Mr.Vicchio's PS Flight Handbook

[MrVicchio]

First off, you gotta understand the control system. You have foreward, backward and Afterburner. Actual steering is done with your mouse. Now, you are asking "what about left and right wiht the keyboard??" unless you are in hover mode, those are used to "slide" or... "slip" your aircraft at a slight angle. You must learn to use this to your advantage, and not fight it.

I am not going to talk much about the Galaxy, its a cow, its main job is to get troops from point A to Point B. I have downed 4 of the bad boys so far, and well... if you are getting hammered.. hope your gunners are better then the guy shooting you... or bail.

Now, the BEST way to learn this flgiht system, is to set your controls RIGHT. I personally use my numberpad for.. well everything but thats just me. Here is my lay out.

Foreward Num8
Backward Num2
Left Num4
Right Num6
AfterBurn EnterKP
V Up *NP
V Down Num9

Thats its. Dont EVER use the Verticle Up/Down for anything but landing, and occassional trim control while in the air.. its just tooo slow for anyhting else.

Okay, now that you got the basics, here are a few pointers:

1. Always use your motion to your advantage, and remember your tail tries to drag you around.

2. AfterBurner is your friend.

3. Rockets rock, if you are a reaver like me, this is your bread and butter, try slidding Foreward and left/right while firing at a target, while keeping your aim just to the far side opposite of your target (I.E. if you are sliding left, aim a little RIGHT of your target and vice versa)

4. Practice on say.. Amerish or Foresal flying THROUGH the trees, prefferably at full throttle, and NEVER go above the leaves unless you absolutely have to. I can do this at full AB and 9 times out 10 I come through clean.

5. When attacking ground troops, always beware of the guys with AA, if AA starts pounding you, AB out NOW and jink around incase they are firing guided weapons your way.

I hope that helps some of you still toying with the flight model. I don't really LIKE it, I would prefer a more realistic model, but this is what we got, so learn it, live it, love it till PS 2 comes out :P

[Mamby]

Nice thanx....I am going to be a pilot and Im going to Kick ASS!!

[DarkDragon00]

if a may i would like to add a couple of things...

1) Have better armor and wepons certs so after ur shot down and cant fly u can at least do damage.

2) Practice tree weaving in the training center, have races, PRACTICE!!!

3) Support ur troops by taken maxes. They move slow, u can always hit them straight on with a salo of missles

4) Dont try to fly against ME!

5) Dont get too cocky when performing tricks if u dont have the experience. Even i who is the MASTER OF THE SKIES have gotten to cock and ended smashing into a canyon wall

6) UYse the weather to ur advantage

7) Fly high! It helps conceal position or Fly LOW! It covers u from fire if u use the trees and other terrain but again dont get too cocky.

HAve fun!

[thegame109]

Some good tips there guys..i always find that the reaver has very shitty armour and get's taken down too easy.Have any tips about how to take out an enermy reaver?.

[MrVicchio]

I will have to check my stats page, but I think Ihave 5 Reavers, four galaxies and 2 mosquitos so far.

The KEY? For air-to-air is spatial orientation. NEVER lose focus of the other guy, PERIOD. Second is to stay atleast 50 yeards behind him, close ONLY when you are certain you can peg him with missiles. ALSO DO NOT FIRE unless you will hit, especially at first. Surprise is key, if you fire off missiles at range and miss, he is gonna boot scoot around ya.


Anyone wants to go head to head, find me.

[Thravvn]

I have some qestions, i dont have the client;/.

Is the flight model like Freelancer?
Can you Rolle?
Can you fly loopings?
What kind of wepon system have that Jets?
Need you skill to hit a opponent?(dogfights without targeting computer like Sturmhovik) or you simply aim the enemy Target and shoot and it hits?(like freelancer))
How fast can you fly?

*G* thats all:D

[starrider]

gooood now i can stop looking for a joystick...

[Cyanide]

Here are some other tips. These are more geared towards dog fighting with your reaver.

1) The reaver is not a fighter jet, nor should it be flown like one in a combat situation. The reaver is the equivilent of an Apache attack helicopter. You will do well to remember that and fly it as such.

2) When dog fighting do not use auto throtle. Learn to control your speed manually. Quick speed adjustments and strafing are needed for proper reaver dog fighting.

3) When engaged by an enemy aircraft do not afterburn away from it. This will only serve to put the enemy on your tail.

4) The main key to success in reaver dog fighting is to keep the enemy in your gun sights while keep yourself out of his. The fact is that the reavers turn radius is absolute crap at high speeds. Use this fact to adjust your style and learn to dog fight at slow speeds to maintain the high turn rate (like a helicopter pilot does).

5) Use your strafe keys and verticle thrusters to help maneuver yourself into a position that keeps you out of the enemy gunsight and puts the enemy in yours. If the enemy is making a left turn you should cut through his turning path (if he's not right beside you) and strafe to your right. This makes you stay out of his gunsight no matter how hard he turns. Reverse it when the enemy makes a right banking turn. If the enemy is coming straight at you, strafe to one side while firing at him. When he passes you, rotate in the direction he passed you on (if he passes you on your left rotate left) then purse using the above mentioned techniques. By using your strafe keys and maintaining a tight turn radius you can keep your enemy in your sights longer than he can keep you in his sights at high speed. This means you land more shots (assuming you learn how to properly lead your target) and he will die quicker.

6) ALWAYS use the chaingun on enemy aircraft. Missles are useless against aircraft and should be saved for killing tanks and maxes later.

The other day i downed 10+ reavers and 1 mosquito (the only one i saw) in 2 hours without getting shot down once.

[Angelos]

I have one tip to all pilots..


AVOID THE TREES! They are so evil... one moment swingin to your burners, next minute reaching out and grabbing you, then giving you a close-up of the dirt as they show you good ol-fashioned nature smack-down.

[starrider]

how does the mosquito fly in combat?????

[Angelos]

The skeeto can easily out maneuver a reaver. They are a lot faster. But my advice to any skeeto pilots: Use that speed and maneuverability to get the hell away. Reavers still own skeetos as far as I've seen.. Although we have a resident skeeto pilot that owns reavers regardless...

[Zenny]

A nice little trick I use when attackin ground troops

You are aiming down at them and shooting at them, but you find yourself flying downward and have to constantly pull up and come around for another run, the best advice I have to counter this is...

A.) Fly about 30-50% speed if you think you won't get too much attention to yourself
B.) Hold the verticle fly up button while looking down at an angle
C.) But when looking down, you have to find the right angle and speed when holding the vertical up button to find yourself not going down or up too much
D.) Mess around with the different speeds and angles to get a good feel for attacking at a distance then closing in close (doing this requires a decrease in speed and looking down more)

[AztecWarrior]

I don't have enough RAM to fly through the trees without copious freezing and the inevitable crash, or for that matter, get a base and forest both on-screen at once.

TIP

If Aztec is kicking your ass, run for the forest!

[Angelos]

Well I only have 512, thinking of getting another 512 stick. But I fly through trees, and push the afterburners while flying 2 feet off ground in sanctuary. When I'm just screwing around, no casualties. But when it really matters, those trees seem to know it...

[Sando138]

Sando's advice:

I'm rarely in a position where my reaver cert can be put to use, and as such, i'm gonna give basic tips.

tip 1: try to avoid getting attention unless you can get away fast. if you get too much attention, AB it.

Tip 2: when you spot an enemy, engage at minimal speed and maximum distance. trust me, i have learned this the hard way.

Tip 3: if you see 'Warning! Missile Lock!' and hear a ping, Afterburn for the trees and weave between them. if the trees are of any substantial size and you get lucky, you will dodge the shots. if there are no trees, just AB and get low to the ground, particularly near the outside of base walls if you were fired on from inside the base. if you have no cover, AB and take maximum evasive maneuvers.

Tip 4: Don't be fooled by the Reaver's reputation. it doesnt really take all that much to bring one down when it comes to concentrated firepower. thus, you should work in tandem with ground forces whenever possible, even if you have superior numbers.

[Thravvn]

can someone awnser that, plzzz:):

Is the flight model like Freelancer?
Can you Rolle?
Can you fly loopings?
What kind of wepon system have that Jets?
Need you skill to hit a opponent?(dogfights without targeting computer like Sturmhovik) or you simply aim the enemy Target and shoot and it hits?(like freelancer))
How fast can you fly?

[Seer]

No rolls, no loops. Reaver has a 20mm cannon and a pod of rockets, while the mosquito has a 12mm rotary chaingun. Yeah, you have to manually aim. The factions of Auraxis have about the same level of targeting sophistication as any given participant of world war II. I'm not sure how fast you fly--I haven't flown since they started measuring in KPH.

Mosquitos can down reavers easily if they stay away from the main cannons. They can use their manueverability to completely outfly a reaver, and the main gun on the Mosquito isn't something to just laugh at and ignore. I've taken out a galaxy with it, actually.

[Cyanide]

/me laughs at the mosquito and its pidley chaingun

I've yet to be shot down by a skeeter. I either kill them or scare them off with the reavers real guns. If the skeeter had a 20mm then it would def be a reaver killer. Right now it's just a neusence.