For those familiar with
Bad Company 2, the changes to the recon class might come as an unpleasant surprise. He has lost his trademark C4 to the Support class and his rifles have undergone some notable drops in potency. This being said, the recon class can bring a great deal to the Battlefield if utilized correctly.
Primary Weapons
All of the primary weapons for the recon soldier fall under the Sniper Rifle category - semi-auto or bolt-action rifles with extreme range and high damage per shot. All come mounting the 8x rifle scope as standard, allowing you to reach out and touch enemies at incredible ranges while giving away your position with extremely notable scope-reflection. By touch, we mean shoot them in the head. Headshots are everything for a Recon player and those whose accuracy is not up to par will find the class sub-par at best. A firm understanding of bullet drop and travel time is vital for Recon players to lead their targets correctly to secure the kill and the ability to acquire your targets quickly and accurately is vital with the newly-implemented "Steady" mechanic for rifle scopes.
The harsh reduction in bolt-action sniper rifle damage from
Bad Company 2 means that hip-firing is a much less viable tactic - if you can't quick-scope or drag-shoot to the head of an opponent, swap to your sidearm. To play as an effective recon soldier, utilise your enormous range to spot everything and everyone - whether you're going to take the shot or not, hitting "Q" should be the first step taken the instant an enemy appears on your screen. If the entire enemy formation isn't lit up for you and your allies like a christmas tree, you're not fulfilling your role for your team.
All rifles unlock several scope varieties throughout their progression and the atypical variety of attachments and supplements. The Bipod is of particular note by allowing you to eliminate scope sway, snap off several shots without having to await your breath to recharge, then relocate to avoid retaliation. Likewise, the Straight-Pull Bolt allows you to fire again without having to scope out, making it easier to track your target and gauge bullet drop. The choice between these two attachments will be the most crucial, although the Bolt has a tendency to encourage "tunnel vision" which will almost always result in disaster. The 12x scope and 4x scope both vary the rifles effective ranges, but lack the versatility of the default.
Spawn Beacon
The Recon class comes equipped with the Spawn Beacon as default and, with no alternatives to it unlocked at any point, it'll be with you forevermore. Getting the most out of the Spawn Beacon is largely self-explanatory: find an out-of-the-way corner and drop it down at all times, allowing you and your squad to spawn onto it. Important things to note, however, are the very audible beeping it gives off and the fashion in which you spawn. If inside a building with a roof, you will be able to spawn onto the beacon as an instantaneous "squad" spawn; offset by the much-amplified, echoed beeping to alert your enemies to it. If set-up outside, however, the beacon instead spawns you directly above it with your parachute deployed - this makes it harder to get the drop on enemies, but allows for much more choice in where you "touch down".
T-UGS Motion Sensor
The first unlock for a recon player, the T-UGS is a deployable tripod that lets off a loud and very audible beep whenever an enemy moves within its range. Audible to both you and your enemy. Though very useful to warn of approaching enemies while capping/decapping a point, or while scoped in and tracking a distant target, the T-UGS also gives away your presence to those around you. As with all
Battlefield 3 equipment, the motion sensor can be picked back up if you're relocating, so unless you're attempting an infiltration of some kind it's worth throwing one of these down wherever you set-up. It can be avoided by a slow-moving enemy, though this in itself can lend you a strong advantage.
SOFLAM Laser Designator
This is an interesting piece of kit. Without doubt, it offers the most advantages to a well-coordinated team but it does require participation from your squad or team to be useful. The SOFLAM allows you to remotely designate any vehicle target (air or ground) for guided missile attacks, whether from an engineer's Javelin Missile-Launcher or from a variety of your own vehicles with the appropriate perk. Heat-seeking Rockets on Jets are the most obvious example. Any missile launched against a designated target will track in on the vehicle and will gain a particularly potent damage bonus. Of particular note is the fact that this can work autonomous once deployed, continuing to designate your target while you run as fast as you can in the opposite direction (the laser is a little... visible).
The SOFLAM is fantastic if you have an engineer or pilot on voice chat or in co-ordination with you, but otherwise is probably best left at home.
Micro Air Vehicle (MAV)
The MAV is an unmanned, remote-control recon bot designed to scope out enemy positions and attack routes from the air. Hovering surprisingly quietly in the air, the bot comes with a motion sensor and several cameras, allowing for horizontal and upwards views, all of which mount the frankly exceptional infrared scopes. This allows for an unprecedented view of the battlefield and its participants, lighting up enemy soldiers, vehicles and equipment in glorious magnesium-white. This is utilized primarily as a spotting device - send it up, and hammer the spot key like nothing on earth. Painting every target in the area has never been easier and will give your team or squad an astonishing advantage as they press an objective. Once you're finished with your spotting, the MAV can be left unattended and will continue to automatically motion scan its surroundings. Although unarmed in the traditional sense, roadkills are possible by driving the bot into enemy players at high speed and it comes equipped with jamming functionality to pin down enemy equipment and render it useless.
Battlefield Roles
The recon class, unsurprisingly, is the undisputed master of reconnaissance. Long-range spotting and tracking of targets with the sniper rifle, while remaining well outside the range of their return fire, is supplemented by motion sensors and the MAV unit to allow an entire enemy team to be shown to your own. Use your sniper rifle to pick off stationary targets that would be dangerous to your allies - turrets, campers, enemy snipers and those deploying bipods make perfect targets for a fast recon player. Kill-hunting is best left to other classes, and those shooting at anything that moves are unlikely to make a meaningful contribution to your team. To offset this, the recon class gains an extremely hefty "Marksman" score bonus for each long-range headshot he lands, allowing you to quickly amass enormous points without having to slaughter entire squads.
When the time comes to assault, never be afraid to wade in utilizing a shotgun or personal defense weapon. Those that seek huge volumes of kills should probably look elsewhere but an accurate, well played Recon can light up and pin down the enemy team like nothing else in the game.
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