Advanced Helicopter Tactics<br />Battlefield 3 Tips: The Bunker

This week on The Bunker, Battlefield Bootcamp host Jonno Stanton gives his top tips for getting the most out of helicopters in Battlefield 3.

Get To The 'Chopper!

'For me, what differentiates a good player from a great player is not how well you shoot, but how well you manipulate the environment.' says Jonno. 'A good player can shoot guns and win firefights, but a great player uses the environment to their advantage, and the airborne vehicles are your big tools in that.'

Obviously, becoming proficient in one of the helicopters is something that takes practice, and there's not much room for error when you're in the heat of a multiplayer battle.

'I'd use the co-op mission Fire in the Sky, or a dead server, in order to get some practice in the helicopters,' recommends Jonno.

When using one of the helicopters, it’s inevitable that you’re going to make mistakes, the key is not to punish yourself for them.

'As someone who's been playing Battlefield 3 from Day One, I had to learn over a period of months how to pilot them,' remembers Jonno. 'Newer players are lucky, in a way, because there are lots of empty servers. Find a mode where the game doesn't start until eight players join, and then take it from there.'

Jonno also has a tip for players who find themselves repeatedly beaten to the pilot seat. 'Whatever platform you're playing on, make sure you have the game installed to a hard disk if possible,' says Jonno.

'It might give you the edge when you're loading into the server, and in Battlefield, if you're first into the game, you're first to get access to the vehicles. I've seen that with my friends - I'll be the first to spawn into a jet, and off I go. it's all about giving yourself a chance of getting the goodies, effectively,' he jokes.

If you want to become a really advanced pilot, Jonno also says you can learn about respawn timers for the various vehicles, although that’s a little above his own commitment level.

'I don't know what the respawn timers are personally, but if you are really serious about getting into airborne vehicles, that's what a lot of people do. So if they see a chopper or a plane go down, they'll start counting!' he says.

Be careful though; unless you know the respawn timers, you're going to get kicked if people see you camping at the chopper respawn, because you're not helping the team, and you're effectively a wasted slot.

And finally...

Thanks for checking out this Battlefield blog update, we hope you enjoyed it and found it useful. We’ll be back again next week with more of Jonno’s tips, this time on jets and tanks, but if you have any questions that you want putting to one of our experts, please leave them in the comments below.