Missile Evasion Tactics

Shaggy

Shaggy

Vice Admiral
With current day fighters one tactic for evading a missile fired is to turn head on to the missile and dodge away at the last minute. The idea being to head off on a vector that the missile can't turn to follow, and it loses lock.
Has anybody tried this in SO, or any WC game, and succeded without using decoys?
 
It's a tactic that can be used in various flight 'sims' with varing degrees of success, but in actuality, yes, it is possible to 'shake off' missiles, although I've never really been able to see the missile to use this tactic.
 
Perhaps my reflexes are just to slow to dodge effectively.
One tatic that works some of the time is to autoslide, then afterburn away at about a 45 degree angle to the missiles trajectory.
Obviously this only works with autoslide capable craft, most of the time though, if I run out of decoys I can kiss my tail goodbye.
Oh yeah, you can also shoot the missiles down in a head on pass.
 
I usually take the hit, because I'm too dense to even realise about missiles. But lately, I have tried to dodge them by using a steep dive to the left or right, then swing in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction to resume the heading I was on, say, when I was giving cover to a wingman.
 
If you are being pursued by a Heatseeker in Wing Commander, you can shake it by turning so that your rear is no longer facing it, and then moving out of its flight path (Heatseekers fly in a straight line when they lose lock unless spoofed by decoys). Dumbfires can be dodged by simply moving out of their flight path--easy to do unless you are flying a sluggish craft or the missile is fired at point-blank range. If you are flying a fast craft (anything with an afterburner speed greater than 1200), then you can probably outrun FF missiles if you punch your burners and dodge immediately when you get the missile warning alarm, since FF missiles fly more slowly than IR or HS missiles. IR missiles are the hardest to deal with, since they are too fast to outrun, and they are harder to spoof with decoys than HS or FF missiles.
 
Originally posted by Shaggy
With current day fighters one tactic for evading a missile fired is to turn head on to the missile and dodge away at the last minute. The idea being to head off on a vector that the missile can't turn to follow, and it loses lock.
Has anybody tried this in SO, or any WC game, and succeded without using decoys?
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It's a tactic I regularly used in all WC games, but generally in combination with decoys. In WC1/2, of course, outmanoeuvre the missile was all you could do, but from then onwards... you've got decoys, so why not use them?

Anyway, yeah, flying head-on works, provided you're flying on afterburners. There's still a risk that the missile will hit you on the head-on run, but once you fly past it, avoiding it becomes simply a matter of twisting around a bit.
 
Originally posted by Shaggy
With current day fighters one tactic for evading a missile fired is to turn head on to the missile and dodge away at the last minute. The idea being to head off on a vector that the missile can't turn to follow, and it loses lock.
Has anybody tried this in SO, or any WC game, and succeded without using decoys?
Click to expand...

Well... they dont do it with out chaff.... i mean basic load in a situation were there will be possible enemy fire includes some chaff and flares. You usually relese chaff if you have enemy missle fire... regardless of how dangerous.... coz trust me, a pack of chaff is a hell of a lot cheaper then an aircraft... and you sure as hell cant run aircraft without pilots. :D
 
I release a chaff and zig zag sharply until the missile looses it's lock- works often. Or I simply hide behind a capship if one is in the vicinity.
 
I go into a really steep dive, spin a bit and then veer off at yet another odd angle. You do this once or twice and you're good to go.
 
Allright, to begin with, it depends on what game you are playing. Also, take into account what kind of missile it is. If it's on WC1, light and medium Kilrathi ships have mostly dumb fires and heat seekers, so you can simply towards (not directly) the missile so it will miss.

Now, another important thing you should remember is that on WCP and WCSO, for example, you can shoot down missiles just like you shoot down capship missiles and torpedoes. If you are playing chicken with a Manta, just turn on rapid-fire low-energy gun to protect yourself.
 
It kind of annoyed me that I couldn't use missiles while playing chicken with an enemy in WCP--it was always my favorite tactic to blow up light fighters by hitting them in the face with a missile--it's the easiest way to kill a Darket in WC3.
 
Originally posted by Shaggy
With current day fighters one tactic for evading a missile fired is to turn head on to the missile and dodge away at the last minute. The idea being to head off on a vector that the missile can't turn to follow, and it loses lock.
Has anybody tried this in SO, or any WC game, and succeded without using decoys?
Click to expand...

Actually, thi is the tactic I usually use if I'm in a heavier craft. If I'm in a light craft the best thing to do is to get into a turning radius war with the missile. Try and keep the missile straight in front of you, this is relatively impossible, but what it does is makes the missile spin in an elliptical tragectory around your craft (ie the warhead is never really pointing at you). THe only problem is this leaves you severely exposed to energy weapons fire. Turn and burn, start taking fire, jinx, reacquire missile, turn and burn, repeat. Another problem is multiple missile lock, my suggestions for that scenario. . . lots of quick turns, changes in velocity and vector, and prayer work best for me. :)

C-ya
 
Originally posted by WildWeasel
My evasion tactics are simple. I just don't let the missile hit me.
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haha, good one :)

mine are just drop a decoy and afterburn outta there. or when it's in front of you, aim for it and give it h*ll

when out of decoys i just keep avoiding them. let the missile come in close, and the dodge untill the fuel of the missile is gone
 
kill 'em all before they can launch a missle, but if they do, spot the missile, then shoot the bastard
 
Originally posted by Ijuin
It kind of annoyed me that I couldn't use missiles while playing chicken with an enemy in WCP--it was always my favorite tactic to blow up light fighters by hitting them in the face with a missile--it's the easiest way to kill a Darket in WC3.
Click to expand...
You still can hit them. You just have to keep moving, but not so much that the targeted fighter leaves your targeting "cone". If you can keep moving at odd little turns, dives, and climbs (keeping the fighter in front of you) then a lot of times you can throw off their gunfire enough to slip a missile in. At least moreso than just driving straight in.
 
I enjoy turning at the last moment so that the missile locked onto me hits an enemy craft instead (it's easier to do with corvettes, but I've done it once or twice with fighters). Also, missiles do have the 'spoofability' which I guess means the chance of it losing lock either through decoys or manuovering.

BTW, with Wc3, for some unknown reason, I was still able to press the decoy button when I was out of them and still sometimes lose the lock.
 
Something funny happened in UE: A Salthi was chasing me while a Vaktoth was in front of me. The Salth fired a dumbfire, I pulled away and the Vaktoth got toasted. LOL:)
 
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