Forward Operating Bases (or FOBs) are mini NPC bases that a player can use metal to deploy and support your base during War Zone attacks. While each FOB is modeled after a specific type of unit, they all work exactly the same way; when you attack another player on the World Map or have your base attacked on the World Map, your FOBs will deploy as 1 wave of reinforcements to help in the attack. The units the FOBs deploy cannot be controlled by the player, they are only controlled by the AI which will move them about and prioritize their targets. The layout of FOBs also cannot be controlled as it is an NPC base correlating to the level of the FOB.
Which units spawn, and how many, is dictated by the level of FOB. The units that do spawn are modeled after your own unit meaning they will spawn at the same level with the same equipment as yours (IE: A level 2 Tank Reinforcement FOB will spawn 3 Abrams M1A1 tanks; the 3 that spawn will be the same level and use the same equipment as you have in your army). The units that spawn when a FOB is attacked are not based on a player’s own units, but rather they are balanced based on the level of the NPC map. The layout of the base and buildings found in the FOB are also based on the level of the FOB, and not what a player has unlocked or upgraded. The three types of FOBs, which will be broken down later, are Infantry Vehicle, Tank, and Helicopter.
There are 4 different attack types that FOBs can come to support you:
- When you attack another player in a War Zone
- When another player attacks your base in a War Zone
- When you attack another player's FOBs in a War Zone
- When another player attacks your FOBs in a War Zone
For FOBs to be able to attack or defend for you they need to be deployed in the War Zone directly touching your base. FOBs can only support your base/FOBs and will only deploy to FOBs they are touching, they can also only be in one place at a time. As an example: if your base and your Infantry FOB are being attacked at the same time the Infantry FOB units will not come to defend your base, as they are defending the FOB.
If you move your base with FOBs deployed you will be asked to scrap them, but scraping the FOBs by moving allows you to get a 50% refund on the metal spent to deploy them (the normal rate if you just choose to scrap on your own is only 10%) and provided that you redeploy them while still in movement cooldown, you can do so at the same 50% rate, meaning there is no cost to redeploy them during this time. Please note that scrapping your FOBs will not overfill your storage capacity.
All FOBs are housed in the Global Operations building, which becomes available at Command Center level 5, on your base and all FOBs are unlocked at level 1 when you build it. This is where you can find their current level, stats, and upgrade them. If your FOBs are deployed when you upgrade you will need to scrap the current FOB and redeploy it to have the new level on the World Map.
FOBs in a War Zone
FOB NPC Base