The Battlefield Blog has detailed the four classes that will be in Battlefield 3 -- Assault, Engineer, Support, and Recon -- and there have been a bunch of changes to the old formula.
First and foremost, there is no Medic class. The Assault class now has medkits and defibrillator abilities to give the person on the frontline the ability to revive your fallen brothers in arms. Engineers will repair vehicles, take them down with RPGs, destroy cover, and wield Carbines so they can actually shoot down some enemies as well.
The Recon class is the sniper class, but DICE's Senior Multiplayer Designer Alan Kertz says that the Recon won't just be a sniper but will have "several completely new teamplay oriented gadgets" to make the Recon more of a team player. Gadgets that will be revealed "a bit further down the road." Drones and combat air support perhaps?
The Support class arguably has the most interesting new tools at hand, as it doesn't just wield an LMG but now has access to Bipods and Suppressive Fire. The Bipod provides increased stability and recoil reduction, and can be deployed anywhere on the field by going prone and zooming in with your LMG, or by standing or kneeling in front of "suitable supports" such as a window sill.
Suppressive Fire is something else entirely. If you shoot at an enemy at close range, the enemy player will get a graphical blur effect on his screen to stress him or her out while affecting gameplay in two ways. On the one hand, this blur effect will tell the enemy player that it's not safe to get out of cover and die instantly. On the other hand, being under Suppressive Fire affects the enemy player's accuracy. And as an added bonus, you get team play experience for laying down Suppressive Fire.
All classes can be customized according to your preferred play style, so you can create a medic-heavy Assault class if you really miss being a Medic.
Battleblog #2: With A Bit Of Class [Battlefield Blog via Rock, Paper, Shotgun]
Contest:
8:20 AM on 07.08.2011 | 
i hate having to choose a set class with set abilities. just let me be who i want using what i want when i want.
As someone who always ran out of ammo as a Medic: I'm OK with this.
Though, won't this make the Assault class the most overpowered in the game? Can the Assault still hand out Ammo as well? Health _AND_ Ammo regen would make it over-fucking-powered. I know which class I'm going to be playing.
Also, they made Snipers more of a team player in Bad Company 1, 2, when they gave them an Air Strike. If the Assault no longer has the ammo-regen, would they give it to the sniper? Making them even more overpowered and even less of a team-player?
Also, also: The Engineer looks like it's getting zero changes. As someone who loved earning easy-as-fuck XP at low levels; SUP WIT DAT?!
I saw commenters on the Battlefield Blog say that the Support class will drop ammo like the Assault class used to. I'm not really a Battlefield expert though.
Also, Engies get carbines? YES. Fuck dem SMGs, you hear me Epic?!?
i seriously cannot wait.
My heart is currently under attack.
FUCK YO CARBINES, SON! I NEED SHIT THAT SPITS FIRE!
Burst fire carbines, though.
It's OK bro.
*defibrillates*
/thread.
Give this man the $100,000. This thread is over.
Yes, it will make assault OP as shit, if they're doing what they did in 2142. This is a great thing. In 2142 infantry maps like Camp Gibraltar, teams of 24 assault would walk forward as a single entity killing enemies and reviving teammates. It was beautiful.
Seriously, this is a great indication that BF3 won't disappoint as much as BC2 did (if you're a Battlefield fan).
But I know it's going to be just as broken as Bad Company 2.
Another factor might be that people in a team-based game filled with randoms on Xbox Live would likely never choose to be the medic. So now it could become a choice between "regular big guns with heal" and "big BIG guns with big ammo." Guns!
Game looks awesome and sounds awesome but man, these character classes seems so uneccesarily *busy*. I want my Medic back :(
I too want my medic. Favorite class.
But I will inevitably play this new Support class with whatever gadgets it has. :3
I wanted a Battlefield sequel, not a bad company sequel.
CONFIRMED DUMB-ED DOWN FOR CONSOLE PLAYERS
CONFIRMED DUMB-ED DOWN FOR CONSOLE PLAYERS
CONFIRMED DUMB-ED DOWN FOR CONSOLE PLAYERS
CONFIRMED DUMB-ED DOWN FOR CONSOLE PLAYERS
WANT!
Stiil, I second that.
This is now what I want my load-outs to be, from now on! If DICE doesn't do it, I will personally MOD MY PERSONAL COPY OF BF3 to read:
• Regular big guns(with heal)
• Big BIG guns(with big ammo)
• Engineer
• Recon
You're correct, I totally read the "building facades" part as being separate from the destruction part of the sentence. Cheers!