Overview
I have a couple hundred hours in the game and I win about 80-90% of my matches. I’m not that great mechanically, but if you just keep a few principles in mind, you’ll immediately improve your worth to your team. This guide will teach you how to do a few simple things that make winning almost certain.
Overview
In this section I’m simply going to outline the topics to be discussed below. Each of these will be covered in depth. Please keep in mind that this guide assumes you are aware of how to actually play this game mechanically.
- General importance of objectives
- Weapon attachment decisions and why yours are bad
- Kit decisions and proper use
- Being an objective meat sack
- Camping vs assaulting
- Respawn timers
- Denying respawns to enemies
- Pick a valuable fire sector and go prone a lot
- Check your fire mode
- The importance of being a Larry, and when to jihad
Update
Due to the popularity of the guide we’ve decided to make a Steam Group where we can perhaps party up and I will schedule events.
You can also see my https://www.youtube.com/user/McSniffle/featured where I post a decent amount of Insurgency videos and live educational play sessions.
TL;DR section will be in italics at the bottom of each part
1. General importance of objectives
This may be the simplest thing that is overlooked. Pay attention to the bottom of your screen as it will tell you who has what objective, if any are being contested, and what type of objective it is. The way to win games in Insurgency is to complete the objectives so everything you’re doing should be preceded by “How is what I’m doing going to complete an objective for my team and get us a win?” It’s the “what would Jesus do?” of Insurgency. Jesus would complete objectives and you should too.
The game tries to encourage you to always participate in objective-proximity activities by giving you higher score for completing objectives and getting kills and suppresses while INSIDE the actual objective perimeter. Every time you are top-scorer in a game your e-peen grows slightly so always try your best to be as useful as possible.
This short video I made the day of writing this tutorial demonstrates a few things which I’ll go into depth in the rest of the guide. You can see me using smokes initially to throw toward the enemy side so that they aren’t able to aim at me or my friends while we push toward the entrance. You’ll notice I immediately go in for the objective without wasting time around it. After ultra-murdering the enemies inside, I set up to camp the only objective, staying in the objective room. Everything I did was right and you should do that too.
Open in Chrome for 1080p60
TL:DR:
Always do objectives, if you’re not on an objective right now it means you make poor decisions in life.
2. Weapon attachment decisions and why yours are bad
About 99.9% of problems I see players falling victim to is that they think magnified optics are better. I mean they cost more supply points so obviously they’re better. I mean zoom is better for killing people, right? No, idiot! Wrong! Here’s why:
Most encounters you have in this game are in ranges <100m or so. The characters you’re playing are very well disciplined and practiced marksmen as they are QUICKLY able to steady their weapons and align sight posts. This means that 99% of the time you killed that guy with your big scope, you could have done the same exact thing with iron sights or a red-dot/holosight just as quickly, if not more quickly. You also would have been able to keep your eye on any new contacts because you aren’t constricted to only like 10% of your actual un-zoomed field of view. Also you would have saved supply points that can be spent on things that provide actual utility in a multitude of situations. Remember, you can hold “shift” (or whatever key you reassigned it to” to hold your breath and zoom in, even on cheap optics or iron sights. This severely reduces the in-game worth of scopes, because you can still fire with reliable steadiness at medium-long and long ranges.
If you’re going to ignore my suggestion and be a big dumb idiot with a big dumb scope anyway, at least do that part right. First, if you’ve got a massive scope, do NOT use it to look for enemies. Zoom in only once you’re certain an enemy is there or is about to expose himself. Again, the ranges on this game make it basically impossible to hide or not be noticed by just using plain un-zoomed view. If you’re zoomed in looking for enemies, you’re literally missing 80-90% of your screen real estate to be able to spot anything. Obviously there are camping spots where being zoomed in gives you that advantage while you can remain certain that anything out of your view is taken care of, but that’s not the usual case.
Spending 3-4 supply points on a suppressor during an objective mission that requires explosives is the worst thing you can do. In this instance, your ability to confuse the enemies at the sacrifice of explosives and AP ammo is not worth it. If your objective is to blow up a cache, the first thing you need to do is get an explosive then build the rest of your kit from there.
If you don’t know what to do with all these new found supply points from not attaching your big dumb scopes, always remember: AP ammo is amazing, smoke grenades are crazy useful, armor is useful. Armor does add on some weight, but letting you survive a hit is still always worth it in my opinion.
Notice here I am standing on objective A while focusing on the new enemy wave respawn entrance point. Notice I don’t have some big stupid scope. Notice I’m capturing a point and have just finished killing 4 guys as they come up from one direction. Notice how much of the screen is visible for me to react to even though i know where they’re coming from.
Reiterative point: Mohammad, praise be onto him, never puts scopes on his AK type weapons. He however allows Kobra sights on the FAL, because FAL sights are garbage. Non-magnified sights (holographic sight or red dot) are allowed on all Security weapons because of their tendency to have enclosed iron sights.
TL;DR
Stop using expensive optics entirely, every time, forever. Use iron sights or red dots/holo sights. Get explosives first if there’s an objective that needs to explode before spending the points on attachments. AP ammo is always good for spare points.
3. Kit decisions and proper use
This takes a little from the previous section, however some things need to be reiterated. It doesn’t matter what class you are in the squad selection, every class has something useful for you to help your team win.
If there’s an objective that needs to be blown up, always bring explosives. Forgo every other attachment or point until after you get an explosive that can complete the objective. Even if you plan on being defensive, bring an explosive anyway because it may be down to you to do the objective. Incendiaries and molotovs are great because for 3 points you get to throw something that can complete an explosives objective. With grenades, you’ll have to equip them in explosives 2 slot and equip a chest carrier in order to have enough grenades (two) to blow up a weapons cache.
As of more recent changes to the game, you now have the ability to very accurately aim M203 and GP25 under-barrel grenades with grenade launcher sights. There is a huge advantage to this when it comes to picking your kit. First, if you equip a chest carrier, you get FOUR grenades to shoot. Second, the grenades to the same damage as hand grenades to objectives so you still only need two to blow up a weapons cache. Third, you can fire smoke grenades very accurately and very far. Use underbarrel smoke grenades to provide very quick cover as the smoke detonates immediately on impact. This is extremely useful for laying down smoke at all the places the enemies would be watching you from. Hitting a smoke grenade into a window or a hiding spot removes that campers ability to be able to aim at anyone. Use underbarrel smokes if you have team mates pushing the objectives and if explosives aren’t a primary concern.
If you’re not blowing things up as an objective, but instead you’re capturing points, bring smokes. Smokes are an amazing tool to help you get an objective. However, this does not mean that you just get to be a derp and pretend you’re cool by just throwing it at the center of the objective. Use smoke grenades to obstruct the enemy’s view while you get to the objective and get into position. Ideally you throw the smoke at a location that forces the enemy to have to move forward and expose themselves against a smoke backdrop where they’re an easy target. You want the smoke location to be similar to You -> Objective -> Smoke -> Enemy. Do not create a situation that’s You -> Smoke-> Objective -> Enemy unless the situation absolutely calls for it. The only time this scenario is OK is if you need to get to a place and the enemies are literally all around. You can use smoke to create a path to run through to get to an objective. However, it is never OK to have Smoke-> You -> Objective -> Enemy. I don’t even know what you’re doing when you do that.
If you don’t want to use smoke and you keep having encounters in the same places over and over, bring a flashbang. Flashbangs go off quickly and will mess up the hearing and vision even if someone isn’t looking at the flashbang. Remember, if you’re throwing a flashbang it means you need to make that time count immediately after the explosion, use it to move positions or get the upper hand on your enemy. They will often try to escape or hide for a second before coming back up, and this gives you time to set up. If they stay where they are, they’ll get flashed and from then it’s easy because mainly you just shoot them in the face while they’re blind and deaf.
You can argue on this point as I’m sure you will but after a couple hundred hours of play, I’ve found armor more useful than not having armor. You take a weight/speed penalty but in my experience it’s always been worth it. Armor will save you from the people who aren’t using AP ammo; you’ll get to survive those longer range random hits way more often and it can eventually lead to winning the game because of it.
Don’t waste points on chest carriers in no-respawn modes unless you need the extra grenades/explosives. There’s no way you’re getting through 6 magazines with your one pathetic life. Instead use the points for AP ammo if you can; AP ammo is always good.
Good kits lead to good scores. Following this guide one day your score will look like this:
TL;DR:
Use smokes effectively by obstructing the enemy’s view, not your own. Do something after throwing flasbangs, don’t just wait for it to wear off. Armor is good. Don’t waste points on chest carriers in no-respawn modes.
4. Being an objective meat sack
Often times I find myself wishing that my teammates would literally not even shoot anything or do anything other than sit on objectives. Getting on objectives is so important that I sometimes find myself wishing that no one on my team had weapons unless they got on the objective. It’s that bad. And, unless you’re the most pro gamer in the world, treating a match like it’s Team Deathmatch means that you’re going to lose every time. The game times are too short and it’s too easy to go prone and defend an objective.
Always remember that, no matter how terrible your FPS mechanics are, you’re still extremely useful for your team just as a bag of meat that sits or lays down to take or contest an objective. If you’re 0 kills and 30 deaths but you’re sitting on objectives to take and contest them, you’re still more useful than that dummy with the massive scope camping a spot for 3 rounds and getting only 3-4 kills.
In this image I noticed the guy to the top left is sitting and covering the entrance below me. I adjusted and protected the other entrance. I am on the objective. This is how it should be.
Remember that getting kills while sitting on objectives gives you more points and getting actual objectives gets you more points than anything else. Be useful by ALWAYS FOCUSING OBJECTIVES. Just be a bag of flesh sitting in the objective perimeter and you’ll win your games. As soon as you’re done with one, go to the next or defend against imminent dangers.
TL;DR:
Get on objectives no matter what. Even if you suck at shooting and mechanics, you’re extremely useful if you just sit on the objective points.
5. Camping vs assaulting
Now I’m going to exclude the obvious here. There are game types where you’re literally textually and verbally informed about whether you’re assaulting an objective or if you’re defending. I’m going to explore this a bit deeper than that.
Pay attention when you move out from spawn how many people go in what direction and who stops to stay back and who goes forward. There are game modes where you need someone to assault and someone to defend. If you’re doing Skirmish and you notice that 95% of your team is rushing forward, maybe be bored for a round and sit and camp the respawn objective (A or E) for the good of the team.
If you find yourself camping a spot and the matches ending and nothing is happening in your little world, then move on to do something else. Do not be the sniper that’s sitting on the Security ridge on Buhriz during a Strike (find and destroy) objective mode. If someone’s doing it, do something else. If you notice you’re losing because the enemies are capturing a specific objective quickly, then react, and set up for the next round to defend that specific objective. People tend to keep repeating what works and if you can mess up their plan, you win the game. Always remember to ask yourself “How is what I’m doing going to complete an objective for my team and get us a win?”
Here’s a short video of Ambush game type where I’m the VIP and instruct my team on where to go and just tell them to push an objective. Notice that it’s OK to die as long as you’re useful to your team; such as running ahead of your VIP and making sure you’re the one that clears and dies and passes on the knowledge of enemies to your teammate with your death. RIP Czarczarczar, Lubricated Goat, Chesthair Ascot, and Mad Stains Yo.
Camping is totally OK, even off objective, but you have to make sure you’re camping somewhere that’s been a proven entry point to a win for the enemy team. Do not waste your time camping a location that the enemies never visit, go camp somewhere more useful that has actual traffic.
TL;DR:
If what you’re doing isn’t working well, do something else. React to disrupt objectives enemies are taking early on.
6. Respawn timers
This might not sound as important on first thought but it really is. On game modes where there are respawn waves (most game modes), try to keep your eye on the bottom by the objectives. It will tell you how many waves the enemy team has and when that wave count decreases it means a new wave has spawned. Having the heads up on this will often get you kills on unsuspecting new spawns, especially if you’re near the spawn points.
Perhaps you’re locked in a firefight with someone and you notice the wave count drop or the enemies take some objective, you need to immediately consider the impact of a spawning wave of enemies coming by. Sometimes the right decision can be to just try and mow down an unsuspecting respawn wave based on your position, but most times you want to react by TAKING AN OBJECTIVE. If the enemies respawn you’re at a disadvantage until your own team ALSO respawns. That means you need to do whatever you can to get your team a respawn to combat the enemies wave. Do this quickly as enemies might not be scrubs and will be looking at what objectives are contested.
TL;DR:
Pay attention to the bottom of the screen, it tells you when enemies respawn. E.g. wave count goes down by 1 for enemies or when they take any objective.
7. Denying respawns to enemies
Sometimes you’re close to winning, and only need to finish one more objective. You’re pretty sure that most of their team is dead, but you notice on the bottom of the screen that someone is currently capping one of your objectives. What do you do?
Although it’s tempting to cap an objective because of the big score boost, keep in mind that trading objectives can be more advantageous to one team than another if more of them have died. Sometimes it’s a lot more valuable to get them off of objectives you already own. If they’re out of waves, or if you’re playing on a gametype that doesn’t give respawns unless an objective is capped, then they have no way of coming back with a huge team of guys and recapping everything/murdering you like a fat baby.
Try to keep a situational awareness on objectives: is most of my team dead? If so, capping an objective is extremely important because you’re not getting any backup until you do. Is the enemy team mostly dead? If so, defending an objective against enemy capping is far more valuable. If you can selectively deny enemy respawns then you kneecap any ability they have to undo your progress on the map.
TL;DR
Capping objectives is more valuable if you’ve lost more people. Don’t let the enemy get it if they’re on the ropes
8. Pick a valuble fire sector and go prone a lot
If you’re going to camp, wandering around while standing up or crouched is a terrible way to do it. You’re going to get noticed almost immediately, which means that the enemy is going to get the drop on you the majority of the time. This isn’t Halo or COD, you can’t pull that mess here, you’ll be dead in the first 1-2 bullets and you won’t even know where you got shot from.
When you’re picking an area to protect (objective or passageway immediately adjacent to objective), do a quick analysis of where the enemy is likely to come from. Then press ‘Z’ to go prone (or whatever you reassigned it to) and keep a close eye on where enemies are likely to come from. While prone, you can’t fire while crawling in a direction, but you can rotate without penalty. That’s okay, when you’re defending you don’t want to move too much. Extraneous movement is what dead people do. You’ll notice that it is incredibly hard to see someone when they’re prone, especially with concealment, but that they have no issue nailing you immediately. You’re a smaller target, and if you stay somewhat still before a firefight you can be mistaken for a dead body. There are some maps where going prone on a carefully picked area makes you almost impassable. Embrace the cheese. Let the cheese flow through you.
TL;DR
Get behind concealment or cover at objective and go prone. Then keep still and proceed to murder confused run-and-gun Halo babies.
9. Check your fire mode
Different guns have different fire modes (press ‘X’ to toggle), but nearly all of them have single fire. And, unless you’re going to be getting into a great deal of close to close-medium range scuffles, that’s the firemode you’re probably going to want to use (light machine guns excluded, who provide benefits to team even if they aren’t actively getting kills). You’ll be surprised at how incredibly accurate even the cheapest or unsuitable guns can be when you’re using it in single fire. Long range kills with MP5s and RPKs aren’t at all unusual when using single fire. By increasing accuracy, you’ll lower the chance of exposing yourself before you get the kill. On top of helping guarantee the shot, the enemy is less likely to be able to report your position back to their team.
Here we see that you dont need many bullets to get kills, keeping your map profile low while still ensuring death to the heathens.
Although single fire isn’t unworkable under close-quarter situations, it may be easier to switch back to automatic before getting into a close combat — think hipfire range.
Burst is best avoided. Not that it’s unusable, but there isn’t a significant increase in lethality compared to the bump in recoil. If you’re going to be firing at range, single fire is your friend.
Bonus video of proper fire control and objective focus.
Open in chrome for 1080p60fps, the steam app might not play the video.
TL;DR
Single fire is best fire. Automatic is okay in ranges when you don’t have time to aim. Don’t do burst.
10. The importance of being a Larry, and when to jihad
Named after Lawrence Stone, who was frequently asked to stay back and hold onto valuable objectives as the rest of the squad went forward, Larrying is just camping a super valuable objective. And although this kind of behavior is understood and encouraged on Push or Ambush, it is frequently ignored on Skirmish, Strike, and Occupy where a single objective is actually worth far more than anything else. People don’t like hanging out in one place for the good of the team, though, because that’s way less fun than being John Rambo and turning people into lawn mulch with a SAW or sniping people from across the map.
Jihading, then, is the opposite of being a Larry. You kit up with a mountain of explosives and sneakily rush Alpha/Echo to eliminate their cache from the very beginning of the round. This is both important and a lot of fun to do, so it isn’t very hard to convince people to do it. Most players take to Jihad very easily, and require minimal instruction.
The basic rule is this: on large teams, you shouldn’t jihad unless you have a Larry. And if there isn’t a Larry, then guess what? You’re the Larry and it’s time to get on Alpha/Echo to make sure that your team still has respawns later in the round. You might get frustrated and wish your team would Jihad harder so you could finish the round. That’s fine, but don’t you dare move your Larry tushie off of Alpha unless there’s another Larry present to make sure it’s secure.
If you’re on comms, either in-game or through a 3rd party (teamspeak, ventrilo, skype, etc) set up a designated Larry Team and a designated Jihad Team to make sure no one gets confused or wonders why their cache was destroyed after someone got bored or left.
TL;DR:
If you’re playing Skirmish/Occupy/Strike, have at least person camp the cache/objective. If you don’t know who’s doing it, that person is now you.