^DD^GRiPS
American Hillbilly
+12|6770|Long Beach, CA
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.
Ptfo
steelie34
pub hero!
+603|6352|the land of bourbon
alot of your problems are solved if you just solo
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Hakei
Banned
+295|5966
Your guide is okay.

-Focus what the pilot is focusing on, pay attention to the direction the chopper is facing. Target the pilots target.
Disagree, a gunner should be looking elsewhere in order to spot possible flanking choppers or AAs hiding in bushes, not to mention spotting jets that are swooping past.

Use the machine gun in between TV attempts fighting other choppers head to head
Just no, your pilot should not be going face to face with an enemy chopper and you are better off waiting in TV mode anyway.
-CARNIFEX-[LOC]
Da Blooze
+111|6624

Hakei wrote:

-Focus what the pilot is focusing on, pay attention to the direction the chopper is facing. Target the pilots target.
Disagree, a gunner should be looking elsewhere in order to spot possible flanking choppers or AAs hiding in bushes, not to mention spotting jets that are swooping past.
While I agree completely with what you're saying, I think you both have valid points.  What you say is true for the vast majority of time, but I think he is saying that when the pilot blatantly changes course or orientation to face a target, make sure you shift your attention to what they're pointing at.

Hakei wrote:

Use the machine gun in between TV attempts fighting other choppers head to head
Just no, your pilot should not be going face to face with an enemy chopper and you are better off waiting in TV mode anyway.
Good chopper gunners and pilots will not be phased by machinegun spam...they will patiently wait for their next missle shot.  But this tactic will cause a lot of inexperienced pilots to try to turn and run, which is essentially setting themselves up for the coup de gras if you have even a semi-decent gunner.  (I know you know this, I'm jus sayin...)
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^DD^GRiPS
American Hillbilly
+12|6770|Long Beach, CA
Steelie34 - I solo the chopper when I have to but prefer a gunner.  It is very tough to solo these days with all the no seat switching rules out there now.  I think those rules are silly but I am nothing but a PuG server guy so it is what it is.

Hakei - I did mention that the gunner should be spotting enemies due to the fact it doesn't take but a second or so to do it enough you should have a decent awareness of whats around you.  I tend to not need this as much from my gunner because my battlefield awareness is superb.  I will know where the enemy chopper is just by paying attention to what the enemy kills and where my other teammates die are on the map.  I take notice to the commander and teammates spotting as well.  I didn't say "never" look around and spot out enemies though.  When the radio call "enemy chopper spotted" goes out I'm all hears and will start the hunt.  I just find my gunner and I live longer and kill more stuff...heck even cap flags when he jumps out real fast once we clear one... when we are on the same page in this way.  I would rather him be able to kill what in front of us than have hm looking off to much.


CARNIFEX - A good pilot will be phased by machine gun spam if that's what killed them. lol.

Why would you just "patiently wait" for the TV to reload when the machine gun can take damage off the enemy chopper as well?  Yes the TV is the most efficient way to dispatch anything in the game but it isn't full-proof every time.  Lets face it more often then not choppers get close enough for hydra range often enough that the damage from the machine can make the difference because like I said before close range TVs require much more precise aiming from the pilot with less maneuverability from the gunner.  In the 5 or 6 seconds your waiting for it to reload perhaps the machine gun could finish it.   Not to mention the enemy chopper can be getting shot by other friendlies as well.  Of course range of the enemy chopper dictates what is best to use anyways.  Close range TVs are literally hit or miss even when the chopper is lined up perfectly.  There is just not enough distance to steer it properly if the enemy chopper is flopping around and or moving laterally.

I am just a PuGger though so don't take this guide as law by any means.  I really enjoy the discussion but I realize that other players may have different styles and that is fine.  These are just the things that work for me when I am at the stick.  I would gun more but more often than not the pilots in PuG servers are so bad it isn't even worth it.

My style as a chopper pilot is that I can do everything in it to help my team win.  Elimnate choppers and armor, assist infantry, cap flags, literally everything.  Heck when I fly as a medic Ill land and toss out med bags and revive fallen infantry in a flash and get right back in the air rocking and rolling.  I don't mind dieing so I take risks because I might get shot down occasionally but not till we killed so many targets our team has a number advantage on the battlefield.  I just have fun.

Thank for the input guys.
Ptfo
steelie34
pub hero!
+603|6352|the land of bourbon
if you are close enough to use the cannon on the enemy heli, then you have made a mistake by not paying attention to where he will be at all times.  they should never see you kill them.
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-CARNIFEX-[LOC]
Da Blooze
+111|6624
Let me elaborate...

There are obviously many situations where you are close-up, in a dogfight, and you can effectively use the guns to bring another heli down.  That's not debatable in the least.

But past a certain distance, even good gunners will begin to have difficulty hitting with enough shots to make a huge impact on health.  It's not even a matter of aim so much as the distance decreasing the amount of hits that will register.  So by "phased" I didn't mean that they won't take damage, but if you have relatively full health and someone begins to machine gun you doing sporadic, slight damage, it honestly isn't worth the time to switch out of TV missle mode just to spray a couple of bursts before you go back to firing the missle. 

I feel that way because, even if you have the timing of the missle reload down, it makes it easier to miss the exact reload time by even a second, and if your opponent DID patiently wait until the second it reloaded and fired instantly, you may be dead by the time your missle even fires.  Therefore, I would rather patiently wait until the exact instant the missle is reloaded, then fire, because missing the timing by even a fraction of a second can be the difference between winning and losing the fight.

Having said all of this, I do use the machineguns in dogfights, but if I know I am against someone good then I will tend to just wait for missle shot opportunities.

EDIT:  Or if I know I'm against someone good, I will do like steelie says and pretty much remain elusive until I can get a surprise shot that I essentially will not miss.  Machineguns are usually reserved for scrubs that aren't worth a missle.

Last edited by -CARNIFEX-[LOC] (2009-10-30 10:11:41)

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^DD^GRiPS
American Hillbilly
+12|6770|Long Beach, CA
I hear ya..now that I think about it switching views sometimes causes a TV misfire, or am i mistaken?  Nothing worse than that against another decent chopper team.
Ptfo
Skorpy-chan
Member
+127|6316|Twyford, UK
I disagree with waiting patiently. Hammering damage onto a chopper presses the crew, and might force them into making a mistake. This works with ANY gun; I've seen someone plow into a building after unloading a pistol clip into them, and used a PKM to annoy someone into dropping tankbusting and dogfighting and just hunting me down repeatedly. I even killed the pair of them a couple of times.

Sure, an experienced pilot and gunner will just ignore it, but the chances are they will be at least unsettled.
pace51
Boom?
+194|5144|Markham, Ontario
Very nice guide, well written.

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