Ground Vehicle Guide#

Ground vehicles are the core variable on large maps (Conquest, Breakthrough). This page covers offensive discipline for ground armor, threat identification, and coordination requirements. Official vehicle HP and damage data tables have not been published; this page uses mechanics and discipline descriptions instead of inventing numbers.

Battlefield Role of Ground Vehicles#

The vehicle roster available on each map varies with map and mode — from desert tank battles to New York street fighting, the vehicle mix differs greatly. The annual edition cosmetics have featured the NATO M1A2 SEPv3 main battle tank (the Phantom Pack “Chimera” vehicle skin), which can be seen as the representative model of the tank line.

Just how different is the armor environment across the nine launch maps? Three extreme examples:

• Operation Firestorm: a remake of the classic Battlefield 3 map, open desert terrain, home ground for long-range main battle tank duels — reverse-slope usage and mobility awareness matter more than finding cover
• Mirak Valley: the largest launch map, wide-open valleys make flanking routes long — before pushing, confirm your flanks have infantry following or friendly recon coverage
• Empire State and Manhattan Bridge: representatives of New York street fighting, dense buildings and broken sightlines — close support from infantry fighting vehicles is often worth more than frontal tank assaults

The same tank is a gun platform on Firestorm and a sitting duck on Manhattan — read the map first, then mount up.

Three Principles of Tank Pushing#

One: Push with the team, never alone#

The biggest tank killer isn’t rocket launchers — it’s isolation:

• Tanks pushing objectives alone get flanked and focus-fired by Engineers
• Correct rhythm: advance with friendly infantry; let infantry watch your close blind spots while you soak long-range fire for them

Two: Shoot sides, not fronts#

• Frontal armor on enemy vehicles is the strongest; trading shots head-on is the worst option
• Use terrain and the destruction system to create side-shot angles — blow open a wall and your tank gains a new firing line
• The same applies when engaging enemy tanks: always hunt sides and rear

Three: Know when to withdraw#

• Shells empty, hull low, Engineer dead — any one of these means pull back and regroup
• Plan your retreat route in advance: don’t retreat into a dead end

Anti-Tank Threat Identification Table#

Tank-Infantry Coordination Discipline#

Tank players have huge view blind spots; infantry-tank cooperation is a two-way responsibility:

Repair coordination is the lifeline: Engineers are the only class in the game that can repair vehicles. When your tank is low, the correct move is to fall back near an Engineer’s repair position, not to grit through another round of fire.

Recon-side coordination is another link in the chain: Recon drones can pre-mark enemy armor and ambush positions, and laser target designation hands strike coordinates to the whole team. Pre-aiming behind cover based on marks is far safer than risking a peek — treat Recon marks as free vision and use them fully.

Using Terrain and Destruction#

• Reverse slope: expose only the turret when firing; withdraw behind the slope while reloading
• Blast walls for lanes: sightlines blocked by buildings can be opened with the main gun — the destruction system makes the tank a “mobile battering ram”
• Hide in buildings: small vehicles can use buildings to block aerial recon, but buildings collapse — don’t park under a ceiling waiting for a cave-in

Vehicle Balance Shifts Across Seasons#

Direct impact of Season 5 (October 13, 2026) on the ground armor environment:

• Mobile AA buff: turret traverse +50%, improved projectile speed and spread, max range around 800 meters — AA fire escorting armored pushes is more reliable, raising counter-pressure on infantry and helicopters
• Recon helicopter rocket nerf: 70mm FFAR splash damage -30%, rocket pod cooldown 28 → 38 seconds — tank survivability in open ground relatively improves

For the full anti-air system and numbers, see AA Vehicles and Season Balance.

Armor Play on the New S5 Maps#

The two new Season 5 “Siege of Vegas” maps have armor environments clearly different from the nine launch maps, worth breaking out separately:

• Area 51: a desert military base setting; the official map notes explicitly list tanks, underground tunnels, and a collapsible air traffic control tower. Sightlines inside tunnels are extremely narrow, and the tunnel mouths are the most vulnerable moment for the whole vehicle — have infantry clear both sides before entering, don’t linger at the exit to look around, and never park near large collapsible structures like the control tower: when the tower falls, the vehicle cannot escape.
• Vegas Strip: a casino district where hotel towers, fountains, and rooftop ziplines form a multi-layered 3D environment — enemy anti-tank infantry can appear at height at any time, so close-range vigilance for escorting infantry must be maxed out; the drainage channel is a low passage, so confirm the exit direction before entering and don’t tangle with infantry inside the channel.
• The December variable: Phase 3 reworks New Sobek City and Blackwell Fields and launches Operation High Roller spanning Vegas Strip and Area 51 — map reworks mean existing cover, spotting positions, and retreat routes all change; the tactics on this page will need re-checking then.

Common Deaths Reviewed#

Further Reading#

• Anti-vehicle perspective: Engineer and Recon Class Guide
• How to handle air threats: Air Vehicle Guide
• Using vehicles on large maps: Open Maps Guide
• How to play districts like Vegas Strip: City Maps Guide
• Full comparison of all nine maps: Launch Maps Overview