Dogfighting in Battlefield 2
A general guide to the mind of a dogfighter and to the phylosophy of improvement.
Introduction - Author and purpose
I wrote all of this up to create an image of dogfighting in BF2 being more than a simple and easy arcadeish mockery of air power. I tried to not to make this into an educational work, as learning is still a process spanning though experience. More than anything I wrote this for pilots like me to have an interesting read. Its also a window into the head of a player enjoying one specific aspect of the game with a few pointers for better or faster improvement.
I think it's important to note that my beliefs and opinions have changed over the time. For example I once believed that MiG and JSF were equal, but after just a few focused games on MiG I've come to a conclusion that MiG is vastly superior. The technique I use has always been changing, and I may read this same text a few months down the road and disagree with most of what I wrote up here.
Im sure that anyone confident in their field of expertiese can write up something similar and even better. So have a good read.
Table of contents
1. Introduction- Dogfighting
2. Improvement of a pilot in BF2
2.1 Famous tricks in BF2 dogfighting
3. Battlefield 2 pilots
4. Tracking
4.1 Agressive tracking
4.2 Stealthy tracking
4.3 Strategical tracking
5. Knowing your plane
5.1 Plane comparision chart
5.2 Smart *insert plane here* pilot
5.3 The most interesting dogfight combinations
6. Missiles - Understanding the missiles and application of knowledge in combat
7. Cannon - Understanding the cannon and application of knowledge in combat
8. Emotions in gameplay
9. Conclusion
1. Introduction - Dogfighting
In simple terms, dogfighting is 'air to air' combat (ATA). Dogfighting in BF2 shouldnt be compared to real life ATA nor ATA simulations. BF2 gameplay is not only arcadeish but very simplistic and linear. The task however isnt much simplier. Its still a 'player vs player' environment where more often than not the better player has more chances of winning than the worse player. This of course disregards the sinful inbalances in planes, but only for those who cant get their attention and mind off 'mirror balance'.
Fact is, BF2 offers jets for various situations and expecting a F-35B multipurpose fighter to perform aswell as a MiG-29 pure dogfighter in air, will just annoy you. So, even though a better pilot prevails (in most situations), the fact remains- vehicle limits the pilot, its capabilities can and often do dictate the way the dogfight is held and to some extent it pre-determines the outcome of the fight. This is where many, many pilots in BF2 will be extremely annoyed and disappointed. They play one map (Wake) over and over again and develop an opinion that jets in BF2 are all extremely inbalanced and totally screwed up. Yes, one plane is better than other. No, planes are not 100% mirrorbalanced, and they shouldnt be. And while blaming the jet for their loss is the best way to have a fun game with no emotional stress, its also the fastest way to quit personal improvement. The best dogfighter is a progressive one, and BF2 offers a lot to a progressive player.
In some ways DICE got it right with with pre-1.2 patches and the original game. If a weapon possesses a homing capability, its use or opportunities of use should be severely limited. DICE created a compromise between a homing weapon and player based system where the opportunities of missile use were limited and relied on players experience. And even though right now missiles (diregarding missile inbalances) track with high capability of hitting the target, the game has still remained its player vs player environment. And even though right now, the first opportunity can be rewarding, theres still a lot to enjoy. A sniper vs sniper battle on land is just as exciting as a pilot vs pilot fight in air, and if lets say bolt action rifles were changed to one shot kill weapons, the fun would still remain. The main task, outplaying your opponent still remains. And a good dogfighter more often than not outplays a worse pilot.
2. Improvement of a pilot in BF2
Again, comparisions between land player and an air player can be drawn. It happens in stages, each stage represents an event of aqcuiring new knowledge or mastering a new trick and the stage closes with integrating the new methods seamlessly into your regular gameplay. For example- reloading after each conflict, smokepop in a tankfight, application of distance in sniping, bombing HUD switch to missile HUD and spam and so on. Sometimes this can be a hardware upgrade (very often witnessed in land gameplay), for example switching to joystick from an alternative control method. For me, it went somehow like this:
* adjustment to controls
* switching to a joystick
* sneaking behind a target and using machine guns, dumbfiring missiles
* changing graphical settings so that I could view contrails
* learning correct missile shot opportunities on opponents (pre 1.2)
* 'decoding' opponents evasion pattern in less than 5 engagements
* learning and mastering rear view
* learning and mastering fly by view
When I first started flying and up to January 2006, I didint know nor did search websites for BF2 tips an tricks so everything I learned I learned on my own. This gave me enough time to figure out different techniques and improve on my own. The catalyst to learn new methods has always been the same - loss to a better player, or loss to a player in a different jet.
Many players dont strive to improvement because they eagerly blame the better jet for their loss, they play against a weak plane as much as possible and even though they become good and better, they are no challenge if they are put into a worse plane.
Ive seen this over and over again. J10/MiG-29 pilots who refuse to fly th F-35B can not create the same success if put in the worse jet while the players who fly inferior jets as much as possible try to use a lot more thinking, analyzing and they try to squeeze everything theyve got from their jet. Some of them go further than just that and master maneuvers and methods that can be called 'exploits'. Most notable is the 4000+ KPH run of the F-35B. Basically, the first step to improvement is to accept that you as a player arent that good that you can blame the jet for all of your failures. The only player who shouldnt improve is the perfect player and its common sense that none of you is perfect. And while a J-10 will always outfly the F-35B if the pilots are both comparable, youll find that the pilot who puts more pressure on self- improvement may overcome the jet inbalances. For J-10 this can be such a simple thing as making the kill with the first window of opportunity.
The improvement in details lies in the ability to create that window of opportunity and correct weapon use methods to make that successful blow. For example, the method to overcome the J-10 missile deflection is to find a way to land the missile into J-10s broaside so it impacts with the hitbox at 90 degrees. Basically, improvement of a more serious dogfighter in BF2 is like evolution triggered mostly by the necessity for improvement after being bested by a better player. ATA looks almost always like a competition because its mostly a 1 on 1 environment.
Finally, check BF2 forums for valuable information, they are literally filled with unlimited hints, tips, explanations and guides. No matter how good you are or how much youve discovered all by yourself, theres always use to knowing how other players operate, and theres always bits and pieces that you havent found yourself.
2.1 Famous tricks in BF2 dogfighting
*Dumbfiring the missiles - I think this was the first new trick. Pilots saw very soon that missiles did not have a 100% impact rate and created a new approach, they came from behind the target with the bombing HUD equipped and as soon as they closed the distance, they switched to missile HUD and dumbfired as many missiles as possible. Coupled with machine gun fire the target suffered extreme damage or was killed
*Rear chase view - As a countermeasure to this move and as a tool to learn how to bomb, more and more pilots started using the rear view camera mode
*Stratorun - Im willing to bet that this was a discovery of a mistake. The higher the jet is, the faster it will go, but above 800 feet, the speed boost becomes enourmous with JSF getting a massive 4000+ KPH maximum speed
*Fly-by view - The most useful tool for an experienced dogfighter, this allows a pilot to overcome the visual loss of a target
3. Battlefield 2 pilots
Im willing to bet that the pointhunters get a lot more attention (often negative) than the other kind so all pilots get branded by the face of those players. Its a little unfair, but that group does represent the pilot kind in BF2, which is sad. Just visit any BF2 forums, look up a topic about jets and youll find the phrase 'planewhores', 'whores', '*******' or similar on the very first page.
Then again, for a good pilot visiting the same forums, its rather humorous to see that good pilots are mentioned rarely or actually never. In game, the words 'thank you' are used to reply to players who drop you a medpack, ammo pack, or who wrenches a little. The player who saves another player in combat will almost never get thanked. Im using the word 'almost' to give people the benefit of the doubt, because I personally do not remember being thanked for saving my teammates from an incoming armor or something similar. So what kind of players there really are in the air?
* the 'novice' - these pilots have just started flying and they also focus on uncaps. They are actually a subkind to pointwhores. They dont know what to do, how to perform their role and simply lack experience. They dont know how to bomb so they are forced to drop on uncaps to have a few lucky kills. Their engagement methods are limited to spamming all 6 missiles at the locked on target and then flying towards the uncap to drop the load. Experience will mold another kind of player of those.
* the 'pointwhore' - pretty straightforward, this player only attacks the areas that bring in the biggest score, usually in one blow. Youll see this type of player attacking uncaps over and over again usually ignoring other flags. This type of players biggest dogfight move is following the target for one turn. They usually focus on two flags, OPFOR uncap and his uncap. They were the first kind to master the use of machine gun use on ground targets. When engaged they are usually an easy prey, they always try to score that extra few points before getting killed and dogfighting with them isnt that challenging, simply because they dont give a damn whether they die or not. The better this pilot gets, the more they develop in other areas, but more often than not they simply neutralize their lacks with flying only the best planes. They dont look for ATA challenge, however they do take a jet which offers as much advantages as possible so they wont get taken down. Majority of this kind of players represent the pilots of BF2. Every player has their own personality and style of course, but generally the way they play is obvious.
* the 'bomber' - this is the player every groundpounder would want on their team. The bomber focuses on effective 'air to surface' (ATS), hes a step forward from 'novice', an overall more experienced pilot who prefers to engage ground targets. The difference between him and pointwhore is that the bomber does not recognize uncaps as the only kind of target. They actually show that tunnel vision isnt equipped in their arsenal and they attack targets that are better for either him or the team. Their experience also gives them the ability and confidence to engage targets in ATA combat although more often than not they simply engage the targets of opportunity and disengage as soon as they figure out that its a useless pursuit.
* the 'maverick' - this kind is the opposite of the bomber. Air targets come as a priority at almost all situations. This is the dogfighter kind of player who takes a dogfight as a small personal competition where winning or losing a dogfight costs more than the result in score in the end of the round. Good enugh to deliver an impact in ATS fighting, they are often ignored by the public because they arent as irritating as pointwhores. Its quite saddening though, that even though they keep the skies clean, they arent appreciated. Labeled by "PlaneWhore" as useless players, their impact on the gameplay comes from a different area. They deny the OPFOR proper air support thus giving their teammates a better ground for armor use.
* the 'overall player' - there is no such kind. Every player has a tendency to focus on something, some specific task. Points, ATA, ATS are the 3 most obvious targets of interest.
These are the general types of BF2 pilots you may encounter on the field. Of course everyone has their own individuality, but they can all be segmented into one of these groups. Not by the results, but by their attitude and focus. Theres a very general kind - 'smacktard' kind, which comes from the persons own personality and not their gameplay.
4. Tracking
Using the conditions created by the game world in BF2 dogfighting is pretty much useless, however using the the information and experience about jets and their difference is extra important. People disregard that too easily and revert back to the very simple visual tracking, which means they simply turn as soon as they see a jet and dont even try to align their path with the target.
Path aligning is the one most underused and useful method in creating a good tracking pattern. Lets say a jet passes in front of the regular pilot. Regardless of which plane they have, they always turn straight into the OPFORs line of flight thus passing the flight line (easily distinguished by contrails), in attempt to regain visual contact as soon as possible. If the OPFOR is smart the following ride will be jumpy. Imagine a car trying to get on the highway from muddy surface at 90- 50 degree angle - what happens is that the driver will waste additional time, car speed and most important, attention on aligning the car with the tarmac. Smart drivers get back on the road at as small angle as possible.
Same in dogfighting. In turns, especially in F-35B vs J-10/ MiG-29 fights theres a specific point in a turn where the JSF pilot can 'cut' a corner giving him a slight chance of locking on to a target. What happens next is that even though the HUD has a lock, the missile does not see the target and flies on empty. The worst loss is in the fact that the jet is now not tracking the target and JSF pilot has to waste additional time tracking the target down, aligning the path of the jet or even worse, finding the target for another missile shot. Instead, if he followed the target through the turn using contrails as the 'roadmarks', he could have a shot opportunity right behind next turn.
This happens less with MiG-29/ J-10 pilots because their jets have smaller turn diameters and path aligning is much easier for them. But mistakes they do are the same and as soon as they sit into a JSF this will bite them back tenfold, in evasions this first turn mistake can be used by JSF pilots to lose the chaser in the first evasion maneuver.
One method to overcome better turn diameters is using the fly-by view. Instead of attempting to regain the target into the field of view or at least its contrails, pilots switch to outside view and guide their jets in open environment where they see everything. The challenge is in flying the jet in a totally new environment but once mastered, the pilot can overcome the differences in maneuverability or at least make them affect the dogfight less drastically. Arguably the most needed improvement once a pilot is comfortable with his controls.
Quite simply - correct technique used with patience tracking brings more success. Patience is a direct result of a pilot having a killer instinct and Ill get to that later on.
4.1 Agressive tracking
It has its ups and downs depending on the situation. Agressive tracking forces the target into evasive maneuvers even though the distance between two jets is usually long. Heres is when the mistakes made in evasive maneuvers cost the most. Usually the target pulls straight up often dropping flares in the process. Since the tracker is at a distance they have to move a lot less to keep the target locked. When the tracker has better plane the path is aligned much faster and missile shot opportunities are created much faster.
This is the opening move. After the initial lock- on, the target is tracked with full lock weapons used at every opportunity. This serves three purposes: one, target is forced to spend their afterburner and flares early in the engagement leaving them voulnerable at the next missile shot opportunity; two, targets may make the mistake early in the engagement and go for a multiple evasive maneuver while staying in the trackers line of sight and finally they are psychologically affected by the lock on tone.
4.2 Stealthy tracking
Since most pilots always watch behind themselves after they exit the bombing run, youll know when they look behind themselves. So unless youre ready for a kill, make them feel safe and engage just moments after they have changed the course after the bombing run.
Stealthy tracking usually turns into agressive tracking after the opening blow and heavily depends on the result of the first moments of engagement. Used mostly by pilots flying inferior jets to rely on surprise attacks rather than full out dogfighting involving maneuvers.
The difference in the psychological effect is pretty drastic. Stealthy tracking can continue in bomb HUD mode with machine gun use only. Not much practical use against F-35B, but if the chase is composed mainly of loops which may make missile use harder, full out machinegun use may force the target into the extensive use of rolls and maneuver switches. Here's where missile alarm silence makes the target build more confidence, which eventually leads them into making mistakes. Scoring missile hits from inbetween targets maneuver switches becomes a simple task. This can take time, but definitely pays off. Especially when the dogfight is held using similar jets.
4.3 Strategical tracking
4.4 Tracking - finding your target
inding your target is an important part of a dogfight, naturally. Even though the maps in BF2 are small, you can still have quite a problem actually finding your target. The more time is wasted on locating them, the more damage they inflict on your team, or even worse the bigger the chance that they locate you f irst. Youve got several methods. One, a pilot is always reloading at their air strip. Two, if youre flying as a medic, pay attention to the kill messages and the minimap. If theres a list of killed teammates, and a loctaion on the map lights up with medic marks, the target has just passed it. Use common sense and instincts to determine where the target is heading.
In a middle of a dogfight, if youve lost your target, you cant use fly-by view, and you didnt spot the target, use your insticts. Most pilots are right-handed, so most of the pilots flight maneuvers are similar. This can be a split-S with a roll and a downwards descending loop (most common, believe it or not). If you are confident that youve spooked your target enough, then you will most likely find them heading to their air strip. Its amazing how you can use human phsychology in the game. Infantry reloads, tank drivers back away or pop smoke and run, chopper pilots descent behind trees and back off, but jet pilots fly straight towards their air strip. They all do this to regain confidence. Somehow the airstrip makes them feel safe again. Doesnt matter if a pilot has full stock of ammo and full armor. If they have been scared, and if they have lost the chaser, they will try to regain their selfconfidence. The most likely place to find that, is a friendly airbase. In Wake, sometimes after the dogfight, Ive seen J10 pilots fly towards the strip even though USMC has the flag. Most of all, I see myself do the same very often. Doesnt matter how good I am, or how bad the opposition was, if they have managed to scare me, and affect my selfconfidence, they have made me want to make a pass over the airfield.
5. Knowing your plane
MiG-29
J-10
F-18A
While most BF2 weapons are/ were pretty much mirrorbalanced, excluding unlocks, the jets and airpower in general had a wider meaning of balance. At first, each faction had its own ace in certain levels. MEC had the 'Havoc', USMC flew the 'Black Hawk' and PLA had the J-10.
Unfortunately for most mature players, DICE took out USMC air mastercard leaving it with an inferior F-35B and no counterbalancer for MiG-29, Mi-28, all bombers and of course the J-10. Theres F-18 with its missile deflection but in all other aspects its still an inferior jet to its counterparts. Fulcrum vs Hornet is probably the most fair fight and even here Fulcrum has the better turn radius.
In the very general meaning, jets arent different, they are just weaker or stronger than each other and even though mirror balance is for BF2 players who are still in grade school, with now USMC not having a say in balance issues, BF2 pilots are left with a challenge.
Some have switched to PLA/ MEC side, some are using the F-35B with grinding teeth. And even though in wider sense all jets can be set into a ladder where J-10 is at the pole position and F-35B is at the bottom with its big sister F-15, there are certain differences in details that allow pilots to use one jets strenghts and opponents jets weaknesses to at least increase the chances to end a dogfight in their favour. However, golden rule of BF has been : do not learn the arsenal, its only a arcade game. I can say that I do not have met a F-35B pilot who has not been killed by me while I was in a superior jet.
That means that when players are equal, jets have a say who wins. And its even easier to down a F-35B. So no illusions there, although a pilot has a lot to say in a dogfight, the engagement type is just as important. Im not going to grind numbers here because that would just bore most people and they can get all of these in www.totalBF2.com forums using the simple search function.
5.1 Plane comparision chart
F-35B 'Lightning II'
*Worst turn radius, at least 15% worse than J-10s and MiGs
*Fastest roll rate and fastest response time to controls making it the most agile jet
*30% less afterburner time with the exact same afterburner regeneration time
*Fastest acceleration and deceleration
*Lowest average speed (turns and loops included)
*Highest maximum speed (afterburner engaged)
*High speed boost with afterburner
MiG-29 'Fulcrum'
*Second best turn radius next to J-10
*Slowest roll rate of all fighters but better response tim than J-10 has
*High afterburner capacity
*Medium average speed with low maximum speed
*Medium acceleration and deceleration
*Medium speed boost with afterburner
J-10
*Best turn radius, slighly better than MiGs
*Third best total roll rate, better than MiGs
*Slight control response delay
*High afterburner capacity
*Highest average speed
*Second highest maximum speed
*Small afterburner speed boost bonus
F-18A 'Hornet'
*Third best turn radius, but not far behind MiGs nor J-10s making it an almost equal jet in that area
*Second best roll rate, close to JSF
*Short afterburner timer
*In speed F18 and MiG29 are nearly the same
*Higher than average acceleration
5.2 Smart *insert plane here* pilot
A smart player does not use his equipment in a way so that it will favour the opposition. This is a common case with JSF pilots who ignore the jets exceptional agility and choose maneuvers which other jets can follow. Even such simple maneuver as barrel roll, if done multiple times in a row, other jets have a hard time following it through. Learning jets differences doesnt include flying worst jets at all times with no exception.
A good way to learn is to fly a superior jet against an inferior and experience the difficulties in certain tracking moments yourself. A good pilot remembers where he had difficulties and later on, when the tables have turned, he uses this new knowledge to his favour.
5.3 The most interesting dogfight combinations
My perhaps most interesting fight has been against a pilot who flew with his brother. I flew the MiG, they both flew the JSF, it was in a pre-1.2 patch environment and the dogfight lasted for quite a while. After about 10 minutes or so, I won the fight, but only because the JSF pilot playing bait (younger brother) stayed stable for a little too long. After taking one pilot down, it wasnt overly hard to take down the older brother. The dogfight could have ended in their favour, if the older brother would have made it behind me faster, and utilize the moment of my voulnerability in his favour.
6. Missiles - Understanding the missiles and application of knowledge in combat
The way the missiles are guided is related to helicopters TV guided missiles. They have 2 axis and they change their course after a set period of time, defined in milliseconds, it has been changed throughout patches. After each period, the missile tracking screen gets refreshed, and the course gets adjusted towards targets new location. The field of view is limited and has been changed throughout the patches. In the latest patch it was 45 degrees.
This change was made because of this problem. Missiles relock to the next best heatsource after they miss their target and because of relatively wide field of view (90 degrees) there was plenty to choose from. This also brought up a problem where upon entering terminal distance the missiles stopped locating certain jets heatsource and lost track of their target.
Then theres the potential turn rate of the missiles, which is right now 5 times higher than it was in original game. Missiles can make 180 degree turns and their turn capability is virtually unlimited.
Very important is missile launch speed and the combination of speeds. Missile launcher adds 'X' KPH to missile speed, missile itsself has 'Y' maximum speed and jets current speed 'Z' gets added to the equation: x+y+z= missile maximum speed. Basically if the evading jets maximum speed is higher than this number, which is a rare occasion, the target can outrun the missile.
Missiles also had a delay between launch moment and activation, where they started tracking their targets. Right now its set to such a low number that its marginal.
The most common mistake in launching missiles is disregarding missile lock angle, or field of view. So what happens is that upon launching, the missiles exit the jet at an angle at which they do not see their target.
Understanding the anomalies is also needed. J-10 tail section blocks missiles field of view at the heatsource and its hitbox mesh is at a degree which promotes missiles not registering a hit at the target. Its advised to shoot from angles at which the missiles approach the target so that they see the heatsource, in J-10 case its from the sides or from its belly.
In Single Player these anomalies do not occur, so I take a wild guess and say its because of the ping (and field of view of course, mostly). Missiles have 500 units of damage against jets 1000 hitpoints and they also have quite nice of a splash damage. Getting a hit at a target where the impact is at the center of a body distributes maximum splash damage to the jet and can get the target to dark smoke.
7. Cannon - Understanding the cannon and application of knowledge in combat
All jets differ in cannon placement and different players prefer different layouts. MiG and J have them placed on the side and USMC jets have them set at the center of the nose. Personally I prefer the non-traditional placement for a dogfight. In heavy maneuvering, a little chaotic placement has proven to suit better for me. However, pilots who have a better hand at machinegun aiming usually like the central placement.
Cannon ammunition capacity also has a major say in the lenght of a dogfight. Pilot should never break off from a dogfight. 600 rounds vs 300 rounds can make a difference. Nowadays, with better tracking missiles its not much of a problem, however, if the tracker is F-18, against J-10, 600 rounds of ammo says that even with emtpy missile box, the dogfight goes on, and usually until the end of J-10. Ive ran out of ammo in J-10 and MiG-29 many times, and I have never ran out of ammo in USMC fighters so the memories from that part are only positive.
Next underanalyzed issue is the distance. In maneuvers the cannon range is actually pretty limited and leading the cannon is actually harder or less useful than it seems. At certain distance, even leading the target becomes useless. Watch closely at jets having a gun fight, you can easily see the effective range of the machine guns, which is about 3 jet lenghts. Note that Im speaking about using the guns in turns. Cannons are definitely the most rewarding weapons in a dogfight, especially nowadays.
8. Emotions in gameplay
The more emotions emerge in the gameplay, the more fun the game becomes. I enjoy the adrenaline rush and the competitive feel which comes with a good dogfight and luckily I havent been talkig smack back to a pilot who has beaten me. I, however have taken a load of hacking accusations along with needless ****.
In sports, real life or competitive, being a bad losers doesnt necessarily mean you are useless. Bad losers who accept their own fault, will overcome every nerf, every obstacle, or every challenge, in theory anyway.
9. Conclusion
Take the worse plane more often, pay attention to the details, especially those that define the outcome of a dogfight. Always play against better or good players and develop that killer instinct. Learning through experience is the key, but too many people rely on learning through conventional means, such as 'playing to get better', which basically means that they only focus on their piloting skills.
An analyzing mind and thinking player who forecasts a few moves ahead has the upper hand in a dogfight. A thinking player does not fly so that it favours their opposition. Try to figure out an answer to 'why?' to get an answer to question 'how?'. Remember that backwards engineering and reproducing the events in your favour is a powerful tool. Every pilot has his own individual pattern and style and everything can be figured out.
Dogfighting is a constant competition and the best party wins. At least this is how it is in theory. For the sake of peace of mind, missile impact bugs and whatnot should be considered as bugs which should be fixed.
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