Okay I have been playing this game off and on since it released. I love flying choppers and setting up my gunner for as much damage as we can inflict. Ever since that time I have come across very few gunners who actually know wth they are doing. So here is my way of venting after a rash of piss poor gunners in the chopper with me lately. I feel like I am a really good pilot and I don't need the most skilled gunner because I will make him a tad better by my piloting. I just need a guy who understands the points I am about to touch on. It is just so nice when a pilot and gunner are in sync on the battlefield. Optimally yo wold be in a squad with your gunner and communicate Voip but I have never got mine to work *shakes fist at Vista* and even if I did wouldn't be able to use it much because my wife and daughter usually ae sleeping in the same room I play in. Without further a due...
-First thing you need to do to be worth a shit as a gunner is have your view distance set to maximum. I cannot stand spotting a target and have the gunner sit there doing nothing because he can't see it. If your vid card aint good enough to render it you shouldn't be playing this game. You need max view distance to take full advantage of all areas of this game anyhow.
-The Pilot controls the target progression so pay attention to what he is pointing at. I will line my gunner up for the most dangerous threat usually AA fixed or mobile, other choppers, any 360 degree swivel machine gun on a jeep or tank, etc. However that order is subject to change on a dime if need be. The lesson here is for the gunner to pay attention to where the chopper is facing. If he is gunning at infantry on the ground and I Pull the nose up or sharply change direction he should be right with me in unison. We don't do any good focused on two separate targets. All to often I may have a chopper or AA lined up while he is taking pot shots at scurrying infantry only to be respawning at the helipad. Pay attention.
-Do your best to spot nearby enemies while staying focused on your pilots kill progression. It only take a second to spot an enemy to help your pilot know what is around you guys but make sure to maintain your pilots target progression. Don't spend more time than u need to doing it. This also helps you commander and team as a whole, "knowing is half the battle."(GI JOE quote)
-Know when to use the TV and when to use the machine gun. This point is about efficiency, kill things in the most efficient way possible. I cannot stand when a gunner uses the TV missile on infantry, jeeps or IGLA/Stingers. I will boot them out the chopper for such. It is acceptable to use the TV missile against any armor, choppers, jets, or long range targets. If you can see the little infantry guys running around below us then u better just mow them down with the machine gun. You may not blow the jeep or AA up but you could snipe the guy out from them eliminating the threat faster than lining up the TV. The TV needs very precise lining up at closer ranges and the machine gun has a very wide range and is much more forgiving to the Pilot and yourself when you do the right thing. The TV splash damage isn't good enough to use it on infantry anyway and its a waste of ammo. I have seen people survive extremely close hits when the machine gun will take only a few shots to take down. I don't mind the TV used against jeeps at range but the machine gun is more than efficient for infantry, medium to close range jeeps, Stinger/IGLAs.
-Do not shoot the machine gun at a target you cannot kill with it to give our position away. My favorite is when I get a chopper lined up who doesn't see us yet only to have an idiot gunner shoot at it with the machine gun before even attempting a TV shot. Then the target chopper swivels to line us up and incoming TV missile nails us. Be smarter than the average bear...even in a wide open sky you can maintain some sort of stealth. Your target only needs to know where you killed it from and not where you are to be able to defend or counterattack.
-When fighting other choppers head to head use the machine gun in between TV missile attempts. This only pertains to choppers that are in your face trying to gun you don to. If you miss a TV and they don't locate you then hold off for another TV shot. Head to head I will be trying to put hydras on them anyways so any lil bit of damage can make the difference. The TV missile timer is like 5 secs or so, have that internal time clock ticking in your head when you miss a shot.
Cliff notes:
-Max view distance
-Focus what the pilot is focusing on, pay attention to the direction the chopper is facing. Target the pilots target.
-Spot enemies to have a wider range of battlefield knowledge
-TV missile and machine gun proper use, be smart, don't use the TV when the machine gun would be more efficient
-DO NOT give away your position, with TV missiles your a armor and chopper sniper
-Use the machine gun in between TV attempts fighting other choppers head to head
I know this is common knowledge for the most part to good players but I hope some of you would be gunners find this helpful. AAAHHH! I feel much better now.
-First thing you need to do to be worth a shit as a gunner is have your view distance set to maximum. I cannot stand spotting a target and have the gunner sit there doing nothing because he can't see it. If your vid card aint good enough to render it you shouldn't be playing this game. You need max view distance to take full advantage of all areas of this game anyhow.
-The Pilot controls the target progression so pay attention to what he is pointing at. I will line my gunner up for the most dangerous threat usually AA fixed or mobile, other choppers, any 360 degree swivel machine gun on a jeep or tank, etc. However that order is subject to change on a dime if need be. The lesson here is for the gunner to pay attention to where the chopper is facing. If he is gunning at infantry on the ground and I Pull the nose up or sharply change direction he should be right with me in unison. We don't do any good focused on two separate targets. All to often I may have a chopper or AA lined up while he is taking pot shots at scurrying infantry only to be respawning at the helipad. Pay attention.
-Do your best to spot nearby enemies while staying focused on your pilots kill progression. It only take a second to spot an enemy to help your pilot know what is around you guys but make sure to maintain your pilots target progression. Don't spend more time than u need to doing it. This also helps you commander and team as a whole, "knowing is half the battle."(GI JOE quote)
-Know when to use the TV and when to use the machine gun. This point is about efficiency, kill things in the most efficient way possible. I cannot stand when a gunner uses the TV missile on infantry, jeeps or IGLA/Stingers. I will boot them out the chopper for such. It is acceptable to use the TV missile against any armor, choppers, jets, or long range targets. If you can see the little infantry guys running around below us then u better just mow them down with the machine gun. You may not blow the jeep or AA up but you could snipe the guy out from them eliminating the threat faster than lining up the TV. The TV needs very precise lining up at closer ranges and the machine gun has a very wide range and is much more forgiving to the Pilot and yourself when you do the right thing. The TV splash damage isn't good enough to use it on infantry anyway and its a waste of ammo. I have seen people survive extremely close hits when the machine gun will take only a few shots to take down. I don't mind the TV used against jeeps at range but the machine gun is more than efficient for infantry, medium to close range jeeps, Stinger/IGLAs.
-Do not shoot the machine gun at a target you cannot kill with it to give our position away. My favorite is when I get a chopper lined up who doesn't see us yet only to have an idiot gunner shoot at it with the machine gun before even attempting a TV shot. Then the target chopper swivels to line us up and incoming TV missile nails us. Be smarter than the average bear...even in a wide open sky you can maintain some sort of stealth. Your target only needs to know where you killed it from and not where you are to be able to defend or counterattack.
-When fighting other choppers head to head use the machine gun in between TV missile attempts. This only pertains to choppers that are in your face trying to gun you don to. If you miss a TV and they don't locate you then hold off for another TV shot. Head to head I will be trying to put hydras on them anyways so any lil bit of damage can make the difference. The TV missile timer is like 5 secs or so, have that internal time clock ticking in your head when you miss a shot.
Cliff notes:
-Max view distance
-Focus what the pilot is focusing on, pay attention to the direction the chopper is facing. Target the pilots target.
-Spot enemies to have a wider range of battlefield knowledge
-TV missile and machine gun proper use, be smart, don't use the TV when the machine gun would be more efficient
-DO NOT give away your position, with TV missiles your a armor and chopper sniper
-Use the machine gun in between TV attempts fighting other choppers head to head
I know this is common knowledge for the most part to good players but I hope some of you would be gunners find this helpful. AAAHHH! I feel much better now.
Ptfo