You’re going to be jumped by someone almost every time you play. Our goal is to help you survive and fight back. First off, find cover. Get behind anything that’s close by, although taller is better (because it allows you to stand up behind cover, which lets you move easier) and wider is safer. The wider the cover is the harder it becomes to flank you. Next, take a full step back from your cover, maybe two or three or more. Yes, you heard me. Don’t hug that tree you’re hiding behind; pretend that it’s got the stinkiest armpits ever. Why you’re moving away from the cover you’re hiding behind is a little complicated for a quick snippet of help like you’re getting here, but the answer is in the essay on how to use cover, if you’re interested. Alternately, try the pole dancing exercise above to get a good intuition for why you’re stepping away from the cover.
Third, be aware of where your teammates are. Can any of them flank the ambushers? Are you likely to fire at anyone on accident? Are you far enough away from any of them that you can work together to get a wide angle of fire on any ambushers? This last suggestion is essentially a Pin & Flank without moving. Finally, if you have no support then move decisively: put enough fire on your opponents that they keep their heads down (this is called suppressive fire) and then run! Stay under cover as much as you can and don’t be afraid to stop and give yourself more suppressive fire as you go, but only fire from behind cover.
Want to turn the tables on your opponents? There are a few tricks to pulling off a good ambush:
- Don’t open fire until the entire group you want to ambush can be fired upon. Don’t give them the opportunity to split and flank you.
- Remember that with our Battlefield Live laser tag gear you can only be hit once per second. Sweep your fire across the group. If you’re a lone ambusher and you’re only taking on one or two other people try firing in 3 or 4 shot bursts.
- Divide and conquer: when you’re ambushing with multiple people, distribute the work in advance so that each person is only firing at some of the group.
- Don’t have ambushers on both sides of the target. It’s ok to have teammates firing at a 90 degree angle to you, but the moment you start firing across from each other you’ll have people firing at each other.
- After the ambush make sure to pull back! Don’t let your ambush party get snuck up on and flanked! Since the enemy team already knows where you are, make sure you aren’t still there when they come back.
Last but not least, the slower and more silently you move the less likely you’ll be ambushed. Human eyes are attracted to movement. Also, sound tends to travel more than you expect it to. Just because your opponents are on the other side of a hill does NOT mean they can’t hear you! If you have to move within your opponent’s vision move straight towards them and keep as low and small a profile as possible.