Below is a guide on how to properly play as Infantry. The way Infantry based combat works in Darkest Hour is extremely difficult to get the hang of, which may discourage many players. The following should make using the various infantry based weapons of the game much easier to use. This page will be updated over time as it’s quite a lot of info I’m envisioning in the end result. There is also a thread in the Darkest Hour forums with more info.

Basics

Here are some of the basics that can be used with all the weapon and class types.

Ironsights

The main form of aiming your weapon in this game is to use ironsights on your weapon. Aiming through the sight is extremely simple, but noone’s born with the ability to know how to use them, which is why we shall explain it here. To aim the ironsight press your Ironsight key (Right Mouse Button by default) and put the very tip of the sight on your target. Here is an image to help you get an idea of how to properly aim the Ironsight. I’ve painted the tip of the ironsight where you should be aiming red. It might be a bit difficult to see, so look carefully. Placing the area with the red dot on the enemy will ensure accuracy

Supporting

The image above your compass indicates that your weapon is resting.Another key to shooting your weapon is to make sure that it’s supported. When you weapon is supported, your aim won’t be screwed up by breathing. To support most of the small arms, simply use ironsights and have it “rest” on an object. Look in the above picture, I have it supported on some crates (You probably can’t see the crates because they’re under the gun.) You’ll know when you’re supported by the “Supported Icon” located in the bottom right of your screen above the compass (The icon looks like a Machine gun deployed on some sandbags, Image on the right for reference).

Leaning

Another main key to shooting is to lean around corners. Unlike Day of Defeat, quick-strafing is utterly useless in Darkest Hour. So rather then trying to quick-strafe a corner, use your ability to lean and peek around the corner this way. You can lean with the ‘E’ key for leaning to the right and ‘Q’ key for leaning left (Both keys by default). Note: If you lean around a corner just right while ironsighted, you can be supported by the corner for increased accuracy.

Grenades

Grenades are every soldier’s best friend. You throw them, they go boom, people get blown to pieces (Literally in this game). First tip, priming. Just like in Day of Defeat you can prime grenades, much more easily so in this. There are 2 methods depending on if you got a pin activated grenade or the German Stick Grenade. If it’s the German grenade, simply pull the string (Press and Hold Left Mouse Button by default) and throw it (release the button). About 5 second fuse, count to “Three One Thousand” or “Four One Thousand” and then release. Similar to Day of Defeat. The Allies grenades are slightly different in the way you prime them. Since these grenades have the handle to squeeze to prevent the grenade from going off after the pin has been pulled. To “break” the handle off, hold down your Fire Key (Left Mouse Button by default) and while holding it tap your Alternative Fire Key and you’ll hear it break off. The grenade is now live once you hear the breaking off sound and that means you got about 5 seconds before you become the grenade.

Next tip for grenades would be lobbing them. Rather then your Fire Key to throw it like you’d normally do, hold down your Alternative Fire key to set it up for a gentle toss. Perfect for room clearing. If you’ve got a pin based grenade then you can prime it during a toss like you normally would, only reversed. So while holding Alternative Fire, tap you Fire Key to break-off the handle.

Also note that for some reason when you prime a pin based grenade it gets thrown further. Useful for longer ranges. You can also sprint, jump, or sprint and jump like you would in Day of Defeat to get the grenade thrown farther.

Melee

Using melee in this game is actually ineffective except as a last resort, but that doesn’t mean there’s a few tricks to make it easier. Simply press you Alternative Fire button to use your melee attack. Doing this is pretty weak though so the first tip is to press and hold your Alternative Fire key to “charge up” your melee attack to do more damage. Something nifty that you can do with most of the rifles (M1 Garand, Lee Enfield, and K98) can have bayonets fixed to the end of them for those who don’t want to use the Rifle Butt. Simply press your “Attach Bayonet/Deploy Key” to attach it. You can also remove it with the same key. Aiming your melee attack isn’t too hard, in theory. Your melee attack will always go to the center of your screen, so place your target there. One final tip that I can think of is Charging the enemy. While sprinting you can charge up your melee attack. This makes charging an enemy when you need to very easy.

Using melee in this game is actually rather ineffective except as a last resort, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t a few tricks to make it easier. There are two different types of melee attacking in Darkest Hour, each with their different usages.

Stock Smash

Left is a rifle stock smash about to take place. Right is the rifle stock smash before several seconds of charging.Every weapon has the ability to smash an enemy with its stock. To do this, simply press your Alternate Fire key. The attack will always be aimed at the centre of your screen, so be sure to centre your target on your screen before attacking. If you do not aim for your targets head or shoulders, you will most likely have to hit him again. Alternatively, you can “charge” your stock smash by holding down your Alternate Fire key for a few seconds before letting go. The longer you hold down and “charge” your stock smash, the more damage it will do to your opponent.

Bayonet Stab

The melee attachment to a rifle is displayed on the left with a stabbing action on the right.Rifles have the ability not only to “stock smash” (as described above) but to attach a bayonet and stab your enemies with it. This method of melee attack is much more efficient at killing your enemy with the first stab, as a great amount of damage is done regardless of how long your attack button is held (There is no way to “charge” your bayonet attack). The attack will always be aimed at the centre of your screen, so be sure to centre your target on your screen before attacking, and aim for your targets shoulders for best results.

Reloading

The reloading system should be explained for Darkest Hour since it differs from Day of Defeat. In Darkest Hour you press the ‘R’ key (by default) to reload your weapon. When this happens your character will remove the magazine and insert a new one while the old one (If it has any ammo left in it) will be placed back into your “ammo inventory” for later use, like in America’s Army or other tactical FPS. During your reload a message should appear at the bottom of your screen stating that the New Magazine is either “Heavy” or “Light” and this is referring to it’s weight. This is the way the game tells you how much ammo is in the new mag (If it’s Heavy it’s either full or mostly full and if it’s light it is nearly out) rather then in other games where it gives you an ammo count.

Sometimes while you play you may need to get a new stock of ammo (Especially when you have a MG weapon or a “rocket-based” weapon). To do this go to a “Resupply Crate” which looks like a bunch of crate. You can find these by opening your overview map (‘O’ Key by default) and looking for the Red circles with a white Bullet in it (Your overview contains a legend you may use as well). Press your “Action Key” when the icon appears on your screen to re-stock on your ammo.

Individual Weapons

Here we’ll discuss the different individual types of weaponry and how to use them more effectively.

Rifles

Below will be the rifles, both the Semi-Automatics and the Bolt-Actions. Weapons include the M1 Garand, G43/K43, Lee-Enfield, Karbiner ‘98.

M1 Garand

The tried and true M1 Garand 30.06 Calibre Semi-Auto from Darkest Hour. Ah, the M1 Garand. Quite arguably the best weapon in Day of Defeat and now we’ll get to use it in Darkest Hour. In Darkest Hour the M1 Garand is even more effective then in Day of Defeat, I know I can’t believe it could get any better but it does. What we’ll discuss may not only apply to the M1 Garand but to the other rifles and even maybe the other weapon types. Real quick note on the rifles though, in Day of Defeat it is arguable, I guess, to say that the Bolt-Action is more effective. Granted it’s got amazing long range accuracy in comparison but the Semi-Automatics were still the better all purpose weapon. Here in Darkest Hour though, it is inarguable that the Semi-Auto rifles are the better choice of weapon. You might find yourself saying BS but it’s true. In Darkest Hour the Semi-Auto is just as accurate as the Bolt-Action and does just as much damage. This means that the Semi-Auto now has the overall advantage because it’s deadly accurate and you don’t have to recharge it like you would the bolt each time you shoot. Now onto how to better use the weapon. Keep in mind that some of the above Basic tips will make using the M1 and every other weapon. More info on the Garand

Aiming

Use the above section to learn how to properly use ironsights. Aim for the torso to garuntee accuracy Now the spot where to aim is something you need to learn. You might be thinking “I’m a badass soldier. I’m gonna pop each guy in the head”. This is where you fail. Granted the head garuntees an instant kill, but how small is the target? Very small. How small is it at a distance? Even smaller. What does a smaller target mean? Less chance of hitting. Like in Day of Defeat your target should be the Upper chest. Remember how I mentioned the head is an instant kill spot? Well so is the torso. Any torso shot in this game (At least with a rifle) is an instant kill. So make sure you aim at the torso to garuntee your hit. Next hint is to train your shot on your target. Take the extra .5 seconds to make sure that your shot connects to your target. Usually when you just “snap to” the enemy with your ironsights, you’re usually going to miss even though you thought you hit the enemy your shot most likely missed by just a few centimeters. The “hitboxes” in this game are a lot tighter then in Day of Defeat so your shots have to be dead on, the bullet just can’t be a centimeter off of the model and still hit.

Reloading

You know how in Day of Defeat (And other WW2 FPS) you can only reload a Garand when you empty it’s clip (Technical term is n-bloc)? Well Darkest Hour is realistic in a sense where you can reload your Garand’s n-bloc without having to empty the entire thing. So say you’re down to your last 2 bullets, simply press your Reload key (R by default) and put in a new n-bloc and the old one will be cycled back into your “ammo inventory”.

Stance

Your stance is very important in Darkest Hour. Unlike Day of Defeat where your stance does not affect your accuracy, in Darkest Hour it somewhat does. So knowing when and where to change stance is key to defeating your enemy. Firstly to explain how accuracy works in Darkest Hour. In Day of Defeat accuracy was “static”. No matter your stance, so long as you were holding still your accuracy would always be the same. Let’s look at another FPS to get a better idea of accuracy. Our next example will be Counter-Strike (Ew). In Counter-Strike accuracy was based on your stance and whether or not you were moving. By crouching you would get your crosshairs to “tighten” which represented your gun getting an increase in accuracy. Now for us to go over how accuracy in Darkest Hour works. Your accuracy is based on “breathing”. While standing in the open and you ironsight and let it stay ironsighted for a bit, you’ll notice your aim start to move around slightly. This is cause your character starts to breathe. What your stance does is reduce the movement from breathing and give you more of a “holding breathe” period before your character starts to breathe. So in theory proning would be the best, but like Day of Defeat it’s still not always the best option. You’ll still start to breathe while proned. If we go back to the Basics section on Supporting you’ll see that while supported your character will not breathe and will always have dead on accuracy. So depending on your location try changing your stance to get your weapon supported.

Mobility

Like in Day of Defeat, your best friend as a Rifleman is your mobility. Now in Darkest Hour quick-stopping and quick-strafing is useless, so what I mean by Mobility is your ability to break contact and move from cover to cover. Remember a s Rifleman you’re still the main fighting force of the team, and therefore you need to be aggressive. Granted you can’t be as aggressive as you would be in Day of Defeat but you still want to be pushing the front line. Get a good idea of your surroundings so when you see an enemy you can run towards the nearest and most effective spot of hard cover. Breaking Contact is a useful tactic. What this means is if you’re advancing and you see an enemy charging at you fall back a few steps behind cover and “bait him” into a trap. As a rifleman you want to kinda play “mind games” and/or set traps for people.