Black Shark 2 - Deployment Mission 8

[R1Lawsy]

Hi Folks,

 

I am stuck on Deployment mission 8 - the one where you lead a 4 ship flight over the mountains to rain havoc on the enemy below.

 

My problem is getting over the mountain.

 

I turn on the anti ice early for the rotors and try to climb at around 130kph as this is the best climb rate.

 

When I get near the top, I lose all momentum and need to turn around or crash into the mountains.

 

Some people were saying jettison the rockets as it makes it light enough to fly over... I haven't tried this yet...

 

The one time I did make it over, the remainder of the flight was stuck on the other side and I got wiped out by the choppers on the other side by myself...

 

Any tips or advice is appreciated as I am losing momentum with this mission...

 

Thanks

James

[LazerPotatoe]

If possible, take less fuel.

 

Anti-ice switches are 3-position. Make sure they are up, not down (down is dust protection). Verify with the overhead lamps. Are you using both Rotor and Engine anti-ice?

 

Keep an eye on your engine RPM, if it gets too low, the anti-ice will not work.

 

And 130 means 130 IAS, not what you see in the HUD (GS).

 

You also have to switch on pitot-heat or risk the ice on the pitot falsifying your airspeed-readings.

 

Hope this helps.

[Rusty_M]

Start climbing much earlier in the mission. Basically, if you climb almost all the way from take off at a steady rate, you and your flight will clear that ridge easily. You don't need to be hiding until you're over there anyway, so plunge down into the valley after that.

[Irregular programming]

There is no need to jettison anything or take less fuel.

 

Start climbing earlier, and keep 130 mph.

[Bushmanni]

If you happen to start climbing too late you can always climb in spiral turn right before the mountain crossing or you can climb while flying alongside the mountain. The reason why you need to keep 130kmh IAS while climbing is that rotor creates lift most efficiently at that speed, ie. you get highest rate of climb. At very high altitude you might not even be able to keep your altitude except by flying at 130kmh. If you slow down to give yourself more time to climb you will see that rate of climb declines and your chopper might stop climbing altogether. The other thing is that by flying at 130kmh you will use the least amount of fuel in relation to time, ie. it's the speed for maximum endurance.

[roob]

If you really need more lift, just turn anti-ice off for a short period. Also, EKRAN will warn you when you need it.

[Chlebakus]

Hello,

I am starting to feel completely frustrated in this mission. I just cannot finish it. Climbing over mountains is OK, but I cannot complete the attack. Some moments after our attack, there appears some bandits (Mi-24, I think) and all my flight die in guided missiles havoc. It takes about 20 seconds for them to destroy us. I cannot find them anywhere, I did not find them in mission editor. And I am really mad, because after 30 minutes of travelling it always end this way. My 3 wingmen are not able to shoot them down either. Dou you have any suggestions what to do in this mission? Its maybe my 10th attempt. Gonna crush my joystick!

[andqui]

Hello,

I am starting to feel completely frustrated in this mission. I just cannot finish it. Climbing over mountains is OK, but I cannot complete the attack. Some moments after our attack, there appears some bandits (Mi-24, I think) and all my flight die in guided missiles havoc. It takes about 20 seconds for them to destroy us. I cannot find them anywhere, I did not find them in mission editor. And I am really mad, because after 30 minutes of travelling it always end this way. My 3 wingmen are not able to shoot them down either. Dou you have any suggestions what to do in this mission? Its maybe my 10th attempt. Gonna crush my joystick!

 

I just got stuck on this mission too yesterday. The AI's vision in DCS is way too god, and the enemy choppers instantly come after you firing missiles while you're hiding away against the side of the mountain. All you can really do is wait and keep a lookout for them coming around the turn of the valley, and then lock them up and engage them from long range with your missiles.

 

The terrible AI makes some DCS missions way too "gamey" and unrealistic, and this is one of them, unfortunately. Finishing this mission without some other humans flying with you intelligently is very difficult.

[Lizzard]

This is one of the most difficult missions of the campaign. I have tried it for ages. The only chance was hiding from the hinds. Let them pass and fly away...dont even try to engage them...

[Bushmanni]

You could build a practice mission with you and 3 wingmen against two enemy Hinds and practice taking them out. After you can do it consistently try the mission again. This mission isn't the only one where you are facing enemy choppers so air to air skills are good to have in general.

[Irregular programming]

Eh, there is nothing wrong with the hinds, don't blame the AI either if you can see them they can see you.

 

I shot them down when I played it, but I guess you can hide from them as well.

[Chlebakus]

It is just the thing, that I would like to see them anywhere. My wingmen tell me they are here, but then they pop out of nothing. Problem solved. I wont play this mission no more. I sucessfully avoid them and then my wingmen dont attack anything. Useless.

[Lizzard]

The hinds just come down the valley. You can see them very early. If you give up on that mission...you know the next missions are not easier

[Yurgon]

Eh, there is nothing wrong with the hinds, don't blame the AI either if you can see them they can see you.

 

I tend to disagree in this regard. I remember having the same difficulties in this mission as Chlebakus. I think there are several problems with the mission. The campaign started really simple and enjoyable, but this mission increases the difficulty by a very large factor compared to all earlier missions. First, the long flight up the hill is a challenge, mostly for new pilots. This challenge can be overcome with a few hints and tips.

 

The next challenge are the Hinds, obviously. They were consistently able to destroy my entire flight even when I sent all wingmen to attack enemy air targets -- compared to the Ka-50 wingmen, they seem overpowered (or they have fewer restrictions than the AI wingmen, dunno). Compared to a human player, they usually have the all-seeing-eye advantage.

 

All of this would be a solvable problem, but the fight only takes place after some 20 to 30 minutes of a completely event-less flight.

 

On my first playthrough of the campaign, I finally modified the mission so that my group started right in front of the mountain pass.

 

That doesn't mean a Ka-50 player shouldn't be proficient in air-to-air combat. It just means that this mission is much more difficult than earlier campaign missions. It doesn't build up on skills required (and/or acquired) in earlier missions as it was not necessary to defend against enemy Hinds earlier in the campaign.

 

I also think that only very few players could kill the Hinds 10 times out of 10. It wouldn't be as bad if flight time up to that point wasn't so long. In it's current form (haven't flown the campaign in ages, but the descriptions sound just like I remember it), this mission can easily lead to frustration, which I think is a non-ideal approach to its design.

 

Then again, it's really rewarding to overcome this obstacle and continue with the campaign. :)

[andqui]

I tend to disagree in this regard. I remember having the same difficulties in this mission as Chlebakus. I think there are several problems with the mission. The campaign started really simple and enjoyable, but this mission increases the difficulty by a very large factor compared to all earlier missions. First, the long flight up the hill is a challenge, mostly for new pilots. This challenge can be overcome with a few hints and tips.

 

The next challenge are the Hinds, obviously. They were consistently able to destroy my entire flight even when I sent all wingmen to attack enemy air targets -- compared to the Ka-50 wingmen, they seem overpowered (or they have fewer restrictions than the AI wingmen, dunno). Compared to a human player, they usually have the all-seeing-eye advantage.

 

All of this would be a solvable problem, but the fight only takes place after some 20 to 30 minutes of a completely event-less flight.

 

On my first playthrough of the campaign, I finally modified the mission so that my group started right in front of the mountain pass.

 

That doesn't mean a Ka-50 player shouldn't be proficient in air-to-air combat. It just means that this mission is much more difficult than earlier campaign missions. It doesn't build up on skills required (and/or acquired) in earlier missions as it was not necessary to defend against enemy Hinds earlier in the campaign.

 

I also think that only very few players could kill the Hinds 10 times out of 10. It wouldn't be as bad if flight time up to that point wasn't so long. In it's current form (haven't flown the campaign in ages, but the descriptions sound just like I remember it), this mission can easily lead to frustration, which I think is a non-ideal approach to its design.

 

Then again, it's really rewarding to overcome this obstacle and continue with the campaign. :)

 

Exactly, I could only take down the hinds if I knew they were going to be there. The AI isn't succeptible to camouflage or anything like that- as long as they have a direct line of sight within a certain distance, they will see you and take you out. The first few times I tried this mission, I heard my wingmen call out air contacts, spent a few minutes looking down the valley trying to see them, only to get hit by a missile out of nowhere. It was only after I got hit that I paused and figured out where they were, and when I looked again from the in-cockpit view to check, they were tiny specks.

[Chlebakus]

I also try to find them with camera and this point is going to be really interesting. They seems to be hiding in the valley at the right from the target area. My wingmen see them when they are not even in line of sight. :) Nevermind. I can avoid them. Bud new problem appeared - I cannot take down 40 armored targets alone. For some reason, my useless wingmen are cowards and does not attack anything from some point of mission. I counted their shots. Maximum 2 Vikhrs each. Thats not what I want.

[Winfield_Gold]

Half way up, shut down the engines and pump the gas pedal. Turn the key to on and drop the clutch. You need to keep doing keybangs to get the bird over the mountain.

 

The answer to the hinds and how to complete the mission is in the posts in this thread

 

http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?p=1877704#post1877704

[Erforce]

Previously, air2air combat was easier. just asking your wingmen to engage them, they were really fast and deadly, like rambo.

but WM AI were modified a few patches ago. Now they're just chicken hearted.

 

if you take a look to my datalink guide, you'll notice that they try to met certains condition to fire a missile. And to worst of them is the min/max distance. Don't count on them with fast moving target with IR missiles.

Good luck.

[msalama]

It's been ages since I've last flown Deployment, but as I remember it, the last time I just hid from them somewhere and they went on their merry way without bothering me.