Swapping Cobra cannons between pilot and gunner

[Smooth Operator]

I was thinking that surely the gunner of the heli should be getting more kills than the pilot right? As things are right now, the pilot is the one who's racking up majority of the kills and the gunner is there to either clean up stragglers or to hit tunnels which the pilot might have missed. I think part of the problem is how terrible the gunner's weapons are. The pilot has 21 Hydra rockets which have a large blast radius, perfect at taking out tunnels or large clumps of infantry and 950 rounds turret with impressive accuracy, rate of fire and splash damage. Both of these weapons do an excellent job at dispatching both tunnels and infantry.

By comparison, the gunner has a grenade launcher and a Gatling gun. The grenade launcher definitely has a better splash than pilot's turret, however, it is tricky to aim (as you have to lead and compensate for projectile drop) and runs out of ammunition far quicker when spammed. The Gatling gun has zero splash damage, so if the helicopter isn't stabilized, good luck hitting anything with it. Most of the pilots I've seen (myself included) aren't too concerned with flying "for the gunner" because it is much more dangerous and less efficient.

So while it may not be very realistic, I'm suggesting swapping the Gatling and nose turret controls. This will encourage more communication between the crew and it will increase the skill ceiling needed to operate the chopper efficiently.

 

[Kaleun]

Just another example of "change something because I'm not good at it". You can easily be on par with the pilot if you take your time and don't dump all your ammo in one spot. Having a pilot who doesn't jerk the cobra around everywhere also helps. And learn to lead your shots...

 

[Smooth Operator]

Just another example of "change something because I'm not good at it". You can easily be on par with the pilot if you take your time and don't dump all your ammo in one spot. Having a pilot who doesn't jerk the cobra around everywhere also helps. And learn to lead your shots...

No, this is coming from the pilot's perspective. Like I said before, flying "for the gunner" is inefficient and dangerous. Flying smoothly usually means slowly and speed is life. When facing a competent team manning the HMG and using RPGs against helis and not infantry, you have to fly at speed and unpredictably. Flying at speed means the gunner usually can't hit **** all, but it keeps the chopper alive and allows the pilot to still be highly effective. Sure, your gunner will be pissed off but you will be an even bigger pain in the ass for 32 players on the enemy team...

 

[Kaleun]

Flying smooth means flying high and in more than one axis of direction. Flying low and fast is the strategy pilots use when they know they won't RTB to re-arm and they fear getting shot down by SAMs. Most of the pilots out there just want to get as much kills as they can, and the gunners is just there to ride along in that little box while it violently shakes as the pilot evades terrain obstacles. I don't blame them, it's hard to fly with a mouse, not all mouse & keyboard pilots are bad but those that fly with joysticks have an easier time.

Flying unpredictably is easy, you just need to fly in more than one axis of direction, its a lot harder to hit:

Because in reality, helicopters would generally be flying a lot faster and in a single pass, not repeatedly looping over the same area at low speed and low altitude. Gunships would be blasting areas from hundreds of metres away, a thousand feet up. Scout helicopters would be higher again, staying well above small arms range.

Never mind flying smoothly for the gunner, you use it right by not constantly exposing yourself as an easy RPG/DShK target. Cobra is best used just for tunnels, when there are no tunnels around for you to see its time to loiter until the Loach spots you some. It's ridiculous that people play just to get as many points as fast as possible. Just to get some hats unlocked?

I'm suggesting swapping the Gatling and nose turret controls. This will encourage more communication between the crew and it will increase the skill ceiling needed to operate the chopper efficiently.

Your main complaint is that "the gunner of the heli should be getting more kills than the pilot", so you would want the gunner to fire the Hydras and pilot to fire the turret guns. Just swap positions then, if you want the gunner to get some points take turns flying the thing. Your idea makes things unnecessarily difficult, and I'm glad the Cobra doesn't actually use a hand cranked Gatling gun.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Only swap the Gatling with the cannon. Let the pilot use hydras.

 

[Kaleun]

Simpler thing would be allow customization of the aircraft ordnance. To completely remove the M195 20 mm Rotary Cannon, add another rocket pod. Or put in two miniguns or grenade launchers in the turret. Whatever variety you want.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Also, just watched that Cobra video. Lol, flying like that is only possible if you're playing against a REALLY bad team. Any half decent RPG user would shut the Cobra down straight away. Also, flying that slowly makes you so vulnerable to small arms fire, so one person with an RPD would wreck the blades/engine.