Access: Condor Piloting, Pilot Gear and CIC Difficulty: Medium Rank: Not defined Class: Navy Supervisors:Captain, Field Commander, Staff Officer Duties: Support the ground-forces with CAS providing zoning with strafes and flanks. Miss every single xeno but gib marines with rockets. Guides:Guide to Fire Support Quote:"You can be my wingman any time."
Pilot Officer is a special role that gets to engage in combat, without ever setting foot on the planet. The Condor cockpit is your home, and you're technically shipside staff. When you're in the plane, you'll get to see more of the battlefield, as well as launch air-to-surface munitions, making you invaluable at covering flanks or pointing out hotspots.
As Pilot Officer, your primary duties are:
Flying the Condor to help ground forces
Using your bird's-eye-view to provide extra information to marines
In absence of other command, taking responsibility for the mission
Looking cool while doing it
Communication
It’s usually a good idea to communicate a lot.
While your primary duties are in the Condor, you might also be the one to fly the Alamo to the planet and recall it back to the ship, if no one else can. Be clear about when you're cycling the Alamo. You have the ability to send orders, so use this to update people on when the Alamo is moving.
Depending on your team, remember that only command roles start with tactical binoculars and get access to the Command and Fire Support radio channel. All roles can get green CAS flares. You can communicate with a squad directly to coordinate, like when asking Squad Leaders to provide lazes with their binoculars for you to bombard; or asking Squad Marines to throw CAS Flares.
Default radio commands:
.v for Command
.u for Requisitions
.m for Medical
.s for Fire Support
.e for Engineering
.q for ALPHA SQUAD
.b for BRAVO SQUAD
.c for CHARLIE SQUAD
.d for DELTA SQUAD
, for General radio
First letter of squad name
for CUSTOM SQUADS
Installing stuff on ships
If you want to install a module or reload a weapon, you will need a powerloader (yellow robot).
Right click the powerloader [image of the powerloader] and click “Enter powerloader”
Alternatively, you can clickdrag your sprite onto the powerloader.
Make sure your hands are empty before attempting to enter the powerloader.
Move in front of the module or ammo pack and left-click on it to pick up
You can carry two modules, simply switch active hand to carry another one.
Move to the ship slot and click left click on it, wait until installed or reloaded
You can switch hands while doing an action. So you can install two modules at once.
Note that for some weapons (machineguns) to be reloaded, you need to discard empty ammo box first. Do this by clicking the module.
This also can be used to take off a module (it goes into your hand)
Alamo
There are two ways to controlling the Alamo, via its cockpit and via remote computers.The Alamo's cockpitIn the cockpit of the Alamo you will find the three main consoles.
The camera control console (left), which lets you view the different cameras of the dropship.
The main control console (middle), which lets you fly the dropship.
The weapon control console (right), which lets you fire your weapons or deploy your sentries.
Using the center console allows for more advanced commands than through the remote computers found on the LZs or in CIC. From here, you can not only designate a landing zone, but also toggle automatic cycling mode. Once toggled, the Alamo will automatically cycle between the last two chosen destinations, at an interval of your choosing (after the recharge delay). It is highly recommend to turn on automatic cycling so that it frees up PO's time to do better things and lets marines not yell in radio. Also note - once you click it on, it will begin the course immediately.
You can also toggle the lockdowns on the left, right, and rear doors of the Alamo. Doing so will prevent anyone from opening the door until the lockdown manually deactivated from the cockpit; either by the PO, or an invader. Note that the lockdown will lock the doors into their current state; toggling lockdown while a door is open will force it to remain open.The UI to control the Alamo's movementThe right part of the cockpit is the computer to deploy sentries to protect the Alamo from xenomorphs. This UI can also be used for fire mission if the Alamo is equipped with CAS arsenal, but it is recommended to use CAS for the Condor jet.The UI to use sentries
Communication is key with the Alamo. One of the primary mistakes when using the Alamo is not knowing when and where marines want to be at.
Before the Alamo launch into one of the landing zones in planetside for marines' first deployment, ask what landing zone the forward operational base, or FOB, is in.
Always tell marines when you are launching so that the marines heading to the Alamo is more motivated to haul ass.
Install surgery table in Alamo; It will generally see more use than the machinegun hardpoint, as the back door almost always gets locked in the event of an assault.
Piloting each dropship is fairly easy, you just have to click a few buttons and wait.
In the cockpit of the Alamo you will find the three main consoles.
The camera control console (left), which lets you view the different cameras of the dropship.
The main control console (middle), which lets you fly the dropship and lock or unlock the Alamo doors. If the Shrike or Queen touches this console the Alamo becomes locked which prevents the Alamo from working for a long time and also unlocks all doors. Do not lock all 3 sides of the Alamo otherwise they can lock the Alamo without touching the console.
The weapon control console (right), which lets you fire your weapons or deploy your dropship equipment.
Close Air Support (CAS)
Most beautiful piece of metal there is, Condor
Close Air Support, or for short CAS, is your way of helping the marines. You can rain down hell on your enemies with bullets, rockets and lasers. The groundside marines can help you with tactical binoculars or a lit CAS signal flare, to laze a spot for you to bombard. Communicate with the squads accordingly to make sure they know CAS is available. Remind them about flares and marks.
Preparation
But how do I kill my enemies, you ask? First you need to install the weapons. Note that the weapons you install are unloaded, and need to be filled with the ammunition from the ammo-storage room.
By default, Condor has 30mm machinegun in the front, which is already loaded
Take new weapons (which are usually lying around at roundstart)
Install them, see above
Load them with ammo
Starting a firemission
You execute CAS with your trusty Condor (blue plane), doing a fly-bys
Сlimb into the Condor's cockpit (click)
It will bring up the menu, which you can also access via B
Spool (start) engines (Enter)
Take off - begin flyby (Space)
Begin fire mission
If there are CAS lasers, it will give you list of options to teleport to
Otherwise it will semi-randomly teleport you to some location near marines
Once fuel level is low, you will automatically land
You can do this manually via "land plane", then "disable engines" after landing
To get out of cockpit, press B (resist). Mid-flight B brings up flight menu.
Refuel your plane with jerry cans by clicking the cockpit. Refuel cans by clicking the fuel tank.
Note: do NOT take off before ALAMO has landed for the first time. You will bug out.
Shoot stoopid benos
Click "begin fire mission".
You'll enter a map overview mode like the AI or Overwatch terminals where you can see anything within camera range of the ground forces, as well as the spot around the laze and the signal flares. You can fire on ANYTHING in sight of any marine on the ground! BUT all of your weapons will be danger close without the added range of the laser dot - this might not matter if your camera coverage is coming from a corpse's still-active helmet camera.
All weapons are accurate, except for Illumination Flares, so don't worry about missing.
In the plane menu, you can select the active weapon.
Only one can be active at a time, but you can easily switch them. Just keep the menu open (B button to open it).
Different weapons have different purposes, and fly time. Usual machinegun take 6 seconds to land, laser takes 1.
Below you will see the button for direction. It shows how weapons will shoot
For example, 'EAST' will launch bullets from left to right.
WASD and arrow keys for selecting attack direction.
If your fuel runs out, you'll land back on the ship automatically
CAS Weapons
The Condor features four primary weapons for close air support (The central minigun on the Condor is just a built-in 30mm cannon, don't tell anyone). Similarly to the Alamo modules discussed above, use a powerloader to equip them onto the relevant attachment points. The Condor features 4 empty attachment points to start, so feel free to mix and match.
Reload weapons using the powerloader. With the relevant ammo held, click the weapon to fill it. If the weapon is still loaded, use an empty claw to remove the old ammo prior to reloading. Some weapons, like the 30mm cannon, require you to remove the old ammo box if it's been fully depleted.
Most CAS weapons will deal explosive damage, the values of which are listed below. (Note that the values listed are only against xenomorphs, not against humans).
Light Explosion: Deals 90-110 damage, along with 2 stagger, 3 slowdown, and 10 sunder.
Heavy Explosion: Deals 140-160 damage, along with 3 stagger, 4 slowdown, and 20 sunder.
Devastating Explosion:Instantly gibs most xenomorphs. Deals 190-210 damage, along with 4 stagger, 5 slowdown, and 30 sunder.
Weapon:
Description:
GAU-21 30mm Cannon
Your standard area-denial tool. Use it to clear mazes, prevent xeno pushes, or to prevent xenos from retreating.
Ammunition types:
30mm Ammo Crate An ammo crate of 30mm. Capable of fitting in the Condor Jet Minigun and the GAU-21 30mm Cannon. Has 2000 rounds, each time it is fired uses 200 rounds for a max of 10 shots before being empty. Has a travel time of 6 seconds. Does the same damage as 2 light explosions would.
Costs 100 points in the dropship part fabricator.
High Velocity 30mm Ammo Crate An ammo crate of High Velocity 30mm Capable of fitting in the Condor Jet Minigun and the GAU-21 30mm Cannon. Has 2000 rounds, each time it is fired uses 200 rounds for a max of 10 shots before being empty. Due to advanced aerodynamics and enhanced propellant in each round, the delay between firing and impact is reduced to 2 seconds. Does the same damage as 2 light explosions would.
Costs 225 points in the dropship part fabricator.
Minirocket Pod
Quickly fires variable micro rockets, with a capacity of 6. Good for zoning against lower tier Xenos, or providing support through the utility rocket variants.
Ammunition types:
Mini Rocket Stack A stack of 6 explosive minirockets. While not very strong, they fly fast and can be fired quickly. Has a travel time of 2 seconds, and has an explosive radius of 2 heavy, and 3 light.
Costs 175 points in the dropship part fabricator.
Smoke Mini Rocket Stack A stack of 6 minirockets that upon impact release smoke. Has a travel time of 4 seconds, an explosive radius of 2 light, and spreads tactical smoke in a wide area.
Costs 75 points in the dropship part fabricator.
Illumination Rocket-Launched Flare Stack A stack of 6 minirockets that upon impact make a bright invisible flare.
Costs 50 points in the dropship part fabricator.
Tanglefoot Mini Rocket Stack A stack of 6 minirockets that release Tanglefoot gas in a large area. Has a travel time of 4 seconds, and an explosive radius of 2 light.
Costs 200 points in the dropship part fabricator.
Incendiary Mini Rocket Stack A stack of 6 minirockets that explode and also leave behind a large area in flames. Has a travel time of 4 seconds, and an explosive radius of 3 light and 3 fire.
Costs 250 points in the dropship part fabricator.
Rocket Pod
Heavy rocket launcher, capable of unleashing some of CAS' heaviest hitting ordinance. and gibbing dead marines
Ammunition types:
AGM-224 Widowmaker A high-velocity rocket capable of quickly closing the distance from air to surface, devastating anything it hits. It has a 2 second travel time, with an explosion radius of 2 devastation, and 3 heavy.
Costs 300 points in the dropship part fabricator.
AGM-67 Keeper II A high-explosive rocket designed to devastate armored targets, the Keeper II missile boasts the highest explosive damage of the AGM class. It has a 3 second travel time, with an explosion radius of 2 devastation, 4 heavy, and 6 light.
Costs 225 points in the dropship part fabricator.
AGM-99 Napalm The AGM-99 'Napalm' is an incendiary rocket used to turn specific targeted areas into giant balls of fire for quite a long time, it has a smaller outer explosive payload than other AGMs, however. It has a 3 second travel time, with an explosion radius of 2 devastation, 3 heavy, 4 light, and 3 fire. This rocket will also spread white phosphorus gas in the area.
Costs 275 points in the dropship part fabricator.
PHGM-227 Banshee A heavy rocket that absolutely devastates anything it hits. This rocket boasts an extremely wide explosive radius, along with a terrifying amount of fire. It has a 6 second travel time, with an explosion radius of 2 devastation, 4 heavy, 5 light, and 7 fire.
Costs 275 points in the dropship part fabricator.
PHGM-17 Fatty A heavy cluster type rocket, dealing 8 explosions in a radius 3 seconds after the initial blast. It has a 6 second travel time, with an explosion radius of 2 devastation, 3 heavy, and 4 light (for both the primary and secondary explosives).
Costs 300 points in the dropship part fabricator.
PHGM-7 Monarch A standard heavy rocket, boasting a wide explosive radius and cheap pricing. It has a 6 second travel time, with an explosion radius of 3 devastation, 5 heavy, and 7 light.
Costs 250 points in the dropship part fabricator.
PLGM-50 Swansong A standard rocket, named after barely dodging discontinuation dozens of times to more expensive design types. It has a 4 second travel time, with an explosion radius of 2 devastation, 4 heavy, and 6 light.
Costs 200 points in the dropship part fabricator.
Laser Beam Gun
A short-delay, high-damage incendiary laser cannon. Must be purchased from the dropship part fabricator.
Ammunition types:
High-Capacity Laser Battery A High Capacity Laser Battery capable of fitting in the Laser Beam Gun. Has a charge of 100 with each shot consuming 10 charge for a max of 10 shots before being empty. Has a travel time of 1 second, and causes an intense but short lived fire in its path, along with dealing 120 damage to anything caught by the laser.
Costs 150 points in the dropship part fabricator.
Bomblet Pod
A pnuematic thrower machine capable of up to 40 smaller bombs, generally called 'bomblets'.
Ammunition types:
AOE-50lb 'Dandelions' stack A stack of 40 small explosive bomblets. Has a travel time of 12 seconds, and an explosive radius of 2 light.
Costs 150 points in the dropship part fabricator.
AOE-75lb 'Poppies' stack A stack of 20 large explosive bomblets. Has a travel time of 12 seconds, and an explosive radius of 3 light.
Costs 175 points in the dropship part fabricator.
Bomb Pod
A bomb pod capable of launching several large bombs.
Ammunition types:
AOE-200lb 'Tiny' stack A decent sized stack of 8 explosive bombs. Has a travel time of 12 seconds, and an explosive radius of 3 heavy, and 4 light.
Costs 200 points in the dropship part fabricator.
AOE-400lb 'Mighty' stack A stack of 4 large explosive bombs. Has a travel time of 12 seconds, and an explosive radius of 4 heavy, and 5 light.
Costs 225 points in the dropship part fabricator.
AOE-1000lb 'MOAB' stack Two extremely large bombs, which are as devastating as they are expensive. Has a travel time of 14 seconds, and an explosive radius of 6 devastation, and 8 heavy.
Costs 600 points in the dropship part fabricator.
CAS tips
It is in general very hard to land a clear hit on a xeno. You most often need at least 2 shots to kill even the weakest xeno, and therefore you won't be able to make kills by yourself. Try to really act as fire support, not as death from the sky.
Large rockets have gib-zone in the center.
If you land a direct hit, you are guaranteed to kill a xeno which has low bomb resist, like Boiler, Prae, and most low-tiers.
If you don't, it's around 120 damage to xeno, so around 3 rockets to kill a full HP xeno. Not a great deal.
Keep in mind the travel time to avoid friendly fire and so you dont end up saving an injured xeno by preventing marines from being able to chase.
This happens absurdly often
Xeno don't know what will be coming down - use this to your advantage.
Illumination Flares can be used to trick xenos into running away, very useful if a marine is getting attacked.
The Laser Beam is very quick to fire.
Try to predict where xenos will go. Block their retreat paths. Hamper their attack.
Use area denial weapons to block xenos from escaping.
Especially useful when xenos make a push, to prevent injured ones from quickly retreating.
Try to use cheaper ammunition first, fabricator point generation is pretty low.
Ask for CAS lasers in .s
Ask for green CAS flares in general channel.
Also, you can make a crate with CAS flares from weapons vendor, and send it from Cargo
CAS is most effective during defense. You cannot shoot without visions, and marines attacking mean that there would be a lot of FF.
T4 xeno have very high bomb defense, and can shrug off even larger explosions.
Orders
All Command staff and assigned Squad Leaders have access to Orders which can be used to buff nearby troops. Using one causes you to shout out a unique phrase over the radio. After giving an Order, there is a one-minute cooldown period until you can give another one, but cooldowns for Orders and Markers are separate.
Order effects are influenced by your Leadership skill, which increases both the effect and range.
