It is a real bummer when during the execution of the reverse-thrust maneuver your vertical thrusters won’t stay flipped down. Using the Throttle (Analog) key can help solve the problem.

The Problem

Under certain circumstances initiating the reverse-thrust maneuver can sometimes lead to a failed reverse-thrust attempt because the vertical thrusters won’t stay flipped down which, in turn, causes your aircraft to not thrust in reverse. In dogfights an ESF pilot who is on the defense is bound to rely on reverse-thrusting a lot in order to survive and counterattack, and a failed attempt at such a maneuver often is the fatal end.

I believe there are two reasons why this issue can occur:

One, you’re not throttling down enough from breakneck speed. This scenario might be especially familiar to pilots who use the Racer High Speed Airframe which increases the top cruising speed of your aircraft significantly.

Two, for some reason, the “S” key for throttling down bugs out at times, so that even when you’re giving your aircraft enough time to throttle down, the vertical thrusters, nonetheless, don’t stay in their flipped-down position despite your holding the “S” key for the entirety of the maneuver including the slowing down phase prior to the actual maneuver.

The Workaround

Fortunately there is a convenient fix to this problem.

The Throttle (Analog) function helps to cut the forward momentum of your aircraft completely. You best map a key (I suggest “E”) to it in the keymapping settings of PlanetSide 2 because by default this function isn’t bound to any key in PlanetSide 2.

The Throttle (Analog) key can best be described as the “cut forward momentum” toggle key. Tapping it (not holding it) kills your forward momentum completely by itself, so you don’t have to hold the buggy “S” key anymore in order to throttle down. By contrast, pressing the Throttle Up (“W”) or Throttle Down key (“S”) cancels the effect of the Throttle (Analog) key.

Therefore, after tapping the Throttle (Analog) key the only thing left for you to do is to initiate the rest of the reverse-thrust maneuver by rolling, yawing, pitching, and so forth.

Further reading: