Flight Assist Off

Newt Loranas

Newt Loranas
I have hear a lot about people toggling flight assist on and off during combat.

Some even purport to fly FAOFF all the time ( which I'm not sure I believe )

I have tried FAOFF mid combat and while it does indeed let me turn and face an agressor while travelling in the same direction I don't find that of any benefit. Quite often I'm now out of range of weapons and just end up "jousting"

But never let it be said that I have a closed mind. Is anyone up for writing a basic guide to FAOff, detailing when it's useful an how to benefit from it?

I do want to up my game and it's annoying when in an iCourier or a Viper that I'm getting out turned by something as bulky as a Python. I swear when I first started playing I could stay on the tail of bigger ships with a small ship really easily, these days they just seem to be large fighters with bigger guns to hurt you with. I remember being able to stay in the weapon blind spot on the belly of an Anaconda away from the dorsal turret ( or is that an FDL ? )

Someone educate me please? I really want to up my game :) - I currently fly and iCourier ( grade 3 engineered enhanced thrusters ) and a Viper with all stock parts on my second account.
 
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[VR] Enexemander

[VR] Enexemander
Yeah, full FA: OFF pilots exist. I am one. Moxen Wolf made a nice guide series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4oRouS7vT4 .

There are lots of nice guides, and even a Discord Channel- Newton's Gambit.

Certainly there are combat benefits (and some downsides), but I fly that way because it feels so much more like flying in actual space. It's about roleplaying for me. Regular FA: ON flying just feels weird and restrictive to me now.
 

rrobes

R
With the big ships, FA/OFF is a must, along w/ DD5's. I use it, turning it off and on rapidly as needed for maneuver in combat and for landing and mining.

You should search out 777Driver's posts and videos.

There are other very good flyers around that are FA/OFF aces.
 
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MUSKETEER

MUSKETEER
I switch between FA on and off.. in some ships I use FA off more than in the others... i.e. I use FA off way more in FDL than in Vulture.

Some people use FA off all the time but it's just personal preference imho.
 

Schmack

Schmack
You have to learn when to go FA off, and if you learn that you'll not be out of range when you bring the guns to bear on your enemy. You have to know how to whip the buggy, so it starts the turn just as you switch the assist off, so it whips around very quickly, turn the FA back on and boost.

Practice it in passive situations like leaving the station. Exit the slot, boost, go FA off, spin and face the target system... charge FSD when the mass lock clears. Let it charge while you're drifting away. Then, just before the charge reaches max, go FA on and boost. You'll never circle a station again.

Same with entering. You can nose right in if you just learn to whip the big fat backside around and when to stop it.

You can practice with small ships but I suggest you do it in a large pad ship like an anaconda or corvette. Try it with different thruster classes to learn how they respond.
 

Madrax573

Madrax573
100% FA-off with KB+M here. I literally can't fly with FA-on anymore. Just can't stand the way the computer wants to slow me down all the time!

Come check out our discord and Moxen wolfs vids if you want to learn more :D
 

Newt Loranas

Newt Loranas
I can't use keyboard and mouse to fly. I'm very, very left handed and WASD are just painful for me to use with a mouse int he left hand. I can however use a joystick right handed just fine and I have a Thrustmaster HOTAS stick with lateral thrust set up on the hat
 

Clariko

Clariko
I'm learning how to fly with flight assist off as well, but I play with a keyboard and mouse. With my Python, I've been submitting to low-threat NPCs for practice. Should I switch to a more manoeuvrable ship like the Asp Explorer or Cobra Mk. III instead?
 

VR andysonofbob

VR andysonofbob
@the two commanders above
Mouse and keyboard are perfectly viable control inputs for FA off. One of my fellow Newton's Gambit commanders, CMDR Madrax, flies fa off with mouse and keyboard and loves it.
Commander Hobbs in his tutorial videos suggest learning in a sidewinder. I completely agree because it removes some of the (going to crash this expensive ship!) stress element. And un engineered sidewinders are still less twitchy so easier to control.

Yeah FA off is amazing.

Please forgive me pushing my thread but I want people to realise that fa off flight enhances elite dangerous in nearly all aspects of gameplay.

I am working on a series of videos showcasing a variety of careers suitable for small ship gameplay these include scavenging mining and come back oriented gameplay and of course each one relies on f a off.

The careers so far

I think once you realise that you will never be able to perfectly stop your ship from rotating ,FA off makes sense.

Here is the combat orientated career video
[video=youtube_share;Im0X27au0Q4]https://youtu.be/Im0X27au0Q4[/video]

If you look in my signature you will see a link to Newton's Gambit. This is a group that is dedicated to encouraging and helping commanders learn FA off. They are an awesome bunch you should definitely pop in and say hello.

Good luck commander
 
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GammaZ

G
IMO.
While a lot of people for some reason consider turning flight assist off to be cool or superior to flying with flight assist on it is not the case. FA on/off are merely flight computer operation modes, each with its own advantages and drawbacks, and which to use is largely a matter of personal preference. Most maneuvers can be accomplished in both modes, but some are easier in certain mode and some are harder, so most effective way to fly will, most likely, be some combination of both modes.

Personally i prefer to fly FA ON most of the time. I can fly without FA, can dock and do not loose control when thrusters malfunction, but for most things that i do i find FA ON to be more comfortable. Something about it being more relaxing with computer handling part of flying. But then there are still cases when FA OFF is a lot of fun too, like canyon flying. With FA ON it is simply too easy and not fun.

As for staying behind NPC-s - i find speed to be the worst enemy here. When NPC in his conda has optimal turn rates at ~70-90m/s and you have them somewhere at 300-400m/s in your courier you have to fly WAY out of optimal range to avoid overshooting. For this reason i find ships with lower cruise speed + boosting sideways to be one of the most effective ways to outmaneuver NPC-s. Even if turn rates of said ships are not that great.
 
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Rozete

R
more useful for traders, who want to cash in some bounties along the route, then fighters, but.. i use it all the time during "fight".
boost + fa off turn immediately to face interdictor. pass him, gain distance, another boost + fa off turn and youre out of bad position. something like that (in 280t cargo python)

[video=youtube;5vjX-UzVhQM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vjX-UzVhQM[/video]

seekers are really helpful. i guess some long range mods on weapons can be usefull too, if you dont want to close the distance..

maybe will try to learn to fly with fa off some more later on, but right now im too lazy + my main fighter is vulture, which i can barely handle even with fa on lol
 

[VR] Enexemander

[VR] Enexemander
Clariko said:
I'm learning how to fly with flight assist off as well, but I play with a keyboard and mouse. With my Python, I've been submitting to low-threat NPCs for practice. Should I switch to a more manoeuvrable ship like the Asp Explorer or Cobra Mk. III instead?
Click to expand...

Only if you want to fly them for fun. I primarily learned FA: OFF in a Type 9 while mining. The advantage to learning in a big ship is that they are slower, so your inputs are deliberate. Learning in a souped up Eagle could be frustrating, as it's so maneuverable that accidental inputs could throw you way off before you know how to deal with it /recover.

My philosophy: The trick to learning FA: OFF is learning how to stop. When you can completely and selectively stop from any vector, from any heading, at any time, and in any position, you are the master of your craft.
 

Madrax573

Madrax573
In all honesty the stock sidey is perfect to practice some FA-off drills in.

It's agile enough to give quick feedback but not too twitchy that you wind up spinning out of control all the time.

If you are using KB+M have a quick look at my YT channel as I have a vid there that goes through my current setup and how I use it to fly. All my vids have overlays on them showing my inputs so you can see how I actually fly and generally how bad a pilot I am :)
 

Spacecat

Spacecat
I've tried it in the tutorials, and I suck on ice using it. Mainly, I cheat toggle when I can't keep an enemy in my sights and that's about it. It doesn't actually work the way it "should" (not true Newtonian physics) because of the weirdo airplane controls.
 
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IndigoWyrd

IndigoWyrd
I toggle FA-On and FA-Off as needed. I don't see any point to it for regular flight. It's like turning off the power steering in your car. Sure, you could do it, but why would you want to?

Flying around FA-Off all the time is annoying at best, as you have to continually correct to maintain an straight flight path. It's just not my idea of fun.

But in combat, or when a really sharp turn, twist or roll is needed, it's handy.
 

Steyla

Steyla
It depends on what you're doing. As an explorer I am 98% in SC, so FA-Off/On is for me irrelevant.


Fly/land safe.


CMDR Steyla
 

Madrax573

Madrax573
IndigoWyrd said:
I toggle FA-On and FA-Off as needed. I don't see any point to it for regular flight. It's like turning off the power steering in your car. Sure, you could do it, but why would you want to?

Flying around FA-Off all the time is annoying at best, as you have to continually correct to maintain an straight flight path. It's just not my idea of fun.

But in combat, or when a really sharp turn, twist or roll is needed, it's handy.
Click to expand...

I find it the opposite tbh. I hate flying in FA-on as I don't like the way the assist retards my movement all the time. In normal flight cruising around I set my vector and just 'float' towards where I want to go :)

It just feels more 'free' this way for me :)
 
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