PUBG gets flying Motor Glider vehicles for the first time next patch
PUBG CorpPlayerunknown’s Battlegrounds is taking a page out of Fortnite’s book and adding flying machines to the game for the first time in its four year history in the form of the brand new Motor Glider.
The Motor Glider will be available on only two of PUBG’s maps, the original Erangel map, and Miramar. It has two seats, one for the pilot and one for the passenger who can use any weapon from the backseat. It will be spawned randomly around the map.
Much like PUBG’s other elements, this flying machine requires some semblance of realism, requiring some speed to take off. This is in stark contrast to other airplanes in games like Fortnite, which did not have such a requirement. To take off, you must reach 65 km/hour then use the S key to pitch up. You will also start to automatically take off if you hit 70 kilometers per hour.
The fuel consumption on the Motor Glider is directly tied to how much throttle a player uses. While it’s possible to get around the map quite quickly using the Glider, the faster you go, the more fuel is used.
This will require a balanced and measured usage if a player wishes to get all the way across the map. There’s also no maximum altitude for the vehicle, and it can even get higher than the plane players use to drop in.
PUBG CorpUnfortunately, the Motor Glider does spawn with no gas, so players hoping to come across one unprepared might be out of luck.
Some potential uses of this new vehicle include staying far away from the edge of the circle until it’s almost too late to use, then flying in, getting the drop on your opponent as the circle begins to close from above, and more. Of course, it also comes with its own vulnerabilities, namely you’re a bit of a sitting duck for snipers on the ground.
The developers had admitted that the spawn rate has been decreased since testing.
“We will be adjusting the spawn rate to optimize where and how often the gliders spawn,” PUBG Corp said in their release. “During LABS, we used to have 10 motor gliders spawned in 10 spawn locations, so 100% spawn rate on each location. We’ll be changing this to 10 gliders randomly spawned in 40 spawn locations, so a 25% spawn rate on each location. As this is a new content, we’d like to test the spawn balance, so the spawn rate is likely to change a few times.”
How to control the Motor Glider
- Use W/S keys to control the pitch and A/D to control the roll of the aircraft (Xbox One: L-Stick / PS4: L3)
- Adjust the throttle by holding Left Shift and Left Ctrl keys (Xbox One: LT & RT / PS4: L2 & R2)
- Hold Spacebar when on the ground to engage handbrake (Xbox One: Y / PS4: Triangle)
The Motor Glider will debut on PUBG servers on PC only on January 15. Consoles will receive the flying machine with the launch of season six.