Air Combat Guide

VTOLs

Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL) aircraft are some of the cheapest in the game. VTOLs are not starter assets, but can be purchased with a small donation from another player or with at least one increase in rank.

VTOLs fly differently from aerospace. Pressing [w] will force the VTOL to take off into the air and gain elevation. By rolling with [a] and [d] and pitching and yawing with the mouse the VTOL can be maneuvered in a vertical fashion with some horizontal movement. By holding [Left Shift] the VTOL's thrust is directed backwards causing the VTOL to fly more like a conventional fixed-wing aircraft.

VTOLs are extremely effective in the early game against individual targets. VTOLs can baloon over their target, preventing return fire from nearly any starter asset. Most early game assets have a difficult time pitching their turret or torso high enough to be able to shoot an aircraft directly above them. When attacking a large group of enemies, balooning becomes a mostly ineffective as they can return fire much more easily in a group. When dealing with large groups of enemies VTOLs should either wait for their allies or stay at a low elevation so that terrain can be used to block incoming fire.

While not as fast as a Solitaire with MASC, VTOLs can easily fly over difficult terrain and travel directly to nearly any base on any Terrain Control map faster more reasonably than any other asset. (aerospace can sometimes capture a base more quickly than a VTOL, but landing and take off at most bases is impractical for aerospace.)

VTOLs are considerably more maneuverable, but also far slower than aerospace, making VTOLs excellent dogfighters (depending on their weapon loadout), but terrible interceptors.

Late game VTOLs lose much of their effectiveness in terms of firepower and armor. Most late game assets can deal massive damage to VTOLs. In the late game, VTOLs work best at back capping (so long as the rear bases are unguarded) and electronic warfare.

Aerospace

Aerospace are fixed-wing aircraft that compose the majority of aircraft choices and roles in Mechwarrior: Living Legends. Aerospace have three primary classes. Fighters, Attackers, and Bombers.

Taking Off

To take off, make sure there are no obstacles in the way. If there are, move the aerospace at low throttle until a clear long level stretch of land, preferably a runway can be found. Once ready to take off, push the throttle to maximum by holding down [w] or pressing [Num Pad +]. Then immediately hold down [Left Shift] to boost, do pay attention not to overheat the aerospace. As the aerospace increases in speed, hold down the [Space Bar] or pitch up using the mouse.

Maneuvering

Aerospace throttle up and down with [w] and [s] just like a mech, but unlike a mech, [a] and [d] cause aerospace to roll. Pitch and yaw are controlled by the mouse just like mechs. By rolling to the intended direction and holding [Space Bar] or pitching up using the mouse, aerospace can turn much more quickly than using yaw. Aerospace have an optimal turning speed between 245 and 315 km/h. The specific optimal turning speed for each aerospace variant can be found in the variant information column on each aerospace's page on this wiki. This optimal turning speed is very important for avoiding lock on missiles like LRMs and in dogfighting. Since most of the time aerospace are flying at maximum throttle, it is easiest to achieve the optimal turning speed for any aerospace by pressing [x] to cut the throttle to zero, then adjusting the throttle back up partway by pressing [w] for a short time and then releasing it sometime before it hits 100%. Keep in mind that going slower than the optimal turning speed also prevents sharp turns. By throttling up and/or using the boost in these cases, the optimal turning speed can be reached quickly.

Holding [Left Shift] while in the air gives aerospace a boost in speed and produces heat just like it does during take off. This can be used to escape other aerospace and to quickly get out of range of enemy weapons range after an attack run. It can also be used to quickly gain speed after stalling out so long as the throttle is not at or close to zero.

Destroyed components of aerospace affect their maneuverability. Losing a tail or wing reduces turning ability and can interfere with taking off from the runway. Losing the engine reduces the aerospace's top speed in half. Losing the tail and the engine will prevent the aerospace from ever being able to take off again. Be careful using aerospace with destroyed components, it is easy to forget that reduced maneuverability means that the aerospace will need to pull up sooner from an attack.

Fighters

Fighters are aerospace variants with larger engines, higher top speeds, better maneuverability, fewer weapons, and no bombs. Fighters tend to be the best interceptors and dogfighters.

Interceptors

Interceptors are aerospace that are good at destroying bombers. Most fighters fall into this category, although some Attackers and Bombers can fill this role. The best interceptors typically mount weapons with short ranges, high refire rates, and high DPS. Interceptors have to be able to deal massive damage very quickly because bombers will often return to their base turrets or retreat to their allies preventing interceptors from pursuing effectively. Interceptors generally have to have a maneuverability and speed higher than their target, otherwise it can be very difficult to shoot the target or keep it in range.

Dogfighters

Dogfighters are aerospace that are good at fighting most other aerospace, not just bombers. Dogfighters do not normally run weapons with charge up times or long lock on times. Highly maneuverable enemy attackers and fighters can often cause these kinds of weapons to miss or fail to lock by taking sharp turns. The best weapons for Dogfighters have a high burst damage, like LBX and Large Pulse Lasers.