YouTube's Doom49 was nice enough to give us this excellent guide to owning the skies with Battlefield 3's jets. If you're getting killed by enemy pilots or "landing" in the side of a mountain more than you like, these simple pointers and moves should help you improve your skills.
- If you’re going to take off in a jet, you better know how to land it. When you’re approaching the ground, hold the back key and you’ll deploy your landing gear. It’s much more effective than crashing.
- You won’t have access to rockets right off the bat, so getting good in the main gunner seat should be your first priority.
- When you’re in a jet, your primary objective should be to stay on the tail of enemy jets for as long as possible. If you can’t stay behind someone, you can’t get the kill.
- The most important aspect of dogfighting is being able to make sharp turns and rolls to keep the enemy in your sight. To get better maneuverability on your turns, hold your throttle, look in the direction you want to turn, then quickly release the throttle and brake. Then turn as sharply as possible and hit the throttle again. In short, throttle, brake, turn, throttle.
- Never underestimate the value of a wingman. It can be immensely helpful to communicate with another jet pilot and set up more complicated combat manuevers.
- There are different advantages to using a keyboard and mouse versus a joystick. The joystick allows you to make sharper turns and stay behind the enemy for longer, but the keyboard and mouse allows for more fine-tuning and makes it easier to keep your crosshairs on an enemy.
- Stingers are especially dangerous. As soon as you hear the beeping sound indicating someone has a lock-on, go as high as you can, maneuver around as much as you can, and head for the boundaries of the map.
- When you’ve unlocked the flares, be careful not to hit the button too soon after a lock-on. Wait for the long, solid beep, then activate the flares to give yourself the best chance of survival.
- If you need to shake someone off your tail, you can roll into a half loop, and kiss the ground with your landing gear deployed. If you can pull it off correctly, it’s a good way to force your enemies to crash.
- The airspace on the map is considerably larger than the space occupied by ground troops. Don’t be afraid to chase someone long distances to get the kill.
Thanks again, Doom49. You can be my wingman anytime.
