Welcome to the Heroes & Generals (H&G) getting started guide!
Heroes & Generals consists of two major parts. One part is the Heroes, a multiplayer first person shooter. The other part, Generals, is a massive multiplayer real-time strategy game. This can be a lot to absorb, so this page exists to assist in the learning curve.
The Generals part of the game requires high-ranked soldiers, so it's limited to the more experienced players. Therefore, in this tutorial, we will be focusing on the Heroes part of the game. Don’t worry though, if you follow this tutorial, you will be a General in no time![ | ]
Getting Started[ | ]
Technical Requirements[ | ]
Once you are sure your machine meets the necessary hardware/driver requirements which can be found here, you need to register an account. Registering will give you the username and password needed to log into the game. You can register by visiting this page.
Downloading[ | ]
If you are logging in for the first time or if the war has recently ended, you will need to choose a war. At present, there is only one war. But when there are more players online, more wars will be available to join.
Character Interface[ | ]
Once you logged in the game and chose your first soldier, you will see the main interface or "Heroes" tab which includes numerous options.
Let us go through all the numbers and buttons.
- Bulletin. The most recent game news and articles are shown here.
- Heroes tab. Here you can change your loadout, customize your soldier, buy weapons, get into a battle and many many other things.
- Generals tab. As soon as you reach Player Level 10, you will be able to open the ''Generals'' tab which includes the RTS War map. More info about ''War'' down below.
- Progression tab. In progression tab you can see on what Player Level you are on, the higher the level the more gamemodes and soldier types you unlock.
- Store tab. In the store you can purchase a lot of things such as weapons, vehicles and camouflages. bundles and many more things
- Player level. This just redirects you to the progression tab. See No.4 for some info.
- Currency. Heroes and Generals has 3 types of currencies, on the left-hand side there are the Credits, on the middle there are the Warfunds and on the right-hand side there is the Gold.
- Credits are the most common in-game currency earned through playing the FPS. With credits, you can purchase almost everything in the game - including new soldiers and veteran membership.
- Warfunds are the second type of in-game currency. It is earned and used in the War effort. You are able to earn Warfunds by playing War battles once you reach player level 10.
- Gold. This kind of currency can be purchased with real money and can be used everywhere. Also, you receive free 4 gold after finishing your first battle each day.
- Player username, Faction icon and veteran membership status.
- Player's username. No further explaination.
- Faction icon. The faction that you will join on war will be displayed here.
- Veteran membership status. Once you purchase Veteran Membership, you will see its current status. By clicking on the line, you will receive full information about your veteran membership.
- Notifications, Messages and Friends list
- Notifications. Here you will receive important notifications: weapon repair costs, battle summary, and more.
- Messages. You are able to send and receive instant private messages with online players or send and receive mail that can be received even while offline. A small number on the icon will indicate any new messages received.
- Friends list. Here you can see which of your friends are online and invite them to your squad. As well as adding new ones.
- Options. Here you find all kinds of settings and helpful links.
- Faction fliter. By clicking on one of the 3 faction images you can sort your soldiers by faction.
- The name of a soldier. You can always customize your soldier by changing his name for some Credits.
- Experience. It displays amount of experience that your soldier needs to get new rank. You can also click on the rank icon to open "ranks" window for more information.
- Equipment points. Weapons and extra ammunition take up equipment points, that means you can equip a limited amount of ammunition and guns, for Infantry the equipment points are 10, for a recon soldier its 7, but on paratroopers, fighter pilots and tank crewmen its only 6.
- Field maintenace. Field maintenace is the penalty counted in seconds which prevents the player from re-deploying instantly, the more good and deadly weapon a soldier has the more time it takes to re-deploy him.
- By pressing these buttons you can see weapons, combat badges, vehicles, camouflage and assault teams currently equipped on your character.
- List of equipment that is owned by your soldier or able to purchase.
- Equipment depot. Once you promote your soldier to General, all his equipment will be placed here. Equipment can also be transferred at will to the depot at half the cost of purchase. You can spread equipment among other soldiers but they have to meet the requirements of particular equipment.
- Soldier filter. You can filter your soldier list to only display one type.
- By pressing these buttons you can see weapons, combat badges, vehicles, camouflage and assault teams currently equipped on your character.
- Player's soldiers. Here you can select one of your soldiers and go to a battle.
- Weapons list. Here you can see current set up of your soldier. You can change soldier's set up by using the "drag and drop" function. Players without veteran membership have 3 slots instead of 4.
- Next unlocks and Ribbon overview
- Next unlocks. By playing the game, you will unlock a lot of stuff. The closest unlocks are shown in here.
- Ribbon overview. By clicking on the ribbon overview button you can see all of your ribbon's progressions, you can also buy and use a ribbon booster to unlock something faster.
- Soldier filter. You can filter your soldier list to only display one type.
- Badges. Here you can equip badges for better soldier performance. Players without veteran membership can equip only 1 badge instead of 2.
- Game chat. You can always chat with other players or create a specific chat room and use it with your friends.
- Squad settings. Here you can adjust your squad, like adding a new name and adding friends.
- Your squad. Here you can see some information for your squadmates and also invite some friends, full info about squadmates can be accsessed by clicking the icon No27. More information about squads.
- TO BATTLE! button. The main button which allows you to join battles.
Time to Squad Up and Go to Battle![ | ]
Looking to join a battle? Click on the TO BATTLE! button in the bottom right corner to open the Map & Filter selection.
1. There are different game modes to choose from. When you're first starting out, only the 'First Encounter' game mode is available.
2. Once you click on one of the battle types (Blue Box), you will enter match-making. |
Squads[ | ]
More info on Squads and Squad Leader.
Upon joining a battle a box will appear with details of the battle you have joined. Blue Box - Battle Type and Battle Location. In a Skirmish or Capture and Hold as this battle is, it is identified by the nearest city and the which line the supply line where the skirmish has occurred connects to, in this case E. Purple Box - Hovering over each of these with you mouse, from left to right will tell you your role (Attacker, Defender or Capture and Hold), the time of day and the weather. Red Box - Here you will see a loading bar indicating progress loading into the battle. Green Box - From left to right, the magnifying glass will show the battle location on the war map, the eye opens and closes the popup and the flag withdraws you from the battle. White Box - Here you can see your battle specific objectives Maps - On the left you can see a zoomed in version of the war map indicating the general area where you battle is taking place and to the right you can see an overview of the map you will be playing on showing the two factions, the capture points and the main objectives. Resources - If you click on this tab, you will be able to see the resources available in your battle. Details - Here you will be able to see a list of players in your battle. |
Squads in War[ | ]
In war, unlike in staged battles, you have the ability to queue up for specific battles.
In order to do so, you have to open the war map, look at the ongoing battles (burning cities or burning points in between cities) and discuss with your squad which one you would like to join.
There are several criteria that have to be fulfilled to be able to join as well as a way to increase your chance of getting in. More information on that: Joining Specific War Battles
Game Modes[ | ]
As mentioned at the beginning of Time to Squad Up and Go to Battle, you gradually unlock more game modes as you level up your Player Level.
- You gain progress in the player levels by increasing your score which is done by playing the action game with any kind of soldier.
There are two categories of game modes: Staged Battles and War Battles. Both categories feature all game modes and all maps.
- For a more detailed look at the game modes and mechanics of the Action game view the Action Rules.
Staged Battles[ | ]
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First Encounter[ | ]
Available from the very beginning (player level 1), this fast-paced game mode is meant to introduce new players to the game.
Maps: |
Skirmish[ | ]
Once you reach player level 2, the Skirmish game mode is permanently unlocked for your account.
Maps: |
Assault[ | ]
Once you reach player level 5, the Assault game mode is permanently unlocked for your account. Maps: |
- The lines from which the attacking team assaults vary. In war battles, this depends on connections from adjoining cities to the current city (if any), and whether Assault Teams have been sent.
- Once a point is captured, the controlling team can spawn in a connected spawn area.
- Certain vehicles like tanks, fighter planes and infantry support vehicles can only be spawned near an objective (e.g. 01) or an access point.
- If the time limit (30 minutes) runs out while one team is holding one of the objectives, the game will enter sudden death. Whichever team captures all objectives first, wins the game.
- Assaulting is generally harder than defending.
- Every soldier type may participate if the corresponding resource, or assault team, is available.
- Battles generally last for around 30 minutes.
- Read more about this game mode: Assault
War Battles[ | ]
Once you reach player level 10, the ability to join war battles is permanently unlocked for your account.
You earn +50% rank experience, +50% ribbon experience, +25% credits as well as warfunds which are exclusive to war battles and the Strategy Game. Note: 'Quick Battle' will also send you to War battles if you are able to with the soldier currently selected.
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War battles are set up by players.
Though not everyone can set up war battles, all players with a player level of 10 or higher can join war battles.
- To set up a war battle, players have to send their own resources (assault teams) which is done on the war map as part of the Generals portion of Heroes & Generals.
- Only players with at least one soldier above level 12 can purchase, equip and deploy assault teams.
- More about the Generals portion: Strategy Game
Joining Specific War Battles[ | ]
Apart from letting the match-maker find you a battle, you are able to choose your own battles on the war map.
In order to do so you first have to choose a faction for which you want to fight for the duration of the current war.
There are several conditions that have to be fulfilled to be able to queue for a specific battle:
1. The available resources have to match you squad type and there have to be enough resources for the battle to be "fun" (Otherwise the battle won't start, more information: Battle Director). 2. If you're not by yourself, you have to be the squad leader to be able to queue up. 3. If all conditions are met, you'll be able to join the battle. Otherwise a "Missing Condition"-a warning will show above this button explaining to you what is wrong.
4. Check additional information like time, weather and ping here. If ongoing battles have a high ping for you, it may impair your game experience negatively. |
How to fight[ | ]
You shoot the enemy. You capture the objective. You coordinate with your teammates. Also, don't forget to whistle.
Controls[ | ]
Here are some of the more useful controls. You might want to use these in your first battle.
See also Action Game Controls - a full list of game controls.
Important Controls
- M = Map (right mouse click to zoom in/out). Use this to see where you are in relation to the objectives.
- F = Whistle (this can be used to signal teammates when on foot). You can use this to ask a teammate in a vehicle to wait for you to board.
- Mouse Wheel = Camera Angle / Position (used when in a vehicle)
- B = Binoculars (requires you to have binoculars equipped) Binoculars are used by soldiers to better survey the battlefield and help spotting enemy units.
Squad[ | ]
After joining a battle, you will be put into a squad. Depending on your level and other factors, you will either be a Squad Leader or become a squad member. As a squad leader, you will be able to give orders out by pressing 'Q'. While holding 'Q', move your cursor to the desired location and press left mouse button to confirm your order. Available orders and how to issue them:
If you would like to dismiss a squad member or leave the squad, you just need to go to the scoreboard (default 'Tab'), then either find yourself on the scoreboard then press left mouse button and select 'Leave Squad', or select the member of squad you like to dismiss, press left mouse button to dismiss the member from your squad.
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Spawning[ | ]
You can spawn near any point your team has captured.
If you like to spawn as another type of a soldier (ex. tank crewman) and the desired resource is available, you can select the other soldier through your soldier list.
Assault Team Spawns:
- Pilots spawn in a plane.
- Paratroopers must choose a capture point as destination where their transport planes will fly to, then will spawn in the plane, and be able to jump out when it reaches the point, (or before, if needs be) unless the para planes have ran out. If the team resources have ran out of transport planes, then paratroopers will spawn the same way as regular infantry.
- Tank Crewman can spawn in a tank near the main objectives or access point, or as a passenger in a tank driven by a friendly tanker.
- Infantryman can spawn in Terrain Vehicles, Motorcycles and Infantry Support Vehicles.
An infantry under spawn protection |
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Capturing[ | ]
In order to capture a point, you must be within the radius of the capture zone (normally within the fences,walls etc). When you get inside the capture zone, a circle with the capture point's letter and number appears on the UI, along with (a) red/blue number(s). The blue number represents the amount of friendly soldiers inside the capture point, and the red represents the amount of enemies. The higher the amount of allies you have inside the capture point (the blue number) the quicker you will capture the point. However, if there are an equal amount of allies and enemies inside the capture point, the counter will stop - it will remain at its current status. E.g. if you are attacking A3, an enemy point, and there is one enemy inside as well, the capture point status would get contested but it will remain the enemies' point. In order to capture the point, you must remain inside the point, kill any enemies inside the capture zone and defend until the circle at the top of the screen is fully surrounded by blue. | Capture Counter
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Defending[ | ]
The primary way to defend a capture point is to prevent enemies from getting into the capture zone. However, if enemies got inside the capture zone, they will start capturing the point. You need to either eliminate all enemies inside, or, get inside the capture zone to slow down enemies' capture timer and wait for reinforcements. To reward players for defending capture zones, you will receive extra 10 Exp bonus point for each opponent you eliminate inside a CONTESTED capture zone. Use cover to your advantage, setting up Anti-Personel mines or cover the entrances. Use whatever way to help you defend the capture point.
It is advised to use machine guns or sub-machine guns if you are planning to defend the objectives from inside. These weapons are ideal for close quarter combat. Anti-personnel mines can be placed inside or near the entrances, but can also be placed in the direction where you expect your opponents to come from. However anti-personel mines are rather expensive to maintain. Plus your teamates can trigger it as well, so use them wisely. Also be advised that anti-tank mines will NOT be triggered by players on foot, so do not place them in buildings unless you are planning to trigger them manually by shooting at them as enemies walk by. |
A capture point that is being contested
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Attacking[ | ]
It is important to get to know the layout of the map when attacking. There are many medical/ammo/anti-tank supply crates scattered on the battlefield (they are usually close to capture points). You're also able to equip vehicles with crates. Use them as you can. You can find out if you have any of these items nearby by pressing 'M' button to display your battlefield map. Then press zoom in (default is right mouse button) to see if there's any crates around you.
In short, having map awareness and a capture-oriented load-out allows you to advance along capture lines much more efficiently, hopefully leading to a victory. For more information about maps look here. |
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General strategy for infantryman[ | ]
There are different ways to play this game as infantry. As we know, infantry is the main core of an army and without it it's impossible to win whether you attack or defend.
Condition - Capture: You can help your team by pushing with them or defending the last conquered point. Both actions are equally important because you can't capture the next point if you lose the previous one!
If your teammates are moving forward and you stay behind camping, trying to find someone to kill, "You are not helping your team", "You are not going to get much experience, credits or points to unlock ribbons". Sometimes killing enemy soldiers is a little useful towards victory as it drains the enemy spawn tickets/lives (lives from the assault team). You do not get a lot of experience for killing soldiers (outside of a capture zone) but it does help you leveling up your gun and unlocking new guns.
Situation and Instruction: You spawn at C1 with your teammates and you have C2, C3 and C4 ahead. One guy to capture C2, the others move straight to C3. Half will guard it and the other half will fight their way to C4. This can be changed by planes and tanks, maybe easy or maybe harder.
It's hard to see good team play. If you spot good players or squads, try to work with them.
You spawned at random spawn point and you see the road to the next capture point is blocked by heavy defense. Use any mean of transport to go around that defense to either get to the next capture point from behind or weaken their defense by taking out soldiers and vehicles (tanks, etc.).
Tanks, Mines and Planes[ | ]
How to deal with Tanks[ | ]
What do tanks do?
- Tanks provides very safe protection to crews from gun fire. They often have very powerful cannons, which can be loaded with high-explosive shells, along with machine guns too. They can suppress infantry from distance, defend bridges, access points and eliminate vehicles but also combat enemy armors. However, a tanker's view is extremely limited due to the crew only being able to observe the surrounding environment through its scope and view port. So it is extremely easy to get flanked up close by infantry. That is why it is often advised to cover your teammate's tanks, to avoid enemies from using anti-tank equipment to destroy them.
How do I destroy a tank?
- You need anti-tank weaponry to destroy weapons. There are hand held anti-tank rocket launchers (Panzerfaust 60) scattered across all maps. There are also rocket launchers, anti-tank mines and anti-tank grenades which you can unlock and purchase to use on your soldiers. The hand greanades do NOT deal any damage to tanks and armored vehicles, including Armored Personel Carriers (APC). So if there's an enemy tank in sight and you don't have any anti-tank weaponry at the time, do not waste your time and credits throwing hand grenades at them. Just simply mark its location by aiming at it for few seconds and let your other teamates know and deal with him or try to find anti-tank crates on the map (note: it takes around 3 shots from picked up anti-tank rocket launcher (Panzerfaust 60) to destroy a tank).
Anti-tank mines are best being used for defensive purpose. It only takes one single mine to kill any type of vehicle (from Cars to Heavy Tanks), as long as they drive right over it.
Note: if an Anti-tank mine explodes next to a vehicle instead of below, it only deals about a third of its damage.
- Tanks rear and side armor tend to be weaker than the front armor. Weapons like Anti-Tank rocket launchers and certain Anti-Tank grenades can only penetrate certain milimeters thick armor. So it is always a good idea to approach a tank from the side or rear.
- Each tank has its own weakspots, try to get to know them and shot at their weakspots. It will guarantee a higher chance of penetration and let you destroy enemy armor more efficently.
Tank View Port | Tank Sight |
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How to place Anti-tank Mines[ | ]
It is always a good idea to place some AT mines to prevent enemies from using vehicles to transport troops to the capture points. Especially between Number 3 and Number 4 points, where distances tend to be long. AT mines can be set up at flanking points to prevent enemies from showing up at your side or rear. For example, it is always a good idea to lay down some mines at the water crossing of B line when the enemies are attacking on C line (on the Town map).
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Anti-Tank Mines Being Placed on Bridge
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How to deal with Anti-tank Mines[ | ]
If you're within a 25 m radius to a friendly mine, you will see it marked as such with a red skull (see image). So do not destroy them unless they leave you no other possible way to advance (You can destroy them by shooting them). When you see friendly mines, be careful not to walk/drive over them because they will detonate and kill you. Usually, most people will lay mines in a pattern so that you can navigate around them safely.
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How to deal with anti-personel mines[ | ]
How to deal with Planes[ | ]
Why am I blown to smithereens by planes all the time?
- Planes often have the altitude advantage, so they tend to have a great overview of the battlefield. They can easily pick out the targets to destroy. However, they do have their own limitation too - weather, trees, houses and also very loud engine noises. So, it is not difficult guess a plane's action.
Use Anti-Air Guns on map to counter planes. You may not be able to take down planes all the time but by using AA guns (which can be found near most of the main objectives and some capture points) you can put more pressures on enemy pilots, force them to change there tactics and also make them be more cautious about their strikes. Forcing them to repair can be better than destroying an aircraft as it takes more time before they can get back up in the air.
If an AA gun is destroyed it only takes some minutes before is automatically replaced, so no worries.
- Use trees to cover your advances. Roads are easier for vehicles but good pilots will always spot you on a road
- Get into cover when you hear the plane's engine sound getting closer
- Use flanking manuvour to avoid being seen
A successful career[ | ]
Different Soldiers
The game has a variety of classes, which you can see in the picture below. This section covers the main roles of each class and some player-made variations that are common.
Player level
With the new Player level system you can earn quite a bit of Gold, Credits and Warfunds. For more Information: Player Level
Money Making There are a lot of ways to earn credits in the game but the best class is usually infantry due to their flexible approach to capturing objectives and destroying vehicles. Credits
If you decide to equip scopes on any of your guns keep in mind they are fairly expensive to maintain, so make each shot count Warfunds
You can read more information about ranks and salary here. Infantry[ | ]Infantry is the backbone of any army and is always used in larger quantities than any other class in the game. Infantry has access to a very big variety of weapons and vehicles, so you always have different choices in terms of how you want to make that particular infantry character as you should make many of them for different roles (anti-tank, infantry sniper). You have a lot of possibilities with loadouts as well. Essentially, infantry does pretty much everything from defending objectives to attacking them, though always infantry will win the matches not any other class.
Tank crewman[ | ]Tank crewman's task is to support the infantry's advance, but a tanker's main objective always is to destroy other tanks in the battlefield and then support his team's infantry. As a tank crewman, you should always consider having a wrench with you to repair your tank and a pistol, later, on, to defend yourself from those people who want to destroy your tanks. Try to learn different tanks exports while you are in battles.
Fighter Pilot[ | ]Fighter pilots essentially have the same job as a tank crewman would have. Their main objective is to destroy enemy planes first, then provide air support for the advancing infantry. It is recommended as well to carry a wrench on your pilot. Do not be discouraged by how hard it is to learn to fly at first you really have to give it time.
Your plane has a choice of using High Explosive rounds or the Armour-piercing, composite rigid ammunition. Now, the high explosive rounds are best used for ground targets and supporting infantry, but the armour piercing are more effective against the planes and the tanks on the ground. But, don't worry, you will always have your normal Machine gun on your plane with 1000 rounds to shoot down other planes.
Paratrooper[ | ]Paratroopers are light infantry that jumps from the transport planes to objectives to capture them and then essentially defend and move to the next objectives. Paratroopers have some special equipment depending on what faction you're playing in the game.
Recon[ | ]Recon's job in the game is to try and spot enemies for his team and hold down areas if possible with his sniper rifle and the 8x Unertl scope. As recon, remember to relocate often after killing enemies because they will try to hunt you down.
Tips[ | ]Overall Tips[ | ]
Gameplay Tips[ | ]
Frequently Asked Questions and Other Helpful Information[ | ]For the full list of Frequently Asked Questions and other helpful information, please visit the official Heroes and Generals subforum linked here. Heads-Up Display[ | ]Here is a link to a news post detailing the GUI/HUD |
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