Trenches

It is possible to dig non multi-z trenches that make effective cover against anything around you, so long as you are in the trench and crouching down (and in some cases even while standing up).

To dig a trench, hold a shovel and right-click a dirt tile to begin digging. After you finish, you can walk into the trench to enter it. To exit a trench, either drag your sprite onto an adjacent dirt tile (which takes time) or walk onto an adjacent floor tile. You can dig a trench while in any stance, crouching or otherwise.

Press [space] or [v] to toggle crouching. So long as you remain crouched adjacent to the wall of a trench, projectiles coming from above the trench you're in (excluding those coming from above and directly adjacent to the trench wall) will miss you even if they were fired at you. This also applies if you have one or more open trench tiles between you and the wall of a trench, regardless of whether you are standing or crouched. Bullets fired inside a trench while not adjacent to a trench wall will hit the wall of the trench; you need to be adjacent to the trench's wall to fire over it. Projectiles that miss you while crouched next to a wall will suppress you, causing your screen to shake and reducing accuracy. Any projectiles that are fired in your trench or above and directly adjacent to your trench wall will hit you, and while shrapnel will fly over you, direct explosions, flames, and gas will still reach you in the trench.

While crouched against a wall, your accuracy while shooting at something beyond the wall will be severely degraded. To stand up, increasing your accuracy and making you vulnerable to incoming bullets, you can either press [space] or [v] again, or you can look into the distance by using [left Alt]+[right-click]. Looking into the distance, whether by using [left Alt]+[right-click] or by using binoculars, will automatically stand you up.

Tactics

• DO NOT DIG STRAIGHT OR OPEN TRENCHES. Dig tight zig-zagging trenches instead. Straight trenches allow the enemy to easily gun down entire rows of people if they get inside and open trenches make grenades and artillery shells that land in them extra dangerous, as there are no walls to catch the shrapnel.

• It can be helpful to have open ground separate parallel trenches rather than connecting the trenches via a transport trench: during retreat or rout, your team can fall back to the safest trench and use the open ground to fire upon the opposite team in the open. This can also be useful against flame troopers and sentries, since both could otherwise use a connecting trench to stay relatively hidden while inflicting massive damage (or at the very least causing a hasty retreat) on your team.