Basic Guide to Fighters

World of Warplanes gives players the opportunity to fly a variety of different aircraft types. From nimble fighters that excel in the melee of an aerial dogfight, to tough ground attack aircraft that can continually pummel ground targets, to high-speed heavy fighters perfect for fast “Boom ‘n’ Zoom” attacks, each type has its own unique flight characteristics. Thus, each aircraft type requires different tactics in order to maximize its effectiveness in battle.

Today, we focus our attention on fighters; aircraft that perfected the art of dogfighting. Designed to be fast and maneuverable, fighters turn aerial combat into a deadly airborne ballet of loops, rolls, and turns, all with the intent of destroying the enemy.

While each nation’s fighters vary in attributes and weaknesses, the basic principles remain the same. In this article, we examine these concepts, showing you the basic tactics of fighter operation.

Control the Controls

As with any aircraft in World of Warplanes, understanding how the game’s controls correspond to flying the aircraft is crucial. With fighters, due to their impressive maneuverability, knowing how your plane is going to react to control input is important, and performing a maneuver other than what was intended may lead to frustration or destruction.

Choose a control scheme that fits your play style, whether it’s strictly keyboard use, a combination of keyboard and mouse, or something different. For joystick or gamepad users, fine-tune the control axes to achieve the desired control feel.

Once you’ve chosen your desired setup, fly in a Single Battle or gather a few teammates and create a Training room to test your configuration. Modify your control settings until you are satisfied with how your aircraft operates. Now you are ready to enter battle.

Stay in the Zone

Even though each nation’s fighters have different flight characteristics, every aircraft has an airspeed and altitude range where they operate at their best. This area is indicated by a bright green section on the altimeter and airspeed indicator. Outside of these ranges, an aircraft’s performance suffers. Therefore, it is important to keep an aircraft operating within these zones to maintain optimal airspeed, maneuverability, and performance.

Since not all fighters are built the same, these areas differ from fighter to fighter. Germany’s Bf.109 series were designed for high-speed, high-altitude engagements, and this is reflected in higher optimal speed and altitude ranges. Conversely, Russia’s I-16s and early Yak-7 series of aircraft were slightly slower and designed for mid- to low-altitude work, thus possessing lower optimal airspeeds and altitudes. Understanding how and where your fighter operates best will increase your chances for victory.

Get In Close

Many early fighters were equipped with multiple small-caliber machine guns or early-model cannons. While these weapons put out a large volume of fire, their accuracy after continued firing decreases, and damage caused at long range is low. Therefore, it’s important to get close to your target to ensure a maximum number of hits and damage inflicted.

Stealth is key when stalking an opponent, and this concept translates even to World of Warplanes. A pilot who opens fire at the aircraft weapon’s maximum range risks alerting that enemy of the pilot’s location. In contrast, holding your fire until you’re well within the range of the aircraft’s weapons gives the enemy considerably less time and options to avoid being damaged or potentially destroyed.

Avoid Continued Ground Attack

Many fighters have the ability to carry external munitions into battle in the form of rockets, bombs, or sometimes even a combination thereof. This may fool the player into thinking that their aircraft is designed primarily for ground attacks. Unfortunately, this is not the case.

In order to achieve their speed and maneuverability, fighters were equipped with considerably less armor than ground attack aircraft of similar tiers. This allows enemy anti-aircraft guns to do considerable damage to a fighter who loiters nearby. Also, a fighter’s firepower, while effective against enemy aircraft, is typically not as effective against hardened ground targets as those of heavy fighters or ground attack aircraft.

If you’ve equipped rockets or bombs on your fighter, find a target quickly and unleash your munitions. Once they’re expended, return to the dogfight.

Ensure your controls are set properly. Keep your fighter in its optimal zone. Get close before you open fire. Hit ground targets quickly to avoid sustained anti-aircraft fire.  Use these tactics to fly to victory in your fighters!

This article comes to us courtesy of one of our most prolific testers, CrashTailspin. Thanks Crash!