Attack Chopper has been Nerfed to Oblivion

I am writing this post to mainly describe the current state of the attack helicopter in BF2042 and provide my feedback based on my experience with this game so far. I have been a fan of BF3, BF4 and now BF2042, with the attack chopper being my favorite vehicle in the game since BF3. I hope that DICE takes my feedback as constructive criticism and acts on it.

I will go over all of the different aspects of the attack helicopter and how they factor into the gameplay. I will also talk about general issues I have with BF2042 mechanics for vehicle selection and mechanics towards the end of my post.

Context of the Attack Helicopter:

Before I go into the gameplay aspects of the attach chopper, I would like to first put this vehicle into context of the BF gameplay.

The attack helicopter is an aerial vehicle which is meant to be heavier in terms of firepower than the scout helicopter and is meant to fly at low to medium altitudes. It is not meant to be a high-altitude aerial vehicle, which is the domain of Jets.

Other aerial vehicles which fly generally in the same altitude range are scout and transport helis.

The attack helicopter’s role is mainly to take out other aerial vehicles in the same altitude range, and to destroy ground vehicles, specially armored vehicles like tanks, and ground troops to a second degree, as this role is more suited for the scout and transport helis.

The attack heli’s counters are the following ordered somewhat from highest to lowest threat in BF2042:

• Jets – not possible for the attack heli to effectively fight against and stands little chance to survive an attack from
• Transport Helis – armored tank in the air with long range rapid-fire guns and cannons that are extremely effective (more on this later)
• Scout Helis – strong in maneuverability and has deadly guns that can shred the attack heli
• Other attack helis – imbalance between the Hokum and Warchief in weapons (see below)
• EBAA Wildcat ground vehicle – Anti-Air rockets and long range extreme rapid-fire guns
• Soldier with Recoiless aided by soldier with SOFLAM – one-shot kill if hit
• Soldier with AA rockets – a threat if multiple attack in succession
• Sundance anti-armor grenades – minimal threat

Gameplay aspects of the Attack Helicopter:

This is where I will go over each aspect of the attack heli and describe its current state in BF2042 (as per my experience with the game so far). I will do this in light of the context of this vehicle which I have described above.

• Maneuverability/Mobility: In BF3, the attack heli’s movement was almost parallel to that of the scout heli. In BF4 this mobility was still comparable post nerf to that of BF3’s and was much needed due to the other nerfs that the attack heli suffered in BF4 (will not go into those here). In BF2042, the attack heli’s maneuverability has been significantly nerfed compared to BF4’s, let alone BF3’s, attack heli. It now feels more like a flying semi than a deadly chopper. The speed of the attack helicopter is now the least out of all the aerial vehicles, including the transport heli, making it the easiest target in the air to keep track of and persistently harass until taken down. In fights against aerial vehicles other than another attack heli, it is easily out-maneuvered to be placed at a position of disadvantage and destroyed. The attack heli therefore loses against all other aerial vehicles in this category.

• Pilot Weapons:
  • Secondary Weapons:
    • AIM-9Z IR Missile (Warchief)/AA-11 IR Missiles (Hokum): Easily the most used weapon of an attack heli pilot against aerial threats, and due to the other nerfs to the attack heli weapons, the only option a pilot has to attack or defend against other aerial vehicles. Unfortunately, due to the nerfs this weapon has suffered, it is not an effective weapon against any opponent. The first nerf this has suffered is the lock-on range, which has been reduced to a ridiculous distance, just above 200m for the Hokum and 350m for the Warchief. The second is the lock-on time once the target is within the very short range, which seems to take close to 4 seconds with target maintained in the reticle. Due to reduced mobility, this becomes more difficult. The third nerf, and I am still not sure if this is a nerf or a bug, is the time it takes to fire both loaded heat-seeking missiles. Even when both missiles are loaded, and the target has no countermeasures left to deploy, the second missile only fires after a time delay/loading time, which makes no sense since the rocket is already loaded in the pod. This seems to behave differently depending on whether it is the Warchief or the Hokum, but in both cases, a varying time delay is there before a missile can be fired. The fourth nerf seems to be that the speed/accuracy of these missiles has been lowered, and this is made evident by the fact that these missiles can be dodged easily by the scout heli due to its agility, which was never the case in previous BF games. This renders the efficiency of this weapon to nearly non-existent.
    • Air-to-Ground Missile: Lock-on missile which targets ground vehicles. Replaces AA-11 IR Missiles if selected and means the only remaining viable option to defend against air vehicles is the 30mm Cannon (more on this and other primary weapons later). Otherwise completely reliant on having a gunner.
    • Wire-guided missile: More effective against ground as it is guided by the pilot reticle and its speed and tracking makes it difficult to use against moving aerial vehicles.

•   Primary Weapons:
  • Smart Rockets: Lock-on rockets targeting ground vehicles with decent damage against armored ground but a slow rate of fire. Cannot be used against aerial vehicles due to slow speed and very slow rate of fire.
  • 127mm Anti-Vehicle Rockets: For anti-vehicle purposes chopper, these are in my opinion the core of the attack heli’s arsenal as primary weapons, meant to take out ground armored vehicles first and foremost, and to be considered its deadliest weapon against ground. In BF4 these rockets were effective both against ground vehicles and against aerial vehicles, mainly choppers who make the mistake of staying in place. Their strength and speed effectively and accurately destroyed their target. These have been significantly nerfed in both of these aspects in BF2042. Their damage has been reduced, and more importantly their speed/accuracy has been significantly reduced, making it very hard to destroy moving ground targets, and requiring a minimum of three volleys to destroy a tank. Due to their low speed, it becomes more difficult to compensate for moving targets. In addition, due to the lack of directional damage on ground vehicles (e.g., more damage is taken by a tank if targeted from the back or above versus the side or the front), it becomes even harder to destroy a ground target compared to BF3 and BF4. Since the speed of the rockets is lowered significantly, it is also much more difficult to nearly impossible to hit even slow-moving aerial targets, where in BF4 this was not nearly as much of a challenge, and pilots used to rely on these rockets when their AA missiles are spent. These nerfs have really hurt the attack heli’s firepower rendering it almost useless or redundant to the scout heli.
  • 70mm Anti-Personnel Rockets: These same rockets were available to the attack chopper in BF3 and BF4, but in BF2042 they seem to have less splash damage radius. I cannot complain too much about these rockets as they are really meant to be used by the scout heli, which is meant to target ground troops and light vehicles.
  • 30mm Cannon (Hokum only): I am not sure what this weapon is doing on the attack heli. It was never there in BF3 or BF4, don’t know about previous installments of the game. It belongs on the scout heli, and putting it on the attack heli makes it seem like the attack heli can have the same purpose as the scout, which is not the case and just waters down the gameplay of BF. It seems to be given to the Hokum to compensate for the Warchief’s longer range AA Missiles, however in a face-off between the two attack helicopters, this is still an unbalanced fight since the 30mm Cannon outguns the nerfed AAs. Against other aerial vehicles, it still does not compensate for all of the other nerfs that have been made to the attack heli due to the mobility nerf.
• Gunner Weapons:
  • The gunner in BF2042 has suffered a savage axe of a nerf, which has chopped away all upgrades and weapon unlocks to which the gunner had access to in BF3 and BF4. These include gunner zoom, gunner belt feeder, proximity scan, IRNV, laser guided missile, thermal optics and the most demanded gunner weapon, the TV Missile. In BF2042 the gunner only has a 30mm cannon (again?), as opposed to the 20mm M197 automatic cannon in BF4. The 30mm cannon overheats after a short period of time firing the weapon. It lacks the explosive splash damage the 20mm cannon had. The gunner does not even have the capability to spot enemies like the spotter does in the scout heli. The gunner does add an advantage to the attack heli in BF2042, but it is nothing compared to what that used to be in previous BFs.

• Countermeasures: In BF2042 the attack heli pilot has only one option here, and that is flares with radar countermeasures, countering heat-seeking rockets and preventing lock-on from hostiles for a period of close to 5 seconds. I miss the ECM countermeasures from previous BF games, where once deployed, the period during which the heli cannot be locked on is closer to 8 seconds. I am willing to live with the current set of countermeasures however if the maneuverability of the attack heli is buffed, or other aspects which I have described are buffed as well. Combined with the state of the attack heli’s current mobility, these countermeasures barely keep the attack heli alive in the hands of an extremely careful pilot who stays at the fringes of the battle. Another unlock which was removed since BF4 is the Below Radar unlock. This allowed choppers to be immune to lock-on from aerial vehicles when flying at low altitudes, but still vulnerable to lock-on from ground AA. The risk/reward is I believe balanced with this unlock and gives the heli a chance to escape attacking Jets. Unfortunately, this is not the case in BF2042 and the attack heli loses another supporting feature.

• Maintenance Repair: The only positive done to the attack heli is the ability to combine repair with the countermeasures, where in BF4 this was not possible. This gives the attack heli a better chance to survive an attack but still does not cover for its lack of mobility. Repair gives a small boost of health and helps the attack heli recover faster from damage taken. Still a welcome change, though minute in comparison to all of the nerfs.

• Vulnerability/Armor: This was an issue in BF4 after the attack heli was nerfed then, and seems to not have changed in BF2042. The attack heli seems to be extremely sensitive to contact with ground, like its rigged with TNT. The other issue is concerning the attack heli’s armor against cannons from the scout heli or transport heli. The attack heli is quickly ripped to shreds by these cannons, with no means to defend itself effectively as described above. The same is also valid for Jet cannons. Again, this translates to the attack heli being an easy target.

In light of the above, it becomes evident that the attack heli does not have the arsenal it needs to fulfill its role in the game. As the anti-armor vehicle, it certainly has little impact or effect on armor and is quickly marginalized by its opponents on the battlefield. The gameplay of the attack heli is also no longer as exciting as it was in BF4, for both the pilot or the gunner, as the amount of weapon and unlock options have been reduced to a fraction of their number in BF4. The attack heli is quickly fully unlocked and the options available are as described above, ineffective in most cases and frustrating when fighting opponents in the air and on the ground.

This iteration of the attack heli is by far the worst one in BF history and reduces the vehicle to a flying coffin waiting for the final nail to be hammered in by a multitude of enemies, both air and ground. It is but a pale shadow of what it was in the past and it just seems that this vehicle is outright being removed from the game without actually taking it out of the game. This is not fair for players who have invested time in this vehicle and enjoy playing it and using it effectively. It is certainly the main reason that makes me want to play Battlefield.

In order to bring the attack heli to a level which allows it to perform its role, the following buffs should be implemented:

• Faster movement and maneuverability, at least comparable to BF4 (which was considered a nerf compared to BF3)
• Effective 127mm anti-vehicle rockets by increased damage and significantly increased speed/accuracy (see BF4 Zuni rockets)
• Remove nerfs from the AIM-9Z/AA-11 IR Missiles, including lock-on range, lock-on speed, firing rate and missile speed
• Provide gunner with 20mm cannon as was in BF4 or at least increase duration of fire of 30mm cannon before overheating. Also give the gunner an unlock or weapon from BF4 (your pick but TV Missile would be what the BF attack heli community wants)
• Improve spotting (see below observations)

Other Observations:

I will list below observations I have about other aspects of the game that is BF2042 in no particular order, that have some relation to the attack heli or aerial battle or selection of vehicles in general.

• The Transport Heli: This aerial vehicle has been turned into an absolute monster as far as I have experienced it in the game so far. It has outstanding armor, it is faster than the attack heli and maybe the scout heli, and its guns and grenade cannons are deadly to air and ground. This vehicle has been buffed to extreme proportions, where taking one down requires a coordinated effort of multiple air vehicles, or an opposing transport heli. This vehicles armor needs a nerf as it is currently overpowered in this aspect.

• Spotting: In BF2042, spotting in general has been nerfed, and from my perspective as a heli pilot, there seems to be no possibility to spot a vehicle, ground or air, where the vehicle remains marked for a few seconds on the screen. Currently when spotting, a marker is placed where the vehicle used to be, but nothing else appears marking the vehicle itself. This is an issue for pilots or gunners who spot a vehicle on a dark map for example. It becomes extremely difficult to keep visibility on a vehicle in such situations or even inform your teammates of its location. This should be changed to allow spotting of a vehicle when the reticle is directly on the vehicle and the spot to remain for 3 seconds at least.

• Vehicle Selection: The menu to select vehicles has been organized in a way that makes it difficult to quickly select the vehicle desired. It also groups the vehicles in a way that makes no sense, putting unrelated vehicles in the same group (e.g., attack heli and jet) and limiting the number of vehicles in the same group to be on the map. This causes serious imbalance in the game, where one team can have two jets and the other team can end up with two attack helis, with nothing to counter the jets of the other team. Same for scout and transport helis, tanks and ground transport vehicles, etc. This grouping should be abandoned and the vehicle selection schema of BF4 or something similar should be adopted, where a specific vehicle can be selected directly and has no impact on the availability of other types of vehicles.

• Vehicle Markers on Map: There is no distinction between the attack heli and the scout heli and the Hind transport heli on the map. They all have the same marker. The same for EBAA Wildcats and Jeeps or Bolt or other ground vehicles except tanks. This is extremely confusing and it is important for pilots to be able to distinguish between these vehicles on the map and radar.

• Vehicle Selection Wait Time: This is one of the most annoying changes to BF vehicle selection and does not serve the purpose it served in BF3 or BF4. When a vehicle is destroyed in previous BF games, the vehicle becomes unavailable to all players of that team for a certain period as a reward to the opposing team for destroying the vehicle. In BF2042, this is not the case, as the vehicle only becomes unavailable to the player who was killed in that vehicle as the driver/pilot. And it becomes unavailable to only that player for a minute and a half. All other players still get to select that vehicle, which means the vehicle is back on the map almost immediately after it is destroyed, giving the opposing team no real advantage for destroying the vehicle, and only frustrating the player who was killed in that vehicle. If the player who was killed decides to take another vehicle, and subsequently dies in that vehicle, guess what, the player is now “punished” for dying in that vehicle again and is not allowed to select any vehicle for a period of 1 minute and a half, and the last vehicle for what seems like 2 minutes. What purpose does this serve, other than keep the player from playing with vehicles in a vehicle heavy game?? I agree to preventing a player selecting a vehicle if the player intentionally suicides/self-destructs a vehicle (e.g., crashing into other vehicles which happens in aerial combat and was abused in BF4), but not on a legitimate death. It makes no sense to punish the player for losing to another player in combat. If the intention is to take away the vehicle from the battle, then it should not be possible for anyone on the team to select that vehicle. This system currently is simply not adding anything to the game and is preventing players from playing with vehicles.

I hope that the above observations and feedback are taken into consideration by DICE and help make real improvements to the attack helicopter and BF2042 gameplay in general. I would not have put this together and posted it here if I was not a real fan of the franchise and wanted to see it do better in the future. 

Thank you.