Intermediate attack helicopter tactics?

[kev]

So you've figured out how to fly reasonably well. You can hover, turn a fast 180, hug the landscape, aim your missiles and work with your gunner - the basics. Can any pilots offer tips on taking things to the next level?

Speaking for myself, I can do pretty well on kubra and quite well on fushe, but my shortcomings really show on sharqi. I spend most of the time getting owned by the enemy heli / AA and generally messing up, whilst the good pilots (you can really tell by gunning for them) can rack up 60, 70, 80 points with few deaths.

So, other than practice and more practice, I wonder what specific manoeuvres and other tricks are worth learning.

Cheers!

[Flux_69]

try to fly at high altitude but so you still can see the ground...find a target and dive directly down on it...

[UnrealAlex]

try to fly at high altitude but so you still can see the ground...find a target and dive directly down on it...

what thats stupid no offense

1) Its a lot harder to aim that way
2) Youll end up crashing while trying to kill something

[exho]

if you know where the aa cannon that is shooting at you from just circle it when your flying in a circle the missles cant make a sharp enough turn to hit you... then once 2 missles wiz by turn and boom

[Jensen]

sharqi is hell because of all the AA. The trick is timing of flare releases and maneuvers.

to avoid AA you have to be doing something that is not paralell to the missle route. The easiest thing if you dont' know where your being shot from is to go level and climb. Don't use flares yet.

Find out where the missles are coming from and then dive to attack. As your coming in for the kill launch flares so he can't hit you and you win vs AA every time.

[Alphaeno]

Use the terrain. Pop up, fire, pop down. Perfect this and rule. But you need a gunner

[-Ryu^-]

In my experience I tend to own in my chopper as long as I have a good decent gunner. Numerous times I have hovered over enemy bases and my gunner simply likes to sleep expecting me to give them all the kill assists. Getting small infantry soldiers is pretty hard on occassions and when you have gunner you're expecting them to at least shoot, but that is often too hard for some

[0ld7im3R]

HI,

AISB

Men !!

I'm too adicted to copters to stay quite!!

I ll tell you my best tricks

AS A PILOT :
- Capt flags : My best tech to take flags safely is to turn around making 360° describing a litle circle around the flag, so your gunner have a prefect wiew of whats going on at land. Better is to ask him to destry any jeep or AA during capturing. I dont loose that much time to get rid of infantry unless I got that crazy arab copter w/ explosinves bullets.
- Hunting vehicules : I use to let the gunner have his try, then I dive and fire, then 180° to let your gunner fire the missile that should have loaded. I let 2 try to the guner sometimes. Against a Jeep, DCA or stinger, I loose no time and fire rockets ASAP. If I miss I give up and fly away.
- Hunting copters : Choppers are very difficut to rocket down unless your are very close and you sure to aim on 14 rockets. So I stay in good wiew position for my gunner, and he do the job easily, even from very far so I let him 2-3 try, puking if he miss. Attack copters are much more difficult to get rid of. I tell u my word that all the fight depends on the TV missiles. Rockets are just good to shoot at bad pilots unlees you are very close. Remember your gunner needs to wait for it to be quite. When he had his try, then I straf and stay always moving till the ennemy had tried to missile us down. Then I let my gunner fire, ... ect. I never try to escape to repare from a good pilot/gunner helico, I would be to simple to kill w/ a TV missile. Batlle till death! ^^.
- Escaping from a plane : I always remember to straff and/or a fast 90° turn, as I know planes cant turn as quick as me. If missiles are simple to escape from, if you stay in line, it will get u w/ gun.
- Reparing : I always do a fast 180° when I go for a reparing; so I can see if a copter or anything else is following us.

AS A GUNNER :
- When missile is reloading, swich to gun during that time.
- Remember You can fire a missile from far away on a point even if you dont see what is out there. As that you can get a frag if you are lucky and have an idea of what is going on out there. I call it the spy missille .
- Always get rid of dangerous unused vehicules when captering flags.
- Always turn 2nd camera wiew when server allows it, so you ll get a much better wiew at land w/ gun.
- Attacking vehicules : If you c something not moving, just click on him and touch nothing then. W/ it s a moving target just imagine where it will be when the missile will come. Then make a little adjust at the end. Another thing I do often is to fire a little higher and reclick when missille is closer. It seems to me more simple to adjust.
- Attacking copters : choppers are very easy to kill, even from far, as they turn slowly.
OMG how good it is to kill a full chopper! To aim at an attack copter try to wait for him to stay quite b4 shooting. If you fire too soon, you'll have to wait long b4 having another chance. I use to click 3/4 times to adjust the shot, even if I have imagined his move. Another way to kill him is when you follow him right in line. If you see he is going to repare or capture, dont fire at him too soon, just way the perfect moment when it will be static.



Hope it could help someone

[FURRY BIRD]

Re: Intermediate attack helicopter tactics?

staying low nap of the earth(NOA) is vital to survival, be a hard target. and what ever you are flying, try to make it easy for the gunner to aim at the target.:ar15:

[Grey Fox]

Re: Intermediate attack helicopter tactics?

HI,

AISB

Men !!

I'm too adicted to copters to stay quite!!

I ll tell you my best tricks

AS A PILOT :
- Capt flags : My best tech to take flags safely is to turn around making 360° describing a litle circle around the flag, so your gunner have a prefect wiew of whats going on at land. Better is to ask him to destry any jeep or AA during capturing. I dont loose that much time to get rid of infantry unless I got that crazy arab copter w/ explosinves bullets.
- Hunting vehicules : I use to let the gunner have his try, then I dive and fire, then 180° to let your gunner fire the missile that should have loaded. I let 2 try to the guner sometimes. Against a Jeep, DCA or stinger, I loose no time and fire rockets ASAP. If I miss I give up and fly away.
- Hunting copters : Choppers are very difficut to rocket down unless your are very close and you sure to aim on 14 rockets. So I stay in good wiew position for my gunner, and he do the job easily, even from very far so I let him 2-3 try, puking if he miss. Attack copters are much more difficult to get rid of. I tell u my word that all the fight depends on the TV missiles. Rockets are just good to shoot at bad pilots unlees you are very close. Remember your gunner needs to wait for it to be quite. When he had his try, then I straf and stay always moving till the ennemy had tried to missile us down. Then I let my gunner fire, ... ect. I never try to escape to repare from a good pilot/gunner helico, I would be to simple to kill w/ a TV missile. Batlle till death! ^^.
- Escaping from a plane : I always remember to straff and/or a fast 90° turn, as I know planes cant turn as quick as me. If missiles are simple to escape from, if you stay in line, it will get u w/ gun.
- Reparing : I always do a fast 180° when I go for a reparing; so I can see if a copter or anything else is following us.

AS A GUNNER :
- When missile is reloading, swich to gun during that time.
- Remember You can fire a missile from far away on a point even if you dont see what is out there. As that you can get a frag if you are lucky and have an idea of what is going on out there. I call it the spy missille .
- Always get rid of dangerous unused vehicules when captering flags.
- Always turn 2nd camera wiew when server allows it, so you ll get a much better wiew at land w/ gun.
- Attacking vehicules : If you c something not moving, just click on him and touch nothing then. W/ it s a moving target just imagine where it will be when the missile will come. Then make a little adjust at the end. Another thing I do often is to fire a little higher and reclick when missille is closer. It seems to me more simple to adjust.
- Attacking copters : choppers are very easy to kill, even from far, as they turn slowly.
OMG how good it is to kill a full chopper! To aim at an attack copter try to wait for him to stay quite b4 shooting. If you fire too soon, you'll have to wait long b4 having another chance. I use to click 3/4 times to adjust the shot, even if I have imagined his move. Another way to kill him is when you follow him right in line. If you see he is going to repare or capture, dont fire at him too soon, just way the perfect moment when it will be static.



Hope it could help someone

Plus aa and tow, even if they are also unused, goddam everytime I'm in a mec attack chopper I do that, when we come to a flag I destroy all the buggy's, aa and tow's, many people don't do that, but then you're a sitting duck when capturing a flag.

And JensenB9, as far as sharqui peninsula go's, the mec attack chopper dominates there, especially if you have USMC main base, or if you are the USMC and tou have stolen the MEC, you basicly just have to destroy the aa on the most southern usmc flag and the one in the middle, the middle one is by far the most annoying, cause it can track you around th whole area where the flags are. Always flyby the middle flag and let your gunner blow it up, even if it heavly defended, always.

[IRONxMortlock]

Re: Intermediate attack helicopter tactics?

In my experience I tend to own in my chopper as long as I have a good decent gunner. Numerous times I have hovered over enemy bases and my gunner simply likes to sleep expecting me to give them all the kill assists. Getting small infantry soldiers is pretty hard on occassions and when you have gunner you're expecting them to at least shoot, but that is often too hard for some

Sad but true! So many times I've picked up someone who just sits in the choppers and enjoys the view! I know that everyone needs to learn somehow and I'll tolerate noob gunners as long as they try to shoot at something!

Now that you're ok at flying then it's pretty much all in the hands of your gunner as to how much success you will have. Don't get me wrong, the finese of an excellent pilot is very valuable but an average pilot with excellent gunner will out perform an excellent pilot with average gunner almost everytime. The gunner is the key element of an attack chopper and IMO I think this position requires an equal, if not greater, amount of skill than it does to pilot.

I find other attack choppers to be my nemisis. The TV missles kill instantly and give very little or no warning so they can be very dangerous, but then so can you.:evil: Keep a sharp eye out for other choppers and listen for "enemy slick spotted" etc. Stay in the other choppers blind spot (remember the gunner has a very wide field of view when he moves his gun), and then line up the missle shot as the other chopper slows to engage something, cap a flag etc.

[Luis_Wu]

Re: Intermediate attack helicopter tactics?

try to fly at high altitude but so you still can see the ground...find a target and dive directly down on it...

LOL I hope you meant to be funny with this post because I find it to be hilarious.

[Harmor]

Re: Intermediate attack helicopter tactics?

Here are some tips that I learned as gunner.

Press 'M' and keep an eye out for targets. You can kill something out to 650m using the TV guided missile.

Use VOIP to communicate with your driver. Make a squad and invite him if he's a Lonewolf. Most drivers are too busy flying to make and invite squads - although I hope the driver knows he can press 'Insert' to autocreate a squad.

I like being squad leader as gunner so I can ask for UAV/Artillery while my driver is keeping us alive.

Ask your driver to circle while capping a flag, that gives you a good view to see anyone in the area.

Spot for your driver. I can't imagine the number of times I spot something and my driver is oblivious to it because he's so focused directly in front of him. Spot the APC that's on the road next to you.

Whenever you hear "Enemy AA vehicle spotted," immediately open your map ('M'), and spot it. Then tell your driver where it is and fire your TV guided missile in that direction. The first shot you'll probably find where he is and then the second shot 10 seconds later you can kill him.

Press 'C' or F9 again to get rid of the cockpit. This allows you to shoot almost directly below the helicopter.

When about to cap a flag, like has been stated, take out enemy vehicles BEFORE you hover. Or at least damage them alot. TOW and AA emplacements are your first targets followed by armor and then jeeps. Watch out for fixed machineguns as well.

The best base to cap is one with UAV on it. Again, being squad leader and asking for UAV you'll sometimes get it with an attentive commander. Its better to wait for UAV than to cap a flag only to ahve a guy with an AT rocket or grenade launcher take you out. While waiting you can surpress the area and take out vehicles.

Spot spot spot. When you don't have UAV spot for your driver. You only need to go into TV guided mode when fighting tanks. Everything else you can take out with your gun. The easiest way is to have your driver get above your target and you kill them from above (remember to press 'C' or F9 again to get rid of the cockpit).

Use your TV guided missiles on slow moving or stationary targets. The splash damage is good to take out infantry too at long distances.

When you're in TV mode you'll see enemy and friendly vehicles before your driver with the boxes with and without an 'X'. Tell your driver, "Friendly tank" so he doesn't shoot into your teammate.

When you hear an enemy lock onto you, immediately try to figure out quickly where its coming from. Press F11 to see behind you while not in TV mode. If the target is directly behind you, you can spot it. Talking to your pilot over VOIP also helps alot.

Shoot into SHADOWED areas or brushy areas. This is where alot of people hide. I can't tell you the number of times I killed a guy that was hiding in a bush or in a carport that I kill with the splash damage. Make sure to double check your mini-map so you're not killing friendlies. Putting a couple of rounds into building windows doesn't hurt either.

Fire in bursts so you don't overheat your gun. The exception is when you know you're about to die when let loose and hopefully it'll be a mutual kill.

Die with the helicopter so you'll spawn with it.

If you die, but your driver is still alive, leave your squad and rejoin. Spawn in the helicopter with him.

Be a medic while flying a helicopter. Unless you want to jump out and blow the enemy's assets, being a medic will help you surivie those M95 snipers that can shoot though the glass. Also sometimes shots from enemy armor or AT rockets will do damage to you.

Use the TV guided missile to find targets. Shooting a TV guided missile allows you to see what's around a hill or something 500m+ away. If you're lucky you'll find a target that you can kill on the way. For example: When on the Aircraft carrier on Gulf of Oman, shoot at the closest flag while you're taking off. You'll see if there are any enemy there and maybe able to kill one or two before you get there.


Sometimes when switching between TV guided missile and normal gun view your gun will do no damage. This is a bug where the server and the client do not synchronize and thus you do NO DAMAGE to your target. To fix this move your gunner's cursor in normal view to the upper left and bottom right (or visa versa). Moving your crosshair to the opposite extremes will resynchronize and calibrate your cursor. I only advise that you do this when you have the time or when you notice that you're doing absolutely no damage to your target - besure to tell your driver "Recalibrating" so he knows that you're bugged.

I usually have my mini-map set to medium. That way when we come to a base I can see what vehicles are there (they show up in grey). If, for example, we're taking the NE flag on Daqing Oilfields, I know there are two jeeps, a tank an an AA vehicle there. If I see one or more of them missing then I know and can expect an enemy to have it. Again, having UAV on a flag might be a good idea if you think there are enemy at the flag.

Know where the enemy spawns. Often you will kill someone only to have them respawn as an Anti-tank to shoot you out of the sky. When you kill someone make sure you get on the flag. With you and your driver you'll switch the flag to grey in 7 1/2 seconds. Most servers have a 15 second respawn. If you can't get on the flag then be mindfull of the spawn-in points and try to kill the enemy Anti-tank before he gets his shot off. You can take 2 shots before you're dead.

If you have a good driver, staying low and using terrain to stay away from ground AA and enemy jets will help alot. Flying high above it all won't help as the enemy will probably spot you and then enemy pilots will angle in for a kill. I know when I'm playing a jet I will listen for "Enemy helicopter spotted," messages and quickly line-up for a shot. A good driver will be able to juke out of the way of incoming missiles and also gauge where the jet is coming from by the jet's gun fire (you can see the bullet stream). As gunner you'll want to help spot the enemy jet first THEN try to fire at it (believe it or not I've actually shot down a jet before - probably was heavily damaged).



I can't think of anything more that I or anyone else hasn't already mentioned.

[-(PK)-DarkIllusion]

Re: Intermediate attack helicopter tactics?

if you feel you're turning too slow or the helo doesn't respond fast enough you can also incrase mouse sensitivity

[Yezo]

Re: Intermediate attack helicopter tactics?

1. Dont try stunts. If you see a tree in the exit of your attack run or a hill, dont even think of it. The fact is when you are in an attack run with your nose down, you will constaintly gain speed. This makes it impossible to pull up if there is a tree or obstacle right after your target.

2. If your good at controlling your chopper and your high enough, you can use a barrell roll to evade missles.

3. Dont pull your helicopter up too much when trying to stop. If you pull it too high, there is no way you can manuver it to balance properly, and you end up crashing with your nose up, tail down.

4. if your trying to hit a lone man, you will want to angle your attack chopper so your shooting slightly to the left or right of him. This way either your left or right set of missles will hit him (if your gunner is an idiot.)

5. if your running into a stinger or AA vehicle and missle are locked onto you, you can either use flares, but if you dont want to waste them, then when the missles are within a few meters pull up so they will overshoot you.

6. If your going to suicide with your chopper at least make sure you fire all your missles and crash into them.

7. If their is a badass chopper on your tail, pull your nose up and tail down so you backflip. You'll kamikaze and 99% of the time you will get the credits for the kill.