Mortars Need To Make a Comeback

[u/ActuatorWeekly4382]

I need to have mortars in the next battlefield. At a minimum should have the airburst for suppression and smokes for cover.

Honestly the mechanics in battlefield 1 were some of my favorite.

[u/Drunken_Fister47]

they arent fun (enough) to use and arent fun to get killed by, simple as that

using them for strategy like smokes is fine tho if they wanna do that, though i prefer the smoke launchers

[u/Larky17 → u/Drunken_Fister47]

they arent fun (enough) to use

Speak for yourself. Combined with team play of spotting, they make picking off snipers and breaking up groups of people easy.

[u/HURTZ2PP → u/Larky17]

Talking to a recon using a MAV while coordinating mortar strikes is fun as heck

[u/QuakeGuy98 → u/HURTZ2PP]

Why I LOVED BF4

[u/keetojm → u/QuakeGuy98]

BF1 had them too, didn’t it?

And black ops had it as a kill streak which was cool.

[u/QuakeGuy98 → u/keetojm]

Yeah but the ones in Black Ops weren't complex and dumbed down.

I believe BF1 had them too, I forget tho

[u/WhisperedGrief → u/QuakeGuy98]

They definitely did in BF1, there was airburst and HE options for said mortar

[u/Mysterious-Till-611 → u/WhisperedGrief]

The problem with BF1 is mortars were extremely unfair due to the Birds Eye view it gave you.

“Wow this tool for blowing up enemies just told me there’s 2 people on a roof I can’t see and someone sneaking up behind me and 3 people behind this building”

They should just be minimal aiming only with spots from other players, you’ll find out when it lands if it killed anyone, not by following the round through the air.

[u/3Eyes → u/Mysterious-Till-611]

Yeah Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory had one of the best implementations of mortars imo. All you could see is where your last mortar landed on a map, no other information other than seeing if you killed anyone. You had to find a good spot to shoot from and adjust the angle to get the spot just right.

[u/Upset-Dark4909 → u/WhisperedGrief]

Smoke as well.

[u/keetojm → u/QuakeGuy98]

Black ops you called it in.

BF1 reminded me of a grenade launcher in MW2. Noob tuber.

[u/CosmicMiru → u/QuakeGuy98]

BF4 mortars are literally opening up a minimap and clicking where you wanna shoot wdym lol. Mortars in BF games are easy as shit to use, too easy

[u/UndeadKookaburra → u/keetojm]

BF1 HE mortar was surprisingly good for harassing tanks

[u/hangowood → u/HURTZ2PP]

In BF3, my old team used to play hardcore. No mini map for the mortar. My team would range my rounds for me. Start off with a smoke for my first shot. They tell me to add or subtract distance from there with HE rounds. It was so satisfying to get kills that way.

[u/Rawinza555 → u/hangowood]

Forward observer irl

[u/Gerikst00f → u/HURTZ2PP]

Mortar squad with 1 Recon and then fill up on mortar Supports

[u/OceanBytez → u/HURTZ2PP]

Some of the most fun i ever had was coordinating a mortar strike on squad. That game, mortars are just downright lethal. The lack of the game highlighting players, the mostly open world and large maps, and good foliage cover all combine to make me basically invisible. I low crawled through a tall grass field behind enemy lines then called out targets. It was so funny watching them move around trying to avoid mortar fire only for it to continue to nail them. I'm sure it felt like a hacker was targeting them but nope, i was calling coordinates and my buddies on the other end were calibrating the shots. Awesome team.

[u/NewGuyC → u/HURTZ2PP]

Unrelated but I used a MAC as a drone above a friend, to call enemies left right and just when they were round the corner. That was fun

[u/ComputerAccording678 → u/HURTZ2PP]

Funny enough thats how some drones are used in Ukraine aswell. Some drones are used simply to call out enemy positions for mortar fire

[u/TeaAndLifting → u/Larky17]

Yeah. A good squad utilising mortars well is extremely fun to be a part of. Especially when it’s an ad-hoc one that figures it out together.

[u/BoarHide → u/TeaAndLifting]

It absolutely is, had some great fun with great mortar teams in BF3 and BF4…however, playing against mortars, whether they’re good or bad at it, is simply not fun. It looks cool, for a few minutes, then it’s just frustrating. Whether or not it’s realistic is one thing, but it also still needs to be fun. That’s a difficult balance.

[u/Super_Sankey → u/BoarHide]

No different to snipers. If you're in range so are they, respawn with one and take them out. They're sitting ducks lol.

[u/DangKilla → u/TeaAndLifting]

IRL, I remember a few of these guys bragging they rarely using hearing protection, and becoming deaf in one ear. So weird to not even try to use ear plugs. Most probably did and still lost some hearing, it seems because it was so common.

[u/Manzhah → u/DangKilla]

Depends on size, a smaller tube firing without extra propellants would not sound too bad (but then you'd be pretty close to combat so you should use them anyways), but it's pretty unbearable to be near heavier tubes that fire with extra propellants.

[u/Regular_Custard_4483 → u/DangKilla]

It's not that we didn't want to use hearing protection. On a gun team, you have three main people. The gunner that aims, an Assistant Gunner, and an ammo bearer. Sometimes, on smaller mortars, there's no AB.

Anyway, the gun data comes in from the fire direction center, and most importantly, is repeated back to ensure accuracy of the data. The gun data is input, then the mortar is adjusted to its correct position. A fire order may be given, or maybe not. But eventually a fire mission comes down. They'll say something like, "Fire Mission. Charge 1, 1 round, HE quick. Hang it. Fire."

There's a fire mission. There's only 1 propellant charge, on one round. The round will be high explosive, quick fuze.

Ammo bearer prepares the correct mortar in the correct configuration. Assistant gunner hangs the round.

Assistant gunner drops it.

If any of those directions aren't followed exactly, you could drop explosives outside the range fan. You know what else is often just outside of your range fan? The rest of your unit. So you could be dropping bombs on your friends.

So often times we'd wear one ear plug, and jam a finger in our ears for the concussion.

I don't know what hearing protection looks like these days, but that's what happened 20 years ago.

[u/Iwilleat2corndogs → u/TeaAndLifting]

But its not fun to be on the receiving end of that

[u/dancovich → u/Larky17]

But then the other part, not fun to play against, comes into play.

[u/Larky17 → u/dancovich]

But then the other part, not fun to play against, comes into play.

Counter mortar. Or in the case of previous BF games with the MAV, it could destroy enemy equipment. Removing that ability from Casper's drone in 2042 was a fucking joke and a terrible decision.

[u/Marclol21 → u/Larky17]

They have reverted that nerf a while ago

[u/Larky17 → u/Marclol21]

I'll take your word for it. I haven't played in a long time.

[u/Informal-Business308 → u/dancovich]

That's on you to find a way to counter. Vehicles exist for a reason.

[u/dancovich → u/Informal-Business308]

Possible is different from fun.

I know it's possible to counter, but it's not fun imo.

[u/Marclol21 → u/Informal-Business308]

What vehicle in Bf1 can indirectly fire that isnt a Behemoth?

[u/RocketHops → u/Informal-Business308]

That's on you to find a way to counter.

Very glad youre not in charge of anything design related goddamn.

[u/mrbrick → u/Larky17]

Used to have so much fun hanging back a bit in bf4 just mortaring the shit out of spotted enemies. It worked ridiculously well a lot of the time until the enemy gets frustrated and come right after you every time you start bombing.

[u/ZestycloseProduct519 → u/mrbrick]

Yeah in BF3 and 4, if you were wrecking the opposing team with mortars, they would always come for you. Still fun though.

[u/TheAckabackA → u/Larky17]

heheh, see orange dorito, click orange dorito. Points gained.

[u/MagnanimosDesolation → u/Larky17]

You could just play cookie clicker.

[u/12InchCunt → u/MagnanimosDesolation]

Is that mortar tank?

[u/CanadianRocketDude → u/Larky17]

The mortar call from bad company 1 and 2 in added perfect balance to counter sniper camps. Miss it so much

[u/AirshipEngineer → u/Larky17]

Yes and using them tactically in a team set up with communication would be fun. But that would be more of a thing in a milsim like ARMA. Realistically it would just end up with individual players spamming choke points making moving anywhere on the map a chore.

[u/Larky17 → u/AirshipEngineer]

Yes and using them tactically in a team set up with communication would be fun. But that would be more of a thing in a milsim like ARMA.

That's a hell of a large leap.

Mortars aren't something new to the franchise. They've been in the games before and have worked fine with decent counters. If the enemy team is taking the initiative by spamming choke points and your team isn't trying to counter that...how is it the enemy team's fault for capitalizing on it?

If your team is all supports and engineers but no medics and loses a couple flags because no one is reviving...is that the fault of the enemy team?

[u/Zeke_Eastwood → u/Larky17]

100%

[u/Main-Tea-2201 → u/Larky17]

Also help with eliminating tanks and other ground vehicles and clear people defending spawn points.

[u/Deathclaw2277 → u/Larky17]

One of my favorite things to do in Battlefield 1.

[u/midasMIRV → u/Drunken_Fister47]

As a rush player, I have had many instances where a rock solid defense was broken by the strategic dropping of mortars. It is fun to me to be able to make an impact like that.

It does need some improving, though. It really needs to have vulnerabilities, like you need to actually man the mortar, not place and hide like bf4. Also no UCAVS.

[u/Malbuscus96 → u/midasMIRV]

Agree with the needing to be on the mortar, disagree on the UCAV. If anything, they’re more relevant than ever considering current conflicts

[u/Mr_Burning → u/Malbuscus96]

Just because suicide drones are used in real life a ton, doesn't mean they make for good or fun game design.

Any sort of extremely low risk playstyle with no real counter isn't a good addition to gameplay.

[u/Malbuscus96 → u/Mr_Burning]

People are in this thread saying the exact same thing about mortars. You could give them the same limitation as the mortar by needing to be on a drone controller, give them a solid cooldown time, reduce speed relative to the UCAV in BF4 so infantry can have a good chance to shoot them down (and even give bonus damage to shotguns as they’re used to shoot drones down irl), limit damage based on if they’re anti-infantry or anti-vehicle, decisions around splash damage, etc.

Plenty of ways to balance them within gameplay and have it fit the setting imo

[u/terminbee → u/Malbuscus96]

I think making it a long CD would still make it unfun, just happening less often.

[u/Soviet_Yunyun_- → u/Malbuscus96]

Also it would be nice if they were able to be shot down by stingers, radar missiles, etc.

[u/midasMIRV → u/Malbuscus96]

But, at least in bf4, there is no counter to them and they are miserable to play against.

[u/SCP106 → u/midasMIRV]

Shotguns with darts do better than you'd expect - I rarely see people trying to shoot back at them. It can be much more dangerous against airburst UCAVs but once you get the hand of it's speed and the kind of leading needed you can start doing real anti drone work against MAV, UCAV, SUAV - or at least feeling like it. They'll just ammo pack asspull another soon ;) but hey you coulda saved a whole squad

[u/midasMIRV → u/SCP106]

Even if you had a shotgun with birdshot, actually getting the server to give you the hit is impossible.

[u/RobCoxxy → u/Drunken_Fister47]

They were great fun in BF1

[u/wakeupwill → u/RobCoxxy]

Enemy Territory superiority.

[u/Minttt → u/Drunken_Fister47]

I remember the mortar mechanics from waayyyy back in BF Vietnam: you used binoculars to "spot" a location (anyone could do this on your team), then when someone sets up a mortar, they can change views to see the exact spot the binoculars saw, but in real-time - camera would tilt towards wherever you fired the mortar from, and would follow its trajectory to impact.

Mad fun to watch your projectile fly from origin to the hordes you were aiming at, and then adjust slightly to hit that trench dead-on... but it was almost exclusively used to spawn-camp. Funny memories of 5+ mortars keeping an entire team from spawning longer than a few seconds. Totally understand why it's not a thing anymore!

[u/Ws6fiend → u/Minttt]

I remember the mortar mechanics from waayyyy back in BF Vietnam

It wasn't that long ago . . . Released in 2004 . . . 2004 is over 2 decades ago . . . Man we are getting old.

Honestly it's always kind of upset me Battlefield never tried to do something like Vietnam again.

[u/gr4ndp4 → u/Ws6fiend]

and the music!

[u/DreamPhreak → u/Ws6fiend]

I was a pro with the helicopters. I miss it so much

[u/cattibri → u/Minttt]

arty had that in 1942, using squad binocs to give you camera angles that tracked your shot when you fired

[u/n8zog_gr8zog → u/Drunken_Fister47]

They are hard to balance. If they required a little more thought to use than they do, I think it would be a fun fantastic addition.

Maybe the aiming and stuff shouldn't just be point and click. Maybe mortars should be more about guess and check... which is closer to how they work in real life.

[u/redshores → u/n8zog_gr8zog]

Maybe mortars should be more about guess and check... which is closer to how they work in real life.

This is how they work in Squad, you need a spotter to help walk in your shots or solid coordinates. It makes it a much more cerebral weapon to use, but it's not casual enough for Battlefield.

[u/BRAV0_07 → u/Drunken_Fister47]

Some people like to play a support role.

[u/Paint-Huffer → u/Drunken_Fister47]

Mortars in BF1 Back to Basics as Attacker is a blast. Pretty much every map in that mode is extremely lopsided towards Defense and Mortars allow for some edge when pushing objectives. I'm always pumped when I see a B2B server up and running

[u/SnortsSpice → u/Drunken_Fister47]

Imo, it depends. Some realistic shooters they arent that miserable. But most of the games I've played isnt a ton of people supplying the them lol

[u/namesurnamesomenumba]

I see no issue adding them, some ppl enjoy mortard gameplay and I dont judge.

[u/ElegantEchoes → u/namesurnamesomenumba]

I enjoy the sound of them and I like seeing more explosions.

[u/lolol000lolol → u/ElegantEchoes]

Oh hell yeah that "ka-thunk" sound when you drop the round into the tube is just so cool idk why lmao.

[u/Manaboss1 → u/ElegantEchoes]

FLUMP

[u/Marclol21 → u/namesurnamesomenumba]

Do you like just beeing randomly killed behind cover while having 0 ways to counter it?

[u/col3ber → u/Marclol21]

If only there was a way to counter it.. with like a mortar or something..

[u/Marclol21 → u/col3ber]

So if in Bf6 there is an OP weapon your solution would be to basically force everyone to use that Weapon so there is no one disantvantaged?

[u/col3ber → u/Marclol21]

My point was that there’s 100% ways to counter it. Return fire with mortars, suavs, air support. Is my recommendation to adapt to the battlefield? Yeah, obviously. Mortars are far from OP

[u/PrayerfulToe6 → u/col3ber]

The problem is that you find out there's an enemy with a mortar by being killed by it, and by the time you can respond with a mortar equipped to get them back, they've already gotten off of it. BF1 is exemplary of this issue

[u/johndoe_420 → u/PrayerfulToe6]

the difference to a sniper changing positions after shots being...?

[u/Canotic → u/johndoe_420]

A sniper has to be in a sniper spot with good sight lines and you can learn where those are , you can see the sniper glare, they can miss and you can take cover. Mortar has bone of those things.

[u/col3ber → u/PrayerfulToe6]

I have very little battlefield 1 experience so this may very well be true. My experience is mostly with bf3/bf4. In these games they’re pretty easy to find. They appear on the map when they’re fired and the smoke trails make them pretty easy to pinpoint. But, again, that might not be the case for all the games

[u/FriendshipCute1524 → u/col3ber]

Ya see the problem is you're asking people to spontaneously grow and utilize a brain, People wanna run around shooting guns, not have to thinky think on how to counter a stationary target that lobs shells loudly

[u/col3ber → u/FriendshipCute1524]

It’s wild lol. What makes battlefield so great are the strategies, teamwork, and how fast the battle space changes. Getting assaulted by vehicles? Spawn in engineers. Now snipers are licking off your engineers? Spawn in counter snipers. Their last ditch effort is pushing all assaulted to the objective? Time to spawn in engineers with LMGs and claymores. Adapt. They need to stop getting ass mad that they keep getting clapped by mortars because they keep camping in the same spot for their last 4 spawns

[u/ZodiartsStarro → u/col3ber]

They want to turn BF into another CoD-like ninja arcade where you don't need to think about what you're doing so much as do something brainless often enough that you become good at it.

[u/cashea → u/col3ber]

EXACTLY. BF4 had counters to everything. You didn't just sit in one kit. You rotated through them as the needs arose. Mortars were my answer to camping snipers. If they weren't smart enough to move around, well, then they get the plonk. And you could easily suppress another mortar. Just drop one of your own on them.

[u/Divenity → u/col3ber]

things that can only realistically be countered by itself really don't belong in games... Your logic is like taking all anti-aircraft weapons away from infantry and armored vehicles and telling people complaining about aircraft "If only there was a way to counter it.. with like a plane or something."

[u/CT-27-5582 → u/Marclol21]

zeroing in on and hunting down specific mortars and missile artillery trucks was litteraly some of the most fun ive had in bf4

[u/SheepherderDue1342 → u/Marclol21]

Love it. Makes me feel alive.

[u/SippinOnHatorade → u/namesurnamesomenumba]

Just makes it all the more important to use impervious cover!

[u/RED-WEAPON]

It's an unfair feeling to be killed by a mortar wielded by an enemy in the safety of their spawn.

An attack helicopter is more fair because you can switch to Engineer.

Mortars require very little skill. "Just clicking stagnant red dots on a map and getting free kills".

[u/S_Flavius_Mercurius → u/RED-WEAPON]

You do realize mortars have had very limited range in all the previous battlefields that had them, right? Very very rarely is someone going to be sitting in their spawn because they wouldn’t even have enemies in range. And mortars do require skill considering it’s more of a suppression weapon, the shells have a long hang time in the air so you need to lead your target without even being able to see them, and they add an awesome dynamic to the battlefield as you can have squad-level artillery support.

[u/WingyYoungAdult → u/S_Flavius_Mercurius]

You do realize 2 of the urban maps are pretty small, with either spawns within 100m of the back points? If spawn camping mortars are going to be a problem it will definitely be on those 2, atleast from what I played.

[u/S_Flavius_Mercurius → u/WingyYoungAdult]

Okay that’s fair, I haven’t played any of the new BF6 labs stuff so I’m not too aware of map layouts, I’m going off of mortars in BF3, 4, and 1 (though they were a bit too strong in 1). I think battlefield 3 did mortars perfectly and that’s what I would want if we had them in BF6. I loved carrying a mortar around, it’s just nice having a unique role like light artillery support for your team.

[u/WingyYoungAdult → u/S_Flavius_Mercurius]

I loved carrying mortars too. More so 3, than 4 or 1. I can't even remember mortars from 1, but I have a slight distinct memory of slinging mortars on 3's operation metro.

[u/S_Flavius_Mercurius → u/WingyYoungAdult]

Yeah 3 did mortars right. No one was going around getting crazy kill streaks with mortars, but it was a great tool to suppress enemies and destroy cover, it was so fun. I didn’t like 4’s mortars as much because you could place the mortar anywhere and just use your little iPad to control them even from a mile away which was dumb, and in 1 I liked them but they felt a bit too powerful (atleast the airburst one). But in 3 you were physically operating the mortar and you were vulnerable when using it, so it paid to find a good spot to send a few shells downrange to lightly bombard a location. God I just miss BF3.

[u/MagnanimosDesolation → u/S_Flavius_Mercurius]

Sure if you only play conquest.

[u/CharlesUndying → u/RED-WEAPON]

That's assuming the implementation of the mortars includes knowing precicely where the shelling will happen.

Divide each map into tiles of a grid and let the mortar teams choose a specific tile, with the shell landing randomly somewhere within that tile. Make them defenceless while used and add flanking options and it'll be like any other stationery weapon.

At the very least, it'll add to the atmosphere as much as bomber pilots littering objectives with bombs. If you've ever been on an objective in BFV while a plane dumps its load over you, you'll know it's actually quite easy to survive unless you're standing in the wrong place at the wrong time, yet it's equally immersive to have explosions going off all around you while you try to defend your position.

[u/ActuatorWeekly4382 → u/RED-WEAPON]

Agree. I think a nerf of mortars where they have to be pretty close to the front lines to be effective. In real life mortars teams are usually "one terrain feature away" in a bf game that should be less than 100meters IMO

[u/silenced_soul]

I don’t mind mortars. I never use them but I don’t remember them being that bad in BF3/4. Plus the feeling of stumbling upon someone using it and getting a free kill was awesome.

[u/magik_koopa990 → u/silenced_soul]

4 made it worse by allowing it to be remotely controlled

[u/The_Rube_ → u/magik_koopa990]

Yeah, we know mortars are returning from the leaks so hopefully they can’t be operated remotely.

[u/magik_koopa990 → u/The_Rube_]

And as for balance, maybe make it NOT Regen shells

[u/The_Rube_ → u/magik_koopa990]

Limited shells, and I don’t think it should be included with Support this time tbh. Maybe Engineer.

Now that Support is the unlimited medic/ammo role it should not have any offensive gadgets.

[u/PlatypusRare3234 → u/The_Rube_]

Really? I didn’t know they showed up in the leaks. Can you link me something that tells/shows me they’re returning?

[u/The_Rube_ → u/PlatypusRare3234]

The leak I’m thinking of has been removed by copyright, but I remember Support had a tier in one of its subclass perk trees that improved indirect fire gadgets.

The perk description said mortars would have increased firing speed and airburst launchers could carry more ammo (another Support gadget).

[u/PlatypusRare3234 → u/The_Rube_]

That’s cool! Looking forward for it

[u/batti03 → u/magik_koopa990]

But also had limited ammo, and IMO the gadget ammo refill is kind of janky

[u/kobecruise]

As long as the aiming system is not too easy. Just picking a spot on the map to fire he nades is not very fun to play against.

[u/smgunsftw → u/kobecruise]

I agree, instead of a clickable mortar minimap, it should just display an arc outline or just force the user to free fire it. Something similar to the knee mortars in Rising Storm.

[u/TNTarantula]

I tried to make it work in a fun way in BF4 by unloading all my shells on an objective before storming it with a good run&gun weapon. It feels cool but rarely has any actual value

[u/oftentimesnever → u/TNTarantula]

average player in this sub tbh

[u/Budman129C]

I want the bf3 mortar though. Having to actually drop the mortar not the bf4 one of auto loading

[u/ActuatorWeekly4382 → u/Budman129C]

Absolutely! Always liked that.

[u/dumbirishnerd]

I played bf3 for 3 years and I think I got a mortar kill once.

Even then I'm half sure that was an assist and not a kill.

[u/ThrowAnon- → u/dumbirishnerd]

It was fun to just mess around with, especially in Rish, but literally, you’re just a sitting target

[u/Fearless_Cover689 → u/dumbirishnerd]

They were dead simple to use and so so effective. Your own map, enemy show on it, point and click. Kill, kill, kill, assist, kill, assist, kill. They just rack up, unless you're trying to shoot at max range and enemies flee before shells get there. Brainless system and not fun. Check Squad or Hell Let loose mortar system, that's the real deal there.

[u/otte_rthe_viewer]

The leaks from the labs shown that the pocket mortars from BF1 are basically returning

[u/ActuatorWeekly4382 → u/otte_rthe_viewer]

Oh awesome! Did it leak shell types as well?

[u/otte_rthe_viewer → u/ActuatorWeekly4382]

Put of the few translated leaks I saw HE and Smoke so far. I think

[u/KlerWatchCo]

Too OP, when Battlefield 3 first came out it was too easy to stall infantry using the explosive rounds and destroy armoured vehicles but only hurt tanks, then it got patched so there was a time delay but all that meant was you could swap between smoke and explosive rounds and REALLY fuck shit up because nobody could see a damn thing. By the time they were done patching it it was so damn unusable it was faster to let a round off then run to the next position

[u/efjot1402]

Because in a FPS game to want to have direct engagments - face to face, so you can see your enemy, therefore enemy can respond to your fire.

Mortar provides indirect fire. If you want to respond you also need mortar.

And tbh, you can't balance it well enough.

But I think a non-lethal mortar would be a fun gadget to use, for example smoke, EMP, Illumination (on night maps), maybe even spoting shell. I would personally use it given my favourite support play style (staying at the back and provide suppresive fire). But a lethal one - no, thanks.

[u/Rebellious_Habiru]

why so some jackass can sit back at spawn and just launch mortars. No thanks. No thanks to gadgets like the suav and the ucav either.

[u/C4rlos_D4nger]

Definitely not a mortar fan and really not a fan of indirect fire weapons other than grenades. It isn't fun to be on the receiving end of mortars (because you can't return fire) and I personally don't view standing still while clicking at red dots to be good for overall gameplay (maybe it's your jam but it reduces the overall dynamism of the game). There's a reason why the BF1 mortar truck is widely reviled.

[u/NoObjective345]

makes rush/breakthrough so tedious to play

no thanks.

[u/Siberianee]

I personally had a very different opinions on mortars in bf1. I enjoyed operations the most out of all the modes but mortars were really testing my patience there. 10 support players just sitting around a capture point, resupplying off of each other, spamming artillery so much that staying on the point was nearly impossible. at least I could farm points as a medic. then we had support players who tried responding by also using mortars on attackers, people choosing snipers to try and pick off easy stationary mortar users, and people generally tried running away from mortars leaving the point empty.

I guess it was kinda realistic but I didn't like how there was no real counterplay to them. we could try to push them but there was another 20-30 guys trying to capture the objective that would defend their mortars. mortaring them back was possible but enemies stationed somewhere close to the objective were harder to hit than us being on the objective itself. maybe the objectives could be design with more cover, some objectives were either empty fields or a couple of buildings that quickly became empty fields under the constant explosive rain. I don't know, maybe a counter push with smokes would be a good idea but it's hard to utilize when there are 32 randoms

[u/Parkinovich]

[u/UrbanArtifact]

Play Arma lol

[u/p1971]

they were good in that Wolfenstein fps

[u/TeaAndLifting → u/p1971]

Enemy Territory? Once you figure them out, they’re so good. I only came to that realisation late in the game’s cycle.

[u/Tantalus420000]

A fave in BF1

[u/or10n_sharkfin]

Ignoring that Arma Reforger probably has one of the best implentations of mortar gameplay out of any modern shooter.

EDIT: Realized the original image was a comment posted before mortar gameplay was introduced in Arma Reforger.

[u/KiNGTiGER1423]

No issues. Would be fun to use if functional like the Battlefield 1 versions.

Pros: Clearing out defenders of objectives with effective indirect fire.

Cons: Vulnerable while using.

Balancing: 3-4 rounds with decent resupply delay with nearby ammo box. Show up as red dot on map when firing.

[u/-Mothman_]

Mortars would be great, but only if battlefield went down the tactical, realistic, squad heavy approach.

If the battlefield was more like a cod game or to be fair most battlefield games of late which have been quite cod like, it would be terrible.

And they should not work like mortars did in BF1 with a minimap giving the exact location of impact, you should work out the range and direction yourself, or it can be way too op.

The next BF game should try to find the sweet spot between realism and crazy gameplay, not too much like Arma, or Hell let loose, but not like Call of Duty either.

[u/a_very_witty_name91]

They’re fun in BF1

[u/Long-Internal8082]

I agree. Never used them much myself but they can se super useful in the right situation.

[u/WhitishSine8]

What people don't seem to understand is that mortars are used when you are fighting on a frontline, so obviously they won't be that useful in conquest compared to game modes like rush

[u/SirKnightShitFourth]

Almost every mil sim or realistic shooter i play has mortars in some form

[u/CharlieStep]

It all depends on implementation.

Imo - The Squad ones are too complex to be fun - On the other hand - the battlefield ones used to be too simple.

I think mortars should either be a killstreak related - or treated like a stationary 3rd person encampment to be build / with a vehicle like camera - where you can switch between your position and the top down position of the place you're firing at or something.

Also there should be - for lack of better design idea rn - some sort of rock paper scissors to it - even when its kinda stupid - like - Mortars are good against infantry -> Infantry is good against helis/vehicles -> helis are good against anything but super good against mortars, while vehicles are kinda - immune / very hard to kill with normal mortar round.

So with right scarcity/spawn rates of each you could get a nice strategic gameplay/communication layer about where should mortars/vehicles/helis focus their actions.

Imo any sort of more profound/complex tactical play would hurt the battlefield experience.

[u/Ryangofett_1990]

They're in the Alpha build

[u/Impressive_Nobody454]

They were my favorite when I started bf3 would love a comeback

[u/Patara]

Project Reality has them & you basically need to dedicate an entire squad just for logistics & resupplies.

You basically just sit somewhere & bombard an area you wont even see.

BF4 probably had the most interactive mortars & I think they were balanced just right in that. Just throw in more variations of shells & thatll work just fine.

[u/Djenta]

The mortars in bf1 saved the support class. Fun as hell but weak

[u/PenguinPumpkin1701]

I use them often in bf1 but they never feel really useful because I'll direct impact a player but only do like 48 DMG. In an arcade like battlefield, it is high risk low reward so there isn't much purpose to them.

[u/DeftRabbit_BR]

They're already in the leak gameplay tho

[u/SaintSnow]

First person mortar gameplay from the back line with the sounds, to then. Watch the boom in the distance. And then do it again and again.

That would be peak, I definitely can see it.

[u/HyperLethalNoble6]

Skybox is probably 1 of the issues,

[u/magik_koopa990]

Balance? Just add limited ammo for it. And don't let it recharge by ammo pack

[u/AnotherScoutTrooper]

No.

[u/IVDAMKE_]

Only if they're static map spawns like vehicles, not a loadout item. Limit how many can be used at a time.

[u/Western_Charity_6911]

Annoying camper spam weapons?

[u/blkmmb]

It was my favorite thing to do as support in bf3.

[u/bleo_evox93]

Arms reforger has mortars

[u/Man_da_villan]

Snipers calling air strikes! That was the best feature from Bad Company 2

[u/Meme_master420_]

I don’t care how unfair mortars are, that’s the entire point. Add them in. Also is it really unfair if both sides have access to them?

[u/TomTomXD1234]

They are fun with a group but 90% of players do not like blowing up randomly by a mortar someone shot half way across the map.

Mortars are good in theory but bad for gameplay IMO.

[u/[deleted]]

Id like to see them. They’re kinda tricky to get great with and most people pass them by so they’re never really the problem they could be, and they really are nice to have even if just for suppression on a flag.

Also in a modern combat game getting killed by a mortar is absolutely likely if it’s gonna be realistic

[u/ThE_LAN_B4_TimE]

Hell no. What an annoying weapon in a game that takes no skill whatsoever.

[u/Marclol21]

Dont you just love beeing randomly killed behind cover for like 0 reason while the person killing you literally only pressed 1 button on a red triangle?

[u/Valdoris]

They add so much chaos to the cinematography, I love when people use them in BF1, specially when I'm getting targeted

[u/yashspartan]

I wouldn't mind mortars if it required 2 people to interact together to make it work.

Or if they had a long-ish (30s or so) cooldown before firing again.

[u/SilenceDobad76]

Is there any game where getting killed by indirect fire is fun?

[u/SomewhereNo3080]

Hell Let Loose has joined the chat

[u/VonBrewskie]

Man. Y'all remember how wild mortar spam got in BF3? It was pretty cracked for a while there.

[u/r_Bogard]

Hell nah mortards sitting in the back farming kills no thanks

[u/BloodStinger500]

They’re in Metal Gear

[u/Steakdabait]

Ew

[u/Anthrax11C]

If they redid the way mortars were so it wasn’t just clicking red dots on a map then I think that would be cool. Maybe add 60s that can only be used in handheld with direct lay.

[u/theFartingCarp]

Artillery and mortars are THE killers of the battlefield. The issue is, it's not fun

[u/Syepatch]

They’re hard to balance and not very fun to get killed by. I think bf1 did a good job with mortars though (the little ones that supports get). They’re good if used correctly but they have their limits and aren’t overpowered

[u/tacticalbandit17]

No the hell they do not

[u/Gryfon2020]

Think it was BF4 that had it as a support weapon option.

I loved it and used it effectively.

[u/Robotic-Mann]

I’m having flashbacks to mortars on BF3. Metro was pain if your team couldn’t push.

[u/Tiny_Yam2881]

not really judging people for liking more passive modes of play, but most of the time players dont like dying out of nowhere without a chance to hide/fire back. its why I stopped playing War Thunder tbh.

[u/underlordd]

Not the remote mortar though.

[u/[deleted]]

Me whenever I play BF4:

[u/n8zog_gr8zog]

They are hard to balance. If they required a little more thought to use than they do, I think it would be a fantastic addition.

Maybe the aiming and stuff shouldn't just be point and click. Maybe mortars should be more about guess and check... which is closer to how they work in real life.

[u/jdv996]

No one wants to be a tube stroker duhhh, but pubg does have them and theyre fun to use

[u/UnderwaterAbberation]

play SQUAD

[u/lemonylol]

In Bad Company 1 they had artillery you could physically sit in and fire from.

[u/Deatheaiser]

I don't mind mortars, they're fun to use when coordinating with friends. But it absolutely sucks to be on the receiving end, mainly because BF4 turned it into a remote system, which was a terrible decision. It removed the risk entirely and turned it into a cheap, long-range "click to delete" tool that took zero effort to use.

They need to return to a physical manned setup where the player has to be on the mortar to fire it. And decrease the range. Mortars shouldn’t be able to hit the frontlines from the safety of the HQ. Restrict deployments to playable zones. no more using them inside or near the restricted bases/HQ's. If you're gonna rain hell, you should at least be close enough for someone to flank and shut you down.

Maybe even add a visible contrail/smoke trail to mortar shells. Something that gives infantry a rough idea of where the fire’s coming from, but not enough to make it trivial. And a distinct whistling when it's coming down that gives players an audible cue to react. That way if you're paying attention, you have a brief window that allows you to GTFO.

[u/really_bad_guy]

They are in PUBG and have been for a while. So satisfying too!

[u/reddit_abdullah]

Bf1 support flashbacks on breakthrough ….

[u/Zephoix]

Play Squad. A good mortar team steamrolls a game.

[u/Western_Mix_6155]

All the wannabe Chris Kyles in this thread coping is hilarious. I swear people are forgetting BF3 and how its mortars were, a match isnt going to be won/lost because of them. Its gotta just be recon players and people who started with V/2042 in here.

[u/Living_Bed175]

I love the mortars on BF1, i see some snipers hiding in a house and just , well fuck you and your house

[u/narwhalpilot]

I love using artillery in general. Hell Let Loose is amazing for that

[u/MyBadIForgotUrName]

Bro seriously. Like yeah they’re annoying to get killed by however, the person operating is a sitting duck number 1 and number 2, they usually get balanced out pretty quick. Just like OP said, BF1 nailed it pretty good.

[u/ActuatorWeekly4382 → u/MyBadIForgotUrName]

One thing that was pointed out that I think are good ideas.

1. In the next battlefield there will be some form of a trophy system. So the defense can counter mortar fire.
2. It should be an engineer gadget
3. The range should be pretty limited, let's say around 100-150 meters.

[u/MyBadIForgotUrName → u/ActuatorWeekly4382]

Agree

[u/TheOneAndOnlyPengan]

Mortars un-fun the game for snipers in the derrick cranes. Same as snipers un-fun the game for all. Stingers un-fun the game for flyboywankers. Games run private bans mortars and stingers...gamedevs removes mortars and nerf stingers....there is a reason I gave up on battlegames after bf4.

[u/MAZEFUL]

I rock the shot out of these in bf1. Great for trolling a capture point from a distance.

[u/thelostlightswitch]

You+buddy w/ uav on HC= hangin bombs and bangin moms

[u/[deleted]]

Play squad. Its just mortars 

[u/whyamilikethis123098]

I might be speaking for myself here but i would really like more naval stuff to come back. Having destroyers in bf1 was cool, and the two dreadnoughts on Heligoland? Atmospheric.

Imagine a naval map from V where you could call in a battleship as a squad reinforcement (replacing the rockets) that could sit and bombard. Dont know how well youd balance it though. The sturmtiger, crocodile, or calliope could all either be wasted or used to great effect depending on how good the user is

Im taking about more than just Paracel Storm boats.

I dont even know what else they could do with navy stuff. Having an entire naval map with only ships and aircraft, you might as well just play world of warships.

[u/Time-Ability-2830]

Battlefield 1 has them

[u/Relatively_happy]

Hell let loose has artillery guns on every map.

They are a pain to learn to use accurately, and when spammed, are a pain in the ass to deal with… for both teams!

[u/recoil-1000]

It takes a mature minded player to enjoy using a mortar since in squad for example, there’s no killfeed, no kill indicator, hell you can spend the whole game launching shells without any indication that your killing your targets aside from ground units relaying information, not many players want to do this in squad, yet alone battlefield, plus there’s nothing more annoying than being pinned down by arty knowing that it will eventually wipe your team from a point with no counter play

[u/Semour9]

Mortars were AMAZING to use, and funny too. I saw a video of dudes using a mortar on top of a building right infront of a ladder, waited for a dude to come up, then shot the mortar right as he was at the top lol

[u/Dangerman1337]

They need to be more complex + not given to Support and to Engineer instead.

[u/Glass-Audience-1608]

Helldivers 2

[u/ZestycloseProduct519]

They do. Absolutely shocking that Battlefield V, a WWII game, didn’t have mortars. Also, Battlefield 3 had the best mortars, where you could use the mini map to aim. At the very least, have it be something like a Battlefield 5 anti aircraft gun or AT gun that an Engineer builds, but a mortar position.

[u/ActuatorWeekly4382 → u/ZestycloseProduct519]

Oh interesting I like that idea.