Multiplayer Beginner-friendly servers

[RedKestrel]

Hello all,

I'm new to Il-2 BoX, but not new to flight sims in general. I've played Il-2 1946 for a couple years and I'm getting a handle on new Il-2.  Having played around for about 10-15 hours practicing in QMB I can take off, land, and fight without completely embarrassing myself most of the time.

For the first time I find myself tempted to try multiplayer. Looking around it seems there are some really good servers - TAW looks like a great environment to fly in, for example. Sheriff's videos from that server are always on my to-watch list.

That being said, I recognize my limitations here. I don't want to blunder into a server where any fumbles or foibles spoil things for other people. No one wants to plow into my wreckage when they come in for a landing lol. 

So, are there good servers to dip my toe into the online environment? Also any tips on general etiquette as far as taxiing, takeoff, landing, fighting etc. would be welcome. For example, going after damaged planes - better to leave it for someone else to get the kill, or finish it off for your team?

Any tips or help appreciated!

[StG77_Kondor]

Welcome!

 

My first recommendation would be to always keep in the back of your mind that while most people online are at a minimum tolerable - there are always jerks who will gripe at you for the smallest mistake or perceived offense. So never take anything said personally.

 

There are servers, Normal Official? I think? That has icons/outside views enabled etc that are basically just Air Quake servers but get you in/out of action quickly. Berloga is much the same, but without icons. 

Wings of Liberty might be the sweet spot you want to first try out as it's a bit more complex than just the aforementioned air quake servers. However, it's probably the most toxic as far as its player base goes. It's a general free-for-all environment, 'kill stealing' and 'vulching' are allowed.

 

TAW I would recommend to fly with a group of people, even if it's just a group of 2. It's a very challenging server to come to grips with especially since it attracts the best pilots. TAW will punish you for the tiniest mistakes, and more often than not, just punish you even if you did everything 'right'. My advice is to just dive right in and have fun.

As for tips, for landing always, always, unless it's an emergency, land in the same direction as take off. You can tell what direction it is, by zooming into the AF on the map, and where the AF 'button' is located on the field itself is where planes take off from. 

[Bilbo_Baggins]

Wing of Liberty or Berloga Dogfight are the best options. Just jump in there and shoot 'em up- it's the most efficient way to learn.

 

Stick with it and you will be killing guys in no time.

 

[RedKestrel]

2 hours ago, StG77_Kondor said:

Welcome!

 

My first recommendation would be to always keep in the back of your mind that while most people online are at a minimum tolerable - there are always jerks who will gripe at you for the smallest mistake or perceived offense. So never take anything said personally.

 

There are servers, Normal Official? I think? That has icons/outside views enabled etc that are basically just Air Quake servers but get you in/out of action quickly. Berloga is much the same, but without icons. 

Wings of Liberty might be the sweet spot you want to first try out as it's a bit more complex than just the aforementioned air quake servers. However, it's probably the most toxic as far as its player base goes. It's a general free-for-all environment, 'kill stealing' and 'vulching' are allowed.

 

TAW I would recommend to fly with a group of people, even if it's just a group of 2. It's a very challenging server to come to grips with especially since it attracts the best pilots. TAW will punish you for the tiniest mistakes, and more often than not, just punish you even if you did everything 'right'. My advice is to just dive right in and have fun.

As for tips, for landing always, always, unless it's an emergency, land in the same direction as take off. You can tell what direction it is, by zooming into the AF on the map, and where the AF 'button' is located on the field itself is where planes take off from. 

Right now I'm playing single player without icons but with tech tips, and I'd really prefer to keep playing without icons, so Berloga sounds like a good match, at least until I get a better handle on things. I'd like to hop on TAW at some point because I really like the concept but as of right now I don't have a squad or people to play with, and I have no headset for communication so I'm not sure how good of a wingman I would be. 

I don't mind getting shot down a lot as long as I feel I can learn something from it. One of the reasons I want to get to multiplayer is to really challenge myself and improve my skills - getting shot down can be a good teacher for that! Thankfully I have more than one virtual life to live.

Thanks for the advice!

[VesseL]

You asked beginner friendly server. The official normal is friendy and very helpfull server for beginners. It have icons yes but it is not all bad thing. There it is not so much about who sees who first, but more pure fighting and surviving. The flight model is the same. I think icons do make it more easy than in real life, but full real do make it more difficult to see and track enemy than in real life. Icons does not bother me so much. Constant zooming does make me lose my situational avarenes of the surroundings, and if I would check my 6, the enemy in front of me would disappear.

Check the ded official normal too, its fun . Berloga is great action server, and there are allmost no chat communication, so its that way friendly. Sometimes someone loose temper but very rarely. MP is extremely friendly in this game even in the "worst" servers.

[jokerBR]

7 hours ago, StG77_Kondor said:

As for tips, for landing always, always, unless it's an emergency, land in the same direction as take off. You can tell what direction it is, by zooming into the AF on the map, and where the AF 'button' is located on the field itself is where planes take off from. 

Reading this thread, this was a very useful tip!! Thanks a lot. 

I consider myself a "seasoned" flight simmer, but new to IL2 MP, being here every now and then (with weeks or months between trials). With this tip I don't need to try to figure out which way the wind is blowing by looking at the (sometimes almost invisible) windsock, either for take off or landing. If this is confirmed to be always true (wind always blowing against the "button" position), then this tip is gold.

Cheers.

[FTC_Riksen]

13 minutes ago, jokerBR said:

Reading this thread, this was a very useful tip!! Thanks a lot. 

I consider myself a "seasoned" flight simmer, but new to IL2 MP, being here every now and then (with weeks or months between trials). With this tip I don't need to try to figure out which way the wind is blowing by looking at the (sometimes almost invisible) windsock, either for take off or landing. If this is confirmed to be always true (wind always blowing against the "button" position), then this tip is gold.

Cheers.

 

Kondor is right. It is generally accepted that you should always land from the side of take-off in game, regardless of the wind direction. This is for safety reasons, allowing people on the ground to see you and avoid head-on collisions during landing. Unfortunately, even in the more hardcore servers, you will still occasionally see  people landing on the wrong side and also taking-off for parking positions without bothering to properly taxi to the runway. My advice you be to just go to the server you like the most based on what it offers. If you are looking for more organized and persistence campaign where everything you do counts then TAW is the way to go but if you like something more relaxed with engagements becoming a furball most of the time over the same well know targets then WoL is your best choice. Also, you should consider joining a squadron in order to learn tactics and group fighting.It will most definitely help you grasp concepts and improve faster than by doing it alone.

 

Hope it helps and see you in the skies!

[RedKestrel]

Well, on a lark tonight I went on Berloga for about an hour. Some highlights:

-First map, I flew around in my I-16 at 3500 m or so for a while and didn't find anyone. Then I spotted a 109 high above me. He came down, landed some hits on my tail and zoomed back up. When he came back down I turned into him and sprayed some rounds at him. I missed horribly and he shot me in the face. Blood, darkness, "I'm wounded!" . I bailed out but I was pretty much dead on that one.
-Next sortie I flew around a lot and felt kind of like an idiot, didn't see anyone. Someone named Bubi on the chat left just a "?". Something makes me think I did something dumb or against the rules but I have no idea what. Chances are Bubi is the guy that so effortlessly headshotted me earlier lol.

-next mission, action started fast. I got into a furball, someone got behind me I panicked, yanked on the stick, and my I-16 didn't like that much and snap-rolled into the ground.
-back in the air again, this time a little calmer. I dove into a knife fight on the deck and shot at a 109. he started smoking but I don't think it was me that hit him, I think there was a yak after him as well. Eventually after a lot of turning I put some rounds into him and killed him. I call that a shared kill, I'm sure the yak got him before I did. Out of cannon ammo after a lot of fruitless shooting, I went and landed at the red base.
-came across a 109 and a p-39 circling endlessly on the deck, neither shooting. I got close enough to see the crosses on the 109 but thought I shouldn't shoulder shoot over the P-39, but they just kept circling, never shooting. Made me wonder if they were AI or bugged or just locked in a turnfight. I left them alone.
-Up in the air again, this time I found myself 500 m above a little furball. I dove a little and found a Macchi drifting across my sight. I nosed down and pumped some cannon rounds into him. He popped smoke and disappeared from view. 
-After this there was a lot of deck-level turnfighting and furballing. I got I think 1 or 2 more 109 kills before one got behind me and annihilated me - I detonated mid air, just fragments left.

So, over the course of the night, I got killed 3 times, ditched once, landed twice, and killed 3.5 enemy planes. Better than I expected. I really benefited from picking the I-16, the G2s that were flying around got dragged into low and slow turning circles. 

Anyway, it was fun, and the time went by quick once I got into the action. I reeeaally hope I wasn't breaking any server rules or anything, but I didn't see anything in the chat so I assume I was OK? I imagine if I was shooting up a friendly I'd get an earful (rightfully). (BTW does berloga have a warning/penalty for team killing? One of my kills I was sure was a 109 until I opened fire, then as he went in I had second thoughts . My kill notification had just a name, not a plane type, so I'm still a little worried about that one.)
 

[VesseL]

No penalty for accidental friendly fire on any server i think. It happens all the time. You have to say sorry, thats the only penalty.

[DeadMeat0383]

The Unprofessionals is also fairly beginner friendly in that its low population and has AI to keep things interesting when there are few people on.

 

[Herne]

I think Wings of Liberty is a good place to start, but it has GPS tracking so you never get lost. If you are looking to practice your map reading and navigation then the Finnish Dynamic server is also a nice option.

 

Tactical Air War and Random Expert servers are both really good options once you are comfortable with what you are doing, and confident that you can spot friend from foe.

Berloga is great fun for some instant action. If you want to try different things to see what you should do to shake that enemy on your six. There is no better place for some intensive "training"