Squad: Beginner-to-Advanced Guide

A field manual for Squad, Offworld's 50v50 combined-arms tactical shooter. It covers your first matches, roles and kits, spawning and logistics, communication, the game modes, and the habits that make you a squad member (or squad leader) people want to play with.

Researched September 2026. Current as of Update 10.5 (hotfix 10.5.6, September 16, 2026), including the 10.5.2 suppression rework (August 2026) and the 10.4 gunplay changes (March 2026). Live games change, so check the linked sources if something differs.

Quick Start

• Always join a squad with a microphone. Unsquadded players can't use most kits and can't hear the team. Squad is a voice game first.
• Do the training range first. Jensen's Range lets you practice every faction's weapons, vehicles, deployables, and medic tools without anyone watching.
• Listen to your Squad Leader (SL). They see the commander's calls and place markers. Following one decent SL beats ten solo heroics.
• Look at the map constantly. The map shows friendly positions, markers, spawn points, and objectives. Most beginner deaths come from not knowing where the front is.
• Spawn on rallies and HABs, not the main base, unless your SL tells you to ride a vehicle out.
• Pick Rifleman or Medic early. Riflemen carry ammo bags to resupply the squad, and Medics revive. Both teach you how the game flows.
• Revives beat respawns. When you're downed, wait for a medic if one is near. Giving up costs your team tickets and time.
• Identify before you shoot. Friendly fire is on, and uniforms can look alike at range. Check the map and markers, and when in doubt, ask on squad radio.
• Suppression is real. Incoming fire blurs your vision and, since 10.5.2, stops you from holding your breath to steady your aim. Return fire from cover or move. Don't try to out-aim a machine gun in the open.

Controls Worth Knowing

Squad has a lot of binds. These are the ones new players need first. They're defaults and fully rebindable, so check Settings > Controls if something doesn't match.

Action | Why it matters

Local voice (proximity) | Talk to anyone nearby, friend or enemy

Squad radio | Talk to your squad from anywhere

Command radio (SLs only) | SL-to-SL and commander chat

Commo rose (radial menu) | Place markers, request ammo/medic, and make deployable-related calls

Map | Positions, markers, objectives. Check it every 20 to 30 seconds

Lean left / right | Peek corners with a smaller silhouette

Hold breath / steady aim | Stabilizes scoped aim (blocked while suppressed)

Give up (when downed) | Only when no medic is coming

Roles and Kits

Kits are role-limited per squad and per team. You unlock more specialized kits once your squad reaches a certain size.

Kit | Job | Tips

Squad Leader | Leads, places rally points, builds FOBs/HABs, uses the command channel | Needs a mic and map awareness. Can call in deployables and markers

Rifleman | Frontline and resupply | Drop ammo bags when the squad is low. Some variants carry extra grenades

Medic | Revives and heals | Stay behind the line. Smoke before dragging a teammate out of fire

Automatic Rifleman | Suppression | Deploy on bipods. Fire at the enemy's cover to pin them

Machine Gunner | Heavy suppression | Needs a buddy for ammo and a flank watcher

Grenadier | Explosive support | Use the grenade launcher on windows and behind cover

Light Anti-Tank (LAT) | Anti-vehicle | Aim for sides and rear. Don't waste rockets on infantry unless ordered

Heavy Anti-Tank (HAT) | Heavy anti-armor | Coordinate with your SL. One good hit beats three bad ones

Marksman | Precision fire | Spot and relay info. Your callouts are worth more than your kills

Combat Engineer | Explosives, mines, and deconstructing enemy HABs and radios | High value late-game

Crewman | Drives and operates armored vehicles | Required for most tanks, IFVs, and APCs

Pilot | Helicopters | Practice on the training range first. Crashes waste team tickets

Unarmed / specialist kits | Faction and mode specific | Varies by faction

Spawning: Rallies, HABs, and FOBs

Squad's front line is only as good as its spawns.

• Rally points are placed by the Squad Leader with at least one squad member nearby. Only your squad can spawn on them, the spawns are limited, and they get disabled if enemies get close. Put them behind cover, never on the objective itself.
• FOB radios are placed by SLs and need construction supplies delivered by logistics trucks or helicopters. A radio defines a Forward Operating Base, and you can build inside its radius.
• HABs (the team spawn structure) are built at an FOB and let the whole team spawn. A HAB is disabled when enemies are close, and it gets overrun or destroyed if enemies aren't dealt with.
• Main base is the safe spawn with vehicles, but it's far from the fight.

Rules of thumb:

• Put HABs behind hard cover and out of the enemy's line of attack, not on the flag.
• Always have at least two spawn options (a HAB plus rallies from several squads).
• Guard your FOB radio. Losing it costs tickets and takes down the FOB (and with it the HAB spawn) until it's rebuilt.

Logistics and Building

Logistics wins long matches.

• Logistics trucks and helicopters carry construction and ammo supplies to FOBs. A dedicated logi squad (or a two-person logi team) is one of the most impactful jobs in the game.
• Shovel up. Deployables (sandbags, razor wire, HMGs, AT guns, mortars, ammo crates) have to be built with shovels after an SL places them.
• Ammo crates at a FOB let everyone rearm, including grenades and rockets (at a supply cost).
• Emplacements like the HMG, TOW/ATGM, and mortars turn a good FOB into a fortress. Mortars need someone spotting and marking for them.

Game Modes

Mode | Objective | Notes

Advance and Secure (AAS) | Capture points in a fixed sequence | The classic. Know which point is "active"

Random AAS (RAAS) | AAS with a randomized lane | Scout to find which flags are live

Invasion | One team attacks, the other defends a set of points | Attackers start with fewer tickets and earn more by capturing points; defenders can't retake lost points

Insurgency | Find and destroy hidden weapons caches | Intel is revealed by killing and capturing

Destruction | Destroy the defender's objectives | Heavy on explosives and engineers

Territory Control | Hold a web of hexes | Wide-open maneuver mode

Seed | Low-population warmup mode | Helps servers fill up

Skirmish | Small-scale matches | Good for learning maps

Fireteam (co-op PvE) | Up to 5 players vs AI | Added in Update 10.1. Four missions are free, and more come in the paid Supporter Pack

Ticket bleed decides most matches. Losing points, vehicles, HABs, and radios, and your team giving up while downed, all cost tickets.

Factions and Maps

The store page advertises 13 factions, a mix of conventional militaries and irregular forces. Faction and sub-faction names you'll see in the menus include the US Army, US Marine Corps, Russian Ground Forces, VDV, British Armed Forces, Canadian Army, Australian Defence Force, PLA, PLA Navy Marine Corps, Turkish Land Forces, Middle Eastern Alliance, Insurgents, Irregular Militia Forces, Western Private Military Contractors, and (since Update 10.0, November 2025) the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Rosters and naming shift between updates. Each faction has battlegroups/units that change which vehicles and kits you get.

Maps number 24 on the store page. Well-known ones include Al Basrah, Anvil, Belaya Pass, Black Coast, Chora, Fallujah, Fool's Road, Goose Bay, Gorodok, Harju, Kamdesh Highlands, Kohat Toi, Kokan, Lashkar Valley, Logar Valley, Manicouagan, Mestia, Mutaha, Narva, Sanxian Islands, Skorpo, Sumari Bala, Tallil Outskirts, and Yehorivka.

Gunplay, Suppression, and Staying Alive

Update 10.4 (March 2026) refined infantry gunplay and weapon scopes. Update 10.5.2 (August 12, 2026) then rebuilt suppression:

• Suppression now builds up and decays at rebalanced rates, weapon by weapon and projectile by projectile.
• While suppressed you can't hold your breath to stabilize, though you can still zoom.
• Bullet snap and crack sounds were redone, and the distance where they change is tied to each caliber's suppression radius. This helps you judge how close fire is landing.

Practical combat habits:

• Fight from cover and move after you shoot. The muzzle flash and sound reveal you.
• Shoot at what's suppressing you with volume, not precision. Then let someone flank.
• Bandage first. Bleeding kills. Bandage yourself, then let a medic heal you.
• Ammo discipline. Call for ammo bags before you run dry, and resupply at FOB crates.
• Grenades and smoke: Smoke is your best tool for revives and crossing roads.
• Vehicles: Infantry kill armor from the side and rear. Armor kills infantry who bunch up. Stay spread out when you hear tracks.

Squad Leading 101

• Name your squad clearly ("INF MIC", "LOGI", "ARMOR") and lock it at the right size.
• Ask for kit roles at the start: a medic, a LAT, and an automatic rifleman or grenadier.
• Talk on command radio. Coordinate who builds the first FOB and who attacks or defends each point.
• Place a rally early and move it as the fight moves.
• Mark enemies on the map with the commo rose. Your squad sees what you mark.
• Build a HAB with a friendly logi, then hand spawn duty to the team.
• Keep calls short. Direction, distance, and what: "Contact, north-east, 200, two infantry in the treeline."

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Lone-wolfing. You'll get kills, but your team loses tickets and spawns.
• Spawning at main and walking. Use rallies and HABs, or catch a ride.
• Placing HABs on the flag. They get overrun instantly. Keep them nearby and behind cover.
• Driving vehicles without crew roles or a plan. Tanks without infantry support die to LATs, and transports that park in the open die to everything.
• Spamming "give up". Wait for medics when possible.
• Talking over the SL on squad radio. Save chatter for local voice.
• Ignoring the map. You'll shoot teammates or walk into the enemy's backline.
• Mismatched mods. 10.5.3 fixed checksum issues that let clients join modded servers with different mod files. If you get "Network object failure", update or reinstall your Workshop mods.

Advanced Tips

• Dedicated logistics squads win long AAS and Invasion matches. A second or third HAB on the flank keeps pressure on.
• Kill radios, not just players. Engineers and SLs who dig out enemy FOBs cost the enemy spawns, tickets, and time.
• Mortar and spotter teams: Marksmen and SLs marking targets for mortars dominate static defenses.
• Sound discipline: Walk rather than sprint near enemies. Sprinting and vehicles are loud.
• Crossfire over frontal fights: Set up the MG and AR on the enemy's flank, then push from the front.
• Tanks and IFVs: Communicate on the crew channel, use hull-down positions, and retreat to repair at FOBs with ammo crates or repair stations.
• Frame pacing: Squad is CPU-heavy on busy servers. Prioritize CPU performance, use upscaling (the Unreal Engine 5 build supports modern upscalers), and keep view distance high enough to see into treelines.

FAQ

Is Squad hard for beginners? It's slow to learn, but beginner-friendly servers and Jensen's Range help. Join a squad with a mic, follow your SL, and play Rifleman or Medic.

What is Fireteam? A 1 to 5 player co-op PvE mode added in Update 10.1 (December 2025). Four missions are free for all owners. The paid Supporter Pack adds more (11 premium missions in the Squad Fireteam Edition).

Why can't I pick certain kits? Kits are limited per squad and team, and some need a minimum squad size. Unsquadded players get very few kits.

What's the difference between a rally and a HAB? Rallies are squad-only, temporary, and SL-placed. HABs are team-wide spawns built on an FOB with supplies.

Why do I keep crashing or getting kicked from servers? Hotfixes 10.5.4 to 10.5.6 (September 2026) patched server-crash exploits and client crashes. Make sure you're on the latest build and your mods are updated.

Do I need a microphone? Strongly recommended. Squad is built around voice comms.

Sources

• Squad official site
• Squad on Steam (store page and news)
• Steam news: 10.5.2 suppression rework, 10.5.3 to 10.5.6 hotfixes