¶ Helicopter Crashes
|
| ~3 to 5 Hostile AI |
| Many Locations |
| Top Tier Loot |
Heli Crashes are difficult and risky, but can provide some of the best rewards of any event in Deadside. They have some of the most unique outdoor combat that Deadside has to offer.
These Events are rare, and only a few periodically spawn on even the most populated servers. Heli Crashes are always in outdoor areas, with little more than hills and trees to use as cover. The Heli Guard AI is some of the most difficult in game, only comparable to the Convoy Boss. The reward crate is very exposed, usually in an open area. But, the reward crate is extremely valuable, dropping at least one Red Key, and sometimes high tier weapons and attachments. PvP is very common at these events, Heli Crashes often result in multiple players engaging in a sniper battle, or mid range outdoor combat.
¶ Fighting the AI
One of the most challenging things for new players to understand, is simply how strong the Heli Guard AI is. Even very experienced players will often be killed by these guards. So, understanding how they function is critical when approaching a Heli Crash. When this Event spawns, the Heli Guards will be standing around the Crashed Mi-8, guarding the reward crate. There will usually be around 3 to 5 guards total. The Guards stand around the Heli in a circular pattern, scanning for any players. Here is an image of what this can look like;
The Guards have excellent vision, awareness, and aim. They use some decent weapons, these are RPK-mods, AK-Mods, AK-SMs, and Mosins. Once a player opens fire on the Guards, they will most often immediately return fire, even at incredible distances. Their awareness and vision is second to none, and their accuracy is very good, especially when they use an automatic weapon like the RPK, which you will almost always see at least one guard using. Players will often get shot through bushes, their arms and legs can be shot from behind trees, and the Guards will track a player moving even behind cover for an amount of time. This makes them extremely challenging to fight, and an unprepared player will almost always be killed in a matter of seconds.
Like Epic Mission AI, the best strategy for fighting them is to either be very close, or very far away. This is so you can either drop them with shotguns before they can open fire, or drop them with snipers outside of their effective range. If you do attempt to fight the Guards at medium ranges, say ~100M, make sure you have very good cover. They will kill you much faster than you can kill them at that range, no matter your gear level. A very popular choice for fighting the Guards, is to grab a good sniper, like a Mosin, VSD or NK417, in combination with a good 4x scope, and then drop them from a distance. This is typically done from very far away as to stay out of their effective range. A good distance to choose is around 275M, although father couldn't hurt. Make sure you crouch while sniping, if you stand up, they will detect you, or become more accurate.
Another method is to fight them up close, however this depends on the location that the Heli crashes in. Most of the time, there will be little to no cover around the Heli, so this strategy is impossible. But, there are a few Heli Crashes that land in an area with large rocks, or thicc trees. Using these as effective cover, you could bait the bots closer into you, and kill them with something as simple as an M133.
¶ PvP & Looting
If you play on a PvE server, this section does not apply. However, most players will have to deal with some sort of PvP during a Heli Crash. The amount of PvP can vary heavily on the location of the crash itself, if it happens to be in an area close to spawn towns, you will most likely see a handful of players contesting the loot. But, if it is far away from any spawn towns, in a location typically not populated by players, then its very possible to clear a Heli without the intervention of other players.
One of the most risky parts of the Heli Crash, is actually trying to profit from it. The bots, and the reward itself, are pretty much always exposed in an open area without cover. This makes it very easy for a patient player to wait while you kill the bots, and then snipe you at the reward crate. Other thing to look out for, is fresh spawns waiting for you to kill or bait away the Guards, so that they can get the reward crate. Looting bots is even riskier, since you do not have the Heli itself to use as cover. So, its very important to be quick at Heli crashes, taking only what you absolutely need from the reward. It is also very smart to make room for the reward in your inventory before you actually go loot it, to reduce time exposed. Here is an image of the Heli Reward, its always located on the left side of the Heli, under the wing;
The types of players you will see contesting the Heli Loot can vary drastically, fresh spawns will try to pick up guns from the dead Guards, and fully geared teams will try to take control of the area to take everything. So, its extremely important to be mindful of your position, and be ready for anything. One of the things that makes this difficult, is that in a lot of crash areas, bushes provide tons of concealment for a sneaky player. Map knowledge can be very important during these events, because any little thing in the terrain can give you the upper hand in the fight.
Once the Loot Crate has been opened, and the Heli Guards killed, the crash and event itself will only despawn, if there are no players within render distance (400M). So, as long as there is at least one player within 400M of the event, it will not despawn.
¶ Event Locations
Heli Crashes can spawn anywhere and everywhere in the map, with a few exceptions. They will never spawn very close to a town or POI, the Helis are usually at least 150-200M away from any man made structure, however they are often so far away from civilization that there are no man made structures visible from the crash itself. They can spawn anywhere on the map, from the far north to the deep south. Although they typically crash in open fields, they can sometimes crash on peninsulas, or on the top of a hill. Sometimes Helis will crash near player made bases, however, if a player makes a base too close to a crash location, that specific Heli will no longer spawn on the map until the claim is removed. Heli Crashes are very rare, and you will typically not see more than one on the map at a time. This can change if the server you play on has boosted event frequencies combined with low population.
¶ Rewards
As mentioned above, Heli Crashes have some of the best loot to offer in the game, always dropping at least one Red Key, and a decent weapon. There is a lot of money to be made off the Guards themselves, they always carry weapons that can sell for a decent amount, that is if you can carry them all. Offloading the weapons into a boat is a great way to make a decent chunk of money, but it is risky.
¶ Pools With At Least One 100% Spawn Chance
¶ Possible Weapon Pool (One Item Max)
¶ Possible Clothing Pool (Two Items Max)
- Gorka
- Military Jacket
- Skimasks
- Buffs
- Balaclavas
¶ Possible Equipment Pool (One Item Max)
- Armored Tactical Vest
- Assault Vest
- Heavy Assault Vest
- Typhoon
- Tactical Vest
- Tactical Helmet
- Assault Helmet
- Heavy Assault Helmet
¶ Possible Medical Pool (Four Items Max)
¶ Key Spawns (Three Items Max)
- Red Key
¶ Possible Repair Kit Pool (Two Items Max)
- Tier One Repair Kit Tools
- Tier Two Repair Kit Tools (second spawn is always a T2)
¶ Possible Helmet Pool (One Item Max)
- Ballistic Helmet (Always With Fabric Cover)
- Tactical Helmet
¶ Possible Ammo Pool
- 5.45x39 (50-150)
- 7.62x39 (50-150)
- 7.62x54R (50-100)
- 12x70 (Always 100)
¶ Pools Without At Least One 100% Spawn Chance
¶ Possible Weapon Attachments Pool (One Item Max)
- OET
- D-Point
- MSR
- Tricon
- 9x19 Muzzle Brake
- UMR45 Muzzle Brake
- BB-19 Muzzle Brake
- 5.45x39 M1 Muzzle Brake
- 5.56x45 M1 Muzzle Brake
- 7.62x39 M1 Muzzle Brake
- Berta M9 Suppressor
- C1911 Suppressor
- F-57 Suppressor
- MR5 Extended Magazine
- UMR45 Extended Magazine
- 5.45x39 Extended Magazine
- PP-3000 Extended Magazine
¶ Possible Ghillie Pool (One Item Max)
- Ghillie Pants
- Ghillie Jacket
¶ Possible Grenade Pool (One Item Max)
- F-10 Grenade
- R-5 Grenade
- M-18 Smoke Grenade (All Colors Possible)
¶ Possible Rare Ammo Pool
- VG-25 (One Max)
- .50BGM (5 Max)
¶ Possible Baseball Cap Pool (One Item Max)
- Skinned Baseball Cap (Very Rare)