The 1v1 Basic Flight Skills Manual - Part 1

By Chief Instructor - Captain NVPixel and Instructor - Captain Hypercube

Based upon Sespetoxri’s 101.

 

 

Chief Instructors Welcome

 

*****S***** Greetings and welcome fellow NRN... In this manual you will find the basic information needed to completely learn and understand the 1st part of standard 1v1 tactics including Preflight settings, the “Head to Head”, the “Pass”, and the “Turn”.

 

 

Chapter 1 - Getting ready for the fight

 

I need you to visualize you are flying the X-Wing in a standard 3 kilometer start battle. First off, you’d line your self up so you’re flying straight at the enemy. If you were to tie a string between the noses of the X-Wings, that line would be the Line Of Fire. Remember the term “Line of Fire” as it will come up later. First things first... turn off the cockpit (The “.” key) and set your lasers to quad fire (Tap “x” twice). Keep your laser recharge level. You’ll also want all shields off to lend more energy to your Engines. Ever notice how SLOW your shields regenerate? You’re Better off to have the energy in the engines. In the Engines it will make you more maneuverable and harder to hit. If you are quick you won't get hit at all... in that case, what point is having the shields regenerate? If you
don't get hit, who cares how powerful your shields are? So set shields to ZERO recharge (3 hits of the F10 key). Now you are set up to fly properly...


In the Head to Head (explained later) you are going to fire A LOT so you want to have lots of laser energy. Well there’s only one enemy to deal with... make
yourself tough against his attacks. The true Head to Head starts at a distance of 1.7 kilometers in XWA and at 1.75 in XvT. At that distance you are going to center your targeting reticle on the opponent and fire your first shot... in most cases you
will miss but with a new pilot you will occasionally catch him/her napping. That
first hit is the key to the win... you will win that kill in the long run
generally... your opponent knows he was hit and is demoralized. If you hit first, 7 out
of 10 times you will win the pass. Imagine he knows what you just read...
first thing you do after firing is to MOVE. He’ll vape you if you stay
straight so start your evasive maneuvering. At that 1.7 clicks (1.75 XvT)
distance you are in the Head to Head battle…

 

Chapter 2 - The Head to Head (HTH)

 

The Head to Head (HTH from here on out) consists of trying your best to
get shots in on your opponent while also staying clear of his/her shots. Try to time your dodging right when he’s shooting. Make big arcs in a diagonal motion. Do not just go up and down, as that won’t move your ship out of the line of fire. If you pull up for longer all you will do is show your biggest profile to your opponent making you an easy target. Make nice big arcs, but not too much where you are flying away from him/her. Keep him on the edge of your forward scope at all times. After his shot passes you make another different arc back towards the line of fire and shoot off a quick reflex shot. HTH should be mostly reflex shots because if you wait to long to get your aim you will get vaped by your opponent. Survival first, Kill second.

 

Now in standard training (depends on instructor) you are going to be flying the X-Wing. In the X, you will have shields and hull to protect you. This craft is used to give you the most protection as measured to the speed and maneuverability of your flying. In other words, you are still pretty quick, but you are still pretty tough. Hopefully you will last long
enough to have the chance to see your mistakes. The shots you get in
the HTH are going to set up your win of the pass, or in exceptional
circumstances, win you the pass.

 

Chapter 3 - The Pass

 

The pass is when your ship passes his/her ship after the HTH flight. You fly to win the pass and kill him, setting yourself up to make the next pass as optimal as possible. i.e. - you win, but are damaged, enough so that you feel you can’t fly though the next
firefight. Worst-case scenario, you get destroyed as soon as he re-appears or
respawns. Good case scenario, you get one or two shots in on him on his fresh
ship against your damaged ship. Best-case scenario, you are able to beat
him yet again in the pass with the damaged ship, and now you're one kill
ahead of him. ** Imagine each death as a mistake you COULD have avoided. **
The more shots you drill into him with your first ship, the better off you
are when the next pass starts.

 

Now, you've fired your first shot and moved out of the line of fire. You must assume he knows what you know, after all. He’ll fire at the same point you will. So, you move as soon as you fire... You fly at him, moving around the line of fire, trying to hit him as best you can, and dodging AS MUCH AS YOU CAN. The key to success in this is shooting as much as you can without getting to be an easy target... eventually you'll get to the point when you can so fully anticipate your opponent that you can squeeze off a snapshot and know you'll hit him. Fortunately, you've set your ship up properly for the HTH already. Keep at this all the way through the HTH. Keep shooting and dodging, shooting and dodging... and of course remember never move so far off the line of fire that you lose site of the enemy... keep him on your scopes at all times. You'd be amazed how much paying a bit of attention to the readout on the bottom of your screen (the ship of your enemy, his direction and orientation) will help you. If you see that little
sucker suddenly turn right, you’ll know that's where he's going, and you
can drop a shot into him... just cause you KNEW what he was doing. Use the
instruments you're provided, but don't rely on them. You’re own sense, or
Force if you want to get serious, will TELL you when to shoot once you are practiced
enough. Trust in your instincts... feel the opponent; he will lead himself
into the kill if you let him.

 

Chapter 4 - The Dogfight (Knifefight)

 

So now, you’re dodging around trying to get the right shot in to vape him but its not working. In this case you have to leave the HTH and go to the Dogfight (or knifefight). This isn't a bad thing though and if done correctly could be easier than HTH. All you need to do is start it RIGHT. The key is to follow the opponent by the most DIRECT route possible. Do not try to SHAKE him or avoid him, try to out speed him. The key to this is setting your ship to fly better and quicker than him.... To do this is simple... you fly by feel. Right BEFORE you pass him, drop to ZERO laser recharge rate (two hits of the F9 key if you’re following correctly) and drop to 1/3 throttle. At 1/3 throttle you’ll turn as
sharply as you can (and that’s any ship, not just the X-Wing). With the
energy that you had in lasers now in Engines, you’ll have the most power to pull
this off... Might seem odd, but think about it... Elementary physics states that an object in motion, regardless of partial energetical direction, will continue in the same line. What this means is the enemy will continue on his original course, even if he turns. Most of his momentum is forward... the slight power given to turns will still carry him in a straight line. All you have to do is get the drop on him... to do this, START your turn
BEFORE he passes you. At about .15 clicks drop all energy to engines (F9 key
three times) and drop to 1/3 throttle, then start to turn on his inside course. In
other words, turn towards him. The non-gutsy pilot will turn away most
times and if you’re on the inside turn, you’ll win. You'd be amazed how often he drops into your sites while he’s still turning with this method. Great, you’ve got him targeted... you fire... now what? Don’t get fancy. Just try to fly in a direct loop, following behind him as close as you can, to vape him. Usually, he’s not as smart as you, and hasn't put energy to his engines. He’ll drop into the reticle nicely. If not, see the chapter on the Tie the Knot later.

 

All you need to do is chase him around as best you can, shooting when you’re leading him by a bit (take into account the lag, he might be ghosting), and you’ll win. Once you’ve vaped him, all you have to do is put all energy to guns (F9 key four times now). STAY at 1/3 throttle because you never know where he might show up. If he’s far away, you can turn and orient yourself on him for the HTH comfortably. If he’s close, you will be able to turn quicker (1/3 throttle fastest maneuvering and all) and get your guns on him first, and maybe even vape him. Once you’ve oriented yourself on him, targeted him in the center reticle, increase to full and start the HTH all over again. It’s the key to victory here. Trust me, it will work for you.

 

 

Upcoming lessons in the 1v1 - 202 course…

 

Tie The Knot (TTK) - Ok, I mentioned the Tie the Knot maneuver in there... and now it’s time to learn it. It could come in handy some day.

 

Counter Tie The Knot (CTTK) - How do get yourself out of the mess I caused by training some other pilot the TTK.

 

1v1 5/5 Host Lag and Opponents Host Lag - XWA has a lot of problems with lag especially when you’re hosting a 1v1. In this chapter we will learn how avoid some problems and to eventually use it to our advantage.

 

Conclusion

 

You have now (hopefully) learned the first part of the basics of 1v1. I thank you for your time and patience. I look forward to seeing you on the zone.

 

*S* Chief Instructor - Captain NVPixel out.


The 1v1 Basic Flight Skills Manual - Part 2

By Chief Instructor - Captain NVPixel and Instructor - Captain Hypercube

Based upon Sespetoxri’s 101.

 

 

Chief Instructors Welcome

 

*****S***** Greetings and welcome fellow NRN... In this manual you will find the basic information needed to completely learn and understand the 2nd part of standard 1v1 tactics including TTKs, CTTKs, and lag problems.

 

 

Chapter 1 - Tie the Knot Maneuver (TTK)

 

This is getting into the area of Advanced Tactics. The move itself is easy, but knowing when to do it is the hard part.

 

Ok... you’re in a tough dogfight and are having trouble getting behind the guy, or he's getting behind you far too easily. You may even have damage to your ship, no lasers or no targeting. This is the best way I've found to get out of a sticky situation. Now, assuming you’re doing the dogfight right, you’ve got no power to your shields (in shielded craft) and no power to your lasers and are quad linked. All you do is this, go to full throttle, roll the craft as hard as you can right, and pull the stick down to the bottom
right corner. This will initiate the Funnel Move. You’ll fly away in an ever-increasing spiral away from your opponent, moving faster than he is moving. Once you get to a distance of .5 or .6 clicks, put every to guns (full recharge) drop to 1/3, turn around and
vape him in a Head to Head.

 

Note: To get the most out of your turn back towards your opponent don’t switch your laser power back to full until halfway turned. This will quicken your turn and give him less time to trace your otherwise vulnerable moment in the move. This is especially easy for me due to the way my presets are set. Remember this is entirely up to you, if this confuses you or takes away from your concentration then ignore this part.

 

Sounds easy, right? The trick to this is you have to get the guy with ONE SHOT. You can't go back into a dogfight, cause you didn't have the advantage the last time you were there. No need to set yourself up for another potential death. So, as you come around to face him, squeeze off the shot when it looks good,
and KEEP looping around to dodge his return fire. Don’t stop as soon as you see him and try to aim. Remember, you're probably damaged here and if he nudges you, you’re
going to die. So get that snapshot off clean and take the kill. Even if the only thing you do once you kill him is get one shot into his shields when he respawns, then you die, at least that's one more shot you got in on him without endangering your fresh craft when you DO respawn.

 

This move is especially useful in one hit killer craft i.e. T/I or T/F. You can potentially confuse your opponent with it and get kill after kill with the same craft because he doesn’t know the Counter Tie The Knot (CTTK).

 

 

 

Chapter 2 - Counter Tie the Knot Maneuver (CTTK)

 

Your opponent is flying away in that annoying TTK funnel. If you’ve ever flown against me you’ve probably seen me do this move a lot. Here are your two hopes to get him as he flies away.

 

One: You go to full recharge on the guns, single shots, and hope you get him as you try to lead him through the funnel. Just hold the trigger down, go to full throttle, and try to keep him in this funnel as long as you can. The longer he flies away from you, the less danger you’re in (He can't shoot you if he’s not looking at you).

 

Two: Stay at quads and set lasers at zero recharge Then go full throttle and try to match his rotation in the Funnel. I've seen maybe one or two guys that can pull this off. This is extremely hard to do and you'd better practice against someone quite a bit before trying to pull it off in a Squad War match or a WoW.

 

Once you see him starting to turn around out of his TTK to face you again go back to quads (or maybe singles if he’s damaged or unshielded but of course it’s up to you) and try to vape him as he’s making the turn. You’re still in little danger here; he can't shoot back yet, so feel free to aim a bit, just remember to lead him. If it’s your host be careful because he might be a bit quicker than you think due to the lag your getting. Hopefully you get him right there... cause if you don’t you’re about to be under his guns again.

 

Worst-case scenario, you’ve got to get back in a HTH with a guy that’s experienced enough to know the TTK maneuver. Might be your funeral here...

 

Chapter 3 - 1v1 5/5 Host Lag and Opponents Host Lag

 

XWA is actually not a great game in multiplayer. The code it uses creates lag and jumpiness even on some of the best of connections. You must learn to avoid these problems or use them to your advantage.

 

Let’s start with your own host. On your host you will probably see the shots that look like are hitting the opponents craft a

 

To be continued…

 

 

Just a small thought. Think tactics when you fly... think for the long game, not just racking up kills. If you fly ok as far as your kills, but very well as far as survival, ultimately you’ll win more matches. You may not have a lot of kills, but you’ll have A LOT of wins, and that’s the important thing to success. If you find that you die a lot to get your kills, try thinking of something else you could do to prevent some of them. Are you aiming too long? Is your stick a little beat up and maybe not performing up to specs? Is your connection always jumpy or ghosty? Each of us has things in our repertoire that make us great, we just need to find it and work on it.

 

To give you a specific instance, one of my friends in another squad that I pall around with is a pretty good pilot. I know I am better, but he ALWAYS wins when we fly. Why? Cause I am used to my computer with its good connection. His is a little old and his modem is ghosty and laggy. He knows that and uses it to EVERY advantage. He’s trained himself to the point that he knows what will be a ghost hit angle on his ship and hell let you shoot him, knowing you’ll do nothing, and vape you while you take what you think is an easy kill. This is thinking ahead. Remember, if you can just get one or two shots in with a damaged craft, it will make it all the easier for you when you come back in a fresh one. That’s it kids... and remember, the most dangerous weapon your ship possesses is your mind.

 

Conclusion

 

You have now (hopefully) learned the both parts of the basics of 1v1. I thank you for your time and patience. Please go out there and look for me (_NRN_R_NVPixel) or another instructor so they can test the skills you learned today as you put them to action. As one who's been where you are I know it takes is a lot of dedication and a lot of effort but you too can learn to be the Best of the Best. I look forward to seeing you on the zone.

 

 

*S* Chief Instructor - Captain NVPixel out.