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First, I'll give a run down of the units which should interest you as an infantry commander, and some general strategies on how to use them effectively.

Sniper:
The sniper unit is very weak in the open, and in close quarters combat ineffective. Your sniper has a large attack range, and is able to engage other enemy infantry squads from a distance as a way to soften them up. Snipers are best stationed in buildings, and in forests. They should never leave their cover unless moving to another hiding spot. Placing snipers just forward of the area you're planning to hold will give you a great line of sight and assist in weakening the enemy infantry squads which are approaching. However, the sniper unit is helpless against any form of vehicle, and will be torn apart by a scout helicopter very quickly.

Infantry Squad:
The bread and butter of the infantry role, these guys are great all round units. They contain a medic, rifleman, machine gunner, anti tank soldier, and an anti air soldier.

These guys are great in all situations, and can engage light vehicles, tanks, and damage choppers as well. They are also an excellent counter for anti tank infantry whom are hiding in a forest. They are able to use grenades as their special ability, which can decimate enemy infantry squads.

You will also use these guys to engage other infantry units.

Anti Tank Squad:
Perfect for tearing up enemy armour, light vehicles, anti air units and fortifications. These guys are great when stationed in buildings or in forests and can be used very effectively to ambush armoured columns. They also don't fare too badly when stationed in buildings, as they can deny enemy armour and anti air access to critical areas. Like all infantry units, vulnerable out in the open.

Demolition Engineer:
While this unit is often underused (they are very weak against ALL other units), they can actually be very effective in setting traps for the enemy. The demolition charges can be placed on a command point (though you have to be fast), and detonated when the enemy has units entering the area. The damage these charges do is fairly significant, and you'll be able to take out one or two tanks if you use it effectively. That said, the Engineer is poor value compared to the other infantry units. I'd personally not advise using it all that much, but it is useful if you want to blow a bridge behind the lines (for example certain assault maps can benefit from this greatly, especially when you are attacking initially, and want the enemy to be at a distinct disadvantage in their attacking phase)

It usually takes two charges to blow a bridge – so the demolition engineer's effectiveness at the front of the battle is pretty limited, and risky when compared to using a laser-guided bomb to blow a bridge.

Transport Truck:
This unit, again, is very important to the infantry role. It's cheap, and allows you to ferry infantry to the front of the battle far faster than they can run / sprint / march there. You can also use it in an initial deployment to capture ground, which gives you precious TA points. Be very careful when transporting infantry, and don't do stupid things like drive right up to an enemy tank and then unload - nine times out of ten you'll be dead before you realise it was a bad idea. The same goes if you try driving directly into a group of enemy choppers.

Troop Transport:
The troop transport (jeep) has light armour, and is able to engage enemy units with its 50 cal machine gun. However, don't expect it to stand up against a tank. One heat shell from a heavy tank will destroy the jeep and your infantry squad. I personally don't tend to use these when playing infantry and focus on transport trucks – however, a troop transport does have the ability to repair friendly units.

Transport Helicopter:
Yes, you are able to call these in from the air role, despite them not being a unit that your class is generally associated with. You can use transport helicopters to quickly ferry infantry back and forth around a map, and also as a way to get to a command point faster than through other means of transport. However, the transport helicopters are expensive, and you're limiting your potential number of squads on the field when using transport choppers to move your units. They can be very effective, but you'll be beaten by raw numbers when facing a player who is using transport trucks to ferry their infantry.

Amphibious Transport:
This is another unit from another role that can be useful to you. However, it is very expensive, and not really worth it in the long run as its survivability against enemy air, armour and infantry which you encounter while transporting infantry will most likely deal it a great deal of damage. It does provide better protection than the other transport units do though. Loading it with anti tank infantry can be effective, as the grenade barrage / incendiary ammunition from the vehicle itself can deal very effectively with enemy infantry.

Armoured Transport:
Again, another option from the armour role, but too expensive to justify use on a regular basis. The armoured and amphibious transports are fine for use in few player mode though, but for a general game, they take away too many of your resources from focusing on getting infantry units on the battlefield.





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Now, as there are many different combinations for using infantry effectively, I'm not going to be going into any suggested initial deployments for the class. Other than that, I will offer some general hints and strategies.

DON'T BUNCH UP YOUR INFANTRY UNITS:
Do not, at any time, for any reason, bunch up your infantry units. This makes you cannon fodder for artillery, napalm, chemical strikes, light artillery, phosphorus shells, being run over, or an attack ground order from a heavy attack helicopter. You bunch up your infantry, and you will not be successful as an infantry player. You need to spread your units out so that once the proverbial stuff hits the fan, you'll have not lost ALL your units in one strike.

USE COVER AND ALWAYS KEEP MOVING:
Your cover is completely destructible, and once the enemy knows where you're hiding, rest assured they'll be throwing a lot into destroying it. You need to, in addition to having your units spread out, continually move around in a non-predictable way in order to be effective and not nailed by artillery and other enemy fire support.

GARRISON BUILDINGS:
Garrisoning a building is a powerful asset, and increases infantry survivability exponentially. You're a lot safer (especially from enemy infantry units), and not able to be damaged by napalm strikes. However, there are now two new threats to you. Artillery concentrated on your position, and the ever-present threat of laser-guided bombs. Therefore, when garrisoning buildings, you need to duck and weave through different structures in order for the enemy to have a hard time hitting you.

DON'T GARRISON A ROW OR GROUP OF BUILDINGS:
Spread out your units, and ensure they are spread out evenly, and far enough apart in order to not lose your entire force in a single chemical strike or heavy artillery barrage.

AVOID CHEMICAL STRIKES:
If you're caught in one, sprint out of them instantly. If you've got some transports nearby, jump in the transports, your infantry won't be effected by the gas when inside a transport. This is why you spread out your units, and you need to react VERY quickly once you've seen the chemicals drop. A good infantry player will be able to negate a chemical strike and only lose perhaps two soldiers from an entire squad.

BE UNPREDICTABLE:
Don't run in a straight line or stick to obvious routes between objectives. You'll have napalm and artillery on your position very quickly. Its important to duck and weave, zigzag, run through buildings, skip, hop, jump and every other trick you can think of, to be sure you're as hard as possible for the enemy to hit when you're out of cover.

NOTE THAT SOME AREAS CAN BE REACHED FASTER BY MOVING THROUGH BUILDINGS:
Most buildings have multiple entry points. You can use this to your advantage, as you'll move quicker by going through the building rather than around it. The supermarket on do_seaside is an example of this, while on other maps, such as do_hometown, you can move much faster through buildings in the town square than actually marching or sprinting to arbitrary points in-between.

HOLD FIRE IN FORESTS AND BUILDINGS:
Hit G to set your units to hold fire. You'll get an increased stealth bonus, be harder to spot and have your positioned revealed only after you open fire (unless you've been spotted before, of course, or by an enemy infantry / scout chopper unit)

KNOW THE HOTKEYS:
With transports under your command, hit the Y key with an infantry unit selected, and they'll enter the nearest transport. U will unload them. J will garrison them in the nearest building. We'll focus more on hotkeys in another section of the guide.

SPRINT WHERE POSSIBLE:
R will allow your units to sprint, giving them a much faster movement speed, useful for running away from chemicals, or out of the way of incoming artillery fire.

DON'T STAY IN THE OPEN TOO LONG:
This cannot be stressed enough, you're cannon fodder in the open. You have no guardian angels protecting you, and you will get torn to shreds in the open. Be wary of the units that can cause the most damage to you in direct combat. This can be the medium tank – light vehicles like the amphibious transport, jeep, and medium anti air vehicle. These units should be removed before harassing heavy tanks or heavy anti air units. On top of this, you've got to worry about dodging TA, artillery, and everything else the enemy is throwing at you.

CALL IN AIRBORNE INFANTRY:
This is the most useful unit an infantry commander can have under their control. They are relatively cheap to deploy, are excellent scouts, and most importantly are able to call in artillery fire. Their artillery does about half the damage of a Precision Artillery barrage, and only takes 7 seconds to arrive. They can be excellent for clearing out fortifications, enemy units behind their lines, and also for capitalising on a lack of enemy fortifications.

The use of airborne infantry can be so complex that it perhaps needs a guide on its own, but in general, it is wise to drop them behind enemy lines, into cover, set them to hold fire, and in this case they can be used as scouts. They can be used to assault enemy command points, or to call in artillery at regular intervals while damaging enemy units behind their lines.

They are also excellent as fire support in battles against superior numbers of infantry units, and it is here where their artillery strikes can be exceptionally devastating.

Whilst these are only some general guidelines and hints for the infantry role, it is by no means comprehensive. Most of this stuff is just common sense. The only way to truly be effective with infantry is practice, trail and error, and being very observant of what is going on around your units and what the enemy is throwing at you in terms of resistance. You need to be highly adaptable, and expect to change your approach to a situation as you play.

Mix up your units, and have a nice balanced force, This will allow you to combat whatever is thrown at you initially, and then you are able to counter this with your second deployment.

The armour faction has a multifaceted role. On the ground, they are unmatched in firepower, and are able to destroy all enemy ground units with little trouble, with the exception of infantry. Armour is an integral part of any team in World in Conflict, as it involves gaining ground and countering enemy ground presence. A good armour player will be one assaulting the enemy, pushing through the lines and protecting support players from enemy vehicles.

Suggested Initial Deployments:
There are multiple initial deployments possible for the armour player. I will discuss each of these and their benefits and shortcomings below:

Deployment Option 1:
2x Heavy Tank
2x Medium Tank

This is a well-balanced solution for an initial deployment as it gives you a great deal of firepower and some great mobility and flexibility. The heavy tanks are able to engage enemy tanks and vehicles, while the medium tanks can be used to counter infantry and attack light enemy vehicles, and can assist in fortification while the heavy tanks advance and attempt to outflank the enemy.
Deployment Option 2:
1x Heavy Tank
2x Medium Tank
2x Light Tank

While this particular solution has less firepower than the previous one, you are able to cover a greater area and fortify multiple command points. The light tanks are able to assist in capturing areas away from the front lines, and are good for fortifying. The medium tanks can be used at the front lines, just behind the heavy tank that will be doing the majority of the work, pushing up and taking hits for the multiple light or medium tanks (should you decide to push the light tanks up to the front).
Deployment Option 3:
2x Heavy Tank
1x Armoured Transport
1x Medium Tank

This particular deployment solution is enhanced greatly in value when collaborating with an infantry player. Adding a squad of Anti Tank infantry to the Armoured transport means that it can be pushed to the front line, and unload a squad of anti tank infantry, before retreating and returning with another squad of anti tank infantry. This can give your team a decisive edge against the enemy armour units, as the Anti Tank infantry placed correctly will be a nuisance for the enemy armour.

Variations on this deployment suggestion could include another Armoured Transport without the secondary medium tank, which would allow a balanced anti tank and regular infantry squad to advance to the front line to provide some back up to the armour player.

FLANK THE ENEMY
Tanks have weaker armour to the rear, as do most of the units in World in Conflict. Attacking from the rear is the best way to maximise the damage to do to the enemy.

BE AWARE OF YOUR OWN FLANK
Try not to let the enemy armour player outflank your own tanks and attack from the rear – saying this, an experienced armour player against another experienced armour player will often drive around in circles attempting to outflank each other – using one unit to soak up enemy damage, with the others attempting to flank and engage the unit from another angle.

CONCENTRATE YOUR FIRE
This applies to all classes, but armour especially. Concentrate your fire on a single enemy unit in order to destroy it as quickly as possible. It is nice to damage multiple enemy units, but they are still there, attacking you. Eliminating the enemy units will give you an edge over the enemy tanks as there is one less of them to potentially hurt you!

MOVE BACKWARDS
If a tank is retreating, or moving to avoid a flanking movement from the enemy, always ensure that you move backwards, keeping the enemy turret pointed at the front of your tanks as best you can. Don't turn your back and run – you will get ripped to shreds faster than possibly surviving through getting repairs or waiting until the action dies down a bit.

USE REPAIRS
Team up with a support player and have some repair tanks just behind the front line. Retreat when your unit's health is at a 30% capacity in order to factor in continued attacks from the enemy while retreating. This is a good time to use the smoke grenades on the tank, especially so as you round a corner or move behind the cover of a building to prevent further hits being taken. At the same time as this retreat is happening, if the enemy tank follows, use your other tanks to move in using a pincer movement, attacking the enemy tank from both sides and once more, concentrating the fire to ensure the destruction of the enemy unit.

DO NOT WASTE HEAT SHELLS FROM THE HEAVY TANKS
The heat shell from a heavy tank is extremely effective against the following units: Light Tank, Repair Tank, Heavy AA, Medium AA, Troop Transport (Humvee), Armoured Transport, Medium Artillery, Heavy Artillery, and Infantry squads. HOWEVER, IT IS NOT EFFECTIVE AGAINST ENEMY HEAVY TANKS It will do the same amount of damage as a regular salvo from the cannon against a heavy tank.

KEEP MOVING
In a firefight, tanks are very easy targets for tactical aid placements, specifically tank busters, precision artillery, and air strikes. This means that you should spread out your tanks – never leave them in a straight line, and not keep them still for more than ten seconds. A precision Artillery barrage will take ten seconds to hit you, and it will decimate you if you're using a tight formation. A tank buster takes 12 seconds to destroy you, and an air strike will be there in 20 seconds, which means you've overstayed your welcome and the enemy has capitalised on this.

This means use a spread out formation which is slightly larger than the area of effect for the above tactical aids. Be wary of advancing down narrow streets and bridges, as these are common invitations for the enemy to place a tank buster. While retreating, don't move in a straight line, move in a zigzag. It will make it harder for the enemy to predict your movements and confidently place a tactical aid strike against you.

SEQUENTIALLY BLOW SMOKE GRENADES
The smoke grenade from a single tank has the potential to cover multiple tanks if you are using a tight formation. Don't blow all the smoke grenades at once. Blow them sequentially, and they will last a lot longer. Blow the smoke on the most severely damaged units first, allow them to retreat, and cover them with the healthier units, blowing smoke again with the weaker units while the weakest one has an opportunity to be repaired.

REMEMBER ATTACK GROUND
If you encounter infantry that are garrisoned within buildings, do not attempt to engage them directly. Retreat until the infantry is out of your visibility range and use an attack ground order on the building. Destroying the building means that an inexperienced infantry player will wonder what is shooting at them and why they can't see it. This will also keep you safe from enemy tanks. Remember to use the Q menu and request either a laser-guided bomb or some artillery from a support player to suppress the infantry. Chemical strikes are also an option, but an experienced infantry player is able to avoid these with ease. And DO NOT USE NAPALM ON BUILDINGS. Infantry inside are not annihilated.

COUNTERING FORTIFICATIONS
If you come across a fortified enemy command point – the first thing you do upon seeing an anti tank fortification is attack it. You must always remove the fortification that is a threat to yourself first. In the case of encountering a fortification with a damaged unit, it is wise to retreat and use the attack ground option while awaiting repairs, or reinforcements. Again, jumping on the radio / request menu and requesting that a support player drop a laser-guided bomb, or some artillery on the position is wiser than wasting an extra 4TA points to get rid of a fortification yourself. A support player should be the one dropping the laser-guided bomb as it only costs them 8TA points, whereas it costs you 12. If they don't have the TA, and you desperately need to the fortification gone, give them 8TA and request a laser-guided bomb. If that isn't an option, a tank buster is an excellent option against fortifications. You'll be able to remove two fortifications with a tank buster run, and it is cheaper than a laser-guided bomb, with the benefit that you can place it yourself.

The only downside to this is the tank buster has a longer recharge time than the laser-guided bomb, which can be a problem should you encounter some enemy tanks which you need gone in an instant.

AIRDROP LIGHT TANKS
Many armour players underestimate the power which light tank drops can give you. For one, for 6TA a piece you're getting a unit which costs you 600 reinforcement points to bring in. Secondly, you can cheaply use these to fortify the rear, or to assault an enemy position. Used in conjunction with an air strike, and a good sense of timing, you can remove the enemy fortifications and any units holding the position, before capturing the area with the light tank drop.

Given that it takes your tank 35 seconds to reach the ground, and the air strike twenty, place the light tank drops on the perimeter points, and at the 25 second counter, place your air strikes. This will result in a 5 second safety window to allow the air strike to not damage your freshly dropped light tanks.

TEAM UP WITH A SUPPORT PLAYER
They will provide you with anti air and repairs, and can be the difference between a failed assault and a successful one. They will also provide you with an anti air capability which is unparalleled by any of the other factions.

TARGET ANTI AIR UNITS
If you've encountered a group of tanks which outnumber you, but they are only being supported by one or two anti air units, take out the anti air units first to allow a friendly heavy Air player to come in and assist you in engaging the tanks.


The air role again is very a very important element of a successful WiC team. Just like support, there are two sub groups of air players. Those that choose to use heavy attack choppers, and those that use medium attack choppers. These bring two different potential strategies and styles of play to the battlefield, which I will address separately.


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Heavy Chopper Specific

The heavy air player's primary role is to assault enemy armour. While these units are devastating against ground units, they are pretty much defenceless against medium choppers, who have the primary role of acting as mobile anti air units.

Heavy Air Support: Suggested Initial Deployment 1
3x Heavy Attack Helicopter

This is the fastest way to get maximum firepower into the battle at the beginning, though you will be extremely vulnerable against enemy medium choppers. Your best bet is to at first quickly do a fly around of the map, scoping out any potential targets and threats to yourself. You're going to want to avoid anti air units, medium attack choppers, and be wary of large groups of infantry.

Heavy Air Support: Suggested Deployment 2
The following deployment is a little unorthodox, though is able to provide you with some ground units which can be priceless, as you will gain TA from capturing rear command points, and building fortifications.

2x Heavy Attack Chopper
1x Scout Helicopter
1x Medium Anti Air Unit

Whilst the anti air unit is expensive(!) 1,000 Credits, as an air player, it gives you to distinct advantages. For one, you can instantly capture command points, something which your flying units are not able to do. Secondly, if you do run into a group of enemy medium choppers, you should be able to bait them towards your medium anti air unit, and make mince meat out of them. Thirdly, you'll have a constant stream of TA from capturing and fortifying if you use the unit correctly.

However, if the medium AA unit is wiped out (generally by heavy air attack from the enemy) I'd suggest not calling in another ground-based unit. But for the beginning of the match, it will give you a distinct advantage over the enemy air units and give you the potential to get a few aerial recon tactical aids positioned in order to spot enemy artillery and engage them effectively.

You also get the added benefit here of having a scout chopper added to your air group, which gives you a bigger line of sight, and allows you to see both enemy medium choppers and enemy AA units before they see you, and give you adequate time to either retreat, or select the best way to engage them.


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I'll now move onto general hints when using heavy attack helicopters to harass and assault the enemy units.

FIRST THING TO DO: SET YOUR HEAVY CHOPPERS TO HOLD FIRE
The moment they are deployed, select your heavy choppers and hit G. This will instruct them to hold fire so you are able to choose which targets they attack. The choppers take a while to reload their rocket barrage, and they will generally automatically attack any enemy unit even if their barrage is going to be quite ineffective (for instance against infantry hiding within buildings) So, I stress that this is a very important thing to do, and does make a difference between the mediocre air players, and the exceptional ones.

ENGAGE ENEMY ANTI AIR AS YOUR FIRST PRIORITY It is extremely important when assaulting a group of enemy units to focus on the anti air units which are with them as your first priority. This however does not mean, engage a group of three or four heavy anti air units. One heavy attack chopper (with a hell-fire missile) will be able to take out one heavy anti air unit (which is exposed and not behind a smoke screen) without taking too much damage. Your chances of doing this are greater utilising the following strategy (assuming a one on one scenario)

Set your heavy attack helicopter to hold fire, if you haven't already. Press and hold e, which selects your special hell-fire ability. Click on the AA unit in question. This will automatically make your helicopter begin a strafing run. In order to be effective, learn how large a heavy AA unit's attack range is. You can estimate how large this is going to be in any given location on a map by holding ALT then clicking on a friendly AA unit. Once you're within the heavy AA's attack range, hit R on the keyboard to drop your flares. The hell-fire missile will fire once you're in attack range. Your dropped flares should deflect any of the incoming AA missiles.

If you're fast enough, and you've issued an attack order directly after issuing the hell-fire order – you should be able to get in with your rocket barrage and defeat the AA unit before the support player even has an idea of what is going on – however, an experienced support player would have blown smoke way before you've even had an opportunity to fire your hell-fire missile.

If this is the case, you have two options. If your flares have deflected a few missiles, and you're still in relatively good shape – and you're certain that your hell-fire has hit the enemy, press and hold F on the keyboard (which is the key for attack ground) and aim your rocket barrage at the last place your saw the AA unit before the smoke was blown. After this, retreat instantly until the smoke clears and you are certain that the unit has been defeated.


If you've got a scout helicopter with you, the IR scan ability will allow you to "see-through the smoke" and the attack ground order won't be necessary, as you'll be able to directly target the enemy unit below the smoke cloud.

These strategies apply to engaging two heavy AA units as well, except you need to be more cautious in these instances, as often one unit will be used as a decoy, whilst the other will blow smoke and engage you indirectly, and will generally be enough to chew up one or two off your choppers. This isn't an issue however if you've got a group of four heavy attack choppers in the vicinity, as you can use the hell-fire ability twice for each AA unit, which makes fast work of the AA units.

I'd strongly advise not engaging 3 or more heavy AA units which are using a tight formation, as you will take a while to reload and its likely a few helicopters could get shot down by the surviving AA unit once one or two are destroyed.

ENGAGING LARGE GROUPS OF MEDIUM AA IS NOT WISE
Many, many players who play heavy air tend to be oblivious to the danger of medium AA units. Sorry, your flares are of no worth to you here. They can't stop bullets. Engaging medium AA units is a little less risky than engaging heavy AA units, but this doesn't mean that you can't be off your game. A rocket barrage from a heavy chopper will leave the AA unit fairly damaged, but not completely destroyed. Its wise to concentrate your fire, pull back a bit to reload one quarter of the way (this is indicated by the unit icons at the bottom of the screen), then return to finish off the unit. You can use a hell-fire against them if you wish, though generally it is a waste of a hell-fire missile. The biggest group of medium AA units I'd suggest attacking is two, or three, depending on how confidently you think you can eliminate them. Whilst the medium AA unit does not have a smoke screen ability, It is able to take refuge in the cover from a tank's smoke grenade, which is something you need to be wary of.

WHEN THERE IS NO AA AROUND, ATTACK THE ENEMY ARMOUR
Concentrate your fire on heavy tanks first. Hit them from the rear, and you'll do more damage. Attack a unit that is likely to capture a command point first, or is advancing towards attacking a command point which is friendly and unfortified. Your priority however, is to first stop the enemy from capturing ground which is your own, and then prevent it from capturing neutral ground.

IF THERE IS AN ARMOUR PLAYER USING ARMOURED OR AMPHIBIOUS TRANSPORTS ATTACK THESE FIRST
Whilst these units don't do much damage to your units, concentrated fire from a few can get troublesome, especially so when the enemy has an alert medium air player or heavy or medium AA within close striking range. It is important to attack these units first to prevent excessive and unnecessary damage to your own units.

UTILISE REPAIRS
Veteran heavy choppers have a hell-fire missile which recharges dramatically faster than a fresh chopper which has just been deployed. They also are able to do increased damage, and reload much faster, allowing you to do more damage to the enemy in a shorter time.

AA FORTIFICATIONS ARE DEADLY
Avoid these where possible, especially in cases where the area has multiple command points which are contain anti air fortifications. These shoot bullets at you, and can't be stopped with your flares. When assaulting a fortified command point, destroy the anti air fortification with extreme prejudice. Use your hell-fire missiles, and concentrate your fire in order to remove the fortification as quickly as possible. If there is an armour player near by, it may be wise to remove the anti tank fortification using your hell-fire missiles, then returning to assist once the armour player has removed the anti air fortification – though note the machine gun fortification is also able to damage you, but not as severely as the anti air fortification.

ENGAGE EXPOSED INFANNTRY USING ATTACK GROUND
Though your role does not apply directly to destroy infantry, sometimes you are able to provide fire support against infantry units. Don't attack them directly, instead use the attack ground order "F" in order to fire a rocket barrage at them and decimate the squad.

The following tips apply to both heavy and medium air players – so I'll mention the following three as a transition before taking about medium air strategies.

USE AERIAL RECON
The aerial recon TA is cheap cheap cheap for an air player. 5TA to be able to spot your enemy's artillery and what sort of force that have can be priceless in order to get an early advantage over the enemy.

LURE ENEMY CHOPPERS TOWARDS ANTI AIR UNITS
Whether these be fortifications, heavy AA units, or medium AA units, or friendly medium choppers, you're likely to lure an inexperienced enemy air player toward danger and potential death.

KEEP MOVING AND DON'T GET CAUGHT IN AN AIR TO AIR STRIKE
Don't stay in the same area for more than 12 seconds. Keep moving in a circular motion around your enemy, putting some distance between yourself and the potential zones for where an air to air strike could potentially come in.







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Medium Chopper Specific

Again, it can be wise to include a scout chopper in your initial deployment, as you'll have a greater line of sight, and be able to enage enemy units from a distance.

When engaging enemy air units, the following are ideal:

CONCENTRATE YOUR FIRE
Remove units individually and don't fire sporadically on random units. Focus your fire and you'll break the enemy morale and lower their units numbers, which is important in a dog fight.

TWO SPECIALS THEN GUN THEM DOWN
When engaging medium choppers, fire two sidewinder missiles then gun down the enemy. Be sure to wait until after your foe has dropped their flares, or try to catch them off guard when using the special ability. Try to fire your specials from the more damaged units first, as the enemy is likely to target these first.

CHOOSE CAREFULLY WHEN TO DROP YOUR OWN FLARES
While I can't give any specific advice on when to do this, generally if you're the one called off guard, and you've been hit by one sidewinder missile in a dogfight, its likely that more are coming, and that is a good moment to drop your flares. However, if you are the aggressor, it can sometimes be wiser to wait for some retaliation from the enemy before dropping your own flares.

REMEMBER THE HOT KEYS E AND R
E allows you to select your special, R will drop your flares.


The support role is potentially the most important part of any World in Conflict team which is going to be successful. The support player's primary role is to provide Anti Air and Repairs on the battlefield. The Support player is also able to utilise artillery in order to suppress enemy advancements, and in the correct hands can be a deadly area-denial technique, or alternatively can allow enemy units to be softened up for the forward ground forces. However, support does not have the sole role of commanding artillery. A support player who uses three heavy artillery units and nothing more is generally more detrimental to their team than helpful.

Sure, you can have fun pounding the enemy into the ground, but you're lacking a real ground presence at the front lines as the artillery units are not designed for this task. Due to the incredible depth and scope of the support role, I'll be discussing the two completely different play styles. Firstly, we'll look at the player who is going to be using artillery (and going to be using it to help the team, not just spam enemy control points!) - and following that, the front line support player who provides anti air and repairs to team mates.

I will begin with the artillery based support player.


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Suggested Initial Deployment Artillery Support Player:
There is generally one successful combination for this – and one that allows you to also have a fairly good ground presence early on. I cannot stress this enough: DO NOT CALL IN TWO HEAVY ARTILLERY UNITS AT THE BEGINNING OF A MATCH. I know that statement will be ignored by the majority of artillery support players, but it's fine, you don't have to follow this guide to the letter. And yes, this deployment means ONE heavy artillery unit. You may be able to call in a second one later, but this depends on whether or not you are going to be any merit to your team other than fire support. This often relies on having one or two other support players dedicated to anti air and repairs and supporting armour players.

Nonetheless, onwards with the suggested deployment:
1xHeavy Artillery
1xHeavy AA Unit
1xMedium AA Unit
1xTroop Transport

Move your artillery to an inconspicuous location. This should be the first thing you do. On each of the maps, there are a lot of spots where support players generally tend to "hide" their artillery units. These locations are not effective. Find a location which is not immediately obvious, and try to change this location on a regular basis. Don't be predictable in your artillery unit placement.

Secondly, utilise your heavy and medium AA unit to assist an armour player on a flank, or at the rear of the lines. The troop transport can be used to fortify command points, and repair friendly choppers and tanks that have retreated.

Once the initial deployment phase is over, your next task is to call in a repair tank, another heavy anti air unit, and (depending on whether you've encountered infantry), a medium artillery unit to benefit from the phosphorous shells. Don't station your AA right next to your artillery unit, and depending on how much action there is from enemy air, be careful with your AA placement, an experienced air player isn't deterred with three heavy AA units sitting around your artillery, they will know to use hit and run tactics with dropping flares to rip you to shreds. So generally, its not worth wasting deployment points having AA units baby-sit your artillery. If the unit is going to be destroyed, it is going to be destroyed. Don't give yourself a false sense of security and waste points by having units sit there idle. Use those AA units up at the front lines to support a player, and provide fire support and artillery smoke shells on a regular basis to help conceal damaged or retreating units, or to hide an advance.


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USING ARTILLERY EFFECTIVELY

LEAD YOUR TARGETS
Don't drop the artillery salvos directly on top of the enemy. Anticipate their movements, and lead the target, attacking the ground in the direction they are advancing. This will make for more successful and a higher likelihood of hitting the enemy target rather than wasting a shell.

UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL
The better placement you have for your artillery units means that you'll be closer the action, and be able to fire upon the enemy more accurately and faster. Splash damage and potential spread of shells will be minimised, and you'll be able to target the enemy more effectively.

USE THE SMOKE SCREEN
So many artillery players out there are too busy spamming random points on a map that have no enemy activity whatsoever. Most of them don't seem to even realise that the heavy artillery unit has a smoke screen special ability. This ability is INVALUABLE. You can conceal a collection of friendly units, or blind the enemy to your actions by firing the smoke projectile on their position.

FIRE ONE BARRAGE AND MOVE
Never keep your artillery unit still. Against an experienced player of any class, you'll give away your position extremely quickly – its more obvious when using the American / NATO MLRS artillery unit, but an experienced player will be able to tell where the soviet artillery is coming from as well.

PICK YOUR TARGETS
Focus on firing on units that are a direct threat to friendly units at the front line. For instance, if there are a column off enemy tanks and a group of anti tank infantry moving towards a friendly squadron of tanks, target the anti tank infantry first. These pose a greater threat to the friendly tank squadron, which isn't able to engage the anti tank infantry directly and effectively.

MLRS SPECIFIC ADVICE (AMERICAN & NATO HEAVY ARTILLERY UNIT)
Though the MLRS Artillery Unit (American and NATO Heavy Artillery) does less damage in its initial hits – it has one distinct advantage over the Soviet Artillery unit – being able to change the strike zone in the middle of an artillery barrage. This can allow you to make fine adjustments to the trajectory of the barrage and to more easily hit moving targets.

It is even MORE Important to constantly move the MLRS as it is very easy to identify the general location of the artillery unit. You can even move the MLRS unit while firing a barrage!
MEDIUM ARTILLERY SPECIFIC
The medium artillery unit is devastating against infantry and light vehicles when used effectively. The White phosphorous ability enables you to remove infantry taking refugee within forests, and decimates the cover for them also. It is also effective and softening up light vehicles, and can sometimes do some pretty significant damage to them. With the use of the phosphorous rounds, it is important to lead the target, and utilise the area of effect to try and cut off any points of retreat once the infantry realise that the heat shell is on the way.

Also, although it appears obvious, bear in mind your artillery shells have a trajectory. So don't sit an artillery unit behind a building and expect everything to be all well and good the as the artillery shell can potentially hit the building you are hiding behind, and detonate, damaging your own unit.




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Now, onto supporting an armour player with anti air and repairs.

Suggested Initial Deployment: Support, Anti Air and Repairs
2xHeavy Anti Air Units
2xMedium Anti Air Units
1xRepair Tank

This is a perfect deployment for a support player who is going to be backing up an armour player with anti air and repairs. Move with the armour player, keep your units behind the tanks, and most importantly, pick your positioning very careful. Collaborating with the armour player is your key to success.

The above armour strategies are very similar to Support in terms of managing your units and moving them about. Never stay still, a tank buster run is just as lethal to yourself as it is to an armour player.

Utilise a mixture of both heavy and medium anti air units. Using only heavy anti air units is detrimental to your versatility as a support player, as if the chopper player drops their flares and moves off, those a are a few vital missiles which are wasted, while the flares do nothing to stop the bullets from your medium anti air unit.

Use your medium anti air units to capture the rear line, (always with another player to maximise TA points and your team's score) And then move these up to the front along with your heavy anti air units and repair tank.


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I'll now move onto general hints and strategies for effectively providing decent AA cover to your team mates.

TEAM UP WITH AN ARMOUR PLAYER
This will allow you to help them, while they will keep you (relatively) safe from enemy armour. Always allow the enemy armour player to take the front line, and capture perimeter points with them to the rear.

BLOW SMOKE WHEN AN ENEMY HEAVY CHOPPER APPROACHES
As long as any friendly unit is able to see the chopper, and the chopper is in your attack range, the heavy AA unit will be able to fire upon it. Repair tanks and lone heavy tanks from an armour player are good at soaking up a bit of damage while you move other units in to intercept the choppers.

BLOW SMOKE SEQUENTIALLY
The same as what a good armour player will do. Don't blow the smoke from five units at once.

SPREAD OUT YOUR UNITS AND OVERLAP THEIR ATTACK RANGES
This is more important for a support player when compared to an armour player - and especially so for your anti air units. You will be more vulnerable in the open, and an experienced air player will hit your AA units fast and hard. Therefore, it is important to overlap your heavy AA units attack range to ensure at least partial cover against enemy choppers should they choose to attack a specific unit.

DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF MEDIUM AA
This is an error a lot of support players tend to make. Using only heavy anti air units won't get you very far, as if the chopper pilots drop flares, your heavy AA will become redundant very quickly. The flares however do nothing to stop the bullets from the medium AA.

ATTACK HEAVY CHOPPERS FIRST
These pose the greatest threat to your unit, and must be taken care of first when engaging a mixed group of choppers.

CONCENTRATE YOUR FIRE ON A SINGLE UNIT
Remove enemy units and concentrate your fire until the unit is destroyed. Continue this, then move on to target the next unit.

DON'T ENGAGE HEAVY TANKS WITH GROUND SUPPORT FROM THE MEDIUM AA
You will not dent their armour. The only thing you should be using the ground support ability from the medium AA to engage are the following units: Light Vehicles (Troop transports, Jeeps, and transport trucks) Infantry (engage Anti Tank infantry from a distance), and other anti air units.

USE REPAIRS
Repairing your own units is an integral part of the support role. However, it is integral to be balanced in both repairs and AA cover.

REMEMBER THE REPAIR TANK HAS THE EMERGENCY REPAIR ABILITY
Though you shouldn't be using this as an instant "life saving" ability to repair a damaged tank or AA unit, it does help to increase the survivability of the unit. The emergency repair ability is especially so useful when repairing friendly air units, as they can swoop over your position, hover for a moment, receive emergency repairs, then make their way back into the battle. My recommendation is a maximum of two or three repair units on the battlefield, along with a balanced group of both heavy and medium AA units.

REMEMBER, STICK WITH AN ARMOUR PLAYER
And constantly give them repairs and anti air cover. Keep moving and leave your units spread out enough so that you have fire groups along with the armour player – 1 heavy tank, 1 medium AA, and some roaming heavy AA and repair tanks which can patrol the area between – as it is important to keep moving


camerafreedom 1
While World in Conflict has a very unique camera system (which is intuitive and allows you to view any portion of the map at pretty much any zoom level), the camera is by default limited to a set series of values in terms of altitude, zoom, and rotation. This is more noticeable at the borders of a map, where it can get very annoying. Fortunately, the camerafreedom 1 variable removes these limitations and allows for even better camera controls.

"Cool, but how do I use it?" I hear you all screaming – the first thing you need to do is change the target of your shortcut to World in Conflict in order to allow access to the developer console while in game. To do this, right-click on your shortcut, select properties, and in the target box where the Operating System is pointing to your WiC executable file, append to the end "-console".

When in game, hit the tilde key (~) and this will bring up the console. Type camerafreedom 1, and be prepared to experience World in Conflict in an entirely new way. I find this camera mode most useful when playing air, placing TA strikes, and using artillery.

Displaying Unit Attack Range
This is a commonly overlooked feature of the game, but can be very valuable when evaluating where to go / how to attack an approaching or entrenched enemy unit. You can check any friendly unit's line of sight and attack range by clicking on the unit while holding down the ALT key on your keyboard.

For units that have a range of fire, like artillery units and the heavy attack helicopter, you will see two circles, a green circle that represents minimum attack range, and an outer red or black circle (this varies on the unit in question) that displays maximum range.

How is this useful? You are able to attack anything within this range, even if you don't have a direct line of sight on the unit or thing you want to attack. Tanks and the heavy attack chopper (along with artillery and some other units) have an attack ground option. With a combination of this, and careful placement, you are able to destroy enemy fortifications while being out of their attack range, allowing your units to not be harmed. This is particularly useful for the armour player wanting to remove an anti tank fortification.

Snapping the Camera to your Drop Zone or Units.
Another tip which I find isn't that well known out there in the community. Hitting the space bar will automatically move the camera to your drop zone.

In order for you to move the camera directly to a unit, you can right click on its icon in the unit list.

Hiding the Game Interface:
If you hit the F10 Key on the keyboard the interface will be hidden. This is useful for making videos of game play – but not that practical in terms of actual game play – one for the film-makers out there!

Unit Health bars
This is one setting I suggest all players enable – its in the gameplay options on the main menu. This option is called "Health Bars Always on" This will enable the display of both friendly and enemy health bars at all times when they are within line of sight. This is extremely useful and far more intuitive than holding down the "H" key just to check to whether you really do need to use that hell-fire missile or TOW missile against that enemy.

Unit Management
For ideal efficiency, especially if you're splitting up your units to fight on two or more fronts, it is best to create fire teams. In order to do this, select the units which you want to create a fire team out of – for instance a heavy tank and a medium tank, and then press Ctrl+1 to create fire team 1. When you hit "1" on your keyboard, these units are instantly selected. In order to create fire team 2-9, simply use Ctrl+[Number] in order to assign these fire teams / unit groups.

Furthermore, within a fire team, if you have units with different special abilities, you are able to scroll through these special abilities by pressing Shift+R on the keyboard. This can be most useful for air players, as Shift+R will change between hell-fire missiles and the sidewinder / stinger missiles that the medium and heavy choppers have respectively. The same applies for an armour player managing a group of medium and heavy tanks.





Hotkeys of notoriety

C: VOIP
If you have a microphone, please use it, you are able to coordinate with teammates much more effectively and create / discuss complex strategies.

Shift+R: Special Abilities
As discussed above: within a fire team, if you have units which each have different special abilities, you are able to scroll through these special abilities by pressing Shift+R on the keyboard. This can be most useful for air players, as Shift+R will change between hell-fire missiles and the sidewinder / stinger missiles that the medium and heavy choppers have respectively. The same applies for an armour player managing a group of medium and heavy tanks.

Spacebar: Move Camera
Move the camera to the drop zone.

Alt: Attack Range
Shows the attack range of the selected unit

E (press and hold): Use unit special ability
This can be a little tricky at first, as you need to press E and then click the unit or area which you want to use the special ability on.

R: Use unit defensive ability
This will work instantly on the selected unit or group of units. So if you've got a tank and hit R, or a group of tanks, they will deploy their smoke grenades.

F: Attack Ground
Only available to some units, this will allow them to attack the ground or an area on the ground. Also works against buildings.

Shift+N: Move Backwards
Ground units have varying armour strengths. Tanks have weaker armour in the rear. This means that when retreating, Moving backwards means that the most armoured part of your unit is facing the enemy. This will reduce the damage you take and increase the durability and survivability of your unit.

N: Force Move
Will instruct a unit to move over the area which you click. Useful for running over infantry.

G: Hold Fire
A unit will NOT attack unless it is ordered to do so for you. Especially useful for infantry hiding in forests or buildings awaiting an enemy tank column or vehicle. The stealth bonus from buildings and forests is greater when holding fire, and is instantly negated once the unit opens fire. Useful for other classes also!

Backspace: Chat to everyone!
It is annoying at first when you don't actually realise this feature exists – I know that for myself I spent a lot of time hitting enter, then moving the mouse to change the default option "To Team" to "To All" just to say something! Though this is probably common knowledge by now, I thought I would add it to cover all bases as it was something which annoyed me personally a lot at first

F10: Hide Interface
As discussed above, will hide the interface.

V: Tactical Aid menu
Brings up the tactical aid menu.

B: Deployment menu
Brings up the deployment menu.

I: Follow Unit
Pressing I then clicking on a friendly unit will instruct that unit to follow the other unit. This is useful for support players with repair tanks or AA units which are backing up an armour player.

Y: Enter Nearest Transport
Useful for infantry players. Instead of manually loading units into transports, the Y key will instruct the squad to move into the nearest available transport.

U: Unload Transport
Self explanatory, and a lot faster than clicking the tiny unload unit button in the unit menu.

H: Enter Nearest Building
Will instruct an infantry squad to enter the nearest building or structure and garrison it.

Z: Change Formation
WiC currently has two unit formations available, line and box. A line formation will maximise your concentrated firepower. A box formation is ideal for moving through narrow, difficult to get through locations, and also beneficial to air players.

T: STOP
Will instruct your unit to stop the current action it is doing. This can cancel a move order, or an attack order. Useful when realising there is a tank buster or other hazard about that you don't want to move into.