MusterBuster's Pro Tips for Pilots - BATTLEFIELD 3.
Introduction:
Ahoy!
So I'm on a mission to become the best damned pilot on Battlefield 3. Whilst that involves a hell of a lot of stealing other people's ideas and tricks, it also occassionally involves conjuring my own.
This thread is for me to share what I've learned so far, and for you to fill each other in on the little hints that the rest of us may have overlooked in our trigger-happy, metal blazing, airborne rampages.
Of course, opinion on some of these tips may differ - so feel free to kick off some heated debate too!
Let's start with the basics...
Pre-flight Checks
First things first. Check your controls.
No, seriously. I found the default controls an absolute nightmare so make sure you sacrifice your first couple of goes in an aircraft to get them right for you. For reference, I use Lefty Southpaw.
Here's a list of terminology:
- Pitch: Pitching up points the nose of the aircraft down. Pitching down points the nose up. You can change this through the invert options.
- Roll: Rolling left dips your left wing down. Rolling right dips your right wing down.
- Yaw: Yawing left will turn your aircraft left without applying any roll.
- Afterburner (Jets only): Applies extra boost to the speed of the Jet when pressed.
Now that we're all clear on what everything means, let's start with the really fun stuff:
Jets
Jets are difficult to master and there's a number of tactics you'll need to employ to stay alive.
Right camera, right situation:
For the majority of your fly-time, you should be using the 3rd person camera. You have a much wider angle of view from behind the plane - enabling you to see both airborne threats, targets and (importantly) tracer rounds from the crazy fools popping shots at you from below. Only when you have a targetted spotted and you have lined up your aircraft should you switch to first-person for the greater accuracy it offers.
Note: You cannot use the 3rd person camera in hardcore mode.
Turn and Burn:
There's a trick to making swift, smooth and effective turns in a jet:
1. Roll first:
Before making a turn, roll into the direction you wish to turn in. So, if I'm about to turn left, I dip my left wing so that it is pointing directly towards the ground.
2. Pull through:
Once you've rolled, decrease your throttle and pitch DOWN to "pull" your aircraft through the turn.
3. Apply Yaw:
If you want an even sharper turn, apply Yaw in the direction you are turning. BE WARNED: You may have to make small adjustments to the pitch and roll as you apply Yaw, since it will eventually pull you towards the ground.
4. Burn:
Straighten up before applying thrust. Getting too eager on the afterburners will put you way off target. Keep calm and set her straight first.
Strafing:
Unlike choppers, you can't slow to a stop whilst you blast away at your target in a Jet, so you'll need to master what is known as strafing.
Strafing is the concept of lining up your target long, long before you reach it and flying past whilst unleashing a maelstrom of fury. Here's a quick guide to strafing:
1. Identify:
To strafe a target first identify what your target is, then make a mental note of where it is on the map and where it's heading. Then, fly directly away from it in a straight line.
2. Turn and Burn:
Once you've achieved some distance, pull a 180 turn (as above) and decrease altitude just enough so you can still spot your target over any buildings. Keep your targeting reticule above the target until you get close or you'll end up flying straight into it!
3. Unleash Fury!
Once you can see the outline of your target clearly, line up your target reticule and start firing, decreasing speed to get the most shots off. Once you're out of ammo, or past your target, greatly increase your speed until you are far enough away to repeat the process.
By the way, there's something that you, as a pilot, should be constantly screaming at your team mates:
"SPOT TARGETS! SPOT EVERY BLOODY TARGET YOU SEE!".
This is vital. Without the radar upgrade it's insanely difficult for a pilot to see targets unless they're spotted, especially when flying in 1st person. FYI - to spot a target and show it to your team mates, hit the Select button when it's in your crosshairs.
Staying Alive - Ground Threats
At one point or another, someone is going to get really, really annoyed at you. It might be the hideous amounts of noise you make as you strafe a target. It might be that you just blew a person's transport to smitherines and left the stranded. They might just not like Jets. Either way, they're going to slap out a heat-seeker and place it firmly up your buttocks.
1. Know when to panic
Know this: you are warned about a missile lock long before the missile itself is fired. Listen out for the lock on tone and the words LOCK appearing on your hud (ONLY in 1st person camera. Also note the lock on tone is very hard to hear when flying in 3rd person).
At first, the tone will beep. You are safe and sound until the tone becomes constant. Once it does, the missile has left the launcher and is on its way to apply its own special kind of love to your tail.
2. Know your options
Has that tone gone solid? Thinking of bailing? You've got about 3 seconds to decide what you're going to do about it. Consider the following:
- Altitude: If you're flying about an inch from the floor, bailing is pointless. You'll die on impact. Evade.
- IR Flares: Do you have them? And are they available for use? If so, wait. Wait. Wait some more until you're convinced the missile is close - let off a flare, then turn and burn.
- Fight or Flight: No flares? You'd better scream EVASIVE MANUEVORS and get on with it. Turn and Burn in quick succession as soon as the missile is fired. Once you think it's close, decrease speed to pull an extremely hard turn. The missile will probably explode near you, but if you pulled the final turn at the right time it will do little damage.
If you get hit, or if it's too late to evade, turn your craft towards the battle area and brace. DO NOT jump out of the aircraft until you are over the battlefield, or you'll glide pointlessly and miserably as the 10 second "Out of Bounds" timer plots your doom. - VENGEANCE: Survived? Still got control over your Jet? Trace the smoke from the missile to find the butt hole who shot at you. And quickly. He's already lining up for another shot.
Personally, at this point, I scream blind rage and fly the jet directly into his face.
Of course, the best way of avoiding ground threats is to not get locked on to. Fly as low and fast as you can and be aware of what cover lies between you and the majority of the battlefield. Do not turn and burn for strafing until you are well out of lock on range.
Staying Alive - Air Threats
It is VITAL that you tell your team to spot enemy aircraft for you.
VITAL.
You must get the jump on any enemy Jets. Allow them to sneak up on you and you are as good as dead, especially if they have upgraded their Jet to carry heat seekers and the radar. There's a few tactics you can employ to stay ahead of the fly-boys:
1. Press Start
Sounds silly, and you should be aware that hitting the start button will stop you from controlling your jet.
Once out of lock on range from ground targets, set your Jet straight and ensure that you aren't going to fly into anything for the next 5-10 seconds. Then press start and check the radar for enemy aircraft. This works best when flying away from the battlefield in preparation for a strafe - using this tactic ensures yo are absolutely safe to fly slow and take out ground targets.
2. Tracer Rounds
Bullets flying past you? Take stock and analyse where they have come from. Are they flying upwards as they go past? Then they've come from the ground.
If they're flying directly towards the horizon, or even downwards, you're in deep doo-doo. Evade and evade some more until you can identify what is firing at you and from where in the sky.
3. Know the Enemy Airfield
Know where it is on the map and know when an aircraft is available for the enemy to spawn into. As soon as you see an empty, stationary aircraft on the radar - drop everything and go destroy it. The bad guys will have to wait around 3 minutes for it to respawn, leaving you to go drop metal fury on everything else.
4. Get High
If you don't know where the enemy aircraft is, it's not on the airfield or on your Start radar, get high quickly. Climb to a steep altitude away from the battlefield, then turn to face to AO. Can you see bullets magically appearing from the sky? That's a Jet, but you can't see it properly due to draw distances. Go get it.
5. Dogfight
Know this: dogfighting is a nightmare until you've made enough kills to apply heat seeking missiles to your Jet. Until then, prepare for a frustration fest.
You need to get behind the enemy Jet. I can't put tactics for doing this into words, so you'll have to learn those tricks yourself. However you do it, try to maintain surprise and don't start firing until the enemy has lined themselves up for strafe (or they'll start flying fast and erratically!). Wait for them to slow down and get close to the ground, then switch to 1st person view and fire at them, leading your shots in the direction your target is travelling.
If they survive the first attack, stay with them but don't get too close - they'll turn outside of your view and you'll lose them. Use 3rd person view to keep a track of your target. Fire when you can, but always leave enough bullets in the chain for another attack.
If you lose them - turn, burn and gain altitude. Repeat the initial process to find them again.
Once you get heat seekers, hit TRIANGLE to switch weapon and get close for a lock. Wait until the tone goes solid, then fire TWO missiles at a time. Follow up immediately with the cannon.
Limping Home
Though insanely difficult and ill advised, it is possible to land you jet and regain health. Please, please don't try this until you've got a good grasp on the controls!
First, you'll need to line up with the airfield as if you were going to strafe it, but you must brake much, much earlier. By the time you reach the strip, you need to be practically dropping out of the air.
Keep her straight, and plonk her down on the strip nice and smoothly. Your health will regain quickly, turn around and get back in the air before a chopper spots you.
You will die more than you succeed in doing this. I personally prefer to kamikazee my brokenJet into the enemy spawn point. Not to kill anyone, just for the nightmarish effect it has on morale!
Next up: Helicopters!
MB
There's one tip I forgot for Jets:
Think about Space and Time
Now, this isn't suggesting that you go and buy the latest copy of New Scientist and get a degree in quantum physics. You just need to be hideously aware of the space around you in a Jet, and the time it takes to get from one place to another.
This is slightly irrelevant when there are no airborne threats around, but when there are - you need to know the map intimately, where the current battlefield is and how long it will take that enemy aircraft to get from where it is now to within firing range of you.
When dogfighting, you are bound to lose your target at some point. This is where the space-time stuff pays off. Consider the following:
1. What direction was the enemy travelling in when you last saw it?
2. How fast was it going?
3. Was it performing a turn?
4. If you were performing that turn, when would you break out of it?
By quickly answering these questions in your head, you will discover:
5. Where is the enemy now, and where is he flying to?
Vital.
SilentShadow777 wrote:
one of my favourite flight combat manovers has always been a laf loop and roll
if your being followed by an enemy plane
pull up as if into a loop but when you are upside down and facing the oposite direction simply roll level and afterburner off, alot quicker than sharp turn at low speed
When I was playing IL2 a lot I used to love when my victim did that... it presents the largest area for cannon fire as well as the most visible target against the sky.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhsTmiK7Q2M
now to go pick up my copy of battlefield 3,see you all on the battlefield
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