Guide to Playing the F4 Phantom (USA)

[burp1402 0]

Guide to Playing the US Phantoms

Just want to start out by saying I'm not the best Phantom player, however I feel I can shed some light on how to play the Phantom. Any advice or changes to be made will be appreciated. This guide is also directed for Air RB.

 

Spading the Phantom

The first step to doing well in the Phantom is to Spade the phantom. The easiest way is to research Bombs first and bomb bases. Researching all the bombs is not needed just the 250lb or the 500lb is good enough to spade the phantom. Next is the Flares/RWR (Depending on which phantom you are using), the RWR will allow you to know when enemies lock on to you thus allowing you to expect their radar missile and know where they are coming from. Flares allow you to dodge heat seeking missiles, however there is a technique to dodging them. After the flares/RWR would be missiles, missiles are the primary way you will kill others with, thus researching the Best heat seeker is important. As for the sparrows, they are good for getting head on kills early and playing chicken with another aircraft with radar missiles but they are not needed.

 

Thus research in the following order:

 

1. 500lb Bombs
2. Flares/RWR
3. First Heat Seeker Missile
4. Second Heat Seeker Missile
5. Performance Upgrades
6. Radar Missile
7. Rest

 

Typical Game

Once you have spaded the phantom or at least have all the missiles, you can start to play properly. Firstly, look at who you are facing, what nations. This is because knowing how many and what radar missiles they can bring to the fight is important. After that, takeoff and climb with your team. Try to get above or at the same altitude as the enemy team. Your team will probably comprise of mostly phantoms. Try to climb as a pack and use your radar missiles to "push" the enemies down or pick off targets early. Ideally, once your team is above all of the enemies you can start to Boom and Zoom enemies. Dive on a unsuspecting enemy and missile them. Once the missile launches extend and repeat.

 

How to Use Sparrows Properly

Sparrows are an essential part of your arsenal and can be very useful if used correctly. They however are quite finicky and will not work all the time.

• Step 1: 
  Lock on to your target and make sure the enemy is not diving down to where your radar loses lock. 
• Step 2:
  Select the sparrows as your secondary weapon and spool the missile.
• Step 3:
  Check that the target is in range of the sparrow and you are gaining on the target. To check look at the radar screen and there should be two thick lines. If the target is within these two lines the missile is in range.

Missile out of Range

Missile In Range

Step 4:
Lead the missile a little. Lead the missile by a little, make sure that the target is behind the center of the large circle and it should be good.

 

Step 5:

Launch the missile and maintain lock. Launch the missile and make sure it tracks, it should maneuver towards the target and not explode. Another tip is to launch within 15km as that will allow the missile to maneuver a little but not lose too much energy before reaching the target.

 

I will continue to add on to this thread when I have the time. But this is the things I wanted to know when I first got my phantom.

 

Great Video by ScottishKoala on how to play top tier and reasoning for climbing

 

Edited December 8, 2020 by burp1402

[TheCheshireCat 2,578]

Welcome to the forums!

Thank you for submitting a guide! Looks like a lot of work went into this post. I hope you don't mind, but I moved it to the FAQ and tutorials section

Edited December 8, 2020 by TheCheshireCat