Enemy at my 6 o'clock, Am I completely In his Mercy?

[Amaranthuse]

Hey All,

This question is for all those gunship pilots or top gunship pilots out there.

When someone get on your tail and has spotted and chasing you, are you completely in his/her hands? :(

I am new to BF 2142 from BF 2 and I remember the J10 mauvering I use to do that shake enemy aircraft off my tail all the time. However, It seems that my old skills from BF 2 isn't working that well in BF 2142. I know how to solo pilot from both BF. My K:D ratio on BF 2142 gunship is usually around 3:1. In a round I usually earn around 60-85 points including awards.

Situation: Enemy gunship caught me on my tail, he/she fire a salvo of missiles at me. I pull shield just in time and begin to run while gaining some airspeed. I strafe and shift across his 2 or 10 o'clock and pull up to gain some altitude. I do some Cobra/ Immelman manuver to get my head facing him. But at that time, my gunship has already taken considerable amount of damage and is unable to outgun him unless I use a TV missile.

That only works 40% of the time as the server I play in have some great pilots.

So I am looking forward to advice from other BF2142 veteran pilots how they dogfight and if they are completely in the hands of the enemy if they get on their 6.

I use a mouse and keyboard and I would say my skills are above average.

Thanks again.

Amaranthen

[Fingulfin]

Two words: Fly Backwards. Not fly in reverse, not turn around... Flip your gunship nose up and fly backwards. Its hard, its hard to know what I mean without seeing it but it works.

Add me in game (name is "Mr.Kaizer") and I'll hop on an empty server and show you ;)

EDIT: Actually, adding me to Xfire would be more effective... My XFire is "nodfingulfin"

[hooahguy]

yes.... flying backwards does help a ton- i got my first aerial kill last week while doing this....

[jake___]

I'm not much of an experienced pilot, and only played BF2 a few times, but remember the gunship is actually more like a chopper than a jet.

[Fingulfin]

yes.... flying backwards does help a ton- i got my first aerial kill last week while doing this....
I challenge that statement... I don't normally shoot while flying backwards, you are moving too fast and the gunship is hard to control without sending it into a flip. Plus there is the fact that you are facing straight up or backwards, neither of which favorable firing positions. The ability to track a target while doing this is minimal as well, its an EVASIVE maneuver (although it can be used as fast travel). There is also the fact that its darned hard to do without alot of practice :p

[H4yd3n]

I challenge that statement... I don't normally shoot while flying backwards, you are moving too fast and the gunship is hard to control without sending it into a flip. Plus there is the fact that you are facing straight up or backwards, neither of which favorable firing positions. The ability to track a target while doing this is minimal as well, its an EVASIVE maneuver (although it can be used as fast travel). There is also the fact that its darned hard to do without alot of practice :p

Haha on TBG yesterday I flew upside down, and solod Falcon. It was pretty awesome.

[Yoster]

Like they said, flying backwards, and in time, you can become more advanced and play with the strange gunship physics by flying backwards sideways and either go up in a spiral, which nobody will ever be able to follow, or flip back over.

[Minmaster]

ok the question is how do you get out/recover from the upside down flying. do you pull up or down? i always crash to the ground when i try coming out of flying backwards.

[Fingulfin]

@Minmaster: It depends. Its EASIEST to do complete the flip, however its MORE EFFICIENT to go the other way (up).

[Liberator29]

Well Im no good at flying, But ask a passing friendly tank driver (such as my self) to blow him off your tail. You may think im just messing, but ive been able to work together with pilots and do that sort of thing! That is if the flipping doesnt go well.

[Ghiblian]

ok the question is how do you get out/recover from the upside down flying. do you pull up or down? i always crash to the ground when i try coming out of flying backwards.

To recover, I usually hit hover for half a second to slow myself down, then push up on my keyboard while pulling my mouse backwards towards me. This will cause you to do a front flip instead of a rear flip. The reason I rarely ever complete loops is that loops take far too much time and space to complete. Thus, pulling up and strafing is much more advantageous.

[Dtneter]

i always try to do this: when I'm being chased normally the good pilots shoot 2-3 times to let me activate my shield and shoot the rest of the rockets to Finnish me off, but most of the times as soon as i get the lock on warning i go in hover mode and start making corkscrew's to instantly get behind the enemy gunship.

[Ghiblian]

i always try to do this: when I'm being chased normally the good pilots shoot 2-3 times to let me activate my shield and shoot the rest of the rockets to Finnish me off, but most of the times as soon as i get the lock on warning i go in hover mode and start making corkscrew's to instantly get behind the enemy gunship.

Umm... I don't think good pilots do that... o.O Because good pilots should know that an enemy gunship at 13 health can be just as deadly as an enemy gunship at full health. Good pilots will usually sneak up and lob all 10 rockets before you have a chance to react.

Anyways, to respond, in general, there are two things I think most gunship pilots do. Either fly backwards, as mentioned before, and try to shake the enemy gunship. Or stop, turn around, and confront the enemy. To let your shields recharge, try to stay under the enemy gunship (follow its movements). It can't do anything to you if you're just following its movements underneath it.

[hooahguy]

I challenge that statement... I don't normally shoot while flying backwards, you are moving too fast and the gunship is hard to control without sending it into a flip. Plus there is the fact that you are facing straight up or backwards, neither of which favorable firing positions. The ability to track a target while doing this is minimal as well, its an EVASIVE maneuver (although it can be used as fast travel). There is also the fact that its darned hard to do without alot of practice :p
well, my situation was different, b/c he was right on my tail, and b/c i started going backwards, he went around me, to my front, and then i blasted him. :salute:
but yes, flying backwards is an evasive maneuver, and helps keep you facing your opponent....

[Deesies]

I usually pull up to do a loop but half way through I pull down until I'm facing the loop I was just about to make. More often than not, the other ship will think you did a loop and go the full 360 but instead, you'll be on his tail.

You have to be a decent height off the ground for this though.

Even if you don't get behind him, it's usually enough to throw him off your tail. If I were you, I would also put a vehicle scanner on your gunship so you know when a gunship is near.

[Lolyn]

Flying backwards isn't difficult at all provided you're in tune with your HUD. Anyone can flip a gunship upside down... just hold down the throttle, watch the descent/ascent meter on the right and make sure the marker is in the middle or slightly higher. Also pays to watch the altitude meter too. You can quite easily do laps of suez entirely upside down :D

My favourite way to get rid of tailing gunships is bailing out and getting back in after a steep climb. Sometimes when it all works out for you, you end up behind the enemy gunship albeit at a vastly slower speed, but the enemy gunship can't shoot your gunship whilst there's nobody in it unless there's a direct hit.

Sometimes that just goes wrong and you either miss the gunship to get back in, get back in too late.... or the other gunship rams your gunship and you're stuck somewhere that resembles greenland with nothing close by.

[hooahguy]

just also be sure to de-throttle if you are upside down, then go forwards to flip.

[Fingulfin]

@Hooah: It doesn't help you face your enemy, unless he is flying in a straight line from you...

As for firing techniques... I normally do what Dtneter says actually. 3 Missile Bursts. Most people lack the brains to escape me, so losing them isn't much of a problem. If I am going against someone of my own or higher skill level, I fly high then shoot a TV at them to get them to raise shields, then I swoop in for the kill.

[H4yd3n]

ok the question is how do you get out/recover from the upside down flying. do you pull up or down? i always crash to the ground when i try coming out of flying backwards.

I usually will fly up, then with the right combination of keys, mouse movements, and not pressing the throttle, I can do a half barrel roll to right myself back up. I also will do a flip or just pull up, it depends on where your enemy is.

[Amaranthuse]

Well the problem I still run into sometimes is that the foe pilot following me where ever I go. It's easy to turn the gunship upright and fire back but sometimes I end up ramming the other gunship by accident.

I think I am a horrible pilot because all I do is deny the enemy of their gunship.

[CTFalcon]

First order of business is to assess the other pilot's skill level, that's going to determine the way you're going to fight. Situations differ from each other based on a multitude of factors (elevation, speed, number of enemy gunships and enemy AA's).

Situation 1 bad enemy pilot: Since you're periodically checking your chase front camera angle you should very rarely be jumped from straight in, so as soon as you hear tone flip to chase front to check the angle the rockets are fired from then turn away from them horizontally and vertically. Since the pilot is pretty bad you can burn your shields here and still win this fight handily. As soon as his volley is done flip your gunship so your nose is pointed at him and fire your entire clip of missiles from distance then flip your gunship again once you're near him so you're now both pointed in the same direction as before but closer. You should be in tight with shields coming back or at full strength, simply get him in a spinning fight or attack vertically with either rockets or a TV.

Situation 2 good enemy pilot: The key here is to survive the initial attack without burning your shields. Pulling the same style maneuver as before, attempt to steer out of the locking range of his initial volley or TV missile. Get your nose pointed at him as quickly as possible and make sure to never turn tail and run, upside down or not. Once in tight the dog fight will determine your fighting moves, if you're decent you have a chance, if you suck you will die here most of the time lol.

Keep in mind there's no one golden move that will save you in any situation, it just takes practice flying against the best pilots out there to get good enough to react to any situation.

[Amaranthuse]

lol I win most of the 80% of the dogfights I encounter. Mostly doing some solo TV through their shield or by using the technique you mentioned above. Great advice!

I still feel lack of confidence as I get extremely anxious when I hear the locking tone. AA EMP? SAWW? Enemy Gunship? Idiot using Engie rockets?

I need more practice I guess.

[Fingulfin]

Engi rockets really shouldn't be a problem... Fly fast when you are low to the ground, and don't ever hover. You can easily dodge AAs by flying upward and diagonally though... Unless they manage to EMP Trap you low to the ground/close to them. SAAWs are a bit harder, but they are still possible. Just keep practicing, you will get it eventually ;)

[Lolyn]

SAAW/EMP lock-ons are easy to throw if you fly very low and fast.... you will put things between yourself and the engineer who fired the missile which causes them to lose lock. Only really fails if the engineer is on a high point (where it's more difficult to put an obstacle between you and them). I generally don't get hit by SAAW/EMP lock ons by doing this anyway.

One nice trick I've been doing lately to throw off chasing pilots is to force them to crash... fly upwards at about 45 degrees from vertical, then dive into a front flip and loop back up. Most people have no problems doing a regular rising loop but there's surprisingly few people able to do a front flip without crashing, especially if you get the altitude just right so you pull back up a few meters from the ground.

[the_Mr.Ree]

I figure out my chances of winning based of altitude. His chances are 95% if he is 20 meters off the ground :D :cry: :bipolar: (:confused: Wait... that's not a smiley :p)

[Amaranthuse]

My odds of winning are my altitude, speed and reaction time. I only need Altitude if I solo TV him since my gunship will drop like a rock. Speed is for evasive manuvers and avoid their missiles and reaction time is when I see the shadow of the gunship and make a quick thought to do something about it!

I am getting better now, just need to keep on his tail 24/7 and rip my shots in time.

[Fingulfin]

My odds of winning are my altitude, speed and reaction time. I only need Altitude if I solo TV him since my gunship will drop like a rock. Speed is for evasive manuvers and avoid their missiles and reaction time is when I see the shadow of the gunship and make a quick thought to do something about it!
Point your nose up, you fall ALOT slower. Most experienced TV Solo'ers can do it from 20 meters off the ground (assuming its a short ways to your target).

[Amaranthuse]

Nice tip, I'll definately try that. I do notice in videos solo pilots generally like to point up a bit and manuver their TV rather than having it lined up with target like I do.

Some embrassing manuvers i tried made me crash into UAVs and pods from spawn beacons. Lol.