Tacticool Beginner’s Guide: Tips, Tricks & Strategies to Dominate the Battlegrounds

In a firefight, one can never be too pragmatic. Unless you use airstrikes, smartbombs, drones, C4, cars, or anything just as ridiculous. The opposition may have tricks up their sleeves, but if you think on your feet, you could show them a thing or two that’ll get them to up the ante.

Maybe they have superior firepower, but you might have coordination. There are many things one can do in the fields of war and, sometimes, only those who survive are the paragons of tactical mastery. In short, they’re cool and tactical, or you could also say they’re Tacticool.

Tacticool, developed by Panzerdog, is an isometric shooter that greatly parodies famous shooters like Counter Strike: Global Offensive, Call of Duty, Battlefield, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, PUBG, and more. With a zany and high-octane atmosphere, players are to always expect the unexpected in any and every match.

Not only do bullets fly in Tacticool, but boxes, debris, spare parts, and sometimes even cars do, too. An organized chaotic experience of a game, Tacticool offers several venues for the player to fight smart and win the day, especially if they have friends who they can communicate with. The hill is a steep climb since learning the ins and outs of the game would surely separate the wheat from the chaff.

Have you just picked this game up? Is your trigger finger itching for a pull? Are you longing for the sound of explosions and the horrified screams of your enemy? Do you love the smell of justice and napalm in the morning? Look no further than this beginner’s guide and read on below!

The Shooter Genre and What to Expect

The gaming landscape is no stranger to the shooter genre.

We’ve all heard of popular titles like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Call of Duty, Unreal Tournament, Halo, Doom, and many others. Most shooters are played in the first-person point-of-view, but in some titles, they change perspectives and use the third-person like Warframe. Other shooters favor a different camera angle such as Catalyst Black, but Tacticool prides itself as an “isometric shooter”.

This means that the view of the character will be in the third-person but slightly right above them, giving the player a simulation of what the character can see in their periphery and what’s right in front of them, as opposed to seeing what’s just directly in front of them.

Point-of-view aside, Tacticool is no different from any team shooter. In your team, you’ll all have an objective to fulfill and you each should be thinking on your feet in order to come up with a strategy that will lead you to victory. Though communications may get limited sometimes, thus making the game a bit difficult to play, especially solo.

That said, despite it being a parody of all these shooters, Tacticool shouldn’t be confused with games like Ghost Recon since the latter is a true tactical shooter wherein the mechanics of the game are heavily centered on positioning your squad in various points of the map. In Tacticool, you will be in full control of your character and your character only. Just like a traditional team shooter, Tacticool also comes with a slew of game modes that we will discuss shortly.

As a famous movie about killing oversized bugs once asked: would you like to know more?

Tacticool Tutelage

As soon as you leap into Tacticool’s jaws, you’ll be thrust into a game right away.

Bullets will whizz past you and your friends as you return fire, explosions everywhere, smoke rising in the distance, vehicular manslaughter—it’s chaos, it’s death, it’s destruction! Let this not deter you. In fact, you should become familiar with this kind of chaos. This very chaos should be your element. Embrace it: your wounds will be your tattoos, the smoke will be your fragrance, and soot will be your war paint. Let’s go!

Tacticool has a variety of maps and game modes that will be steadily unlocked as you rise through the ranks. With every victory you score, you will unlock newer modes, maps, and even Operators. These new maps and modes will most certainly broaden your perspective on how to play the game; it should teach you how to think even more quickly and how to best your opponents in moments when you’re put at odds against them. You’ll start with Capture the Bag but you’ll eventually move onto Team Deathmatch and then Control. For the sake of this beginner’s guide, we will only cover those 3 modes.

Capture the Bag is just like the traditional Capture the Flag mode in most shooters, but with a twist to it. In Capture the Flag, you will have to take the enemy’s flag and bring it back to your base. This is not how Capture the Bag is played.

Instead, you must first take the Red Bag from a certain part of the map (usually the center) and sometimes it takes a few seconds for the Red Bag to be “delivered” there. When a player is carrying the Red Bag, they have to be protected by their teammates at all times and their enemies should make it a priority to secure the bag at all costs.

Should the Bag Carrier die, another player may take the bag and protect it. This will go on until the timer runs out. However, if the opposing team took the Red Bag when the match timer has hit 0, they will have to carry the Red Bag until the point counter of their team exceeds that of the opposing team’s point counter. This is called Overtime.

Team Deathmatch is simple. You have two teams, and they have to score the highest amount of points by killing each other’s members. It’s an all-out war. There are also what are called Priority Targets. These are each a member on each team that give double the score when killed. So if you, yourself, are a Priority Target, try not to get yourself killed or you’ll be giving them an extra bump in their score!

Lastly, there is Control. Control is a mode wherein the opposing teams assume each of the two roles: Attack and Defense. The premise of this mode involves the two teams situated in a battlefield with Control Points A and B. The Attacking Team needs to secure one of the Control Points by standing in the circle to capture it whereas the Defending Team needs to keep their Control Points protected at all costs.

The game will be over if the Attacking Team has successfully secured a Point by the end of the timer on the Point itself, or if the Defending Team has successfully kept the attackers off of their points for the duration of the match timer. If the Attacking Team has claimed a Point right before the match timer ends, the match goes into overtime and the Defending Team has to reclaim the Point before the timer on the Point itself runs out.

With the basic game modes covered thus far, let’s now talk about a more generalist approach that you can apply to any situation in the game.

Battlefield Basics

First up, let’s tackle the meat of this game: the fighting. It’s more than just walking up to the range of your opponent and filling them with holes—you will also have to take into account several other things. You will need to understand many things about this game: the maps, your weapons, your Operators, and a few other things. But worry not, we’ll be with you all the way!

1. Familiarize Yourself with the Map

There’s nothing sadder than a soldier lost on the battlefield.

If this is you, you most likely have not been aware of which end of the map is your base and which one is the enemy’s. You probably might’ve not known where the Red Bag drops or where the Priority Target is most open. You’ll stumble through debris, get covered in mud, and maybe even let your teammates down when a crucial moment comes. Don’t let this happen to you.

As discussed earlier, new maps and modes come around each time you rank up or increase your standing. This will greatly challenge your ability as a player since these will all test the way that you think in any heated moment. Each map and mode that presents itself to you as something new will almost always confuse you.

However, this should never be the case for anyone wanting to become good at this game. The best idea is through practice, and we don’t exactly mean doing this through live matches.

There is a practice mode! You can access this by tapping the upper left-hand button (the Menu button that looks like 3 rectangles on top of each other). After tapping that, tap the Offline button. This is where you can practice and play at your own pace. While the bots aren’t as intelligent as actual opponents you encounter, this isn’t what’s important while practicing offline.

In any offline mode, remove all the pressure of winning or losing because there’s nothing at stake. Feel free to move around wherever you please, discover routes, nooks and crannies, places where you think the enemy won’t find you, new paths for you to flank the enemy, and the like. Take as long as you’d like and play as many times as you want—you won’t lose any standing nor gain it here.

After all, knowing your terrain better than the enemy is what can put you at an advantage in any war. You could even be one step ahead of them, especially if you know how to navigate the map. Imagine getting to a point the enemy isn’t aware of—you could get the jump on them and throw the enemy team completely off-guard! Practice often and practice well.

Once you’re comfortable, how about trying to keep your eyes on the prize?

2. Focus on the Objective

Tacticool, in its roots, is a team shooter, but that doesn’t mean you should rely on your teammates to do all the heavy lifting.

Think of all of yourselves as pieces of a machine. All of you have to work otherwise the machine won’t fulfill its purpose. If one of you is out of place, then the machine won’t operate properly or at all. It’s important to be aware of fulfilling the match objective at all times.

Take for instance, Capture the Bag. As we’ve covered it above, do not try to dive headlong into enemy lines to persistently try to get the bag; employ subterfuge or some slight espionage. Try to skirt the sides of the map to reach the enemy base or try to anticipate where the enemy Bag Carrier would go. Catch the enemy by surprise utilizing Explosives like RPGs or C4, or special Grenades such as Smoke Grenades. It’s all about luring the enemy into a false sense of security and then striking them when the cracks in their formation show.

Another example we can give is during Control mode. Using the cramped areas of the Control Points may call for Grenades, Explosives, and the occasional Coyota (a truck with a machine gun mounted on its back). If you wish to secure a Control Point, regardless whether you are attacking or defending, try keeping the Control Point a hellish place for your enemy to take back or conquer. Keeping your eyes on the objective isn’t just about sheer determination, it’s all about tactical thinking, too.

That said, a reckless soldier is always a dead one. Read on!

3. Do Not Rush Into a Fight

You jump into a match and the rush of adrenaline pumps through your veins.

You run in with your teammates, but you get mowed down by enemy gunfire! You try this again as soon as you respawn, but the results are the same. This isn’t trench warfare, dear viewer, this is (technically) a tactical shooter. You shouldn’t just fly straight into the enemy’s sights and paint a huge target on your back, unless this is your intention, you should always consider the enemy’s formation and strategy as much as you can see it.

Observe how they move, what their team is composed of, if they’re employing Explosives or heavy gunfire—then that’s the moment you make your move. You decide on how to break through the enemy’s plans. For instance, if there’s a sniper on the enemy team (and you’ve learned this from dying to one), try greeting them with some Smoke Grenades if you have them. Otherwise, try to move away from where you encountered the sniper. There’s also the means of employing vehicles, but we’ll get to that later.

Getting shot down will essentially slow your team’s progress down. This is the biggest hurdle of any match since the game is team-based by nature. A whittled-down team would have great difficulty in trying to secure an objective and thus, it’s wise to at least keep yourself alive for the sake of your own teammates. If you’re communicating with them, then let them know what your plans are. Again, this is a topic for later, so we’ll get to that.

One other way you can start an attack on the enemy is through the element of surprise. Explosions will always do the trick!

4. Initiate Attacks with a Bang

In any attack, you can always mow your enemies down, guns blazing, in the hopes of actually cutting their numbers down by the tens… or you can catch them by surprise with some pragmatism!

As soon as you have your friends with you and you see the enemy approaching, throw in a Grenade! We recommend a Frag Grenade over the Impact Grenade since its explosion is much bigger, but if you favor the Impact Grenade due to its damage, go for this. The reason why you should lob a Grenade forward before engaging the enemy, is to either:

1. Deter the enemy’s advance or;
2. Blow up the sucker unlucky enough to not see the Grenade in their way!

Of course, this means that you shouldn’t advance with the Grenade. You should back away from your Grenade as soon as you chuck it, so you don’t become a victim of your own dirty trick. There’s more to just using Grenades, however, there are also a few other tricks you can employ!

Take for instance, the C4—it’s discreet, it’s quiet, it’s absolutely bombastic. C4 is an explosive that can be remotely detonated. If you’re using an Operator like Boris, C4s can be easily set up via a simple toss apart from other Operators who have to manually ready the bomb. That aside, plant C4s in places the enemy won’t expect.

For instance, if you’re trying to protect a friendly Bag Carrier, situate the C4 in a narrow passage that leads to the Bag Carrier in the hopes that the enemy takes this route. If you do happen to see them there, press the button and greet them a “happy birthday”.

There are also the Landmines. The Laymore Mines are slightly different since they require to be set up on a surface (not to mention, they’re quite expensive to purchase), so let’s go with the humble Landmine. These are tricky little things that could annoy the enemy if they don’t watch where they’re going.

Unlike the C4, Landmines are triggered by having another player actively step on them or have a vehicle run them over (thankfully allies don’t trigger this, though allies driving vehicles will). Hide them in tall grass, places hard to see, narrow passageways, and the like, and you’ll more or less make traveling a living hell for your enemy! If you have an Operator like Travis who can throw mines instead of manually putting them down, you might be able to set up a small defense perimeter while your allies fight at the front lines.

Firefights in general can get hectic, but there are still ways you can survive in one.

5. Find Cover or Vantage Points while in a Firefight

Let’s situate you once again at the very moment you engage the enemy.

As soon as they all come into view, don’t just stand still and become a sitting duck; you’d best be off to find yourself a nice place to hide. But this isn’t exactly to just keep yourself safe the whole duration of the firefight, it’s called taking cover and it’s what’s going to save you a lot of headaches.

Once you’re behind cover, there are a couple of things you can do here:

1. Assess the situation;
2. Pop out and shoot at an enemy shooting at your friend;
3. Lob a Grenade from an unexpected angle;
4. Plant a C4, a Landmine, or a Laymore Mine where you’re hiding, or;
5. All of the above, if you have a Grenade and/or any of the Explosives we cited in this example!

Being behind cover offers you a guise of curiosity that lures the enemy forward or at least off-position. In other words, they’ll be curious to know what you’re planning, and if they move exactly the way you expect them to, especially trying to shoot at you from behind cover, you should be able to have the jump on them if you’re crouching.

You’ll need to crouch to properly execute this since crouching increases your accuracy and slightly lowers your likelihood of being hit. Just be warned that the moment you see an enemy lob a Grenade in your direction, get out of there!

With regards to keeping an explosive device from behind the spot you took cover in, this will take some getting used to since most Explosives are difficult to set up (unless you’re using the likes of Boris or Travis). Naturally, you should be away from the blast radius if you want your explosion to happen, but this is also entirely up to the enemy. Taking cover is a defensive strategy that employs subterfuge as well as trickery.

In a way, this may also help you if you favor the Sniper Rifle weapon class. Staying at a raised area or a vantage point will allow you to provide cover fire for your allies. This means that if you shoot your enemies from on high, they won’t immediately assess where the bullets are coming from unless they actively look around for you. Most maps have raised platforms where snipe-happy players may stay.

Of course, you may have to peek out of the vantage point if the wall of cover you’re directly behind is completely solid, thus slightly lowering your accuracy. But hey, if you cripple the enemy early, your friends might be able to get a few of their own shots in.

There’s an elephant in the map we haven’t addressed yet. But this is where things get really dangerous.

6. Take Advantage of Vehicles

In almost any map of the game, you’ll easily notice that Tacticool offers an interesting game-changer: vehicles.

Cars, trucks with machine guns—the presence of these vehicles spice up any match. When one is behind the wheel, they immediately become unpredictable in the sense that they can pop out of any side of the map in an instant. In addition, those inside a vehicle are somehow armored from regular gunfire, thus this is kind of like a mobile shield that the player can kill others with. Vehicles can also be used to blockade certain areas with.

For instance, if you’re playing Control Mode and you would like to seal off a chokepoint, try parking a car in the mouth of said chokepoint and blow it up right then and there. The enemy will be forced to take another route to claim the Control Point that you’ve guarded with the broken vehicle. Though, this shouldn’t be done to one of the Coyotas since those come with high-caliber machine guns that you can mount to deter anyone brave enough to capture the Control Point.

We’ll talk more about how you can use vehicles in-depth, but for now, let’s talk about some more underhanded tactics.

7. Sabotage the Enemy

Remember what we mentioned about pragmatism earlier? Let’s stretch this further into full-blown sabotage.

March right into the enemy base and plant a few mines for some people to step on, plant Explosives right where the objectives are at, smoke the enemy out so they can’t shoot you—these are ways you can control the enemy into doing what you want them to. Here are a few situations that are likely to happen and how you can counter them:

1. Enemy driving a car—counter this by throwing an explosive at the enemy’s vehicle. This should destroy their vehicle and/or kill them completely.
   
2. Enemy sniper—smoke bombs or RPG. You will have to actively find the sniper first, though. Be careful; some sniper players can be rather smart and will relocate if they are onto you. You may also get in a car and try running them over if they happen to be out in the open and not on a vantage point.
   
3. Enemy drones flying about—this is rather dangerous since the only Operator who can do this, Diana, is usually well-hidden within enemy lines. If you can find the player using Diana, kill them off swiftly. RPGs or Melee Attacks are preferred since Diana is stationary while she deploys her drones.
   
4. Enemies hogging Control Point—consider countering this with Frag Grenades or RPGs. If anything, and as we’ve mentioned earlier, try planting mines or C4 nearby.
   
5. Enemies pursuing you after you’ve picked up the bag—resort to covering your tracks with a smoke Grenade. That should stop them from firing and give you a small window to recover your health.

At the end of the day, a battle in Tacticool is a give-and-take sort of situation. Sooner or later, it’s the enemy that will be on the defensive.

8. Flank the Enemy’s Defense

We can’t stress this enough: this isn’t trench warfare.

When the enemy falls back, you should always take this as a cue that either something’s up or they’re busy protecting something. It’s dangerous when the map gets quiet, so in moments like these, avoid attacking the enemy directly. Instead, try to scout them from the sides of the map and see what’s up.

This is what can usually happen during a Capture the Bag match. The Bag Carrier will most certainly be protected by their allies and to get through such a solid defense means to dive deep into enemy lines.

You may try isolating the enemy target by smoking the area from an angle they don’t expect and take them on solo, or if you still have a vehicle remaining in your base, try to drive at them. The problem with using a vehicle, however, is that it paints a huge target on your back, so do this sparingly.

If you’re a sniper yourself, try to get within range of the enemy and take them out discreetly for your friends. If this is a Capture the Bag match, however, expect that the enemy Bag Carrier’s allies will immediately search for the bag (or you), so prepare to retreat if things get too hairy.

If all else fails and you can’t seem to get through the enemy’s defenses, try throwing some Tacticons at your friends… Wait, Tacticons? What are those, you ask? Well, let’s talk about those next!

9. Communicate with Teammates

The most powerful weapon in the game isn’t the biggest gun; it’s actually communication.

But how do you communicate in a game like this, you ask? You have two options: voice chat and through Tacticons. Setting up your Tacticons can be done in the Operator menu under the Emotions tab. We suggest keeping certain Tacticons present in your loadout (e.g. the shield, the letters A and B, the car, etc.) since most battles have randomized modes.

When it comes to communicating through voice chat, you will first need to enable it in the Settings under the Audio menu. Once it’s enabled, you’ll now be able to speak to your teammates; however this will only work if they themselves have the voice chat turned on as well.

Try not to draw the ire of your teammates and let them know important things like if there is an enemy sniper running about or if a certain part of the map has been rigged with Explosives. Be clear and concise that your teammates will know what you see at your location. You may also use this opportunity to get some of them to ride in a vehicle you’ll be driving.

Practice makes perfect, as they say, and Tacticool’s no exception. Learning from your mistakes is the best way to become a great player.

10. Learn from Your Mistakes

Being a very skill-based game, Tacticool has no fixed formula for one to become really good at it.

After each death, try to assess what had just happened and how you can prevent it the next time. Not only will you keep mental notes, but you’ll also grow as a player. You might even discover certain things you keep doing that would put yourself in danger. Therefore, you, yourself, are your own worst enemy in this game!

Every death, every time you’ve had your sabotage attempts botched, each time you’ve failed to cover your friends, these are all your fault. Never mind your allies who constantly put themselves in danger and give the enemy more points, some of these are actually your fault. If you become aware of this, surely you’d curb these from going too far.

It’s completely up to you if you want to improve your skill and it begins by understanding that you will make mistakes. You can, however, prevent them from happening again. You can ask yourself if you’ve been too aggressive in the last match or if a certain player got under your skin; there’s no need to take this so seriously. As one loading tip puts it succinctly: “Relax! It’s just a game.”

Congratulations, dear reader, you’ve made it past the general part of this guide. Let’s now get even more specific!

Car Fu and How to Master It

Vehicles will never not be a part of Tacticool. They’re dangerous, fun, exciting, and heavy hunks of metal that you can bludgeon your foes with. It’s like punching them at high speed but you’re riding your own fist! This part of the guide will teach you how you can master the way of Car Fu and send your enemies flying.

(NOTE: Car Fu is not an official term. We’re using this term for the purposes of humor only.)

1. Be One with the Vehicle

Breathe in, breathe out. Internalize your woes and put your hands on the steering wheel. Both hands. Yes. Feel the vehicle’s humming flowing through your body…

At least, that’s how we envision Car Fu to actually be like. All cars have very simplistic controls in-game. For instance, dragging the left side of the screen up and down would be to increase/decrease speed while dragging the right side of the screen left and right would be to steer the vehicle. Sounds simple on paper, doesn’t it? Well, let’s just say that sometimes the enemy can get crafty and will find ways to dodge your attempts at running them over.

A few tips we can give you here is to slow down while making a turn. This will help you steer the vehicle more accurately. Don’t drive at full speed and then turn; you’d be better off hitting a wall than anything at all. If you’re looking to actually hit something, try hitting loose objects like boxes before trying to run your enemies over to minimize control loss. Running stone barricades over and the like has the chance of permanently totaling your vehicle, so be very careful.

Just like practicing with everything else offline, you can get comfy by attempting to drive vehicles in maps of your choice by playing in the Offline option as discussed earlier. You can get familiar with routes that the vehicle can pass and places where you can maneuver through in order to make an escape. This is also a necessity because you wouldn’t know when your enemies are going to start using Explosives to plot your demise.

There certainly is a way for you to make your driving much smoother, though.

2. Adjust the Sensitivity Settings

Expert drivers will hate you for this 1 trick!

We’re kidding. We’re pretty sure that they’ve done this as well. What you need to do is to go to the Settings menu and adjust the sensitivity of your controls under the Controls Settings tab. Sure, this will make your Operator be more alert and the swift movement may be a bit disorienting, but we promise that this will make your game a more exciting experience.

We recommend at least putting the Sensitivity similar or at the value of the slider of the screenshot above. If you aren’t sure of what this does is that it changes the speed at which your Operator or your car turns. Lower sensitivity will cause your camera movements to be more accurate but painfully slow, whereas high sensitivity will make the camera movements really quick but highly inaccurate. Adjust this to a comfortable level, but the above screenshot is something that can be easily worked with.

Once you’ve had this adjusted, you’ll be able to control your car with more grace and finesse. Your turns will be slightly more accurate, and you’ll be able to catch your opponents off-guard more often with a face full of hood and engine. This will take some time to get used to if you’re already comfortable with the game’s vanilla sensitivity settings, so try this out in an Offline match first.

Now that we’ve, hopefully, opened up your third eye for Car Fu, there is such a thing as self-control.

3. Slow Down in Friendly Territory

You know what they say when you’re behind the wheel: you’re responsible for the safety of others… except for those you want dead!

Let’s keep this bullet very brief: whenever you’re driving around your own base, don’t drive so fast; drive slow enough that you won’t have to worry about running your own teammates over. Additionally, if there are any teammates who’d want to ride with you, they’ll be running up to your car. Always consider this a possibility especially if you’re driving one of the Coyotas.

That said, when you’re in enemy territory, floor it! But don’t forget to keep your wits about you.

4. Leave When Surrounded

You’re deep in enemy territory after running over a few of their members! Nice! But now, it’s raining bullets. What should you do?

Never stay put in the enemy’s territory while you’re in your car. Your car is protective, sure, but it won’t save you for when they start shooting directly at you. To make matters worse, every vehicle isn’t as agile as your Operator is on foot. You’ll also most likely run over some debris that will drastically slow your car down. In short, staying still while in your car as you’ve plunged yourself into enemy territory is a death sentence. Get out while you still can!

Immediately turn your vehicle around by moving the camera in the direction of where you came from, and floor it! Just be sure to weave through the mess you made on the way in. The possibility of getting your car totaled will significantly decrease if you escape sooner. Though, you may also use your vehicle as a temporary shield to escape enemy fire by getting out of it in the middle of a gunfight and using it as cover.

As you can see, vehicles are quite an integral part in winning a match. You may also try sabotaging them!

5. Sabotage Vehicles

Wait, wait, sabotage vehicles? But they’re just as important as the objective, aren’t they?

Like a tool, vehicles will serve their purpose one way or another. One purpose you can give certain vehicles is to deceive the enemy. Try planting a C4 at the back of any vehicle and drive it at the enemy at full speed then leap out of it just before it collides with them. If they think they’re safe from the oncoming hunk of metal, blow it up and watch them seethe.

This is, of course, assuming that you’re fine yourself and not in any imminent danger. Just remember that planting the C4 in the back of the car is the most important step; the enemy can fire at the car and shoot the C4, causing your sabotage to end prematurely.

One other thing you can do to sabotage vehicles is by discreetly making it to the enemy base and planting your C4 directly onto their vehicle. This is provided that they aren’t driving it already. Though, if you’re using an Operator like Boris, this shouldn’t be a problem.

While using Boris and if the C4’s landed on the enemy vehicle, don’t worry about getting killed—it should explode after you’ve died, making your sabotage a success. An enemy without a vehicle of their own will be less mobile and much less dangerous. Try doing this!

That’s a wrap for anything vehicle-related. Let’s now address the main stars of Tacticool.

Operator Overview

Much like Call of Duty or some games like Overwatch, Tacticool has a colorful roster of player characters, called Operators, that you can collect and control. Each of them plays uniquely from one another, so it’s safe to say that there’s an Operator for everyone out there.

That aside, let’s dive right into the nuances of Operators!

1. Try Out Operators You Haven’t Unlocked Yet

While you’d start out with the Rookie and possibly a few other common Operators that you’ll unlock along the way, it’s not wrong to aspire for other Operators.

What you can do while checking your Operator loadouts is to test out the Operators you don’t have yet. This will give you an idea of their capabilities as well as what their play style is like. It’ll also make you want a new character other than the ones you already have. Trying out all these different Operators is completely for free. Though, this serves yet another purpose.

Trying out different Operators will open you up to how they can run a match. For instance, it’ll help you understand how to counter them or what to expect when you find them on the enemy team. To further explain, Zloy is one mysterious character that some players have. What he does is he can produce toxic gas clouds as well as be immune to them. This is dangerous in a capable player’s hands, so his weakness could be a well-thrown explosive or Car Fu.

An Operator, though, is just a person without their proper gear, so let’s take a closer look at what you can give them.

2. Know Your Weapon Types

What’s Tacticool without its weapons? More importantly, what are Operators without their guns?

The weapons are what make the game so interesting. There are only a few types and yet, they are what can change a match in an instant. We’ll get to talking about Operators and weapon combinations in a moment, but first, let’s give a brief overview on what to expect when using any of the weapons available in Tacticool:

• Assault Rifles — These are the go-to gun for anyone unsure of a specialty. They’re fast, they hit hard, they’ve got decent range, and they provide decent movement. Assault Rifles are a safe choice when choosing any Operator.

• SMGs — The Submachine Gun or SMG is like the younger sibling of the Assault Rifle. While it doesn’t hit as hard or have a range as good as the latter, it offers tons of mobility for the wielder. This makes a good weapon for players who like to scout the map.

• Sniper Rifles — Slow, deadly, and thunderously powerful, Sniper Rifles are a force to be reckoned with. While they won’t do so much up close, they’re extremely dangerous at great distances. These are for players who enjoy getting the upper hand early over their opponents.

• Machine Guns — The elder sibling of both the Assault Rifle and the SMG, the Machine Gun weapon class is for players who prefer to fight at the front lines. With a frightening rate of fire and high damage to boot, these monstrous weapons are extremely dangerous in capable hands. They often have a slow reload speed like Sniper Rifles, however.

• Shotguns — A counterpart to the Sniper Rifle, Shotguns work best in close quarters. You won’t have to aim so much, but they hit extremely hard if fired almost at melee range. Shotguns are best used with Operators who can run swiftly or even take a few bullets before dying.

• Grenades — These vary in function, but they’re usually small bombs that explode after a delay (except for Impact Grenades which detonate as soon as they hit something). As we’ve mentioned earlier about starting your attack with a bang, try arming yourself with your favorite Grenades.

• Explosives — Explosives are not Grenades. In fact, the explosions of these are much bigger in scale and can easily kill the most armored Operator in the battlefield. These often require some manual setup, so plan ahead if you want to use them!

• Heavy Weapons — These weapons are almost a niche since they each have different purposes in general. For instance, the RPG is difficult but powerful when used correctly. It has a long delay before firing, but the projectile’s distance and explosive power is excellent. There is also the shield which some Operators can carry with them whilst wielding their secondary weapon. Otherwise, Heavy Weapons are used to fulfill certain situations that you may or may not have prepared for.

Once you’ve decided on what you want your Operator to carry with them, it’s time to put them all together just like a deadly Lego kit.

3. Assemble a Build to Complement Your Favorite Operators

Each Operator has their own strengths and weaknesses.

Let’s go over the Rookie, for example. They’ve more health than most Operators and this is a pretty big strength, however, they come with an equally large weakness; that being that they have no skills at all. They’re basically raw power walking on two legs. Though, this can still be complemented with proper gear.

Okay, maybe the Rookie wasn’t that great of an example since they are technically a jack-of-all-trades. That said, each Operator will shine if you happen to give them a set of weapons that they will be able to wield with finesse. Let’s give a better example this time: Victor, an uncommon-tier Operator.

Victor takes less damage while he’s standing still and moves more quickly while he reloads. Consider giving him a heavy weapon such as a member of the Machine Gun class. If the Operator’s rarity is higher, they’ll have more skills to match weapons with. Though, some Operators do have very practical skills albeit being in the lower tiers such as Thor.

While it would seem that the tier system deters the growth of Operators, the developers of Tacticool had made it so that you can empower any Operator regardless of rarity tier. In fact, rarity tier only denotes their starting power and not their maximum potential—all Operators can reach the same levels of strength.

Below is a list of some Operators and suggested weapons you pair them with:

• Operator: Mishka

Faction: Outlaw

Rarity: Common

Suggested Weapon: Sniper Rifle

Notes: While crouching, Mishka’s fire rate is increased by 25%. Giving him a Sniper Rifle will allow him to off targets quickly and efficiently.

• Operator: Hawk

Faction: Guerilla

Rarity: Common

Suggested Weapon: Assault Rifle or Machine Gun

Notes: Like Mishka, Hawk’s forte lies in his fire rate. However, his accuracy is slightly decreased. If you’re looking for someone who can spray n’ pray, give Hawk a high-caliber, full-auto weapon.

• Operator: Jason

Faction: Military

Rarity: Common

Suggested Weapon: Machine Gun or Sniper Rifle

Notes: Jason’s got a knack for reloading weapons very quickly. Be it within the cover of shadows or at the front lines, he can be quite a formidable Operator. Give him something that takes forever to reload like a Machine Gun or a Sniper Rifle. His skills allow him to instantly reload his weapon upon tapping the dodge button, but be sure to score yourself kills with these since they refresh his dodge immediately.

• Operator: Thor

Faction: Military

Rarity: Common

Suggested Weapon: Sniper Rifle

Notes: If it weren’t for his puny health pool and minimalistic skills, we could say that Thor is Tacticool’s perfect sniper. As simple as his skills are, he gets a frightening bonus to his vision and fire range (a whopping 15%), and he provides support to his team by revealing the location of some enemies after shooting them.

• Operator: Klaus

Faction: Special Ops

Rarity: Uncommon

Suggested Weapon: Shotgun or SMG

Notes: A mysterious masked marauder, Klaus favors sudden strikes and underhanded tactics. Granted that he gains an increase in movement speed while near the enemy and an increase in his melee damage, give him weapons that allow him to move quickly and strike fast. Apart from the default Machete melee weapon, give him a Shotgun or an SMG wherein he can easily close the gap between himself and his target.

• Operator: Shi

Faction: Guerilla

Rarity: Uncommon

Suggested Weapon: Machine Gun

Notes: This should be a no-brainer. Shi’s specialty is that he reduces Machine Gun spinup time by 50%, allowing him to open fire more quickly than other Machine Gun users.

• Operator: Spencer

Faction: Military

Rarity: Uncommon

Suggested Weapon: Assault Rifle, Sniper Rifle, or SMG

Notes: Spencer is a traditional scout-type character. Granted that he gains an increase in movement speed when there are no enemies around (a counterpart to Klaus), this will allow him to get around the map more easily or pick off fleeing enemies. He may also be used to perform sabotage behind the enemy lines if equipped with a weapon that will allow him to run faster such as the SMG. He also has an increase in accuracy, so giving him an Assault Rifle should allow him more shots in compared to other Operators.

We didn’t even touch upon secondary weapons and Grenades or Explosives, so we’ll leave this up to you. Your creativity may be able to make your favorite Operators shine, so start experimenting!

Did you also notice that you have 3 Operator slots? There’s a purpose to this.

4. Be Adventurous, Diversify Your Loadout

Improvise, adapt, overcome—no words are truer in a match of Tacticool.

When you first jump into the game, you should notice that you’re given 3 Operator slots. These aren’t spare characters for you to pick when you want to main them; they’re actually a means for you to turn a match around. If you aren’t unsure of how to use them, then let’s give you a hint.

The 3 Operator slots should match 3 different playstyles, each of which should at least benefit the match in some way. For example, one Operator will be in charge of bolstering the front lines with superior firepower, one Operator can be a sniper, and the last Operator can be a scout. It’s this simple.

In our case, our sample Operator Loadout is as follows:

• Victor is an overall offense or defense Operator. He is used when lots of fighting is needed. He excels in all modes but mostly Team Deathmatch and Control. In Team Deathmatch, he can easily mow targets down with his Machine Gun and in Control, he can hold a point long enough from advancing enemies if they aren’t very well-equipped.

• Klaus is used with pragmatism. Armed with Smoke Grenades and an SMG with a bayonet, he closes in on unsuspecting enemies and takes them out quietly. This Operator excels in Capture the Bag and Control. Given his swift movement speed, Klaus can tackle the enemy Bag Carrier and take the bag back with him easily.
  
  To cover his tracks, his Smoke Grenade will keep the enemy from shooting at his back. In Control, his Smoke Grenade comes in handy yet again, stopping all enemy fire on the Control Point that he’s on if there are any reinforcements on the way.

• Spencer is a scout that is armed with a C4. He arrives at a point of sabotage, plants the C4, leaves, and waits for anyone clueless enough to take the bait. Spencer excels in Capture the Bag and Control, but may also contribute his explosions to Team Deathmatch.
  
  Planting the C4 on vehicles is one step to keeping the enemy on their toes. If they don’t spy the C4, they’ll be in for a nasty surprise. This is especially dangerous in Control since Spencer will be able to hide the C4 anywhere, including a Control Point itself.

Using all 3 Operators will allow the player to get through almost any situation in a match. While we did mention which particular modes they excel in, this doesn’t mean we use them solely for these modes—it all depends on the current situation of the match.

Much like many shooters available on mobile today, Tacticool’s Operators can also be upgraded through the use of silver. There is a way, however, to gain more than usual.

5. Watch Ads for Extra Silver

And that’s through advertisements!

Now, before you put this guide down entirely, trust us when we say that ads are a good thing. It’s a win-win for both player and developer: the developer gets passive revenue for their game and the player gets rewarded with free swag. In other words, watching ads in-game is a neat way to support the developers without having to spend anything!

That said, each time there is an opportunity to watch ads, give it a go. You’ll be getting more rewards than possible, especially silver which can be hard to come by as you rise through the ranks. More silver means more levels given to your Operators, and that’s a big bonus.

Conversely, watching ads may also help you unlock more boxes which, in turn, might also contain weapon parts and Operator fragments which are needed alongside the silver. Without these, upgrades for your gear and Operators cannot happen.

There are still many more ways you can get better at Tacticool, but if anything helps, it’s that you should always be observant with everything you do in a match. More importantly, try to remember what you’ve learned in this guide so far:

• Make sure you know the terrain of the map more than your enemy. This will always put you at an advantage if you know the map’s secrets. Practice Offline!
• Eyes on the prize at all times. If you lose sight of the objective, you’re one step closer to losing the match.
• Don’t charge into a fight blindly. Assess the situation as much as you can before making your move so as not to jeopardize yourself and/or your teammates.
• Grenades and Explosives are your friends! Use them to great effect, especially when starting a fight. If your enemies are unprepared, they won’t know what hit them!
• Cover or vantage points will put you at an advantage. Find them anywhere during a match. Cover is used for firefights, and vantage points can be used for surveying the area or if you’re a sniper.
• Vehicles can be used in more ways than one, other than being used as transportation.
• Be pragmatic. Sabotage the enemy at every turn you can and foil their plans so they get disoriented.
• Can’t get past the enemy’s defense? Try flanking it from the very sides of the map.
• Communicate with your teammates as much as you can. If you can’t use voice chat, try using your Tacticons. Otherwise, actions speak louder than words!
• Learn from your mistakes each time you commit them. Learning from more of them makes you a better player every time a new match is started!
• Embrace the car and learn how to drive it. You can do this Offline, too.
• Go to the Settings menu and up the Sensitivity of your controls to make the vehicles more agile.
• When around friendlies, drive your vehicle slowly.
• Stuck with your vehicle in enemy territory? Try to drive out of there before it’s too late!
• Plant C4s on your vehicles if you plan to blow the enemy up. It’s hard to expect this!
• Unfamiliar with some Operators? Try them out and study them!
• Understand how each of the different weapons work. That way, you’ll choose favorites for every occasion.
• Operators have unique skills and abilities. Try mixing and matching them with clever weapon loadouts to bring out the best in them!
• Never settle for just 1 Operator. You have 3 slots; use them!
• Ads are good for you. Watch them for extra silver and more rewards.

This wraps up our beginner’s guide for the frantic shooter Tacticool. Pick out your favorite Operators, arm them with your favorite weapons, and get yourself out to the battlefield. Let’s go!

Did we miss anything important in this guide? Are you a seasoned veteran that’s seen many battles? Do you know a better way of driving the vehicles in this game? Leave your suggestions and thoughts in the comment section below this article!