Hellshade 110 Posted March 12, 2009 As most of you know, air combat in OFF P3 got a lot more intense as of the 1.26 patch. The bad guys die faster, but so do you. Ever since I installed that patch, I've had to modify my air combat tactics to survive. Most of you are probably better pilots than I am, but just in case I thought I'd list a few rules I set for myself that have raised my survivability considerably. 1. Never let an enemy stay behind you for more than 3 - 5 seconds without taking evasive action. It's tempting to stay in position and finish a kill you have lined up, but in that short period of time one burst from the guy behind you could easily damage your plane and devastate your ability to manuever. Once your manueverability is gone, it's usually only a matter of time before you become a statistic in the Great War. 2. Never willingly engage in head to head combat. It's too easy for your engine or flight controls to be damaged by enemy fire or even a collision. You never have the advantage in head to head. If they are an Ace, you are at a distinct disadvantage! Peel off. 3. Change targets often. Don't get fixated on a single foe. Better to be fighting 3 wounded enemy birds that have a hard time manuevering than it is to fight 2 fully capable foes. Shoot to wound and then peel off to find another target unless you are sure there is nobody else close enough to pounce on you. You can come back to him later when he and his friends are easier to line up. Look for every target of opportunity and take close range pot shots then peel off and put the next one of the defensive. 4. Shoot no more than 50 round bursts at a time. My guns never seem to jam when I do that. 5. When engaged against multiple opponents in the QC mode, always try to wound one of them as quickly as possible. Usually one will peel off on his own. I tend to track around on them immediately after the first pass and try to get a few puffs of damage on him right away then disengage to find where the rest went. I'd love to read about other folks general rules or tactics they use to stay alive, especially against multiple opponents. It's vicious up there since 1.26. No room for error. What works best for you? Hellshade Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Parky 8 Posted March 12, 2009 No tips for survival here. It's not one of my strong suits....lol. I do however have to comment on just how much more difficult survival has become after the latest updates. It's no longer a matter of pumping rounds into a seemingly disinterested AI opponent. I've encountered AI behaviour that leaves me absolutely gobsmacked after these latest patches. Unbelievable improvements!! Surviving 17 hours is gonna' be virtually impossible without a great deal of common sense, self-restraint and a "discretion is the better part...." approach. I imagine that's very much how it was in RL back then. It doesn't get much better than this if you enjoy a really tough challenge. Not sure if it's my imagination, but I think Pol must have tweaked the FM on the twin gun Tripehound. Been having a ton of fun and real good success flying it. In short, what works for me is the Tripe!! Cheers, Parky Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CaptSopwith 26 Posted March 13, 2009 No tips for survival here. It's not one of my strong suits....lol. I do however have to comment on just how much more difficult survival has become after the latest updates. It's no longer a matter of pumping rounds into a seemingly disinterested AI opponent. I've encountered AI behaviour that leaves me absolutely gobsmacked after these latest patches. Unbelievable improvements!! Surviving 17 hours is gonna' be virtually impossible without a great deal of common sense, self-restraint and a "discretion is the better part...." approach. I imagine that's very much how it was in RL back then. It doesn't get much better than this if you enjoy a really tough challenge. I completely agree Parky! Even just the short flying I've done in QC with 1.26 has left my jaw on the floor. I flew a QC against a flight of Sopwith Camels the other night (making sure I was in at least a D7) and the speed at which the enemy flight broke formation, and quickly turned on us was staggering. I remember in some older sims, they'd fly by and you'd have up to and even more than a full minute to turn and engage them before the sluggish AI woke up and realized they needed to come after you. No more! The dogfights I encounter in OFF remind me more of the online dogfighting I did back in my RBII days more than any offline experience. The AI is wicked and you really can't take any chances with it. "Gamey" tactics - using the AI's weakness in intelligence to your advantage - no longer applies here. You're absolutely right - suriving 17 hours is going to be a challenge. But with the massively improved DM, I feel like I can really give the enemy a fair fight this time around. Excellent stuff! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
catch 81 Posted March 13, 2009 Hmmm. What works best for me ? I multi task .... 1) Scream like a girl. 2) Run away. All at the same time Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dej 17 Posted March 13, 2009 Take any damage at all... butt out! It's the only way to survive. But... there's my wingmen. I'm going to get myself killed trying to help them. I know it. So be it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
griphos 0 Posted March 13, 2009 I'm with Parky as well. I've been quite impressed with the AI lately. One of the changes seems to be that they watch their six now. I've turned on planes flying away and level and gotten to where I was just about to fire and they turn and burn. Very impressive. In my mission tonight, we were jumped by six Alb DIII out of the clouds and one of my wingman was spinning to the ground almost before I could collect my wits. They broke fast and as if they had a plan. It seemed that two of them targeted each one of us. I drew my two away a bit so I could engage them by themselves, and there was none of that old long distance shooting. They chased and closed to within 500 ft before they thought about shooting at me. In the furball that followed, I thought I was flying against aces, so flipped on labels, but it was just regular Airmen from Jasta 9! Anyway, I think your rule #3 is about the best, Hellshade. That's been working for me in these multiple enemy dogfights. And I never engage h-t-h. Normally, if the enemy closes from the front, I either turn and climb until they are close enough to fire, when I turn to engage, or climb toward them but a bit to one side and cross-control as the enemy comes into range so I look like I'm turning toward them but am really slipping further off to one side. This usually gets them past me with any bullets they fire streaming off to my side, and I can turn and try to get on the highest one's tail. I guess that's possibly a rule to add. When engaging multiple enemy, engage the highest one first. That's what I've been doing. There's usually one who stays high hoping you'll follow one of his friends down so he can get on you. I try to wound him and then turn on the next one who's climbing back up to come at me. That way I work my way down, keeping the advantage of stored energy and shooting at whichever target of opportunity presents itself at my height. This kept me in good shape against multiple aces once until their buddies downed my wingmen and all came for me! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bletchley 8 Posted March 13, 2009 If you wan to escape (I usually do), I find it helps to hit the deck and jink from side to side. The AI have a hard job to hit you then, and will often just follow you without even shooting. Doesn't allways work, but 'hedge hopping' has got me back safely many times now :) Bletchley Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
themightysrc 5 Posted March 13, 2009 I don't know if it's always been the case, but I perceive myself as running away an awful lot more. Mind you, I've taken to flying the BE2c, which might help explain that. I've no particular desire to become a notch on a Fokker pilot's stick, so I'm taking advantage of the opportunity to explore the fascinating low-level world of hedge hopping, bottom tightly clenched. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Olham 164 Posted March 13, 2009 To collect an ace's impressive kill tally here, you got to - remember and follow all the golden rules - run more often than you kill As I said elsewere before: Udet's kill tally was collected by having 1 kill every 15 flights. (Or you fly like me: I have a hundred and plus lifes and names. I'm the devil's soap box opera actor. I'm the reincarnation of the rookie fool. I have to go through this again and again, until my karma may change. And I'm getting killed every 5 flights; or even more often...) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
