Tactical Insertion



Tactical Insertion is an equipment choice in Modern Warfare 2. It is a signal flare that marks the location of the user's next respawn. The player using it drops it at their feet after taking several seconds to light it and spawns at that location when they die. This is useless in public Search and Destroy matches (or any other gametypes without respawns). The flare the player drops can be destroyed by enemy players if they find it, so placing it in a discreet location is advised. It can be destroyed by anything that does damage or an enemy can walk over it and destroy it by holding a button, similarly to picking up a weapon. It disappears upon respawn, so if a player wishes to continue spawning in the same spot, they must drop a flare each time they spawn. If an enemy sees the flare, or hears its distinct hissing noise, they may wait for its user to respawn for an easy spawn kill. 25 spawn kills from an enemy Tactical Insertion flare awards the "Tactical Deletion" (abbreviated TacDel) challenge and callsign title. SitRep makes Tactical Insertions show up red from any point in the map, even through walls. Tactical Insertion is unlocked at level 11. It is important to note that it takes about 3 seconds to light and drop the flare. During this time the user is defenseless against any attackers, but switching weapons cancels the flare. Tactical Insertion users can pick their flares back up to put them somewhere else if they so desire.

It's generally advised to use the Tactical Insertion in any game type in which you may be defending something, provided respawns are enabled. Hiding your Insertion in proximity to an integral flag in Domination is an excellent and widely-used way to make the best of it. Placing your Insertion in a discreet place close to an objective in Sabotage (or Demolition, though there is a respawn delay to be wary of.) is an excellent way to prevent bombs from being planted or defused. Taking a moment before grabbing the enemy's flag in Capture the Flag can be useful as well, though not as much because of respawn delay. Tactical Insertions also have a use in Team Deathmatch games if you are trying to hold down a camping spot that may be hard to get to, but this is generally not advised as you may respawn directly into your killer's line of fire if he sees or hears the flare. Beware the glow of the flare itself as it will shine through walls, projecting a red glow on the other side if left too close. The best way to hide a flare is to put it in a place the enemy cannot easily get to or damage.

Friendly Tactical Insertions are green with the teams symbol, while enemy flares are red.

Trivia

 * If the Tactical Insertion is stopped by switching weapons, the sound of the flare being prepped can be heard even when the other weapon is drawn, even though the flare is not dropped.
 * Tactical Insertions can be destroyed by gunshot, killstreaks, falling airdrops, or if a player walks up to it and presses the action button.
 * Many glitchers use this, so they can spawn back into the glitch if they die, or at a point in the glitch which is hard to reach.
 * The Tactical Insertion can be concealed from enemies by deploying it in something with a red glow, like the heater in Derail