WHAT IS WITH THESE FIREBIRDS?

[Skreamy]

I died because of these Flying robots. that spot you from, what feels like, half the map away. (without Warning). THey are extremly hard to take down because they take up to 5 or 6 rockets set you on fire and than, this is the best part give you NOTHING. Someone explain them to me please because I don't get it.

[goatfish]

they definitely were not well thought out. i was proning in a forest, only had the skills for noise and visibility reduction, not moving, and one saw me from 350m away (i know because i proned when i saw it appear)

honestly though, i don't think its them spotting you, but when the swedish robots fight the russian robots, if you're in in the area, you get flagged for combat. doesn't matter if a city block, or a hill is blocking their line of sight of you.

[Lord_Necron]

ehh, i think the firebirds are a joke they are really easy to take down at least for me

[NMGSGaming]

Those things are blind as anything when they are idle, but as mentioned, once they engage Swedish machines and you happen to be in the area well, I hope you have a buttload of ammo as they know where you are and will come over. The most effective way to take them out is shooting the thrusters, some say the canisters near the gun is quicker, but good luck getting a shot on those. The Spetnaz version with their bloody howitzer however, those things can do one

[wilrk05]

Strangely, I like Firebirds. Yes, they are probably the trickiest machines to deal with in "Generation Zero" (whenever I die, Spetsnaz Firebirds are always the main culprit, followed by Reaper Tanks if I don't have cover). But IMO they are also the most "unique" machine introduced in years. If you consider "a big Seeker with a gun" to be unique, that is.

The engine thrusters are indeed the easiest way to take out Firebirds. Trying to score a shot or two on the engines, however, isn't so easy. I find using any PVG or an Experimental AG4 (with a 4x8 scope) to be the best ways to ground them. Additionally, one can also use EMP rounds from a GRG to make aiming for the thrusters somewhat easier.

Technically, Firebirds can drop a fair amount of ammo, but nothing really worth writing home about. Although I have recently seen some Soldier and Spetsnaz Firebirds drop PVGs in various rarities (none of which are Experimental).

My problem with Firebirds is their faction; I never really liked the introduction of the Soviet machine line. During the "Landfall Update," Lynxes and Wolves were incredibly unnecessary additions to the shallow list of foes (at that time, I found they were made of glass and stood little to no chance against the FNIX line). Firebirds were something new, and (as much as I hate to say it) something requested in a particular survey. They are the first weaponized flying machine in the game. And at least they give the Soviet line some sort of presence in Ostertorn. Nevertheless, I don't think the devs should have ever introduced the Soviet line to begin with...but that's a topic for another time.

[Zockopa]

Well,i always thought the soviet robots are a good addition,especialy above adventure diff
in adaptive mode. Makes the north a realy harsher terrain.

[Gaseous]

I fricken hated the firebirds when I first met them, after getting my first 5c PVG and an RLG, I drop every one that I see. Once they spot you, it is hard to get away from them.
I'll usually lead them to the nearest church, 2 story house or a barn. Any kind of cover to be able to get some distance from their AOE, which seems excessive for the amount of damage they do...
The fuel tanks are hard to hit, but the eye, which is right above the turret, is the best place to hit them. The GRG will take them down quickly, but due to its crappy sights, hard to hit them consistently. The PVG and RLG are the bane of the Firebirds tho...
They do usually drop 500+ of common ammo and 6+ rockets, only as rivals have I've seen them drop quality weapons.
Some times they do this

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2921146998

[Skreamy]

how is it I can never loot them I destroy them and I don't get the option

[DrowningFox]

Originally posted by Skreamy:

how is it I can never loot them I destroy them and I don't get the option

The hitbox for interacting with it is fairly tricky when you wanna loot. You basicly have to stand inside it's ball in the middle, then I get the prompt. Your mileage may vairy though.

[Vin]

Originally posted by DrowningFox:

Originally posted by Skreamy:

how is it I can never loot them I destroy them and I don't get the option

The hitbox for interacting with it is fairly tricky when you wanna loot. You basicly have to stand inside it's ball in the middle, then I get the prompt. Your mileage may vairy thoguh.

i usually hold interact and just ram whatever machine im looting. just another thing in a list of things that should have improved but.......

[Skreamy]

ok

[Pumathang]

I've had them "follow" me (without actually detecting me) across half the map, forcing me to sneak the whole way, which is a total drag. I killed a few so I could try and explore an area for collectables in peace, but a new one would respawn almost instantly.

I'm sure a lot of new players have dropped the game just because of them. I encountered them right away when I first came to the farmlands, and I was still having trouble with hunters at that point. Tanks and harvesters I avoided completely by just going around them, but you couldn't do that with the firebirds.

They don't always detect me (though I do frequently get pulled into combat if other machines are in the vicinity), but when they do, there doesn't seem to be any apparent reason WHY, unless I accidentally stand up. I've had them detect me inside buildings, but not when I'm sitting in an open field and their light is right on me.

I wish there was a checkbox for whether to allow firebirds in the game... just so you could shut them off periodically and just enjoy the rest of the game. Or at least not have them spawn until you get a certain amount into the game.

[Gaz Blackheart]

I have the same skills as you mentioned and I can sit and snipe them out of the air with my 50. caliber without them aggroing at all.

[Birdy62]

I thin there are too many of them... I had once to fight against three of them at the same time.

[DrowningFox]

Originally posted by Birdy62:

I thin there are too many of them... I had once to fight against three of them at the same time.

My problem is with these very short respawn times. Hordes themselfs are to be expected tbh. Multiple tanks and harvesters are normal, so it's okay if the firebirds can come in hordes, too. What is not really okay is that as soon as I dispatched the last of them, the new ones already spawned and entered combat again.

[Pumathang]

And why do they need automatic weapons that never run out of ammo? If they get you at a good angle, they can kill you in half a second flat... doesn't matter if you're inside a building with a wall between you or not. Most machines fire in bursts, but I've sat and hid from a firebird and listened to it fire constantly for several minutes, just to see if it would eventually pause, reload, or give up.... but nope. Any time I've ever played a game with a weapon that had unlimited ammo, it at least forced a cooldown after so many seconds of constant firing.