Helicopters are OP

[Toleran]

I get that they are this way for perhaps game-balancing reasons, but they really do seem overpowered and way too difficult to kill. IRL, almost anything will bring down a chopper, especially a steady stream of 12.7mm

In this game, taking down a copter, even with multiple units, starts to resemble a Star Trek capital ship getting peppered with torpedo after torpedo with no quick death. No joke, at one point I and 3 other aircraft were pumping round after round into a dying chopper -- that really breaks what the unit is pretending to be. Maybe make them more fragile and less expensive/capable? Right now, it's like a flying corvette, and dies less quickly than one.

[sin_loki]

Not really?

Planes just need to get in a good position to take out chicanes.

There are also alternative methods to remove them. Like bombs.

[LS-33 "Wraith"]

I just strafe them...and they almost never survive very long after

[Delta Dagger]

They shouldn't take an all active missile and shrug it off, to be sure.

[LS-33 "Wraith"]

normally the missile explodes nearby and isnt a direct hit, I know I never survive a direct strike

[IxianMace]

I used to think the SAH-46 Chicane was overpowered until I figured out how to deal with it. At the very least, I would agree that it doesn't need a buff. Missiles have a hard time tracking it, it's stealthy, it's armoured, and it packs a lot of firepower. Plus it has a turret that shreds vehicles and aircraft alike. It seems like it has no weakness besides its relatively low top speed.

I would simply attack from above, where the Chicane can't easily defend itself. Firing IR missiles from the rear (or even Lynchpins) at close range should give you a pretty good chance of a kill too.

When it comes to damage, the game is far from realistic. Have you seen how much damage aircraft cockpits can take? Even after the rest of my aircraft has been blown apart, I've continued falling to the ground in the cockpit section, which took missile after missile after missile but wouldn't blast apart.

[Toleran]

Originally posted by IxianMace:

I used to think the SAH-46 Chicane was overpowered until I figured out how to deal with it. At the very least, I would agree that it doesn't need a buff. Missiles have a hard time tracking it, it's stealthy, it's armoured, and it packs a lot of firepower. Plus it has a turret that shreds vehicles and aircraft alike. It seems like it has no weakness besides its relatively low top speed.

I would simply attack from above, where the Chicane can't easily defend itself. Firing IR missiles from the rear (or even Lynchpins) at close range should give you a pretty good chance of a kill too.

When it comes to damage, the game is far from realistic. Have you seen how much damage aircraft cockpits can take? Even after the rest of my aircraft has been blown apart, I've continued falling to the ground in the cockpit section, which took missile after missile after missile but wouldn't blast apart.

Thanks, I liked this answer. I do see it has vulnerabilities, but yeah, coming from what I see in reality (and admittedly, other aircraft also have too much lifetime vs. reality, but not as drastic) and on DCS (not reality, but something maybe slightly closer to it?), helicopters are just aching to have a bad day for any reason, just a little nudge to push them back out of the sky (sometimes their own rate of descent).

So when I see a helicopter absorbing rounds like it was a fortress, well, that kind of breaks the fourth wall too much. Might as well just make it a flying destroyer at that point.

[Toleran]

Coming back here after playing more -- definitely OP. Right now choppers are getting like 70% of the AA kills in my games, at least in the early game. That's redic. I shouldn't be getting Top Gunned by a helicopter with that much more maneuvering power. This isn't chess, we don't need rooks and knights. Stick with the capabilities (basic) of the actual aircraft. I get that dropping nukes is OP also, but having an awesome run disrupted by a hidden helicopter every other second, from miles away, gets old quick. Was the game always like this?

[SonukYildiz]

what i've observed is you need to be much more closer than you chasing a plane for a killng missile blow to bring it down. it can easily dodge ir missiles and radar missiles are a joke to it

another effective but risky tactic is strafing it but you'll witness the wrath of chichane gunner bob so you gotta be careful

[ChristIceman]

You also need to shoot weak spots on the chopper to , the tail rotor or the cockpit, if you're shooting center mass it survive, also depends on the plane, my suggestion is get a friend on a private game and just practice shooting it or make a rapid mission and spawn a bunch of them and remove all their weapons and just target practice

[Meemai]

Chicanes can shrug off most IR missiles easily cause they do not need to "cool down", similar to what happens with the Cricket, this makes the use of Radar missiles the best potential bet instead, since they lack a counter measure for it, alternatively, Lynchpins from a mid range can also make wonders if the helo is relatively static.

They can still avoid it by flying lower than 20m, which is relatively easier to do for helicopters but it already requires them diverting some more attention to dodging, with the risk of VRS in some cases. Note that some skilled players might also intercept your missiles using the Chicane's IR missiles, if they do it that way, it opens up an advantage to you as the plane, since they will be using up their only long range AA weapon available on defense instead of shooting at you.

If you are in a plane, your best bet to counter a helicopter is altitude and range. The helicopter has either 2 or 4 IR missiles, make sure you are ready to throttle down and use flares to counter them, 3 flares per missile can handle that with most planes, once the Chicane used up those 4 IRs, it will be relatively defenseless from a range, the helicopter will try its best to act as a literal flying SAM tank.

If altitude is not an option (due to AA fire), do not approach the helicopter fully head on, or it will be able to just hit you with its own Lynchpin rockets anywhere from a 5.000m range, instead come closer with a relative diagonal trajectory and weave. Remember its MG is turreted, and that an AI gunner is controlling it while not selected, with relatively good aim, do not get closer than 2.500m to stay out of its reach.

Do not waste AGM (Opticals) unless the helicopter is already damaged and struggling to maneouver, it can just step out of the way with a little flick.

Also, important to note, speed will not be your best ally when facing against a helicopter as an airplane. As a plane, you are forced to keep flying forwards, and that helicopter will be capable of turning around on the spot, so it will have your tail instants after you fly past it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuRLp_HP5Es

In my opinion, as someone who uses the Chicane a lot (I like helicopters), it is indeed strangely armored against MGs, softening its resistance against bullets a tiny bit would not hurt.

[Delta Dagger]

Originally posted by IxianMace:

I would simply attack from above, where the Chicane can't easily defend itself. Firing IR missiles from the rear (or even Lynchpins)

I'd argue lynchpins are superior to IR missiles simply because you can't spoof them with flares and, usually, you have volume to spare 2 or 3 shots.

The Chicane can't defend itself, in a reactive sense, for sure. Your best friend is to terrain mask and pop up, but if you're sighted? You begin to envy the Cricket jockeys who have some semblance of airspeed.

[Toleran]

Still op. I'm almost 100% sure a Ka-52 will NEVER shoot down a F-22, yet in this game, all the time. Sigh.

My point -- if I whip out a "F-22" equivalent, the counter from the AI shouldn't be a cheaper unit, or one that it can also devastate my ground vehicles with while I'm trying to counter it. The other side needs to then spend on a Efrit, etc. to counter it. Not use what is a honestly a pawn or knight to somehow neutralize me before I can even react. Even DCS is more survivable, the anti-air is just too OP so far.

[Rogal Dorn]

It's rare Chicanes survive a Scythe, it's just it can take upwards of a minute for the kill to be counted as it rotates slowly to the ground.

[Toleran]

Admittedly my complaining is also noob/skill-based potentially, but still, the helicopters are a bit too ninja-like for my tastes.

[sin_loki]

they are made ninja like to keep them viable mid to late game, since you can't reliably hide from a medusa radome of 5m, you need to a ninja to survive if there is a compass, revoker, ifrit, medusa hunting you