Hi there young Sky Warriors. This is your Friendly Engineer Neyvn (AUSGrizzly on Steam) stepping in to give ya some hints and tricks to get used to being in the Skies aboard your very own Airship...
Step 1:
Listen to this to get you in the mood. This an many others from this Album will continue getting you in the right frame of mind...
Step 2: There are two kinds of vessels that I could suggest to man before trying the harder craft.
1: The Pyramidion -
This Vessel is one of the strongest Ramming Crafts out there, I mean look at that Balloon Spike. This mighty craft comes with 2 Light Guns on the front located up a ladder just behind the Wheel as well as the Balloon's Repair Point. 1 Light Gun on the Right along the middle of the Hull then finally another Light Gun located to the Rear of the ship near the Main Engine...
The best loadout for this craft is a combination of Hull Busting and Burning as well as adding in a wonderful charge attack by the spike.
Placing a Gating on the Front Right and a Flak on the Front Left will give your Gunner and Engineer stationed up there chance for some serious damage as you Charge. Having the Engineer on the Flak will mean he is closer to the Balloon if things go south...
On the Right Side, place a Flamethrower, manned by your Second Engineer monitoring the Hull/Engines to use moments after the Charge, Pilots, Aim to bounce/curve to the Right after impact with your target after a ram, this will give the max time allowed for the Flames to do their job.
Finally place a SECOND Gatling to the Rear, after the Gunner either Runs out of Bullets in the Front Gatling or the moment the ship starts to turn away from the craft, he should drop down (jump you fool) and race for this Second Gatling. Try and have it preloaded with your Buff of choice for maximum Damage. On that note, ALWAYS AIM FOR THE HULL. Sometimes, depending on your Pilot, you may never actually get a chance to fire of a shot but be there just in case...
Pilots. A good combination for your Loadout is that of the Kerosene for when you Begin the Ram, Boost in with this Kero for speed, swap to a Phoenix Claw for Control when needed, and Finally Throw up some Impact Bumpers before Impact. Some Pilots may even be tempted to trying out the Tar Barrel for use after Impact, but thats up to you...
Gunners and Engineers, your Loadout is for your Play style, but might I suggest the Heavy Clip for the Gunner...
2: The Goldfish -
The Goldfish is a wonderful ship to use when you like to be point blank but not ramming. While it does have a spike, its not as effective as the Pyramidion. This wonderful Craft comes with 2 Light Guns on either side of the Hull which can be useful when turning and moving, but the Power and Punch of this craft is its Front Heavy Gun. It is also an Airship that seems to give a Drifting ability, meaning you can slightly Strafe around your foes while keeping the Front Gun on him at all times. Hard to do, but doable...
Having either a Gatling or Flamethrower on the Light Guns is a no brainer, but might I suggest trying to add a Harpoon, when used correctly, this can prevent your foes from escaping you, leaving you to continue pounding with your Heavy Weapon until it falls...
For the Front Gun though it is really up to how you wish to act, at Point Blank, perhaps the Manticore Hwacha might be tempting thus giving you a large barrage of lots and lots of rockets at once, though it does have a slightly long reload time. Gunners pay not of your skills here, a Heavy Clip doesn't help much at point blank range. Or perhaps maybe I could convince you of the Cannonade. A Shotgun if have you, this wonderful Cannon is great for popping those Balloons, leaving your foe to drop to the ground below quickly and painfully, you don't need to worry much about the Hull then, the Ground will help you with that...
Step 3: Learn where to Aim on your Foes craft, Perhaps they are a fast vessel, if your chasing, target their middle Engines, this is the one giving them forward thrust, take that out and they slow down. Are they too low? Shoot that balloon, that should bring them down to meet the ground a lot sooner then they had hoped. Finally, that Hull, SHOOT THE HULL. If you want to kill a target, aim there. Not the Balloon, not the Engines, nor anything else in fact. While you could make use of different things, the only time to ever shoot at the Balloon is if they are too Low to aim at the Hull or you are playing the King of the Hill maps...
Step 4: Learn to hate King of the Hill. KotH has buildings, lots and lots of buildings, and clouds, tons of them. This makes flying through the map difficult for a new Pilot, even experienced ones avoid KotH matches. During these matches, fly slow and high and bring a Beacon, this will let you illumianate the clouds and help spot targets, Also. KEEP TOGETHER. Because you can ambush your foes from behind buildings and in clouds this makes teamwork a must. And FINALLY, GET TO THE POINT! This is not a Kill Them match, this is a hold the point match. Get there, cap it... Its confusing at first, but after a while you will get it, but you will also still hate King of the Hill matches...
And last but not Least...
Step 5: Communication. This should be clearer then a pool of still water. Communicate with eachother, A Pilot has little to do most the time they are flying, standing still at the Helm means they can see all the Repair points around them, Call out any Damaged areas and if your an Engie and your pilot is doing that, he is trying to help don't bitch at him. Engines, Prepare a Buff with your Buff Hammer by buffing it just to the point where one more hits, be prepared to finish the buff for your Gunners. And Gunners, Talk to your Pilot, if you don't have a good LoS let him know, but don't get cranking with him, its hard to pilot these things, if you think you can do better, swap roles...
Anyway. This is Your Friendly Engineer Neyvn, Signing off... Good Luck and Have Fun you Sky Warriors...
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