I gots me some choppa vs. AA questions.

[Thirdeyez]

Ok so Im a little confused on choppers and all the in and outs of there effectiveness, along with some usual complaints I see around the boards about the nerfs to them.

Ok...firstly.
So today im on Dalian, Im on foot and I hop in a AA site.
Now I see the chopper, he doesnt see me. I land to direct AA shots..he flies away smoking. So in doing this I pretty much gave up my position it seems.
So now seconds later Im staring right at him as he is coming towards me..I get TV'd..yet I never even had a lock..this happened repeatedly. Now after repeated attempts to hit this guy with AA Im constantly hit with TV's. Also occasionally if he did stray into my area I would lose lock.
So to sum it up...defensively vs. choppers its only worth shooting AA's at pre-damaged choppers? And also TV missle range is better then AA range? Is soloing really that effective dropping locks?
If those 3 statements are true...then why do you guys say stuff like "Use the AA"? Also why do certain people cry about TV range being nerfed? How do you use AA on a chopper and have time to reload and actually land a third shot without becoming TV/cannon fodder.

Lastly...since Ive been trying to gain Heli hours these last 2 months Ive wondered something else. Are all maps basically this scenario...
Take off..fly high...find enemy chopper..if he sees you then it becomes a TV missle barrel roll contest..once enemy chopper is down proceed to attack infantry/Armor..enemy chopper respawns and you eithier...
A. Keep your self alert and prepare for the enemy chopper so you can engage in a barrel roll/TV fight
B. Forget that enemy chopper is on the way back and then proceed to be blind sided by a TV missle.

[Chris_Redfield]

Re: I gots me some choppa vs. AA questions.

STA lock radius : 375 metres
Chopper TVGM distance: 450 metres
STA site lock time: 1 second (I think so)

Missiles needed to take out a chopper from STA site: 3, I think thats for jets too.

Extra1: If you man a STA site, it will disappear from peoples minimap, so you basically reveal your location halfway across the map. As you know, unoccupied vehicles and equipment is marked as grey.

[Chodda]

Re: I gots me some choppa vs. AA questions.

AA's can be very effective against choppers. You have to wait till they flare before you fire. If a chopper gets a lock its going to bring its attack to a halt, the last thing they want is to be shot down. I honestly don't know how much damage each AA missile causes so I couldn't help you with that. A good technique is to hide and wait for them to get within an easy range, then hop on it real quick, give them a quick lock, force them to flare, then fire your shots. A good chopper crew will take out any AA positions before moving in, even if it's empty. Now, thats pub talk. You get a fair amount of tv missiles to work with. In matches though you only get a few and you need to use your missiles wisely and you have to be good enough to make your shots count. If there is a situation where two good chopper crews are against each other, most likely they hang back out of range and let the commander do the spotting of the enemy chopper. The AA's try to take down the enemy chopper because armor is important, if their chopper is up taking your armor down then your in a bad situation. Eventually though there will be a chopper duel but I don't see them happen right off the bat, especially if mobile anti-airs are a factor on that particular map.

[Chris_Redfield]

Re: I gots me some choppa vs. AA questions.

Theres also a situation where missiles go right through the flares. So dont be discouraged. Many pilots try to nail out your position and shoot flares as the missiles are en-route. You can risk your shots and fire both missiles as pilots often get late and the flares end up between the missile and the chopper. If that happens, theres a good chance that the missile will just "connect the dots" and end up in the chopper anyway. Chodda gave you a gold tip, which you should have figured out with the minimap and equipment occupation thing- dont sit in the STA. Simply turn the STA where you think the target may be, and stay nearby. Then, jump in, lock- after this its everyones technique. I usually fire both as soon as I lock, even if they drop flares. Then, I wait for a reload, and wait for flares to drop and fire two.

[Chodda]

Re: I gots me some choppa vs. AA questions.

Yep Yep, if you wait for them to get within a certain range, they cannot possibly outrun you based upon the time if takes for aa's to reload their two missiles.

[DOGGiE52]

Re: I gots me some choppa vs. AA questions.

the most important thing to do is get into an AA with a very good FOV. That means that an hostile chopper will have to move quickly and very far to hide from your lock, which is exactly what you want.

[USAF Thrifty]

Re: I gots me some choppa vs. AA questions.

Don't forget to wait for the flares when shooting at choppers.

The better pilots actually know when a missile is on them, so fire one and if they flare, track them and shoot while they are vulnerable.

Choppers are also harder to hit in turns. Wait until they stop or set a heading in one direction.

Last bit of advice: Don't stay in the AA all the time. Jump out if an enemy heli is facing you, he's probably gonna TV you. Jump out when the station is reloading, too. Lowers your chance of being killed.


Good luck Mister

[ponton]

Re: I gots me some choppa vs. AA questions.

So today im on Dalian, Im on foot and I hop in a AA site.
Now I see the chopper, he doesnt see me. I land to direct AA shots..he flies away smoking. So in doing this I pretty much gave up my position it seems.
So now seconds later Im staring right at him as he is coming towards me..

Thats why I like to have buggy with this .50cal gun near :)

[Sloi sauce]

Re: I gots me some choppa vs. AA questions.

Weird... this is the kind of thread I hope comes up, because I have so much wisdom/advice to share. Now that it's here, I can't find a way to convey my thoughts. Funny how that works eh? O_o;

Yes, helicopters can be pretty formulaic (actually, I have my routine down to an algorithm) but no matter what, they're always entertaining. :)

[+DNC+BongSquad]

Re: I gots me some choppa vs. AA questions.

what about his specific question regarding switching seats in solo'ing and whether that breaks missle lock?


answer the man!

[Chris_Redfield]

Re: I gots me some choppa vs. AA questions.

It doesnt break the lock, but its been said that missiles sometimes wont register a hit. I would say shoot ahead, even if they switch seats.

[disfigured]

Re: I gots me some choppa vs. AA questions.

When defending against choppers in the AA battery, don't underestimate the value of having the AT kit.

I've gotten 1 out of 2 hits from the AA battery and then used an AT round to finish off still lurking but smoking chopper pilots.

Some back off and get repairs, some linger too long, when they do that's when you can get them to "Pop" with an AT round.

I think the chopper to ground and even infantry balance is just fine. I like a challenge, and to be the underdog, and well an infantryman should be considering the ability of the chopper to hover and have two gunners.

As much as it's frustrating to die and respawn multiple times to take out a chopper, if a "one shot" weapon were created (shoulder fired AA) , I think it would throw off what is now a good balance. Which is a chopper dominates unless the ground troops make a concerted effort to fight him off.

One can't expect to spawn as a sniper or other kit, and expect to slink off to their next destination. If the chopper is pounding your spawn , come back AT and scramble like crazy.

[brianthebold]

Re: I gots me some choppa vs. AA questions.

To somewhat answer your Seat-switching missile lock question, I was seat-switching in a nearly empty server last night, insomnia wake, with only about 18 people on. It was one of my first times seat-switching, and I must say, it was great fun to take out the enemy chopper on my own, but sometimes I was not fast enough to regain control of the chopper...but thats another story.

The Chinese had two IGLA's manned, that were within range of me. I took out one of them right as it fired at me, so I was in TV mode at the time, and both of his missiles missed me by a wide margin. I went back into pilot, spun around just in time to see the other guys missiles firing, stayed in pilot, and they both hit. It might have just been random dumb luck that the two missed while I was in the gunner seat, but I do not think so.