SOFLAM in BF3, what good is it?

[mike_the_wino]

Okay, I set it up, move back to a spot NOT standing and out of sight (learned that pretty damn quick), and start spotting. How does laser designation work? I have only seen a tank attacked like once or twice. Am I doing something wrong? Does it have be attacked by a squad mate or just anyone on the team? I tried the googles but came up empty.

I have also tried setting it up and then going about my business and that seems to work okay but not sure if I am using it wrong.

And these things draw A TON of fire. So keep that in mind.

Thanks

[Nose Nuggets]

yeah they draw a lot of fire, its a giant red beam on a tripod.

if you have the guided shell for the tank, and someone soflams a helo - you can lock it with your guided tank shells. which is pretty sweet.

if you soflam a target, everyone else can lock that target quicker and they dont need line of sight.

if you drop it and forget it, it will target random stuff when it can.

the benefit it provides is team-wide, not just squad-wide.

the best combination is 3 people in a tank with the extra seat, guided shells on the driver, and a buddy soflaming. you can lock stuff pretty quick and shooting down air assets with a tank is just all kinds of satisfying.

[itisagoodname]

yeah they draw a lot of fire, its a giant red beam on a tripod.

if you have the guided shell for the tank, and someone soflams a helo - you can lock it with your guided tank shells. which is pretty sweet.

if you soflam a target, everyone else can lock that target quicker and they dont need line of sight.

if you drop it and forget it, it will target random stuff when it can.

the benefit it provides is team-wide, not just squad-wide.

the best combination is 3 people in a tank with the extra seat, guided shells on the driver, and a buddy soflaming. you can lock stuff pretty quick and shooting down air assets with a tank is just all kinds of satisfying.

x2 but nobody uses it enough. I get plenty of assists with my recon UAV but the Soflam is so much more useful when there's people on your team that know how to utilize it.

Also, i believe the Javelin will lock onto air targets if lit up with the Soflam.

[Nose Nuggets]

Also, i believe the Javelin will lock onto air targets if lit up with the Soflam.

correct


i only play bf3 with friends. if no one is on when i get home i just do something else lol.

[mike_the_wino]

Also, i believe the Javelin will lock onto air targets if lit up with the Soflam.

I did go back and find that bit about the javelin. And I had kinda figured that helos and planes would have the capability but the tank shell thing is news to me! Guess I have been playing with people who don't have those items or don't use them.

[Ahmad]

SOFLAM takes a dedicated team to see results. We had to pile 3 dudes into the Russian growler and set up on a remote hill but we got it working. Two engineers and a recon dude.

[Antihero47]

None, I had the Soflam and a buddy I play with has the Javelin. You really need two Javelin, 1 Support and 1 Recon to make it work all round. They are kind screwed on PC because they don't hit 100% of the time. We were able to take a out a plane with one though. That was exciting but took forever.

[Quiet]

Aircraft can also launch missles to hit targets locked on by a SOFLAM.

SOFLAM = need a dedicated team for it to be of use.

Sometimes I use it to lock onto aircraft, just so they prematurely launch use their flares.

[KWB977]

I like to find it and put C4 by it.............

[Loner]

I have the javelin but tend to just stick with the RPG/SMAW because almost no one uses the SOFLAM. Did knock out a Viper with an RPG last week.

[Nose Nuggets]

there are a few maps were the jav is nice, but it takes to long to lock and in the closer quarters maps you want to just pop out and quickly shoot - which you cant do with the jav

[itisagoodname]

The OP caught me on last night and we had a go at the Soflam combo and it worked good on the one match that it actually put us on the same team. An ideal squad would be assault/eng/recon. With 3 enemy tanks you run out of rockets too fast. Lock-ons are nice and quick.

The match before i had been using recon and a tank with guided missles. I set the Soflam up on a hill on Firestorm and targeted tanks as they were leaving the enemy base and just lighting them up from a distance with my guided missles. Worked VERY well.

[iareConfusE]

Almost never useful for its intended purpose. MAV is significantly more useful than the SOFLAM. It seems that whenever you have a javelin and need a SOFLAM, no recon has one, and whenever you have a SOFLAM out and you're marking targets, there isn't anyone on your team with javelins to cooperate. Not to mention it doesn't even work 90% of the time. Supposedly you get top attacks with the SOFLAM + javelin combo and you can one hit tanks - but this doesn't actually work..

[Quiet]

Laser designator works best with teamwork.

Laser designator on tank + tank driver with guided shells = shoots down low flying helicopters and jets.

[CmpsdNoMore]

I've tried the SOFLAM a couple times when playing with friends on xbox.

I've taken out a few planes, but generally it seems to be useless. I don't know if it's bugged or what, but a lot of times it won't let me remotely lock on with the Javelin or the guided missiles with the jets.

The other night my friend used the soflam on the mobile troop spawn on the canals map, I had to visually lock on to it but then it would go up into the air and hit it from the top (as opposed to the side without the soflam).
The only thing is that, even when the vehicle was moving very slowly in the water, my javelin would not hit it and I wouldn't even get a damage indicator.

The same thing happened in the same map without the soflam. I had a perfectly clear shot down the street at the back of the vehicle and manually locked onto it myself. I watched as it flew straight towards the troop carrier and then hit the ground right behind it, not even damaging it a little.

I can hit thing pretty far away with the RPG, so I usually just stick with that. It's also just as powerful as the Javelin from the side and about twice as much from the rear, so the javelin really doesn't have that much of an advantage if it won't lock on properly anyway.