In Battlefield 6’s eighth campaign mission, Operation Ember Strike, you once again step into the role of Staff Sergeant Simone “Gecko” Espina and the elite Dagger 1-3 squad. This time, the fight takes you deep into the mountains of Tajikistan, where Pax Armata has entrenched themselves behind layers of anti-air defenses. Your mission: take out a network of SAM sites spread across a fortified valley to clear the skies for a final all-out offensive against the enemy army.
Recon the Valley
The mission opens with you and the Dagger 1-3 squad looking over a valley in Tajikistan. Ahead, you’ll be able to spot some Pax soldiers wandering in the bushes. But we aren’t going straight in this time — you’ll be using a drone to spot the enemies.
Follow the on-screen instructions to use your Drone Tablet. Fly it over the enemies ahead of you, mark them, and then bomb them using the drone’s weaponry.
Putting the drone away, your squad will proceed forward on two ATVs to explore the valley further. Follow the markers on your map, traveling on dirt paths toward the west. Don’t spped through the area though, as you can finsd the first collectible dog tag of the mission not too far from your starting point.
Collectible 1 – Maruf Khorrami
The first collectible dog tag in this mission is found after using the drone to bomb the soldiers. Jump on an ATV and drive down the valley to a group of ruined houses on the left.
Enter the largest house — it still has a door and there’s a massive hole in the side of it — and the dog tag is on the floor on the left side of the house, beneath the window.
Moving further west, you’ll soon come across the ruins of the Old Fort your squad is looking for — and it’s filled with PAX soldiers.
The enemy isn’t exactly prepared for you, so move into the ruins slowly and try to take out a couple of soldiers with your sniper rifle before they’re able to get a shot at you.
Use the cover in this area as best you can as you clear it out. Don’t stay in one spot for too long or some enemies will try to flush you out with incendiary grenades. Look for explosive red barrels up ahead that you can shoot and explode to damage nearby enemies.
Just outside the fort you just cleared is a hillside where your squad can take an overwatch position and get a lay of the land. Your team decides to take out Pax forces at three sites — the village, the farm, and the lakeside.
Take out Datalink Alpha
Datalink Alpha is your first target down in the village immediately in front of your overwatch position. As the previous cutscene wraps up, you’ll see soldiers moving around the village. Start moving down toward the village, but stop before you’re within visual distance of any of the Pax soldiers within.
Deploy your drone again and use it to mark as many enemies as you can within the village. Your drone does have a range, so you may need to move closer if you get a warning.
When you’re ready, take out as many enemies as you can using the drone. Start with the one vehicle, then move on to solo soldiers. Move quickly here, as the Pax soldiers will shoot down your drone after a handful of shots.
Once the drone is disabled, switch to your sniper rifle and take out enemies as they try to figure out what’s going on.
Move into the village to clean up the remaining forces in this area. You should have marked most with your drone already, so they’ll be easy to find. For the rest of the enemies, take advantage of the Engage Ready feature to mark them for your squad to fire at.
On the closest road going through the village, you’ll be able to commandeer an unmanned armored vehicle for your squad to move to the shoreside with. You’ll have to drive, so the gunner might be a little spotty. Just be sure to listen out if one of your teammates spots an RPG — you’ll want to hop out quick
If you engage enemies in a firefight, be sure to take them out immediately and not get sidetracked. Enemies in these positions have access to alarms to call for Pax reinforcements from other points in the valley.
Once you’ve cleared a way to the SAM site, equip the C4 in your inventory, plant it on the gun, and then detonate it from a safe distance.
After you destroy the SAM site, Pax forces will respond to the assault. Take cover in the area to take out approaching soldiers. There will also be an armored vehicle that approaches with a mounted machine gun. You don’t have any explosive weapons, but you can hold the Engage Ready feature to have a squadmate fire on it with a rocket launcher.
You can also use your drone again here to mark and fire at enemies. You don’t have to kill every enemy in this area, but cleaning up is always a good idea. But ultimately, your job here is done, and you can proceed to the next site when you feel like you’re in the clear.
Take out Datalink Charlie
While the initial plan was to take the SAM sites out in order, it makes more sense to proceed directly to Datalink Charlie before Bravo. It’s just down the shoreline, and you’ll likely get fired at from that position on your way out of the area anyway.
Driving around is the easiest way to traverse this open-world mission. Jump back in the armored car you were driving earlier, return to your ATVs, or find a new vehicle in the area to get around. You can even walk to Datalink Charlie if you want (or you accidentally destroyed all the cars in the area) — just be careful because you’ll have less cover crossing the bridge on your way there.
When approaching Datalink Charlie, move a little inland and find cover behind one of the few rocky structures in the area. This will give you a place to survey the entire area and take out wandering enemies before you dive in.
Move into the area with multiple small buildings in the southwest corner of the area. There are a few Pax soldiers to take out here, but then you can use the buildings as cover as you use your sniper rifle to pick off enemies closer to the SAM site.
There’s no quick and quiet way to complete this task. It’s going to be a bit chaotic. Try to always know where your next piece of cover is as you advance toward the site. You can use abandoned enemy anti-tank weaponry or mounted machine guns in this area too — you can even take out Data Link Charlie from afar if you’d like.
Once you’ve cleared enough of a path forward, make sure Datalink Charlie is destroyed one way or another before proceeding forward.
Take out Data link Bravo
Now you’ll head toward Datalink Bravo, the more remote target. But before you head that way, make sure to stop in the small village in the middle of the map. There’s no reason to stop here for the mission, but you can find a collectible.
Collectible 2 – Sorbon Vokhidov
This collectible dog tag is located about 200 meters from both Bravo and Charlie, in a small group of houses accessible from the roadway.
Between the brown- and red-roofed houses, enter the smaller building next to the blue tanker — the dog tag is on top of a box by the window inside.
The best way to approach Datalink Bravo is from its right side, as it provides the most cover and a clearer sniper’s view of the site. You’ll have to leg it a bit to reposition, but it’s worth it.
Begin picking off the enemies at the site, beginning with enemy snipers in the watchtower and near the single building in the area.
Pax soldiers are dug in pretty strongly here, with two mounted turrets guarding the approach, backed by several soldiers behind cover. Use your drone here to take out the two mounted machine guns at the very least to ease your advance.
Like the other sites, the approach here is to remain behind cover, overuse the Engage Ready feature to have your squad put in work, and clear a way to the Datalink. Once you’ve taken out enough enemies to get a clear shot, you can take out Datalink Bravo with C4 or other explosive equipment you’ve picked up.
Several Pax jeeps filled with soldiers will descend on your position. If you can, try to get a shot at them early and take out the mounted machine gunners to save you a lot of grief. You can also use your drone or explosives to take them out before the soldiers are able to disperse. If you don’t have a vehicle of your own, try to save one of these from destruction.
Use your drone to clean up any remaining forces in the area that are hiding from you.
Move to Datalink Delta
Now, your squad can move toward the main event — Datalink Delta. You can drive along the lakeshore until you hit a roadblock, then it’s on foot for you. Move to the gatehouse on the right and interact with the controls on the table to open the gate ahead of you.
There will be a very brief cutscene where alarms blare and enemies on the horizon begin heading toward you. A Switchblade turret system will be set up, and you’ll be tasked with firing artillery at the incoming vehicles.
You’ll have to take out three jeeps and a tank (which will take two hits). Aiming the moving artillery is simple, but watch out for pipes in the roadway that can be obstacles if you aren’t careful.
After the missile sequence, your squad will enter the hydroplant, only to be met by a few Pax soldiers and a tank that bursts through a wall directly in front of you. Try to take it out quickly with explosives. If you don’t have the right equipment, duck off to your left and pick up an unguided RPG nearby.
Continue through the hydroplant, and you’ll soon be met by another Pax ambush. Get out of the street and use the surrounding machinery in the hydroplant as cover. You’re in no rush, so use your sniper rifle to take out combatants one at a time.
Enemies will be popping out from all directions, so use the Engage Ready feature liberally so your squadmates know which soldiers to prioritize.
As you leave the mydroplant, be prepared to take out a sniper that fires at you from a hill on your left. It’s relatively peaceful before a shot rings out, so you might get caught off guard.
Proceed down the road a bit, and your squad will spot another convoy a ways off. The Switchblade will get set up again, and you’ll be tasked with taking out the incoming reinforcements with missiles. This time you’ll fire at two helicopters and seven jeeps.
Collectible 3 – Sonia Lima
This collectible dog tag is found during the second Switchblade missile sequence, after destroying Datalink Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie, near the hydro plant where you’ll be shot at by a sniper.
After you’re finished firing the missiles, turn to your left and go up the hill toward the sniper nest where Lopez engages the enemy. You’ll pass a white chair on the path — keep going. The dog tag sits on top of a container in the following area.
Hop in one of the parked jeeps ahead of where you launched the missiles and proceed forward to the dam. You’ll have to cross it to reach Datalink Delta.
There aren’t an overwhelming number of enemies in this area, but they come in waves and are very sneaky about where they like to take cover. Don’t move out in the open unless you’re sure an area is clear, and use your drone to mark targets if you’re still able.
Fighting your way across the dam, don’t be afraid to backtrack a bit to take cover or rest for a moment. At some point, an RPG will damage the bridge you’re walking on — you and Murphy will be forced to fight on a lower level for a brief period.
When you return to the surface, the coast will be clear. Hop on one of the nearby ATVs and speed off toward Datalink Delta in the hills, up the path just ahead of you.
Hop off your ATV before reaching the crest of the hill to avoid driving right into a Pax ambush again. Use your drone to mark and bomb enemies in the area ahead of you. Datalink Delta is surprisingly out in the open here and you can actually take it out with an RPG before clearing the area.
Now you’ll be tasked with cleaning out the rest of the soldiers in this area. This firefight shapes out like many in this mission — hold down the area and take out hostiles one by one as they emerge from the woodwork. The only advantage they have here is a protected turret in an overwatch position. Make sure to target that gunner first with a well-placed sniper round.
After clearing out the forces here, you’ll regroup with the team.
Take Out Mobile AAAs
Unfortunately, the entire system you just took out is about to reboot in just five minutes. Your squad hurriedly tries to coordinate an airstrike on the dam before noticing two mobile anti-aircraft artillery units on top of the dam and ready to defend. In one last effort, your team has to destroy the AAAs to clear the area for an airstrike.
Collectible 4 – Sidi Konate
This dog tag collectible can be found right after you destroy Deltalink Delta and watch the following cutscene. You’ll be assigned to make your way to the top of the dam to take out several anti-aircraft defenses. Follow your squad when they start running away.
They’ll lead you to a pair of vehicles to drive up to the dam. Before you take off, check behind the forklift. On a weapon case next to a canteen and a clipboard is the last dog tag of this mission.
If you’ve been following this guide, you’ll also have completed the campaign challenge for this mission and earned the Gridlock NATO Character Skin.
Follow your squad to another pair of ATVs and speed off toward the dam. Start to drive across the dam, but jump out before you spot any enemy positions.
The coast looks clear, but a Pax helicopter is one step ahead of you and flies in to drop off reinforcements. If you’re quick, you can shoot it down before it drops off troops with an RPG or snipe some of the soldiers as they hop out.
Find a place to hide (we recommend the back of the empty dump truck in the roadway) and use your drone to take out the AAAs. If you’ve used up that gadget, you’ll have to fight forward a bit and destroy them using C4 or an RPG. The enemies here stick behind cover — you just have to wait for them to pop out to shoot at you to take them out. Keep a safe distance and use your sniper rifle as much as you can.
Move down the dam enough, and another helicopter will arrive — you’ll be tasked with taking it out by any means necessary. Luckily, it’s surveying the dam and doesn’t move around too much.
Once you destroy both AAAs, move forward on the top of the dam. Enemy tanks will start firing at you from both ends. Hoof it to a grate that’s marked on your screen, and a cutscene will trigger. Dagger 1-3 will rappel down the side of the dam and manage to steal a cargo truck, getting away just before the airstrike destroys the dam.
Finishing this mission completes a campaign assignment and earns you the Standard Issue Pax Armata Character.
It also earns you the Damned If You Do trophy.