WARDOGS Helicopter Guide (How to Fly)

Set up rifle-aim controls first

In the settings, turn on rotary vehicle mouse control so your mouse steers the nose of the helicopter like a rifle: move the mouse and the crosshair follows. This is how every good pilot flies, because the mouse is far more precise than the keyboard. Keep the collective on W and S, roll on A and D, and put a yaw input on a key you can press while rolling, such as left shift, so you can circle-strafe. A low air-vehicle sensitivity feels shaky at first and precise once you adjust.

Learn one landing you can repeat

The way to lose speed in a helicopter is to lower the collective and pitch up, using the rotor like a wing to brake. Two landings build on that.

Fly low to beat missiles

Heat-seeking missiles from shoulder launchers cannot lock you when you hug the ground. Even a modest altitude is enough to get locked, so when a threat is nearby, get down among the trees and roads and stay there. Think a few seconds ahead of the aircraft, not where it is now, and always have an escape route upward when your low cover runs out. Low flying is a skill you drill, and it is the single biggest thing keeping you alive.

Counter ground anti-air

The CIWS and the Talon launcher are deadly, but both have a weakness: they cannot aim straight up. Come in low and unseen, pop up directly over the weapon, and orbit in the safe cone above it while you kill the operator. The CIWS is run from a laptop beside it, so note which way the laptop faces and approach from the blind side. The nastiest ground threat is the Verba shoulder launcher, which locks you with only an audio warning and no way to see where it came from. When you hear it, look for the jeep nearby, because one vehicle can carry a dozen missiles, and a single rocket from your helicopter destroys that jeep outright.

Use flares at the right moment

Flares are a one-time escape from a locked missile, and timing is everything. Fire them when the missile is one to two seconds from impact, not the moment you get a lock warning, or they waste on nothing. If you cannot see the missile, use a ground check: drop below the altitude where you can be locked and watch the warning. If the lock holds, a missile is already in the air and you should flare and descend. If the lock breaks, nothing was fired and you are clear. A coordinated pair of launchers firing one after the other can still beat a single set of flares, so break line of sight when you can.

Win a helicopter dogfight

Against another helicopter, close the gap and shoot the pilot out rather than chipping at the airframe. The pilot sits on the right side, and the front of the aircraft is a weak spot, so approach from the right and the front for the fastest kill. Do not chase a fleeing helicopter, because both of you accelerate at the same rate and you never get your nose on target; let it go and reset. The one helicopter you cannot out-trade is the Havoc, so if you see one, run and build a CIWS instead, because the Havoc has no answer to it.