M2 SLAM Landmine Guide - Battlefield 4

The M2 SLAM (Selectable Lightweight Attack Munition) is a land mine that only works against vehicles and there are several strategies in their use in Battlefield 4 that I would like to share to help you successfully use them.  Before the tips I would like to clarify something about their description in Battllog which is rather vague. 

M2 SLAM “Selectable Lightweight Attack Munition usable as either an off-route Anti-Tank mine or a traditional land mine. Blast damage is less than the M15, but is still capable of a Mobility Critical on heavily armored vehicles.”

The slam only does not work against infantry, only vehicles.  You are given an inventory of three slams, but you can only deploy three slams at a time unless you use the ant-tank field perk and work your way up the field upgrades, which will also allow you to have more in your inventory.    

SLAMs are sticky.

Sticking a M2 SLAM mine onto a tank in Battlefield 4

The most unique feature of the slams is they can be stuck to the sides of buildings, fences, rocks etc.  When deployed in this fashion they are very difficult to spot by the enemy making it likely they will do some serious damage.

You can also stick slams to unoccupied vehicles.  When an enemy takes off in them they will detonate and either destroy or seriously damage a tank. 

Using SLAMs like c4

SLAMs stick to vehicles in BF4, so you can use them a lot like c4.  Toss three slams on a tank and run away.  As soon as the tank achieves a certain speed the slams will detonate and destroy the tank.  i like to use this in combination with rockets  like the MBT-LAW.  It can take 4 or more rockets to destroy a healthy tank, and if you are attacking alone is more than likely you’ll be killed before you can get enough rockets into it.  If your close enough to the tank you can run up to it, stick on some slams run a short distance, turn and fire a rocket into the area with the slams and boom, dead tank.   

SLAMs work in water

Tossing a M2 SLAM into the shallow water of a Naval Strike map

to take out attack boats, and jet skis

Slams will work against boats when placed on them like c4, but they will also work when placed in shallow water.  I’m not sure if their damage is reduced in the water, it seems to be, but I’ve sunk a number of attack boats, rib boats and pwc doing this.  Place the slams in places where boats are likely to travel, between islands, or next to objectives on conquest maps.  There the boats will get in close to capture the flag, and get a nasty surprise.  There are also other places where boats travel in channels and slams can be stuck to the side.

SLAMs can work in combination with anti-tank mines

Slams are not quite as powerful as anti-tank mines, but you can use the two together to increase the likelihood of getting kills with mines.  Just out of site put down a slam, say in a shrub or on the wall then place down an antitank mine.  The slam will detonate when a vehicle gets nearby and then set off the antitank mine which is also hidden.

SLAMs can be used with claymores

You can use slams to make what I call an atomic claymore.  Place down a claymore, and then put the slams nearby in a loose cluster or line.  If the infantry that sets off the claymore has a bunch of friends nearby you’re going to get a multi-kill.    Well you’ll only get a multi-kill if you set the slams as an engineer and come back as a recon or support player and place the claymore.  If you’re in communication with teammates the you can work together to make an atomic claymore.  These aren’t really very tactical, just a fun sort of thing to do.  

Hide SLAMs

Since the slam detects motion within a certain range they don’t have to be put directly where the tank will run.  This is a great feature over the anti-tank mine, because anti-tank mines are easy to spot in the road if you’re paying attention.  On a narrow road you can place a slam next to a rock or in a shrub, a driver is very unlikely to see it lying there.

Throw a SLAM

The anti-tank mine has to be place directly in front of the engineer laying down.  The slam can be tosses a short distance.  A slam can be tossed in the path of oncoming jeeps and tanks from a building.  They can also be dropped from a helicopter.  The helicopter drop is very difficult to attack a specific target, but slams can be sprinkled throughout the battlefield to do damage.

Slams can be very useful to the engineer class in Battlefield 4, but like claymores and anti-tank and anti-aircraft mines they take patience.  One thing I like to do at the start of the match is to lay down mines, when I die I respawn as an engineer equipped a repair tool and rocket launcher.  The mines will stay there for the rest of the match until they are triggered by a vehicle, or found and destroyed by the enemy.  Give slams a try in BF4and see if you get lucky.  Happy tank trapping. 

The M2 SLAM was once considered OP because they did a lot of damage, you could attach friendly slams to a jeep of bike and drive close to a tank and set them off destroying the tank, and they glitched into the ground, which sometimes made them impossible to spot.  However, the M2 SLAM has been nerfed., and “fixed” those problems.  The SLAM is now less of a problem for tanks, three wont destroy one unless it is already damaged.  This landmine remains very deadly to unarmored vehicles like tanks snowmobiles and quadbikes. 

Forza 6 Friday: 1984 VW Rabbit GTI

Forza 6 1984 VW Rabbit GTI

Today I’m launching a new feature call Forza Friday. I’m just starting out in Forza 6 and I thought it would be fun to chronicle my rise through the ranks, and unlocking new cars. It would also be a change of pace from the FPS focus of this blog and my YouTube channel.

The first two races will be featuring a 1984 Volkswagen Rabbit, which is a tribute to my dad’s standard 1982 VW Rabbit.  For the GTI’s skin I picked one that would represent what most 1984 VW’s would look like today, crappy.  My in-game Rabbit GTI is white with a red primer, hood that doesn’t match and door lots of scratches.  Future videos will feature lots of other car models with good paint jobs. 

I enjoyed Forza 4 quite a lot, but like most people I just skipped Forza 5 which was low on content. I’m looking forward to unlocking the Jaguar F type.  This is the car I lust after in real life, but for this first video we start with the VW

For eposode two its the Fiat Abarth

Learning To Shoot From the Hip: Battlefield 4 Hipfire

I can’t stop aiming down sights (ADS) and I know it effects my game play. I think it comes from shooting guns in the real world, where aiming from the hip is about the best way to guarantee you don’t hit your target at even short ranges.  In true close quarters combat, where enemies are only a few feet, or meters away, shooting from the hip will get most if not all you shots on target.  This is especially true in Battlefield 4 and other video games.  It is very important to shoot from the hip when you suddenly come across an opponent at short range if they see you about the same time, because even though it only takes a fraction of a second to aim down sights, but during that fraction of a second your hip firing enemy can have put several bullets into you and you are well on your way to watching the orange figure kill the cam.  

To increase the odds of your bullets smashing into your opponent there are several ways you can do this the number one way is to just select a weapon with good hipfire stats.  Go onto Battlelog and look at the weapon stats, the hipfire accuracy is listed for all the small arms.  The other way you can improve hipfire is to add accessories that increase the accuracy of that weapon.  Laser sights and the ergonomic  grip are the two accessories that help.  Laser sights have the added bonus of blinding opponents at close range, but they have the drawback of drawing attention to yourself, especially in smoky or dusty situations.  The ergonomic grip increases hipfire accuracy by 50% which is great, the only real drawback is it replaces other grips,  which can help aim down accuracy in other situations.  If the ergonomic grip is the only one I have I always equip it, but as soon as I have one of the other grips that help with first shot recoil etc. I change out to those.   

Aiming down sights (ADS) with the MG4 at the Battlefield 4 target range. 

To improve my use of hip fire I have begun to equip on the guns with good hipfire stats on close quarter combat team deathmatch maps, such as Operation Locker and Dawnbreaker.  For the match I constantly remind myself to hipfire, and this has begun to help me on other maps while round corners etc.  I use a similar strategy to remind myself to use pistols as well.  

Is EA Access Worth It?

Origin has a deal called EA Access for Xbox One where you pay $4.99 per month for a subscription and get access to EA games in the "Vault" and you also get access to trial version of their Xbox One games.  Many wonder whether this is a good deal or not, and that all depends on how you play games.  Chances are you won't find it worth, but I have so far.  EA Access is not available for the PS4, because Sony said it was not a good deal. 

If you only like to play the newest games you can stop reading right now, because nearly all the games currently available were released two or more years ago.  Sure you can get free trials, but if your paying a total $60 a year those trials aren't all that free.

If you don't mind games that are a few years old, and especially if you don't have the $60-70 it costs for most current gen Xbox One games then the Origin Access begins to look a little better.  

The best thing about Origin Access is you can quit any time!

If you had to be locked into an entire year I would say its not worth trying, but $5 for a month isn't much of a risk.  It is nice to know I can dump it if I get tired of the games that are available.  

Games in the Vault

Before you subscribe take a good look at the video game titles available in vault.   Since most of these games are a few years old they can now be found from multiple sources for well bellow their pre-order prices.  For instance if you think you'll only play Battlefield 4 and Titan Fall you could pay $60 a year for an Origin Access subscription or get both for total of $40 and you will have overpaid in today's market. 

EA claims that is constantly adding games to the vault.  I wonder if that is true, because there are not that many games in the vault compared to the number of titles EA has published over the years. 

EA Access is Worth It (for some)

Battlefield 4 is available on EA Access

 

If multiple titles in the vault are of interest to you and you don't mind play some excellent games from a few years ago than EA Access is a good deal.  Those are the two major reasons to subscribe or to look elsewhere for your games.  

NOTE: This program is nearly the same as Origin Access for PC, and to be honest much of this is copied and pasted from that blog post I wrote.

Battlefield 5 Should be World War II

The setting of Battlefield 5 is under speculation There were rumors it will be set in WWI and in the not to distant future.  On May 6th we will know what it would be, but in the mean time I thought I would throw in my opinion and say it should be based in WWII.

It has been awhile since there has been a major title like COD or Battlefield set during WW II, and I find it a fascinating time in history, and provides a wealth of weapons and geographic settings.  The battlefield series of video games relies on the formula of a varied number of infantry and vehicle options

During WW II infantry weapons went through a number of advancements. 

• For the first time a major army was armed with semi-automatic rifles for their standard front line weapon, the US M1 Garand. 

• The submachine gun evolved from extremely well built guns like the Thompson submachine gun to cheap mass-produced, but very functional guns like the German MP 40.

• The light machine gun became more portable and reliable and therefore saw much greater use on the battlefield

• The shoulder fired rocket launchers became available and gave light armor and tanks a lot of annoyance from foot solders hiding in the shrubs and in the rubble of Europe's bombed out cities

Vehicles on the ground were prevalent and varied

• In WWI tanks were unreliable, slow, and saw limited action.  In WW II the tank had evolved into lightweight and fast forms to the nearly unstoppable huge German tanks

• Lightweight armored vehicles and even jeeps with mounted machine guns and recoilless rifles saw use on the battlefield.

In the air

• Dedicated ground attack aircraft could be called in to strike heavily entrenched, or highly concentrated troops.

• Fighters took to the skies to take out enemy bombers and other fighters.

• Massive bombers carpet-bombed both the battlefield and cities

Pistol Reload

Suppressors Are a Noobs Best Friend

Suppressors are weapon attachments that go on end of a firearm and greatly reduce the loud bang produced by the shooting of a gun, they also reduce the muzzle flash generated by the burning gasses leaving the firearm.  These attachments do the same in the same in Battlefield 4 as they do in real life, but in the video game they also keep you off the minimap while shooting.  The drawback is weapons outfitted with a suppressor in game have a lower muzzle velocity and increase bullet drop.   At short distances neither of these things matter, but at longer distances you will have to compensate by leading a moving target and shooting higher at all distances to adjust for the bullet drop.  For a noob this can be difficult, but I think the positives greatly outweigh the negatives for players new to BF4.

I found that the best thing for me when learning the game was not to be seen.  Not being detected gives the newbie a few extra seconds to take careful aim, or when your outgunned, you can make a retreat, or take better advantage of cover.  The main benefits come from keeping off the mini map.   

Be sneaky like a ninja with a suppressed G18 pistol

The other great thing about suppressors in BF4 is hiding the flash.  In many BF4 maps there are dark corners, hallways, tunnels and other dimly lit places where shooting without a flashhider immediately gives away your location it is like turning on a flashing light that says shoot me now.  If you have a suppressor your shooting won’t be seen.  If there are friendlies in the same area they will be seen and targeted first.  This gives you time to take out the attacker.  This is very helpful when the enemy is attempting to break through choke points in Operation Locker.  Chances are a half dozen of your teammates will be there are the muzzle flashes will attract the attention of the aggressive enemy.

Using a suppressed weapon while flanking is also very helpful.  Those enemies that use their minimap frequently won’t know you are tearing up their flank until they hear the suppressor, and then they will have to look around and try to find you.  This gives you time to take them out.  

Suppressors are available to unlock with most weapons either by getting the required number of kills, or opening a battle pack and getting lucky.  Only one gun is available at the beginning  of the game, and that is the Groza -4, other guns like the AS-Val and the CS5 come with suppressors out of the box.  It is a PDW, only available to the engineer class, with a permanently fixed suppressor.  A few guns like the Groza 1, revolvers, and all shotguns cannot be equipped with a suppressor in Battlefield 4.

Learning to Remember Your Pistol: Battlefield 4

Muzzle flash of the M412 REX revolver in Battlefield 4

If you’re just beginning in the Battlefield series of games you’ve quickly realized there are a dozen main skills to master, and perhaps hundreds of lesser skills that still important.  It it’s difficult to impossible to work on even half of them at one time. So I’ve been working on concentrating on one or two during a match.  One of those skills I need to work on is really obvious, but you still need to consciously think about it in order to become a better player.  

The skill I am focusing on today is drawing my secondary weapon when needed.  I know it’s obvious, but when you are using a primary weapon 95% of the time it’s easy to forget the side arm in the beginning.  First off the main reasons to use a side arm are when your primary magazine is empty or very low and there are enemies in close proximity.   You need the side arm to take out these guys before they kill you.  Another reason to use the side arm is to take out unsuspecting players lying prone and vulnerable to attack.  This saves ammunition in the primary, and if you have a silenced pistol, you’ll stay off the mini-map.  The third main reason is you completely run out of ammo for the primary and need a means  defending yourself until you can pick up a weapon or find a support class to refill your supply.

So how do I go about concentrating on using a secondary weapon?  Well I’ve devised a few ways that will help, not every method will help everyone, but I hope you find one of these helps you.  

1. Play as a sniper with a bolt action.  If you do, you’ll quickly and instinctively start drawing your pistol anytime you head into a building or area with lots of cover where enemies can hide.  If you don’t you’ll be very unlikely to win many firefights in close quarters with a bolt action rifle.  I find this to be the best method for myself, and it seems to rub off when I play the other classes.  
2. Spend at least one match thinking about your side arm.   It sounds dumb, but just focusing on one aspect of gameplay in a match or series of matches will begin to stay with you and become second nature. Put a post-it note on your screen that says pistol.  
3. The next are sort of companions to #2.  As soon as you run out of ammo in your primary switch to your secondary, run through one magazine in it and switch back.  You could run a whole match with a pistol on a regular server, but you’ll be outgunned the whole time, especially if you are a novice, and you will find it very frustrating.

So there are a few tips, I hope you have found them helpful I know I have while I’m working my way up through the ranks in Battlefield 4.  Also remember if you never use your pistol you won’t unlock new pistols, or attachments that might better fit your play style. Not to mention you worked hard to complete those funky assignments so you could unlock the SW40, Unica, and Deagle.

The G18 pistol outfitted with a suppressor, a Battlefield 4 favorite pistol.

Is Origin Access Worth It?

Origin has a deal called Origin Access where you pay $4.99 per month for a subscription and get access to games in the "Vault" and you also get access to trial version and discounts on some of their PC games.  Many wonder whether this is a good deal or not, and that all depends on how you play games.  

If you only like to play the newest games you can stop reading right now, because nearly all the games currently available in their vault were released two or more years ago.  Sure you can get free trials, but if your paying a total $60 a year those trials aren't all that free.

If you don't mind games that are a few years old, and especially if you don't have the $60-70 it costs for most PC games than the Origin Access begins to look a little better.  

The best thing about Origin Access is you can quit any time!

If you had to be locked into an entire year I wouldn't necessarily suggest a subscription, but $5 for a month isn't much of a risk.  I only had a subscription for two months before I canceled, and I have a feeling I'll be subscribing once I get my PC updated, right now it isn't a very good gaming machine.

Games in the Vault

Titan Fall is one of the games in the Origin Access vault.

Before you subscribe take a good look at the video game titles available in vault.   Since most of these games are a few years old they can now be found from multiple sources for well bellow their pre-order prices.  For instance if you think you'll only play Battlefield 4 and Titan Fall you could pay $60 a year for an Origin Access subscription or get both for total of $40 and you will have overpaid in today's market. 

Origin Access is Worth It (for some)

If multiple titles in the vault are of interest to you and you don't mind play some excellent games from a few years ago than Origin Access is a good deal.  Those are the two major reasons to subscribe or to look elsewhere for your games.  Note:  Origin Access and EA Access for Xbox One are very similar. 

Battlefield Hardline on Origin Access

PDW's in Battlefield 4: Carbines are Better

PDW's or Personal Defense Weapons in the game Battlefield 4 are nice to have for the sake of variety, but once you unlock the carbines, their usefulness is greatly diminished.  Everyone will have their preference though, and I am speaking in broad terms.

Benefits of some PDW's as compared to carbines

• lower recoil
• better hipfire
• Groza 4 comes standard with silencer
• immediately available

Drawbacks of some PDW's compared to carbines

• decreased damage (this is quite variable)
• less damage at long range
• less accurate
• available only to engineer class

MP-7 PDW  - Battlefield 4 screenshot

The benefit I can see most with the PDW's is their hipfire capacities.  If you play very aggressively and are constantly rounding corners and finding enemies, then taking advantage of the hip fire of a PDW is a good tactic. 

One major thing that is nice about the carbines is they can be used by all the classes in the game.  If you find a carbine that you really like you can really get to know and use it well and across classes.  That can really improve your game.  If you don't have crazy amount of time to devote to the game, but still want to be very good, then focusing on a handful of weapons is a great strategy.

Another thing that is nice about the carbines is that they can be fitted with the target detector once you unlock this accessory.  The target detector can be very helpful to both you and your team.

Top Ten Ways to Rank Up Fast in Battlefield 4

Top Ten Ways to Rank Up Fast in Battlefield 4

1. Take Advantage of XP boosts.  In most battlepacks you will receive some sort of XP boost 25%, 50%, 100% and 200%.   This multiples your over all score as well as your class and weapon scores.  This is a major boost to your ability to unlock tools, and new weapons.

   

   Battlefield 4 XP Boost

2. Take Advantage of XP boost weekends.  Usually once a month the developers have a double XP weekend and at least once a 4x XP.  Make sure to run a XP boost to multiple the effect of the XP weekend.  During the 4x promotion I ranked up at least six times in one conquest match.
3. Time your achievements, weapon masteries, earning various metals and other awards with your highest XP boost, and plan them around Double XP Weekends.  If you have 495 kills with the MTAR 21, save those last five when you are running 200% XP boost to get a ton of points.
4. Play the objective! When you PTFO you will get a ton of points capturing and defending flags on conquest and arming and disarming M-COM stations.
5. Drop Medpacks and Ammo Bags.  Drop ammo and med bags and packs at choke points.  Maps like Operation Locker, and Metro are great examples of where choke points develop.  It isn't necessary to get a lot of kills in Battlefield 4 to get a lot of points.
6. Revive teammates.  Use the defibs to revive killed teammates.  A quick revive gets you 20 points and leaves your teammate with little health and usually a very short life.  Charge up the defibs all the way to get yourself 100 points, a chance your teammate will live more than two seconds, and help the team win.  

   

   Use your largest XP boost when you will earn medals,
   complete assignments etc. to get a load of points and rank up fast.

7. Play Conquest.  Conquest is one of the easiest ways to get points while playing the objective.  It is much less dangerous to capture a flag than it is to arm a M-Com in rush.  Some other game modes like Carrier Assault are very similar to conquest and are good alternative.  
8. Don't play Team Deathmatch.  TDM is fun, and can be a good way to get kills to earn your weapon attachments, but it almost a waste of time if you are trying to rank up.  
9. Stick with one weapon type.  Keeping with one weapon type (pdw, lmg etc.) per round. It will get you more ribbons and eventually medals and so, more points.  
10. Help your team win.  Most of the above tips will help your team win, which will get you more points, and make you feel better too.  

By reading the above you can tell that playing the assault class is probably the best way to get points, with the support coming in second, but there are ways of taking advantage of the engineer and recon classes.

Engineer

1. Repairing vehicles will get you a lot of points.  Repair even more when flying in a helicopter, or riding in an attack boat.  
2. Destroy vehicles.  Attacking vehicles will get you points for mobility hits, destroying the vehicle and killing the occupants 

Recon

1. Put your spawn beacon close to an objective in rush or conquest.  If the spawn beacon is in useful place to the other classes in your squad it will actually be used.  If you place it on top of a hill far far away from the objectives its not going to get much use and therefore few if any spawn beacon bonus points for you.  
2. Spot Enemies.  Spot the opponents any time, scan the horizon with the PLD, put a target detector on a DMR, put down a TUGs, or throw a motion ball.  When your teammates kill a spotted enemy you will get bonus points, and spotting ribbons.