So it has come to my attention that people are complaining about the OPness of the Swooping Hawk. However, in my experience they suck.

So am I missing something? What is their best weapon? Are they able to fly in certain ways I am not finding? Could someone who plays a lot of the Hawk teach me the ways of their class?

Thanks

People cry OP on swooping Hawk because it's annoying as hell to fight against. You can slip and out of a fight uber fast, reach inaccessible perches to shoot the enemy, and the laslbaster is a very nice weapon.

Heavy Bolter users really hate them because they drop in behind and backstab!

So, as a fellow Eldar that sucks as a Sweeping Hawk, I'm gonna assume the reason why we suck at them is this: We fire while hovering a lot.

Their strength and the source of the complains seems to come from the good Hawks that fly away and are extremely hard to kill, who also position themselves behind enemy lines and murder their braced heavies only to disappear again.

Yeah, if you're hovering and firing you're doing it wrong. The strength of the Swooping Hawk is it can be here one moment than behind you the next, then on top of a building raining death.

Ok, that clears things up a bit. One last thing. How is the Hawk's Talon compared to the lasblaster?

Ya firing while hovering is a big no no unless it's a braced heavy you are above or behind. Even then you aren't as safe as you could be. Think of a Hawk as more of a designated marksman with a glider. Fly up to hard to reach places, preferably above people so you have a clear shot if their heads and go to town with headshots. They will melt extremely fast. That aside they are an invaluable defensive, spotting and now anti vehicle class as well.

Hawks while flying over the battle can spot easier than any other class in the game both helping allies and giving yourself some nice spot assists, this goes for infantry and vehicles. Hawks are unrivalled in their decapping capabilities, especially when working in pairs. They can quickly get across the map to points under attack and deal with a number of enemies if they are good and target people. Haywire grenades are great anti vehicle and are capable of stunning any vehicle they hit make fire dragon jobs easier or simply delaying a troop transport etc.

I am a swooping hawk main, and i wholeheartedly agree with this. Most of the time i go looking for Heavies and flanking enemies, i only hover if i know my enemy is distracted/don't see me or completely stationary.

It has higher penetration and slightly increased damage for a slight decrease in RoF. I think of it as a straight upgrade as most would stack armor/toughness so the extra penetration is highly needed. So i suggest saving up for one, otherwise the lasblaster/cloudsweeper is really good though cloudsweeper is better as it has better accuracy from the get go without needing to hunt for mods from rng boxes

Yeah, never shoot while hovering.

Basically just use your speed to get behind enemys. You don't have to flank much, you can just fly straight above their heads.

Most of the time do not use w while flying. Learn how to drop on stuff by pressing space. You will fall straight down but keep a bit of your momentum.

When you are behind the enemy a heavy attack if he stands still, plus a light followup attack. If you flank a whole row of HBs, crouch down (so you don't get shot down) and headshot them.

If they are moving give them headshots and hope they turn around (instead of running away). The damage you have done then, should be enough to let you win a straight up 1v1. If you are super close just hipfire and move left and right. Aim a bit for the head.


You can also go HB hunting. Most of the time, behond the railing they are bracing on, there will be an elevated position right behind them. Get on that, and down them with headshots. If they are alone just land behind them on the ground.


Here is the most important thing: Don't just get on a high point. Get on a highpoint BEHIND the enemys. The hight advantage allows you to controll when you engage and protects you from getting flanked yourself.



If you are fighting a melee enemy, shoot them on approach while walking backwards, and then d-bash them. If they let themselfes get hit by the dbash get in a quick attack. You can then either do another quickattack (if you think they will strongattack) and if they d-bash just boost backwards after 1 clang and shoot them.
Or just shoot them.
Oh, and hope they don't know how to use their pistol :/

Don't say that! we don't want them to know how to use a pistol D: Think of the swooping hawks lives