No other game gives you the ability to roar over the battlefield ripping fire from a 20mm Gatling gun and putting guided missiles into the back of LAVs and/or clueless people riding waverunners. But flying in Battlefield is awfully tricky, and can be so frustrating that most people don’t even bother.
Has this happened to you?
- The other jet always ends up behind me, and then I’m instantly dead
- Beep beep where the fuck is that coming from Oh, I’m dead
- Oh, hello lightpole
- Oh, hello tree
- Oh, hello tower structure thing
- Oh hello helicopter
- Why can’t I hit anything
- Why don’t my missiles do anything
Since flying is so much fun, I thought I’d add some basic pointers. Don’t miss out on what can be an extremely fun part of the series.
Source: Div 1 Global Jet bracket. I’m only rank 160, but then, I’m only rank 38 in the game (I kept playing BF3 a long time…if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, etc.)
I also spent about 500 hours playing War Thunder between BF3 and BF4, learning how to fly “for reals” in a much bigger sky with pilots who humble the best of us Battlefield hotshots.
Ok, here we go.
Turning:
The most important thing is turning quickly using the optimal speeds. The skybox is so low that, frankly, you’re going to have a hard time pulling fancy maneuvers like a Cuban Eight, Split-S, Immelman, etc., because those vertical loops can easily put you in the Molasses-In-The-Sky that exists about 1000 about whatever passes for ground level in each map (which varies). So just focus at the start on turning in flat circles as fast as possible.
To turn fast, stay at the optimal turning speed. It’s simple:
- 300-310 in a Stealth Jet
- 310 precisely in an Attack Jet
In a Stealth Jet, the default speed is 350. This means you should spend MOST of your time with your finger tapping the “back” button. That’s “S” in default WASD controls. However, in a vertical loop, your speed will drop, and you may need to burst Shift afterburner to stay at 310. A tap is enough, any more and you’ll rocket above the optimal speed.
Just this knowledge alone can put you “in the running” in the air, so to speak, against people who are turning at any other speed.
In the Attack Jet (A10, Su-25, etc.), you will turn slower than the Stealth Jet no matter what. It also has a lower “default” speed, meaning that you’ll be tapping “S” less quickly, and will need to hold down Shift longer if you are pointing up into the sky.
The range is also very narrow. The plane turns terribly anywhere above or below 310. Try to keep it pegged there, or you’ll be in Gravy-Boat mode, and then you’re too easy a target.
Also: use yaw. Nearly constant yaw. Rudders in BF4 aren’t like real rudders. In this game it just contributes to your turning. Pour on the rudder in the direction you’re turning. That’s “A” and “D” in standard WASD controls. They can also help you adjust your gun aim in little increments without rolling during a strafing pass.
For my PC bros:
“I moved my mouse to the edge of my mousepad. Now what?”. You are not using the mouse properly. You should leave your elbow motionless on the desk and do constant little hops with the mouse. This lets you give continuous input to the game, meaning that you never “pause” during turns.
Guns:
Lead more than you think you should. Lag, rubberbanding, and the physics of bullets in BF4 all add up to shooting ahead of where you think you should.
If you’re doing the “Mouse Hops” method I mention above, you’ll be able to adjust more finely. Try a test burst when approaching a target. If you get the hit indicator, make the bursts longer as you get closer. Don’t pour it on until you’re about to pass the target.
Don’t hit the target with your plane. The planes are the most powerful weapons in the game. Don’t waste it as a (crappy) missile!
Secondary Weapons:
Until you get more comfortable using the guns, which are all you’ll ultimately need for air kills, I recommend the heat-seekers. If you’re in a packed server, get tone, and fire both missiles. Eventually, you’ll catch a plane/helo with no counter ready. Then it’s only a short gun burst away from gone.
If you’re on a less dense server, shoot ONE missile, and then try for tone again. Then go to guns.
Once you start getting kills with guns, you will have unlocked the Radar Guided Missle (or whatever it’s called). This will give your Stealth Jet the ability to engage ground and air, which is what you want.
The black-and-white downward-looking camera also lets you survey the ground action while safely flying high and level above trouble before picking the target you want to nail.
The Attack Jet gun is wicked. It’s frankly all you need and is the most OP weapon in the game once you get the hang of it. It shreds other jets in a fraction of a burst, and kills all ground vehicles with 3/4 of a full burst. I still like the Radar Guided Missile, however, for that downward-looking camera.
Note: sometimes the guided missile just doesn’t hit boats. It’s not your fault. If it’s a tank and no damage is done, that’s their Active Defense popping.
I don’t like the Attack Jet bomb: the minimap drop mechanism is off-putting and awkward, making hits difficult. When trying to aim, you lose all situational awareness, which is extremely dangerous in a crowded game.
Rockets are also totally pointless on the Attack Jet since the cannon can kill all vehicles in a single pass: better off with Heatseakers or Radar for extra anti-air or fire-and-forget anti-ground, respectively.
Countermeasures:
You must be as bored as I am if you’re still reading this. Frankly, in BF4 the jury is still out. Some swear by ECM. I don’t. I use classic flares. Here’s why: The only source of missiles that can lock you twice in a row is from the ground–but only if you’re dumb and stay in the danger area too long. If it’s from a plane, you can start a turn-fight and he’ll never lock again. An AA tank or engineer, you can fly away. If it’s a helicopter getting lock on you, go vertical. They can’t maintain the lock without dropping like a rock. Thus, you’ll only ever need one dependable lock-breaking countermeasure at a time. Flares are that dependable countermeasure.
Fire-Extinguisher is also under-rated, because you’re “dead”, they fly away, and POOF you’re good to go again. Since Missiles are weaker in BF4 than 3, no weapon save the Attack Jet cannon can destroy you instantly, giving you lots of safe time to pop the extinguisher.
Wow, this is long. Ok, any questions I’ll try to answer as they arise. I also never mentioned how to avoid lightpoles. Honestly, don’t fly that low over the conquest zones. It was worse in BF3…those things were everywhere.
Now go fly some planes!