Introduction
My previous DOD guides were structured very differently but by covering all the individual classes separately there was too much repetition and also now the difference between classes stems mainly from their weapons and their stamina levels and speed which are easy to enough to adjust to.
Learn the map
You first task on installing DOD is to learn the maps. You are probably best off trying them online first and following your team mates for a while to get the main routes and points on the map sorted in your head. Then start a LAN game and work your way round the map looking for anything of interest trying jumps that look possible and finding good covered positions to snipe from or to. Make sure you know all the flag locations and which icon at the top of the screen corresponds to them so if you see a flag is about to be taken you can get there as fast as possible to try and prevent it.
Once you have a good idea of map layout and know all the key locations start playing it online on some decent servers. You'll soon learn the main tactics used for the map and learn which directions to expect the enemy to come from. With some luck you'll even find some of your own that you can use to outwit the enemy.
Practice your reading and writing
Keep an eye on all messages on the screen, with practice you'll be able to track players’ movements by flag captures or by noting who's killed as you often know the rough whereabouts of some team members in the game. Also if you get killed by a player especially an MG or Sniper (both scoped and un-scoped varieties) call out their position to your team when you respawn, don't let any more members of you team get caught unawares.
Also keep a track of enemies that kill you if you are killed near one of your team’s flags and you don't see that they have been killed yet chances are they're still in the vicinity. Never presume an enemy is dead until you see it written on screen, this goes for when you are the one shooting them. Don't fire one shot and expect them to be dead shoot again if you can until it says they are.
Also pay attention to messages within the game especially team messages. Acknowledge orders with the “Yes, Sir!” command or “No, Sir!” if you don't intend to follow them. Try to follow others advice and orders as it makes the game work better when you co-operate. Also let your team know where you are if you're anywhere unusual or if you have an area covered; this should help prevent too many friendly fire incidents and keep your team well spread out and not all concentrated in one place.
German Sniper relocating in building, note the darkness, ideal for surprising enemies
Keep your eyes moving.
You must always keep your eyes open in game for the slightest movement any where on screen. When you do see movement aim but hold your fire until you are sure/pretty sure that it is enemy movement and not a team mate. It only takes a moment to verify the validity of your target before firing and saves a lot of problems later on. You should always pause before firing any way. You should stop, aim then fire.
Be careful not to make too much movement yourself if you are sniping or concealed. If possible look using your eyes not the screen. You can see quite a lot on screen so move your eyes around the screen rather than the cross-hair; this will help eliminate as much movement as possible. Also by crouching rather than going prone looking round and moving makes less movement. You'll probably all have seen people prone gyrating wildly as they crawl or try to look around an object. This will quickly draw fire!
