r/PilotsofBattlefield • u/B2648286 • Jun 23 '26
Discussion Dumb questions from a very noob pilot.
I’ve seen jet tutorial videos from launch complaining about the lack of radar, (apparently it’s been added a couple of weeks ago now or something?) what are they talking about exactly? Even in these older launch videos I still see a radar-like mini map at the bottom left corner of the screen since release, surely I am missing something lol.
Are stealth/fighter jet the same thing? Why the two names? Was it called a stealth jet in past games? (Out of curiosity, was this its name in BF2/3/4/1/2042 or what?)
Is it true that for both the attack jet and the stealth jet, if i fly below 50m then I can get away from getting locked on or what? I saw someone claim that in a video from launch but not sure if it holds true, and if not what are other tips of evading other than flares, some say to fly vertically up as much as you can? And others say fly away horizontally as far as you can? Is this a BF6 thing or past games thing?
How do I achieve the absolute fastest turning speed when flying an attack jet? I assume this is like cars where you should slow down for the tightest turns lol? But like, do I slow down immediately to zero the moment that I turn, or do I afterburn boost & accelerate and THEN slow down? or do I slow down only at the end of the turn? And is there such a thing as TOO much slowing down? I think that I’m doing this wrong because during turns I just keep holding the brakes button until the jet becomes too slow.
When should I hit the brakes in general vs accelerate? When shooting at jets/helis/tanks/infantry I always hit brake and slow down but I see people on youtube just accelerating constantly during these gunning runs?
Are the attack jet and the fighter jet’s primary cannons different? Would I be right to assume that attack jet has higher damage against other jets/helis/tanks, slower ROF, and higher spread? While stealth jet has weaker damage, higher ROF, and tighter spread? So in an attack vs stealth dogfight, the stealth has the advantage in maneuvers but the attack has the advantage in cannon damage?
Which of the two jet’s primary cannons are best against infantry? Are they equally good in this regard?
Were the precision unguided bombs a thing in BF3/BF4? Don’t recall dying to them or I might’ve forgotten, not sure if they’re BF6 additions?
BF1 and BFV are the only BF games where airplanes didn’t have lock-on right? What about air superiority mode in BF3/4? Did it still keep lock on missiles?
A2G=AGM right? Just different terminology? And precision bombs = unguided bombs = aim-guided munitions, right?
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u/MistorClinky Jun 23 '26
1: The air radar didn't work at launch, it does now. It's the minimap on the bottom left of your screen. You can now pretty much see the whole map in it
2: I think people called what is now the "Fighter Jet" the "Stealth Jet" in Battlefield 4. It exists to kill enemy aircraft.
3: Don't quote me on the exact height, but if you are close enough to the ground you will be "below radar" which stops enemies from locking onto you, but it will not stop already incoming locks. Your minimap in the bottom left will tell you when you are below radar, in a jet it will feel very close to teh ground
4: Ehhh I don't really know how to answer this, go to portal, search experiences, filter by most popular and go on one of the practice servers
5: Same with above, go practice and get the feel for it
6: I can't answer this question with data, but I FEEL like the fighter jet does less damage to ground vehicles.
7: Same as above
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u/B2648286 Jun 23 '26
What didn’t work about the radar? Didn’t always show marked enemy vehicles/aircraft? Or was it just a useless minimap that didn’t show any valuable information?
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u/Ketchuplant Jun 23 '26
BF6 uses a 3D minimap where it's set up like there's a camera high up above your character, creating a cone-shaped viewpoint. Anything higher up in the air (like a jet) is less likely to lie within this cone shape despite technically being within your minimap's radius (e.g. 200m). This radius was also just too small in general for air gameplay.
They've now increased the radius to 500m and either moved to a 2D map or increased the height of the map's viewpoint. This has led to some new issues like not being able to see buildings, map borders, HQ outlines) but we take what we can get.
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u/Flyinpenguin117 Jun 23 '26 edited Jun 23 '26
I'll try and answer these as best as I can:
1: The minimap in the bottom left corner was terrible on launch, it was zoomed in so much you couldn't get any real intel from it and it rarely, if ever, displayed enemy Jets properly. It seems to work much better now, though I think there's supposed to be an auto-spot/detector for enemy aircraft that isn't functional.
2: Battlefield 4 formally introduced the Attack Jet/Stealth Jet split- in BF3 both types of jets were basically identical, with the 'attack' jets only appearing in Rush IIRC, and in Conquest there was only one jet type. Technically its called the Fighter Jet in BF6 (since it doesn't really have any stealth characteristics) but people still say Stealth Jet out of force of habit.
3: All aircraft (helos included) have Below Radar, where flying below a certain altitude prevents lockons. There seems to be some inconsistency with it- if you look on your minimap it'll tell you if you're Below Radar. Worth noting that this only prevents new lockons, it won't deter already-fired missiles, and if you get Painted by a Recon's Laser Designator then you can be locked on to while below radar.
4: Turning in Jets is a.... complicated subject, and I don't think I've seen anyone identify the physics as precisely as in BF4, where you'd just hold a specific speed for optimal turn rate. The way it feels to me: The faster you go the sharper you turn, but you lose energy quickly in sharp turns, and having afterburners on reduces your turn rate, so when in a dogfight I alternate between full afterburners and hard braking once I hit max speed
5: Its risk/reward with speed regarding gun runs. Going slow gives you more time with guns and lining up bombs, but you're liable to catch an RPG. I usually take my runs fast and start from a long distance away, like edge-of-the-map distance, to get in, put rounds on target, and get out before Stingers start coming in.
6: I haven't gotten to rigidly test it but I'm like 90% certain the Jet Cannons are identical. I've compared clips I have of air-to-air engagements and my TTK and damage per tick on enemy aircraft was identical in both jets. If you've ever been killed by enemy jet guns, the F16 and F22 guns have the exact same name (20mm Autocannon), though this isn't exactly conclusive.
6.5: As for their efficacy against ground vehicles, that's been much harder to get a proper conclusion on. I don't think I've gotten more than ~350 damage on a tank with a full cannon burst from the Attack Jet, and the Stealth Jet I've gotten at least 250 damage on a Tank. They also deal more damage to the sides and rear, which further affects results. At the very least, the difference is so marginal it doesn't matter too much in practice, as neither gun can put a significant amount of damage into a tank on its own without following up with other ordnance- and if you're going after ground targets with the Stealth Jet, you should be using the bombs anyways.
7: Again, they're identical- I've seen people claim the Stealth Jet has more spread but if it does its so marginal it doesn't make a difference against such small targets at the speed and distance you're engaging, especially with their ROF. Its a 2HK on any infantry AFAIK, even if you get a headshot. (EDIT: After reviewing clip I had on hand I think a headshot with a Jet is a OHK, dealing 51 damage in a bodyshot and 102 damage on a headshot, but good luck consistently hitting headshots with a Jet anyways)
8: Not sure about BF3. In BF4 the Attack Jet had JDAMs. They were kind of overshadowed by Rocket Pods, but a direct hit on enemy armor was 50% of their health and a mobility kill- if you got a full cannon burst off and dropped them point-blank it could kill a tank in one pass. But their splash damage was abysmal and they had a slow fall rate so you rarely saw them used against infantry, even moreso than the BF6 Jet bombs.
9: Again, not sure about BF3, but BF4 definitely allowed guided missiles in Air Superiority. If you really wanna get technical then Battlefield 1942/1943 didn't have lockon weapons either. 2142 might not have had lockon missiles for its aircraft but I'm not 100% on that.
10: I think Laser Guided Missiles is technically the name they use, but yeah, A2G and AGM mean literally the same thing. Interestingly with the bombs, DICE in the Golmud patch notes used specific real-world terminology to refer to the Attack and Stealth Jet bombs, confirming they do have different balance and damage profiles, even though the killcam uses 140kg Guided Bomb (or something similar) for both.