Combat School

pilotbugs · Jan 5, 2015

So here I am in a shiny new ASP. I got it through many many many hours in a HAULER and a Type-6. I had precisely 2 kills in my Sidewinder prior to all of this.

It's sinking in that I don't know how to properly dogfight in Elite. Are there any good guides out there? I'm running 2 med pulse lasers and 4 small beam lasers. All gimballed. What I'm having problems with is staying on someones tail vs. just jousting. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Whiterose · Jan 5, 2015

Try the combat simulator training missions.

Exard3k · Jan 5, 2015

Use the Combat Training. Made me an Ace at fighting

Sexydino · Jan 5, 2015

Get a starting sidewinder - go to a nav beacon in an anarchy system, learn to fight with flight-assist off (easiest in a sidey) - get killed lots of times, but get better and better, before you know it - you'll be much much better.

Flying with assist off, is one of the best things I learnt to do - it makes you an absolute nightmare to hit if the other person hasn't also mastered it and generally makes you a better pilot in every way.

pilotbugs · Jan 5, 2015

so with assist off, I'm correct in understanding that you can only control your vector with boost?

EddyRockSteady · Jan 5, 2015

A good place to start is making sure you understand the principles of Basic Flight Maneuvering:

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_fighter_maneuvers

erock25 · Jan 5, 2015

Sexydino said:
Get a starting sidewinder - go to a nav beacon in an anarchy system, learn to fight with flight-assist off (easiest in a sidey) - get killed lots of times, but get better and better, before you know it - you'll be much much better.

Flying with assist off, is one of the best things I learnt to do - it makes you an absolute nightmare to hit if the other person hasn't also mastered it and generally makes you a better pilot in every way.

Do you have any tips on flight assist off? I use it often in combat temporarily for repositioning which way I am facing, but I always tend to lose proper lateral speed when assist is off.

LeetNoob · Jan 5, 2015

Like above, combat tutorial is where to start. Then get a KWS and go to an anarchy system. Try different weapon load outs to see which suits you.
I would not recommend doing this in an expensive Asp. How much cash have you got? You would be better off getting an eagle to learn. Much less insurance cost and due to its high maneuverability and low hull strength, you’ll learn dog fighting better. Then move to a Viper or Asp when you have more skillz,

pilotbugs · Jan 5, 2015

also just realized that this might be an incredibly fun break from the drudgery of trading. I'll dock my ASP and go spend a few weeks fighting In a winder...

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LeetNoob said:
Like above, combat tutorial is where to start. Then get a KWS and go to an anarchy system. Try different weapon load outs to see which suits you.
I would not recommend doing this in an expensive Asp. How much cash have you got? You would be better off getting an eagle to learn. Much less insurance cost and due to its high maneuverability and low hull strength, you’ll learn dog fighting better. Then move to a Viper or Asp when you have more skillz,

A few mil in the bank. I can afford to burn Eagles all day.

ReaperAlex · Jan 5, 2015

i'd say practice in a viper or cobra, if you have an asp chances are you can afford to fund one of those ships, and because they are less agile than the sidey and eagle they will help you learn how to cope vs smaller ships, a skill you will need in the asp.

the first skill to learn is how to win a "pitch war", that's the natural sate when 2 pilots are pulling up to get their target in their site and all the end up doing is making a nice circle together and never getting anyway.

when you first enter a pitch war, try thrusting up as you pull up, this will tighten your turn and if it's enough to win the war then it's the perfect win

if that fails try thrusting down as you pitch up, it's got a better chance of winning the war but it will leave you further away from them

if all else fails slam your ship into reverse and try to get the little git into your sights that way

you can quite happily take out elite anacondas in a viper with flight assist on, so don't feel you need to master flight assist off to be any use in combat. the learning curve for FA off is enormous, though if you do master it i expect the satisfaction will match the hard work it took

kilted · Jan 5, 2015

pilotbugs said:
So here I am in a shiny new ASP. I got it through many many many hours in a HAULER and a Type-6. I had precisely 2 kills in my Sidewinder prior to all of this.

It's sinking in that I don't know how to properly dogfight in Elite. Are there any good guides out there? I'm running 2 med pulse lasers and 4 small beam lasers. All gimballed. What I'm having problems with is staying on someones tail vs. just jousting. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

The key is found in the training. Specifically, your thrusters. You need to keep your speed in the bright blue area - its real easy to to lose sight of that. It allows you to have maximum manouverability, which means you can turn and move faster (changing relative position). If you still can't keep them in your sights, then they are too close to you, and able to stay out of your front view. Slow down to let them get away, then re-center on them. Make sure you zoom back up to the blue zone.

I dont know why I am sharing my combat tips here though lol. Its not like I want people to be able to hunt down so effectively.

Make sure you are targeting subsystems appropriately too - you need to take down shields quickly for fast kills, so target that using the nav console, rip out the shields, then try and get either right behind the other ship, or stay on top of it, and blast the crap out of them. Keep your eyes on their distance from you, and boost if you need to catch up to them (bring them back in effective range). Also, holding the shoot key will only make your lasers overheat - get more power capability on your ship. Finally.. make sure that your power systems are prioritizing to your weapons for dogfighting (right arrow key), and to your engines and systems for running away.

Sexydino · Jan 5, 2015

You control yourself in the normal way using lateral thrust and main engines, however you don't have the flight-assist system constantly trying to keep you flying straight and level, or stopping you if you throttle down (FA is a form of autopilot)

Once you master it, you can turn quicker, and more easily outmaneuver an opponent, or use it selectively, the simple matter is it will teach you to handle the spacecraft much better in every way.

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Practice really, there's a guy on youtube who's really good at it - (forgot his name, someone will remember it) who plays almost entirely with assist off, he can really fly and inspired me to learn properly.

this guy; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtD41MRibe4

Watch and learn, you'll be a much better pilot and more effective at dogfighting

NeoRacer · Jan 5, 2015

I found out its not enough just to have your throttle in the blue zone, you also gotta add more power to the thruster systems to maximize it. I been experimenting with full thrusters and weapons (no shields) on bounty hunt pursuit, then switch it back if they start attacking my shields too much. I can keep up with Cobra's this way. Im a newb though.

kilted said:
The key is found in the training. Specifically, your thrusters. You need to keep your speed in the bright blue area - its real easy to to lose sight of that. It allows you to have maximum manouverability, which means you can turn and move faster (changing relative position).