Battlefield 1 - What Triggers the Train, Airship and Boat Behemoths to Spawn

Battlefield 1 includes a new range of overpowered, game changing vehicles called "Behemoths". These armored trains, airships and battleships have particular spawn requirements but not many players really understand what triggers them to appear.

As a good example, let's take a look at the Sinai Desert map, which was included in the Battlefield 1 Beta. This desert map was where we encountered our first behemoth - the Armored Train. This massive armored vehicle would spawn onto the railway tracks on the left of the map, near to Flag A. Upon spawn, both teams were alerted to its presence.

For the opposing team the text would state that an enemy Armored train had been deployed, thus giving the team a chance to either retreat to safety or attempt to destroy the train with as much firepower as they could muster. For the friendly team, the train would provide a pivotal moment, allowing the team to hop inside and recoup some of their capture losses and even rack up some serious kills vs both infantry and armored vehicles.

When do Behemoths spawn

Most new players think that Behemoths only spawn if a particular flag has been captured. In the case of Sinai Desert, many thought that capturing the Train Station flag was a requirement to make the train appear. This is not true and in fact the opposite is more likely.

You see, the behemoths in Battlefield 1 are there is help the losing team. In the case of Conquest, that's the team which has captured fewer flags and unsuccessfully defended their existing ones.

Once the losing team falls a certain number of points behind (roughly about 50 points) that's when the behemoth spawns in.

During the Beta, the Sinai Desert train spawn appeared to be held back because of the low match duration (only about 20 mins). In the full version of the game, this timer is far greater, thus making the behemoths more effective and the true game changer that EA always envisioned.

The actual match timer has no impact on the Behemoths appearance. However, we do know that only ONE Behemoth can spawn in a single match. It is designed only to help the losing team catch up.

How to use a Behemoth

The train (and other behemoths) behave like regular vehicles in Battlefield 1. A group of players can occupy one of the many "slots" on the vehicle by either entering directly in open play, or by selecting the vehicle (train, airship, boat) as a spawn point from the map overview.

Once inside, players can switch positions by pressing the appropriate button or key (X for PS4). Available seats are shown on the mini-layout at the bottom of the screen. Available seats are blank, whilst occupied ones have a number assigned to them.

Besides changing your viewpoint, switching seats typically changes your weapon or your function.

It's worth remembering that behemoths are like vehicles in the fact that they MUST be controlled - they do not move themselves. It is the responsibility of the "driver" to move the vehicle forward or backwards, making the most of the advantage to capture any Flags along the route. All Behemoths move horizontally - the airship cannot move vertically up or down.

To understand the tide turning capabilities, take a look at the train route for the Sinai Desert map. It's entirely possible to fully capture three flags on the trains route, whilst also deny the enemy a couple of other flags through the use of denial bombardment.

How to destroy behemoths

Each of the Behemoths (train, airship, battleship) are heavily armored and take one hell of the beating. That doesn't mean they are invincible though!

A good example is the armored train. Due to it's predictable movement (it's bound to the tracks), the train is particularly susceptible to anti-tank mines and tank fire. Secondly, the trains long size makes it an obvious target for the anti-tank bomber plane. This plane is one of the best choices for flying high above and unleashing a series of high impact bombs for maximum effect against the train.

The same is true for the Airship and Battleship. Both have their own weaknesses. In the case of the Airship, it's slow and susceptible to AA guns and flying attack planes. The battleship is also slow, making it an obvious target for aerial attacks.

Stages to destroying a Behemoth

1. Hit alerts

Upon successfully hitting a Behemoth you'll see a visual alert saying:

"Behemoth Hit"

2. Part destroyed

Continuing to hit the same part of the Behemoth will lead to the next visual alert:

"Part Damaged"

At this point the Behemoth has been damaged and will lose part of it's functionality. Maybe movement or a particular gun.

3. Behemoth destroyed

The final stage is complete destruction of the Behemoth which results in the "Behemoth Destroyed" alert appearing on screen. At this stage you are rewarded with 1000 points for the destruction alone, but also additional multi-kill points for every player who was inside at the time.

Something worth noting here: successfully destroying an Airship causes it come crashing down to the ground. This isn't the end though; the airship wreckage continues to occupy a portion of the map, changing the dynamics slightly and providing additional cover and vantage points for both teams.

Which Behemoths appear on each map

Each Conquest or Operation map has a particular Behemoth assigned to it, designed to compliment the environment and style of play for that particular map. For Sinai Desert we have the armored train with it's dedicated railroad tracks. For naval maps we have the battleship Behemoth that resides just offshore.

Below is a list of Behemoths and the maps where they spawn in: