Enlisted looks like a normal WWII shooter until your first soldier dies and — instead of a respawn timer — you snap straight into the next member of your squad. That's the whole game right there: you don't play one soldier, you command a small unit, and AI-controlled teammates follow you until it's their turn to matter. New players who treat it like Battlefield get chewed up. Players who treat it like a squad commander climb fast. Here's how to become the second kind in your first week.
Understand what changed: countries, trees, and Silver
Enlisted was rebuilt around a merge that folded the old separate campaigns into four countries — USA, Germany, the USSR, and Japan. If you played years ago, everything you unlocked carried over and got pooled into your country. If you're brand new, this actually makes life simpler: you pick a nation and grind one coherent progression instead of juggling isolated fronts.
That progression is no longer a straight line. Each country now has a research tree with branches, and you spend battle experience to unlock the squads, weapons, and vehicles you want in the order you want them. There's a single upgrade currency — Silver — so you're not drowning in the old "orders" system anymore.
Two practical takeaways:
- Commit to one country first. Spreading experience across nations means none of them ever reaches the good gear. Pick one, follow one branch, and you'll field competitive squads far sooner.
- Prioritize squads over shiny guns. More squads means more respawns and more board presence. A player with five decent squads beats a player with two elite ones almost every time.
Pick a country and a starter squad plan
All four countries are viable, so choose on feel, not on some imaginary tier list. The USA and Germany are the friendliest starters — versatile infantry, strong automatic weapons early, and forgiving lineups. The USSR leans on volume and cheap, effective squads. Japan is the spiciest option, rewarding aggressive close-quarters play and map knowledge you won't have yet, so it's the one to hold off on.
Whatever you pick, build a balanced squad roster rather than five copies of the same idea. A solid early lineup looks like this:
- An infantry/rifle squad as your reliable workhorse for capturing and holding.
- An assaulter squad with SMGs for pushing into buildings and trenches.
- An engineer squad — the most underrated pick, because engineers build rally points, ammo boxes, and defenses.
- A support squad — machine gunner, mortar, or sniper depending on your taste.
- A vehicle or APC squad once you can afford one, for mobility and firepower.
The new APC driver squads deserve a special mention: they carry troops across the map and act as a mobile rally point, which quietly solves Enlisted's biggest new-player problem — spawning far from the fight.
Play the objective, because the objective plays you
Enlisted's modes (Conquest, Invasion, Confrontation) all come down to capturing and holding points. Kills feel good; captures win matches. Internalize that early and your stats — and your team's — improve together.
A few habits that separate winners from wanderers:
- Capture with your whole squad inside the zone. Multiple bodies on the point speed up the capture and mean one grenade won't reset your progress.
- Build a rally point the moment you can. Bring an engineer, drop a rally near (but not on) the objective, and your squad respawns seconds from the action instead of hiking across the map. This single habit is the biggest force multiplier in the game.
- Use the point man, protect the rest. Push corners and doorways with your lead soldier while the squad trails in cover. When he falls, you're instantly the next man up — no downtime, no lost momentum.
- Defense is a real role. On defense, dig in early: engineer barricades, machine guns covering the entrances, mines on the flanks. Enlisted rewards prepared positions far more than heroic runs.
Grind smart and stay effective
You don't need to no-life Enlisted to progress — you need to stop wasting battles. Complete daily and battle tasks for free experience and Silver, and upgrade the soldiers you actually field rather than sprinkling points everywhere. Level your soldiers' perks toward their job: vitality and weapon handling for frontline classes, build speed for engineers.
Weapon-wise, don't chase exotics. Most of your work gets done by rifles, SMGs, and machine guns, with mortars and anti-tank kits filling gaps. A well-handled bolt-action in good hands beats a fancy automatic you can't control. Learn recoil and burst discipline before you spend research on upgrades.
And remember the golden rule of survivability: you have more lives than the enemy expects, but they're not infinite. Each dead squad is a squad off the board until you respawn it. Trade your soldiers for objectives and kills, not for reckless open-field sprints.
The short version
Pick one country (USA or Germany to start), build a balanced five-squad roster, and always bring an engineer so you can drop rally points near the objective. Play the point, not the killfeed. Finish your daily tasks, upgrade only the squads you use, and treat every soldier as a resource you're spending toward a capture. Do that, and Enlisted stops feeling chaotic and starts feeling like the tense, tactical WWII command sim it actually is.
Sources: Enlisted official news — "Meet the new Enlisted!", Enlisted official news — new progression and matchmaking, gamepressure.com Enlisted beginner's guide.
