The entrenching shovel in‑game is clunky and impractical. Its main problems are listed below:
Digging speed is far too slow. By the time you dig a 5‑meter trench, enemies can capture three objectives.
Sprinting is disabled while holding the shovel, which is an unreasonable restriction.
Digging gets completely blocked by small obstacles such as stones and shrubs.
Even gentle slopes ruin dug‑out terrain, making perfectly level pits impossible. Heavy machine guns, anti‑aircraft guns and anti‑tank guns that require flat ground can hardly be placed inside player‑dug cover. There is no function for spawning pre‑fabricated emplacements for anti‑tank or anti‑aircraft guns.
You cannot order AI squad‑mates to help dig together.
In PUBG I could quickly dig a horseshoe‑shaped trench for a four‑man squad with a pickaxe. This cover protected me from vehicle rams, artillery and grenades, helping me win the match. Similar mechanics exist in Battlefield 5 and Gates of Hell.
Right now the shovel is barely used by anyone. Historically, entrenching shovels were highly valuable in WWII. Apart from digging, they could be used for slashing melee combat just like bayonets.
I suggest major reworks to restore its historical utility:
Allow sprint while holding the entrenching shovel, set sprint coefficient to 100.
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More than double digging speed to speed‑up fortification building. Trooper skill points are mostly invested in reload speed and vertical recoil, leaving almost no spare points for digging bonuses.
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Add an order command. Soldiers can auto‑dig along a defined straight line to build cover in bulk and improve efficiency.
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Give the shovel a build mode similar to the hammer. Taking inspiration from Battlefield 5, place pre‑built emplacements without construction materials: T‑shaped machine‑gun positions, trapezoidal anti‑tank‑gun positions and circular anti‑aircraft‑gun positions for fast fortification.
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Civil‑engineering tools such as pickaxes and shovels should be able to remove small rocks and vegetation.
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Battlefield 5 is even nicknamed “Fortress‑field 5” among players, many people enjoy the gameplay of building defensive fortifications.
The main issue is that the pre‑placed sandbag defences set by DF on many map capture points are simply insufficient. Their protective value is either limited, or they get easily wiped out by airstrikes and artillery bombardment. Once destroyed, the objective turns into an open‑air platform. Holding the position becomes pointless, yet players are forced to defend this exposed spot anyway, which makes for a frustrating, tiring experience.
Take for instance the radar tower, coastal‑gun site, town‑church combat zone and the massive 460 mm artillery position beside the swamps in Normandy. Also the gardens in Berlin, and that street‑side position which only uses a toppled tram for cover.
Numerous defensive points across the map are completely exposed to artillery, shells and rocket strikes. Enemy fire can easily wipe out everyone holding there. No sensible player would just sit inside those pre‑set positions waiting to get overrun; most will go find alternative cover instead.
On top of that, the stupid bots fail to take cover properly and constantly run out into the open to get killed.
I once made a thread about upgrading shovels for another forum. I had plans to translate it to post here, but I never got around to it. You can check it out if you’re not too lazy to use a translator.
Thanks for the reply. I did not know similar suggestions had been made before.
I had these ideas the very first time I used the entrenching shovel. However, preparing forum posts and gathering reference images was too much work, so I gave up and tried not to think about it.
Recently I returned to Battlefield 5 and other titles. Building fortifications to block enemies and support teammates felt really rewarding, you can meaningfully shape the battle. That brought me back to thinking about this game’s shovel. Digging shell‑proof trenches should be great gameplay, yet matches keep getting faster. In extreme cases, you can capture a second objective within five minutes before enemies can react. The slow shovel has become obsolete. Fast‑paced matches leave little room for players who enjoy field fortification.
It is disappointing. Take the hard‑to‑defend hilltop church on the Moscow map. I wish we could build proper defences there to hold back enemy terrain‑aided assaults.
Sadly, there are fewer updates refining core mechanics and historical authenticity. Instead, devs keep pumping out event squads and marathon weapons. Those are fine, but core gameplay defines the game’s depth. New items only boost daily activity; players who find the game hollow will still quit eventually.
Yeah. In many matches I bring the entrenching shovel, yet I end up working alone whenever I need to build cover. The efficiency is terrible.
DF’s current AI‑command system is mostly built around offensive actions. Soldiers can only follow orders for group demolition, group attack/defence, or hold position.
In Red Alert I could select multiple units and send them to move along predefined paths. I wish DF could overcome engine‑level limitations and implement something similar.
I am tired of constant close‑quarters bayonet fighting with no proper fortification options. Building cover is either not viable or absurdly slow. Digging feels like a joke in front of other players.
Well, take locations such as German barracks and Berlin apartment buildings on many maps. These buildings are poor defensive positions. Even stacking sandbags inside leaves you at a disadvantage. It is better to stop the enemy outside before they get in. Once foes breach the building, defending becomes messy, so building your own outer line of fortifications makes more sense.
Who would not enjoy digging trenches and building emplacements, keeping enemies out behind your own hand‑made defences and feeling that sense of satisfaction?
I don’t care for the most part since I never dig in the game, however, digging in general is a slow painstaking task, even in war. I had lots of digging experience as a teenager since my father owned a trenching company and I spent many a summer with a shovel in my hands.
So, to be honest, if we’re wanting it to be somewhat realistic, then the digging speed shouldn’t be increased, however, I don’t see any reason to have movement restrictions just because your trying to run with a shovel. I think I could have still run fairly fast carrying a shovel, of course, I was only 16 at the time too.
Like I said, it doesn’t matter to me and I doubt the Dev’s will take time to address it anyway, they rarely do.
I used to stack three sandbags into a ring‑shaped cover to shield the spawn point, and place mines to punish enemies trying to capture it. After sandbag volume adjustments, this trick no longer works. Sandbags can no longer fully protect spawns. Given fast‑paced matches, most players just hastily place two sandbags as a makeshift defence.
I would use the entrenching shovel instead, yet digging is far too slow. To make a one‑metre‑deep pit you have to keep reworking terrain to get a flat surface. Sandbags and spawn points demand level ground, so manual levelling is extremely tedious.
Sandbags could once lower spawn‑point elevation to make it harder for enemies to take. Still, almost nobody does this nowadays because the whole process takes too long.
To be honest, I don’t care either way since digging in game is something I have never done, and if they want to reduce the time, it doesn’t effect me so why not.
We need faster digging speed for the entrenching shovel. On top of that, the shovel should clear away weeds and small saplings directly.
Some saplings in‑game have roots thinner than the wooden handle of our shovel, yet we cannot cut them down at all. That is quite ridiculous. In real‑life you could trample these small plants flat with one foot. But in‑game they are as tough as metal, and you can only get rid of them with hand grenades.
