This guide serves as a small reference on how to play as a Commander including some tactics, and tips/tricks you can use while playing the game.
 
 
This guide will slowly be updated if I think of new things to add/based on recommendations.
 
 

What is Commander mode? How can I play as one?

Commander mode allows the player to assume the position of the “Commander” for a team. The user can give direct orders to squad leaders, setup uav scans and emp scans, issue evac orders to squads, and he even has special abilities if your team has captured specific objectives. The role of the Commander is not for everyone, it can be quite boring and even frustrating at times if you are stuck with a team who won’t listen to you, but some will find it rewarding helping out your team.
 
 
The role as Commander can greatly assist your team, and can even help turn the tide of the battle to your favor!
 
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Assuming the role as Commander
 
 
Joining from Server Browser
 
Go to the server browser, click on a server, click on the 3 dots, then click “Join as Commander”.
 
 

 
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Joining from QuickMatch
 
Go to quickmatch, and scroll down to “Commander”.
 
 

 
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Taking Commander role in-game
 
While in-game go to team setup, click on the commander tab, then click take command. Note: If you want to go back to playing infantry then you have to leave the server and rejoin!
 
 

 
 
 

Commanders View

 
This is your main view as a Commander. Here you can see the entire battlefield. When zoomed out it is pretty much just an overlay of what is really happening, however if you zoom in enough it will go to an actual overhead view of the battlefield letting you see players running around instead of just icons.
 
 
Abilities list
 
On the top lefthand part of the screen you will see your ability cooldowns, you can also see the objective locked abilities and what points you have to capture to be able to use them.
 
 
Camera Feed/Objective Status
 
When on the main Commander screen in the lower left corner you will see a camera feed if you have selected an objective, and a first person view if you have selected a friendly. These views can be extremely helpful in giving you a sense of what is happening on the battlefield. And, if you press escape it will blow up the camera feed letting you see more, however it is blurry. Above the camera feed is the list of objectives and their status, if they are flashing that means they are in the process of getting captured.
 
 
Squad Selection
 
On the righthand side of the screen you will see a list of squads from your team, you can choose what squad you want by clicking on them. When a squad is selected you can see the name of its leader, and you will be able to voice chat directly with them as well as be able to use the squad text channel to communicate as well. When a squad is selected they will all be highlighted green on the map.
 
 
 

Commander Abilities

Abilities are the commanders way of supporting their team. Right click on the map to bring up the Abilities menu.
 
 
Notes about color:
 
Blue: Ability can be used
 
White: Ability is on cooldown or is in use
 
Greyed out: Ability is locked to an objective your team doesn’t have yet or is in use
 
 
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Default Abilities:
 
 
These abilities are avaliable to you 24/7
 
 
Order Soilder
 

 
This ability allows you to give squad leaders orders on what objectives/areas you want them to attack or defend. I usually find it better to communicate through text chat however. You will gain score if the squad leader accepts your orders.
 
 
Scan UAV
 

 
This ability spawns a UAV that circles a selected objective revealing enemy/vehicle/equipment positions, it has a short cooldown and cannot be moved after being placed until the ability runs out. This can be countered by an enemy EMP UAV. You will gain score if your teammates kill enemies that are inside of the UAV radius.
 
 
EMP UAV
 

 
Similar to the Scan UAV but blocks friendlies/equipment from showing up on enemy maps and can be used to block an enemy commanders UAV. Has a longer cooldown. If playing against and enemy Commander you should save this ability until he puts down his own scan, to block it. You will gain score if your teammates kill enemies that are inside of the UAV radius.
 
 
EVAC Order
 

 
This ability is supposed to allow you to warn people of an incoming attack or cruise missile, however I always find it better to type in chat to warn your team. This ability gives you score every time you use it, so no matter the circumstance just choose a random are on the map and place it down.
 
 
High Value Target
 
Awaiting image
 
 
This ability allows you to put a mark on a specific enemy target who is on a killstreak of 6 or more players. This will mark them on the map for your teammates for a short time, you get score for just using it, and if they are killed both you and the person who kills them will gain score. You can tell what enemy can be marked because they will pop up on your map surrounded by a box, click on the box then mark them as an HVT.
 
 
Proxy Attack
 

 
This ability allows you to temporarily disable an enemy commander for 15 seconds, this also kills off any of his active abilities. This is an extremely effective tool when used against an enemy commander as you can stop Cruise Missiles in their tracks before they hit and force an enemy Gunship to eject anyone inside! As such it should be saved for the right moment. It has an extremely long refresh time after you use it. You get no points for using it so if you don’t have to use it don’t bother.
 
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Objective-locked Abilities:
 
 
These will require you to have certain objectives on the map under your control before you can use them.
 
 
Infantry Scan
 

 
This ability sweeps the map revealing enemy infantry for a short amount of time as, use this as soon as it becomes unlocked.
 
 
Vehicle Scan
 

 
This ability is similar to the Infantry scan except for vehicles. Use immediately upon unlocking.
 
 
Gunship
 

 
This ability allows the player to spawn in a gunship that will circle around a point on the map, you cannot choose what objective it flys around. Friendlies can spawn in this and parachute down from it. This is usually a pretty useless ability as they are EASILY shot down, however it can help for the few minutes it can stay in the air. Use immediately upon unlocking. Not every map has this ability.
 
 
Cruise Missile
 

 
This is one of the best abilities avaliable to a commander! This can easily help in clearing congested objectives, and help in dealing with large groups of campers! The missile takes time to reach it’s target so it is not great to use against actively mobile groups/vehicles. Be careful however, this ability has a large explosion radius to it and you can potentially kill friendlies on hardcore servers. This ability can be stopped by an enemy commander Proxy Attacking you, even if the missile is mid flight! Not every map has this ability.
 
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Squad Abilities:
 
 

 
 
Squad Abilities require score to be used, when playing you will see a progression bar that will fill up when you gain points from using your default abilities. Some require more score to be spent than others. To use squad abilities you must first left click a squad leader on the map to select their squad, then right click them to bring up the ability menu.
 
 
Squad Promotion
 

 
This ability allows you to increase an entire squads Field Upgrade path by 1. I like to use this on squads that are currently in combat or are going to be soon to give them an advantage. It is the cheapest Squad Ability and costs 1 tier from your score bar.
 
 
Supply Drop
 

 
This ability allows you to drop a supply crate via parachute that anyone on your team can use to resupply ammo and heal from. Careful as this can crush your own people!!! You can also use this to take out enemy snipers. This requires 2 tiers from the score bar.
 
 
Rapid Deploy
 

 
Easily one of the most important squad abilities you have, when used it will cut a squads respawn time in half for a short amount of time! I usually reserve this for squads that have gotten wiped out/mass casualties to get them into the fight quicker. This requires 3 tiers from your score bar.
 
 
Vehicle Drop
 

 
This ability allows you to drop an ATV that can be used by your team. Unless someone specifically asks you for it I would not bother wasting your time with it as practically no one will use the thing. It is the most expensive squad ability using all 4 tiers from your score bar
 
 
 

List of tips/tricks/tactics

Ability Tactics/Tips:
 

• I usually never use the “order solider” ability as I find just typing in chat to be more effective and you can convey much more information.
   
   
   
• When playing you should be putting up scans where squad leaders requests, or where the most action is. This will help out your team and get your score up for using the Squad Abilities.
   
   
   
• When playing you should use your Evac Order constantly, even if there is no danger. If there is danger you should be telling your team via chat. This will ensure your score bar is constantly being filled to allow use of Squad Abilities. I tend to use it on the edges of maps to not bother my team.
• When there is an enemy commander you should save your EMP scan for when their UAV is up to hide your teams positions.
• When there is an enemy commander, save your Proxy Attack for when he launches a Cruise Missile or puts up a Gunship, you should Proxy the second you see the icons. The Proxy can also be used after you launch your own missile to prevent the enemy commander from Proxying you and canceling it, you have to be careful with this however because cruise missile can take a bit to reach their target. If the map your playing doesn’t have either of those abilities then use at your discretion.
• You should always be promoting squads that are seeing the most action to help give them a better advantage. Using the promotion ability on a sniper chilling at your spawn is a waste.
• When you see a friendly squad getting wiped I like to use the Rapid Deploy ability on them to get them back into the fight.

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General Tactics/Tips:
 

• A commander should be constantly looking at the map to ensure enemies are not trying to flank friendlies, to call out enemy armor, or to see if enemy objectives are empty and ripe for the taking.
• Communication is paramount to helping out your team. As a commander you should constantly be in the text chat for your team calling out enemy positions, telling how many are on an objective, and more like that. Good communication can literally save a game.
• If your team doesn’t like you, the squad leaders can vote to Mutiny against you. In the Team Setup screen they can click on Change Rating, and if a threshold is met you will have 2 minutes to convince the team otherwise before being booted from the game. As a commander you will be able to see what squad leaders are voting against you so you can try and support them more and change their minds.

 
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If anyone has anything more to add please say so in the comments!
 
 

 
 
Here we come to an end for Battlefield 4™ Best Strategy and Tactics For Commander Guide hope you enjoy it. If you think we forget something to include or we should make an update to the post let us know via comment, and we will fix it asap! Thanks and have a great day!