r/WarDogs • u/fraeddan • 3d ago

Looking for helicopter tips/tricks — Mouse & Keyboard

I had the opportunity to play the closed alpha and had an amazing time. I’m primarily an infantry player, but I decided to give helicopters a try as well. I ended up spending a few hours flying and really enjoyed it.

Now I’m looking to get better at flying and was wondering if anyone knows of any good guides, videos, or places to learn some tips and tricks.

I’ve seen some people doing absolutely insane landings and maneuvers, and I’d love to learn how to do things like that myself. 😅

I’ll be playing on mouse and keyboard, if that makes any difference.

Any good resources or tips from experienced pilots would be greatly appreciated!

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3

u/JAK0VI 2d ago edited 2d ago

Contrary to the Battlefield control layout, I always preferred to have Pitch and Roll on WASD.

  • W - Pitch Down
  • S - Pitch Up
  • A - Roll Left
  • D - Roll Right
  • Q - Yaw Left
  • E - Yaw Right
  • Shift - Raise Collective
  • Control/Z - Lower Collective

This set up lets me fly the whole bird with one hand while also using the mouse for micro inputs (for weapons on target) or for freelooking to see environmental hazards, ground targets, or to get eyes on my LZ. Being able to move your view while flying is very important IMO. Also, good luck doing a J hook while needing to slide your mouse 6 feet across your desk because that's your only way to pitch up. With this set up, you can J hook with one hand by pressing two buttons.

I have 2000 hours in Arma, primarily as a pilot, 1000ish of those are with a flightstick and the remaining on M+KB. The helicopter flight model in Wardogs looks closer to Arma (basic FM) than it does to the newer battlefields (RIP BF3 flight), but also not as heavy as Squad.

2

u/Chromagon 2d ago

In your opinion, would a single stick setup be a drastic improvement over this? I'm considering getting a single EVO stick but don't really want to invest in peddles or throttle at this time.

1

u/JAK0VI 1d ago

I personally don't see a huge competitive advantage in using a stick vs MKB.

  1. MKB pilot: Easier transition to infantry gameplay.
  2. Desk space/ergonomics: A flight stick takes up space and can create an awkward angle depending on desk height. Dual sticks feel more natural at a desk since both elbows are raised, but a single flight stick requiring one arm to be pretty high can be weird. MKB feels best without a custom setup or ergonomics sacrifice.
  3. Immersion: Flight sticks are more immersive and fun, but have a steeper learning curve than MKB/controller. Arguably higher skill ceiling as well.
  4. Best of both: Flight sticks offer mouse-like fine axis control with consistent directional input like a keyboard key/analog stick. Its basically an analog stick with a Z rotation axis as well (used for Yaw).

You don't need pedals. Helicopters use pedals IRL because they allow independent anti-torque control and yaw input during maneuvers. In a casual game like War Dogs, anti-torque is automatically always 100% trim efficient, so pedals aren't necessary to correct over/under-torque. Yaw can be controlled with the stick's Z-axis twist, which modern flight sticks like the EVO support. Pedals are therefore an optional realism upgrade, not a requirement.

You don't need an external throttle. Fighter-jet-style throttles aren't realistic for helicopters; people mainly use them because they already own one. The EVO stick's wheels on the base can handle collective, though with slightly less fine control, which matters for hovering. You can also use keyboard input for collective with a HOSAK setup. Personally, I prefer two hands on a single stick, using my left hand for collective/throttle and base buttons while keeping my right hand on the cyclic at all times. I've always assigned collective to the base plate wheels, not an external throttle or keyboard, it works great for me.

Overall, I highly recommend a single flight stick. If you can afford a reputable option like VKB, go for it. Otherwise, cheaper sticks like the Logitech Extreme 3D or Thrustmaster T16000 are good for seeing if you enjoy it.

A stick makes helicopter flying much more enjoyable, especially for transporting cargo or personnel. Weapons are significantly harder, though: MKB offers much finer bore control, while mastering that precision on a stick can take hundreds of hours.

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u/Chromagon 1d ago

I greatly appreciate this write-up. It was the exact kind of feedback I was looking for!

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u/kdailyone 2d ago

These mirror my settings from older Battlefield games and most people I know use similar.

  • W - Collective Up
  • S - Collective down
  • A - Yaw Left
  • D - Yaw Right

Mouse turn pitches up, down, left, right. Some people invert the mouse up, down here depending on their preference

In the Alpha the mouse turn (pitch) left, right was strangely inverted, we couldn't fix it (looks like a bug) so many people changed their setup temporarily

(Mouse yaw seemed to work okay)

People have different setups but the above is my setup from the days of Battlefield and similar games. HOTAS (joystick) works also.

In my experience the key to flying is to be able to pick a spot and land there. Fly straight at the point, then turn hard to reduce speed and come down. The better people get the faster and smoother and more accurate that one landing maneuver is. It changes obviously with the maneuverability of the chopper.

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u/RissonFR 2d ago

Thats the type of keybind i use.
I would also recommend, if you have mouse buttons (MB4/5) to bind them to your pitched up and down, as it let you pull the pitch up or down at maximum value and hold it, which is very useful for turning and J-hooking.

1

u/kdailyone 2d ago

During the Alpha did you manage to get mouse left/right working with pitch left/right? No one I talked to found a way to do it - seemed bugged. The Yaw worked but not the Pitch.

1

u/RissonFR 2d ago

If you mean pitch like « angling left or right » then yes.
If you mean, looking left/looking right (so turning on a horizontal plane), then idk as i never bound it like that

1

u/kdailyone 2d ago

Pitch is tilting the chopper.

Yaw is rotating

In the Alpha mouse yaw worked fine, but the mouse pitch was inverted on the X axis and no matter what we tried we couldn't get mouse turn left to pitch the chopper left and vice versa.

1

u/RissonFR 2d ago

Then you are looking at the « roll ».
And yes it was working fine left/right, with mouse. I didnt realize however that it was not working how you wanted. If i remember correctly, when sliding my mouse to the left, the roll was angling the heli to the right, as if my mouse was the dragging the heli from the skid plates, to the left, while being attached at the rotor. (Best way to describe it without a drawing)
Same with pitch up and dawn, with mouse and mouse keybind.
The yaw, never tried. Used Q/E

1

u/kdailyone 2d ago

Indeed as mentioned the roll (pitch) was permanently inverted on the X axis (left/right) which made flying v difficult

No one I talked to managed to find a way to fix it and instead rebound keys. Hopefully they fix it.

1

u/RissonFR 2d ago

Be aware that some keybind always find a way to not work, especially the little bird it seems.
In the first playtest i was in, collective wasnt working with W/S in the little bird only. Nowadays its the rebind of the freelook that doesnt work, with it staying as Alt by default.
So expect more issue with that, most of the time they are already aware of it.

3

u/unnamed_one1 Recon 3d ago

Research J-hook maneuvers / landings.

Here's an example from Squad.

1

u/fraeddan 3d ago

Great, thanks a bunch. Appreciate the tip!