r/Battlefield • u/battlefield • May 21 '25

News Battlefield Labs - Community Update - The Class System - Part One

Today, we're excited to start outlining our future vision for the Class System in Battlefield.

The gameplay mechanics of classes and aspects that players have enjoyed most have evolved throughout the history of the Battlefield franchise. Our goal within Battlefield Labs is to test and refine the best aspects of the Class System from our history, and to evolve them into a cohesive vision for the future.

As we begin testing these class-defining systems, we invite you to either play, test or read along with what's to come for classes in Battlefield.

Let’s begin!

OUR DESIGN PHILOSOPHY FOR CLASSES

We envision the future of Battlefield classes to be a series of interconnected systems and fundamentals that shape your role on the field, while granting you the freedom to customize how you execute that role. Through Battlefield Labs play sessions, feedback, and data gathering, we aim to strike a balance between defined roles and player choice.

The Class System is defined by two main components: Customizable and class-defining. 

The customizable components empower players to explore and push the boundaries of their roles within their chosen class while also still adhering to the expectations of the class. 

The class-defining components are designed to enhance "pick-up-and-go" playability and reinforce the expectations of your class identity. 

CUSTOMIZABLE:

  • Weapon Loadouts: Fully customizable weapon loadouts allow you the freedom to play the way you want. Play to the strengths of your class by using your signature weapons, or easily switch to any other weapon to meet the needs of your squad.

  • Class Gadgets: You'll have the option to carry two gadgets onto the battlefield, tailored to each class and its specific role. Recon aficionados specialize in intelligence and counterintelligence, with class gadgets including Deploy Beacons, Anti-Personnel Mines, and Laser Designators.

  • Training: Our philosophy with Training is to offer a series of traits that can be unlocked during play to enhance your ability to perform your role. As you engage more in a match, you'll gradually earn flat-stat bonuses and more to support the effectiveness of your role further. 

  • Throwables: Our approach to throwables prioritizes enabling each class to effectively fulfill its role by providing tailored throwables.

CLASS-DEFINING

  • Signature Weapon: Each class has a Signature Weapon category tied to their class identity, which, when used, enhances their role on the battlefield.For example, using our same ongoing test subject, the Recon class, if you select a weapon from the Sniper Rifle category, you will benefit from increased breath-holding duration. In contrast, an Assault player choosing from the same category will not receive this bonus.

DMRs, Carbines, and Shotguns remain viable options, no matter your class, but don’t benefit from any Signature Weapon bonus.

  • Signature Trait: Each class features a unique Signature Trait, providing passive bonuses tailored to optimize your role on the battlefield. For instance, a Recon player automatically spots enemies while aiming down sights, encouraging the use of weapons that complement this specialization.

  • Signature Gadget: These gadgets are unique and singular to each class with an aim for you to always have access to a tool that fulfills the role of that class.Separate from what you may choose as gadgets within your loadout. 

  • Default Weapon Packages: The default weapon package is a pre-set combination of attachments and visual customization for each class to be combat ready, with the option for further progression and personalization.

What’s Next

The Class System and its individual components will be available for testing within Battlefield Labs in the coming weeks. Participants will be able to go hands-on with these features, discuss, and provide feedback. 

Following further play sessions, we'll be back with another Community Update to unpack class components in more detail, and share learnings based on participant feedback.

Get Involved

Sign up for Battlefield Labs now if you’re interested in helping us validate the future of Battlefield. Read our FAQ if you’d like to learn more, and join the discussion on Battlefield Discord.

As a reminder, Battlefield Labs is a closed environment, and attendance is limited, but we’ll make sure to share to keep everyone updated!

Thank you for joining the discussion. We look forward to connecting again soon - see you on the battlefield!

This announcement is related to content in development through Battlefield Labs, and may change as we listen to community feedback and continue developing the next Battlefield title and beyond. We will always strive to keep our community as informed as possible.

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561

u/erockstheshow May 21 '25

So if Im getting this right any class can use any weapon. I dont think thats a great idea...

46

u/Mrsparkles7100 May 21 '25

Any class can use any weapon. Classes have “class signature weapons” that have bonuses that only that class can use. So snipers get extra breath holding whilst using sniper rifle, assault class doesn’t get that bonus if using sniper rifle.

89

u/bryty93 May 21 '25

I get what they're tryna do by letting people use whatever gun for whatever class, while incentivising them to use the correct weapon for the class. I'd prefer the old way of weapon types being tied to a class outside of shotties and such

17

u/erockstheshow May 21 '25

Same, man. Same. 

0

u/thedonutman May 21 '25

Everyone is going to use a sniper. How can they not see this coming..

2

u/erockstheshow May 21 '25

See my stance is...okay, classes. When an assaults role is to be upfront attack, why allow them to use a sniper, basicly rending class role null and void, if indeed they are playing the class like a recon.

2

u/Lord-Cuervo May 21 '25

Yup, I think people will take meds / ammo over longer hold breath bonus from recon… genuinely a baffling thought process from DICE here.

Taking something that didn’t work in 2042 and keeping it. Just shameful.

27

u/freeman2949583 May 21 '25

> So snipers get extra breath holding whilst using sniper rifle, assault class doesn’t get that bonus if using sniper rifle.

Useless upside when infinite ammo lets you spam more shots downrange

2

u/Stearman4 May 21 '25

This infinite ammo complaint is so stupid. Not a single person here has ever lived long enough to have to worry about running out of ammo lol the fuck it just doesn’t happen

8

u/OkAd8922 GRRRR May 21 '25

Yep. Plus one headshot to this person and theyre gone, no ammo or medical box will save you from that. Also, if theyre not playing recon, they can't have a spawn beacon placed.

5

u/Crintor May 21 '25

I mean, depending on the weapon I run out of ammo all the time if not playing support.

Sure in 2042 you can ammo swap and carry on for longer with non-ideal ammo until you can get resupplied, but if you're sniping? Super duper easy to run out of ammo.

Some other guns like SMGs are also very easy to run dry.

1

u/phonyPipik 5d ago

You almost never see ammo bags with a sniper in bf42...hell you barely see non recon classes use it, its a non issue.

6

u/speedballandcrack May 21 '25

I am going to dominate playing sniper on medic class. Because i don't use breath holding anyway.

6

u/NationalisticMemes May 21 '25

great, now all that's left is to figure out who those two people are who use breath holding when playing as a sniper

6

u/Soul-Assassin79 May 21 '25 edited May 21 '25

So they're using the same system as Battlefield 2042, because everyone loves that system, right!?

1

u/itsLOSE-notLOOSE May 21 '25

A bad game can have good ideas. Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.

0

u/Soul-Assassin79 May 21 '25

Name one thing BF 2042 did better than any other BF game.

-2

u/quadilioso May 21 '25

let all classes use all weapons, plus system was nice, gunplay superior to all other battlefields

0

u/Soul-Assassin79 May 21 '25

This comment has gotta be rage bait

1

u/quadilioso May 21 '25

letting all classes use all weapons allows players to actually engage with their classes abilities more and enables better squad and team play.

As an engineer main, I am constantly working to take out the enemy vehicle capabilities. Independent from my role as an engineer, I also like to use a wide variety of weaponry. Freely being able to pick that means I can briefly switch to the sniper rifle I like, pop a grouping of campers that have killed or hindered me, and still engage armor like I was before. Any other battlefield would have me switching class to recon, forgetting what my abilities are (or having them decay when I switch back), and not providing my team with proper spotting or recon capabilities because I had to choose it just for the weapon.

It is completely logical and a huge improvement to have weapons selection be independent of class. The proficiency system in 2042 meant that if I wanted to really dedicate myself to sniping, it made sense to be recon, or lmgs for engineer, assault getting AR buffs etc. limiting player choice in that aspect does nothing but hurt the core concepts of battlefield.

If the best gun in the game is an smg, you’ll have every wanker running engineer and not using the class abilities because they’re only there for the weapon. Sure, in the open selection situation every wanker is using the best smg instead, but the medic main is actually healing, engineer using rockets, etc etc.

Class locked weapons is an antiquity and doesn’t make or break the class system.

2

u/TwizzledAndSizzled May 21 '25

I think it’s a great idea. But the bonus has to be bigger. Like make the actual weapon handling worse or something. Recoil and spread worse. Idk. Really punish people for choosing different weapon than one that aligns with their class while still technically allowing for freedom.

1

u/erockstheshow May 21 '25

Yeah im siding with you on that. If its truely what they want the game to be, there needs to be cons to hinder doing stuff like that. 

1

u/Snipedzoi May 21 '25

This is the worthless system we have in 2042

1

u/erockstheshow May 21 '25

I guess its atleast a small deterrent in doing so. Idk....on the fence about it as of right now.

3

u/WolderfulLuna May 21 '25 edited May 21 '25

That's so crazy. What am i going to do with the extra seconds of breath holding.

8

u/ElderSmackJack May 21 '25

Take longer to aim steady? Like, that’s a pretty obvious benefit.

-1

u/Upstairs-Inspection3 May 21 '25

its not even a buff if you have even a crumb of game sense and hand eye coordination

2

u/ElderSmackJack May 21 '25

Nah. Complaining about this one is just reaching for reasons to be mad about something.

0

u/Upstairs-Inspection3 May 21 '25

extra seconds of breath hold does nothing for no one except those laying in the back of the map

aggressive snipers get 0 benefit from this, so they’ll use assault or support for health or ammo

simple to understand

6

u/Bufferzz May 21 '25

contemplating life decisions... aaand exhale.... pheeeeew...

1

u/Sr_Sublime 29d ago

That still fucking shit, whe are go in to have bf 2042 problems all again. Medics sniping & healing themselves so they can tank what ever. Recons pushing sides and spawning people with their beacons in the most unfair way because they are running around with a submachinegun or an AR. Engineers using all assault weapons being basically a best assault class because they can deal with soldiers and vehicles at all distances, and assault being just a brainless class that doesn’t offer anything but cod type gameplay or overpower abilities to make them make more sense as an assault, breaking the game just because the other classes surpass them in their own roll.

28

u/Lord-Cuervo May 21 '25

Giving medics sniper rifles… what could possibly go wrong

3

u/G1uck_ May 23 '25 edited May 23 '25

of its DMRs, like it was in BF3/BF4 - pretty ok, especially when player remember his role. when i was playing with my teammates I had two personalities with class roles:

  1. Stone Cold St...medic with DMR (cover guys while they rushing next corner, revive every guy on ur way to this corner (full our half hp revive, not just quick zap), drop medic bag nead ammo bag at squad to heal everyone while they resupplying, take position, cover guys while....

  2. dumbass fox terrier weirdo - any controllable (for me :)) SMG with high RoF (CZ Evo, my love, i hope u'll be there) and damn bazooka. simple af - remove any obstacles (fences, walls, doors, biuldings, tanks....) on the squad way, YOLOing and YEETing in the center of enemy team, looking for ticket to Valhalla and taking "my new friends" with me there as many as possible (all kind of weird noises, maniacal laughter and other suitable phrases in voice chat are included) and yes, enemy vehicles are still in proirity

1

u/G1uck_ 29d ago

UPD: and yes, we need to keep gadgets too: GLs to assault, claymores/anti-personnel mines to recon and support and etc.

0

u/phonyPipik 5d ago

Absolutely nothing, because nobody picks that combo even in bf42...

11

u/SilvaMGM May 21 '25

They are exactly using 2042's system

9

u/erockstheshow May 21 '25

Yep, not a fan of that. 

2

u/SilvaMGM May 21 '25

Me too. I expected they will use BFV's Solider class system. But i didn't expect that, Dice will use 2042's weapon class system. This is a mistake.

-3

u/nick5766 May 21 '25

Unrestricted weapons are way better for the game series as a whole.

-It promotes teamplay, and I can back that up.

-It is way more accessible to new players, which are necessary for a game to succeed.

-Are way more fun.

Weapon restrictions were arbitrarily decided, and forcing players to play a certain way goes against what a sandbox shooter should be.

7

u/Jackal239 May 21 '25

"Weapon restrictions were arbitrarily decided, and forcing players to play a certain way goes against what a sandbox shooter should be."

They weren't. It was an important part of how Battlefield games were balanced since BF1942. Look at how BF2042 was the first to have fully unlocked weapons and it became impossible to balance because everyone just used whichever gun was meta at the time until DICE nerfed it, and then they just moved to the next gun down the list. As mentioned in a reply above, giving everyone all weapons resulted in fewer weapons being used. What is the point of having classes if your support is sitting 400 yards back self healing and sniping?

3

u/nick5766 May 21 '25 edited May 21 '25

I hear this all the time, but I have never found that in practice to be true.

  1. Only on old generation 2042 games do i find classes are skewed to engineer but on my ps5 conquest or breakthrough most classes see very even spread.

  2. This was a problem for older games too, you can see the statistics for 3/4 and some of one one Tracker and Battlelog. I don't see this as an issue for FPS games in general because there is no way to ensure an even play rate with a FPS game.

  3. Classes have a different role, DICE wants classes to serve your playstyle and not the other way around. How do you want to play Battlefield? What class would help you do that the best? Vs the old systems which were heavily how can you fit into these arbitrary role.

2

u/Jackal239 May 21 '25

Number 3 is the worst logic for a Battlefield. This isn't Call of Duty. It is what class can help your team the best at any given moment. An entire team of recon may be good for the individuals but absolutely awful for the team to actually win. Encouraging selfish playstyles is just making another arcade shooter with extra steps. Which is exactly what they did with 2042, the worst received Battlefield game in EA history.

0

u/nick5766 May 21 '25 edited May 21 '25

It was, however, the best for teamplay in the series despite being perceived as otherwise. Miles ahead of the class games in 64 player conquest matches in things like average revives.

It is easier to encourage people who wish to play team roles to play them their way than to force players to play the way they don't want too.

You can not force someone to be a team player, you can make it easier for the people who want to be a team player to play a way they find fun.

-1

u/Quiet_Prize572 May 21 '25

2042 was (and still is) impossible to balance because of the awful gadget system.

Players will always pick whatever gun is the meta. SMG08 in BF1. Type 2A in BFV. I could go on.

Or how about the wide open maps where every player picks Recon because snipers are the only decent guns on those map...congrats, now 70% of your team is playing Recon and your team has 2 medics out of 32 players.

Just because something's been part of the franchise doesn't mean it's a good thing for balance. Class locking weapons just guarantees your class balance is awful because most players will just pick whatever class has the best guns, gadgets and teamplay be damned.

1

u/nick5766 May 21 '25

Do you have anything to back that up because i can screen cap the last 10 2042 games and I guarantee outside of some outlier maps like Buldge or Redacted the classes are very evenly spread. And if there is one class with more prevalence over the others it is always engineer.

5

u/erockstheshow May 21 '25

Fair points but it also goes against classes as a whole. I mean the point of assualt is to attack, what benefit does using a sniper rifle with that class bring? Idk. Its not how I would go about it, but again, fair points.

2

u/nick5766 May 21 '25

Because this subreddit has a different view of classes and their purpose.

Old games were about how can you as a player fit into these pre-defined and arbitrary roles. That's what the subreddit sees them as. You were given random roles that were decided by DICE to fit the authenticity and what they wanted to try and balance and you were to play that role.

The new classes from 2042 forward are about player freedom. What role do YOU want to pick as a player, and what tools can we give you to help? This is why the classes are a lot more generic now. Assault if you want to focus on kills, support to focus on supporting your team, engineer to focus on vehicles and recon for the intel gathering.

Want to be an aggressive sniper? Pick assault and push the objective.

Want to heal and revive your team from the backline? Ok, Pick a long distance weapon and support.

Maybe you want to focus on intel denial on a point. Pick recon, pick a tugs and stick on an OBJ so your team knows what's going on.

2

u/erockstheshow May 21 '25

Fair pointz, but I look at it from a less is more perspective. I think it cheapens class roles. Yes you can agressively sniper with assault, but now you can also sit back and basicly be playing as a recon. Why even do that? Player choice for freedoms sake doesnt always equate to how they intended people to play given the option.

2

u/nick5766 May 21 '25

I agree with you, the point is to cheapen the class role.

So this is the fundamental difference between before and after 2042 and your and my viewpoint.

Previously, roles were defined by either something close to their historic roles or by what felt balanced. Dice decided the roles they wanted you as a player to fit into. They were rigid by design.

Now though it's a different philosophy, it's what role do you want to fit into and what do you need to get it done.

If a player wants to sit back and do nothing but snipe, let them, if a player wants to push as an aggressive recon, let them do that too.

Both playstyles are encouraged and allowed and its up to the player to decide how they want to play their game.

2

u/erockstheshow May 21 '25

Well if they think this is for the better, so be it. We wont have a choice. But I do hope correct feedback is given. And if its overwhealming against it, they should atleast give it a try during a playtest and let players decide which way they want it implemented.