Feel free to post ANY other useful insight for anything you've found about PvP dogfighting, :rtfm: just plz don't flood with non constructive questions or comments :rtfm: let's make a pool of information for refrence use of all of our discovery pilots. If you have any questions feel free to send me a message with them.
DEFENSIVE FLYING
1. Evading standard gunfire:
This is crutial seeing as every ship carries standard weapons or codenames. The key element to defensive flying is the ENGINE KILL. The trick is using the strafeing keys in/out of conjunction with the thruster.
Defensive turning consists of strafing on the outside of your turns, these "wide" turns makes you extremely difficult to hit. If performed on regular intervals on attack runs makes a dramatic reduction of sustained hits. The downfall is this also makes it extremely difficult for you to hit your opponent.
Note: The up and down strafes are more or less the same if your going up strafe down and vice versa.
2. Avoding swarm missles, standard missles and supernova tech weapons:
Swarms, everyone says they're cheap but they're tracking is still far from perfect. Wide turn in one direction until the missiles reach 200-100m, while sliding prepare for a wide turn in the opposite direction. It's not perfect, you might get hit by a few but it won't screw you over quite so bad.
Standard missiles can be very hazardous to the health from close range, otherwise CMs are your best friend. Finishing your runs with wide turns reduces the riskes of getting pegged with the dumbfires, although I've not yet experienced combat with anyone PC using seeker missiles.
SUPERNOVA! BOOM! Without a shield to help u your done... Unless you don't get hit. Big disadvantage to the nova torp in PvP, a wide turn put's you out of harms way, and finishing attack runs on wide turn's into enemy craft will put you out of harms way with the mines. Personal opinions to supernovas, mine does more dmg than torp, and well supernovas r more or less ment for capships which are easier targets.
Note: BS mortars are the same as dodging supernova torps.
OFFENSIVE FLYING
Sharp turns: Instead of strafing in the opposite direction of the turn, you strafe in the same direction. Likewise you are more prone to gunfire performing these turns.
1. Scoring hits with standard gunfire:
The best way to catch hits is while your engine remains on as opposed to killed. It is much more effective to turn and pummle the opponent with gunfire. The big drawback is as much of an easy target he is to you, you are just as easy to hit as him.
Note: For all those who use inferno guns these tactic applies.
2. Using standard dumbfire missles:
You've got to be up close and personal (400-200m) to score successful hits. Otherwise they are easy to dodge or suseptable to CMs. The key is launching them while traveling on a straight tradjectory with the target (no strafing here for maximum effeciency). Keep in mind if your sliding away from the opponent DON'T fire missiles they most likly will not connect (this applies to swarm pods as well).
3. Using the swarm pod: *Update after getting one in 4.79*
Might as well drop it in with the regular guns now with new refire and dmg (I like). Make use of targeting specific peices of the ship (if u ever get the chance to smash something key like supernovas, CM hehe and sheilds or trusters is u'd like to be an @$$ :angry: )
4. SUPERNOVA TECH:
The fighters only chances of reduceing capship hulls... should you ever get through that massive shield. Otherwise, against a good pilot they're about 5% effective, you honestly have to hope your opponent tried to get too offensive on you and sharp turns into you on the pass (I learned this by getting to greedy in PvP).
[AW]AWC-Toronto <- Big Bad RH cruiser
[AW]282ndSKings.Redout <-Talon
Transport IMS-Canuk <- "Target" Shipper
This is from the Bs| Tactics Thread I'm in the process of writing.
DEFENSIVE
1) Always use straffing when turning.
This varies your turn ratio. When you straff and turn *AT THE SAME TIME* the turn is tighter and you turn around much quicker. Makes it harder for you to get hit and harder for them to evade your return fire.
2) Engine Kill Switch. Use it. Especially for turning...
When you use engine kill.. You can turn around real QUICK. It's faster than straffing, but there's one drawback.. you can take on forward fire just as quick if the opponent is good at targeting.
3) Use Thruster randomly.
The more you randomize your speed (vary it) the harder it is for them to target you, even if they're behind you.
4) Don't fly in a straight line.
I randomly shake from port to starboard when I have an enemy on my six. This makes it harder for them to hit me when I'm constanly moving from left to right. I believe this tactic is called "Rock the Boat" :)
OFFENSIVE
1) Use Missles and Mines very carefully
You have a limited supply of both. It's easy to run out FAST. Novas are the most expensive of missles/torpedoes to purchase, so take it easy with those.
2) Target mines when they're released.
IF the opponent has Supernova mines and they drop them like mad.. target the nova launcher. When they drop them, you end up blowing the Novas up. Spiffy tactic if you want a quick kill :)
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Attack Pattern "Slide":
Take distance, turn and thrust against the enemy, throw him whatever you got, and run in the opposite direction of the enemy craft, to take distance and have time to turn. Then, repeat the maneuver. Engine kill is crucial to perform that maneuver, because you need to keep running away from the enemy while you turn in order to avoid being hit.
With this maneuver, you are not using the maneuverability of my ship against him, you are using the superior strength and firepower of your ship against the More maneuverable ship. But beware, you need to have good accuracy with weps, or the maneuver will work against you. Useful against more maneuverable targets whle flying a slow craft, like a bomber.Do not try agaisnt better armored ships with good maneuverability, like a gunboat.
The "Sunicide" Escape Maneuver:
I was being hunted by 3 huegenots. I was on a Lib cruiser, the Defender.
I knew i wasnt powerful enough to kill them all and survive, so i escaped through a star corona. 2 huegs took heavy damage, 1 was destroyed because he didnt abort the hunt.
I took so much damage that i had to get a mercy kill to restore my lost equipment. But my cargo was saved.
Beware, this maneuver is hard to perform, and only works if you have more hull and botts than the enemy ship.2noobs: Dont try this at home ;)
"Hit and Run" against BS's:
Try to remain allways at a distance of ~1100m from the target. That way you can fire novas at him, but he cant fire on you because you are out of range of most weapons (exept with missiles, which are easy to avoid at that range). When going to fire, thrust against the target and fire as soon as you are in nova range (1237m) while at thrust speed. That way, the final speed of the nova will be: max_speed_of_nova + Ship_speed: 22 + 200 = 222. It will be harder for a bs to stop or evade a nova at that speed. Fire one shot per run. Because if you fire a string of novas, the first one will blow the second one, second one the third one, and so on... That is a waste of novas, and you can get caught in the "Domino effect" if unlucky enough.
If you get too close to the ship, try to "orbit" arround it, and drop mines. While rolling arround your target, he will have a hard time targeting you because you are at a range that the firing arcs of the BS do not completely cover and also, you enter and exit the player screen. He will have a hard time keeping you on the screen, let alone targeting you.
If using Supernova mines, Drop one the moment you are taking distance from the BS after completing the last orbit. Be sure that the mine is dropped while at a distance <= 50-150m. Closer, and you will e hit by the explosion. Further, and the mine wont seek the BS, or go after you or the closest ship (it might be the BS or not).
Usage of mines while dogfighting:
Dropping mines in combat is useful to prevent you enemy shields to regenerate too fast. Drop them at short distance while crossing him (see attack pattern slide), and drop 1 per run. All the mines will follow him and if he does not take care, more than one will blow at a time, draining a good amount of his/her shields. You can also sarget a mine of the group with a missile in order to blow it, but it is unlikely the enemy would get caught in the explosion, unless using supernovas, and in that case be careful not to get caught too.
Also, if the combat arena is filled with mines, that will, in some cases, force your enemy to evade them, thus, making it harder for him to target you.
Missiles while PvPing in fighters:
Use them wisely. Firing at point blank is a good way to hit him, but you need to calculate the game lag, or the missile will pop after the enemy ship passed you (see "slide" thingy again).
Try to fire them while your enemy is in a parallel course. Missiles' tracking habilities suck. Firing like that will ive you 50% more chances to hit. You can fire novas at point blank too when your target is with shields down. He will die if hit, but be sure to have shields at least at 60%, or you will get killed too (or severely damaged).
Shileld-Running:
Some people doesnt like this trick, but it is useful while outgunned.
Like the title suggest, go away from the enemy and wait until shields are regenerated. But beware, because enemy shields will regenerate too.
Weapons arrangement:
Something very little people know, is that if you place more powerful weapons at the further part of the wing, and less powerful and missiles at the center, you will have more chance to hit the enemy with the more powerful weps more often. Why? Because you are making you shoot more spread, like a shotgun, thus increasing the chance to hit. Well, this depends more on your flying style. Some people prefer all weps clustered near the cockpit. I prefer them widely separated to have a wider bolt to throw.
Well, that's all for now. I could write a few pages about combat tactics in FL, but more of that later :).
(If you find any mistake in my English, please let me know via a PM)
(Really, I speak terrible English, so please, tell me if I make mistakes. I'd like to improve it a bit )
This will not work on battleships as it will end as that dominoe effect Korrd was talking about, but it will work on cruisers and gunboats.
Start shooting at 900m or less, keep thruster on the entire run or this will not work. After the first shot slide to the right until you are a 800 (or 100 less than where you shot first from) then you shoot another. You can do this with a maximum of four novas. It is useful if you have very limited amounts of attack runs against a ship and the ship is manuverable enough to dodge some novas. Gunboats can dodge them and this technique is good against them, as you get them distracted and once they realize the novas are after it he can't do anything about it. I found this to best work against cruisers. Since they usually take a few novas to get hit by to die this increases the damage done in the same amount of time. Thus they have a shorter amount of overall time to shoot back.
This can also work with mortars but in a different way. This works best as a gunboat. Head at the person at impulse speed (80-90) and launch a mortar at one end of the ship. Then target the other end and shoot another. Then shoot one more straight at the center and get the heck out of there. If you shoot any more mortars the dominoe effect will happen. whent he torps hit one will hit each end and center, most likely destroying the ship. Against a gunboat you can also use three mortars but the third one must be launched 250+ m away from the other two. So wait till the mortars that were fired first are out of explosion range.
Using this against battleships depends on the size of the battleship. Say your facing a rheinland BS. shooting at one end, the other end, 1/8 from the first end 1/8 from the other end, 2/8 from the first, 2/8 from the 2nd, 3/8 from first, 3/8 from 2nd, and then in the center. That gives you 7 mortars being fired at the battleship. 5 for Kusari, 4 for liberty and Osiris, and 4 for the bretonian BS.
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