Tip of the Day: Defending Yourself

First of all: Don’t panic! Everybody – even ace pilots – can find themself on the wrong end of a dog fight at some point and there’s nothing unusual about that. It’s not always easy or even possible to get away from a chasing attacker on your rear. Just imagine how ‘locked in’ you feel on the other side when you’ve got somebody in your sights and you desperately want to add them to your kill-list. You won’t give up on the target – no matter what else may be happening around you.

If you're being caught in enemy fire, it's time to react immediately!

In order to increase your survival chances, you need to put yourself in the role of the attacker and think about what you can do to make it harder for them to hit you. The first rule of defence is to keep the attacker more occupied with the chase than with aiming at you. For example, an attacker who’s struggling to keep up with a target whilst trying to avoid an unfortunate crash is an attacker who can’t actually shoot at the same time. Distract your opponent by using all of the moves in your arsenal and think about using the terrain to make them commit an error or even to give up chasing you by switching to an easier target!

One of the most important things that you have as a defender (that means being the chased plane) is your kinetic energy and speed. Keep it up at all cost! New recruits tend to slow down when they get heat from their six, thinking that they can force the attacker to overshoot. However, if you do that and the attacker knows what they are doing, they’ll end up having an even easier time targeting you than if you had kept your speed up and tried to out-turn them. A slower target is an easier to aim at and hit.

Don't forget to always watch your six!

Don’t forget that each team has a base which is always guarded by strong AA-guns waiting to take opponents out if they dare enter home-territory! If you simply can’t shake off an attacker on your own, use the NPC-assistance of your AA-team members on the ground to take out or distract your chaser. Flying in circles above your own base can seriously damage your pursuer and could even result in you being able to turn the tables and get some revenge!

One key ingredient to surviving seemingly deadly situations is to use your surroundings. Duck around the scenery, over the mountains, into the valleys. You can even try to use your enemies against each other! Try attracting the attention of another enemy plane. While this tactic may sound dangerous, if the attackers pick up your trail at the same time, they could actually get in each other’s way whilst following you, preventing either of them from firing at you for fear of hitting the team comrade.

Lastly, the one thing that saves the biggest amount of lives in the sky is always teamwork and communication. If you can’t handle a pursuer on your own, don’t hesitate to ask for help from a team member! Press ‘F7’ to ask somebody to clear your tail and communicate actively in the chat, to make sure your team-mates are helping each other out, rather than just hoping to duke it all out in a one on one-fashion. The sooner you lay out a strategy, find wingmen and prioritise the order in which ground targets are to be taken out, the less times you’ll actually have to apply any of the defence tactics mentioned above.

Get Airborne!