Handled AA/ MANPADS

[SyriousT]

so recently I always volunteer for AA if wanted, and I became really good at it.
but I want someone veteran at it to tell me what im doing wrong .
once the enemy CAS chopper was hovering in the sky and it havnt used flares , so i locked on it and shot but the missile just flew like when you fire it without locking on target . it flew a bit and went down. so what is wrong?
As I said im good at AA , but sometimes this weird behavior occurs to my manpad.

[DogACTUAL]

Happens sometimes. My hypothesis is that it happens when you have a lock on on your PC, but not on the server.
On the server the aircraft was probably not directly where you were aiming and so you couldn't aquire a lock on there but on your PC it worked.

This probably happens a lot with high ping when the discrepancy between what you see on your screen and what is actually already happening on the server is pretty high.

[CAS_ual_TY]

Happens sometimes. My hypothesis is that it happens when you have a lock on on your PC, but not on the server.
On the server the aircraft was probably not directly where you were aiming and so you couldn't aquire a lock on there but on your PC it worked.

This probably happens a lot with high ping when the discrepancy between what you see on your screen and what is actually already happening on the server is pretty high.

I'd say the same. The opposite happens as well. Firing your missile without getting a lock sound. You can see this behaviour especially in jets where the client lock is out of synch with the server lock (again, if it is a synch problem).

[SyriousT]

Ok thanks guys , that sounds reasonable. I do have a high ping on US servers . Thank god it's not me just being suck at aa

[LiamBai]

As I said im good at AA , but sometimes this weird behavior occurs to my manpad.

If a heli is hovering, there's no reason to lock. Locking gives the AA a chance to miss. Even if it's not hovering, with experience you can shoot into it's flight path with a bit of guesswork and goodcomms.exe.

As the others said, ping doesn't help. I play weekly on a server with >260 ping and have not hit a single thing with a locked missile(except one which redirected into a trans chopper), but shot down multiple choppers with ungided ones.

[SyriousT]

Is it possible to shoot without locking? It will auto lock afaik . Or maybe you meant to shoot very fast before it locks?

[fecht_niko]

Handheld AA is still broken...

Just lock on enemy CAS choppers but dont shoot to scare them away. 99% you wont hit it anyways if a decent pilot is flying.

[DogACTUAL]

Is it possible to shoot without locking? It will auto lock afaik . Or maybe you meant to shoot very fast before it locks?

Yes it is possible and much more effective, like you said you have to aim quick and shoot fast. And since the update the missile will be also affected by gravity, so take that into account.

Since the missile has a proximity fuse it is much easier than in sounds, if there is a helicopter close to you just shoot it without lock. You can even shoot helicopters at great distance without lock with great success.