PVE Helicopter Mode Guide

PVE Helicopter Mode Guide

1- Helicopters up to a BR of 9.3 where the SPAA of the Front line are ZSU-23-4 “Shilka” which open fire from about 2.7 km. The SPAA of a convoy are Flakpanzer I Gepard (from here on I will only mention Gepard) which open fire from 3 km approximately. Finally, the SPAA of the Bases are Falcons that open fire from 3 km.

The exception is the Grand Canyon map where the SPAA of the Front are Gepards, those of the convoy are ZA-35 and M42 that I do not recommend to face if you do not have missiles with a range greater than 4 km, since they open fire at 3.5 or 3.7 km, being the ZA-35 one of the most dangerous.

2- Helicopters of BR 9.7 or more where the SPAA of the Front are Gepards, those of the convoy are Gepards (except in Grand Canyon) and the Bases have AMX-30 Roland 1 that I recommend to maintain a distance of 6.8 km, but that in some maps you can approach to less than 500 meters, and they will not open fire.
For that there are two ways to do it: fly very low and use the terrain for cover or fly above 6900 m above the Roland and then when you are 90 degrees to it start descending straight down. Afghanistan is a map I don’t recommend trying to fly low, as there is not much to hide in.




The most profitable targets are those along the Battlefront line, but if you have rockets and are not that accurate, it is most effective to attack bases or capture points. Missiles are not as effective against bases, except to kill the SPAA protecting the base.

If you attack a convoy with helicopters carrying short range missiles or rockets, I recommend two ways:
The first is by attacking head-on using stationary (Hover) mode and making a critical hit on the first vehicle to stop the convoy’s advance temporarily, so you can better target the Gepards (remember that if you are in Grand Canyon you must have a 4 km range missile or better, as the ZA-35 is very dangerous even at 3.5 km range) Another important fact is that sometimes the missiles go through the vehicles without damaging them, and you will be defenseless to their shots if you don’t move fast. Or you can shoot the Gepard first, but it will be more difficult, as it will be moving and you must aim slightly ahead of the vehicle.
The second is from behind and also using the stationary mode, as you can slowly move forward in that mode. Remember to always be more than 3.2 km away from the Gepard.
Attacking from the side is also possible, but it will be easier to miss the missiles, because you must use the “Force” as there is a ghost effect where you see the vehicle, but it is really ahead and you will see how your missiles pass through the Gepards without damaging them (maybe as I am from South America my ping has to do with that…).

You can also attack them with helicopters that have rockets, but only if you have a lot of them and of good caliber if possible, as in the AH-1G Cobra or Mi-24.

Use War Thunder’s “radar” to know if you are in range of the Gepards.
Radar WT

Practice a lot using the stationary mode, as it changes with each helicopter. In some helicopters you must activate it at quite a distance, because the inertia can bring you dangerously close to the SPAA. Also practice your landings to be able to capture the points.
In order not to be surprised by the enemy, try to stay within your own area of the Battlefront and try to avoid the places where the convoys usually spawn. If you are alone in a game be more careful because wherever you go enemies will appear. If you are with a squadmate it will be easier to attack the Rolands and Gepards. You must do it from different positions.

Dots can be captured by several players but they must land one at a time or they will collide. Then if you return to an allied helipad and land you will be given the mission as completed. This is very important as it will shorten the game by completing the missions.

Always carry as much fuel as possible and choose your weapons wisely. And very important, try not to die if you don’t have a premium helicopter. If you get damaged, go to repair, every time you respawn you get silver lions.

I hope you understand something, I don’t speak English.

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Nice guide.

Maybe you can ad it in the category F.A.Q and tutorial with tags “tutorial” and “helicopter” for find easier.

You can do this with editing button just on the right of the title of topic ;)

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I’m still adjusting to the new forum hahaha

Actually just tags ^^ you can change the category too ;)

In the academy, you have a sub category.

As in “national community”, you have sub categories “FR”, “spanish” etc.

I’ll wait informations on few elements for doing a tuto about the forum ^^

The ATGMs in heli pve mode cant be guided after an hour. It has been a problem since the last major update and Gaijin still hasn’t fixed it.

3 Likes

yeah and vehicles clipping into the ground which makes it impossible to target convoys at a safe distance

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Thank you for your detailed tutorial for PvE mode newcomers! I would like to add some information below.

  1. Your earnings of research points and silver lions in this mode will be calculated upon your ‘activity’ in every time period. Currently if you gain 300 points every 10 minutes in battle, you will reach the requirements needed for maximum rp and sl reward. The rp reward will not increase very much if you gain more points in a 10-minute period, and the normal reward for 300 points is about 1200 research points.
  2. Please keep in mind that if you crash or get shot down in the middle of a period, the period will end instantly and a new period will begin. For example, in one period you have gained 300 points and lost your vehicle 6 minutes after the beginning, then your reward will only be 60% of the normal maximum reward.
  3. Now the Roland missiles around bases have been removed, so stock helicopters with only rockets can rush to those bases safely. However, the SPAAs are still deadly, and they may pop up anywhere, either among ground attack waves or in convoys. In most cases, they will appear and open fire on players before they are shown on maps and radar warning systems. The firing ranges of Gepard and ZA-35 are around 3.2km and 3.5km, while M42 can fire from 4km away. The roof-mounted machine guns of M113 can also damage normal helicopters within 2km, so please keep away from AI targets unless necessary.
  4. We can derive the strategy for maximizing profits from the calculation rule mentioned in the first suggestion. First, it is always good for you to keep your helicopter alive rather than rushing towards multiple SPAA AIs and getting downed. Then, you can control the progress of a PvE session by controlling the speed at which you attack the targets. New waves usually appear only after you clear the previous ones, so the game will last longer and the overall income of one single game will increase. In addition, I strongly recommend that players with advanced or spaded helicopters can leave some AI targets for those low-tier or stock helicopters, for example those with only rockets, so that they can still achieve some scores and receive their rewards, instead of wasting their time and getting nothing.
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Here’s my more detailed post about how the rewards system works in Helicopter PvE mode and how I play it:

The rewards system in Helicopter PvE mode actually uses a very simple mechanic. As long as you don’t die, you get rewards every 10 minutes based on your activity percentage during that period. 100% activity gives you the maximum possible rewards.

Your activity percentage depends only on how much score you get during that specific 10-minute period - each period is calculated separately. To optimize your income, you need to aim for a specific score range in every 10-minute segment. If you die, the timer resets and you’ll get much lower activity due to short survival time. That’s why dying in Helicopter PvE is really punishing. Even if you have to leave the match, it’s better to wait for the current period to end before quitting - this boosts your activity percentage and final rewards.

The ideal score range is between 300 and 400. You shouldn’t go below 300, because activity will drop sharply and rewards will be noticeably lower. But going above 400 doesn’t help much either - 400 score already gives you ~98% activity. For example, pushing your score from 400 to 800 gives you only 2% more activity (and 2% more rewards), but it takes twice as much effort. The reward difference between 300 and 400 score is less than 5%.

How I play depends on my helicopter loadout:

  • With rockets: I attack bases - just 2 per 10-minute period, which gives me ~310 score and that’s enough. There’s no point attacking a 3rd base within the same period. For example, with a talismaned Tzefa A, destroying 2 bases gives 4180 RP, while destroying 3 gives only 4380 RP - barely a 5% difference. So I destroy 2, then wait for the next period to start. It’s consistent and easy to remember.

  • With AGMs: I aim for 400 score per 10-minute period. Depending on the map, number of players, and your heli, you might hit 400 score in under 5 minutes - then you can alt-tab and do something else until the next period starts. My goal is: 400 score by end of period 1, 800 total score by end of period 2, 1200 total score by end of period 3, and so on.

Unfortunately, there’s no in-game timer for these 10-minute periods, but you can use the match timer to track them. If you spawn immediately at the start of the match, your first period will be from 2:59:30 to 2:49:30, second from 2:49:30 to 2:39:30, and so on. Just avoid dying, as it resets your period. For example, if you respawn at 2:35:00, your new personal period runs to 2:25:00. I really wish the game showed period timers and per-period score, but for now we have to calculate it manually.

Keep in mind that in many matches you won’t be able to stick to this method easily, especially with too many teammates. There are just not enough targets for everyone and you may struggle to reach the target score. Generally speaking, the fewer players in the battle, the better for you.

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