Im flying a gal "professionally" tonight, and since the server is down for maintenance, Id like some tips.
Im already an ok lib pilot (its called Eva), so I need to have some tips on a) what to buy and b) any general gal flying tips.
Please, no youtube videos, I want pure RPS experience shared here.
- Tom De Roeck.
monochrom & verse publications
"Quantacat's name is still recognised even if he watches on with detached eyes like Peter Molyneux over a cube in 3D space, staring at it with tears in his eyes, softly whispering... Someday they'll get it."
Don't press E mid flight.
If you have gunners be aware of what side of the gal they're on and what weapons they have, it'll make you and them more effective. Remember they've quiet a narrow arc of fire so you might need to go wider around the enemy to let them get shots off.
So that isnt all a moot point, because they all jump out as soon as we hit the target anyway?Originally Posted by Jesus_Phish
- Tom De Roeck.
monochrom & verse publications
"Quantacat's name is still recognised even if he watches on with detached eyes like Peter Molyneux over a cube in 3D space, staring at it with tears in his eyes, softly whispering... Someday they'll get it."
This is pretty basic, really, and as a decent liberator pilot you certainly know it already, but still might be useful for someone.
Fly in third person view, T key by default. This is the only way you can get a grip on exactly how large that hulking flying whale you're piloting actually is.
When coming up on a drop, announce it in time. Something like "QuantaCat's Gal; drop in 3..2..1..drop!". The countdown is very important if you expect people to hit a smallish target, such as landing pads, or the top-most part of the roof of a tech plant.
Another option is to force the deployment, by locking the vehicle at the precise instant you want people to drop. Pull down the vehicle tab, set to Locked, click Save, just when you want people out. This will kick gunners too, obviously.
Internet wisdom says that your elevation above sea level seems to have some impact on the success of your drop, such that keepig no higher than 625 m will ensure a safe drop for everyone, whereas 675 m seems less safe. Not sure about the credibility of these findings though.
Learn to use the lift/descend thrusters (Space/Ctrl by default) together with the tilt/pitch from moving the mouse, to make fine adjustments to your position, when e.g. landing or maneuvering around obstacles. Tilting the gal a bit to the left, then pressing Space will move you a bit to the left, tilt back right and Ctrl, will move you down and to the left, the effect being that you'll land a bit to the left of your original position.
Also yes, for the love of whatever; rebind E for Eject, it is much too close to R for Reload.
Sometimes it's worth keeping two gunners in your gal to give covering fire, so not everyone will be jumping out. It makes better use of the Gal as more than just transport when you can keep two guys firing on oncoming enemy tanks, sundys and foot sloggers.
Ram everything.(Oh, except the ground and bases. Don't ram those)
The galaxy has such a high damage ram modifier that if you even barely tap a Sunderer, it explodes instantly.
Does help to get those walkers and bulldogs, even though Walker's aren't that great.
Generally, either fly at the altitude cap or hug the terrain. The airspace in between is usually not very friendly. I recommend terrain when there's some, so the mountains on Amerish or the canyons on Indar. The fixed turrets can't depress very low and will probably be unable to hit you.
Learn to use the ascend/descend thrusters while tilting/banking. They're great to kill any sideways momentum you might have after turning. This allows you to do one of my favorite tricks: Landing on the roof of a techplant. It's pretty much useless, but if you come in at the flight ceiling, then make a big dive towards the very top roof of the techplant, you can use your thrusters to put it down on the roof and pretty much outside the range of the AA turrets on the top. It's very cool, but pretty much useless.
Other than that, practice landing quickly and accurately. Anyone can fly over a target and tell people to drop. It takes skill to come in hard and fast, land quickly and pick up your 11 guys so you can head off again. This is vital for a good quick response team.
A galaxy with grenade launchers can be a pretty good force multiplier if you are facing mainly infantry when capping a base. So keeping 1 or 2 gunners is defiantly a good idea.
Get the Precision Drop cert.
That's how I make mine move the way I do, and a healthy part of death defiance as well. With that you learn you can just throw the old gal any way you like and she'll respond.
And yes, learn to use ctrl/space to help turn/drop/brake.
Fly high OR fly very low.
I prefer the latter, but it needs practice. Mid-height is where Galaxys go to die.
If you call the drop, call it later than you think. Drops called to early is the most common mistake of Gal pilots. It's an effect of the position / FOV of the 3rd person camera.
There are three techniques for decent drop locatiosm:
1) Set a personal waypoint where you want to drop. Drop according to the minimap, just when the orange triangle indicating you meets the waypoint
2) Get used to it. Say you are dropping at point "A" on a small outpost. The time to drop is just as A is about to leave the bottom of your screen (if you are flying level, earlier if you are pitched down)
3) Delegate the call to drop to someone in seat #6. They can press "T" to get a view straight down.
In all cases, announce your name and give a countdown to the drop.
If you have the grenade launchers, keep two people back. You can be an effecitive anti-infantry platform.
Precision drop cert.
W + Pitch down + Space = Faster forward movement
S + Pitch up + Space = Very fast stopping
Land in tight spaces. It's possible and can make pickup and moving out much faster in some locations.
Last edited by Cooper; 24-01-2013 at 03:05 PM.
If you have some spare time before tonight go to Indar, grab a gal on your own and try following the roads as close to the ground as possible. I find this gives you a good feel of how your Galaxy flies - how nimble it is to turn (or not!), how long it takes to stop etc. I also practice landing on the landing pads of a quiet Biolab too, as fast as I can from different angles and heights. Again, just to get a feel of how much you can throw it about whilst staying in control.
The precision drop frame makes a quite a big difference to how fast your brakes work, and how fast you can yaw. Extra manoeuvrability is only a good thing!
If you're looking to land on steep terrain or there's a lightning or other crap below, hold down S to autohover a few meters off the ground. It'll keep you level, and troops can still reach you from the floor if you're there for a pickup.
When flying I use W (obviously!) but also pitch down slightly and use space for a small speed boost. Every little helps! Also rolling whilst using space when turning 180 degrees gets you round quicker in my experience.
When people eject from craft I believe they exit from the left hand side (someone correct me if I'm wrong with this). Therefore I usually factor this in when lining up a drop, ie. sitting slightly to the right of the waypoint. As Esoteric says, drop in third person.
Finally speaking of waypoints, I find it's nice to put a personal waypoint down on the nearest safe-zone to where you're dropping. If there's a lot happening I find it's pretty easy to lose your bearings while dropping, so knowing to fly east to a friendly base as opposed to west headfirst into a TR/NC clusterfuck makes it easier on yourself.
Yeah, I also hoverboost with my gal.
Protip: don't try to act cool and fly sideways through a narrow space at full speed. A galaxy is, unfortunately, not the millennium falcon. It pulls to the side more than you think.
Last edited by Orius; 24-01-2013 at 11:49 PM.
I did that, however, and came out without a scratch. I think Ive got the hang of it now. Also got the precision drop cert with the certs I got from last night. Thanks for flying Air Quanta, this is your captain signing off.Protip: don't try to act cool and fly sideways through a narrow space at full speed. A galaxy is, unfortunately, not the millennium falcon. It pulls to the side more than you think.
- Tom De Roeck.
monochrom & verse publications
"Quantacat's name is still recognised even if he watches on with detached eyes like Peter Molyneux over a cube in 3D space, staring at it with tears in his eyes, softly whispering... Someday they'll get it."
Really? Shit, that makes me feel even worse. I'm going to keep pulling gals and doing stunts until I consistently pull cool manoeuvres. I'm getting pretty good at dodging fire in a hot zone, though. And yeah, precision drop is amazing.
Did you mean 'thanks for flying Qantas: Spirit of Australia You're the Reason We Fly!' ?
As far as I know they don't have giraffe paintjobs tho.
I got the golden cockpit decal too. But yeah, flying giraffes forever.
- Tom De Roeck.
monochrom & verse publications
"Quantacat's name is still recognised even if he watches on with detached eyes like Peter Molyneux over a cube in 3D space, staring at it with tears in his eyes, softly whispering... Someday they'll get it."
Indeed, 1873rd Flying Giraffes for life!
What are people using in the defence slot on their Gals? I've been using stealth which seems to work pretty well. Seems to keep you off radar unless you're Q'd or you're firing your turrets, I've flown pretty close to enemy air in the past and not had any fuss.
Gals can take a fairly substantial amount of damage too, so may as well have that instead of the nanite repair right?
Once you can fly down the NW canyon leading to the Indar Impact Site, you've got Galaxy flying down.
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