If you own a Sparrow, should you buy a Buzzard or another Helicopter?

[GeneralDee]

I'm on the fence about buying a Buzzard since I already got a Sparrow. Only thing I don't like about the Sparrow is it's so delicate and I have to take care to keep it away from gun fights but I love it's speed and using it with the submarine. Just a few shots have it smoking and you pray you can make it to the destination without bailing. Also I make sure not to land it on roads with traffic. A couple times the traffic got spooked from gun shots and started ramming the Sparrow causing me to just return it to storage as it was un-flyable. So I would only get a Buzzard if it's tougher but then there are other chopper options right? Which chopper have a good defense/speed ratio?

Edited January 10 by GeneralDee

[Zaniness]

Only the Buzzard can be called instantly at your feet via CEO menu like the Sparrow. Since the Sparrow came out, the only use out of a Buzzard you might have is cases when your Sparrow gets destroyed so you are on a cooldown. Buzzard is slightly more resiliant but not by much but also way slower.

 

If you don't mind traveling a bit to a spawn spot and spending some money on the hangar then Savage and Akula are useful. The former for the firepower, you can clear out areas very quickly, the latter for traveling off radar. The rest are just toys really.

[SebKle78]

3 minutes ago, GeneralDee said:

I'm on the fence about buying a Buzzard since I already got a Sparrow. Only thing I don't like about the Sparrow is it's so delicate and I have to take care to keep it away from gun fights but I love it's speed and using it with the submarine. Just a few shots have it smoking and you pray you can make it to the destination without bailing. Also I make sure not to land it on roads with traffic. A couple times the traffic got spooked from gun shots and started ramming the Sparrow causing me to just return it to storage as it was un-flyable. So I would only get a Buzzard if it's tougher but then there are other chopper options right? Which chopper have a good defense/speed ratio?

 

As far as i know it is slightly tougher but not by much. Overall i think it depends on what you are doing and what you want to achieve.

 

I use the Sparrow mainly for Cayo Perico Heist stuff and for the nightclub resupply missions. Occasionally when i need a fast helicopter without traveling a certain distance beforehand. For bunker resupply i use the Akula because it is fast and i can make use of it's stealth mode. In general i would say Akula and Hunter are good in therms of defense/speed ratio. But you have the downside of not being able to spawn them beside you without using glitches/exploits.

[smokeless6]

The Buzzard can take more hits than the Sparrow, a bit tougher.

 

I won't say you should get the Buzzard, but I like having both. I fly the Sparrow more now, since it's faster, but for missions with possibility of counter fire the Buzzard's probably a better bet.

 

It's useful having both. For example on the plasma cutter Cayo prep mission. The bad guys are always in a sort of alley, and after nicking the goods more bad guys respond in cars. This mission can turn in to a bit of a cluster if the cars approach where you're trying to escape. So I will land my Sparrow on one side of the alley, then walk around to other side and whistle for the Buzzard which spawns at the other end of the alley. Now when the action kicks off I can go either way toward one of the helos, whichever is in the quieter direction.

 

Or on the Cayo prep for the weapons where you're in the Penris building, or Vespucci or whatever, I land the Sparrow on the roof. I then whistle for a Buzzard which spawns on the streets below. When I exit the building I try to get back int eh Sparrow, but sometimes it gets blown up, or I die, or the model sinks in to the top of the air conditioners I landed on. Whatever, if the Sparrow isn't possible I leap off the top and parachute down to the waiting Buzzard. Lots of little uses like this for multiple helicopters.

[GeneralDee]

3 minutes ago, smokeless6 said:

It's useful having both. For example on the plasma cutter Cayo prep mission. The bad guys are always in a sort of alley, and after nicking the goods more bad guys respond in cars. This mission can turn in to a bit of a cluster if the cars approach where you're trying to escape. So I will land my Sparrow on one side of the alley, then walk around to other side and whistle for the Buzzard which spawns at the other end of the alley. Now when the action kicks off I can go either way toward one of the helos, whichever is in the quieter direction.

 

 

I actually use a Sparrow/Armored Karuma combo for that mission. I land the Sparrow a block away from the action and call in my Karuma. I bait the waves of baddies in the Karuma away from the Sparrow then go to the heli when the coast is clear. Learned that the hard way lol.

 

Sounds like a compromise for those cases where you lose the Sparrow and need to travel quick and a Buzzard would come in handy. Still thinking about it. If the Buzzard is not that much tougher I would only get it for convenience. I'd get those other Choppers as millionaire toys one day. I would rather focus on things I can call in or from my interactive menu.

[Timsalabimbo]

I don't think I've used the CEO buzzard once since Cayo came out (and I got the Sparrow). The only thing that the buzzard beats the sparrow at is that it has four seats.

[Big Molio]

I have and use both, but the Buzzard feels a more ‘weighty’ aircraft out of the two, and I like it just that bit more.

 

My favourite helicopter is the Valkyrie. I use it all the time, even though solo, it leaves me unarmed.

[SlipperyPete]

I have to admit my most use vehicle is the OP MK2,but the Sparrow is a close 2nd. You just can't beat the no cool down spamming missiles. It is my goto for Headhunter.

The Sparrow looks like it is a lot more delicate than the Buzzard-but it isn't that much more delicate. 

 

My suggestion is yes get the Buzzard. For those times when your Sparrow has an oopsie,there will be no waiting for a lean mean helicopter machine (the Buzzard!)

 

You may want to wait for a sale or have some extra cash burning a hole in your pocket. But if you need another reason to buy now, let me make you an offer...buy one Buzzard get one free! (Provided you own a hangar). You can call your CEO Buzzard and fly it into your hangar. You now have two Buzzards. 

My personal Buzzard (the one in the hangar) is sweet! I customized it all chrome. Man it is pretty! And deadly too! Deadly is always a nice extra!
 

25 minutes ago, Big Molio said:

My favourite helicopter is the Valkyrie. I use it all the time, even though solo, it leaves me unarmed.

Valkyrie??!!??!

Is that you giving me so much trouble in these missions???

hehehe.

 

[Pedinhuh]

It's good to have as a backup in case your Sparrow gets shotdown and you absolutely can't afford to waste on the ground stealing an NPC vehicle or waiting for your PV to spawn near you. It's very convenient when you can spawn it for free as a CEO too.

 

But this is assuming that you already own a Buzzard and then upgraded to a Sparrow.

 

If you only own a Sparrow then there is no rational point in buying a Buzzard, because the time you're grounded without a Sparrow is only 2 minutes, if you own a OP Mk2 or even a Deluxo then it's even more pointless.

 

If you're still considering purchasing one, wait for a good discount on it because you won't be using it as much.

[Big Molio]

31 minutes ago, SlipperyPete said:

But if you need another reason to buy now, let me make you an offer...buy one Buzzard get one free! (Provided you own a hangar). You can call your CEO Buzzard and fly it into your hangar. You now have two Buzzards. 

 

If you ring Pegasus as well you get three, I think.

[SummerFreeze]

The Buzzard and Sparrow actually have the same damage resistance BUT the problem with the Sparrow is that it takes damage every time you land it, as audible through the crashing noise, and it's because of shoddy programming. The harder the landing, the more damage the Sparrow takes. In contrast you can land a Buzzard or other CEO heli relatively hard and it won't take damage. (The Havok for example is actually much easier to land if you hover over the ground and then slam it down.)

 

I bought my Buzzard way before the Sparrow so I still use it, but usually only when I forgot to return the Sparrow to storage or when playing with 2-3 friends.

Edited January 10 by SummerFreeze

[Black-Dragon96]

I'd say, get a buzzard.

No only does it give you an option if your sparrow bites the dust, but I think its also better if you for some reason want to do some air to air combat.

If I remember correctly the sparrow can only have missiles or a minigun. The buzzard has both at the same time, giving you the option to spray your target with bullets if your missiles cant keep up.

[awesomefoot]

3 hours ago, Zaniness said:

Only the Buzzard can be called instantly at your feet via CEO menu like the Sparrow. Since the Sparrow came out, the only use out of a Buzzard you might have is cases when your Sparrow gets destroyed so you are on a cooldown. Buzzard is slightly more resiliant but not by much but also way slower.

 

If you don't mind traveling a bit to a spawn spot and spending some money on the hangar then Savage and Akula are useful. The former for the firepower, you can clear out areas very quickly, the latter for traveling off radar. The rest are just toys really.

 

I have the Savage. The only thing I use it these days is when I get a random invite from someone trying to do the Casino - Cashing Out mission. It does like you say, rains hellfire on the ranch and the reinforcements.

 

I used to use some on Contact Missions. In Los Santos Connection it's arguably better than a Buzzard mainly for protecting the hacker. But in lots of missions where an attack chopper helps, the Buzzard is still better since it's faster (like Trash Talk) and easier to land and take off (Cleaning the Cat House).

[Zaniness]

2 hours ago, awesomefoot said:

 

I have the Savage. The only thing I use it these days is when I get a random invite from someone trying to do the Casino - Cashing Out mission. It does like you say, rains hellfire on the ranch and the reinforcements.

 

I used to use some on Contact Missions. In Los Santos Connection it's arguably better than a Buzzard mainly for protecting the hacker. But in lots of missions where an attack chopper helps, the Buzzard is still better since it's faster (like Trash Talk) and easier to land and take off (Cleaning the Cat House).

 

Gang Termination from Contract DLC is a breeze with the Savage, provided you don't crash into some tree/lamp post and know where the targets tend to spawn. There are definitely other cases, but I don't remember all the missions in this game at this point, it's been ages since I've done some of them. I just know it's my third most used helicopter in this game.

 

It just has unmatched firepower among choppers, that's why I keep recommending it to people. The Hunter is also nice, but solo you don't get a cannon and the barage has no splash damage, so you are mostly limited to bombs and spamming homing missiles which is not the most exciting thing. It's also much more pricy.

If I had to rate helis in this game in terms of usefulness it would be Sparrow > Buzzard > Savage > Akula > Hunter. Sure, they became obsolete in many cases because of the Broomsticks, but this is not the topic at hand.

[SebKle78]

8 hours ago, SummerFreeze said:

The Buzzard and Sparrow actually have the same damage resistance BUT the problem with the Sparrow is that it takes damage every time you land it, as audible through the crashing noise, and it's because of shoddy programming. The harder the landing, the more damage the Sparrow takes. In contrast you can land a Buzzard or other CEO heli relatively hard and it won't take damage.

 

This!

[EkaSwede]

But of course!

 

Buzzard is slightly smaller than the Sparrow (I think the rotor blades have a shorter span) and it has softer landings than the Sparrow due to its... uh... landing thingies being bouncy unlike the Sparrow whihc just slams itself onto the ground.

 

And having a Buzzard at your beckon is useful should your Sparrow have been blown up.

 

The one downside the Buzzard has is that you can only fire 2 rockets at a time. And even then you must be careful not to fire your next rocket after the first 2 too early or you'll have to sit through an extended reload (this is also noticable on the Thruster, and there you LOSE 2 rockets) so make sure to not spam rockets too hard and space each rocket out.

Edited January 11 by EkaSwede

[lnterloper]

For me there are 5 real choppers in this game, and others just overlap the same functions.

 

 

Hunter / Valkyrie: Weapons platform / Explosive cannon dual seated.

 

Akula: Stealth utility chopper with a wanted level downgrader (with the last part being very useful for jobs where you can't call Lester, make 5 stars into 3, and 3 into 2 by changing your mask out of cops sight).

 

Savage: Ray of death, destroy everything out of cover and also everything that you believe was in cover, against this cannon there is no cover, do Headhunters and gang terminations in fractions of a minute.

 

Cargobob: Grinders back muscle, carry stuff from Import/export cars, to even your Juggernaut buddy during the Bunker resupply.

 

Buzzard / Sparrow / Havok: Transport and convenience with some PvE fighting potential.

 

My advice is to avoid overlaps until you have at least one of these 5.

 

 

 

Edited January 11 by lnterloper

[Aquamaniac]

14 hours ago, smokeless6 said:

For example on the plasma cutter Cayo prep mission. The bad guys are always in a sort of alley, and after nicking the goods more bad guys respond in cars. This mission can turn in to a bit of a cluster if the cars approach where you're trying to escape. So I will land my Sparrow on one side of the alley, then walk around to other side and whistle for the Buzzard which spawns at the other end of the alley. Now when the action kicks off I can go either way toward one of the helos, whichever is in the quieter direction.

 

I tend to use an armored or rocket shooting car for this prep, then I drive to Vespucci beach and grab a jetski to drive to the sub. I only have Sparrow and an Akula, the Akula can go stealth on radar.

[RyuNova]

The Sparrow makes the Buzzard (sorry, not sorry) redundant so no, don't buy it. The only other helicopter you need is either the Akula or the Annihilator Stealth because of their Stealth Mode which is invaluable for just moving across the map in Public Lobbies.

 

Other helicopters have their perks like the Savage Explosive Cannon and the Hunter, but the Savage cannot be upgraded, and the Hunter only really shines when you have someone on the explosive gun.

[Big Molio]

Forgot about the Havok too which is a helicopter I use a lot. I think that they fixed the rubber landing skids. It doesn't seem quite as bad as it used to be at one time, when it would actively try to kill you.

 

 

Edited January 11 by Big Molio

[GeneralDee]

The Savage is sounding like a must have. Might get that next. If not for anything else, to get through those damn desert gang eliminations with the bikers. Some days I get those too many times in a row. Only thing I would be very causious at Grapeseed because they spawn one of the targets near a gas tank which can disappear him if the tank gets him first.

[ilovefreebird]

9 hours ago, lnterloper said:

Akula: Stealth utility chopper with a wanted level downgrader (with the last part being very useful for jobs where you can't call Lester, make 5 stars into 3, and 3 into 2 by changing your mask out of cops sight).

 

A quick note - the wanted level will always stay at 2 stars if you're in stealth mode.

 

I got the Buzzard for free (PS3 character transfer gift, I think?). I use it more often than the Sparrow solely because of my CEO menu muscle memory. I'd only recommend buying one nowadays if you have too much money and nothing to spend it on.

[RyuNova]

3 hours ago, GeneralDee said:

The Savage is sounding like a must have. Might get that next. If not for anything else, to get through those damn desert gang eliminations with the bikers. Some days I get those too many times in a row. Only thing I would be very causious at Grapeseed because they spawn one of the targets near a gas tank which can disappear him if the tank gets him first.

 

It's not as good as you think unless you practice, and it has no performance Mods, so you are stuck with the basic chopper performance.

[SlipperyPete]

10 hours ago, EkaSwede said:

But of course!

 

Buzzard is slightly smaller than the Sparrow (I think the rotor blades have a shorter span) and it has softer landings than the Sparrow due to its... uh... landing thingies being bouncy unlike the Sparrow whihc just slams itself onto the ground.

 

And having a Buzzard at your beckon is useful should your Sparrow have been blown up.

 

The one downside the Buzzard has is that you can only fire 2 rockets at a time. And even then you must be careful not to fire your next rocket after the first 2 too early or you'll have to sit through an extended reload (this is also noticable on the Thruster, and there you LOSE 2 rockets) so make sure to not spam rockets too hard and space each rocket out.

They are generally called landing skids.  Don't feel bad for not knowing that-I looked it up. hehe.

 

If you use the Buzzard enough,the timing of the missile shots becomes second nature. But you definately can't beat the Sparrow's no-cool down missiles.

[SlipperyPete]

3 hours ago, GeneralDee said:

The Savage is sounding like a must have. Might get that next. If not for anything else, to get through those damn desert gang eliminations with the bikers. Some days I get those too many times in a row. Only thing I would be very causious at Grapeseed because they spawn one of the targets near a gas tank which can disappear him if the tank gets him first.

What mission is this? 

[SlipperyPete]

1 hour ago, ilovefreebird said:

 

A quick note - the wanted level will always stay at 2 stars if you're in stealth mode.

 

I got the Buzzard for free (PS3 character transfer gift, I think?). I use it more often than the Sparrow solely because of my CEO menu muscle memory. I'd only recommend buying one nowadays if you have too much money and nothing to spend it on.

I don't know about that. This advice has to be catered to an individual's circumstance. If you don't have a backup for the Sparrow,the Buzzard is your cheapest way to go. I just recently trashed my Sparrow doing the VIP Mission HeadHunter (someone put a building right where I was making a sharp turn-stupid Los Santos City Planners!) and called in my Buzzard. Instantly back on the Head Hunt!

(BTW-I would have used my OP MK2,but this thread must have influenced me and made me want to give some love to my Buzzard).

Op MK2 is generally the best Grinding tool out there (I don't think there is much debate there),but it has a very high price tag considering the paywalls.

-thanks for the tip.I need to take that helicopter out and get to know it.

-is your name referring to one my absolute favorite bands?

Edited January 11 by SlipperyPete
spellin

[Zaniness]

7 hours ago, GeneralDee said:

The Savage is sounding like a must have. Might get that next. If not for anything else, to get through those damn desert gang eliminations with the bikers. Some days I get those too many times in a row. Only thing I would be very causious at Grapeseed because they spawn one of the targets near a gas tank which can disappear him if the tank gets him first.

 

I've done 25 gang terminations with the Savage and I've never had issues. Sometimes one would hide somewhere where the cannons wouldn't get them, like under the sawmill in Paleto, since plenty of it is sitting on some sort of stills where neither cannon nor rockets can reach. Other than that Savage is unfortunately pretty squishy (R* logic), so it won't withstand continuous fire for very long until it starts smoking. But it's really not an issue with some practice and knowledge where the targets spawn, you can complete the mission in seconds really.

[lnterloper]

6 hours ago, RyuNova said:

 

It's not as good as you think unless you practice, and it has no performance Mods, so you are stuck with the basic chopper performance.

 

That's where you are mistaken, by turning the Savage into a PV, it can be stored in the Hangar. Little known fact by some people is that taking a chopper from the Hangar Floor will give it a "engine boost" (more power than any Engine Upgrade), this is such an old bug that at this point is a "feature", some boosted choppers can outrun Jets, sometimes even Holming Rockets depending on the distance where they where fired.

 

[Spider-Vice]

This topic inspired me to buy the Sparrow to complement my good ol' trusty Buzzard so thanks I guess  Upgraded it with the missiles and it's definitely a speedy useful one. A little more fragile than the Buzzard but helps with those long flights.

[GeneralDee]

7 hours ago, SlipperyPete said:

What mission is this? 

One of the Gang Elimination missions from the Agency Contracts.

57 minutes ago, Spider-Vice said:

This topic inspired me to buy the Sparrow to complement my good ol' trusty Buzzard so thanks I guess  Upgraded it with the missiles and it's definitely a speedy useful one. A little more fragile than the Buzzard but helps with those long flights.

The more I think about it, I must thank El Rubio for my Sparrow. I actually hesitated for weeks before finally getting the Kosatka and just did a full upgrade. The Sparrow is my sky buddy so that's why I was wondering if i should get another air vehicle in case i was missing out.