Big Changes Are Coming To Battlefield V’s Squad-Based Gameplay

Following its reveal, one of the things that really stuck out to me about this year’s Battlefield is that it’s incentivising and pushing squad play more than it ever before.

This was echoed by one of DICE’s developers at the London reveal event, saying that the team “want squads to stay together in the game.” As such, the team have implemented a handful of ways into incentivising players to keep together and play as a team.

One of the more noticeable changes, in terms of gameplay, is that players will now drop into the battlefield with less ammo than prior games. You’ll be able to survive one or two gunfights, but will struggle to go much further than that. Of course, if you have a support class player with you, you’ll be able to stock up on ammo thanks to them. Similarly, enemies will now drop ammo upon death, too.

Another interesting change is in the way you interact with the spawn screen. Rather than going straight back to the deployment screen upon death, you’ll now be thrown into a third-person camera following what your other squad mates are doing at the time. You can jump back into the deployment screen if you wish, but the focus still sits solely on what’s happening with your comrades rather than just playing as a lone wolf.

Perhaps the biggest change in incentivising squad play is via the way squads earn rewards for completing tasks. By following squad leader directions, completing objectives together, and squad-wiping other players, you’ll be rewarded with Squad Reinforcement Points, which will allow you to then call in game-changing weapons and vehicles only available to your squad. Things like a heavily-fortified tank or a supply drop can be called in to help out your efforts on the field, and will, in turn, should promote a more squad-centric kind of play style.

It’s also worth mentioning that you’ll always be grouped together in a squad prior to dropping into a game in Battlefield V, though if you do prefer playing as a lone wolf you can opt for that — though as default you’ll be grouped into a squad. Further to this, you’ll now be able to communicate with your squad at all times, meaning lobby chat — as well as being able to chat during loading screens — will be included here.

Interestingly, the spotting system has also changed in Battlefield V. Rather than being able to spot enemies from afar — in turn locking a bunch of them on with a couple of clicks — your spots will now be fixed to the location rather than the player. That means that, for example, if you see a player running through a bush and click the spotting button, rather than picking them as a player you’ll instead tell your team that you’ve seen movement at that bush. It’s a bit more realistic in that sense, and is a nice change to a system that’s been in play for many, many years.

Medics are set to make a big difference this year, too. While DICE have said they’re still unsure of specifics at the moment, your health will never be able to go back to its max level after being hit by a bullet or vehicle. That said, all of your squad mates will be able to revive you, though only by a small amount. Your medic, of course, will still be able to heal you the most after a successful revive, and will still play an important role in a successful squad.

It seems like there’re some huge changes coming to squad play in Battlefield V, and a lot of them are looking to be great additions. We’ll have more information on the game shortly, and you can also check out my article on everything you need to know about the new game following its reveal here.

Battlefield V launches on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on October 19.