Sandstorm Bible

Overview

Learn the basics and more. Weapons and loadout sections are coming soon! Leave feedback of anything I may have missed and things you would like to see added to this guide! This guide is an ongoing work in progress.

Gameplay Basics

• Weight – Every piece of gear has weight. The more weight you have the slower you move and the quicker you fatigue. There is a limit to how much weight you can carry.

• Fatigue – Fatigue is where your sights are not held steady after sprinting for a period of time.You will definitely feel the effects during a gunfight after sprinting.

• Focus – If you hold shift while aiming down sights you will zoom in and steady. A go to for long range engagements can be utilized on any weapon even rocket launchers and grenade launchers.

• Speed Reload – You can double tap the R key instead of single tapping to perform a speed reload which will result in a quicker reload animation but you will loose your previous magazine.

• Checking Mags – If you hold R an indicator in the bottom right corner of the screen will give you a rough estimate of how many bullets remain in your mag and how many mags you have left.

• Gas Mask – Press B to equip a gas mask if you have one on your loadout. All insurgents get a free gas mask. Having your mask equipped prevents your character from coughing while in smoke (gives away your position) and from being killed by chemical mortars.

Roles

• Rifleman – Has access to basic rifles. No special equipment. Do not pick rifleman please, observer has the same equipment and is far more useful. But if you are new, you might have to for a little while.

• Breacher – A very close quarters focused class. You have access to sub machine guns, shotguns, and some assault rifles as a breacher. The most important piece of equipment is your C4 or your IED (if your’e on Insurgent Side). Your job is to be one of the first to the site using your’e C4 or IED to clear objective areas.

• Advisor – A very versatile class. Has a couple of unique weapons and also has access to suppressors. You can play long range or close range very easily as advisor it is really up to you.

• Demolitions – This is your go to role for explosives you have access to rifles, grenade launchers, and rocket launchers. Excels mid range. A very important role so if your team doesn’t have one consider picking it up.

• Marksman – Marksman is obviously meant for long range. Has access to many 1 shot kill rifles. Your role as a marksman is to take up a position where you can see the objective, key engagement points, or re-spawn wave routes so you can pick off the reinforcements. Don’t be that one guy still sniping while the rest of the team is dead, at least try to get on point when it gets to 0 waves.

• Gunner – In my opinion gunner is the most important role on the team (not including comander/observer). Playing gunner is very similar to playing marksman but you have a little more options to work with. You can play close range, mid range, and long range. Again try to take up a position where you can see the objective, key engagement points, or re-spawn wave routes so you can pick off the reinforcements.

• Observer – Your job as an observer is to stay close to your team’s commander so he can call in fire support. Once the commander calls in a fire support option you will need to stay alive while your character radios it in. Gas mask is a great piece of equipment to pick up because it muffles your voice when you have it on. Don’t forget enemy players can hear you call in fire support! Observers are just as important as commanders when it comes to role selection.If you die before your voice line finishes while radioing, the order will not go through.

• Commander – As a commander it is your job to call in fire support to help your team advance or defend. You need to be close to an observer to call in fire support so stay close to one. Gas mask is a great piece of equipment to pick up because it muffles your voice when you have it on. Don’t forget enemy players can hear you call in fire support! If you die before your voice line finishes while radioing, the order will not go through. Commander is tied with observer for the most important role in the game.

Game Modes

• Push – In this classic game mode from the mod, the attackers must capture 1 point at a time pushing the defenders back as they advance. The defenders must stop the attacking team from advancing. The attackers start off with much fewer waves and not a whole lot of time, but each time they capture an objective they gain an additional 5 waves and a 5 minute time extension.

• Skirmish – In addition to three territorial objectives, each team has a supply cache to protect. Teams gain extra reinforcement waves until their cache is destroyed. When both teams have lost their caches and all reinforcement waves, it becomes a Firefight match.

• Firefight – There are 3 territorial objectives. To win, your team must capture all 3 of these points, or eliminate the entire enemy team. Your team will be reinforced if an objective is captured.

• Frontline – Basically like a tug of war type gamemode where the last objective is a weapons cache.

• Domination – There are three objectives around the map. After about every five seconds teams will be rewarded points according to how many objectives they are currently holding. Each objective is worth 1 point. Respawn immediately after death so this is a very fast paced game mode good for warming up or practicing gunplay.

• CO-OP | Checkpoint – You must capture/destroy each objective to win. Objectives go in alphabetical order. Respawn when a point is taken or destroyed, if all players die you will lose.

• CO-OP | Hardcore Checkpoint – The same as checkpoint but enemy ai difficulty is increased.

• CO-OP | Outpost – Hold your ground against waves of enemies. Gain supply points after each wave. You have to defend one or two objectives depending on the map and area. If a wave is completed all dead teammates will respawn and you can resupply. If all players die then you will lose and have to defend a different area.

• Competitive – In this 5v5 version of firefight you will compete for a rank.

Limited Time Game Modes

• Gang War – Same rules as push except all players have pistols only.

• CO-OP | Frenzy – Same rules as checkpoint except all enemies are zombies and its night time.

• CO-OP | Big Money -Same rules as checkpoint except you start with 0 supply points and will earn them during the match.

Maps

• Crossing – A large open map situated in a canyon. This map features plenty of lines of sight for long range engagements.This map was available to play in Beta 2.

• Farm House – A large map featuring plenty of medium to long range engagements.This map was available to play in Beta 1, and the Pre-Order Beta.

• Hideout – An urban map that provides a wide variety of both long and short range engagements.This map was available to play in Beta 1, and the Pre-Order Beta.

• Precinct – An urban map. This map has hints of two maps from Insurgency:2014. It features the school building from the map District and the street from the map Siege. This map contains many choke points and close quarter engagements.This map was made available upon release.

• Refinery – A tight map set in an oil refinery. As close range as this map seems there are still very many long range angles you will need to pay attention to. This map provides plenty of flanking routes.This map was available to play in Beta 1, and the Pre-Order Beta.

• Summit – A map set in a mountain village. this map features another part of an Insurgency 2014 map. A site on gamemode Push/Insurgents features a re-imagined portion of the map market from the 2014 game.This map was available to play in Beta 2.

• Outskirts – A map set in a urban environment. The map has a range of different engagement areas.There are three distinct areas of the map, each differing thematically. The first theme is the construction site, which has both wide open gameplay in a series of trenches between buildings, and close quarters fighting inside the buildings. The second is a residential compound on a hill overlooking the construction site. Up there you have mid range and close range engagements in a series of well defined lanes. The third takes place around a stream in a valley, where a shanty town surrounds an electrical substation. The layout here is also lane-based, but with some longer lines of sight.This map was available to play since update 1.2.

• Ministry – A remastered version of most popular maps from the original Insurgency 2014. Set mostly indoors, it features more tight, close range CQB-focused (Close Quarters Battle) combat. Ministry stands out from other maps with its indoor room-clearing style gameplay. It has a particular mood that is in one way cozy and beautiful, but at the same time very official as you would expect from a government building. It features extremely close quarters fighting in the interior of a besieged ministry building with narrow corridors, a vast marbled lobby, and a crowded underground parking garage.This map was available to play since update 1.3.

• Hillside – Hillside is a recreation of the classic Insurgency map Sinjar. Sinjar has been around since the original Insurgency: Modern Infantry Combat (2007) and recreated for Insurgency 2014. This map provides a wide variety of both long and short range combat.This map was available to play since update 1.4.

• Powerplant – A fast, action-paced map, designed around CQB (Close Quarters Battle) principles. Unlike other maps, Power Plant has a more green environment. It is an abandoned, overgrown industrial site with a giant dam visible from almost anywhere in the map.This map was available to play since update 1.6.

• Tideway – A fully remastered and re-imagined version of the popular Insurgency 2014 map Buhriz. Slug it out in a desert town just along the riverbank and take the iconic bridge. Buhriz takes place in the outskirts of Baghdad along a major river. Insurgents fortified a small village against a force of attacking Security Forces, who must fight along the river’s edge and along the main road into the village itself. Buhriz is also a real life Iraqi town located 25 miles north of Baghdad. The town is located along the Diyala River. This map was available to play since update 1.7.

• Bab – Fight your way through a village, down snowy hills, over afrozen river, and at the gates of an ancient fortress. This map was available to play since update 1.9.

• Tell – Tell ramps up the intensity of Sandstorm’s signature hardcore combat by squeezing everyone together while still allowing for diverse navigation routes down everything from narrow corridors to lengthy streets. It features tight urban CQB unlike any other level in Sandstorm. It’s tight design creates a challenging uphill battle where every corner counts. The map placed third in the Gamebanana & Razer Insurgency Mapping Contest.It is also a reimagining of an Insurgency 2014 classic map.This map was available to play since udate 1.8.