Flyer Boost

Flyer Boosting is a more advanced flying technique that combines Dive Boosting or Level Boosting with mid-air scarf recharges, achieved by chirping at flyers whilst in a dive. Flyers are often used to increase the boosting power and/or travelling distance significantly. Players often refer to this combined method simply as "dive boost", with implied chirping at flyers during the dive even if they are not mentioned. Lots of other "diving in the air" based flying techniques uses flyers the same way.

How to do it?
Difficulty: From to, depending on the FF technique associated and your approach to Flyer Boosting.

Can be done with a keyboard or keyboard and mouse (except when combining Flyer Boosting with "Slow" boosting techniques).

You should know the basics of boosting. Then it's mostly just about timing, when to chirp and handling the sticks (on a controller) while chirping.

Flyers not only recharges your scarf when chirping at them (more or less depending on how many there are), but they also carry you in the air for a few seconds during which you will glow and stop loosing altitude while still diving. When glowing you can jump as you wish and it won't empty your scarf.


 * 1) Initiate a dive, camera fully to the ground or leveled a bit (the left stick on a controller should be pressed fully forward for the entire duration of the dive. "w" key only on a keyboard.).
 * 2) Try to aim for a group of flyers, or just above it with the camera, and start jumping about every seconds to build up more momentum during the dive. You can also hold the jump button down if flyers are close to you, to empty your scarf faster before they recharge it.
 * 3) Do a big chirp when near the flyers or above them. Try to do one jump at the same time to avoid getting too close to the ground. It's often a good idea to start pressing the chirp button in advance, this way you can release its full power the moment you pass by the flyers.
 * 4) Boost, either by facing the camera while it aims down, or just aim the camera to the sky and continue to move forward. There are multiple moments when you can boost after chirping:
 * 5) * Boost straight away after the chirp, with a refilled scarf (easier method)
 * 6) * Let the flyers carry you for about 2-3 seconds while you are still diving as they make you glow (you can hold the jump button down or not at all), then boost. It will make your boost a little more powerful and you will have a full scarf in the air as well.
 * 7) * Continue the diving part longer with your now replenished scarf and continue to jump. Possibly hold the jump button down while you glow thanks to the flyers (free jumps). Boost when you run out of scarf (or before that). Or you could also aim for another nearby flyer bloom during the same dive and chirp at them before boosting.
 * 8) Once high up in the air you can dive again toward the next flyers to repeat the whole process over and over. If you are a beginner it is often better to boost while facing the camera (step 4), in order to retrieve a diving position faster later: especially when playing with a controller or keyboard only rather than a mouse, since the camera moves very slowly in general once you run out of boost. If you intend on diving again after boosting with a camera to the sky, it is often better to start diving again before you use all your momentum with the boost. Both boosting methods are useful with flyer boosting anyway.

Exercises

 * A very common place to practice flyer boosting is in Broken Bridge, where after releasing the flyers, you can chirp at them one after the others, and boost in-between when needed.

Here is an example of what it can look like with a leveled camera angle during the dives. Notice how the fancy flyer dives again before running out of boost while facing the sky, in order to keep their camera and wayfarer speed (avoiding running out of boost in the air):

It is possible to get OOB by boosting over the wind walls North or South of BB with flyer boosting ! (which can be an interresting alternative to work on, rather than Charge Boosting to get there). See the Flyer Boosting tutoral from aravshetikolava below to see an example, at around 8min20.


 * In the Tower level, after releasing the first level of goo, a good challenge is to try to reach the shrine in a single dive, by circling around the tower itself during the dive, and chirping at every flyers. This might take you many tries, it is hard to reach the very top, but it is a great exercise to work on. It works better when aiming the camera fully to the ground the whole time, and holding the jump button down continuously, and doing big chirp successions (a more leveled camera angle will make you go faster between the flyers but will reduce the boost a bit). You can aim the camera fully down since the flyers will prevent you from dropping in the goo. It can work by turning clockwise or counter clockwise around the tower. Stop holding the jump button for a few seconds if you find yourself too high to chirp at the next flyer group. It may be best to circle around the tower between the flyer platforms and the tower, to avoid hitting the flyer platforms. Doing a slow boost or reverse flyer boost can give you a slightly better boost, though it may be harder to perform.


 * The tower exercise mentionned above can be done around the small tower of Pink Desert as well ; the one on top of which you can find a glowing symbol: there are two flyer groups here on both sides of it. Because there are fewer flyers, it is possible you will have to aim at the flyers sometimes rather than keeping the camera fully to the ground, and maybe you will have to pump the jump button between flyer groups since you will empty your scarf too fast otherwise.


 * This external video shows the Flyer Boost technique in action, in the kelp room of the Underground. The same can be done in the first rest stop of Sunken city, where you can find a huge flyer group. For this exercise, with a controller it usually works better to hold the camera stick left or right all the time during the dive, in order to circle and remain in flyer chirping range. Try to do medium to big chirps all the time so they can make you glide continuously.

Common Mistakes

 * Not anticipating a chirp well, and missing the flyers.


 * Having aiming accuracy problems to reach the flyers. Try to aim at the flyers soon when starting the dive, and then just focus on using your jumps regularly and minor camera adjustments if needed + the incoming chirp.
 * Getting too close to the ground before lifting, and loosing some boost in the process because it affects the camera angle. You should try to stay high enough above the flyers when chirping at them, if they are close to the ground. If you do get close to the ground anyway, make sure to stop pressing the camera to the ground (in case you do), and your camera should remain angled as it was (you can turn if strictly left or right though). Maybe even consider flicking the right stick from a controller in this situation to make sure it doesn't level out! (see the Dropshoot page for the flicking technique)

Further Tips

 * Not every flyer blooms will refill your scarf as much, depending on their number, so take this into consideration and use your jumps cleverly to be able to reach the next flyer group.
 * When chirping at flyers it can be good to keep on holding the jump button down for a while as it will give you free jumps for about 2 seconds, depending on the flyer group size (no scarf usage). This can make the boost better, though simply letting yourself get carried by the flyers without jumping works nicely as well. It also is an opportunity to aim your camera fully down for a short moment since the flyers will prevent you from dropping as you glow and it can contribute to a better boost.
 * Try the exercises mentionned above, or reproduce what you see in the video tutorials below !

Tutorial videos
This is a detailed video tutorial explaining how to Flyer Boost (with Dive Boost and Level Boost only):

This video explains how to use your camera efficiently to achieve greater boosts and overall control with Flyer Boosting, along with Slow boost, Reverse dive boost (and Flap boost) demonstrations when combined with Flyer Boosting.

A video that shows a lot of flyer boosting (at 3:27 min)

Trivia

 * The distance from which Flyers would respond and come in to recharge you depends on the size of the sonic bubble; on some levels such as Paradise this allows calling them from far behind.
 * Picking up a glowing symbol during a dive can be used the same way as flyers, and it will recharge your scarf fully everytime.

Quotes
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