Kit Role Selection

Players in Squad must select a role before they can spawn in. The role determines what equipment your soldier has as their loadout; ranging from your choice of rifle, handgun, grenades, and special items. The role you select largely influences what you will do on the battlefield; from reviving and healing other players as Medic, providing suppressing fire as Automatic Rifleman / Machine Gunner, or to destroying enemy vehicles as Light Anti-Tank / Heavy Anti-Tank.

The available roles depend on the faction. For instance, the Raider is only available to the Insurgents and an extra Marksman is available to the British Army. Many of the roles have multiple kits to choose from, meaning you can change your equipment load out (if available) within the same role. Roles are restricted based on various factors; see the Role Restrictions section for more information.

Changing Roles and Kits
At the beginning of each match and after a player dies they can choose which role they wish to spawn in as. Within the Deployment Menu (default ENTER) players can see more details of each role in the Role Loadout tab or a more condensed view in the Deploy tab. Players can also change their role in-game at an Ammo Crate or at a vehicle, although restrictions do apply. Note that when you switch roles outside the deployment menu, players must pay the full cost of the loadout in ammunition points, and if players switch loadouts in the Deployment Menu, they will spawn in with the minimum allocated ammunition. The only exception to this is if players use an Ammo Crate, spawn at the main base, or it's the first time the player spawns during the match. Players must be careful to not select a new loadout outside of main as this can cost the team a lot in ammunition points.

A select number of roles also have different kit loadouts to choose from, which alter the role's playstyle with different choices of rifles, optics, or special weaponry. Squad Leaders, Medics, and Riflemen have a choice of kits with different optics for their primary weapon, while Light Anti-Tank and Heavy Anti-Tank kits often have different anti-tank weaponry to choose from.

Types of Roles


Roles are broken into four different role types; Command and Support, Direct Combat, Fire Support, and Specialist. Below you will find information on each role:

Role Restrictions
The majority of roles in Squad are restricted in some way. There is a role limitation system which, in short, means the roles available to choose from depend on different parameters, such as the size of the squad and how many of the roles have been claimed by other players on the team. This post discusses these limitations and the reasons for. There are four basic types of limitations: Squad-Size Limitations, Role-Number Limitations, Role-Type Limitations, and Team-Wide limitations.


 * Squad-Size Limitations: The most fundamental limitation is the size of your squad.  As the number of players in a squad increases more roles become available, and vice-versa.  In other words, roles require a certain squad size.  Many roles, such as the Rifleman, have certain kits that are unlocked based on the squad-size as well.  See the Squad-Size Restrictions section below for more information.
 * Role-Number Limitations: Many roles are limited to a certain number per squad.  For instance, Medics are limited to two per squad.  Each role has a number indicating how many are available and how many are claimed. So "1/2" means one of the two available slots for this role has been claimed.  Some roles, such as the 1st rifleman kit with iron-sights, are unlimited.
 * Role-Type Limitations: Roles in the Fire Support role type are limited to three per squad.  This means that no more than three roles under the Fire Support role type can be claimed by a single squad.  For example, a squad can have 1x Grenadier, 1x Light Anti-Tank, and 1x Marksman; or, the squad can have 1x Grenadier and 2x Light Anti-Tank.
 * Team-Wide Limitations: This limitation restricts certain roles to a maximum number per team.  For instance the Sniper, Machine Gunner, Heavy Anti-Tank, Combat Engineer, and Sapper, are restricted to two total per team.  In addition, some roles are only available (unlocked) when a team reaches a certain number of players.  For instance, the first Heavy Anti-Tank is unlocked when a team reaches 15 players, and the second is unlocked when a team reaches 20 players.  See the Team-Wide Restrictions section below for more information.

If role restrictions have changed and made a role or kit no longer available that was previously claimed, a player can continue to use the role or kit until they change to another role or kit. In other words, if role limitations remove a role, this won't snatch it away from you at the same instance. This is to prevent other players from intentionally claiming roles by leaving and re-entering squads.

Squad-Size Restrictions
The following faction-based tables show when a role is unlocked based on the squad size. As the squad size increases, additional roles and kits are unlocked and available for the squad members to choose from.

Team-Wide Restrictions
The following is a list of the roles that are restricted to a maximum number per team. These restrictions are applicable across all factions. In addition, these roles are unlocked when the team reaches a minimum number of players.

Direct Combat Roles

 * Automatic Rifleman (primary): Max 4 per team.  Unlock 1st at 3 players, 2nd at 9 players, 3rd at 15 players, 4th at 21 players.
 * Marksman GB: Max 4 per team. Unlock 1st at 5 players, 2nd at 15 players, 3rd at 25 players, 4th at 35 players.

Fire Support Roles

 * Automatic Rifleman (secondary): Max 4 per team.  Unlock 1st at 6 players, 2nd at 12 players, 3rd at 18 players, 4th at 24 players.
 * Grenadier: Max 4 per team. Unlock 1st at 5 players, 2nd at 15 players, 3rd at 25 players, 4th at 35 players.
 * Light Anti-Tank (primary): Max 4 primary kits per team.  Unlock 1st at 3 players, 2nd at 9 players, 3rd at 15 players, 4th at 21 players.
 * Light Anti-Tank (secondary): Max 4 secondary kits per team.  Unlock 1st at 6 players, 2nd at 12 players, 3rd at 18 players, 4th at 24 players.
 * Marksman: Max 4 per team.  Unlock 1st at 10 players, 2nd at 20 players, 3rd at 30 players, 4th at 40 players.

Specialist Roles

 * Sniper: Max 2 per team.  Unlock 1st kit at 15 players, 2nd kit at 20 players.  Limited to 1 per squad.
 * Machine Gunner: Max 2 per team.  Unlock 1st kit at 15 players, 2nd kit at 20 players.  Limited to 1 per squad.
 * Heavy Anti-Tank (primary): Max 1 per team.  Unlock at 15 players.  Limited to 1 per squad.
 * Heavy Anti-Tank (secondary): Max 1 per team.  Unlock at 20 players.  Limited to 1 per squad.
 * Combat Engineer: Max 2 per team.  Unlock 1st kit at 15 players, 2nd kit at 20 players.  Limited to 1 per squad.
 * Sapper: Max 4 per team.  Unlock 1st at 5 players, 2nd at 10 players, 3rd at 15 players, 4th at 20 players.  Limited to 1 per squad.

Best practice
Role priority:


 * 1) Squad Leader - Every squad leader should be equipped with a squad leader kit in order to deploy assets and requires fewer squad members to deploy a rally.
 * 2) Medic - Medics are responsible for reviving incapacitated squad members and fellow teammates. They are responsible for extending the longevity of the squad on the battlefield and are necessary for extended engagements.  Reduces ticket loss.
 * 3) Light Anti-Tank / Heavy Anti-Tank - Especially needed on maps with lots of vehicles. Heavy Anti-Tank kits should always be claimed and additional Light Anti-Tank kits may need to be filled depending on the armor threat.
 * 4) Rifleman - Those playing as rifleman are the backbone of the squad, responsible for general purpose combat and tasks. They also have an ammo bag to supply the whole squad anywhere on the map.
 * 5) Other Fire Support / Specialist roles - Automatic Rifleman, Machine Gunner, Grenadier, Marksman, and Sniper are responsible for providing fire support for a squad. Each role excels in specific situations such as attacking vs defending an objective.
 * 6) Combat Engineer / Sapper - These roles excel in disrupting enemy supply lines with anti-tank mines and demolition charges. Engineers are exclusive to conventional factions and sappers are exclusive to unconventional factions.

Priority 1 and 2 should always be filled.

Priority 3, 4, 5, 6 should be discussed based on the map and the task your squad is going to complete - speak with your Squad Leader.

Tips
If you mouse-over the symbols in the Role tab, you will see a tooltip with details about each role as well as the reason, if any, why that role is unavailable.