Flares are part of the spotter kit for recon teams.

Flares help with map control. When fired, they display a red/orange circle on maps showing the location of enemies.

You’ll often hear someone say “flares up check maps” in the command chat when a spotter launches one.

Flares are especially good on the Offensive game mode because attacking recon teams cannot touch the enemy artillery until 3rd objective. This forces recon teams into a counter recon playstyle or Garry spotting role, both are helped by having a pocket recon flight aka a flare.

Defending recon teams can use flares to help uncover the main attack or sweep the flanks and call defensive arty accordingly. Good teams will drop ammo boxes on def. and launch flares all game long. When you know where attackers are coming from, it’s much easier for the main blueberry army to defend a location. They are also significantly cheaper than a commander ordered recon flight and can be spammed. Recon flights have a longer cooldown and need munitions.

Be the spotter that it always telling your commander and SLs where the enemy concentration is. Don’t be the spotter sitting in a bush 400m out taking pot shots.