The Attack Helicopter and You: A Guide.
By: MadKatter
Contents
I: Controls
II: Helicopters
III: Maneuvers
IV: Piloting
V: Gunning
VI: Solo Flying
VII: Closing
Section I: CONTROLS
You have 3 main options to control the helicopter.
Mouse and Keyboard, preferred by most helicopter pilots.
Keyboard and Keyboard, rarely used. These are my controls. WASD and Arrows.
Joystick. Commonly used, though I can't stand it.
This is strictly preference, as none have a real advantage over the other**.
**If you want to solo pilot, you may need to learn how to use Mouse and Keyboard
The W key increases torque, making you "go".
The S key decreases torque, like putting on breaks.
The A and D keys turn you on the x axis. Left and right.
The Up Arrow Key/Moving the mouse "down" make the nose of your chopper go down.
The Down Arrow Key/Moving the mouse "up" make the nose of your chopper go up.
**The Mouse is able to be inverted, look in your controls.
The Left and Right Arrow Keys/Moving the Mouse Left and Right make the chopper move on the z axis, or roll.
Section 2: IN-GAME HELICOPTERS
There are 3 choppers in Vanilla BF2:
The AH-1Z Super Cobra
The Mi-28 Havok
and the Z-10
Special Forces Includes:
The Apache
and the Hind
Euro Forces includes:
The Tiger HAP
Vanilla Helicopters
The Super Cobra
This is a very well balanced helicopter.
It is the most agile, with similar handling to the Z-10.
The gunner has 900 rounds of a main gun. The gun fires at a rate of 600 rounds per minute.
The TV missile box is slightly below the pilot's crosshair. Pilots need to just aim their crosshair at the target.
The Havok
This is a BIG helicopter.
It isn't agile at all, and it's bigger than the other two vanilla helicopters, making it easier to hit with a TV-guided missile.
The gunner has 450 rounds of an "explosive" gun. It has high splash damage and unlike the other two helicopters, it can take down tanks and APC's semi-effectively with the gun.
The TV missile box is far below the gunner's crosshair. (About halfway between the pilot's crosshair and the bottom of the "square" part of the HUD.
The Z-10
This helicopter is very similar to the Super Cobra. It feels nearly similar when piloting them.
The gunner has 900 rounds of a main gun, which fires at the same rate of the super cobra, but feels (Can anyone confirm this?) weaker.
The TV missile box is just a little bit below the cobra's.
Special Forces Helicopters (and the TIGER HAP)
These helicopters are different than the Vanilla 'Copters. The Pilots need to partake in the killing as much(if not more than) the gunner.
The Mi-35 Hind
The Hind is a big, bulky helicopter.
It has poor maneuverability, but LOTS of armor.
It carries the same weapons as the Apache.
The TV box is also in a similar location.
The Apache Longbow
The Apache is my personal favorite SF helicopter.
It is more mobile than its counterpart, with the same amount of firepower.
It comes equipped with 4 sets of 8 explosive rockets (Ideal for shredding infantry)
The gunner gets a weak main gun, and a TV missile
The TV missile box is WAY below the pilot's crosshairs. It is near the "gunners view" on the pilot's HUD.
The Tiger HAP
This is a very interesting Helicopter. It is a hybrid of an Apache and Havok.
It is medium-sized, with decent maneuverability.
It comes equipped with explosive rockets.
The gunner has the same cannon as the Mi-28 Havok, an "explosive" gun.
The TV box is about in-between the Z-10's and the Havok's- I haven't a lot of time in this chopper.
Section III: EVASIVE MANEUVERS
**Note. All Altitude marks are strictly over the water. Ground Altitudes may vary greatly. I am not responsible for any damaged choppers.
.5. Flying Low
This isn't really a maneuver, more of evasive action.
In-game Usage
In game, you want to fly low off of the carrier to prevent being detected by AA, Jets, or other Helicopters. Do NOT fly low when the shore is taken by the enemy, instead, fly far away and line up your gunner for a distant TV shot.
1. The Barrel Roll
This maneuver is simply preformed by gaining altitude, and holding down the W key[Increase Torque] and either the Left or Right arrow key[Starts the roll]
Your first barrel roll will make you lose about 40 altitude(meters?). I would suggest being at about 60 before trying to perform one.
Each subsequent barrel roll will take less altitude, because the inertia from the first will carry onto the second, making the roll "faster".
The second roll will take about 20 altitude, the 3rd about 15.
In-game Usage
If you are dogfighting an enemy helicopter at long range, wait until your gunner has fired the TV missile, and then do a barrel roll. Chances are, the enemy has already fired their missile and its heading right at you.
Avoiding nooby jets. This won't help against a pro in a jet, but 80-90% of the time you will escape with minimum damage.
2. The Backflip
Gain a lot of altitude, hold down the "w" key and the down arrow/move the mouse upwards.
Keep the torque up, if you don't, you will lose a lot of altitude and quickly.
This maneuver requires about 60-70 altitude
In-game usage
This maneuver really has no use in game, other than losing altitude while staying at about the same location.
3. The twist
This is just a simple evasive maneuver that "twists" the chopper.
Hold down the "W" key and the Up Arrow/Move the mouse down. Now hold down either the "A" key and the right arrow/move the mouse right, or the "D" key and the left arrow/move the mouse left.
It's not much more than a fun little trick.
**Note. I have not tried this with the mouse as it would probably prove difficult.
OFFENSIVE MANUEVERS
4. Circle Strafe
This is very useful when trying to clear out a single flag so that friendly units can move in and cap it.
Dip your nose down, lean to one side, and move to the opposite side(using the "A" or "D" key).
If you were using Mouse and Keyboard, you want to use the WASD keys as much as possible, minimizing mouse movement.
**If you do this maneuver counter-clockwise at the right angle, you can solo-machine gun.
It's hard to explain this, it requires a lot of ingame practice, but it's one of the most effective ways of slaying infantry.
5. Side-To-Side Strafe
This is easy to do, and a good way to take out infantry.
Simply get a bit of altitude, and strafe to one side. Use your acceleration key ('W' for most) and arrow keys/mouse.
All you're doing is going back and forth, minimizing any chance of being hit with any sort of rocket, but still allowing the gunner to mow down any opposition.
6. Rocket Swoop
If you're alone in a helicopter, or not confident in your gunner, this is an effective way to take out armor and AA.
Get a bit of altitude over the target, dip your nose down and release all of your rockets at the target. Keep your acceleration high, so that you do not crash into the ground.
If you need more time to rocket a target, hold down the "S" key when you begin to dip down to slow the descent of your helicopter. Be careful not to hold it down for too long or hold it down when you get close the ground. You need torque to bring your chopper up from the descent.
Section IV: PILOTING
Rockets
As a pilot, you get 4 sets of 8 rockets. Pressing your main fire button launches one at a time.
The rockets are completely dumbfire and have a decent traveling speed.
Your rockets will fire from the right pod, then the left pod, then the right pod, and so on. You will have 4 rockets firing out of each side before you have to reload.
Each rocket is individually fired to a different location. It isn't at all noticeable. In fact, I bet if you weren't looking for in the first place, you wouldn't realize it.
I'm not sure if this is an error on Dice's part or not, because the rockets come out of the same two pods. Yet all four of the rockets coming out of the pod are individually placed.
**I think the rockets were coded to fire as if they were the TV missiles coming out. As you look at the chopper, They are placed exactly like the rockets that come out of your pods. It's just speculation.**
How am I sure it's there? Go to Sharqi, get in the cobra. Don't move. Fire all of your rockets. Notice how the First two rockets go over the ridge, then the next 4 hit it, and the last 2 go over.
Rocket Placement
Rockets (as I said earlier) only go towards your crosshair when fired from a hover or stationary position.
So you ask, "Where do they go all other times?"
Well, when you strafe to the left, the rockets will travel far right of your crosshair. When you strafe to the right, the rockets will go far left of your crosshair.
When pulling a dive, the rockets will go "up" (north) of your crosshair. When pulling up, the rockets will go "down" (south) of your crosshair.
This takes a lot of practice to get used to where the rockets actually travel during battle.
HUD (Heads Up Display)
At the very top of your HUD is the compass. I have never once used my compass. Use your minimap to determine which way you're facing.
On the left side is your torque meter. The longer you hold down the acceleration button, the higher it will go. It determines how much power you're putting into movement.
On the right side is the ascension/desencion meter. It determines if you are ascending or descending. Along with the horizon line, it will help you maintain a hover.
The crosshair. This is where your rockets will go if you're in a perfect hover, or have landed.
The hover indicator. This is the circle that goes around your crosshair if you are in a perfect hover. You may see it go towards the top of your screen sometimes when you take off. If it moves to the left while you are trying to hover- you need to tilt right. The same applies for when it goes to the right- you need to tilt left. If it goes up- you need to tilt your nose down. If it goes down- you need to tilt your nose up.
The horizon line. These are the two lines on the sides of your crosshair. They will always parallel the horizon. This may not be of much help when flying low, but when you're up high or looking at the sky, it's invaluable.
The gunner's view box. This simply shows where your gunner is looking. If the square moves to the far right, he's looking far right. If you see this, you may want to turn to the right to give your gunner a better view of what could be a potential threat.
If he is constantly repeating "Enemy forces spotted" and looking to the edge of his gunner's view, this is a sign that you need to turn that direction because he sees a target.
Flying for your gunner
Face it. The rockets that the pilot has- aren't that great in comparison to the gunner's arsenal. The rockets aren't as good as slaying infantry as the machine gun, and the tv missile takes care of vehicles in one hit, always.
As a pilot, your job is to fly for the gunner. This includes lining up TV shots, coming in close to use the machine gun, and spotting targets.
Most importantly, think with a gunner's mind. Is your nose too far up? Can he see that Linebacker around the corner? Is he running short on ammo?
Threats to your Helicopter
Mobile AA - Whenever you see one of these, flare and drop as LOW as you can. EA designed the Mobile AA so that they cannot look low, to prevent them from raping infantry. Take this to your advantage and fly as low as possible. Put as many objects between you and the AA as possible. Although their range is limited to 300m, they can gun well beyond 500m.
Chopper - This is pretty obvious. A good gunner that can place a TV missile in your tail and leave you 15 seconds to figure out what happened. This is one of the very good reasons why you don't hover. If you're unaware of his presence, there's a good chance you'll be a pile of burning rubble.
50 cal - DICE had the wonderful idea to increase the damage on these. They are now VERY VERY lethal to your helicopter, and it will only take about 10 seconds of good hits to bring you down. If the .50 cal occupant is skilled, he will often be more dangerous than an enemy chopper. Pop him with a tv missile from range if you're having troubles. Do NOT attempt to give him a facefull of rockets, that only allows him more time to shoot you down. 50 Cals can be found on the top of any Buggy, Humvee, or Vodnik.
Jet - Jets would be lower on my list, but a skilled jet pilot can take you down a lot easier than you realize. If you see your health dropping rapidly, take evasive action. This is most likely a skilled pilot, and harder to avoid because of the lack of a lock on tone. Spot him on with your Commo rose and drop altitude. Get inbetween low objects if you can. If you hear a lock from a Jet, flare and increase altitude when he gets close. Once he has passed you, fly VERY low and follow him. When he comes back for a second pass, he won't be able to find you. Good Job.
Stationary AA - 2 hits from these buggers will bring you down to 3 bars. That's enough to get away for repairs. If you hear the tone, look for the AA emplacement. Once you see the first missile firing, flare. If you did it correctly, neither will have hit you. You now have about 8 seconds to get 300m away, or destroy the occupant.
TOW - These slow, guided missiles will take down a helicopter in one hit. There is no tone if you're about to get hit with one, so be aware of your surroundings. TOW's are SLOW and have trouble firing high, so immediately gain altitude. Do not try to avoid them left/right, because they can make sharp turns.
Tank - Usually not much of a concern. One hit from the main cannon will take you down to 3 bars of health. Enough for you to escape, unless he has already inflicted some damage with his secondary gun. Again, gain altitude because tanks cannot fire high.
Infantry - Anti-tankers are your primary concern. If a rocket gets fired at you- wait until it gets about halfway to you, and then make a turn away from it. The other infantry-man that can do any sort of damage is Support. If you have a decent gunner by any standard, they should see the muzzle flash of the LMG and take him out before you get any more than a bar of damage. Do NOT use your tv missile on infantry, it's just wasteful.
APC - Anyone in an APC shooting you at a decent range is just screaming, "Kill me! Kill me! I'm over here!". The only reason an APC should kill you is if you're severely damaged, or you get close enough to be caught by the rocket. Set your gunner up for the TV missile kill and enjoy the driver assist.
RIB (Boat) - These are weaker than a sheet of paper. A mingun spray or burst of rockets will do it in. The main gun on the boat is barely enough to tickle you. Any boat shooting you is considered a free kill.
Below is a chart that shows approximately how many rockets it takes to destroy each vehicle.
Chopper- Attack/Transport 4-6
Jet 2
Tank 6
APC 4-5
Mobile AA 4-5
Car 2-3
Boat 2
Stationary AA 2
TOW 2
Wasp (Essex gun) 3
Enemy Asset 80 (This is by no means practical. Just interesting information.)
It takes 3 TV missiles to destroy an asset or a bridge.
Capturing Flags
There are few situations where an attack helicopter needs to capture a flag. These are the only ones I could think of:
A 16-man server playing a 64 player map. Assuming there are jets in the air as well.
You are the last (two) soldier(s) on your team.
Section IV.5: DOGFIGHTING
As a pilot
When engaging another helicopter, you ALWAYS want to remain undetected as long as you can. Take TV missile shots from the rear. If for some reason your gunner was unable to TV the helicopter, move in close on their 6.
If you remained undetected and got next to the enemy heli, try to unload all of your rockets at his side. Although you get less damage than hitting their tail area or cockpit glass, you have a better chance of landing more hits.
Although, that's not very likely. Most of the time you will both be aware of each other and rapidly gain altitude. When you get close, anticipate the other helicopter's movement. I have fought against pilots that release all 8 rockets right over your head, when I come in a bit closer and jam 4 in his side.
Rocket hits will make the true difference in a close range dogfight. The guns are about equal to each other when it comes to damage on choppers.
Always try to stay above the enemy chopper. This allows your gunner to pummel them with the main gun, while they cannot do anything because they are unable to aim upwards.
If the enemy helicopter is above you, tilt your nose up and dive backwards. Once you're stable, lift your nose up and let your gunner take a tv shot. At this point the other chopper will be turning, trying to figure out where you are. This makes for an easy TV missile kill.
As a gunner, at midrange, you want to fire a TV missile (Aim ABOVE their chopper, they are rapidly rising just like you. I'd say at least 95% of misses as medium range are low.) and then immediately switch to your gun.
If the missile missed, you can just spray the other chopper as much as you want. Don't worry about the heat. Once your gun overheats, switch back to TV mode and fire off another. Continue this until the range changes or he's dead.
Section V: GUNNING
Your duty as a gunner isn't only to lay back and gun down the entire opposing team, you must also spot targets for your pilot and warn him of threats. The more threats you remove- the longer you stay in the air, and the more kills you get.
ALWAYS keep your eyes open. Keep your minimap on the largest setting and note any vehicles that your teammates spot. Stay in gun mode until you see a target. Constantly look left and right, notice flags and when they neutralize. Memorize AA locations and Mobile AA spawns.
Your first and foremost duty is to remove any immediate threats. This includes all anti-air, enemy helicopters, and cars. After that, you want to remove threats to your team- Tanks, APCs, and TOW locations. Once all of that is taken care of- feel free to go infantry hunting.
Your main gun- a "minigun"
Your minigun should be used for: Boats, Jeeps, Transport Helicopters, Infantry, Grounded AA (When close), and TOWs.
Your minigun SHOUDLN'T be used for: APC's*, Tanks*(I cannot stress this enough), and Jets.
**This excludes the Mi-28 Havok and the TIGER HAP. The 30mm Explosive round on these helicopters is enough to do significant damage to armored vehicles.
When using your minigun, spray in lines to kill infantry. A concentrated spray at an infantry man is inneffective because of accuracy. A line past his feet will guarantee an easy kill. This doesn't apply when using the Havok's 30mm. Just point and shoot.
When your pilot is circling or hovering over a base, spray the gun around corners and in dark areas. Chances are, if you're at a base longer than 10 seconds, you will get a handful of angry AT soldiers. They will minimize your view of them, and spraying around corners will kill a few and keep the rest in hiding.
Killing Anti-Air. This is going to be your main concern while gunning from a short distance. Instead of trying to take out the AA gun itself, try to take out the infantry man inside of it. Once he has fallen to your gun, THEN take out the AA. Without infantry to man it- it's not a risk.
Gunning Helicopters. Try to aim at the tailrotor section or the cockpit section, whichever is the most convenient. I personally get more success gunning the tail section, right up in their engine, it is very weak.
Please don't bother trying to hit a Jet with a machine gun. It does NOTHING. All it does is notify the jet pilot that you are sitting in the same position, they will be more than sure to make another run at you.
Your TV-guided missile
To switch to your TV-guided missile, simply right click. This will bring up a black and white screen with a white crosshair.
This crosshair is used to guide the missile. To guide the missile, simply reclick at the desired location. As long as you keep clicking, the missile will keep re-guiding its new target location. The TV missile travels a maximum of 450m.
It is a common mistake to overclick the TV guided missile. Unless you have a very top end computer and are on a server that's run in your backyard- you will not be able to accurately keep clicking and reclicking at the desired target. When you click too much, your clicks are delayed and you end up over-correcting.
To compensate for this, predict where you target is going to be by the end of your missile's flight. Go into singleplayer and force yourself to make minimal clicks.
The TV missile will not always hit where you think it will. Your screen shows a delayed version of what the server actually is. This isn't noticeable during ground combat, but with the TV missile traveling at 750kmph(Speed in this game is measured in KMPH, silly canucks...), it's more noticeable.
This is why you want to join a server with a low ping. Each player will have their own sweet spot on a target, depending on their connection and lag. Ground targets are usually ok to hit, but this is very noticeable in the air. If two helicopters are dueling it out with tv missiles, you can hit the other one square in the nose, and it will not register.
Instead, try to hit ABOVE them or hit them in the tail if possible. Hitting a helicopter in the tail has not failed me once to this day, though I'm barely 50-50 when hitting them in the nose. It's truly dependant on lag and server, but the tail is usually a good target.
Hitting Jets with the TV guided missile
This is not a beginner's skill, nor a very practical skill. But it is FUN and very useful if you find yourself surrounded by jet pilots. Plus, it's great for footage on frag videos and bragging rights.
To hit a jet, you either have to be lined up at an incoming jet, or you have to hit a jet that has slowed down. Your TV missile moves at 750kmph. A fighter jet won't go far below 900kmph unless he reduces his speed. Bombers are a bit slower, and you might be able to catch one in the engine if you chase it while it reloads.
Your most likely hit is either a hovering F35B or a jet pilot coming straight at you.
To hit the jet- just pop them in the nose. Because their direction won't vary from the path of your TV missile, it usually registers as a hit. If for whatever reason you are above a hovering jet- I suggest hitting it in the "spine".
Section VI: FLYING SOLO
Pre patch, you could steady your chopper into a hover and switch seats without worry. You could easily switch seats and line up a tv shot, fire and return to the pilot's seat.
DICE had heard too many whines about this and decided to stop it. Instead of disallowing seat-switching in-flight, they decided to make the helicopter spin out of control when you switch to the gunner's seat. Instead of fixing the problem, they just made the community adapt.
**Note. Many servers (and players...hi Primacord!) look down upon solo flying. Teamkilling a gunner out of "your" chopper is almost always looked down upon... but we'll save that debate for another thread.
Using the TV Missile solo
Aim LEFT. Your chopper is going to spin immediately, (so unless you macro,) during the time it takes you to right click to enter TV mode and left click to fire the missile, the chopper will have spun a bit. To compensate, line up a bit to the left of your target before firing.
Stay high. While spinning in circles, if you are not level to the ground, you will take a dive while spinning. DICE's "fix" to soloing adds onto your current movement. To avoid any crazy crashes, stay high.
Watch your minimap. Armor, cars, and other helicopters are going to be your main targets while solo-ing. Utilize your minimap to find targets to hit.
Removing enemy helicopters. This is your main threat when flying solo. Ground targets are too far away and jets will have a hard time hitting you. You need to constantly scan for the enemy helicopter and take him out at range. A close range encounter will leave you severely disadvantaged.
Mini-gunning solo
To be honest, this is hard to do, and I cannot do it effectively. However, it is possible.
You need to circlestrafe clockwise. Set your helicopter in motion for a circlestrafe, and then switch seats to mow infantry. You need to switch back into the pilot's seat every few seconds to keep the motion going.
Again, this is very hard to do and requires lots of practice. Don't expect to do it well until you've clocked several hours solo.
Soloing with Rockets
This isn't much different that flying with a gunner. You will want to stick low to the ground to avoid AA. Your rockets are for close range kills, and there is no reason to be way up in the air if you plan to use only rockets.
Take out every land vehicle you see, and practice your aim with rockets to take out infantry.
Section VII: CLOSING
Contact Information
xFIRE: MadKatter. I'd love to fly with a good gunner now and then. Or even a good pilot.
MSN: [email protected]
AIM: TWILIGHTxSTUDIOS
If you notice any mistakes- spelling or otherwise- please PM me.
Also, if you want to flame me/criticize me, please use the private messaging system.
THANKS
All of the helicopter guides that I have read
Every single pilot I've had in a helicopter. While some good, many bad, each showed me what to and not to do.
Every single gunner I've had in a helicopter. I swear, 80% of them must use a brail computer.
EA/Dice
Singleplayer Bots.
Dr. Pepper Co.
BF2s.com, for hosting this guide.
And....thank you for reading.
By: MadKatter
Contents
I: Controls
II: Helicopters
III: Maneuvers
IV: Piloting
V: Gunning
VI: Solo Flying
VII: Closing
Section I: CONTROLS
You have 3 main options to control the helicopter.
Mouse and Keyboard, preferred by most helicopter pilots.
Keyboard and Keyboard, rarely used. These are my controls. WASD and Arrows.
Joystick. Commonly used, though I can't stand it.
This is strictly preference, as none have a real advantage over the other**.
**If you want to solo pilot, you may need to learn how to use Mouse and Keyboard
The W key increases torque, making you "go".
The S key decreases torque, like putting on breaks.
The A and D keys turn you on the x axis. Left and right.
The Up Arrow Key/Moving the mouse "down" make the nose of your chopper go down.
The Down Arrow Key/Moving the mouse "up" make the nose of your chopper go up.
**The Mouse is able to be inverted, look in your controls.
The Left and Right Arrow Keys/Moving the Mouse Left and Right make the chopper move on the z axis, or roll.
Section 2: IN-GAME HELICOPTERS
There are 3 choppers in Vanilla BF2:
The AH-1Z Super Cobra
The Mi-28 Havok
and the Z-10
Special Forces Includes:
The Apache
and the Hind
Euro Forces includes:
The Tiger HAP
Vanilla Helicopters
The Super Cobra
This is a very well balanced helicopter.
It is the most agile, with similar handling to the Z-10.
The gunner has 900 rounds of a main gun. The gun fires at a rate of 600 rounds per minute.
The TV missile box is slightly below the pilot's crosshair. Pilots need to just aim their crosshair at the target.
The Havok
This is a BIG helicopter.
It isn't agile at all, and it's bigger than the other two vanilla helicopters, making it easier to hit with a TV-guided missile.
The gunner has 450 rounds of an "explosive" gun. It has high splash damage and unlike the other two helicopters, it can take down tanks and APC's semi-effectively with the gun.
The TV missile box is far below the gunner's crosshair. (About halfway between the pilot's crosshair and the bottom of the "square" part of the HUD.
The Z-10
This helicopter is very similar to the Super Cobra. It feels nearly similar when piloting them.
The gunner has 900 rounds of a main gun, which fires at the same rate of the super cobra, but feels (Can anyone confirm this?) weaker.
The TV missile box is just a little bit below the cobra's.
Special Forces Helicopters (and the TIGER HAP)
These helicopters are different than the Vanilla 'Copters. The Pilots need to partake in the killing as much(if not more than) the gunner.
The Mi-35 Hind
The Hind is a big, bulky helicopter.
It has poor maneuverability, but LOTS of armor.
It carries the same weapons as the Apache.
The TV box is also in a similar location.
The Apache Longbow
The Apache is my personal favorite SF helicopter.
It is more mobile than its counterpart, with the same amount of firepower.
It comes equipped with 4 sets of 8 explosive rockets (Ideal for shredding infantry)
The gunner gets a weak main gun, and a TV missile
The TV missile box is WAY below the pilot's crosshairs. It is near the "gunners view" on the pilot's HUD.
The Tiger HAP
This is a very interesting Helicopter. It is a hybrid of an Apache and Havok.
It is medium-sized, with decent maneuverability.
It comes equipped with explosive rockets.
The gunner has the same cannon as the Mi-28 Havok, an "explosive" gun.
The TV box is about in-between the Z-10's and the Havok's- I haven't a lot of time in this chopper.
Section III: EVASIVE MANEUVERS
**Note. All Altitude marks are strictly over the water. Ground Altitudes may vary greatly. I am not responsible for any damaged choppers.
.5. Flying Low
This isn't really a maneuver, more of evasive action.
In-game Usage
In game, you want to fly low off of the carrier to prevent being detected by AA, Jets, or other Helicopters. Do NOT fly low when the shore is taken by the enemy, instead, fly far away and line up your gunner for a distant TV shot.
1. The Barrel Roll
This maneuver is simply preformed by gaining altitude, and holding down the W key[Increase Torque] and either the Left or Right arrow key[Starts the roll]
Your first barrel roll will make you lose about 40 altitude(meters?). I would suggest being at about 60 before trying to perform one.
Each subsequent barrel roll will take less altitude, because the inertia from the first will carry onto the second, making the roll "faster".
The second roll will take about 20 altitude, the 3rd about 15.
In-game Usage
If you are dogfighting an enemy helicopter at long range, wait until your gunner has fired the TV missile, and then do a barrel roll. Chances are, the enemy has already fired their missile and its heading right at you.
Avoiding nooby jets. This won't help against a pro in a jet, but 80-90% of the time you will escape with minimum damage.
2. The Backflip
Gain a lot of altitude, hold down the "w" key and the down arrow/move the mouse upwards.
Keep the torque up, if you don't, you will lose a lot of altitude and quickly.
This maneuver requires about 60-70 altitude
In-game usage
This maneuver really has no use in game, other than losing altitude while staying at about the same location.
3. The twist
This is just a simple evasive maneuver that "twists" the chopper.
Hold down the "W" key and the Up Arrow/Move the mouse down. Now hold down either the "A" key and the right arrow/move the mouse right, or the "D" key and the left arrow/move the mouse left.
It's not much more than a fun little trick.
**Note. I have not tried this with the mouse as it would probably prove difficult.
OFFENSIVE MANUEVERS
4. Circle Strafe
This is very useful when trying to clear out a single flag so that friendly units can move in and cap it.
Dip your nose down, lean to one side, and move to the opposite side(using the "A" or "D" key).
If you were using Mouse and Keyboard, you want to use the WASD keys as much as possible, minimizing mouse movement.
**If you do this maneuver counter-clockwise at the right angle, you can solo-machine gun.
It's hard to explain this, it requires a lot of ingame practice, but it's one of the most effective ways of slaying infantry.
5. Side-To-Side Strafe
This is easy to do, and a good way to take out infantry.
Simply get a bit of altitude, and strafe to one side. Use your acceleration key ('W' for most) and arrow keys/mouse.
All you're doing is going back and forth, minimizing any chance of being hit with any sort of rocket, but still allowing the gunner to mow down any opposition.
6. Rocket Swoop
If you're alone in a helicopter, or not confident in your gunner, this is an effective way to take out armor and AA.
Get a bit of altitude over the target, dip your nose down and release all of your rockets at the target. Keep your acceleration high, so that you do not crash into the ground.
If you need more time to rocket a target, hold down the "S" key when you begin to dip down to slow the descent of your helicopter. Be careful not to hold it down for too long or hold it down when you get close the ground. You need torque to bring your chopper up from the descent.
Section IV: PILOTING
Rockets
As a pilot, you get 4 sets of 8 rockets. Pressing your main fire button launches one at a time.
The rockets are completely dumbfire and have a decent traveling speed.
Your rockets will fire from the right pod, then the left pod, then the right pod, and so on. You will have 4 rockets firing out of each side before you have to reload.
Each rocket is individually fired to a different location. It isn't at all noticeable. In fact, I bet if you weren't looking for in the first place, you wouldn't realize it.
I'm not sure if this is an error on Dice's part or not, because the rockets come out of the same two pods. Yet all four of the rockets coming out of the pod are individually placed.
**I think the rockets were coded to fire as if they were the TV missiles coming out. As you look at the chopper, They are placed exactly like the rockets that come out of your pods. It's just speculation.**
How am I sure it's there? Go to Sharqi, get in the cobra. Don't move. Fire all of your rockets. Notice how the First two rockets go over the ridge, then the next 4 hit it, and the last 2 go over.
Rocket Placement
Rockets (as I said earlier) only go towards your crosshair when fired from a hover or stationary position.
So you ask, "Where do they go all other times?"
Well, when you strafe to the left, the rockets will travel far right of your crosshair. When you strafe to the right, the rockets will go far left of your crosshair.
When pulling a dive, the rockets will go "up" (north) of your crosshair. When pulling up, the rockets will go "down" (south) of your crosshair.
This takes a lot of practice to get used to where the rockets actually travel during battle.
HUD (Heads Up Display)
At the very top of your HUD is the compass. I have never once used my compass. Use your minimap to determine which way you're facing.
On the left side is your torque meter. The longer you hold down the acceleration button, the higher it will go. It determines how much power you're putting into movement.
On the right side is the ascension/desencion meter. It determines if you are ascending or descending. Along with the horizon line, it will help you maintain a hover.
The crosshair. This is where your rockets will go if you're in a perfect hover, or have landed.
The hover indicator. This is the circle that goes around your crosshair if you are in a perfect hover. You may see it go towards the top of your screen sometimes when you take off. If it moves to the left while you are trying to hover- you need to tilt right. The same applies for when it goes to the right- you need to tilt left. If it goes up- you need to tilt your nose down. If it goes down- you need to tilt your nose up.
The horizon line. These are the two lines on the sides of your crosshair. They will always parallel the horizon. This may not be of much help when flying low, but when you're up high or looking at the sky, it's invaluable.
The gunner's view box. This simply shows where your gunner is looking. If the square moves to the far right, he's looking far right. If you see this, you may want to turn to the right to give your gunner a better view of what could be a potential threat.
If he is constantly repeating "Enemy forces spotted" and looking to the edge of his gunner's view, this is a sign that you need to turn that direction because he sees a target.
Flying for your gunner
Face it. The rockets that the pilot has- aren't that great in comparison to the gunner's arsenal. The rockets aren't as good as slaying infantry as the machine gun, and the tv missile takes care of vehicles in one hit, always.
As a pilot, your job is to fly for the gunner. This includes lining up TV shots, coming in close to use the machine gun, and spotting targets.
Most importantly, think with a gunner's mind. Is your nose too far up? Can he see that Linebacker around the corner? Is he running short on ammo?
Threats to your Helicopter
Mobile AA - Whenever you see one of these, flare and drop as LOW as you can. EA designed the Mobile AA so that they cannot look low, to prevent them from raping infantry. Take this to your advantage and fly as low as possible. Put as many objects between you and the AA as possible. Although their range is limited to 300m, they can gun well beyond 500m.
Chopper - This is pretty obvious. A good gunner that can place a TV missile in your tail and leave you 15 seconds to figure out what happened. This is one of the very good reasons why you don't hover. If you're unaware of his presence, there's a good chance you'll be a pile of burning rubble.
50 cal - DICE had the wonderful idea to increase the damage on these. They are now VERY VERY lethal to your helicopter, and it will only take about 10 seconds of good hits to bring you down. If the .50 cal occupant is skilled, he will often be more dangerous than an enemy chopper. Pop him with a tv missile from range if you're having troubles. Do NOT attempt to give him a facefull of rockets, that only allows him more time to shoot you down. 50 Cals can be found on the top of any Buggy, Humvee, or Vodnik.
Jet - Jets would be lower on my list, but a skilled jet pilot can take you down a lot easier than you realize. If you see your health dropping rapidly, take evasive action. This is most likely a skilled pilot, and harder to avoid because of the lack of a lock on tone. Spot him on with your Commo rose and drop altitude. Get inbetween low objects if you can. If you hear a lock from a Jet, flare and increase altitude when he gets close. Once he has passed you, fly VERY low and follow him. When he comes back for a second pass, he won't be able to find you. Good Job.
Stationary AA - 2 hits from these buggers will bring you down to 3 bars. That's enough to get away for repairs. If you hear the tone, look for the AA emplacement. Once you see the first missile firing, flare. If you did it correctly, neither will have hit you. You now have about 8 seconds to get 300m away, or destroy the occupant.
TOW - These slow, guided missiles will take down a helicopter in one hit. There is no tone if you're about to get hit with one, so be aware of your surroundings. TOW's are SLOW and have trouble firing high, so immediately gain altitude. Do not try to avoid them left/right, because they can make sharp turns.
Tank - Usually not much of a concern. One hit from the main cannon will take you down to 3 bars of health. Enough for you to escape, unless he has already inflicted some damage with his secondary gun. Again, gain altitude because tanks cannot fire high.
Infantry - Anti-tankers are your primary concern. If a rocket gets fired at you- wait until it gets about halfway to you, and then make a turn away from it. The other infantry-man that can do any sort of damage is Support. If you have a decent gunner by any standard, they should see the muzzle flash of the LMG and take him out before you get any more than a bar of damage. Do NOT use your tv missile on infantry, it's just wasteful.
APC - Anyone in an APC shooting you at a decent range is just screaming, "Kill me! Kill me! I'm over here!". The only reason an APC should kill you is if you're severely damaged, or you get close enough to be caught by the rocket. Set your gunner up for the TV missile kill and enjoy the driver assist.
RIB (Boat) - These are weaker than a sheet of paper. A mingun spray or burst of rockets will do it in. The main gun on the boat is barely enough to tickle you. Any boat shooting you is considered a free kill.
Below is a chart that shows approximately how many rockets it takes to destroy each vehicle.
Chopper- Attack/Transport 4-6
Jet 2
Tank 6
APC 4-5
Mobile AA 4-5
Car 2-3
Boat 2
Stationary AA 2
TOW 2
Wasp (Essex gun) 3
Enemy Asset 80 (This is by no means practical. Just interesting information.)
It takes 3 TV missiles to destroy an asset or a bridge.
Capturing Flags
There are few situations where an attack helicopter needs to capture a flag. These are the only ones I could think of:
A 16-man server playing a 64 player map. Assuming there are jets in the air as well.
You are the last (two) soldier(s) on your team.
Section IV.5: DOGFIGHTING
As a pilot
When engaging another helicopter, you ALWAYS want to remain undetected as long as you can. Take TV missile shots from the rear. If for some reason your gunner was unable to TV the helicopter, move in close on their 6.
If you remained undetected and got next to the enemy heli, try to unload all of your rockets at his side. Although you get less damage than hitting their tail area or cockpit glass, you have a better chance of landing more hits.
Although, that's not very likely. Most of the time you will both be aware of each other and rapidly gain altitude. When you get close, anticipate the other helicopter's movement. I have fought against pilots that release all 8 rockets right over your head, when I come in a bit closer and jam 4 in his side.
Rocket hits will make the true difference in a close range dogfight. The guns are about equal to each other when it comes to damage on choppers.
Always try to stay above the enemy chopper. This allows your gunner to pummel them with the main gun, while they cannot do anything because they are unable to aim upwards.
If the enemy helicopter is above you, tilt your nose up and dive backwards. Once you're stable, lift your nose up and let your gunner take a tv shot. At this point the other chopper will be turning, trying to figure out where you are. This makes for an easy TV missile kill.
As a gunner, at midrange, you want to fire a TV missile (Aim ABOVE their chopper, they are rapidly rising just like you. I'd say at least 95% of misses as medium range are low.) and then immediately switch to your gun.
If the missile missed, you can just spray the other chopper as much as you want. Don't worry about the heat. Once your gun overheats, switch back to TV mode and fire off another. Continue this until the range changes or he's dead.
Section V: GUNNING
Your duty as a gunner isn't only to lay back and gun down the entire opposing team, you must also spot targets for your pilot and warn him of threats. The more threats you remove- the longer you stay in the air, and the more kills you get.
ALWAYS keep your eyes open. Keep your minimap on the largest setting and note any vehicles that your teammates spot. Stay in gun mode until you see a target. Constantly look left and right, notice flags and when they neutralize. Memorize AA locations and Mobile AA spawns.
Your first and foremost duty is to remove any immediate threats. This includes all anti-air, enemy helicopters, and cars. After that, you want to remove threats to your team- Tanks, APCs, and TOW locations. Once all of that is taken care of- feel free to go infantry hunting.
Your main gun- a "minigun"
Your minigun should be used for: Boats, Jeeps, Transport Helicopters, Infantry, Grounded AA (When close), and TOWs.
Your minigun SHOUDLN'T be used for: APC's*, Tanks*(I cannot stress this enough), and Jets.
**This excludes the Mi-28 Havok and the TIGER HAP. The 30mm Explosive round on these helicopters is enough to do significant damage to armored vehicles.
When using your minigun, spray in lines to kill infantry. A concentrated spray at an infantry man is inneffective because of accuracy. A line past his feet will guarantee an easy kill. This doesn't apply when using the Havok's 30mm. Just point and shoot.
When your pilot is circling or hovering over a base, spray the gun around corners and in dark areas. Chances are, if you're at a base longer than 10 seconds, you will get a handful of angry AT soldiers. They will minimize your view of them, and spraying around corners will kill a few and keep the rest in hiding.
Killing Anti-Air. This is going to be your main concern while gunning from a short distance. Instead of trying to take out the AA gun itself, try to take out the infantry man inside of it. Once he has fallen to your gun, THEN take out the AA. Without infantry to man it- it's not a risk.
Gunning Helicopters. Try to aim at the tailrotor section or the cockpit section, whichever is the most convenient. I personally get more success gunning the tail section, right up in their engine, it is very weak.
Please don't bother trying to hit a Jet with a machine gun. It does NOTHING. All it does is notify the jet pilot that you are sitting in the same position, they will be more than sure to make another run at you.
Your TV-guided missile
To switch to your TV-guided missile, simply right click. This will bring up a black and white screen with a white crosshair.
This crosshair is used to guide the missile. To guide the missile, simply reclick at the desired location. As long as you keep clicking, the missile will keep re-guiding its new target location. The TV missile travels a maximum of 450m.
It is a common mistake to overclick the TV guided missile. Unless you have a very top end computer and are on a server that's run in your backyard- you will not be able to accurately keep clicking and reclicking at the desired target. When you click too much, your clicks are delayed and you end up over-correcting.
To compensate for this, predict where you target is going to be by the end of your missile's flight. Go into singleplayer and force yourself to make minimal clicks.
The TV missile will not always hit where you think it will. Your screen shows a delayed version of what the server actually is. This isn't noticeable during ground combat, but with the TV missile traveling at 750kmph(Speed in this game is measured in KMPH, silly canucks...), it's more noticeable.
This is why you want to join a server with a low ping. Each player will have their own sweet spot on a target, depending on their connection and lag. Ground targets are usually ok to hit, but this is very noticeable in the air. If two helicopters are dueling it out with tv missiles, you can hit the other one square in the nose, and it will not register.
Instead, try to hit ABOVE them or hit them in the tail if possible. Hitting a helicopter in the tail has not failed me once to this day, though I'm barely 50-50 when hitting them in the nose. It's truly dependant on lag and server, but the tail is usually a good target.
Hitting Jets with the TV guided missile
This is not a beginner's skill, nor a very practical skill. But it is FUN and very useful if you find yourself surrounded by jet pilots. Plus, it's great for footage on frag videos and bragging rights.
To hit a jet, you either have to be lined up at an incoming jet, or you have to hit a jet that has slowed down. Your TV missile moves at 750kmph. A fighter jet won't go far below 900kmph unless he reduces his speed. Bombers are a bit slower, and you might be able to catch one in the engine if you chase it while it reloads.
Your most likely hit is either a hovering F35B or a jet pilot coming straight at you.
To hit the jet- just pop them in the nose. Because their direction won't vary from the path of your TV missile, it usually registers as a hit. If for whatever reason you are above a hovering jet- I suggest hitting it in the "spine".
Section VI: FLYING SOLO
Pre patch, you could steady your chopper into a hover and switch seats without worry. You could easily switch seats and line up a tv shot, fire and return to the pilot's seat.
DICE had heard too many whines about this and decided to stop it. Instead of disallowing seat-switching in-flight, they decided to make the helicopter spin out of control when you switch to the gunner's seat. Instead of fixing the problem, they just made the community adapt.
**Note. Many servers (and players...hi Primacord!) look down upon solo flying. Teamkilling a gunner out of "your" chopper is almost always looked down upon... but we'll save that debate for another thread.
Using the TV Missile solo
Aim LEFT. Your chopper is going to spin immediately, (so unless you macro,) during the time it takes you to right click to enter TV mode and left click to fire the missile, the chopper will have spun a bit. To compensate, line up a bit to the left of your target before firing.
Stay high. While spinning in circles, if you are not level to the ground, you will take a dive while spinning. DICE's "fix" to soloing adds onto your current movement. To avoid any crazy crashes, stay high.
Watch your minimap. Armor, cars, and other helicopters are going to be your main targets while solo-ing. Utilize your minimap to find targets to hit.
Removing enemy helicopters. This is your main threat when flying solo. Ground targets are too far away and jets will have a hard time hitting you. You need to constantly scan for the enemy helicopter and take him out at range. A close range encounter will leave you severely disadvantaged.
Mini-gunning solo
To be honest, this is hard to do, and I cannot do it effectively. However, it is possible.
You need to circlestrafe clockwise. Set your helicopter in motion for a circlestrafe, and then switch seats to mow infantry. You need to switch back into the pilot's seat every few seconds to keep the motion going.
Again, this is very hard to do and requires lots of practice. Don't expect to do it well until you've clocked several hours solo.
Soloing with Rockets
This isn't much different that flying with a gunner. You will want to stick low to the ground to avoid AA. Your rockets are for close range kills, and there is no reason to be way up in the air if you plan to use only rockets.
Take out every land vehicle you see, and practice your aim with rockets to take out infantry.
Section VII: CLOSING
Contact Information
xFIRE: MadKatter. I'd love to fly with a good gunner now and then. Or even a good pilot.
MSN: [email protected]
AIM: TWILIGHTxSTUDIOS
If you notice any mistakes- spelling or otherwise- please PM me.
Also, if you want to flame me/criticize me, please use the private messaging system.
THANKS
All of the helicopter guides that I have read
Every single pilot I've had in a helicopter. While some good, many bad, each showed me what to and not to do.
Every single gunner I've had in a helicopter. I swear, 80% of them must use a brail computer.
EA/Dice
Singleplayer Bots.
Dr. Pepper Co.
BF2s.com, for hosting this guide.
And....thank you for reading.
Last edited by MadKatter (2006-08-12 07:19:00)
