General hints | Controls PlanetSide 2 Guide
Last update: 11 May 2016
Player character and the basics for survival
1. Stick to your squad. In PlanetSide 2 cooperation is the key to success. Playing solo does not yield results comparable to the ones that you achieve while playing as a team, where each one of the players is trying hard to serve as a support to his brothers in arms. The exchange of fire with the enemy units, without the support of the allied forces, usually ends in death, for lone wolves.
2. Possibility of a single soldier. The unit that you are controlling, throughout the game, represents a negligible combat value and, what is important, it is only a single fighter of one of the warring factions. What is important, under no circumstances, is it an invincible unit or a mighty hero, just a regular man. The fact that you are controlling a professional soldier does not make the fact that you might feel like a killer machine, like Rambo, any more true. In PlanetSide 2 it is recommend that you exercise caution and self-restraint in your actions, because a single well-aimed burst of an assault rifle, ends your life immediately.
3. Cautious and protected. Each one of the players has an identical health meter and armor meter (with a few exceptions). Runs with the same speed and can jump at the same height. In theory, therefore, their chances in the battlefield are identical. The differences between individual soldiers give you the ability to craft upgrades for the weapon that you are using, protection (e.g. you receive less damage from explosions) or the super ability - separate for each of the classes. It is worth noting here that they do not introduce any ground-breaking differences so, you should not be too cocky. The risk of getting shot straight in-between the eyes, from an experienced player, is not that much higher as getting one from a novice.
4. Keep vigilant at all times. Although impossible, it would be advisable to grow eyes around your head. As it has already been stated in the previous points, each player can die, no exceptions. Often quickly and in a naive way. While moving around the territories, where there are battles fought, and especially, when you are close to the enemy base, you can be reached by a lethal bullet from each side. You know neither the day nor the hour. Traveling, whether alone, or in a group, should always be pre-planned and careful. Keeping a careful eye on the surroundings may often save the entire squad from an ambush, or allow you to spot groups of enemies and perform a successful attack from behind. A very good solution is using the locking option, with the "Q" key, thanks to which you can detect the enemies. Once you direct the cursor at the enemy and press the key, there will appear his faction's sign above his head, which will be visible for all your allies (also on the minimap screen). If you, however, do the same on an ally, you will access the interaction screen, thanks to which you will be able to send that soldier a message, or invite them to your friends.
5. Wise journeys. In the case of buildings - which are quite big in PlanetSide 2, and they have many levels and passages, - you also need to keep vigil, just like in the case of combing through open areas. There is nothing worse (not to say the most stupid) than to dash headlong into a room full of enemy soldiers, which are armed to teeth. Before you enter a complex occupied by the opponent, or which you suspect may be occupied by them, it pays off to take a careful peek through the windows, send out a sniper for reconnaissance (invisibility) or simply to get inside, carefully, although firmly, and with weapon ready to be fired (after you walk into a building, it is a good idea to zoom in, or simply to enter the aiming mode).
Character classes and their roles
1. Diversion. Often, when the frontline remains unchanged, and the units of the enemy factions remain in the same positions, many people can get the idea to get the enemy from behind. This kind of diversion has its upsides and downsides. Atarting with the negative sides, it is worth noting that pulling off such an action, while solo, is very difficult, especially in the situation in which you have the character class unsuitable for that. For this role, the best would be an infiltrator (sniper) due to his special ability and the long range weapon. However, a lightly armored assault soldier, thanks to his high mobility, would not turn out to be much worse. The matters change drastically in the case of Max who, in spite of the large firepower that he packs, is sluggish, or the medic, or the engineer, who are predisposed, predominantly, towards serving as a support for the squad. Apart from that, while sneaking behind the enemy lines, which usually takes some time, you may be spotted by random players, or the ones that wait in less-visible places on purpose, to get the macho-men like you. However, a flawless infiltration of the enemy's key positions and elimination of the key characters, e.g. the gunner or the medic, allows your squad to break the enemy defense. Unfortunately, you also need to take into account the fact that, without experience and practice to speak of, at the beginning, you will be able to take out one, two, or maybe three enemy soldiers before you are spotted and killed. Orchestrating of such sojourns is definitely a good move, although, without voice communication, effecting commandeering is difficult.
2. The power of Max. Under no circumstances, should you get involved in a direct fire exchange with Max. It is an additional character class, a well-armored combat mech that murders regular infantry without any problems. Also, the heavy assault soldier stands no chance against it, although he has a rifle of high fire power, falls to Max's fire as quickly as a medic or any other class. So, if you see a Max, the best thing that you can do is get away from there, as quickly as possible. Only soldiers that focus on him all the fire power that they pack (especially if they have rocket launchers and C4 explosives) and of course, vehicles and aircraft, can match up against it. It is not too difficult to escape from Max, because this unit is very sluggish and it is able to speed up only temporarily - the charge. The Max can, of course, speed up with each step it takes but, this takes long enough to escape safely.
3. Deceit and ambush. Sometimes, organizing ambushes for soldiers under way to their seizing point, or a convoy (organized groups of players, often heavily mechanized) allows you to obliterate the enemy and decrease the combat value of the entire enterprise. A good use of the terrain and the element of surprise, in combination with the appropriate assignment of soldiers to various roles, is a key to succeeding. When it comes to appropriate assignment, what is meant here is the assignment of each of the classes with specific tasks. What follows, the heavy assault soldiers and drivers (most usually they are engineers) should focus on destroying the enemy tanks, snipers on eliminating the key figures in the infantry (medics, enemy infiltrators), thanks to well-aimed headshots.
4. Good orchestrator. Good organization is also important during defense, when you defend your base, just like in the case of attacking, e.g. enemy outposts. At this moment, it is a good idea to take a closer look at the priorities of the individual classes. The percentage experience, which you receive for various actions (they have been explained in depth later on in this guide) are tightly connected with the types of units. And so, engineers will be rewarded for repairing vehicles, which cannot be performed by medics, who are responsible for healing and rejuvenating of allies. The exception are, of course, joint actions, including murdering of enemies, or destroying generators. Max units and assault soldiers are perfect for covering their allies with fire and, they are capable of create powerful fire power within a short period of time. The light assault soldier and the infiltrator, on the other hand, are best in situations where you require speed and precision. The former, thanks to the jetpack, reaches the inaccessible areas with ease, and he also is a master of losing the enemy units. The latter, on the other hand, can become invisible with one click. And also deprive someone of their life, in one shot.
5. Sharpshooter. The players who are privy to the sniper rifle may cause a lot of distress to many players. Infiltrators can become invisible, take out each opponent in one bullet, even at the distance of hundreds of meters, ant their favorite place to appear is behind the enemy back. In order to save yourself from these assassins, it is worth knowing about the two faults that they are haunted by. Although they become invisible, their silhouettes can still be seen, which is very helpful, if you try not to lose one from your sight. Apart from that, at the moment at which they initiate their ability, they generate a specific sound, which should alarm you to danger immediately.
6. Engineer, ergo driver. Both ground and airborne vehicles should be piloted by the engineer. This is so for a simple reason. In case in which the vehicle receives some serious damage, he can stop the tank, or land the plane and repair it with the right tools. This allows him to return to the battlefield without any damage.
7. Medic's characteristics. The task of medics is to heal the wounded brothers in arms and to rejuvenate them, should they kick the bucket. This concerns a situation, in which the corpse of an allied soldier, who has just been killed, stays in a dangerous area. There is no point in rejuvenating such soldiers, because they will be killed over again, even before they manage to take the first step by concentrated enemy fire, or notorious salvos fired from cannons. In such a stalemate situation, it is better to concentrate, first of all, on eliminating the threat, or on temporary curbing of the enemy fire, so that the deceased can quickly take cover. When neither is viable, you can try the conventional method until you succeed.
Ground vehicles and aircraft
1. Fighting on vehicles and aircraft. All kinds of tanks and transporters in the game, off-road cars or aircraft, may often literally kill a single soldier in one shot. Attacking them on your own makes no sense whatsoever, unless they are at the brink of destruction. In theory, you can attempt attacking an ATV (Flash), the light combat car (Harasser) or the jet (the name depends on the faction) however, without a rocket launcher - and especially, with the self-guiding rockets, this is rather demanding. As much as, shooting, against the abovementioned vehicles, may be effective, shooting your machine gun against tanks or cargo aircraft is nothing short of wasting ammo. They can be defeated by the other machines of their own kind, mines or rockets, but in large quantities.
2. Death by running over. Apart from the fact that the tank can smash you to pieces with its gun, it can also run you over. The same holds true for allied vehicles and you had better get out of their way if the driver is some psycho. Unfortunately, head on collisions with any machine results in immediate death of your character. It is worth warning the engineers here, who are often standing behind their colleagues, while they are repairing the vehicle. If the driver will have to retreat quickly, he will often forget about your presence - you will be as dead as if you were run over by a road roller.
3. Respawning of machines. This holds true for both land vehicles and aircraft, which you can buy for yourself. First of all, if you spawn the aircraft at the HQ and you want to land in the destination to load passengers, you need to watch out for poles and buildings, where you can easily get stuck. If you find yourself under a roofing, there will be no way to take off again and, you will have to leave the aircraft. The second matter is the special platforms, where the vehicles that you purchase appear. It is not recommended that you stand on these, because you will be immediately squashed by tons of metal, should anyone want to spawn a vehicle.
4. Evacuation of vehicles. Whenever you are sitting behind the wheel of a vehicle, or you are a regular passenger, and your vehicle is at the brink of destruction, it is better to take the risk and disembark. In situations in which you stay inside the vehicle, you are bound to die in the explosion. Still, if you decide to escape, you may stand a chance to survive. If there are no enemy soldiers, tanks or jets, there is a chance that you will be able to make it and hide in safety. It is always a better solution than wait for death.
5. Aircraft jumps. The situation is the same in the case of planes and it is here that the issue of the height creeps in. If the aircraft is nearly destroyed, you can jump off the plane and survive, on condition that you are not flying too high. There always are the odds of still having some health, after you fall to the ground, or you happen to fall onto an elevation. The exception that is worth mentioning here is the huge cargo plane (Galaxy), which is used for landing paratroopers. The commandoes that use it do not have any parachutes and they simply fall to the ground without taking damage. In this case, this aircraft creates the convenient conditions for evacuation, in the case of threat.
Terrain and objects
1. Falls from heights. In PlanetSide 2, the units that you control are very much immune to falls from quite considerable heights. They can even take jumps that would which would take any regular being to hospital, with both of his legs broken. Unfortunately, the threshold of taking damage, or dying, is very difficult to assess here. A situation in which, in spite of your best guess, your character dies, although it may seem that he will lose even less than a half of his health bar, is also possible. What is interesting, sliding down a steep slope can also kill you, with even higher probability. What a treacherous terrain!
2. Landform features. More about the treacherous land. If you ever get the idea to take a shortcut over such terrain, you should watch each of the steps that you take. You will often die in a silly way, by taking a bullet to the head, only because you will be, in no way, capable of getting out of a depression, or jump onto a boulder. In PlanetSide 2 running even over gentle slopes usually ends in sliding down that slope. If you do not have the jetpack on your back, just in case, take the path over plain terrain.
3. Generators. As you know, at the base, there are various generators, whose function has been thoroughly described in the further chapters. Of course, the objective of each soldier is to destroy these generators at the enemy base. After you activate the auto-destruction mode on the generator, a countdown starts, which informs you of the time necessary to complete deactivation. Once this countdown runs out, the generator explodes. It goes without saying that the soldiers located nearby, die instantaneously as a result of blast.