Don't use a keyboard+mouse. A joystick, rudder controls and a throttle help a lot. Even a cheap twist joystick with built in throttle slider is good. Keyboard+mouse was great for flying helos in
BF2 for two reasons:
- Precision control over rockets.
- Flight model.
In 2142, you don't need the same precision control with the rockets, in my experience. And the flight model really doesn't suit a keyboard+mouse, especially if you have to fight another gunship.
2142 follows the same weird throttle convention that
BF2 did: Between 50%-100% throttle, you're in normal flight mode. Below 50% throttle puts you into hover mode (0% throttle for maximum hover, 50% for no hover/no forward flight). It takes about two seconds to switch between these flight modes.
Forward flight mode is a bit like flying a
BF2 jet. You can do tight turns by rolling. You can do loops. You can also sideslip by rolling and applying a bit of rudder. You
can't do an immelman, or a barrel roll, or stuff like that. Unlike a
BF2 jet however, you don't really have to worry about losing control; it's a lot more stable at high altitudes. You also don't have to worry about stalling or minimum manoevering speeds. However, you do have to worry about not going inverted- about the only time it's safe to go inverted is at the top of a loop. It is almost impossible to roll out of an inverted position, you need to pull out of it like a loop, and you can't do that without enough altitude.
Hover mode is sort of half-way between a helicopter and an F-35B. At full hover, with no motion, you will ascend very, very slowly. If you want to orbit a position in hover mode, or just fly around a bit, you will loose altitude.
The biggest threat to a gunship is EMP missiles. SAAW missiles can also down a gunship pretty effectively, but not many people use them. The best way to stay safe when flying around the battlefield is to either stay fast and high, to give you a safety margin if you get EMPed, or stay fast and very low, to use terrain as cover. Fast, fast, fast.
Of course, you have to stop, or at least slow down if you want to line up for a TV missile shot, or even just line up with your homing missiles on a ground target. For a TV missile you might want to briefly switch to hover mode. However, always listen for that lock tone and bug out at the first warning. It's a lot quicker to just come around for another pass then to wait for your gunship to respawn.
Unfortunately, the second biggest threat doesn't give you a lock tone. Your second biggest threat is, strangely enough, tanks and ground turrets. Don't sit still if either are looking at you, since you'll be an easy shot, and a single hit from either will take you down. All the engineer weapons will take you down in one short (sort of):
- Normal guided anti-armor weapon: A one shot kill, but you get a lock tone. Your standard procedure of 'countermeasures, escape' when you hear lock tones will keep you alive.
- Pilum: You won't get a lock tone, but you are almost impossible to hit with this unless you're hovering for a long time. Don't hover a long time.
- SAAW: Instead of one projectile, this unlock actually has two before it has to be reloaded; if both hit, they'll take you down. It is self-guiding, so long as the engineer keeps a lock on you. Contermeasures, escape will keep you alive.
I won't bother discussing how to line up shots for the TV missiles: there are screenshots above which tell you where to aim.
Your rockets won't track ground vehicles, so you need to line them up manually. This is why some people like using a mouse... the mouse gives you more precision, but it really looses out in terms of manoevering, and you can get pretty precise with a joystick and some practice. Not really much to say here, they're easier to aim than the rockets in a
BF2 attack helo; aim at your target, correct down slightly if you're moving forwards and fire. It might take two or three passes to kill the vehicle depending on how many hits you score. These rockets don't do much splash damage so don't bother trying to kill infantry with them unless you have very good aim.
And last, but certainly not least, dogfighting. First, killing transports: Transports are slow and lumbering, and should be easy kills. Just get behind it and start plinking away with your rockets... I suggest a couple at a time at first to get the pilot to waste the countermeasures, then unload the rest of your ammo onto it. Precision aiming is not necessary, since the missiles will home in on the transport. The one caveat is the transports have two turrets which can aim backwards and they can kill a gunship if you're not careful and the gunners (and pilot) are good. But the guns don't really aim up, so if you're waiting for the shields to drop just fly above the transport.
Second, dogfighting (killing other gunships). If the other gunship doesn't know you're there, just get behind it and unload all your weapons in one quick burst. Being caught unaware is the easiest way to get killed by another gunship so similarly, you should always be looking out for hostile gunships trying to do the same to you. If the other gunship knows you're there and is actively trying to avoid your weapons, things get a little trickier... When the missiles get within a certain distance of a hostile aircraft, they will start homing in on it: they will turn towards its position. However, they don't track a target well, so if you fire a rocket at a gunship travelling at right angles to you, your homing missiles will not hit. There is about a 60-90% cone in front of, and behind the enemy gunship; if you can get into that cone, and lead the target so your weapons lock on, the rockets will hit it.
Now, for manoevering in a dogfight, it's important to remember that a gunship does not have a minimum manoevering velocity, or stall problems. If the enemy gunship rolls and tries to get into a turning fight, you can stop, rotate, cut the corner, and then slide slip in behind it (roll the gunship while correcting your forward direction with the rudder). Once you're behind it, fire your missiles.
