Weapons Guide | American | DoD:S

WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT FOR THE U.S. ARMY


While both sides in this game (and indeed the war itself) have similar
weapons and roles for their soldiers, there are enough differences to
change the way you should play with each type of weapon. With the
U.S. Army, the role of the rifleman changes slightly, and so does the
role of the machine gunner. In any case, I'll help you find the best
class suited to your style of play, or the class that will best help
your team.

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U.S. ARMY STANDARD EQUIPMENT


Pistol:

M-1911 Colt .45
Magazine Capacity: 7 bullets, with 2 extra mags.
Secondary Fire: none


The ol' Colt .45. I love this pistol, both in real life and in the
game. This pistol is as accurate as its Wehrmacht counterpart,
some may argue that the one less bullet in the Colt magazine will
affect gameplay. I don't agree because honestly, when I have to use
my pistol, its because I'm carrying a primary weapon that would be
near useless at close quarters combat, or because I ran out of ammo,
and the enemy's are a'comin.

What I'm trying to say is that if you have to shoot your pistol,
you're probably going to empty the whole clip at whoever you're
shooting at, and lets face it, if you don't hit with the first 7,
one more shot probably isn't going to save you.

The pistol is (obviously) semi-automatic, so you can shoot it as fast
as you can click. The reload time is fast, just remember that you
only have 2 extra magazines; a total of just 21 bullets to defend
yourself from submachine guns, machine guns, rocket launchers,
and the like.

It is not a primary weapon, so only rely on it when you have to and
the Colt .45 should serve you well.


Melee Weapon:

Combat Knife


Knives exist for two reasons. The first and most fun reason is for
sneaking up and stabbing bunkered-down enemy Snipers and Machine
Gunners, and also completely unaware attackers. This is always fun,
and I encourage you to celebrate both your teammates and your own
successful knifings. It should be noted that if you sneak up
behind an opponent and elect to stab them, you can kill your opponent
instantly, regardless of their health total in one deft strike. The
knife is not nearly as effective at damaging the front half of the
enemy's body.

The second reason knives exist are for the Riflemen and the hardasses.
Riflemen have no other option when the Garand goes 'plink!' and
you're looking at a German with a quarter of a health bar reloading
his MP-40. The hardasses like to finish off wounded soldiers while
they're still shooting at them, and God bless them too.

Whatever your taste, the knife will get the job done if you need it
to, but you really shouldn't ever have to rely on it seriously in
combat.

Detonation Weapon:

Demolition Pack

Demolition packs aren't available in every map. As of the latest
patch, the two offical maps that feature them are Colmar and Jagd.
Any soldier can pick up a Demo Pack, regardless of what team they're
on, and they can be found in and around the large TNT crates you'll
find in those maps. (Actually, the U.S. Army only uses Demo Packs
on Colmar; they defend against them in Jagd.)

Demo packs are not used as a direct means of killing enemies,
but instead to destroy objectives in Detonation-style maps. However,
it should be noted that Demolition packs are very deadly, and even
putting a wall between yourself and the exploding objective won't
necessarily keep you safe from harm.

Demolition packs are planted by pressing the use key (default 'e'),
and can be defused in the same fashion. If you see a Demo pack about
to explode, remember that when you attempt to defuse one, the
countdown timer will stop - so as long as you get there before it
detonates, you'll have a chance at stopping the explosion.

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THE U.S. ARMY RIFLEMAN CLASS


Primary Weapon:

M1 Garand
Clip Capacity: 8 rounds, with 10 additional clips
Secondary Fire: "Ironsight" zoom

Equipment:

2 Rifle Grenades
Combat Knife

**WEAPON**

The M1 Garand: the workhorse rifle for the Americans in WW2, and for
good reason. The Garand has always been a touchy subject in the
history of DoD, and it's incarnation in DoD:S only adds fuel to the
fire. Personally, I've always liked it, and I think you should too.

The M1 Garand is a semi-automatic weapon, which means it will fire as
fast as you can click the left mouse button (or whatever button your
primary fire is bound to.) Make sure you keep in mind one of the
Garand's trademark quirks - you can't reload it until you've shot
the entire clip, and when you have, you and any nearby enemies
will hear a "Ping!" noise as the clip ejects itself. The reload is
fast, but make sure you don't run out at an inopportune time.

The German Rifleman does not have a semi-automatic rifle.
As such, the American Rifleman is better equipped to handle enemies
with submachine guns and assault rifles. The tradeoff is that
the Garand isn't as powerful as the German Kar 98. Unless you
can hit your enemy in the face (and by all means try), you'll have
to tag him twice to drop him, meaning you'll be most effective
crouched or prone, which will enable you to control your recoil
more easily as you fire 2-3 shot burts.

I like to play as a Rifleman in a more of a defensive role, unless
I have a handful of Assault soldiers or an extra rifleman to attack
with me. The Garand can work at all ranges, but is most effective
at medium and long range, where automatic weapons can't compete
with the Garand's accuracy.

Secondary fire brings up "Ironsights", which, for those of you who
haven't played shooters for very long means that the soldier looks
down the sight of the rifle, giving you a bit of zoom and a big
boost in accuracy. Just put whatever you want to hit right on the
tip of the sight. Go prone and you'll be able to light matches
at 50 yards.

The ironsights work best for me in tight corridors that enemies
can't move around in much (like in the apartments on Flash, or the
alleyways in Donner) where I can go prone, bring up the sights,
and hold off a doorway. Also, if a Rifleman can get an angle on
an enemy Machine Gunner or Sniper, a good shot can take them down.
This is very helpful if your own team's sniper can't get a good
angle or is pinned down.

**EQUIPMENT**

One of the most defining features of the Rifleman (and one of the
biggest new features to DoD:S) is the rifle grenade. Slightly
different from the modern grenade launcher, the concept is still the
same. In this case, an attachment is fitted to the muzzle of the
M1 Garand, and a launchable grenade is fitted into the attachment.
The grenade is shot just like a bullet.

If you're playing as a Rifleman, but aren't using your rifle
grenades, you might consider playing a different class. I'm not
saying you should spam these grenades (fire them for no real reason),
but there's nothing else like them. Well-placed rifle grenades will
force enemies to retreat (or die) and can unseat a Machine Gunner or
Sniper that you don't have the angle to shoot regularly.

These things can shoot very far, so when trying to aim for short
distances, bounce them off of the ground or, my personal favorite,
bounce them off of a wall racketball style. This is a great way to
blow up unknowing Axis troops on Avalanche that are sitting on the
other side of the Apartments as you run up the slope out of the spawn;
bounce a grenade off of the church and send em flying!

Spetsnaz420 also points out that you can pick up grenades thrown at
you by pressing the use button (default 'e'), which also works for rifle
grenades. He elaborates:

"This is also useful for rifle grenades shot into sniper
nests...sometimes I just sit there waiting for nades to pop in to throw
out. You can also shoot rifle grenades at a wall close to you and
pick them up and throw them. Rifle grenades take half of the amount of
time to detonate than a regular pineapple or potato masher grenade
(Lappy's note: that's about 3-4 seconds)."

The combat knife is the very same knife I describe in the "Standard
Equipment" section.

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THE U.S. ARMY ASSAULT CLASS


Primary Weapon:

M-1928 Thompson
Magazine Capacity: 30 rounds, with 6 extra mags.
Secondary Fire: Punch

Equipment:

M-1911 Colt .45
1 Fragmentation Grenade
1 Smoke Grenade

**WEAPON**

This class plays a lot different in DoD:S than it did in earlier
versions. For one, they had to take the M3A1 Greasegun out because
my roommates and I were too good with it - we kept breaking the game.
However, The Thompson (you may know it as a "Tommy-Gun") is still
an excellent weapon, and is made even better now with the
equipment that comes with it.

The Thompson fires and reloads fast, but with 30 rounds per magazine
and 6 additional magazines, you probably won't have to worry about
running out of ammo. It always helps to remember that this gun
shoots out more bullets faster than every other gun except Machine
Guns. The bullets aren't as strong, but aim for the chest-neck area
and let the gun rake up to their face - they'll fall down quick.

Range-wise, the Thompson (and for that matter the German MP-40)
can no longer be used as it used to, picking off Snipers and
Machine Gunners across the map. Take Lappy's advice, don't try
to hit anything long range with this gun. A Sniper will shoot
your face. Instead, crouch or go prone while firing at medium
range, and fire in short burst to control your recoil.
If it doesn't kill the enemy, it can at least push them
back so you can close the gap between you - because the closer
the Thompson is to your enemy, the worse for them.

Now, some people will complain about this change in accuracy. If
you care to join them, look in the Day of Defeat and Steam forums,
they complain about it like they're paid by the post.
BUT! Instead of complaining, use the gun to your advantage!
It is most effective at close ranges; force your enemy to fight you
at close range! This is the kind of gun you charge a flag with,
drop prone at the base,and shoot anyone who tries to sprint by.
Don't worry about enemy Riflemen, you have Riflemen too. It's
their job to cover the long-range duties. You get to do the
dirty work up front.

The secondary fire for this weapon is more of a novelty to me
than a necessity - but fun nonetheless. Simply put, you punch
the enemy with your free hand. Considering that the class
comes with a sub-machinegun and a pistol, I don't think that the
class needs this melee attack; that said, there is no better
feeling than punching your first enemy to death. Go out there
and make a pinata out of some sorry sap on the Wehrmacht.

My final piece of advice when playing this class - keep moving!
A stationary Assault soldier is a dead one. Think of it this
way: It's a lot easier for a Rifleman or Sniper to hit you
if you stay still or crouched. So if you see someone in front
of you, or you get the jump on them, strafe *around* them
while shooting. They'll be dead before they even know where
the killing shot came from.

**EQUIPMENT**

This is really where the Assault class shines.

The one frag grenade you get with this class never seems like
enough, because it can help so much. Assaulters don't have
much of a long range attack, but throwing one of these babies
in front of you as you hold a flag can help slow down attackers
rushing to stop you, or can create a much needed diversion. Of
course, the soldier can't throw a grenade as far as a rifle
grenade could be shot.

Also worth noting is the ability to "cook" the grenade. Holding
down primary fire without letting it go makes the solider pull
the pin on the grenade without throwing it, effectively starting
the timer until the grenade blows up. I use this feature all the
time. If you see a Machine Gunner in a window above you, cook the
grenade down so that he can't run away from it when you throw it
through the window. It's so easy it's like cheating.
I would cook a grenade no longer than 4 seconds, they seem to have
a 5-6 second fuse, although I haven't measured it.

Another wonderful addition to the game is the smoke grenade, which
is only available to the Assault class. These are vital to
the success of any team, as they can be used in so many ways.
Smoke the middle flag on Donner or Flash so the enemy can't see
what direction you're running at it from. Smoke the sniper's
line of sight so he can't shoot you while you or a teammate
runs to a position where he can take the sniper out. On
objective maps, smoke grenades on the targets make it harder
to plant and defuse. Smoke grenades make teams win, so use
them! Just be sure you're not blinding your own snipers
or machine gunners!

Spetsnaz420 also points out that you can pick up grenades thrown at
you by pressing the use button (default 'e'). This can be useful in
all sorts of situations, like when you try to throw a grenade
around a corner and instead bounce it off the wall in front of you
and into your lap.

The pistol that the Assault class gets is the very same pistol I
described in the U.S. Army's "standard Equipment" section.

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THE U.S. ARMY SUPPORT CLASS


Primary Weapon:

M-1918A2 BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle)
Magazine Capacity: 20 rounds, with 10 extra mags.
Secondary Fire: Semi-Auto toggle

Equipment:

2 Fragmentation Grenades
Combat Knife

**WEAPON**

If you like to dish out heavy firepower without limiting your mobility
like a Machine Gunner, pick this class, it will work wonders for you.

The BAR has many iterations in history and in WW2 shooters, you can put
a bipod on it, a scope on it (I've seen it!), you can belt-feed it
ammunition, but in DoD:S, you just get the rifle without any silly
attachments. Frankly, that's all you need.

The BAR fires more slowly than the Thompson, but that's a good thing
because the 20 round magazine wouldn't last very long if this thing
fired that quickly. As it is, a 20 round mag can easily run out at
the wrong time if you aren't paying attention.

The slow rate of fire helps to compensate for the large recoil. When
you do run out, reload somewhere safe; the Bar reloads quickly, but
the process isn't as speedy as a Garand reload.

You probably want to pick the BAR for two reasons: It hits the enemy
hard, and it works great as a support weapon (hence the title of the
class, duh). Covering fire works great when it's coming out of this
weapon. If you aren't a proponent of cover fire, you really should
be. Charging the critical middle flag on Avalanche is a lot easier
if you have two BARs and an MG laying suppressing fire on all of the
points that an enemy sniper or rifleman might try to pick you off.
Spraying this gun at long ranges is a good way to keep an enemies'
head down long enough for your team to advance, or make a critical
capture.

That said, you probably won't be hitting much at long range with
this gun. The best tactic when trying to hit anything beyond close
range is to go crouched or prone and fire in bursts of 2 to 3
bullets. You could also use the secondary fire option to switch
to semi-automatic mode. This is useful when trying to keep snipers
away from a certain window, or when trying to cover a tight corridor
or doorway from a well-covered spot. The single-shot action
improves your accuracy, and also helps you to target the more
vital chest and head areas.

At close range, just unload on them. 2 hits to the chest puts em
down for the count, 3 if you hit a limb. And if you see a group
of teammates moving together, join up with them; A BAR is just
as effective on the attack as it is on defense, and there's nothing
more welcome to a squad that some portable, heavy firepower.

**EQUIPMENT**

The frag grenades that the American Support class gets are the same
as the grenade that the Assault class gets - you just get twice as
much fun. These two grenades work wonders against enemy Snipers
and Machine Gunners that are within throwing range. Having two
grenades really lets you screw with the enemy - throw one grenade
at the enemy and follow up immediately with the next. They'll
run from the first one, return when they hear it explode, and
BLAMMO! Watch them fly through the air from the grenade they
didn't see you throw.

And don't forget to cook those grenades by holding down the primary
fire button! Cooking them off doesn't give the enemy a chance to run
from them!

Spetsnaz420 also points out that you can pick up grenades thrown at
you by pressing the use button (default 'e'), which can be useful in
all sorts of situations, like when you try to throw a grenade
around a corner and instead bounce it off the wall in front of you
and into your lap.

But of course the combat knife that this class gets is the same one
from the "U.S. Army Standard Equipment" section.

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THE U.S. ARMY SNIPER CLASS


Primary Weapon:

M-1903A4 Springfield w/Scope
Clip Capacity: 5 rounds, with 12 extra clips.
Secondary Fire: Scope Zoom

Equipment:

M-1911 Colt .45
Combat Knife

**WEAPON**

Ah, the Sniper. Out of all of the reasons I've played DoD for so long,
one of my favorites is that the Snipers in DoD have never been like
the Counterstrike/Medal of Honor Hop-Lean-Strafe-Jump headshot
Snipers. In this game they have to sit still and aim.

Keep that in mind when you play as a sniper. You're really not
much of a threat on the move, and you don't even have a crosshair
to aim with your rifle if you aren't scoped in. Movement is slowed
down to a crawl while zoomed, and the zoom is reset every time you
shoot, go prone, or start sprinting.

That said, a good Sniper in a good spot can make all of the difference
in a map. For my money, a team shouldn't need more than one Sniper
in a map, because having any more than one limits the team's ability
to move forward and capture the flags.

The Springfield sniper rifle is an excellent rifle, with more than
adequate stopping power. Any shot to the chest or head will drop
an enemy. The secondary fire for this class is really the only
way you'll hit anything, but before you do zoom in, you have to
find the right spot to shoot from.

Your position as a Sniper is what's most important, and the obvious
factors apply: You need a position that maximizes your threat range,
while minimizing the angles that you can be shot from and also
minimizing the amount of looking around you have to do while scoped.
I can't tell you what the best positions are - my advice is to play
the game and think about where you most often get shot from, where
enemies are most likely to sit, and where the last place they would
expect a sniper to lay down would be. And for goodness' sake use all
of the furniture lying around to your advantage! Use your "use" key
(default is 'e') to push dressers, chairs, and the like in
front of windows and doorways to give yourself more cover.


Lastly, don't be afraid to move if the enemy figures out where all of
their men are getting killed from. Keep moving, and you'll keep the
enemy dead and more importantly, frustrated. And while you're moving,
you might want to reload, as the Springfield only holds five rounds
at a time. While the game (and I) sort the ammo into 5-round clips,
the soldier reloads the rifle one round at a time, so you don't
want to run out under fire. Bottom line: make sure you pay attention
to your ammo count.

So just do all of that and your team will have no trouble moving
forward.

**EQUIPMENT**

Both the pistol and knife that the U.S. Sniper gets are the same
from the "U.S. Army Standard Equipment" section. Pistols are
valuable to the sniper, as they are the best (only) mode of defense
if confronted on the way to a position. Well, you could try to
no-scope them (That's shooting them without the crosshair for all
of you fresh'uns out there), but I think the pistol gives you
a better chance.


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THE U.S. ARMY MACHINE GUNNER CLASS


Primary Weapon:

.30 Caliber Light Machine Gun w/bipod
150-round belt, with 2 additional belts.
Secondary Fire: Deploy/Retract bipod

Equipment:

M-1911 Colt .45
Combat Knife

**WEAPON**

Definitely one of the most under-used classes, yet in my opinion the
most team-oriented class in the game. I don't know how many
times I've played in servers with 5 Snipers on a 10 man team and would
have gladly traded all of them for one Machine Gunner who knew what
he was doing. Machine Gunners can dictacte the flow of a map and
guarantee advancement and flag captures if on a team that can give
them the time and cover to advance.

As a Machine Gunner, your job is to keep those bullets spitting out of
the .30 cal. You are not a Sniper, you are not conservative about
your ammunition. You either keep enemy heads down or you shoot them
off. It's a lot easier for the Americans to take the middle flag on
Avalanche with a Machine Gunner keeping the Germans from advancing out
of their spawn, or covering the angle from the church to the German
balcony over their second flag.

As a Machine Gunner for the U.S. Army, you have an advantage over your
Wehrmacht counterpart - your gun does not overheat, so you can hold
down the trigger button as long as you want without fear of your gun
shutting down. On the other hand, you have less total ammunition. To
a novice (or bad) Machine Gunner, the 50 extra bullets won't make
much of a difference - but to the veteran, those fifty bullets could
make or break a vital flag cap.

It should be very clear that this gun is not a gun that is meant to be
fired from the hip. You'll have a hard time hitting anything due to
the insane recoil, and you'll drain your stamina as well. Fortunately,
the .30 Cal comes with a bipod, which you can and will deploy with the
secondary fire button. You can deploy on anything - window ledges,
stacks of rubble, tables, bed frames, whatever suits you. If you're
caught in an open field, go prone and use the ground to deploy the
bipod on.

I won't lie, it takes a while to reload one of these guns, and you have
to be depoloyed to do it. Make sure you're either in a friendly area
or you have covering fire before you reload in the open. Personally,
I think every round on the belt can be useful, even if only for
intimidation (hearing a machine gun rattling in the distance and
watching tracers riddle the open area in front of you kinda
keeps you from advancing). So my advice is to fire the whole belt off
before reloading.

My final piece of advice: Don't try to compete with your team Snipers
as a Machine Gunner. Gunners are more capable of dealing with groups
of ground troops and holding flag areas with sweeping, covering
fire. A Sniper is better at surgically removing enemy Snipers and
Rocketmen from hiding places. Just scratch your sniper's back, and
he'll scratch yours. You'll have the map won in no time.

And thanks to Spetsnaz420 for remninding me about ammunition.
If you're a good Machine Gunner (and hey, if you're reading this
guide, you will be) then you'll be needing more boxes of ammo as
you mow down the enemy and cover your troops. Your teammates
can give you an extra box of ammunition by hitting the 'give ammo'
key (default is 'h'). Encourage them to do this. They need you to
keep shooting and you need bullets to shoot.

Even though the ammo boxes that players can drop are universal
(a teammate of any class can pick it up by running over it and
get one additional reserve clip/magazine/etc.), the Machine
Gunner is the class that really needs them, with the Rocket class
being its closest competitor for ammo usage.

And of course, if you're playing as a class other than a Machine
Gunner and you see a teammate who is, drop him a box of ammo.
Everyone goes home happy .

**EQUIPMENT**

The pistol and knife described above are the very same from my
"Standard Equipment" section. I would recommend a Gunner to his
pistol when moving to a new position, as it is so hard to hit
a rushing enemy with the .30 Cal when it's undeployed.

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THE U.S. ARMY ROCKET CLASS


Primary Weapons:

M1A1 Bazooka
Ammunition:5 rockets
Secondary Fire: Shoulder Bazooka

M1 Carbine
Magazine Capacity: 15 rounds, w/ 2 extra mags.
Secondary Fire: None

Equipment:

Combat Knife


**WEAPONS**

Ah, the Rocket class. I must say, with the Source engine, there is
little greater satisfaction than watching people soar through the
air due to a successful rocket attack. The Bazooka has become a much
more widely used weapon in DoD:S, and although I can't say why it
has become more popular, I can sum up the usefulness of the class
in one word: versatility.

The Rocket class combines the heavy-hitting, long range power of the
Bazooka with the close combat, run n'gun ability of the long-time DoD
favorite M1 Carbine rifle. Really, the Rocketman can do anything
and everything his team needs him to do; I've seen Rocketeers
blow up a sniper nest, then charge around the corner with their
Carbines and help capture a flag.

Shooting the Bazooka is fun, but it takes getting used to. First,
you'll need to press secondary fire to actually be able to fire a
rocket. When you do this, you'll shoulder the Bazooka and notice
that everything from your movement to your aiming speed just got a
lot slower. This is to simulate the heaviness of the loaded
rocket launcher.

Before you launch the rocket towards its destination, I will leave
you with two pieces of advice. First: the Bazooka is more of a
long range weapon than a short range weapon...I mean, apart from
turning a corner and having to shoulder the weapon before firing,
having a rocket explode 10 ft. in front of you isn't the healthiest
thing to do. Second: the rockets in DoD:S, just like in real life,
will trail (or sink downward) the further they travel; so when
aiming across a map, compensate for the trail by aiming higher than
the target you're trying to hit.

Ultimately, the nice thing about the rockets are the damage they deal.
Obviously, a direct hit from a rocket will send even the strongest
soldier flying across a map - but a slight miss can still cause
"splash" damage much like a frag grenade would.

However, a slow-firing, slow-reloading Bazooka isn't always the best
thing to have in your hands, especially when trying to capture a flag
or moving through contested territory to get a better position on a
Sniper or Machine Gunner. In these situations, take out that trusty
M1 Carbine! It's one of the U.S. Army's best weapons, and could
carry the Rocket class by itself if it only came with more
ammunition.

The M1 Carbine is a semi-automatic rifle, so you can fire it as
quickly as you can click the mouse button, which, for some people
is pretty ridiculously fast. It has decent stopping power and
even better accuracy. Some would prefer this rifle to the Garand
that the Rifleman gets, and I wouldn't blame them. Really though,
the M1 Carbine is more of a close-quarters rifle due to its
ability to fire off rounds more quickly than the Garand. The
Rifleman is still more effective at long range (but hey, you've
got a Bazooka for that).

In any case, when you're shooting the M1 Carbine, watch your ammo; if
you are as fast a clicker as I've seen, those 15 rounds won't last
very long. Keep in mind also that you only have two additional
magazines, so using this weapon by itself won't keep you alive
for long.

What's the moral of the story? Use both of the primary weapons
in the situations that work best for each: The Bazooka at long range
and for support fire, the M1 Carbine when on the move and up close
and personal, and you'll have a blast (it's a pun! HA!) with
the Rocket class.

**EQUIPMENT**

The Rocket class gets the very same knife that all of the other U.S.
Army classes got that I described in my "Standard Equipment" section.