Insurgency: Sandstorm – Tips and Tricks for New Players

A guide that is aimed to give the newest of players the same game sense as a player that has played since the beginning.

Other Insurgency: Sandstorm Guides:

• Optimization (FPS Boost).
• Commander Tips & Info.
• Obscure Stuff.
• Co-op Tips.

The Menu

All credit goes to G00GLE!

• Naturally, this game is very tough to run on most moderate PCs. That’s why I highly suggest turning down your graphics until you find the settings at which you can comfortably run at 60 fps or more. 
• Peronsally, I recommend turning frame caps ON. This should be done with all games. Getting 90 FPS on a 60Hz monitor is useless and only takes up more CPU and GPU power. Always cap your fps to your monitor’s refresh rate. I have a 75Hz monitor so I have my game capped at 90FPS.

• If you want a seamless gaming experience without the realistic movement, make sure to uncheck both of these options: 

Gamemodes

• I highly suggest sticking to co-op as a newbie. People are usually very kind and understanding and will often try to help you out. Bear on mind that this is a shooter game and you are bound to meet people who aren’t as nice. 
• I’d suggest starting to play versus at around level 6-7. This game mode is tough and fast paced. If you’re in a tight situation you WILL be left to die. If you can arrange a team of friends who take it seriously, this doesn’t apply and it can be a little more coordinated. 
• If you’re playing a gamemode which involves blowing up a cache and you’re playing with friends, you can all agree to place your c4 onto the cache together. This allows all of you to gain some score for it when you blow it up! 
• If you’ve placed your explosive on the cache and have no ammo, you can always blow yourself up with the cache. This is very useful in intense combat situations since you’ll spawn some distance away from the explosion with all your ammo. 
• You can blow up the cache with 2-3 grenades / 1 molotov or incendiary / an RPG. 

Loadout

• If someone is asking for the role that you chose, it’s usually advised that you give that role to them. Most players in insurgency find that they’re very good with certain roles. So by you, the newbie who has never played as a gunner before, to take their role that they know like the back of their hand would be very annoying to them and won’t benefit the team. 
• Please do not take marksman only to end up never playing the objective and only looking for kills. 
• If you’re playing a loadout with an RPG please don’t waste it! The only time you should use an RPG is on technicals (vehicles) since guns can’t do any damage to them. 

Vehicles

• Some new players might not know this but walking up to a vehicle that the enemy used against you and pressing your interact key (F) will allow you to enter the passenger seats, gunner seat or driver seat. 
• If you’re the driver of a vehicle and you’re heading into shots, press CTRL to shove your head under the steering wheel. You can still see where you’re going but the chances of getting shot are reduced immensely. 
• If you’re the driver and you’re heading into combat and would like to try your chances, you can press 2 to let go of the steering wheel and shoot through the windshield or windows. To get ahold of the wheel again, look at it and press F. 

Gameplay

• Pressing B while in smoke will stop you from coughing and giving away your position. Just make sure you have a gas mask equipped! 
• Going prone in grass is insanely over powered. You are practically invisible! 
• If you want to make a quick and unexpected entry into a building, you can press the Middle mouse button when standing in front of a door to kick it down. Alternatively, you can shoot out the hinges. 
• If you want to open a small gap in a door to peek through and shoot, you can aim at the door handle and press F. This will open the door just enough to fit your gun through so you can shoot enemies on the other side. 
• You can hear where enemies are by intimidating them. Hold down C and select “Intimidate” with your mouse. This will cause your character to shout out some intimidating phrase to which the enemies will respond to. 
• Using your voice in-game is INCREDIBLY useful. Just make sure that your microphone is loud enough for people to hear you through. 
• Once you’ve emptied a mag, use speed reload to dispose of it. This can be done by double tapping R. 
• When nading a room make sure to warn whoever is entering or near that room. You don’t want to team kill! 
• Holding shfit while scoped in will let you enter focus mode. This will make shots more accurate and zoom you in even further. 
• When entering a building with your squad, the best thing to do is enter all together at the same time from different entry points. This will make the people inside not know who to shoot at first. 
• If you’re getting low on ammo and see the same gun that you have on the floor, hold F to refill your ammo with that gun. 
• If you’re completely out of ammo you can pick up other people’s guns from the floor by pressing F. 
• Holding R shows you how much ammo you have left. 
• When in a building that is being bombed, go prone by pressing Z. This will reduce how much damage you recieve from the explosions. 
• When playing as commander, you can change your fire support type by pressing J.