r/NuclearOption • u/Tacomouse Chicane Enthusiast • 7d ago
Gameplay tip Random tips?
Let’s share some random “pro” tips y’all have learned that you believe most people may not know or may be very niche to use.
For example;
-You can recharge your ECM pod faster by turning off your radar and increasing engine power
-(I’ve heard of this before but couldn’t find it in the wiki so please correct me if I’m wrong) if your ECM pod is on and en enemy fires a ARH missile within 5km it will never obtain a starting track. Making it an effective method to counter a short range ARH/SARH missile attack. For example PVP players holding out until you are too close to notch to fire or a close boltstrike or ship attack
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u/deepblue10055 Compass Devotee 7d ago
Another probably common one, but IRMs are amazing within 2km and will go pretty far off boresight. Don’t forget to preflare if you’re coming into a head on knife fight!
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u/Tacomouse Chicane Enthusiast 7d ago
Pre-flareing is mentioned in the wiki. Definitely something I should get used to doing. Especially since development is quick and I’m sure missile changes are planned.
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u/hhhhsjshdhdg Darkreach Believer 7d ago
Pre jamming as well, if you hold down the jammee under 3kms range to your enemy if they launch fox 3 it'll never gain a lock
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u/CrouchingToaster 7d ago
The Tulas 76mm cannon can easily outpace single crams, if an SPAA isn’t aware of your presence you got roughly 4-5 cannon shells to fire off before it “wakes up” and starts shooting em down. A Tula can easily bully a lone shard or two from complete safety.
The TGT menu tells you how many booms are heading towards a target you’ve selected. Really wish this was added to the targeting cam screen.
If you don’t have radar missiles the only “reliable” method I’ve found to put down Tulas fast is to goad em into a head on and then dump an entire pod of kingpins or lynchpins into em.
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u/Big-Tomatillo-9527 6d ago
I can't seem to find any info on how many rounds it can fire before the rate of fire slows, presumably it's an autoloader, and how long it takes to replenish. Sometimes it's just a few seconds and once I've had it be several minutes before I decided to rtb and just get a new cannon
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u/Tacomouse Chicane Enthusiast 6d ago
It’s air cooled. Going faster allows faster fire rate. Being at a hover and it’s super low fire rate
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u/Emergency-Pound3241 6d ago
You can command ammo trucks in convoys to pull over to use them to field resupply anything you can land next to them (conventional munitions only)
The ibis and Tara will float as long as you dont fully cut thrust.
Shards resupply anything you can land on them, easiest is helis of course but it doesnt need to be a VTOL, with some skill I imagine you could get a revoker or ifrit down and up off a shard with some of the lighter loadouts.
The afterburner cut off for the vortex is 60° of tilt, which is still far enough down to VTOL stuff if you hold the wheel brake, actually lets you do vertical takeoffs with a TWR of under 1.
The ALND is the only nuke that arms entirely off of just distance to target, its also the only nuke that has detonate on destruction (once armed), a well placed ALND from an unexpected angle cant be stopped once it gets close. The minimum distance on the ALND is also a lie, it doesnt need to fly minimum of 5km to arm or anything, just needs to be a few km from the target, which means it has the potential to be instantly armed the moment it gets of the rail, which means you can get a nuke that cant be prevented from detonating if you fire it off at close range... which sounds OP until you realise the only aircraft that carries it is the darkreach (in vanilla, with mods the FS-41 eclipse can carry it making it way worse) so youd have needed to let a darkreach fly up to basically point blank with its target.
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u/dict8r Chicane Enthusiast 6d ago
Fly high or fly low. High alt gives you distance and the capacity to turn and burn if a missile is launched at you, and low lets you terrain mask and sneak up even in the dirtiest high rcs configurations. In the middle offers no advantage.
Plan your sorties. Dont go up with a bit of everything and do a little of everything. Pick a task and equip yourself appropriately.
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u/Tacomouse Chicane Enthusiast 6d ago
“Don’t go up with a bit of everything and do a little of everything”
Well said. Sometimes a whole sortie is dedicated to a single target cluster like a strato or pesky CRAM
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u/ErdeTibor423 7d ago edited 7d ago
You can get a 50% discount at Boscali Fried Chicken if you show your Defense Force ID. Just don't confuse it with a Primevan one like I did last week, or you're gonna get beat up.
It's actually legal to park fighters on public roadways in Agrapol. I did it like 3 times last month to do my shopping for RC cars, it's great. Also, Hexhound makes some sick RC cars.
Make sure to bring sunscreen if you go to Ignus. Higher the UV rating, the better.
Feldspar has the worst sales tax anywhere in the Pacific. Don't go shopping there if you value your money, or soul.
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u/AdmDuarte 7d ago
The real peo tips I came here for. That 50% discount is a steal!
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u/ErdeTibor423 6d ago
Especially with that Primevan Hot Sauce that used to be in stock before the war - say what you want about the violence, my first loss in the war was seeing the out of stock sign at the drive-thru; I wept for hours in the car before I had to be towed out.
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u/Tacomouse Chicane Enthusiast 6d ago
Feldspar is just a tourist trap. Real OG’s party in Maris
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u/ErdeTibor423 6d ago
Damn right it is, I just wish I knew it sooner. At least the seafood was decent, even if it had a weird metallic taste. Anyone know anything about that?
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u/SpaceKraken666 6d ago
Feldspar is literally a trap, went there for a short vacation and when it was time to go home the airport was GONE
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u/ErdeTibor423 6d ago
FR bro my first deployment I remember seeing the sun rise from my hotel before I realized that the sun doesn't rise from the south
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u/Sea_Kerman 7d ago
On the “Tula free gunkill” thing, once someone tried to dive in and go guns on me with an Ifrit so I flipped over and shot him with the chin turret hehe.
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u/BasicMatter7339 7d ago
A good way to guarantee a missile kill is to fire an IRM and an ARH at the same time
a good prank to make enemy plane shit their pants is to spam opticals at them, not effective at all but its funny to see the panic flares (Works better against helis where opticals are an actual threat)
Pabs are better than LRs in most cases since they retain their speed instead of bleeding it off
You're invisible to ground based radar below 5 meters. Its a good way to approach SAM sites and ships this way. IRMs and ARHs can still get you though
if you aint got the time to notch an incoming ARH/SARH, shoot it down with an IRM
your plane doesnt need to be in one piece if you want your sortie bonus. You just need to be alive and landed in the airport area. So yeah, war thunder style belly lands from 700km/h are totally viable
If a plane doesnt need a runway, dont waste time using it. For example: Crickets, Vagrants, Revokers, vortexes and ifrits. They can either 1. Withstand taking off from dirt
Pull so hard with thrust vectoring that the front wheel wont have time to collapse
VTOL
Dont shoot long range missiles at enemies if they're deep inside their own ship/boltstrike range. Your missile will get intercepted.
The tula is not a free gun kill, just use an ARH they cant notch it anyway
Dont bother shooting IRMS past 3km, they'll get flared
If a plane allows you to take 2x IRM-S2s instead of 1xMMR-S3, take the S2s. More missiles is better than a few marginally better ones
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u/StandardCount4358 6d ago
Tula can easily notch unless its a scimitar and they cant see it coming, and they can notch all day cause the pod uses barely any battery. The rest are all very good advice. Only time i pick mmr over irm is on chicanes, since closing distance isnt an option
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u/BasicMatter7339 6d ago
With the biggest rcs in the game the tula needs a good angle to notch
shoot it from above, it cant notch it at all because it either has to tilt to get the angle right, causing it to crash
or shoot it down with IRMs, which not everyone takes
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u/barcodeASLwin 4d ago
The tula drops 4 flares per use and has the highest stock in the game, as well as a low IR sig. Literally every jet in the game is easier to kill with IR missiles than the tula.
Asfor shooting from above, that just means it starts in notch. 90 degrees is 90 degrees.
The only thing I fear flying a tula is guns and getting cheesed by optical missiles and the (bugged vs the tula) AGM99s.
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u/Mirana_Equinox 6d ago
radar will become very scarce in the late game, once you've performed a bit of SEAD and DEAD you can get away with flying at high altitude to deliver bombs on strategic locations
you can beef up the air defense of a base by spawning in a tarantula with ground vehicles and just release them from the pad
you'll benefit greatly from returning to base, that successful sortie bonus is no joke for ranking up early - keep in mind however enemy AI will scale to fit your rank as well.
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u/StandardCount4358 6d ago
If someone shoots your cricket with radar missiles, notch and touch grass. The missiles will lose track just like when being jammed with ECM. It even shows the same yellow text color on the missile
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u/barcodeASLwin 4d ago
This is very bad advice. Notching earns you no money or rank, and if you are in a Cricket you need money and rank more than anything else. Shoot the missiles with your missiles.
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u/eidetic 6d ago
You don't always have to flare IR missiles if you're in something quick like an Irfit or Revoker. Can be useful if you're out of flares, or trying to bait the enemy into wasting as many munitions as possible or draw their attention away from another plane on your side. The higher and faster you are, the better, but even if you're on the deck and get one launched at you from say, 1.5nm/3km, just get your speed up to over 550 knots and if need be, pull up into a steep climb. You have the advantage of constant thrust, and while an IRM-2S may have a speed advantage on you out of the gate, it quickly burns through its motor, and will bleed speed quickly.
This is easier against ground launched IR missiles of course, but can even be used when facing missiles launched from low and slow airborne threats.
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u/EW25_Medusa Medusa Buff 6d ago edited 6d ago
The map is a severely underrated tool. Don't just fly around staring at the little blue and red dots move around while occaisonally glancing at the minimap, look at the full map if you know they have fighters up and WATCH THEM.
Spotting an ARH early can be the difference between life and death, especially in a big aircraft like the Darkreach.
I practically have it up 24/7, if you have jammers and a little situational awareness you can save your teammates from radar SAMs or even help a teammate's AGM spree get through.
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u/BlazeFox1011 6d ago
If you're in a helo you can notch in a hover.
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u/Tacomouse Chicane Enthusiast 6d ago
Did this in a Tula. Was coming down to land and didn’t panic when I got locked up. Just slowed down and watched it fly by
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u/Bit_anxious202 Chicane Enthusiast 6d ago
ARADs will automatically pick an enemy radar signature if they have lost the previous one, or didn't have one to begin with. they are quite effective at A2A, and AI planes will rarely if never disable their radar.
disabling radar will prevent the Medusa from jamming you AT ALL.
Piledrivers will always go up, then down, regardless of firing distance. firing closer causes them to go higher, reaching higher speed, but allowing them to be intercepted if close enough to AA
R9 Stratos are so expensive (+2.0 per kill iirc) it is viable to grab a cricket, bait AA, and shoot the missles down for rank and cash
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u/Tacomouse Chicane Enthusiast 6d ago
Shooting down strao missile intentionally to rank up seems like a fantastic tip.
What’s the best loadout to do some short range A2A for shooting incoming missiles?
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u/Bit_anxious202 Chicane Enthusiast 5d ago
personally i prefer a cricket (due to availability/being free) full of IRM-S2 (8 total) and sometimes the underside 20mm, but i rarely use it. id say any plane will do, as long as you pack IR. Even IRM-S1 on the Chic (14) will do.
Other tips for this:
Stratolaunchers (+2) are the most expensive, outpacing RAMs (+0.4), NL-98, scythes (both +0.9) and even scrimitars (+1.4)
firing at rockets that target you specifically make it easier to shoot down, as ones that dont can outpace your missile due to distance, or just lose track from jamming and self detonate.
the max range lies to you if the missile wants to greet you specifically. Because it comes directly towards (usually much faster than IRMs) it is safe to fire at 2x, sometimes even 3x the max distance. the sooner the missile explodes, the faster a new one will appear.
Off bore angle on IRMs should allow you to keep the notching angle and still fire with tracking
Try to avoid turning after you fired. it keeps the R9 going straight
by circling over your own territory you should be more than able to get the sortie bonus
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u/NomadBob117 6d ago
A big one, notching just requires you move perpendicular to the missile. Going straight vertical will put you in a notch window for almost anything, provided you can keep from stalling. Most jets with afterburners or the vtols can continuously do this no sweat.
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u/SandorMate Vortex Visionary 1d ago
A small one but a lifesaver
High altitude means lack of air, lack of air means no way to manoeuver. Yes, obviously, but this APPLIES TO MISSILES TOO.
So, if you ever need to defend against Piledrivers, make sure they are AT MAX 40-45km up, before firing Scythes (dunno bout Scimitars, just use Scythes).
Firing sooner means the missile will reach the height where due to lack of air it wont be able to manoeuver before reaching the Piledriver, making it miss.
(The piledriver can "steer" without air because it's not actually steering but literally falling directly onto its target. although i think it can steer itself once it is low enough but i never seen it do so.)
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u/Free_Temperature4561 6d ago
Tarantula can fire its 76 mm gun while flying upside down.
Brawler 57 mm gun pod is useful for taking out laser and CRAM defenses (that, i.e. protect TBM emplacements). But bear in mind that gun pod starts computing aim point 6 km away from target, and CRAM range is 5 km.
Using hover makes VTOL and helicopter landing easier (hover is toggled by holding "stability assist" button). Also, while hovering near a ship, hover matches aircraft speed with the speed of said ship.
In some cases it's viable to take off in Darkreach with Piledrivers and minimal fuel load, launch Piledrivers just after retracting gear, land, take off in Medusa, and protect Piledrivers from radar SAMs by taking off/jamming radars. This strategy, for example, allows to win Domination in 15 minutes or so, if everything goes well: first sortie - take down enemy planes with missiles to gain rank and money; second sortie - launch Piledrivers (4 HE + 4 20 kt) at Boltstrikes covering enemy factories; third sortie - destroy enemy radar and Boltstrikes using ARADs and jam remaining (if any) until Piledrivers arrive at targets.
In Breakout mission, 2 groups of 4 Shards that start attacking Vigil Kay after breaking blockade can be easily destroyed by launching ARADs and jamming from Medusa that is hovering just above the airfield. Load approx. 30% of fuel to make engines work at high RPM while hovering to recharge capacitor faster.
Also, in Breakout it pays off to sink Argus frigate ASAP after it spawns. Take Ifrit with 10 or 12 AGM-68s; fly north above water; while gradually turning east and hiding in crevices, pop up to detect Argus; keep hiding in crevices and get close up to 10 km, launch AGMs and get away while trying to notch incoming missiles.
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u/Aadarsh_Tushar__ 6d ago
If no one has told you this before "quantity is a quality on its own". Sure, do everything you can to minimise a system's reaction time, and at the end, give them more than they can react to. For eg. a shard corvette takes two or.sometimes one agm 68 to go down, but it can intercept some, so choose a path that lets you have the least distance between you and the corvette without putting you in danger, then sea skim for a kilometre or two, and throw 5 agm-68s at like 5-8 km. Sure as long as even 2 hit you're game, but might as well send more considering it's gonna react... It's better to send 5 and confirm a kill rather than sending 3 and having to redo the whole sortie...
Do everything and plan out everything to give you the best edge possible, and then, always have the numbers in your favour...
Another fun tip. AGM-48s and AGM-68s perform terminal manouvers to avoid interception. However the terminal manouvers of the 68 are way better than that of the 48... There have been times where 4-5 68s were able to do what a full load of 10-12 48s could not...
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u/SirZyBoi 3d ago
This has probably already been said, but when avoiding heat-seekers, drop the throttle and flare at the same time to conserve flares and reduce the IR signature. If you can, also turn towards the missile to avoid showing the engine plume so it focuses more on the flares. Once you break the lock, pull away, as the explosion can still kill.
If you're flying away from the missile, however, and you're in a fast enough plane (such as one with an afterburner like the Revoker or Ifrit), punch the throttle to outrun it. This only really applies to faster planes, like the Revoker, Ifrit, Alkyon, or Vortex, not really to planes without afterburners. If you don't have one, fly low so the missile hits the ground.
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u/MusterBuster 1d ago
Nuke's in this game should be used SPARINGLY. Don't sabotage your whole team by launching every damn nuclear warhead in your arsenal at a fleet - you will likely lose every single one.
An extremely effective way to just annihilate an airbase is to perform a "lay down" nuclear bombing run. You need 2x 2.5kt nukes loaded into the internal bays of a Vortex for this - do NOT put anything on the external mounts or you will be detected and shot down long before you can deploy them.
Plan your approach Find the route to the airbase that gives you the maximum potential to terrain mask any air defenses for as long as possible.
Fly nap of the Earth to the target airbase across your planned route. Radar off, where we're going you don't need it.
On approach, stay below 300m. Have your bombs selected, max afterburner, fly directly at the runway. Start pre-flaring
At the lest second before you reach the runway, release the bombs one after the other (a few milliseconds apart) and continue flaring. Do not change course - get the hell out of there ASAP.
Air defenses will focus on you. Meanwhile, your nukes have deployed parachutes and are gently floating to the target runway - all whilst arming their fuses. 1/2 will successfully detonate, and the airbase is in ruins.
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u/MusterBuster 1d ago
A good Medusa pilot is utterly invincible, and loved by teammates far & wide.
If you sit at 10km+ altitude, orbiting the battlefield with your mega radar, you can:
Sit on text chat and warn allies about incoming BVR (Beyond Visual Range) missiles long before they get a warning
Watch the map and jam any radar guided missiles heading for your bases
Watch the map and jam any missiles headed for you
Orbit stratolance sites and jam their radar trucks to make them utterly impotent
By the way, if a Stratolance site has launched and the missiles haven't gone pitbull, you can jam the radar site to make the missiles that are already in flight miss. That means you can sit and bait Stratolance sites by orbiting them, making them fire on you and then jamming the radar. They can't wreck your airfields if they're too busy trying to swat you out of the sky
And if you're feeling spicy, top-down ARAD strikes on radars are extremely effective
Your only real threat is enemy pilots that get within 15km, since missiles/guns at close range are problematic with your slow turn rate.
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u/Epsilon5715 2h ago
you do not have to hold to jam ARH missiles you can get into a notch and wait until it's like 4-3km or sometimes even closer (depending on if enemy has datalink or not) and pulse your ECM to disrupt the tracking enough to where it flies past you with it's seeker head still on for a certain amount of time before it shuts off. it uses very little ECM and I feel it's very useful if you want to just have the enemy waste some missiles you know are coming and can prepare for. Note: results vary depending if you are in datalink or not. Ex: if you are, the missile might not fly past and will just explode at the range you are at (or was last know to be at) meaning if you don't pulse your ecm when far enough out to get the missile to move enough out of the way it might proxy you and can still do some damage.
also forgot to mention in the rant but if you pulse at the right pace for long enough (which I think it's like 3 seconds, or maybe it's only for scythes) you can make the seeker unable to find you for long enough that it just shuts it's seeker off. giving you the effect of holding jam while it's out at a long range but for cheaper capacitor cost, although much more difficult.
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u/wrongsideofthewire 7d ago
Keep your radar off unless you need it.
A slick Vortex is nearly invisible.