A good pilot flying an attack helicopter can become a serious menace in Battlefield 6, but before you can start farming the enemy team with a flying gunship, you'll need to put in a lot of practice first. In this guide, we'll be going over the essentials of flying an attack chopper in BF6, from basics like control settings and loadouts, to advanced tips on how to evade missiles, how to do strafing runs, and how to make the most of your helicopter.
Battlefield 6: Best Tips, Tricks, and Game Settings
Here are a few gameplay tips and the best game settings in Battlefield 6 to help you reach the top of the scoreboard more often.
The firing range map used in this guide is made by x8Reaps, using Portal code YH1FC.
Best Helicopter Settings in Battlefield 6
Button mappings for mouse/keyboard and controller are up to personal preference, and if you want to fly a helicopter in Battlefield 6 in a more realistic way, then keep things as-is. We do recommend increasing Helicopter Sensitivity to make your chopper feel a bit more responsive, and you might want to check your other BF6 settings while you're at it.
Now, if you're having trouble flying a helicopter using the default button mapping schemes, we strongly suggest turning Helicopter Control Assist on. This basically makes flying a chopper feel like controlling infantry: move with WASD/Left Stick, then aim with your mouse/Right Stick. The game will keep your helicopter from tipping over, and it will automatically make you hover when you're not moving (unless you're aiming upwards or downwards).
Helicopter Control Assist in BF6 makes flying helicopters so easy that it's going to feel like cheating. You can toggle it on by going to Settings⇾Gameplay⇾Vehicles.
If you want to practice flying in BF6, you can either use Portal or load into a Conquest/Escalation match on big maps during low traffic hours. You can also try out Closed Weapons All-Out Warfare playlist; these have lower player counts than the usual playlists, which means most matches will be populated with bots.
Best Attack Helicopter Loadout in Battlefield 6
Once you start unlocking weapons and equipment for your attack chopper, we recommend the following:
- Light Rockets for bombing infantry and light vehicles.
- Heavy Rockets for hunting tanks and IFVs.
- TOW Missile for destroying vehicles (including other helicopters)
- Ground Target Detection System to easily identify targets when flying.
- Radar System to pair with Target Detection and make identification even easier.
The default PGM Rockets act like mini-TOW missiles. They'll go where your crosshair is pointed at, and they're best used one or two at a time from a fair distance away.
Heavy Rockets are also fairly decent at sniping infantry, but you can only carry so few of them at a time. Light Rockets, on the other hand, are great if you just want to saturate an area with rockets, and they're especially good for killing infantry from far away. Using TOW Missiles is going to take some getting used to, but if you're using Helicopter Control Assist, you should have little problem hitting vehicles with it.
As for equipment, Target Detection + Radar is great for beginners who just want to focus on getting kills. If you activate Target Detection, enemies using anti-air missiles will be able to lock onto you much quicker, but as long as you position yourself well, you shouldn't have to worry about this.
Positioning and Using Cover
Attack helicopters are very fragile, which is why you absolutely must learn how to position yourself and use cover while flying one. Here are some things you should always keep in mind when using a chopper in BF6:
- Stay near tall obstacles like buildings and mountains.
- Make sure there are no enemy infantry or vehicles below you.
- Always keep track of where the enemy's AA tank is.
- Never stay on the enemy's side of the map for too long.
- Always assume that a guy with an RPG is aiming at you.
Most maps in BF6 will let you weave between areas with good cover, like the buildings in Manhattan Bridge and the valley in Liberation Peak.
How to Evade Missiles with Helicopters in BF6
Proper flare usage is a skill that all pilots need to master, so here are some tips to help you get started:
- Flares last somewhere between 3–5 seconds.
- You can stop AA weapons from locking onto you by flying close to the ground. This technique is great if another attack helicopter is trying to get you, but you'll be an easier target for ground vehicles and infantry.
- Faction bases have a CIWS gatling gun that automatically shoots down incoming lock-on missiles (and enemy aircraft).
- Never engage enemies when your flares are unavailable.
- Only pop your flares when missiles are incoming. Don't let the enemy bait you into using them early.
Under the right circumstances, you can evade anti-air missiles putting something big between your enemy and your helicopter, though this only works if the enemy's position is bad. If you get caught in the open and a rocket starts chasing you, you have no choice but to use your flares to keep yourself safe. Dipping into cover or terrain can stop a missile, but not all the time.
How to Do Strafing Runs with Helicopters in BF6
The best way to attack enemies with a gunship is to hit them from the rear or the flanks. Attacking them head-on is suicide, as there will always be someone who wants to score a cool clip against you. If you want to play it safe, try the following:
- Open the map screen and find a spot that's worth attacking.
- Approach that spot from a safe location, preferably one outside of AA range or one that has good cover.
- Use your Target Detection System to spot enemies on your HUD.
- Pick your targets and engage.
- Retreat to safety. Pop flares if needed.
Before starting a strafing run, make sure your helicopter is nicely leveled against your target. If you attack from too high, you're more likely to miss. If you attack from too low, you're more likely to get shot down. Things get much easier if you have a gunner with you.
Always have an escape plan when strafing the enemy. Once you blow all your rockets, resupply back at base and prepare for another attack.
Advanced Helicopter Tips in BF6
- Helicopters move based on nose tilt, not on whether or not you're pressing the Throttle Up/Down buttons. The Throttle buttons should only be used to gain/lose altitude and speed up your movement when the helicopter is tilted forward.
- Never forget that you can strafe horizontally with helicopters. Doing so is great when you want to pummel an area like the rooftop objective on Manhattan Bridge.
- If you don't have a gunner with you, you can always switch to the gunner seat to let out a quick burst from your chopper's autocannon. Only do this if you're at a high-enough altitude.
- Try not to use all your rockets in one go, unless you're using Heavy Rockets to take out a vehicle.
- When fighting another helicopter, try to get up to a higher altitude than them. This way, they won't be able to fight back without tilting up and losing altitude.
Battlefield 6
- Released
- October 10, 2025
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, In-App Purchases, Users Interact
- Developer(s)
- Battlefield Studios
- Publisher(s)
- EA
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer, Online Co-Op
- Cross-Platform Play
- All platforms
- Cross Save
- Via EA Account
- Franchise
- Battlefield
- Number of Players
- Single-player
- Steam Deck Compatibility
- Unsupported
- PC Release Date
- October 10, 2025
- Xbox Series X|S Release Date
- October 10, 2025
- PS5 Release Date
- October 10, 2025
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
- How Long To Beat
- 6 hours
- X|S Optimized
- Yes
- File Size Xbox Series
- 87.44 GB
