Commander Info

I know this was posted before, but I can't find it. Where can I read up on playing a commander? I would like to get my Commander badge before I make my next level.

The PBF forums clans section has a sticky.
http://www.forumplanet.com/planetbattlefie...275&tid=1671582

It is from the old patch days but the basic advice is okay.

This has given me a sec to type my own guide. I think we should all create guides for stuff we seem good at.
Would be a good reference area.

Now the rest here is *MY* opinions on how to command, this is just what I try to do.
I think I am getting better at commanding so here is my advice.
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============|GRB| PALADINS COMMANDERS GUIDE================================

Rule 1 is when commanding, COMMAND!
Hide someplace and just do that. On really small servers you can run around a bit but anything even slightly active you really need to have your nose stuck in that command screen the whole time. NEVER fly EVER!

For my basic advice; the main thing is keep the UAV going as much as you can.
Spot what you can during a scan and scan as often as it recharges.

-Now for the most basic way to do the UAV; when you do a scan, which you should do as soon as it is charged, see where the greatest amount of red dots are and drop the UAV in between them. I mean groups of them not in the middle of just one group, try to cover as much area/red dots as you can. Then do a spotted on anything that looks important outside the UAV area or near flags. When placing the UAV, try to place it so it is in between flags so it covers as much as possible. NEVER place a UAV at the edge of the map so that half gives good scans and the other half is scanning out of bounds or where nothing is going on. Also if someone requests a UAV as soon as it is charged again hit accept and give it to them.

Drop supplies whenever asked. If they are just sitting there drop them near our guys but not right at the flag. Drop it near by next to a building or near the roads to repair tanks. NEVER drop a supply box near a sniper unless they ask. This can give their position away.

If they destroy the assets, drop a supply box to repair it but check to see if one of there guys is around still. Dropping a supply box when they still have a guy there is just asking for them to re-ammo up and destroy it again.

If you see a sniper in zoomed view, spot them. Spot anything you see in zoom view. Spotting is always useful!!!!
A weird but useful thing on any maps is if you are zoomed, spot mines with the boat spotted., This has become standard now for spotting mines on most maps. Unsure if you guys know this. When you see a boat spotted on land that is really where mines are supposed to be. I try to spot when I see them when just running around.

Arty is hard at times. If a SL asks hit accept if it looks reasonable. After that TRY to send arty near a flag that they seem to be heading to. It takes about 15 seconds for the arty to hit after placing the request so set the arty before they get there. If you set it when they are at the flag you will often see them take the flag and leave before it even gets there.

Now what a LOT of people do not know is what class you are when you take command will affect what you see on screen.
If you are medic you will see everyone’s health on the commander screen. This can be useful to know where to drop a supply box or where the action is by your guys dying. Same with support. You can always see where the guys need ammo. Never be commander as sniper, assault or even AT you just waist this valuable resource. I would choose medic first then support.

Always do what squad leaders ask if you can as far as giving them support, supplies, UAV or arty.

The last thing is orders. Give the SL orders to attack flags if A) they are near it and B) the flag looks in danger or there is nothing else going on where the squad is. The worse thing is to send the squad wayyy across the damn map when there is another squad closer. Try to keep the squads doing stuff close by. Unless of course they are in a jet or heli then they can be sent to attack anything really.

I remember tons of games where we get orders to go to a flag then half way there we get another to go to another clear on the opposite end of the map.

I try to send orders to the next flag then next etc.. in the beginning. Then once we get flags, if it is an important flag I do the defend here command. You can also use the move here commands to place squads near areas where you think the enemy will be coming through to get flags. Sending squads via a move here to take out snipers is also good if the squad is nearby. It really flushes the sniper out as the squad sees that yellow smoke so the sniper cannot hide at all.

To tell the truth most squads just ignore orders anyway. 😉

That is my basic advice for what it is worth as I said. This is what *I* try to do as commander. 😉

I hope something here is useful and it helps.

I spend alot of time as commander (dunno why) But I mostly agree with Paladin.
Except I like to be the engineer and hide near my UAV trailer. Someone is gonna come try to blow it up. If I can't kill them at least I can go repair it.

99% of the time people ignore what you have to say.
But if you get one or two squads to listen to you, thats half the battle.

That is great advice.

I love the boat spotted. I did not know that. The yellow smoke idea on a sniper is pretty cool too.

What about scoring? How does a commander actually get points now a days?

I always wondewred why you were calling out boats all the time. The one thing I have never figured out is A. how to tell who is asking for something , and B. is there an automatic way to get it to them, i.e. pgup??

Nice guide!!!Thanks!

Well only a squad leader can request anything from you. Squad members cannot. You can only talk to a squad leader in game VOIP. You should see them running round with there squad number just like the normal hud. It should flash their number when they spot etc.. When they request something it will pop up on the commanders screen and you can see a huge icon that looks like arty or the supply box etc.. As commander all you have to do is right click and hit accept and it will drop whatever they requested exactly where they asked. This is the best way really but a lot of SL do not utilize this. It is fast and easy for the commander.

Remember you can scroll around with your forward/back/strafe keys and zoom in 3 resolutions while commander.

The commanders score is simply the average score of all team members. They also get a X2 bonus of that average on a win.