Enlisted looks like a standard World War II shooter in screenshots, but the core loop is different from most competitive FPS games: you’re commanding a squad, not just aiming down a single soldier’s sights. Understanding that difference early avoids most of the beginner confusion. It’s also the main thing that separates it from player-squad shooters, as our Enlisted vs Hell Let Loose comparison explains.

You control one soldier — and command several more

Each respawn puts you in control of a full squad of 3 to 9 soldiers, depending on the squad type. You directly control one soldier at a time; the rest follow simple AI orders until you switch to them (the switch key is listed in the game’s control settings).

This matters tactically: losing the soldier you’re currently controlling isn’t a death as long as another squad member is still alive. You can switch to them and keep fighting from wherever they are, which changes how you should think about positioning. Spread your squad instead of clumping everyone behind the soldier you happen to be piloting.

Squads specialize — pick a role you understand

Squads aren’t identical. Some specialize in rifles and general infantry work, others focus on automatic weapons for aggressive pushes, engineers build fortifications and rally points, and separate tank and aircraft squads crew vehicles. Picking a squad whose role you actually understand matters more early on than picking whichever squad has the best individual stats.

Use the tutorials before your first real match

Enlisted has single-player tutorial levels for basic gameplay, tanks, planes and engineers, plus a shooting range with every weapon in the game, for learning without the pressure of a live match. Given how different squad-switching and AI-soldier management feel from a typical single-character shooter, spending time here before jumping into a real battle is a genuinely useful step, not a formality.

Cover matters more than reflexes early on

Because you’re managing multiple soldiers’ exposure, not just your own, moving across open ground is riskier in Enlisted than in shooters where only your own death matters. Prioritize moving between cover and avoiding long sightlines over open areas. Losing a soldier in the open often costs you more than a single life would in a normal shooter, since it can put your whole squad’s position at risk.

Know the modes before you queue

Enlisted’s standard matchmaking spawns you with your full squad. A separate Lone Fighters option spawns you as single soldiers picked from your squads instead: a soldier who dies is gone for the rest of the match, which makes every life count far more.

Objectives vary by mode. Conquest is a fight over a few control points held at the same time. Invasion has one team attacking a chain of control points in sequence while the other defends, falling back as points are lost. Assault asks attackers to take two points at a time to advance. Reading which mode you’re in tells you whether to push, hold or spread out.

A practical first-session plan

  1. Play the tutorial levels (basic, tanks, planes, engineers) and try weapons in the shooting range.
  2. Pick one squad type you understand (rifle-focused is the most straightforward starting point) rather than the strongest-looking option.
  3. Learn the soldier-switch key and practice using it mid-fight, not just after a death.
  4. Play your first matches focused on using cover and repositioning, not on kill count.

Enlisted rewards squad awareness more than individual aim in the early hours. Learning to manage multiple soldiers, instead of playing it like a normal single-life shooter, is the real first skill to build. Once that clicks, keeping your squad supplied and repaired is the natural next thing to learn.

Sources

Facts in this guide were checked against these pages in October 2026: