Starting Tips | Steel Division 2 Steel Division 2 guide, tips

Steel Division 2 can be difficult for new players. It is worth reading a few tips to better master the basics of managing your army.

1. Capture strategic points! Having more flags will help you win the game. What counts the most isn't the number of destroyed units or controlled areas, but the number of controlled strategic points is condition for winning. If you have more of them than the opponent, the "health" bar of that faction will start to decline. The more points you control, the faster you will achieve victory.
2. ...Scout the area! Units in this category have a very high level of optics and detection of enemy units. Thus, your long-range units will be able to quickly start a fight with opponents located farther away. Infantry units from this category have very good camouflage. Thanks to this, you can place them in the correct position on the map and observe the battlefield. Knowing the position of the enemy is half the battle!

1. Don't rely on one type of troops! The main mistake of many players is the habit known from the classic RTS games where tanks are the best and universal units. Yes, tanks are still the most important element of the offensive, and they are very dangerous units. However, without infantry support, reconnaissance and aviation, a very valuable Tiger (a German heavy tank) can be hopeless when it gets shot by a hidden anti-tank gun. The same goes for swarming the enemy with waves of infantry units - this tactic won't work if the enemy has a few machine gun and mortar posts. In this way, you will only lose your units, just like the Red Army did.
2. Check out the unit statistics. As for infantry, their numbers and equipment are important. It is best if the troops have anti-tank weapons. Thanks to that, you can fight with tanks in the woods and buildings. Pay attention to what means of transport they use to enter the battlefield - armored trucks are very useful and can still be used on the battlefield. In the case of tanks, their most important aspects are their armor and cannon caliber. Other aspects that matter are high mobility, a quantity of ammunition and recruitment cost in points will also be useful. Recon should have very good optics (the detection range of the units) and a high level of camouflage.

This group of tanks is supported by reconnaissance units and mobile anti-tank guns. Luckily for them, there are only a few infantry units here, but equipped with anti-tank weapons. Red Army should send infantry with tanks to avoid losses.

1. Move in groups, not individual units. Despite having the thickest armor, a single tank won't defeat enemies it can't see. Therefore, always move the units in groups, for example, tanks and scout vehicles, infantry and support vehicle, etc. Single units are easy to eliminate. If you move them in groups, even those with worse stats will have a chance to survive thanks to their numbers.

The leader increases the level of experience of nearby units, so the defense on the hill will be effective in attacking and may last longer.

1. Experience and Leaders. On the battlefield, you can call regular units (without experience) and veterans on the first and second levels. Such units not only fight better and shoot more accurately but also have increased morale, move faster, have better optics, etc. Leaders are special units that can increase the level of experience of units that are nearby. Thus, you can easily increase the efficiency of a large number of troops. Moreover, units near the leaders never surrender! Take care of such units, because they are expensive and very valuable for your army.

The column of tanks and trucks is an easy target for the enemy. There should be a reconnaissance vehicle in front of you that will quickly detect enemy units and take on enemy fire..

1. Don't send infantry in trucks/tanks without support to an unknown area. This is quite prosaic advice, but your troops will keep moving to their destination, ignoring the presence of the enemy. Trucks will automatically land troops if they come under fire. Armored personnel carriers have a good chance to withstand the first series of enemy attacks, but conventional trucks are most often destroyed during the first attack, along with transported units. As for tanks, they will respond with fire while driving, and they are more difficult to destroy because of the armor. However, they have very weak optics. This makes them easy prey for hidden cannons. Therefore, it is very important to...

1. Capture strategic points! Having more flags will help you win the game. What counts the most isn't the number of destroyed units or controlled areas, but the number of controlled strategic points is condition for winning. If you have more of them than the opponent, the "health" bar of that faction will start to decline. The more points you control, the faster you will achieve victory.
2. ...Scout the area! Units in this category have a very high level of optics and detection of enemy units. Thus, your long-range units will be able to quickly start a fight with opponents located farther away. Infantry units from this category have very good camouflage. Thanks to this, you can place them in the correct position on the map and observe the battlefield. Knowing the position of the enemy is half the battle!

If you can still see enemy territory that does not decrease or increase its area, there are certainly several hidden enemy units there (1). This works the other way around: in the picture above, the red infantry unit has easily taken over several strategic points and a large part of the area, because there are no troops (2). Watch out for scouts, however, they have no influence on the front and can lurk for your units.

1. Watch the front line. The front line is one of the most important elements of the game. It determines the control of strategic points and affects your units. If your troops are not on your territory, they lose morale faster and can surrender! You can also surround the enemy to cut them off from the main control area, thus defeating them faster. Some types of troops do not move the front line, for example, recon units. The more units you have, the more land you will get. And vice versa, the fewer units you have, the faster and more terrain you lose.

In this picture you can see how easy it is to design an effective bridge defense. Here you can see some important information: the advanced scout (1) provides valuable information for the anti-tank cannons and machine guns (2). The enemy's strike team was pinned down by artillery fire (3). The stress bar, also known as morale, is filled and forced some units to flee (4).

1. Units morale - each unit has a red bar depicting their morale (just above its icon). If your unit feels good, the bar is invisible. When it gets under heavy fire, the panel becomes visible and will begin to fill up. Different types of troops react differently to enemy fire, for example, infantry is vulnerable to artillery fire and flamethrowers, and tanks panic faster under massive fire, which may not even penetrate the armor. Units can panic, flee, and in the worst case, surrender. Also, they will not allow other units to surrender to the enemy in their (leader's) range.

Blue hid its troops in buildings, so when the red troops left the forest they were overwhelmed by the enemy. Buildings provide a bonus to reduce damage, while red units were in the open air.

1. Use covers. This is especially important for soft units, e.g. infantry, anti-tank guns, machine guns, mortars, etc. If you place them in forests, trenches or buildings, these units will receive a bonus to defense. The enemy has reduced accuracy and your troops will receive less damage. In addition, covers provide camouflage and increase the level of hiding. This is especially useful when you want to run away from a strong enemy or ambush, for example, a column of tanks.

Use the Field of Vision tool under the "C" key to position your units wisely. You will check what the unit will "see" at that point. Also, you will see the distances at that point. Of course you need to know the range of the weapon of the chosen unit, but for example most tanks and anti-tank guns can shoot at 2 kilometers.

1. The "C" key is your friend - this is a Line of Sight tool. This is an extremely valuable option that can change the situation on the battlefield. When you press and hold the key, you will see a special ruler that will show you the field of view at the selected point and distance. You will see what obstacles on the ground block the range and how far a person can see in this spot. The ruler takes into account forests, buildings, and even the height and shape of the terrain. This is a great help in determining which areas can be dangerous, which position for your anti-tank gun is the best, and whether this buildings will be good for your machine gun allowing it to secure all the directions.

1. Don't rely on one type of troops! The main mistake of many players is the habit known from the classic RTS games where tanks are the best and universal units. Yes, tanks are still the most important element of the offensive, and they are very dangerous units. However, without infantry support, reconnaissance and aviation, a very valuable Tiger (a German heavy tank) can be hopeless when it gets shot by a hidden anti-tank gun. The same goes for swarming the enemy with waves of infantry units - this tactic won't work if the enemy has a few machine gun and mortar posts. In this way, you will only lose your units, just like the Red Army did.
2. Check out the unit statistics. As for infantry, their numbers and equipment are important. It is best if the troops have anti-tank weapons. Thanks to that, you can fight with tanks in the woods and buildings. Pay attention to what means of transport they use to enter the battlefield - armored trucks are very useful and can still be used on the battlefield. In the case of tanks, their most important aspects are their armor and cannon caliber. Other aspects that matter are high mobility, a quantity of ammunition and recruitment cost in points will also be useful. Recon should have very good optics (the detection range of the units) and a high level of camouflage.

In this assault group I cannot summon many scouts and tanks. That's why I decided to use inexperienced troops to increase their number. In turn infantry and anti-tank guns are the core of this battle group.

1. Create a balanced battlegroup. The more diverse the battlegroup, the better. First, you should focus on several types of units, so you won't get confused with the number of possible options. You should always have recon, a large number of infantry, tanks and anti-tank guns. A wise move is to get at least one unit with a very powerful anti-tank gun. Almost every battlegroup has at least one very strong and dangerous armored vehicle (Tiger, Panther, KV, IS, Churchill, Sherman Jumbo). Therefore, it is necessary to have the right unit for such an enemy. If you want to have a lot of aircraft, don't add too many anti-aircraft guns (and vice versa). If you want to have more artillery, don't forget about the supply trucks.