Prebrief

Keep your eyes sharp and your head on a swivel — Karachi challenges Operators with a compact urban setting packed with climbing opportunities and routes for every playstyle. A keen understanding of the layout will help you prepare for your next drop into this medium-sized Multiplayer map, so dig in and outplay the competition in your next deployment.

Intel Card — Karachi

Tactical Overview

In team-based game modes, teams will either spawn in West Street (west) or in the Front Lot (east).

A city in ruins separates the two spawns, challenging teams to navigate a plethora of winding alleyways while battles break out in and between the city buildings.

We’ve divided Karachi into five sections based on key areas around the map:

-       MAIN SPAWN POINT: West Street (+ West Alley, Side Alley, Warehouse)

-       MAIN SPAWN POINT: Front Lot (+ Side Lot)

-       ADDITIONAL AREA: Hotel (+ North Street, Café, Bus, Shacks)

-       ADDITIONAL AREA: Rubble (+ Rubble Roof, Apartment, Mini Mart, Storage Room)

-       ADDITIONAL AREA: Main Street (+ Market Place, Market Building, Store, Clock Tower)

MAIN SPAWN POINT: West Street (WEST)

Of all the key areas on the map, the West Street spawn is the most straightforward. Except for some midsized obstacles you can mantle on top of, fighting is relegated to the ground here. The biggest threat lies in the narrow, winding alleyways where danger can emerge around any corner. If you’re not already wielding a close-ranged weapon, you might want to swap to your Handgun when navigating the treacherous turns.

If you’re looking to get up high, take the center Warehouse Alley route to the ladder leading to the Apartment Rooftop. This is a strong power position with access to nearby balconies, the inner Apartment, and the Café Rooftop. Stick to the outside lanes to keep things on more level ground, with a CQB focus in the southern Side Alley and a midranged focus in North Street — just watch out for enemies stationed in the Hotel when moving north.

MAIN SPAWN POINT: Front Lot (EAST)

Like West Street, the Front Lot spawn mostly consists of level ground, though there are a few key differences between the two. First, the Front Lot doesn’t immediately narrow down into branching alleyways, opting instead for a more open arena. There are also more cover objects here with the broken sections of wall and the several vehicles parked in the Side Lot. Except for the southern Market Place, the sightlines mostly remain midranged until you get farther into the map.

The Front Lot is an ideal location to call in a Care Package or, if you’re on a roll, the Juggernaut Recon; it’s positioned away from the denser areas of the map, and it’s not hard to find cover to keep out of sight as you await delivery. Watch for enemies doing the same and you might get the chance to take their goods for your own use — a huge boon for your whole team.

ADDITIONAL AREA: Hotel

The Hotel is a major power position on the map, rivaled only by the nearby Apartment. Both areas feature frenetic close-quarters combat, whether you’re fighting down below by the lobby or up by the rooms. When the inside is clear, you’ll want something with more range to take advantage of the sightlines out of the Hotel, including views over the central Rubble, North Street, and Shacks.

North Street west of the Hotel is also a formidable area. The Café is a great defensive point with a rear exit when you need to get out fast. Ambush enemies from the Bus and use the stone walls and barricades for partial cover when engaging head-on. The Shacks east of Hotel bring the fighting back to the open; move around the Shacks for cover or jump onto their corrugated rooftops to get over enemies on the ground.

ADDITIONAL AREA: Rubble

At the center of the map, Rubble is a highly dangerous area to pass through but well worth the effort of trying. Situational awareness is of paramount importance when navigating the foundation below. Vantage points look down into the area from multiple angles, while close-quarters attacks reign within the foundation itself. Use the ladder on the area’s south side to reach the Rubble Rooftop or access the blasted hole on its north side for a quick mantle into the Hotel.

The Apartment west of Rubble offers a much greater defensive position. Though it’s not as large as the Hotel, the building offers multiple vantage points and quick access to adjacent rooftops for when you need to move on but want to retain your height advantage. The Mini Mart and Storage Room east of Rubble lead back to more straightforward fighting; use the Mini Mart counter for cover and the Storage Room to ambush enemies passing to and from the southern Market Place.

ADDITIONAL AREA: Main Street

The map’s south lane is divided into two main sections, Main Street to the west and the Market Place to the east. Both areas offer their own challenges, with the elevated Clock Tower path and the Tunnel underneath it adding even more complexity.

Main Street is largely made up of midranged sightlines, the adjacent Store offering a reprieve from the open and the opposite raised platform providing a solid vantage point over the road. Be wary of the Clock Tower and Tunnel when moving toward Market Place, or use them for yourself to stage ambushes against passing Operators.

Market Place tightens up the fight as players weave in and out of the stalls in search of their target. Opt for the Market Building if you want to stay off the ground floor, largely negating the stalls’ ability to provide cover. Note the wooden platform connecting to the top of the wall over Main Street, providing a quick pivot to the Clock Tower, Rubble Roof, or the streets below.   

Objective Overview

Overall Tactics

Objective modes ramp up the challenge on Karachi as Operators seek to control specific areas of this highly compacted urban map. Awareness of danger and recognizing opportunities are vital abilities for getting the most out of the environment.

Communication is also key. Even with a friendly UAV in the sky, it can be difficult to pinpoint an enemy’s exact location, not to mention those with Loadout items that keep them off the radar. Keep your eyes open and call out what you see.

If you’re going after an entrenched objective, ask for help. The more teammates you have at your back, the better your odds of taking the point. Considering the amount of vantage points and flanking routes available on the map, numbers really do make a difference. Team up with your allies, check every corner, and overwhelm the opposition.

Domination

Trying to avoid the central Rubble? In Domination, that’s exactly where you need to go. Take this trial by fire to learn all the ins and outs of the center path, an area full of danger and opportunity. Throw yourself at the point, see where you succeed and fail, and improve bit by bit until it’s just another spot on the board.

For the most part, B retains its function as a critical capture point. While it’s possible to take A and C as your flags, it spreads your team thin. There are so many points of contact between the two flags that holding them for any length of time becomes an uphill battle. The B flag is no walk in the park, but its proximity to A or C keeps the distance short so you can reinforce without needing to cross the map.

Approach B from the Hotel opening or the Rubble Roof for a strong angle down into the foundation, thus neglecting cover provided by the crumbling walls. Once clear, get on the point, capture it, then pull back to your station overlooking the objective. By moving with intent, you keep the odds in your favor. 

Hardpoint

It’s a race for the Rubble as Hardpoint kicks off on Karachi, testing each team’s ability to brawl on the most contentious point of the map. Toss your grenades, bring your best weapons, and equip some defensive gear like the Trophy System, EOD Padding, and/or Tac Mask. You’ll need every bit of help you can get.

The next two Hardpoints, the Café and Mini Mart, take place on more straightforward ground, though they’re hardly lacking in challenge. You first need to get there through Karachi’s winding alleyways and vantage points, a feat in and of itself. Once you’re on the point, fight for all it’s worth.

The final two Hardpoints — Apartment and Hotel — amp up the challenge again by tasking teams with holding the lower level in a two-story building. When possible, try to cover both levels to reduce the chances of being ambushed from above, especially in the Apartment, where the stairs rise right over the Hardpoint. The more defenses the enemy has to break through to reach the objective, the better.

Cutthroat

Karachi offers all kinds of opportunities on Cutthroat, its density providing teams with near limitless opportunities. While on some maps it takes very little time to engage with one or both enemy squads, here the rounds are more versatile, from straightforward slugfests to slower-paced tactical engagements.

The minimap plays an important role here, as any intel is vital to tracking down your foes. Keep that in mind for your own tactics as well; sometimes it’s better to hold off on the attack if it means remaining concealed until a better time to strike.

Try to get above the enemy as much as possible. The Apartment and Hotel are both strongpoints from which to do this, depending on which one is closer to the overtime flag. By getting above your opponents, you cut the effectiveness of any ground cover in their proximity. Take your squad with you for support against enemies attempting to do the same, then reap the rewards of a commanding power position.

Search & Destroy

Search & Destroy ratchets up the tension on an already tense map. With just one life per round, every move counts. Whether you’re on offense or defense, your ability to navigate the map successfully and gain the initiative over opponents is key to winning the round.

The attacking team begins in the eastern Front Lot, with the option to plant at A near the Bus or B in front of the Main Street Tunnel. While on some maps, distraction can be a key component to your strategy, here it’s often better to move in full force for the greater odds it provides, especially as vantage points grow in number as you approach the bomb sites.

Starting in West Street, the defending team has a more difficult choice. Choosing the wrong bomb site to defend can have dire consequences, requiring the team to cross several treacherous points to pivot to the other bomb site. By splitting up, however, you reduce your team’s strength. This can be offset by taking up strong positions, such as the Rubble Roof overlooking B and the Café or lower Hotel overlooking A. Use the opening seconds of the match to get into place fast and be ready to engage.

Top 10 Tips

1. Every nook and cranny. Karachi’s compact urban layout features all kinds of low-profile vantage points and flank routes, including small accessible balconies, hidden stairwells, ladders, and other opportunities to reach areas you might miss in your first few matches here. Stay on the lookout for new ways to move through the map to optimize your decision-making in the heat of battle.

2. Aerial attack? No problem. Overhead cover is rarely far off on this map, reducing the lethality of offensive aerial streaks. Even when you’re moving outside, the narrow alleyways make it difficult for air-to-ground attacks to hit their target. For your own Streaks, consider focusing on intel-gathering and ground-based attacks.

3. Right at home. Found an area you excel in? Or fought your way toward a difficult objective? Bring along a Tactical Insertion to keep your hold on the location after getting eliminated. In Karachi’s dense layout, there are plenty of places to deploy the item without the fear of it being destroyed.

4. Watch your Killcam. Watching the Killcam to discover the location of your attacker can not only help you seek revenge, but it may also reveal an area of the map you have yet to explore.

5. Swapping to your pistol . . . This is always faster than reloading. Keep this in mind when engaging multiple enemies at a time. The extra power provided by your primary weapon won’t mean much if it’s empty when the next fight begins.

6. Walk the plank. Use the wooden board connecting the Market Building to the wall over Main Street to quickly access the Rubble Roof or the Clock Tower. By moving between these points, you can maintain your elevated position while covering the south and middle of the map.

7. It’s just an illusion. Knowing which spots are safe is as important as knowing which ones aren’t — such as the blasted outer wall in the Apartment’s northeast corner overlooking Rubble. While it seems like a vantage point rife with danger, there’s no way in, so look right on past it in favor of watching for the real threats coming from the Hotel and Rubble Roof.

8. I swear it was real. With everyone on their guard, why not play a game of distraction? Equip the Inflatable Decoy Field Upgrade and place it in a vantage point or high-traffic area. Laugh at the enemy as they fire on the fake Operator and then show them what a real one can do.

9. Set up a feed. The Tactical Camera is another worthy Field Upgrade to consider. Either set it and manually connect to it or leave it to scan an important area on its own, relying on its audio system to warn you of spotted enemies. The extra intel can go a long way toward keeping surprise attacks at bay.

10. Another and another. There’s only one antidote if you’re struggling with Karachi’s complexity, and that’s deploying for another match . . . and another and another. The more experience you gain in the environment, the more you’ll start to understand all the advantages it offers to the informed Operator.

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