Get behind the cockpits of the best helicopters in the world – from the classic machines of the 1950s to the modern gunships of the 21st century. Play missions with your friends and compete with players from all around the world in various multiplayer modes! - steam shop page

0. Introduction
1. Getting Started
2. Main Menu
3. Game Modes, Bases & Convoys
4. In the Battle
5. Generations & Maps
6. Types of Helicopters and their Rules
7. Weapons, Specialist & Actions
8. Game Mechanics
9. Jetcat Games
10. Last but not Least: Credits and Thanks

This game manual is being written to pay tribute to Jetcat Games for creating this awesome game.

No matter if you jump into the PvP modes packed up with action, play a strategic 1-on-1 in which every decision counts, or play the objective based singleplayer and cooperative modes. In this guide you find (hopefully) every little detail about game mechanics that helps you getting the best experience that is possible.


If you

• are new to such games: I propose reading everything from the beginning at least until the chapter "In the battle".
  
• know other games like this, you may use this as a reference text. If you run into something you don't understand or if you want to learn more about a specific aspect you'll find the answer here.

Use the guide index at the right side to quickly find what you're looking for.

• Enemies are blue, friends are orange!

On this screen you choose your language and your server. Best choice is the server closest to your position. You can change the server later. If you're going to play single player the server doesn't matter.

On the left side you see actual information like patch notes, events or announcements for streams.

At the bottom of the screen you see all possibilities to stay in touch with the community and the developers.

If this is your first time playing Heliborne:

I propose to open the hangar screen, pick your favorite helicopter and take a look at the different armaments. Then select test flight and explore the area of the training ground. Get a feel for the aircraft, try some sharp turns, aim and shoot at the harmless targets (marked blue) and practice landing.

Hold the RMB (right mouse button) to look around. Then move the mouse back to the level of the horizon, release RMB and hit space to hit the air. Press w/a/s/d to drift in different directions. Use the mouse to align your helicopter. Notice how it tilts if you move the mouse up and down and see the acceleration and deceleration depending on the tilting of the rotor. Observe that tilting forward and accelerating always goes together with descending and that tilting backwards and decelerating always goes together with rising. Try to counteract with space (the rotor generates uplift) and shift (the rotor generates deviation).
Land by using shift, s and tilting the aircraft backwards with the mouse. Glance down by using RMB to check the distance to the ground without changing the tilting.

Controlling the movement of your helicopter is the foundation of Heliborne. This may be an arcardish game, but Heliborne is entering more then 70 different flight parameters into the equation to calculate the movement of helicopters through the air.

WIP

https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1253049038

- Beginners: Don't go into shock. Heliborne can be funky, but it can be relatively relaxing as well.

https://youtu.be/Qe8lnrEAy_g

At this screen you can start both single player and cooperative games.

You find the cooperative mode here, since several game mechanics differ from the other multiplayer mode. But you find running games from both multiplayer modes on the screen battles.

To start a new game, you have to choose a map first.

Once you have chosen a map you can adjust several settings like difficulty, the amount of players, the number of simultaneous objectives, the win condition and you can choose between the two game modes regular and hardcore. Then you choose the side and squadron with which you want to play and - for cooperative games - can set a password.

The higher the difficulty the more your ground forces need your help to push forward. Slight changes according to the quickness of helicopter abilities like the spotting feature make it harder as well.

Additionally, the number of objectives that may be failed is decreased at a higher difficulty.

If you choose single this game will be a single player experience executed offline on your computer.

The number of simultaneous objectives had a strong influence on the difficulty of the battle because the objectives need to be fulfilled within a specific time.
Each time you fail an objective, the hostile forces push stronger. At higher difficulty settings, the hostile forces get a star if they deter the players from fulfilling their objectives. If they get a specific number of stars, the hostile forces win the battle.

This leads us to the way a game in single player and cooperative mode can be won: It is about fulfilling a specific number of objectives within the given time (60 minutes) or reaching victory. Achieving victory over enemies can differ on the map type. On maps with connected bases, it's about capturing the hostile stronghold with vehicles. On maps without convoys, it's about capturing as many bases as possible. Every base gives you points over time and you need to reach a certain amount of tick points to win the match.

The hardcore mode withholds several features that help the players. This improves the immersion and makes the overall game harder. Choose this if you like to be challenged!

If you're searching for the multiplayer mode in which players control helicopters on both sides you found the right screen to join running battles or to create your own. You find running cooperative games here as well but they're set up on the screen single.

Pick a running game or start a new game. Choose a side and a squadron, maybe create a new one and then go for it!

On the squadrons screen you can browse through all your squadrons. A squadron consists of a maximum of three helicopters and it is mandatory to have one selected to join or create any kind of battle in Heliborne.

At the bottom you see the list of all your squadrons. You can click and hold with the LMB to browse through them. At the right side of the list you find filters about generations and sides to quickly find the squadron of your choice.

At the upper middle you see the name, the generations this squadron can be used for and a mark for the side.

At the top left corner you see the details of your selected squadron. You can delete the squadron or start the editor via clicking "edit" which leads to the hangar screen.

At the top right corner you find the number of different special soldiers in the selected squadron.

By clicking and holding LMB into the 3d view you can move the camera to take a closer look at you helicopters. If you have one helicopter in the foreground Heliborne offers you the possibility to quickly try this helicopter at the training ground.

This is the hangar screen. You can browse through all available helicopters and see the different armaments.

The different helicopters show up at the bottom of the screen. Either click on the arrows at the sides or click and hold LMB to pull the register. At the bottom right in the small rectangular box just above the helicopter images you see filters that help you find the helicopters of different generations or sides.

You can quickly try the shown helicopter by clicking on training flight. If you want to create a new squadron you can start the editing mode by clicking on the button at the upper left corner: create squadron.



Type a name into the upper field and use the filters or just pick a helicopter of your choice and let the game deal with the filters automatically. Aircrafts that don't fit to the generation of the chosen ones get grayed out and aren't clickable. It's useful to add a prefix at the name like "PvE" or "PvP" since you'll most likely want to have different squadrons for the modes.

"PvE" means "Player versus Environment" and refers to the cooperative mode.
"PvP" means "Player versus Player" and refers to game modes in which players or teams of players compete with each other.



Right above the list of helicopters, a bar appears that represents the points you have to spend. Each helicopter, armament option and special soldier costs a specific number of points based on its strength.

Select a helicopter of your choice and click either add the highlighted symbol at the bottom or on the new field that appears at the upper left corner. Selected helicopters show up here. You can have up to three helicopters in one squadron.

There are different variants of armaments shown at the right side below the armament options. After you choose one, you might want to add special soldiers. Open the menu by clicking on troops below the armament options.

If you don't pick any special soldiers, all seats will be filled by normal soldiers.

The Helicopter modifications button will get you back to the menu with the armament options.

You can reconsider every decision you made without removing the helicopter. Just pick another armament option or change the number of special soldiers.

You can also edit all squadrons at any time - unless you joined a battle.

For beginners it's best to have one helicopter of each type (attack, scout, transport) and two of each with troops.

The career menu is about statistics and cosmetic items, all related to multiplayer.

Your profile is what other's see after you shot their helicopters down. It gives some information to gain an impression of each other - and to show up!

The helmet has the role of your avatar that represents yourself and can be customized on the screen - guess what - helmet customizer. You can customize one helmet for each side.

On this screen, you see a list of tutorials, articles, and videos, made by the developers and players. It's worth taking a look if you want to get deeper into this game.

Most of the menu settings is self-explaining. But it's worth to know that at this screen (see above) you can adjust your HUD very detailed. Pick a color and decide which information you need to know in the battle.

The singleplayer mode is basically the same as the cooperative mode. A great difference between these mode and the multiplayer team bases game mode are the given objectives. In the upper right corner the actual tasks are shown. The better you perform in fulfilling the objectives the better your ground forces keep pushing forward.

There are two basic game modes. The one is Domination, the other Frontline.

They differ by the way victory can be reached and by the abilities ground units have.

It's about capturing and holding bases. Each owned base gives a specific amount of points. When one team reaches the limit, this side wins the game. But that's what the ground forces care for. Your job: fulfill the objectives!

In this game mode, convoys made of armored vehicles are much more important. It's about leading a convoy to the stronghold of the other side.

So, basically, if you play the domination mode it doesn't matter which bases you own as long as you own the majority. But if you play the frontline mode it's important to move forward. Keep this in mind if the objectives leave you some time to decide something on your own. But again: That's what the ground forces care for. Your job: fulfill the objectives!

These game modes are separated from the ones described above because of one major difference: Tactical decisions are left for the players, especially in the frontline mode. Both modes work fine with a different number of players. No matter if you want a wild and sometimes chaotic battle in a full match or a focused one on one situation in which each decision counts. But let's take one at a time.

This is all about capturing and holding as much bases as possible. Each base gives you a point value over time. If one team reaches the maximum of points the game was won.

Clear the hostile bases and deter the other side of capturing bases and building safe zones. Escort your transport helicopters and give them time and space to do this on your side. Be creative, surprise the other side, try to build traps and invest unexpected draws.

• A base is captured if some soldier is around. No matter if it's a normal soldier or a specialist.
  
• If the grey circle gets orange the base counts as captured.
  
• The percentage is showing how many anti air guns are manned.
  
• The spot in the middle turns orange if allied tanks are on site

In these battles each bases isn't important off its own because it's about leading a convoy to capture the hostile stronghold. Strongholds are the farthermost bases which can call for reinforcements from the off.

Each base can spawn new convoys for each team as long as both kind of troops, vehicles and soldiers, are on site. If the connected bases from such a base are hostile or empty a convoy will move there after some time. The only way to expedite this process is to clear the base and capture it with soldiers. Convoys from connected allied bases will move in immediately, if those bases are able to spawn new convoys.

This means: It is helpful to have all bases captured on your side of the front. But it isn't necessary. And in special circumstances it might be a good idea to push one lane to the hostile stronghold.

A)
-> A base is captured if one soldier and one tank are around.
-> Then this base can send convoys to connected bases if you drop soldiers there.

B)
-> A base starts convoys on its own if AA guns are occupied (100%) and at least one tank is around.
-> This needs 3 to 4 minutes.

• Enemy blue, friend orange
  
  
• TAB for tactical map and information about players.
  
  
• chat window and team chat
  --> "enter" to start chatting and "TAB" to toggle between normal and team chat
  
  
• F1 for the help screen
  
  
• message system
  --> see settings
  
  
• Resupply point: helipad for getting more troops and reloading and repairing by landing on it and switching helos by pressing 'g'. Every player has his own resupply point at the home base.
  
  
• zoom in / zoom out at 3rd person view by pressing +/- on numpad

Heliborne offers scenarios from the 1950s up to today. The game simulates not only the different helicopters, each with individual flight parameters, but portrays the whole battlefield of that time.

In the early years you have to deal with slow and relatively sluggish aircrafts and missiles that spread a lot but also with less advanced enemy weapons.

Today's helicopters are powerful, fast and carry a wide range of weapons and utilities to survive if they are under attack, but you'll have to face equally prepared enemies.

Many helicopters have been developed through several generations. You can discover the performance of each of those variants in the different scenarios.

Generation I - 1950-1960
Generation II - 1960-1970
Generation III - 1970-1980
Generation IV- 1990+

Take a look at this wiki to learn more about all different maps:

Heliborne Wikia [heliborne.wikia.com]

Game mode: Domination
Size: 3 x 3 km

• at two specific bases soldiers can mount boats

Game mode: Frontline
Size: 6 x 6 km

Game mode: Domination
Size: 3 x 3 km

• From two specific bases tanks spawn if their base is captured. They drive to the mid of the map. As long as they are alive this place is counter as a base and gives regular points like all bases do in this game mode.

Game mode: Frontline
Size: 8 x 8 km

Game mode: Frontline
Size: 6 x 6 km

https://youtu.be/UX3i0YRGJKM

Take a look at this wiki to learn more about all different helicopters:

Heliborne Wikia [heliborne.wikia.com]

These helicopters are designed to offer as little attack surface as possible. That's the reason why the pilot and the gunner don't sit next to each other but behind one another. The power of the engine is used only to carry the two human beings and a wide range of armaments.

The main workplace of these machines is the front. They take full effect wherever hostiles need to be stopped.

These little and agile aircrafts are predestinated to lay low. They're often overlooked the first time they approach a hostile place until they're very close.

This combined with the great windows makes them the ideal weapon to discover hostile forces and report to allied forces. That is why you'll see them most of the time fly nearby targets before attack helicopters fly the actual attack.

It's understandable that these are often found behind enemy lines. But working as a team with mortar squads this little aircrafts can make a great impact from a save place and over long distance.

As a scout pilot you can

• see hostiles earlier than others.
  
• mark hostiles (see 7.2.2 Action 'B': Mark Hostiles).
  
• use the mortar observer to order mortar fire to a specific spot.

Transport helicopters are the plodders of the battlefield. Whenever soldiers must be moved, it's their turn. But since there is a wide range of objectives that can be covered with special soldiers, this isn't a boring job.

First it's always about time. Once the scout helicopters and attack helicopters have finished their work it's time for the transport to appear. The goal is to drop the soldiers smooth and clean though these big machines aren't designed for swift actions.
Second are special soldiers often needed at the front and even behind enemy lines and the biggest aircrafts - and easiest targets in this game - are the transports.
But third: With well trained door gunners whose only job is to search for danger, these heavy machines can also take a significant effect on the front.

As a transport helicopter pilot you can

• drop troops to capture bases.
  
• drop different kinds of special soldiers almost everywhere.
  
• let your door gunners do their work.
  
• take direct control over the door gunners to hit unusual targets.

These are unguided rockets. Depending on the generation these spread relatively wide and don't keep their level.

Gun Pods are detachable containers with machine guns or automatic cannons which are mounted externally. Therefore, Weapon slot 3 may contain exactly the same range of weapons as Weapon slot 1 (even grenade launchers may be mounted on pods).

• These missiles are guided by yourself. They aim the spot your cursor is pointing on.

• You can only shoot and guide one missile at a time.

• If you switch the weapon slot while a ATGM is in the air it flies straight forward.


• You can zoom by pressing 'F'.

• The targets don't get a warning. Advanced use this weapon against flying targets as well. View the video in the chapter "1.3 Short video: a battle full up with advanced players" to see different ways of using it.


A video tutorial on ATGMs (starting from 1:25)

These powerful weapons need to lock on a target. Keep the target in the center of the screen to lock on.
If this process gets disturbed by flares the process restarts from the beginning.

The higher and closer a target is the faster the lock on is finished.

You'll get a signal if the missile is prepared. Once shot the missile follows its target automatically.

The pilot of the hostile helicopter gets a warning and can try to deflect the incoming missile by using flares.

A video tutorial on AA Missiles (starting from 0:36)

• This is exclusive for scout helicopters.

• Use this to direct mortar fire. You can command up to six mortar squads at a time.

• You can zoom in with 'F'

• If multiple scout helicopters are using their mortar observers at the same time the mortar squads are divided into even teams.

In this tutorial video Mortar Observer is being used starting from 4:40

• door gunners shoot at soldiers and at stationary Anti Air guns on their own.

• they recognize hostiles at a greater distance than the player. This means they are very useful to find and attack hiding soldiers.

• hostile AA - positions are targeted at double the range by door gunners than hostile infantry

• you can select this weapon slot to aim and shoot by yourself. This way you can attack hostile helicopters and tanks. Remember to use the RMB for aiming in a different direction without changing the heading of your helicopter.

These are countermeasures to prevent a weapon system with guided missiles to lock on the helicopter. These are used by manpads and helicopters with weapon slot five. After firing flares the helicopter is save for at least six seconds.

Additionally this can be used to deflect incoming missiles. There is only a certain chance that it's successful.

After you ran out of flares they will reload in the air.

Scouts have the ability to mark targets so that other teammates can see them from long distances and engage from a safe range. This nets the scout pilot a TON of points when your teammates kill the targets and you even get the bonus if you kill them yourself so it's a win-win.

To mark targets:

-Using your bino's, aim in the direction of blue target icons
-Press 'B' (default) to mark targets and radio the position to teammates
-Enemy targets can now be seen by teammates from longer distances for a short period
-Profit

Proper scouting will make or break your team and often mean the difference between winning and losing. A good team will always have scouts working in coordination with gunships. The technique of pairing a scout helicopter with gunship teams was developed by the US Army during the Vietnam War, calling them Pink Teams. The scouts would fly out and mark the targets with smoke and then the gunships would come in and strafe the target zone.

Pay attention to what helicopters your teammates are flying because too many scouts will mean not enough overall team firepower and having too many gunships will result in them being blind to enemy targets and getting picked off by MANPADS.

- drop by landing and pointing at the ground near the helicopter. The silhouette of the soldier shows if it's possible to let a soldier walk to that position.
- press the button representing the special soldiers and one soldier of that kind will leave the helo and walk to that position
- press 'Z' to order the closest special soldier to enter the helicopter
- dropped soldiers always have full ammunition even if you had already dropped them once.

- These special soldiers carry an air to air missiles system.
- The lock on procedure will be stopped if the targeted helicopter fires flares. The soldier needs at least six seconds to lock on again.
- If there are multiple MANPADS close together (30 meters) they form a team and make clear that they don't shoot at the same time.
- They have three missiles with them. If they are all fired they disappear.
- Pilots get a warning if a missile is incoming

Originally posted by itold:

manpads have basic miss chance related to generation
on gen1 its 40% missfire chance
on gen2 its 30%
on gen3 its 20% and gen4 is 10%
flares work the same on all generations
if you drop flares - manpads are blinded for 7-10 seconds and will not fire at you, its called "pre-flaring"
if missile is locked on you and you got a warning - flaring while its far away (more then 250 meters) has a 65% chance to blind it
if its closer then 250 meters - 82% chance to blind it
when missile is blinded it slightly changes its course (slightly!) so if you do not have a lot of angular speed to its course and stay in the same place - follow the same course - it will still hit you with high chance
so you need either to have high angular speed or get out of its course so already blinded missile wont hit you
also manpad missile can be avoided by maneuvering
but if they shoot you from behind or from straight ahead - its almost impossible to do, you need a lot of angular speed to the missile

- have unguided ground to ground missiles
- have four rockets with them
- disappear after using all rockets
- use their weapon against low and slow flying helicopters. As these missiles are unguided, Pilots don't get a warning.

• Two soldiers are one mortar squad. If you put one mortar squad into your helicopter they need two seats.

• The fire range of mortar rounds is almost two kilometers.

• Each mortar squad brings ammunition for 30 shoots.

• After they used all their ammunition they disappear.

• To order mortar fire you need to have the mortar observer. This is exclusive for scout helicopters!

On this screen both helicopters in the air are marked. But the player himself isn't marked for the other pilots. He's flying at a lower level. There are several rules dealing with these marks. We call it the spotting mechanic.

The game helps you in seeing and distinguishing targets. Allied forces are being marked orange and hostile forces blue.
Bases on several parameters an object is marked or not. Basically it depends on the distance to your position. But this doesn't only work for the player. This system is the same for all acting units on the battlefield.

In detail: The distance at which an object is marked is based on its size, its distance and its level in relation to the observer.

This means: The bigger and higher and closer an object is, the earlier it gets marked.

Soldiers standing on the ground get marked only at close proximity. Whereas they already see the helicopter flying high above them at a great distance.

There is one exception. As scout helicopters are designed and equipped to see and recognize units at a great distance, all scout helicopters in Heliborne have an advantage at getting units marked. Additionally they have the ability to share this information with allied pilots.

- This mechanic is the same for all AI controlled units. Additional they zero in on targets the longer they are in sight.

Helicopters have five critical modules:

1. rotor,
   
2. engines,
   
3. fuel,
   
4. cockpit / hydraulics,
   
5. tail boom / tail rotor.

The modules have various effects on the flight model when destroyed. For example, when the tail boom is critically damaged, the helicopter will spin out of control temporarily (currently 12-15 seconds, but it's subject to change). Gradual damage to a module will not have any effect on performance, only critical damage.


Some helicopters have double modules (like double engines). They are more effective than single modules: you will get critical effect only if both modules are properly damaged, not just one module.

Founders:

• Raman Ulasau, Creative Director (Kastuś)
  
• Ilja Toldayev, Coding (itold)
  
• Diana Leer, Graphics (vespa2)

Employees:

• Illia Lahunou, Community Manager (mindoug)

Former employees:

• Anthony Keeton, Community Manager (RayneCloud)

Most pictures, artworks and some paraphrases are from Jetcat Games. A big thank to Mindoug who helped me with lots of great pictures!

I'm very thankful for Itold as well because he was very patient answering all my questions.

KapukiCram helped me as well by checking if I'm writing correct stuff here and proofread it after I finished it.

The first screenshot in training ground chapter is from =FAF= ErKeo16 from his nice guide [EN] New Training map Analysis!

The picture at 7.3 SPECIAL SOLDIERS is from Adoramus.

Thanks to "Gaming with cows" for cutting the short video.

A big thank goes to the guys from my English-German learning group at HelloTalk by name: Melski, Stephanie

Melski read the whole guide as well to check my English, thank you very much!