Stingers ?

[vulcan]

Anybody have any real luck with the stingers in this game ?
Playing last night on Dragon Valley as Chinese and was using one of the emplacements at the small temple on the hill in the middle of the map and couldn't hit jack shite with it. A blackhawk would fly over low trying to cap the flag, I lock on with what should be a direct hit, fire and the humming thing zips over the blackhawk and misses......

It reloads and the second shot zips away to the side nowhere near the blackhawk target it had acquired ??????

I gave up in the end and hit it with an AT missile and then hid.

[shadow_wolf]

ya stingers arent that great...a 'lock' doesnt really mean much. Except they can be perfect, because then air units wouldnt stand a chance, but they should atleast be made better.

[Denigrate]

I've had very little luck with them too......I think at least the reload speed should be increased. Its very hard to hit anything with 2 shots and by the time it reloads the aircraft is gone.

[Brian]

If the pilot just started playing the game 10 minutes ago, I'm money with a stinger. Anyone that knows how to push X or the spacebar in my case, will fly away laughing at you.

[tehpwnerofnoobs]

I tend to do well with stingers, I only use them in certain situations. Probably because I haven't played with any great pilots. Helos are easy cheese to nail, lock and make em panic. If they don't flare within 3 seconds let em have a pair. If a friendly aircraft flies in the general area of the shot the missiles will automatically earn you some TKs instead, so be careful.

[Figge]

When i use stingers and get a lock on... fires, sometime the stingers hit... but when they miss they seem to lock on to my team m8's and i get punished for that... the stingers are just ****.

[shadow_wolf]

thats why I tend not to use them unless I really think it will hit, otherwise I get team damage out of nowhere.

[Dr-X]

I dont know why you all suck with stingers so much, but I find them bloody good. I can take out damn near any helicopter with them - jets are another story, though. If you're getting beaten by flares, you just suck and dont know how to use it.

[baggygreen]

I dont know why you all suck with stingers so much, but I find them bloody good. I can take out damn near any helicopter with them - jets are another story, though. If you're getting beaten by flares, you just suck and dont know how to use it.

well perhaps you could expound the community with your wealth of knowledge?

I dont get beaten by flares, and rarely get bombed - NEVER SIT IN A STINGER FOR LONG! you show up to enemy aircraft and choppers as a nice big box, only get in when you got a clear shot

[hrpuffnstuff02]

Stingers are invaluable, not just to take out helicopters, but low flying and usually bombing jets.
Typically, if your going up against a jet, you should aquire a lock and wait to see what the pilot does; if he or she pulls to the left or right, or expells flares, wait. Once the jet is in a seemingly straight corse, shoot both missiles as fast as possible. Jets are kind of tricky because they can move in and out of your stinger visibility range quite fast, depending on speed. It is therefore that stingers should be used predominately on low flying jets that are strafing your flags while simultaneously bombing. If a jet is flying toward you but doesnt know the location of your stinger, lock onto it on its approach and wait for it to pass you. Once past, immediately fire the missiles, for the missile's turning characteristics are somewhat like the jet's on a similar trajectory and therefore have a better chance of making contact.
Timing to beat the flare defense of jets and helos has become a bit less predictable, due to the emboldened pilots that have learned to initally out maneuver the first wave of aa missiles and if a missile lock persists, then let off a set of flares.
If the pilot of the targeted aircraft (or the gunner for that matter) learns the position of the stinger sites around each map and if they are being locked on by your stinger (and that stinger happens to be the only one in the general area that could lock onto that plane's/helo's location), then chances are the pilot knows where you are and will either position himself to take you out as soon as possible or fall back to strafe your position if you serve as an important target. In this case, get the hell out of there and hide behind some cover to watch the aircrafts movement. I have escaped many gattlings and bombings from strafing enemy jets at a friendly airbase by following this tactic.
If your worried about team damage, check your overhead map before firing and make sure there are know friendly aircraft behind or infront of your target in accordance with your angle of fire.

[Dr-X]

I've never hit a team mate, or even had a missile track a team mate. In fact, I've specifically tried to take out team mates, but cannot get the missiles to track them. I dont know what you're all doing wrong.

[Dloan]

I'd love to know what you're doing that I'm not then. I've watched my missiles pass straight through the helicopter (there's a movie out there showing the exact same thing). I watched my missiles approach the target to just before impact and then pull 90 degree turns (that they never pull off to chase down your targets) and zip off in another direction, sometimes resulting in TKs. Are you saying you never see these problems?

[BigFinger]

stingers are crap...mounted .50 on a jeeps thats where its at for anti chopper fun...



.

[colony]

Im a skilled Helo pilot, so most of the time i can avoid mounted stingers quite easily. I played with my buddy today for a couple hours and we tore it up, hes an AMAZING gunner, with those camera missiles (lining up a shot to a blackhawk w/ 6 people inside is VERY gratifying). I lined him up and he took out the mounted stingers most of the time before we got too close to the base we wanted to assault.The biggest thing that gives problems is the Linebackers....if someone knows what they are doing with it, it can be hard to take out. Its mobile with more missiles and a pretty good machine gun.

[Dr-X]

I'd love to know what you're doing that I'm not then. I've watched my missiles pass straight through the helicopter (there's a movie out there showing the exact same thing). I watched my missiles approach the target to just before impact and then pull 90 degree turns (that they never pull off to chase down your targets) and zip off in another direction, sometimes resulting in TKs. Are you saying you never see these problems?

Yes, honestly, I've never had those problems - even after dozens of stinger kills. I simply wait for a lock, wait for flares to be dropped, then wait for a good distance and good angle of attack, then fire both missiles. I have a hit ratio of about 70%, which means I almost always hit with at least one missile - usually both, taking down the aircraft.

The key is picking your shots - have patience, and wait for a good angle of attack, like from behind, or a side shot if it's travelling very slow, turning slowly, or hovering.