Door Kickers was released out of Beta on the 20th of October 2014, offering the chance to command a fictionalised SWAT team through a series of increasingly complicated missions. Customisation options, other than those that serve purely cosmetic or role-playing purposes (ie. portraits, officer names etc.), mainly consist of changing your squad loadout to better adapt to situations.

What this guide is:

• How to evaluate the specific requirements of a particular mission
  
  • How to tailor your team to suit those needs

What this guide will be:

• An appraisal of the five different 'classes' in the base game
  
• An evaluation of the weapons that each 'class' may use and their effectiveness in combat
  
• Rudimentary tips on how to get the most out of officers in any given encounter with hostiles ('tangoes')

What this guide isn't:

• A comprehensive tactical guide
  
• A list of weapons
  
• A walkthrough

Please note that this guide operates under the assumption that your copy of Door Kickers is vanilla. All information reflected here is concurrent with the current version of Door Kickers as of 1st November 2014.

'By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.' -Benjamin Franklin

In general, most missions in Door Kickers can be separated into three distinct phases.

• The deployment phase
  
• The planning phase
  
• The 'go' phase

The planning phase and 'go' phase will mostly be ignored for the purposes of this guide.

The Deployment Phase


The deployment phase.

During the time allocated (unlimited), troopers' initial positions, but not their orientation, and their equipment may be changed. A rough outline of the map, including any visible enemies and/or hostages, but excluding information on which doors are locked (if any), may be seen. It is also possible to assign a target for the sniper, if present.


Troop customisation.

'Circumstances rule men; men do not rule circumstances.' -Herodotus


An example of a pre-mission objective screen

There are typically 7 different objectives to be achieved.

• Eliminating all hostiles
  
• Rescuing hostages
  
• Stopping executions
  
• Retrieving evidence
  
• Defusing bombs
  
• Arresting suspects
  
• Escorting a primary

These should be a major part in deciding how to proceed. For example, should the mission be the neutralisation of all tangoes, heavier armour may be considered. Weapon choice can also be tailored accordingly, although this will also depend on the size and layout of the location.

Please note that the following are only general considerations to be taken into account; Door Kickers is a highly complex simulation where there are a large number of factors at work and personal judgement should be exercised to ensure optimal preparation.

The most straightforward out of the six, this entails 'merely' taking out all tangoes.

The most important factor here would be the type, or, more specifically, the layout of the location. Does it include large, open areas where firefights will most be conducted at middle to long range? If so, take semi-automatic rifles, prioritising stopping power and accuracy with heavy armour and tactical shields as required. These maps will usually involve long, protracted engagements where staying power is key, as cover is scarce and fields of fire wide.

For fights that will take place primarily in tight, confined spaces, sub-machine guns (SMG's) and shotguns are preferable. Sidearms, encompassing both semi-automatic pistols and revolvers (of which there is only one), are serviceable if care is taken to implement sound tactics. Armour should be adjusted, especially when aiming for a full star rating, depending on the desired speed of progression through the level.

Extermination missions usually do not require silenced weapons. These weapons usually have inferior parameters compared to the standard variants, due to the addition of suppressors. They can be useful, however, when attempting to execute flanking maneuvers, but only a small portion of the squad should be sent out with these. In fact, it may actually be more beneficial to go 'loud' in extermination, since it draws additional enemies in the 'fog of war' towards your position. Defending an entrenched position is much easier than assaulting one, owing to having the pick of any available cover and prior preparation in setting up overlapping fields of fire.

Victory conditions involve leading all hostages to the designated zone, marked 'rescue', and or/eliminating all enemies present.

As a rule, breachers and their shotguns should never be taken into such circumstances. Shotguns fire a spread of projectiles that may hit hostages, failing the objective immediately. The only exception should be when a need arises for a locked door to be opened quickly. However, since officers fire on sight in Door Kickers, care should be taken with their fields of view so they do not immediately follow up a door-breach with a shot to the face of a hostage immediately behind while attempting to hit an enemy. For the same reasons, breaching charges and stinger grenades should not be taken, or used with extreme caution, in hostage situations, due to their propensity for the accidental slaughter of civilians.

Otherwise, the same considerations for extermination missions apply here, with slight differences. In many cases, a hostile may rush to execute hostages; as such, semi-automatic carbines may be useful in the designated marksman of the squad to allow a kill from range, even in places where Close-Quarters Battle (CQB) dominates.

Silenced weapons may be desireable, with the decision resting on the size of the location (small maps make for extremely difficult approaches to stealth) and the proximity of tangoes to hostages. Where enemies are close to their hostages, there is only an extremely small window of opportunity to make the shot on him; thus, it may be advantageous to utilise stealth and sneak up on that sector, relying on the element of surprise to quickly wipe out all hostiles in a short and brutal firefight.

Armour taken should provide a good balance between mobility and defence, owing to the slightly different conditions of the battlefield where time may be of the essence.

A derivative of hostage situations, this arises when the terrorists or criminals have threatened to kill one of the hostages captured. This will be indicated by a red timer over the enemy's head, in the general vicinity of the hostage to be killed. There may also be other hostages to be rescued, other than the one marked for death.


A hostage about to be executed.

Speed should be prioritised above all. In Door Kickers, this translates to a squad make-up predominantly of pointmen, who are only able to wield sidearms. One or two rifleman may be taken to provide rearguard action, guarding doorways and corridors behind your main body of troops which have not been cleared. A stealthy approach may also be worth the effort; however, the main priority should be to get as quickly to the threatened subject as possible. Light armour or medium armour should be worn, regardless of class, to maximise speed.

Also known as the 'Dope Raid', this can be one of the more frustrating to get maximum rating on. The aim is to retrieve at least one piece of evidence, arrest any unarmed criminals not killed in the crossfire, and eliminate all armed combatants. Although the objective will be fulfilled even should most of the drugs be destroyed, the only possible way to get 3 stars, in conjunction with the usual zero fatality and time constraints, is to keep most, if not all, of the dope intact.

This is made complicated by the fact that, as soon as the officers are detected, unarmed dealers in the vicinity, whose job it is to destroy the evidence, will start sprinting for the incriminating items and destroying them. The police are unable to fire on them, so the only way to stop the process once it has started is either to force surrender by running up next to them or by tazing them.

Thus, the easiest way would be to make use of stealth. As long as officers remain unseen and unheard, the evidence will remain untouched. The stealth class should be heavily utilised, due to their proficiency with suppressed weapons and the 'Go Silent' perk which allow troopers to hold fire should they not be caught in trouble, a highly desireable trait when trying to retain the element of surprise. Earlier on, when they are yet to be unlocked, pointmen can be made use of, as they are able to equip silenced pistols as well. Care should be taken though, as armed thugs can easily shred through officers who are only armed with a pistol.

The general idea would be to get everyone into position undetected, then launch a simultaneous assault (which can be easily done through the use of 'Go' codes). In addition, attention should be paid to the methods of door entry. Dynamic hammers, manual breaching, breaching charges and shotgun breaches should not be used until the final phase where it is possible to apprehend all criminals at once.

This scenario is presented when terrorists have planted a bomb somewhere in the map. The location of the bomb is mostly hidden, with only a handful of missions where the police start with prior knowledge of the exact placement.

The recommended strategy is to first locate the bomb, using standard tactics to clear out rooms. Once discovered, officers should form a defensive perimeter around it, while one trooper gets to work defusing it. Alternatively, an offensive can also be embarked upon; should there be enough men to ensure a reasonably secure cordon around the bomb, the others can be sent off to hunt down the rest of the remaining tangoes, should there be any. This, however, is a riskier strategy and so should only be attempted with great caution.

Class and equipment considerations, once again, depend mainly on the layout and size of the map. Take SMG's and shotguns if the anticipation is that most of the dirty work will be done up close and personal, and rifles and shields if there is plenty of space around. For such scenarios, time will usually be aplenty even when trying for maximum rating and as such, heavier armour may be worth investing in.

This entails arresting a designated suspect who is usually protected by numerous tangoes. The target is usually a gentleman dressed in a sharp suit. He is not armed and will not fire on or run from officers. The scenario ends once the suspect has been cuffed led back to the 'rescue zone', or once all armed hostiles are dead and the suspect cuffed. Please note, however, that, should he be killed by stray fire, the objective will be failed.

Given the above, shotguns should again be used sparingly and carefully. A good approach would be to neutralise all armed enemies in the area, rather than cuffing the target and leading him back to the extraction zone, as this puts him in risk of being involved and killed in firefights that erupt. Otherwise, a protective cordon should be formed around the suspect while leading him to the extraction zone. Thus, this type of missions may simply be treated as extermination missions with an additional caveat.

As should be fairly obvious by now, other than scenario type, location size and layouts are the other major component to be factored into equipment choice and tactics.

Plan your approach carefully.

Small maps are harder to execute stealthy approaches on, owing to the proximity between enemies. Consequently, it is often far more simple (and perhaps more effective) to use strategies which hit hard and fast. Heavier armour can be utilised to full effect here; clusters of tangoes are likely to concentrate fire against officers as they are uncovered and the smaller distances involved in traversing the map mean reduced movement capabilities do not have as much an impact on the time taken to complete the objective.

Larger locations are, conversely, easier to implement stealth tactics. 'Silent' tactics can often be an advantage; by minimising noise, it is possible to isolate individual groups of hostiles, taking them out one by one á la 'divide & conquer'. Alternatively, enemies can be lured towards
pre-planned positions by sending out a few troopers as bait to draw attention and/or fire, before retreating. Then, hostiles may be caught in a deadly crossfire which should result in a quick and efficient conclusion if done appropriately. Lighter armour may be desireable for such map settings if the time requirement for 3 stars is to be met.

Layouts are equally, if not more so, important as size. To simplify matters for analysis, layouts will be split into two broad categories; enclosed and open. However, the reality is that, over the course of Door Kickers, there will be a mixture of both within the same map.

Enclosed areas are those where CQB will predominate, being composed primarily of claustrophobic, tight spaces. Enemies will lurk around corners and behind doors, with officers' field and range of vision being limited by doorways and, occasionally, furniture. This often requires the squad to clear the area room-by-room, while the troopers not breaching a particular door provide covering fire. As such, it may initially be an overwhelming task ensuring that all angles are covered and that clear lines of fire are maintained. Note that the term 'indoors' is avoided here; buildings may also contain long corridors, large rooms and open courtyards that are conducive for middle to long range fighting.

Open areas, as the name suggests, are defined by wide spaces that allow for extensive fields of vision and fire. Engagements will take place primarily at long ranges, with cover few and far between. It is usually preferable to have control of the edges or corners, since this prevents the majority of flanking actions, before working methodically in to the centre, which is the most vulnerable. As noted above, there may also be instances of open areas within buildings or structures, which may seem counter-intuitive.

As of this build, multi-storey maps are an entirely insignificant factor. The different floors of a building merely function as standalone levels, with staircases acting as waypoints through which troops 'teleport' to different floors. It would seem that tangoes are incapable of moving between storeys.

'If you know your enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the results of a hundred battles.' -Sun Tzu's Art of War

There are 5 distinct classes in Door Kickers, each of which performs its own, niche role in the team.

These are:

• Pointman
  
• Assaulter
  
• Breacher
  
• Shield
  
• Stealth

The biggest distinctions between each class come in their weapon restrictions and mobility. With the exception of the Shield, all armour and items may be equipped regardless of archetype.

As the name suggests, he is best used 'on point'. The main reason for this would be their superior mobility and the extreme maneuverability of sidearms. This is achieved by sacrificing firepower; Pointmen have difficulty penetrating the body armour which begin to show up in later levels. They may only equip pistols or revolvers, with the primary slot being inaccessible. Since they do most of their dirty work up close and personal, those with good skill in 'Assault Weapons' make the best Pointmen, at least until officers move up in rank and start having full bars in every statistic.

Although they are the first class available, they remain relevant throughout Door Kickers, coming into their own especially during Execution missions, where time is very tight and speed is key. The doctrine tree for sidearms, specifically the perks 'Mozambique' and 'Headshot', may in fact cause them to be more effective than Breachers and Assaulters in very tight spaces; even against body armour, pistols have a good chance to kill with 3 rapid shots. Assaulters wielding SMG's and Breachers with their shotguns may have difficulty readying their longer weapons and getting a shot off before being fired upon.

It is worth noting that, with the purchase of silenced pistols, Pointmen can also function effectively as a stopgap before Stealth is unlocked at Squad Level 16. They also benefit from the perk 'Go Silent', and with a little care in tactics and positioning, they may help in achieving vital objectives stealthily early on.

In general, it is much more effective to accentuate the individual strengths of classes rather than cover their weaknesses; thus, Pointmen should mostly make use of 'Raider Armour', which proves to be no impediment to movement while offering better protection than the standard 'Low Threat Armour'.

In short, the advantages of include;

• Speed of the draw - troopers with pistols take the shortest time to raise, aim and fire their weapons after performing other actions, such as throwing flashbangs or opening doors.
  
• Covering distance - bringing them along may be the only way to achieve 3 stars in some missions, due to the time limits imposed.
  
• Stealthiness - though supplanted by the 'real' class later on, Pointmen are the only ones who have a chance of remaining undetected throughout a mission early on.

Conversely, these may be the reasons not to take Pointmen along;

• Lack of firepower - this is especially evident in large, open spaces, with a massive drop-off in accuracy and stopping power of sidearms as range increases.
  
• Vulnerability to swarms - they may be overwhelmed easily by simple numbers. As pistols and revolvers are only semi-automatic, they lack the capability to properly fend off large groups of enemies.

The Assaulter makes use of 'long guns', as they are called in Door Kickers. This generic term includes two different classes of weapons; SMG's and carbines. Thus, the Assaulter may handle very differently depending on the loadout selected; he is the a jack of all trades. It should also be noted that this class is the best at 'marksmanship duels', or trading fire over very long ranges, owing to the possibility of semi-automatic carbines. Accordingly, carbine-wielding Assaulters should prioritise 'Marksmanship', while those using SMG's should do so with 'Assault Weapons'.

SMG's are most effective at close to medium range. Only firing handgun-calibre ammunition up to .45, they lack the stopping power of carbines but make up for it with better maneuverability and rate of fire. Carbines, on the other hand, excel at long-range engagements with their high chance-to-kill and accuracy statistic.

Assaulters, able to equip a wide range of weapons, can be called upon to perform a broad array of tasks from clearing out rooms to laying down cover fire. Sidearms are of far less important to them, mainly being a backup weapon in case the primary runs dry. If the need calls for it, however, officers armed with the carbine can be called upon to clear rooms in a pinch by reverting to their secondary, even though this situation is usually not ideal. The majority of content in Door Kickers can be cleared using this class alone, and it is usually a good idea to have a few in the party.

Armour choice is dictated by their specific needs. Officers in charge of providing cover fire probably do not need much mobility, given that their role is to stay in a particular spot and engage hostiles as they come into view. Thus, staying power is essential. On the other hand, those tasked with fighting door-to-door need to preserve a semblance of speed in order to take full advantage of flashbangs or breaching charges; they should probably be outfitted with somewhat lighter armour in order to allow this.

Condensed, these are the desireable traits of the Assaulter;

• Extreme versatility - able to adapt effectively to any situation, they are often a good pick due to the unpredictability and chaos of actual combat.
  
• Overwhelming firepower at all ranges - SMG's possess a high rate of fire and useful maneuverability in CQB, while assault rifles have good accuracy and stopping power which are vital for longer-ranges.

Their only weakness lies in the fact that they have relatively low mobility compared to Pointmen; however, the difference is slight unless moving over large distances.

Breachers are the premier close combat specialists, packing powerful shotguns that kill enemies with one shell more often than not. This is at the expense of mobility and ability to engage at long range; even at intermediate ranges, Breachers can be found lacking.

This class is also notable for another trait; busting a door off its hinges with the shotgun is the single fastest way to get past a lock. Use this ability to quickly reach assigned points for time-critical missions.

There is not much else to say for this class, since they are so singularly focussed on excelling in a particular role. Breachers' utility is severely hampered by the fact that their role is much too niche, and even this can be performed almost just as well by Assaulters with SMG's, who are also more than adequate at long-rage in contrast to Brecahers.

The verdict, with advantages listed first;

• Unparalleled stopping power at close-range - even enemies wearing body armour will be felled in one hit more regularly
  
• Mob control - buckshot means that this is the only class who can engage multiple tangoes simultaneously, provided that they are grouped together close enough
  
• Shotgun breaches - an immensely useful trick that allows access to rooms behind barred doors quickly

Following;

• Lack of versatility - simply put, Breachers are rubbish at long range with shotguns
  
• Stray fire - using shotguns in hostage situations or in warrant service runs the risk of killing
  non-combatants

The Stealth class is only unlocked at Squad Level 16 and for good reason; they are perhaps the best all-around class in Door Kickers. A upgraded variant of the Assaulter, they wield suppressed versions of pistols, SMG's and rifles, allowing for generally silent progression through levels, which can be instrumental in dealing with overwhelming numbers of enemies.

They are also the only troopers capable of holding fire with the 'Go Silent' perk, allowing for carefully orchestrated engagements as compared to the other, trigger-happy officers.