Cockpit fights
Posted November 9th 2011
In my article on stealing Jun's Falcon I mentioned that Elites are quite keen to jump onto the side of the Falcon's nose and hoist you out. Bit of a shock the first time that happened! Initially I thought they never actually boarded. In Theater mode I saw that after ejecting me, the Elite was getting seated then immediately being bumped out by the game, as if to say "Hop it squid-face, no covies allowed!". But eventually I realized that was because I had Carter and Jorge aboard. It seems that the Elite will board as long as the Falcon is empty. He'll also happily use the cannon, and may also fly off!
You can have some good fun with this as follows. With no passengers, let him hoist you out of the cockpit, then - quickly before he nails you with the lethal cannon - move around to the side of the cockpit or jump on top, and yank him out; the prompt says 'Hold X to board enemy Falcon'. Then you can let him pull you out again, and so on. You can keep this tussle going for ages - it's pretty funny stuff - and later you can enjoy watching it in Theater mode. Sometimes the Elite may show signs of rage when you eject him. If he manages to fly off, you can pursue to try and pick up the fight again (have a plasma pistol in case you need to bring the Falcon down with a plasma ball), but be very wary of the cannon which can cut you down in just a few seconds. Incidentally, the cockpit gives the Elite protection from damage, just like it does for you.
If you do have company aboard, you can still have a cockpit fight of sorts, repeatedly getting back in so the Elite has to eject you again. It's not as satisfactory as he doesn't board, but at least you're making him work. And hey, you also don't have to worry about cannon fire. Phew!
Note: Prior to starting a cockpit fight by letting an Elite get close when you're sufficiently low down, you may want to do some killing to make the area safe enough that you don't get slaughtered by other covies the moment you're ejected.
Moving the fight
Once a cockpit fight has started, you can potentially move the tussle to another area bit by bit with a brief spell of flying each time you get the pilot's seat (during which the Elite will be clinging on in the process of ejecting you). This can also be a way of quickly getting clear of fire from other enemies.
Locations
The first place I had a cockpit fight was at the relay outpost, as that was the first place I got a boarding Elite. To reach it, first escape from normal bounds. I recommend using the wandering dropship escape method so you won't be in danger of getting getting 'OBJECTIVE COMPLETE' for the defence of the evac zone (at which point you'd get a checkpoint and lose the ability to take the pilot's seat other than by ejecting an Elite, all of which could be inconvenient). Initially fly high to stay above normal bounds, then get the outpost loaded by dropping down sufficiently low back along the path leading to it, not far away from it.
Quite a few Elites turn up on the reinforcement dropships, which can be triggered after eliminating the initial covies and dismounting. The dismount will also give you a checkpoint. If my experience is anything to go by, you shouldn't have much trouble getting an Elite to come over and play. To keep Jun out of the picture, put the Falcon down well clear of him so he hopefully won't run out to board.
Later I found that you can also have cockpit fights elsewhere. Anywhere there's an Elite I believe, including the rather hectic evac zone. The earliest place is back past rally point alpha. Return there when you've got the Falcon, and there'll hopefully be some bypassed Elites hanging around. I've had cockpit fights with gold elites there, though the white Elites there have never ejected me. For a while I was wondering if white Elites never eject you anywhere, but eventually one ejected me at an evac zone.
Fickle behaviour
Sometimes Elites seem rather standoffish, showing no interest in approaching the Falcon to eject you. There may be some pattern to this, but if so, the details elude me at present. With the Elites before rally point alpha, maybe there need to be at least four Elites present. Doing a bit of testing on Heroic, I noticed that when there were three or less, I couldn't get an Elite to eject me.
Messed up visuals
The visuals for ejection sequences are rather messed up, as follows.
When the Elite ejects you (having jumped onto either side of the Falcon's nose), he magically reaches through the still closed canopy and hurls you out, with an accompanying melee sound. As he starts entering the cockpit, the canopy opens and he passes through it; it's insubstantial. But the moment he gets seated, he's instantly outside holding onto the cockpit again, and the canopy is suddenly shut. It remains shut as he then does his 'eject and get seated' animation a second time. However, although he appears to be still getting in, the game actually seems to consider him boarded once he got in the first time, because after that, he's already able to use the cannon and maybe get airborne, plus you can get the 'Hold X to board enemy Falcon' if you got back quickly. So, it's as if that whole repetition of his entry is cosmetic (though he's not protected by the Falcon yet).
When you're the ejector, the canopy is first opened and you do an ejection animation, but the Elite actually remains seated and you're hurling out nothing. Not a good start, soldier! Despite him still being in the seat, you then start getting in. When you finish getting seated, there's a sound like you gave him a whack and he's bumped out of the cockpit, looking like he's taken shield damage. At the same time, the canopy instantly shuts. You're now in control.
It's a pity things are such a mess like this, as the actual animations involved are rather nicely done, especially the way an Elite holds on to the Falcon to begin with, then hurls you out.
Bad flying
When an Elite goes airborne, he doesn't give much sign of knowing what the heck he's doing, except for using the cannon. He may give the impression of having a destination in mind, but he'll probably be flying backwards - perhaps to remain pointing towards yourself or your allies - and he's a complete klutz, liable to soon end up blocked by scenery, though you still have to be very wary of the cannon.
In the case of an Elite before rally point alpha, he seems to head in the direction of the circular farmhouse you came through; and if you subsequently eject him there, you can see him run all the way back to his buddies. In the east valley an airborne Elite looks like he's trying to head back towards rally point alpha, though I've never seen one actually get there. At the relay outpost they hardly seem to go anywhere. It's all very clumsy, just like when Carter or a trooper is at the controls.
Silly barging Elite
Once an Elite has ejected you, he won't hold his weapon any more even when you eject him (if he even boarded). If you're on foot, all he can do is barge into you while looking rather foolish. The animation looks terrible; his gait is ridiculous. Also his AI also seems a bit screwy if you're in the Falcon, as he'll tend to do a lot of standing around and rotating, like he's got no sense of purpose. If you smack him - and believe me you'll want to because he keeps trying to get in your face - he makes as if to level a weapon at you, but still won't be holding one.
There's some extra novelty to be had from such an Elite. You can lead him around the map! For example I led one of the gold Elites from just before rally point alpha all the way to the lower evac zone, where I managed to get his attentions transferred to a trooper. Another time I used an Elite from the small area just after the bridge, but every time I got him a certain way down towards the lower evac zone, he turned around and scampered back home; so it seemed like he had a territorial limitation.
Carter vs Elite
It's actually possible for Carter to have a bit of a cockpit fight with an Elite. With Carter and Jorge aboard, I flew back past rally point alpha to the Elites I'd bypassed. One of the golds ejected me - though he didn't board because the Falcon wasn't empty. I then quickly took a passenger seat. Jorge and Carter dismounted, and Carter took the pilot's seat. The Elite ejected him - again not boarding - then Carter took the seat again, and so on - until an incoming plasma grenade took me out. I expect troopers can have cockpit fights too, as they can pilot the Falcon just like Carter.