Battlefield 1 released in October 2016 and put the series in the First World War, where Operations chains two or three maps into one long attack and defence battle fought across a stack of battalions. When a team falls badly behind, the game hands it a Behemoth: the six seat Airship L30, the six seat Armored Train or the four seat Dreadnought. Gas grenades, bolt action rifles and cavalry horses make it the most deliberate shooter DICE has shipped in the modern era.
Starting Battlefield 1 can feel overwhelming. This guide tells you exactly what to focus on during your first hours so you don't waste time on things that don't matter yet. For the full progression path, see our walkthrough.
What Kind of Game Is This?
Battlefield 1 is a fps game built around Operations mode and Behemoths. The core loop involves mastering these systems to progress through increasingly challenging content.
What to expect: Time investment in learning mechanics, experimentation, and gradual mastery. The game rewards patience and knowledge.
Choosing Your First Role
| Role | Beginner Rating | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Assault | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Medic | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Support | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Scout | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Cavalry | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
Our recommendation: Start with Medic. It offers the most forgiving experience while teaching core mechanics.
Avoid Cavalry as your first pick. It requires deep knowledge of game systems to use effectively. Once you're ready, check our classes guide for all options.
First Session Step-by-Step
Step 1: Learn Operations mode
Attackers spend battalions pushing through linked sectors on consecutive maps while defenders try to drain every battalion. Losing one battalion is not the end of the match, and each fresh battalion arrives with more support, including a Behemoth on the later attempts.
This is the foundation. Spend your first 15-30 minutes getting comfortable with how Operations mode works before worrying about anything else. Our combat guide breaks this down further.
Step 2: Head to Amiens
A shelled French city of shopfronts, courtyards and a central square. Fighting is short ranged and vertical, and the trailing team gets the Armored Train running the line along the map edge.
Clear the main content here before moving on. Everything teaches fundamentals you'll need later. See our maps guide for all locations.
Step 3: Get Your First Upgrade
Look for Automatico M1918: it's the most accessible early upgrade. Assault submachine gun firing at roughly 900 rounds per minute, which shreds anything inside ten metres and empties the magazine almost as fast.
Step 4: Understand Behemoths
The Airship L30 flies over St Quentin Scar and Monte Grappa, the Armored Train runs the rails on Amiens, Sinai Desert and Argonne Forest, and the Dreadnought shells coastal maps from open water. They spawn for the trailing side, so being far behind is worth something.
This is the system most new players overlook. Invest time here early. It pays off throughout the entire game.
Step 5: Push to Argonne Forest
Dense woodland cut by bunkers and trench lines, one of the tightest maps in the game. Sightlines rarely open past 40 metres, which makes shotguns and submachine guns dominant.
Essential Mechanics Explained
Operations mode
Attackers spend battalions pushing through linked sectors on consecutive maps while defenders try to drain every battalion. Losing one battalion is not the end of the match, and each fresh battalion arrives with more support, including a Behemoth on the later attempts.
Behemoths
The Airship L30 flies over St Quentin Scar and Monte Grappa, the Armored Train runs the rails on Amiens, Sinai Desert and Argonne Forest, and the Dreadnought shells coastal maps from open water. They spawn for the trailing side, so being far behind is worth something.
Elite kits
Sentry, Flame Trooper and Tank Hunter sit on the map as pickup crates. Sentry wears heavy plate and carries an MG 08/15, Flame Trooper carries the Wex flamethrower, and Tank Hunter carries the Tankgewehr M1918 anti tank rifle that ruins vehicles and one shots infantry.
Weapon variants
Almost every primary exists in two or three factory variants such as Trench, Optical, Storm, Factory, Low Weight and Sweeper. The variant changes sights, bipods, firing modes and hip fire behaviour, so the same rifle can be a brawler or a mid range weapon.
Bayonet charge
Sprinting with a bayonet fitted rifle triggers a locked lunge that kills in one hit. You cannot cancel it, you cannot aim during it, and anything that blocks the charge leaves you standing still in the open holding an unloaded rifle.
Common Beginner Mistakes
1. Judging a weapon by its base name while ignoring variants, then concluding the Lewis Gun or Cei-Rigotti is unusable when a different variant fixes the exact complaint
2. Treating a Behemoth as a win button
An Airship with an uncoordinated crew is a large slow target that feeds the enemy score.
3. Playing Scout on Argonne Forest, where sightlines close inside 40 metres and a bolt action loses almost every engagement it enters
4. Charging with the bayonet across open ground instead of using it to finish the last two metres against someone who is reloading
5. Ignoring anti aircraft guns and then blaming pilots
Most maps place two or more AA emplacements specifically to answer air control.
First 5 Hours Checklist
- Understand Operations mode and Behemoths
- Choose Medic as starting role
- Clear Amiens main content
- Acquire Automatico M1918 or equivalent upgrade
- Reach Argonne Forest
- Choose the weapon variant deliberately. A Trench variant adds hip fire accuracy and drops the sight quality, an Optical variant does the opposite, and picking the wrong one makes a perfectly good gun feel broken.
- Operations is the mode the maps were built for. Attackers get several battalions, so losing the first attempt is normal, and later battalions arrive with better support including a Behemoth.
Tips for New Players
- Choose the weapon variant deliberately. A Trench variant adds hip fire accuracy and drops the sight quality, an Optical variant does the opposite, and picking the wrong one makes a perfectly good gun feel broken.
- Operations is the mode the maps were built for. Attackers get several battalions, so losing the first attempt is normal, and later battalions arrive with better support including a Behemoth.
- Behemoths die to focused fire, not to individual heroics. Field guns, anti aircraft emplacements and Tank Hunter kits stacked on one target bring an Airship down quickly, while single riflemen do nothing at all.
- Elite kits sit on the map as crates and reset after a while. Sentry is a mobile roadblock that cannot sprint, Flame Trooper clears a fixed position, and Tank Hunter is the fastest way to punish careless armour.
- Suppression genuinely degrades aim in Battlefield 1. Sustained Support fire near a defender blurs their screen and widens their spread, so shooting at a covered enemy is useful even when you cannot hit them.
- Cavalry is a full class, not a vehicle seat. Riders carry extra armour, a one hit sword, a carbine and their own ammo and medical supplies, which makes them the best pick on Sinai Desert and St Quentin Scar.
- Gas is an area tool. Throwing it into a defended room forces masks on, and a masked player has a narrowed field of view and cannot aim down sights, which is often better than a kill.
- Bayonet charges commit you completely. Use them to close the last few metres against a reloading enemy, never as an opening move across open ground.
- Scout rifles have a sweet spot range band where they kill in one body shot. Learn the band for your rifle rather than assuming closer is always better, because many of them do less damage up close.
- Planes are answered from the ground. Anti aircraft emplacements on most maps will drive a fighter off within seconds, and coordinating two of them removes the enemy pilot from the round entirely.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between Conquest and Operations?
Conquest is the standard flag capture mode on a single map. Operations chains two or three maps into a sequential attack and defence campaign where the attackers spend battalions to break sector after sector, and the trailing team can receive a Behemoth.
How do Behemoths spawn?
They are given to the side that is losing by a wide margin. The map decides which one appears: Airship L30 on St Quentin Scar and Monte Grappa, Armored Train on Amiens, Sinai Desert and Argonne Forest, and the Dreadnought on coastal maps.
Which class is best for a new player?
Medic. The self loading rifles are the most forgiving primaries in the game, the syringe revive is the fastest scoring action available, and the rifle grenade gives you an answer to a defended corner.
Is the game still populated in 2026?
Yes on the popular modes. Conquest and Operations still fill on the base game maps, and the four expansions, They Shall Not Pass, In the Name of the Tsar, Turning Tides and Apocalypse, were made free for all owners.
Why do my bullets do different damage at different ranges?
Most Battlefield 1 rifles have damage bands, and Scout bolt actions have a sweet spot where a single torso shot kills. Outside that band the same rifle needs two hits, which is why range discipline matters more here than in later Battlefield games.
More Battlefield 1 Guides
- Battlefield 1 Battlefield 1 Overview
- Battlefield 1 Best Builds
- Battlefield 1 Tier List
- Battlefield 1 Walkthrough
- Battlefield 1 Tips & Tricks
- Battlefield 1 Weapons Guide
- Battlefield 1 Combat Guide
- Battlefield 1 Boss Guide
- Battlefield 1 Maps & Locations
- Battlefield 1 Crafting Guide
- Battlefield 1 Classes & Characters
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