Vyzion Eyri
The Southern Legion
The Umbra Combine
1512
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Posted - 2013.10.20 23:47:00 -
[1] - Quote
Introduction:
Blueberries sitting in the gunner seat of my dropship, firing my XT-1 Cycled missiles at the MCC.
General pointers (Not in order of importance):
- DO NOT FIRE RANDOMLY. I cannot stress this enough. Vehicles DO NOT want to be noticed by the enemy team until they're in a position to deal some damage, and loudly chattering turrets and thumping missiles and whomping railguns alert the enemy team to our presence before the droning of our engines ever will.
- Don't shoot at NULL cannons or the MCC. It is a waste of time.
- Check the minimap. 80% of the time there will be a target that is better than whatever you're shooting at blinking red on the map.
- Look around! Don't just stare at the sky, or the hazy mountains. Understand how much you can rotate the turret, try to understand where your pilot is taking you on the map. Gunners have much more visibility than passengers in dropships, stay aware of your surroundings.
- Don't constantly switch seats. I know where you are and I will adjust to get the best position for you. Unless you're on comms and I tell you to switch, don't confuse me by switching.
- Be patient if you're not getting any kills. Trust the pilot to know what he's doing. Don't fire randomly if you get bored. I'm repeating this because it's important. Soon, turret ammo conservation will become a big part of vehicles; if you want to be a good gunner you're going to need to get this habit in your mind ASAP.
- Even the best gunners should get out. I know you'd love to go 20 - 0 but in most cases that's plain impractical and will lead to the vehicle dying due to such greed, which will lead to you having to get out anyway. If I land near a hackable objective I don't care if you're a god on the turret or not, please get out and hack it. I may be just giving you some free points as I wait for my repairers to cycle.
Choosing a target:
When selecting a target in a target-rich environment be aware of a few things:
- Infantry. Shoot those who notice you first. They are the ones who will try get AV/shoot gunners out of their seats. If you notice infantry with AV focus fire on them.
- Supply depots. If you see enemy supply depots FOCUS fire on targets around it. Do not let them switch to AV fits and annihilate them if they do. But don't shoot the actual depot.
- Equipment. Hives resupply AV, destroy them. Uplinks bring people with AV. Destroy them.
- Installations. For dropship gunners especially, don't shoot turrets and draw their attention unless the pilot is above it or tells you to shoot it. Just don't.
- CRUs. Unless you're in a HAV for god's sake don't shoot them.
Understanding the turrets:
- Blasters: close-range, anti-infantry. These overheat, be careful with your spraying and praying. You can "ADS" or zoom with this turret; use it to slow turret rotation speed for precision aiming at longer ranges.
- Missiles: currently the favourite small turret for many vehicle users. Works very well against all things that are red on the battlefield. Note that it is extremely difficult to aim with missiles whilst a vehicle is moving. Wait for your pilot to stop/hover in a spot before you start going wild with the turret. You can "ADS" or zoom with this turret; use it to slow turret rotation speed for precision aiming at longer ranges.
- Railguns: absolutely useless unless the enemy team are having a picnic and don't notice you. The overheat on these things are completely broken and you'll kill someone by poking them with the overheated railgun barrel faster than you'd actually kill them shooting from the turret. You can "ADS" or zoom with this turret; use it to slow turret rotation speed for precision aiming at longer ranges.
Notice that I repeat the ADS ability thrice. All turrets can do it and it is extremely helpful. Use it when you can.
Conclusion:
If through these tips you somehow get better at gunning, feel free to send me some of the ISK you earned that match. Or better yet, send some to the pilot (especially if he/she was a dropship pilot). They will love you for it.
Please endeavour to spread this information widely; only a minority of us use these forums. Feel free to copy and paste in your corporation forums, in corp-wide emails, whatever. Especially the general tips.
Feedback and additional tips welcome.
Bibliography
Knowledge compiled from everything I can recall right now. Many points have been reiterated again and again by pilots previously. |