Bad tactics

Kosher_Locust · February 9, 2021

From my voluminous experience on what not to do:

Getting that guy

We've all been there, you get into looping or turning battle and the other guy manages to splatter you all over his windshield. Well, you're not going to take that lying down and will show him something. Just first you have to negotiate through the other fighters to get back to him, and since people usually fly strongest to weakest plane you'll be in a worse situation than before. Plus if you let it get to you then you'll get aggravated, get killed again, and get even more aggravated. Instead zap him only if you see an opportunity.

Going too low or too slow

We live our lives on the ground and stay there, and a lot of people's playing style shows that. With props you always want altitude, with jets you want speed.

Rising to greet the spawncamper

Just don't.......I still do this sometimes and it's what he wants, to have you fly up, lose momentum, and be a sitting duck as he giggles with glee filling you of holes. Just hit the gas and try to bring him down to your altitude, once winged or hit they channel their inner 12 year old boy and run from the fight nearly every time.

One high BR plane and nothing else

You bought that shiny new premium plane or even better won it. Congratulations! But if your new plane is BR 5.3 and everything else is BR 3 you're opening a can of worms, as you'll have one good plane while each enemy will have several. You know who you are, you fly a jet and your next plane is a P-26. Fly as many planes close to the same BR as you can so you have an evenly rated team.

You see a line of planes and go for the head or middle

The bad guys see a fat bomber below you and zoom in, fastest in front or slower to the rear. It's tempting to go for the one closest to you, or the middle guy who may not be paying attention, but you're stepping in the middle of a conga line of guys with guns; you want no one behind you.

Flying what you like even if it doesn't work.

I would have loved to fly P-51's but aside from the "H" can't hit anything with them. I also liked Spitfires......but the game favors Germans and some Russian and Italian planes. Rather than fly a P-51 and never do well, I fly what I can get kills with.

Overthinking everything

Should you use tracer .50 cal in the F7F? What's the best convergence for the 109 G/2? Does carrying more fuel make the plane balance better? How is Elvis and have you seen him lately? Check advice if you have a chronic problem, otherwise fly and practice, you'll find what works.

Chasing

If you're dead behind someone most often your shots are going to fly right past him. Aim for a deflection when he's at angle to you, or approaching so your shells slam into him.

Head ons all the time

Head ons are a contingency, if you're on your game you can zap the other guys several times in a row, but you also lose your plane as often as you don't. Sometimes the other guy turns in so fast you don't have many options, and you may want one last kill before time runs out on the match--fine, but head ons shouldn't be the only way to fight.

Feeding the troll

It's become pretty rare in this game, but still someone starts chewing you out in chat; just mute or black list. They want to aggravate you and put your off your game, so the less opportunity you give them the better. Besides, if the dude has to get onto a video game to find someone to harass....he's got issues.

The furball and only the furball

No matter how good you are you're not invincible; the furball is where the excitement is and if you don't care about you score go for it. But if you want to do well fly with your mind and select fights where you're at an advantage rather than looping and shooting anything that moves.

Testing your guns

Every match starts with someone is firing off some tracer ammo. Just do some test flights until you work it out of your system. There's no need to check or clear your guns, they're not real, they'll always fire first time.

Giving up

I've had many matches that started awful, yet near the end the magic would happen and I'd start downing planes. Or my plane would be shot to pieces and and I'm smoking with a dead engine, yet still manage to get a couple of guys. There's always something you can do.

Not knowing when to quit

Some days I've had so many bad games in a row it becomes a rout, rather than keep trying it's time to quit and come back later when the ping/player mix/phase of the moon is better. But the opposite also happens, I usually quit when I get "Terror of the Sky," as trying to recapture one good game over and over also puts you on a downward spiral.

The hit marker is just a suggestion

It's a catch all of how much a of a lead you should give on your target, but it's not a bull's eye. It's always the center of the plane, so if it's a bomber and you aim there you're more likely to get the fuselage rather than the engines. Guns, cannon, and the calibers within those vary in drop and range; and if you are shooting tracer ammo you can see the drop. With cannon I usually aim ahead of the marker and fire a burst as the marker passes through, with guns I start ahead and try to track whenever I see hits happening, as you have to hold on target.

Firing all the time

You see a bad guy, he's looping and diving and you have your guns on constantly hoping for the magic moment...until that moment arrives and you're stuck on a reload. Use short, controlled bursts, you want to choose when to reload rather than get caught empty.

Forgetting situational awareness

My most common humiliations deaths are flying to catch a bomber or into a fight, and get zapped by a guy who pulled in behind as I wasn't looking. The game's radar also isn't very good on enemies differing in altitude; do a free look anytime you've seen enemy nearby, keep aware of what's behind and on top of you.

Signaling your intentions too early

You see a plane you can likely zap, he's flying in your direction but some ways away. Your plan is to turn behind him......but you turn too soon; he sees what you're up to. Crying "look, elephant!" isn't going to help as you end up in a head on and likely a crippled or dead plane. Assume he's got his eye on you until he goes past or turns for another target. Do the Han Solo and fly casual until you're in the right place.

Edited March 4, 2021 by Kosher_Locust