Well the first thing you must do is sign in. Once you have an account, and have selected a soldier (you can have up to four, unlike one in BF2) and have made it to the main menu, take a moment to look at the BFHQ screen. Pay particular attention to the medals. Most of these can earn you a good chunk of points, points that, as you'll see later, become key to your rank advancement.
But enough of that, time to get into the game. Go to the multiplayer tab and select a server. The new "Quick" tab can be helpful when you aren't to worried about what server you want to join, but it's missing things such as specific latency numbers. The old Battlefield server system can be found under the 'Advanced" tab. Select a server and click "Join". Like BF2, your first load will be a bit longer as it has to optimize the shaders. Bring a magazine.
So now you're in the game. Welcome the Battlefield 2142's Titan mode, specifically the Verdun map. Take time to familiarize yourself with the interface. Note the two Titan icons at the top of the screen. These represent the Shield and Armour status of both team's Titans. In the middle are the state of the Silos. These show who controls what missile silo. The numbers correspond with the numbered silos on the minimap. Your goal is to capture these silos. In that respect, treat them as you would a flag in any of the Battlefield games. Note the small meter slowly filling around the icon of a captured silo. When it fills, the silo will launch a missile. These damage the enemy Titan's shields, and eventually the hull itself.
Next, choose a kit. There are four: Recon, Assault, Support, and Engineer. These will be explained in more detail shortly. Choose one and select a spawn point. If you spawn in a vehicle, don't be alarmed. In BF2142, APC's and Transport Choppers are mobile spawn points. Try to tag along with some of the more experienced players. Join a squad. Watch what they do, what works, and what doesn't. Many BF2 tactics simply won't work here.
Lets skip ahead to what happens when an enemy Titan's shield is down. There are three ways to get onto the Titan: Spawn on a Squad Leader or Transport Chopper that's already there, drive a Transport there, or the wonderful Drop Pods. These are found on Positions 3-6 in the APCs, and in the rear sides of your Titan (in case the Commander has moved the Titan's close together). Right click in either of these places, and you'll be launched high into the sky. Adjust your course with the WASD keys, and aim for the rear of the Titan (the side without the hanger). There are four entrances here. On the upper level there are two smal vents at either side, and on the lower level there are two doors on either side. Now that you're in the Titan watch for defenders. There are glowing Shields that you cannot pass, but they can. Your goal is to destroy four consoles, and then finally the reactor. These shields drop with each of the console you destroy. Start with either console 1 or 2 on the lower level, then move onto 3 and 4. The consoles can be destroyed with any weapons fire. At the Moment, the Support class is the easiest way to destroy them (the future C4, RDX Demo packs, are a bit buggy). Once all four are down you can enter the Core room. Shoot the core with everything you have. Once you see the message "Enemy Titan Destroyed" run like hell for the exits.
If you see a White Light, don't panic. It's not the second coming of Raptor Jesus. It just means the core is going, and you should run faster. The light affects the whole map though. It's highly annoying to those piloting aircraft (there's a good chance you'll crash).
Defending your Titan is easy. Enter it via the two stairwells at the front of the hanger, and prevent the enemy from destroying your consoles. Use the shields to your advantage. Remember, you can go through; they can't. Make quick hit and run attacks. RDX demopack traps work well too. They may land a transport on your Titan, so use a Titan Drop pod every once in a while to jump up to the top of your Titan and clear it out.
The Titan also has guns. At the center-rear of the TItan you'll sever several console chairs. Enter one of them, and you can control the AA and AT guns of the titan. The AA guns work like any old AA gun, but with insane muzzle flash, so be careful where you shoot. The AT guns are amazing against Vehicles. If the Titan is floating over an enemy armour force, it'll be destroyed in seconds. However they do no splash damage, so don't even try to use them against infantry.
And that's Titian mode. Now we go into the details of the classes, and vehicles.
The classes of BF2142 are a bit different then those of BF2. All the roles are there, but some require unlocks. This section will also cover those unlocks. Unlocks act as a tree now. There are tiers, and you must unlock the lower ones to access the higher ones. Keep in mind I may not list the unlocks in order, so check BFHQ to get the proper order of unlocks. All classes now have the option of light and heavy body armour, with the same effects as BF2 (Heavy = slower but better protected). You add unlocks by clicking "Customize" in the spawn menu, and dragging and dropping what you want to the various open slots.
One thing to note is that the PAC and EU weapons are similar, but a bit different. The EU guns fire slower, and sometimes have less ammo than their PAC counterparts, but do more damage (and vice-versa for PAC).
Assault is the home of the BF2 Assault and Medic classes. All Assault players start with a basic Assault Rifle, and a Medic pack (along with the obvious pistol and knife). The Medic pack is not like those found in BF2. You get one, not the several you used to. You can either hold it by someone to heal them, or drop it. If dropped, it acts like the Medic boxes of BF1942 did; that is they heal multiple people continuously for as long as they are there.
The first unlock tree turns Assault into a heavy soldier. You can get a heavy rifle (basically a G3), a shotgun attachment, an infantry ID attachment, and an Airburst rocket attachment. The rockets act a bit like the Grenade launcher in BF2 did, but if you go into the sights, you can configure the range at where they detonate with the mousewheel. This is great for taking out people behind cover.
The second tree turns Assault into a medic. You can get a light assault rifle (less power, more ammo), a better medic pack, smoke grenades, and a Defibrilator. Treat these like you would their BF2 counterparts. Keep in mind that you can mix and match unlocks from both trees if you have them. So you could have, say, a medic with the heavy rifle, or a close combat assault soldier with smoke grenades.
Now before people say "OMGWTFBBQ Medic Assault = unstoppable", keep in mind that Assault is the ONLY class that can't do ANYTHING against vehicles. If you see one, get out your medic pack, and either head for the nearest static AT or just run away.
Support is the only class not combined with another class. They start with a LMG, Ammo pack, pistol, and knife. The LMGs differ from BF2 in the sense that the more you fire, the more accurate these become. So bursts are no longer the best idea. The ammo pack acts just like the new medic packs, except it give ammo.
The first unlock tree can get you EMP grenades, the ability to spot cloaked enemies, a deployable sentry turret, and a Heavy Machine gun. The best way to think of the Heavy Machine Gun is the PKM. Slower to fire, but packing a heafty punch. Spotting cloaked enemies is key to defending the Titan from sneaking Recon intruders. The sentry turret is great for covering the back of your squad to prevent crazy knifers. However the best thing about this tree is the EMP Grenades. These are your best friend against vehicles, as they disable them for a few seconds. With an ammo pack, you can keep a tank disabled almost indefinitely.
The second tree nets you a portable shield, advanced ammo pack, Pulse detector (for finding hiding infantry in an area), and a Shotgun. The Shotgun acts like any FPS shotun: good at close range, horrible at long. It's great for the close corridors of the Titan. The advanced ammo pack acts just like the advanced medic pack. The portable shield is handy for blocking small arms fire but be warned: it does nothing against heavy vehicle fire (If you see a tank, make surre you've unlocked the EMP grenades: the shield won't help you).
Support's ability to gain accuracy as it fires makes it invaluable at long-range suppression, and in several of the longer corridors of the Titan. Dolphin Diving and Prone spamming no longer work as well, as the lower accuracy at the start hinders those who try (so don't try it!).
The lovechild of the old Engineer and Anti-Tank has great advantages, but several glaring weaknesses. The basic Engineer has a Knife, SMG, Repair Tool, and an AT Rocket Launcher. No, I'm not missing Pistol; Engineer doesn't get one. Therefore you must conserve your SMG shots, as it's the only ranged gun you get. The AT rocket acts just like the one in BF2. Aim for the rear, and don't forget you can guide it after launch.
The first unlock tree allows you to use a long range defuser , so no more AP mine spammers :). They also get a vehicle ID upgrade, that can ID vehicles in view and display them on the minimap for the entire team. Next they have a ranged vehicle detector, that acts like Support's Pulse detector unlock (except for Vehicles instead of infantry). Finally they get an AT rifle. This long range, flat trajectory Anti Tank device can abolutely pwn vehicles, but unlike the Rockets it's unguided (so be careful with your shots).
The second tree starts you with EMP mines. These are a more effective version of the EMP grenade, by the vehicle has to drive over them to active. Try to hide them, as they're quite a bit more visible then the BF2 AT Mines. Nest Engineer gets an enhanced reapir tool. After that, they get motion mines. Think of these as a less powerful version of the BF2 AT mine, except they chase moving vehicles. Of course, tank drivers have an easy way of defeating them, but that will be covered in the vehicles section. Finally, Engineers can unlock an AA Launcher. No longer can Helecopters rape infantry with impunity.
Engineers will default to the role of the old BF2 AT soldier, but don't ever forget that you have that repair tool! It's invaluable to you're team, expecially on a map like Verdun. Since there is only one Mech spawn (more on that later), if your team can get it, you want to keep it alive as long as possible. An EMP mine at a chokepoint can leave a vehicle vunerable to a good RDX Demopack attack. While Support may have the name, the true support soldier is the Engineer. Don't try to fight infantry in the frontlines, you'll get slaughtered.
Ah Recon, the class that people were most worried aobut when it comes to balance. Recon is a combination of Sniper and Special Forces classes. However, before people cry "HAX!", to become what the Special Forces soldier once was, you need to get an entire unlock tree (4 unlocks). Snipers also get a nerf. The days of the L96 headshot-machine are over. Snipers now have to deal with sway, and it's considerable.
The first unlock path allows Recon to become closer to what the old Snipers were. You start with the Claymore like AP Mine, followed with an Improved Scope that allows for closer zoom. After that, they get a scope stabilizer, which can help cut the sway at key moments to make headshots slightly easier. Finally, there is the Heavy Sniper Rifle. It may be more powerful, but that power comes at a heavy cost. It has the smallest clip of ANY non-AT gun in all the Battlefield games: You only get three shots per clip, so use them sparingly.
The second path (and best in my opinion) turns Recon into the old Spec Ops soldier. You start with the RDX demo pack, with acts exactly like C4 used to. Unfortunately, these aren't as good against Titan Consoles and Reactors as one would hope, but two will still kill a tank. A great strategy is to launch up in the air with an APC's drop pod, land on an enemy vehicle, place a dew RDX Demo Packs, and run for a couple easy kills. Next is the Fade Delay, which slows the fading of spotted enemies. Since spotted enemies also have 3D Icons in the main hud (A La Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter), this can help when playing cat and mouse with a couple enemies around a slio. Next there's the Active Camouflage. This little device can turn your soldier almost invisible for a short time, great for sneaking up and getting knife kills. Now before p[eople start yelling "Nerf!", you're ALMOST invisible. yout still appear as a human-shaped distortion, sort of like the Predator. Coupled with the fact that a Support soldier with the proper unlocks can spot you anyways, you have to be cautious. Also, you need the camo device as your active weapon to use it. So there will be a couple seconds between deactivating the camo and getting a weapon out. Watch for EMP as well. Finally, Recon can get the Carbine Rifle. Before this, Recon was pretty screwed at close to medium range. Now they are the complete spec ops soldier. The gun itself acts very much like the M4 in BF2 did.
Playing Recon will be difference depending on your unlocks, moreso then any other class. Active Camo for example is fairly useless for a sniper, as they can't have the rifle out while using it (the only thing it might be used for in that situation is running away). Inversely what is a Spec Ops soldier with a carbine going to do with a Scope Stabilizer and Improved Scope? This class is one where mixing and matching doesn't work as well as the others.
That's not all that you can unlock though. There are several non-class specifc upgrades as welll. First, you have Frag Grenades. No real explanation needed there, although they now have this strange trail following them. Next there's the Sprint upgrade, which allows you to sprint longer. This is follwed by an unlock that recharges your stamina faster. Next, you can unlock an extra clip fopr your pistol. Finally, you can get an extra of each tiome of grenade that you currently have equipped.
Last but not least are the squad leader unlocks. These can only be equipped if you are the leader. First is the Squad Beacon. placing this will replace you as the spawn point for your squad. Now your squad members will drop pod in at the Beacon's location (great for assaulting a Titan or Silo). Next is a Recon drone. This hovers above your head, and acts as a mobile, albeit shorter ranged UAV. FInally you have the Flying Sentry Drone. This also floats above your head, but takes potshots at nearby enemies. Please note that while both of these have advantages, the main disadvantages is the difficulty of hiding with a large, blinking drone above your head.
There are many types of vehicles in BF2142. Some are similar to their BF2 counterparts, but all of them have at least one feature that really sets them aparts.
Jeeps are what you'd expect. Fast, maneuverable, and fragile. The Jeeps in BF2142 have three spots: Driver, Gunner, and Passenger. Notable differences are that the jeeps seem a fair bit faster, and come with a hidden surprise: Nitro Boost. Pressing Shift will give you a hefty boost of speed. Perfect for catching some air off of jumps.
The gunner gets a Machine Gun, as in BF2. The passenger can use his hand weapons, but since he's in the rear of the vehicle, it's not exactly ideal most of the time. Jeeps are good for zipping between silos, and the occasional fire support. However their week armour limits their ability in that regard. The PAC and EU jeeps have no notable differences other than shape.
The heavy hitters. These are the workhorses of both armies. Both have a driver and secondary machine gunner position. Now, unlike BF2, this gunner position is key, because the driver only gets the cannon. So unless you want to get blown up by close up infantry, get a gunner. Right clicking in the driver position zooms the gun, and this is important. The tank is the main long range vehicle of the game.
Smoke is gone as well, but it's replacement is better. Hitting 'x' now activates "Active Defence", basically a force field. This slow to recharge shield has a short duration, but it makes your rank inpervious to EVERYTHING. Use it when someone has a missile locked on you, or a attack shopper is attempting to strafe you. But don't forget to return fire or hide; it really doesn't last long.
Now the EU and PAC tanks are extremely different. The EU tank is close to what existed in BF2: WASD moves the tank, mouse moves the turret. Exactly what you'd expect in a Battlefield game. However the PAC tank doesn't follow this convention. It's a hover tank, and can strafe left and right. You control it as you would an infantry soldier. WASD moves and strafes, while the mouse rotates and moves the gun vertically. This can be a great adcantage, as you can strafe around EU tanks to hit them in their weaker rear spots. However, you have to physically rotate your entire tank to respond to threats at the side and rear, which takes more time then rotating a turret. Also, EMP affects you more. The EU tank can still rotate their turret, albeit slowly. Meanwhile the PAC tank is stuck completely.
APC's no longer are the mini-tanks they were in BF2. The driver has a machine guin and EMP missile, position 2 has a missile launcher that launches a salvo of three each time. You aren't going to win any battles against tanks; the best you can usually do is disable it with your EMP missile, escape, or do some minor damage with the rocket salvo. Positions 3 to 6 have small machine guns, and right clicking will launch drop pods, but only on Titan maps.
The EU and PAC APC's differ slightly. The passenger gunners on the EU APC have a slight advantage in the sense that they have a better field of view. However, this is offset by the fact that the EU APC is WIDE. In tight areas, it's like driving a bathtub stapled to an elephant tied to John Goodman. Driving in the outside view is practically a requirement for this beast. The PAC APC, not so much. It's thin enough to handle well in small quarters. APC's also have active defense.
So remember, the APC can no longer go toe to toe with a tank. Use it to carry people between flags, or to provide supporting fire.
Ah the mech. The first shot of these in the inital leaked BF2142 videos all those months ago had people crying "OMG!". Everyone expected them to rule the battlefield, but that is not the case. On Verdun at least, there is only one, and it spawns at the middle silo. Mechs have two positions: the driver how has a heavy Autocannon and missile launcher, while the secondary gunner has an AA gun and AA missile launcher. The mech controls just like the EU tank does: WASD to move the base, and the mouse moves the turret.
Now, the reason that they don't dominate the battlefield is simple: Mechs completely suck at long range,and they're slow. That's why I said the tank zoom was so important: you can snipe a mech from long range, and if it's an open field you'll probably win. Mechs need to close with their targets in order to get a kill, as their missiles, which are key to destroying vehicles, lose accuracy at long range. If you're facing a tank, find cover and use it to make them come to you. A good example is the town with the church at the north end of Verdun. The cannon does wonders against Infantry, and the Gunner's cannon is no sluch either. However the gunner's main task is to take our aircraft with it's AA gun and EMP missiles. Without a gunner, a attack chopper can hover down behind you and take you out with a silo. Like tanks, mechs have Active Defense, which is helpful when trying to close with tanks.. The PAC and EU mechs are quite similar in all regards.