papaspur
Kasey Keller
Alright, I'll give each vehicle its own post. Since I love flying jets, and because of their high learning curve, I will start off with them.
JETS
Sometimes the hardest part of flying a jet is getting into one in the first place. If someone on your team is dominating the skies, you likely won't see the inside of the c0ckpit for the match.
Controls
I used to use my Xbox 360 controller to fly the jets, but I've since given up on that because it was kind of a hassle (it would vibrate while I was infantry, but it certainly felt good resting in my lap).
Anyway, you can fly a jet perfectly fine with just your mouse and keyboard.
W & S control your throttle, A & D control your rudder. Moving the mouse down (towards you) causes your nose to point up, and moving the mouse up (away from you) pushes the nose to point down. Moving the mouse left will make your jet roll to the left, and vice-versa for the right.
Left-mouse button fires your guns/missiles/rockets while right-mouse button lets you look around the c0ckpit.
Shift gives you a boost in speed (like sprinting) and X deploys your flares if you have them equipped.
1 & 2 will switch between primary and secondary weapons, and E will eject you from the plane.
To take off, all you need to do is hold down SHIFT+W, and when you've gained enough speed, pull your nose up (by pulling your mouse down towards you).
Turning is one of the most important skills when flying a jet. When you get into a one-on-one dogfight with someone, how tightly you can maneuver your jet will determine whether you get on the enemy's six.
To perform a simple turn, you must roll your jet in the direction you want to run roughly 90 degrees. If you want to spiral upwards a bit, then roll less than 90 degrees (chandelle).
After rolling your jet, you must then pull your mouse back towards you. While I am turning, I hold down S to make a tighter turn, and when I start to lose some speed, I hold down W when I want to complete the turn. This requires a fair bit of experimentation.
There are plenty of other maneuvers that you can pull off in a jet. A commonly used maneuver is to slalom while turning to throw off a bogey on your six. This is performed the same way as a standard turn, but at some point in the turn, you roll your plane 180 degrees and start turning in the other direction.
Situational Awareness
Once you take off from your airstrip, the first thing you should be aware of is if there's any other jets in the air or other AA looking to take you down. This is why it's generally a good idea to know the state of the battlefield before you take off. Look around (hold down right-mouse button) and see if there are any other aerial threats in the sky. If there are, you need to act quickly to ensure that they end up in your sights and not the other way around.
SOFLAM is hard to spot when you're thousands of feet up in the air, but you will know there is one when you hear a constant, continuous alarm (_______________ vs. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _). Once you hear the beeping alarm (the latter), that means a missile has been fired and is locked onto you.
Positioning & Missile Evasion
This seems to be one of the most common complaints of new pilots: "I can't fly a plane well until I get flares, and I can't get flares until I can fly a plane well."
That's a perfectly valid argument, except for the fact that there are other ways to evade missiles besides flares.
One way is to ensure the enemy is never able to lock onto you. This will depend on how hell-bent the opposition is in taking you down, but if it's standard newb-fare, there won't be any SOFLAMs and probably no AA vehicles aiming for you, so it's just enemy jets to worry about. If the enemy has line of sight on you, and are within range, they will be able to get a lock. A great way to avoid getting locked is by being out of sight, and the best way to stay out of sight is to fly low. This might make some of you shudder, but it's not actually that difficult. Unfortunately, there's no easy way to practice flying in a jet, but you should get comfortable with just flying around if you can find an empty, 1-player-to-start server. Large poles and buildings will also break the enemy's LoS. If a missile is on your tail, turning around buildings and light posts might cause the missile to collide with one of these objects, but I will admit this can be fairly tough in a cluttered battlefield.
If you've got a jet on your tail, your best bet is to try to out-turn him and not allow too much distance between yourselves. Essentially, you want the enemy jet to pass you so you can then be on his six. The one thing you don't want is having the enemy directly behind you as you fly straight. That will make you an easy target for everyone.
When strafing tanks, make sure that you have a clear entry and exit path. Again, lightpoles are pesky and hard to see from afar, so if the tank is on the road, fly collinear (parallel) with the road. This will ensure that when you make your strafing run, you won't be impeded by obstacles or other hazards of the battlefield. For a good pilot, one run is all they will need to decimate a tank.
Weapons & Gadgets
I was so excited when I first unlocked air-to-air missiles. At that point, I was convinced that I would make it rain with the debris and cinders from all the jets I would down. Turns out, most other jets are equipped with flares or jammers that prolong the period of time it takes to acquire a lock-on. My main weapon of choice is the nose-cannon. It's incredibly powerful and fires rapidly. As with any other turret-gatling weapons, fire in bursts to prevent over-heating.
When I've gotten behind an enemy jet, the first thing I will normally do is fire an air-to-air missile at them just to see whether they will counter it. If they're very close, they probably won't have time to react and deploy a flare. However, if the enemy jet didn't know you were behind them that whole time, they will get skittish and start performing defensive maneuvers meaning you will have a tougher time downing them with your cannons. All you really need is one good burst of bullets to disable a jet, and a simple follow-up burst should make him go boom. Like I said earlier, the hardest part of downing a jet is not actually how to shoot them, but simply getting in an ideal position behind them to inflict the damage quickly. If you're up against a good pilot who knows how to maneuver, you'll be giving your arm some exercise as you flail your mouse around like a drunken ninja. Keep your composure and try to anticipate where the enemy will be. Ideally, you want to set yourself up for ONE good, clean shot instead of messily spraying your hot lead everywhere
If the jet is turning in front of you but you think you've got a decent shot, remember to lead the target a bit. You have a reticule just for your cannon, so try to keep that over the enemy jet's intended path.
Flares are vital, of course. They do take a while to recharge, so if you know you've got some time to beat the missile, try to outmaneuver/evade it first before deploying a flare. Also, wait to deploy flares until after the enemy has fired a missile at you, not while they are acquiring a lock.
-------------------------------------------
That's it for the jet guide. I also just found this other guide after I wrote this one which has a lot more detail on flying jets: http://www.primagames.com/blog/battlefield-3-how-fly.
I hope this information comes useful to you, and as always, any suggestions/comments/critiques are appreciated.
JETS
Sometimes the hardest part of flying a jet is getting into one in the first place. If someone on your team is dominating the skies, you likely won't see the inside of the c0ckpit for the match.
Controls
I used to use my Xbox 360 controller to fly the jets, but I've since given up on that because it was kind of a hassle (it would vibrate while I was infantry, but it certainly felt good resting in my lap).
Anyway, you can fly a jet perfectly fine with just your mouse and keyboard.
W & S control your throttle, A & D control your rudder. Moving the mouse down (towards you) causes your nose to point up, and moving the mouse up (away from you) pushes the nose to point down. Moving the mouse left will make your jet roll to the left, and vice-versa for the right.
Left-mouse button fires your guns/missiles/rockets while right-mouse button lets you look around the c0ckpit.
Shift gives you a boost in speed (like sprinting) and X deploys your flares if you have them equipped.
1 & 2 will switch between primary and secondary weapons, and E will eject you from the plane.
To take off, all you need to do is hold down SHIFT+W, and when you've gained enough speed, pull your nose up (by pulling your mouse down towards you).
Turning is one of the most important skills when flying a jet. When you get into a one-on-one dogfight with someone, how tightly you can maneuver your jet will determine whether you get on the enemy's six.
To perform a simple turn, you must roll your jet in the direction you want to run roughly 90 degrees. If you want to spiral upwards a bit, then roll less than 90 degrees (chandelle).
After rolling your jet, you must then pull your mouse back towards you. While I am turning, I hold down S to make a tighter turn, and when I start to lose some speed, I hold down W when I want to complete the turn. This requires a fair bit of experimentation.
There are plenty of other maneuvers that you can pull off in a jet. A commonly used maneuver is to slalom while turning to throw off a bogey on your six. This is performed the same way as a standard turn, but at some point in the turn, you roll your plane 180 degrees and start turning in the other direction.
Situational Awareness
Once you take off from your airstrip, the first thing you should be aware of is if there's any other jets in the air or other AA looking to take you down. This is why it's generally a good idea to know the state of the battlefield before you take off. Look around (hold down right-mouse button) and see if there are any other aerial threats in the sky. If there are, you need to act quickly to ensure that they end up in your sights and not the other way around.
SOFLAM is hard to spot when you're thousands of feet up in the air, but you will know there is one when you hear a constant, continuous alarm (_______________ vs. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _). Once you hear the beeping alarm (the latter), that means a missile has been fired and is locked onto you.
Positioning & Missile Evasion
This seems to be one of the most common complaints of new pilots: "I can't fly a plane well until I get flares, and I can't get flares until I can fly a plane well."
That's a perfectly valid argument, except for the fact that there are other ways to evade missiles besides flares.
One way is to ensure the enemy is never able to lock onto you. This will depend on how hell-bent the opposition is in taking you down, but if it's standard newb-fare, there won't be any SOFLAMs and probably no AA vehicles aiming for you, so it's just enemy jets to worry about. If the enemy has line of sight on you, and are within range, they will be able to get a lock. A great way to avoid getting locked is by being out of sight, and the best way to stay out of sight is to fly low. This might make some of you shudder, but it's not actually that difficult. Unfortunately, there's no easy way to practice flying in a jet, but you should get comfortable with just flying around if you can find an empty, 1-player-to-start server. Large poles and buildings will also break the enemy's LoS. If a missile is on your tail, turning around buildings and light posts might cause the missile to collide with one of these objects, but I will admit this can be fairly tough in a cluttered battlefield.
If you've got a jet on your tail, your best bet is to try to out-turn him and not allow too much distance between yourselves. Essentially, you want the enemy jet to pass you so you can then be on his six. The one thing you don't want is having the enemy directly behind you as you fly straight. That will make you an easy target for everyone.
When strafing tanks, make sure that you have a clear entry and exit path. Again, lightpoles are pesky and hard to see from afar, so if the tank is on the road, fly collinear (parallel) with the road. This will ensure that when you make your strafing run, you won't be impeded by obstacles or other hazards of the battlefield. For a good pilot, one run is all they will need to decimate a tank.
Weapons & Gadgets
I was so excited when I first unlocked air-to-air missiles. At that point, I was convinced that I would make it rain with the debris and cinders from all the jets I would down. Turns out, most other jets are equipped with flares or jammers that prolong the period of time it takes to acquire a lock-on. My main weapon of choice is the nose-cannon. It's incredibly powerful and fires rapidly. As with any other turret-gatling weapons, fire in bursts to prevent over-heating.
When I've gotten behind an enemy jet, the first thing I will normally do is fire an air-to-air missile at them just to see whether they will counter it. If they're very close, they probably won't have time to react and deploy a flare. However, if the enemy jet didn't know you were behind them that whole time, they will get skittish and start performing defensive maneuvers meaning you will have a tougher time downing them with your cannons. All you really need is one good burst of bullets to disable a jet, and a simple follow-up burst should make him go boom. Like I said earlier, the hardest part of downing a jet is not actually how to shoot them, but simply getting in an ideal position behind them to inflict the damage quickly. If you're up against a good pilot who knows how to maneuver, you'll be giving your arm some exercise as you flail your mouse around like a drunken ninja. Keep your composure and try to anticipate where the enemy will be. Ideally, you want to set yourself up for ONE good, clean shot instead of messily spraying your hot lead everywhere
If the jet is turning in front of you but you think you've got a decent shot, remember to lead the target a bit. You have a reticule just for your cannon, so try to keep that over the enemy jet's intended path.
Flares are vital, of course. They do take a while to recharge, so if you know you've got some time to beat the missile, try to outmaneuver/evade it first before deploying a flare. Also, wait to deploy flares until after the enemy has fired a missile at you, not while they are acquiring a lock.
-------------------------------------------
That's it for the jet guide. I also just found this other guide after I wrote this one which has a lot more detail on flying jets: http://www.primagames.com/blog/battlefield-3-how-fly.
I hope this information comes useful to you, and as always, any suggestions/comments/critiques are appreciated.
