Pilot Strategy
The pilots are the lifeblood of the Commander's battle. Not only does a commander have to know how to pilot effectively (if he wants to get anywhere when backup is needed) but the pilots you have should be good, too. Often a pilot or a commander can win a game based entirely on their skill, or their partners lack of skill, TO AN EXTENT. A dumbass commander is still painful for a good pilot. Remember, that if you command, battle is usually inevitable and you need to be able to pilot well, too, and as a pilot, you may have to know what the commander is building, or help him/her with scavenging in the beginning. A good commander/pilot relationship is often the sole factor in victory.
Being a pilot in Battlezone can be both the easiest and hardest job in the game. In the beginning it is quite easy to go around gunning things and just shooting the enemy where you find them. If you continue like this however, you will soon find yourself outclassed. Near the end though, being the pilot can be much more difficult than being the commander. While the commander often stays at home protecting their base, the pilot must make use of the forces they are given in the most efficient way possible. Here are some basic guidelines to being a semi-intelligent pilot.
1)In the beginning, go and search for all the scrap pools you can find. Drop a nav point "N key" at each of them. Your commander can't send units right to those navs, but he can see them and will figure out quickly where the pools are.
2)When you are flying around, you will often see enemy scavengers collecting scrap. While it is tempting to let loose and do an ammo dump on them, this will only waste your ammo and attract an enemy pilot to you. It is best to call for help. However, if you think you can kill the other person's pilot alone, shoot the enemy scavenger once or twice and then hide somewhere nearby. 99% of the time the enemy pilot will come rushing to the scene without looking around. If you jump out of hiding and hit them with a few sneak hits, you can almost guarantee an easy win. This tactic is particularily for Scion. If you can get about 15 hits on them before they turn to face you, you can often destroy them without being touched. Remember that while you hide, you are invisible on radar! Dont move that ship one bit or he will pick you up on radar as he rushes on to the scene.
3)Turrets. In the early part of the game, turrets are a pilots worst nightmare. Turrets have a greater range than both races basic ships, you cannot stand off attack them on open terrain. REMEMBER THIS!! To kill a turret you need to have some luck with you. If by chance there is a natural barrier in between you and the turret, you can take it with ease. If you are scion, get as close as you can, then aim over the barrier at the air around the turret. When you fire the plasma cannon will hit the turret and kill it without it hitting you. If you are ISDF, you must get close just the same, then you can fire your FAF missles off the barrier and hit the turret. If you are using an empty scout, you must sneak around the sides and take shots at it before it locks onto you. Scion have an advantage in the early game because they are able to kill turrets with easy in any basic scout. If you are facing a turret in the open, you must try and get close as possible and circle strafe around it at high speed. You will usually take about 75% damage doing this. This only works on lone turrets, if they are grouped, give up for the time being. Also to trick those little demons better, you can decoy yourself by having the turrets lock onto you, then hiding behind a barrier. The turrets will stay locked on and ignore anything else that comes near. While they are locked on, have your commander or second pilot kill the turrets.
Later in the game, you are faced with Guard Towers and Spires. These are the bane of all that moves in Battlezone. To kill these you must use mortars or long range missles as ISDF, or Archers and Maulers/Titans as scion. The best mortar to use on the towers is the MDM mortar. Normal mortars do not have enough range and splinters will only get stuck in them. As scion, postion your Archers about 300 M away from your target and let loose. Maulers and Titans just move straight in, you need about 1 of each per tower. If you can get yourself into the enemy base before you attack the towers, kill their power and you can eliminate the ISDF defenses. Scion towers have individual power and must be assualted as normal. Try telling your units to fire on the lung rather than the gun spire!
4)Lag. Lag is an omnipresent factor in Battlezone 2. You must often hit a person with enough shots to kill them 3 or 4 times before they will actually die. To counter this, use AI wingmen. The AI will fire on laggers and hit them regardless of lag. They are often your best friends, though they are immensely stupid.
5)Spotting pilots. When your group of tanks attacks an enemy group, you can usually take them out with ease if you kill their leader. To find the human pilot with the group, look for a ship that is behaving out of the ordinary. AI units will not change weapons, this is usually the biggest tell tale sign. Also, look for the unit that has weapons different from the others. Most pilots want a ship personally customized apart from their AI's tanks. Also look for the first tank to turn away and try and get a better position. The AI is programmed to get right up to you and shoot till you are dead, humans are the only ones who move away from you.
6)Ejection. When your tank is destroyed, you are automatically ejected up into the air. This leaves you in pilot mode. As a pilot, you can still command other units, but your firepower is so weak that shooting is almost a waste. The best thing to do is to move away from the action and select one of your units, then tell it to pick you up. This is done by pressing "5" in the AI command menu when out of your ship. If you have no ships around, you can activate your jetpack and retreat back to your base. For optimal use of the jetpack, use it at the highest point of your initial ejection.
7)Sniping. Sniping is the most difficult thing in the game, period! When you are a pilot, your weapon has a secondary function. This is the sniper rifle. To use it, you should position yourself a good ways off from your potential target, turn to face them, and select the sniper rifle. This brings up a small box. In this box you will see a zoomed in view of whatever you are facing. If you are facing an enemy unit, you will see a red glow around their windshield. If you can hit their windshield, the unit is sniped and you can run over and take control. If you miss the snipe, you do a tiny bit of damage and anger your target. The best place to snipe a target is at their repair facilities. Most people will stay still while they are healing and are easy targets. To keep from being sniped, constantly stay in motion. While you are repairing, make random movements all the time. Look for people outside of your base after you kill someone, they often go there trying to snipe in.
8)Messaging. After you have fought a battle, send a message to your commander asking them to make an ammo pack. Using these packs is much quicker than the healing pads and can extend your life many times when you are defending near home. Make sure your commander does not make too many execess packs as an attacking enemy can also use them to heal. If you need to type a message when you are out in the open and don't want to be sniped, you can use the cruise control function. Hold down the button for the direction you wish to travel in, then press the enter key to type. Your ship will continue to move in this direction until you press that movement key again. The last part of messaging a pilot should know is the vocal commands. To use these press the F-key that corresponds with the person and pick the command from the list. That simple.
Click the nuke to go home
