Welcome to part two to my series of videos on how to improve on Ace Combat 7’s multiplayer mode.
In the first video I talked about aircraft customization and how to use the matchmaking
system to avoid those F-22 spamming QAAMs everywhere, but now it’s time for me to cover some general
tips on gameplay that you can use in any map and with any aircraft set up.
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Starting with the basics, my first tip is: Don’t use novice controls in multiplayer
- ever.
You are literally asking yourself to be killed.
The problem with novice, also called standard controls is that you don’t have full control
of all the 3 axis and so your movement becomes very predictable and enemies can kill you with ease.
So play it on expert controls, it’s not that hard - yes, there’s a bit of a learning
curve but once you get the hang of it you’ll be flying much better - I guarantee that.
Tip #2 is: Watch the enemy closely.
Knowing what your target is doing and where it is heading to is very important because
it lets you plan your attack and defensive tactics.
The best way to do this is locking your camera onto the enemy, you can do this by pressing
and holding the change target button - which is the triangle button in the PS4 and the Y button in the Xbox controller.
When you have the camera locked onto the enemy you need to identify which plane has a higher
maneuverability, yours or the enemy’s.
If you are more maneuverable by all means turn into the enemy, however if the enemy
is more maneuverable you will probably want to avoid a turn fight and separate yourself
from the fight with speed.
The target camera is very useful in letting you know who will get to a firing position
first, sometimes you will see that the enemy will be able to fire their missiles before
you even get a lock on.
In that case do not keep turning or you will get hit by missiles head-on.
My tip #3 is kind of an opinion, but kind of a fact: the 3rd person view is the best view.
That’s because it gives you a better sense of relative movement when locking your camera
onto enemy targets - that is why most Ace Combat youtubers play on 3rd person view.
The HUD view is good too, it’s very clean which improves your visibility, therefore
it’s really good for long range railgun shots and laser firing.
A small disadvantage of the HUD view if that you don’t get as much sense of relative
movement when your camera is locked onto the enemy which is very important in turn fights.
What you should take from here is: don’t play in the cockpit view.
I know it’s immersive and all but your view is obstructed and you can’t lock camera
onto enemy targets depending on their location because there are limits to where your head can turn.
So if you really want to play competitively don’t play with the cockpit view.
My tip #4: use the clouds to your advantage.
The clouds mess with the tracking of almost all weapons so you can get inside them to
decrease the likelihood of getting hit by an enemy missile.
This tactic is especially useful when your missile alerts are going crazy, when you don’t
have speed to perform high-G turns and when you don’t have flares.
In team deathmatch hiding inside the clouds can be very useful when the enemy team is
trying to hunt you down because you are buying time for your teammates to arrive and help you out.
Now it is worth pointing out, you have to keep turning inside the clouds - don’t just
fly straight.
Also clouds are very effective against most missiles - a notable exception being the QAAM
- but they are useless against the gun or railguns since they do not require homing.
On the other hand, they are a very effective defense against pulse lasers because the laser
beams just dissipate when in contact with the clouds and is literally impossible for
the enemies to hit you when you are inside one.
My tip #5 is on how to deal with those pesky QAAMs, but you can also use this for other
missiles as well.
If there are many missiles coming after you, go at low altitude and use the terrain to
your advantage so that missiles will hit the ground and not you.
This would include flying between buildings and over mountain peaks.
A perfect map for this tactic is Yinshi Valley because the rocks are huge and there’s a
considerable amount of space to fly in between them.
Of course, it goes without saying that this type of move requires skill and confidence
from the player because you need to fly and maneuver at high speed in order not to get
hit by the missiles in the first place!
My tip #6 is yet another tactic on how to avoid an enemy missile.
First identify where it is coming from by using your radar.
If the missile is coming from behind, turn to the same side where it is coming from.
For example, if it is coming from 7 o’clock, turn to the left.
In the other scenario where a missile is coming from the front, turn to the opposite side.
So if the missile is coming from 2 o’clock turn to the left.
You goal is to keep a 90 degree angle between you and the missile.
As you get experience you will know when you should start your evasive maneuvers because
sometimes starting them too soon is a waste or energy or could even put you head on with the missile.
Now this is very important, once you begin your evasive maneuver never - ever - switch
direction because this makes your plane slower and the enemy missile has time to catch up with you.
I’ve seen this many times on multiplayer, I fire a missile and my target starts turning
to the left then changes its mind to turn to the right - and then BOOM, the plane slows
down and my missile hits.
My tip #7 is almost the same thing but now we take the perspective of the chaser aircraft.
In a dogfight try to find the break in the flow, that is the moment when your target
switches the direction of their flight path, which usually happens when they switch from
one target to another.
This is the best moment to strike the enemy because for a tiny fraction a second, the
enemy moves very slowly and you get in line for a perfect shot.
Now where’s the catch, if you fire your missile at this perfect moment you won’t
get a hit because the enemy will already have maneuvered, so need to do a bit of a prediction
on when that moment will happen and fire your missile a few moments before the break.
With that said, you need to pay a lot of attention to your enemy and the other aircraft around
you do identify when he could change his flight path.
Now I know this sounds very hard, but I have another tip that goes hand in hand with this
tactic which is: fly very close to your enemy.
And when I mean close, I mean you should feel the heat from your enemy’s exhaust nozzles
- something like 100 metres.
The whole idea here is, the closer you are from your enemies, the less time they have
to react when you fire a missile.
And by the way, this also means that the chance to find that break in their flight path is
higher since you can watch from up close.
Once you have a good line up, fire your missile and hopefully it will be a one-hit-one-kill
shot, which is possible if you have the necessary parts including: damage and homing.
For this tactic you will need an aircraft that is slightly more maneuverable than your
enemy and a lot of skill so that you can keep up with the maneuvers and at the same time
not waste energy.
Just be very careful not to overshot your enemy, that would be very bad!
My next tip is related to what I said in the previous video.
In case you do not remember, I said that your standard missiles are pretty much useless
if you don’t equip any parts that improve their performance.
With that said, you should use your standard missiles very often during a match, not because
you will get a kill but because you put your opponent on the defensive - also you have
lots of them so you won’t run out of ammo.
Basically this puts your enemies under pressure and increases the chance of them becoming
distracted from your other strategies and that is why you will see in my gameplay videos
that I launch missiles when it’s pretty much impossible to get a hit - but you never
now, maybe you can get some surprise hits as well.
My tip #10 is on the usage of flares and High-G turns, a mechanic in the game where you turn
faster but also lose more speed and energy.
Since flares come in a very limited supply, I recommend only using them when you think
you are really close to getting a kill or when you think that break in your enemy’s
flight will happen very soon.
Throughout most of the match you should use high-g turns to evade enemy missiles, the
key is to use them effectively as to minimize the loss of energy.
Experience will teach you the best moment to start and stop a high-g turn, but the less
you use while successfully evading a missile the better.
If you get around 600 kilometres per hour, you are flying considerably slow and it would
be easy for an enemy missile to hit you because you don’t have that much energy left to evade.
Another tip is to keep your eyes open for slow targets in the area, it usually happens
when someone overuses the high-g turn in a turn fight.
If you see on your HUD that a square isn’t moving much, that’s a good indication that
the target is low on energy which means that if you fire a missile it is unlikely it will
be able to evade.
This tip is very useful after you respawn because once you’re re-joining the furball
you get an outside perspective of the fight and you have more time to pick a target, while
that is happening the people inside the furball will be probably distracted and that is your
perfect chance to line up a shot and fire at the perfect moment.
I should make a mention of post-stall maneuvers in multiplayer, and my overall tip is:
don’t try using them.
It’s a huge gamble because you will be slow which makes you an easy target to anyone with
upgraded missiles and most likely you won’t be successful.
The only moment I would recommend using a post-stall maneuver in multiplayer is if you
are really low on speed or energy that you are 100% sure that the enemy missile will hit you.
In that case try to perform a Kulbit and you have a very slim chance that you will survive,
at least that’s better than certain death.
And my last tip is: understand the flow of battle and keep your awareness on what is around you.
This means checking the radar frequently during a match and also looking at who is chasing
who and where they are going.
By paying close attention you should be able to identify patterns and this means you can
position yourself better for attacks.
It is also very important to check your radar from time to time when you’re in the furball
to see approaching enemy players because as I mentioned earlier, coming into the furball
can be an advantage for them.
And one last thing I should mention is that you shouldn’t just pursue one enemy for
the entire match, instead keep your eyes open and seize opportunities as you see them, and
to do that you have to act fast.
These are my tips for this video, but more are coming soon.
Like I said before, these tips are general so that you can use for any aircraft but in
my next video we will be getting into more specifics of different weapons, planes and opening moves.
And just like last time, if there's anything you think I missed or you have other tips please let me know
in the comments. Feedback is very important and I'm sure other aces out there
would like to share their knowledge to help out new players get into the game.
And of course, if you want to improve your experience and immersion, check out my friends at Thrustmaster.
They have some flight sticks and headsets, including one officially licensed by the US air force.
which is the one I use when I play Ace Combat 7.
Another video with more tips will be coming soon and if you haven't already, please subscribe to the channel,
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