[Vehicle] Why Tomcats are amazing!!!

They're secondaries... Because they're in the secondary slot. I'm notsaying they need to be secondary to the nosegun here (although, yes, I hold that opinion.) I'm just using secondaries to refer to them.

But they do need to be nerfed- the benefit they give is far greater than the benefit AB tanks give. If you disagree, I can set up a matched-pairs 2 sample z-test for victory proportions on test server to prove that A2AM are far better, independent of our own individual skills. I'm completely serious about this, by the way, I've been looking to directly compare the loadout slots in combat in a statistically accurate way.

Tomcats and rotary rant the best option for A2G. Also, the 'squad without' that decided to pull esf without an air superiority loadout should have less chance of winning in that situation. They don't have all the tools for the job of a2a combat, they maybe decided they wanted some A2g pods. This was the choice they made.

It would be like pulling HE on a tank then expecting to kill other tanks.

But that what's the point of AB tanks? If a squad running AB tanks loses to a squad running locks everu time, the loadout slot is useless. AB tanks are an A2A option, denying that is ridiculous. They need to be directly balanced against tomcats.

Well rather than a nerf why not look outside the box and go with a stealth boost or/and flares reworked. Then to increase new player survivability add in rbs for the nose cannon since gravity seems to be non existent for it. This way there is greater survivability and more reason to grab stealth over the standard fire suppression that everyone grabs these days. Maybe even improve flak armour to include a ratio reduction in all bullet damage rather than just infantry ground fire. Because if we are going to look at easy options then fire suppression would have to be up there as well.

And if you still want to nerf tomcats because they are more effective at ranged engagements then the nose gun then I would have to say nerf the hornets and pods along with it because I use them over the nose gun on ground as well since they seem to work better in those situations. Hell, why not just take out every weapon option apart from nose gun, knife and basilisk. I am sure that would be fun.

I would have to say ab tanks are more for a quick escape, personally I think they should buff it by twice the amount but only when the thrusters are locked into flight mode. At the end of the day hovering is what keeps getting A2G nerfed and I am sure it is in there for take of and landing mostly. The fact that one can use the booster and VTOL at the same time to increase vertical thrust was an accident and gets old quick since it is useless in larger fights.

I'd have no problem with buffing stealth. If it negated coyotes at all levels, I'd probably stop whining immediately.

I don't want to nerf tomcats because they're more effective than noseguns, I want to nerf them because they're more effective than AB tanks. Both sides get noseguns, both sides are using AA secondaries, so the side with more skill deserves to win. As it is now, the side with tomcats will win, even if they have far less skill. If you disagree, again, I'm willing to set up an empirical test.

You can't win fights by running away. Your K/D is preserved, but your opponents are still free to dominate the airspace. It's an interesting proposal, for sure, but not one that fixes the tomcats/AB tanks balance issue, especially since tomcats will follow you fkrever and your opponent can chain tomcats.

I want to buff tomcat because it is not more effective than nosegun. AB tank can receive a small buff but they are already pretty useful. Think of AB tank, tomcat, pod, coyote, etc. like the infantry armor options. Some armors are used more often by the general public because they beef up resistance against explosives or bullets while some like grenade bands almost never get used. AB tank is good for both A2A and A2G (seen several banshee + AB lately) whereas tomcat is only A2A and less effective than the INFANTRY option.

Tomcat was amazing till the whiner knights whined it away, and now I am forced to equip lolpods/coyotes to get more kills during my limited playtime even though A2A is my prefered duty. Don't even get me started on the reload certs for those new secondaries, coyote and the other one get 1 full second reload reduction for full reload certification while lolpods/tomcat get only 0.3? AB/tomcat won't be getting any buff until SOE has squeezed enough money to reach their quarterly/annual sales goal, and those buff may never arrive since SOE can always release Newer, Better weapons.

If there was a a third weapon slot there would be a point to tanks, it could be used on an a2g loadout which is weak against someone with an A2A loadout, running away and survivability would make a sensible option then.

The game is about skill, it is about having the right loadout for the job, you wouldn't take a HE tank gun into a armour battle, just like you don't take half a loadout(nose gun only) into a dog fight. Otherwise, you put yourself at a disadvantage and this game is about winning with any means nessasary with large fights, it isn't about 2 aircraft in the corner of a map having their own little game.

But AB tanks should be the right choice for the job- if you have an A2A nosegun, they're effectively an A2A secondary. I'm not trying to say "use a suboptimal loadout," I'm trying to say "buff (in comparison to other loadouts) a suboptimal loadout until it's useful."

Are you crazy? Tomcats are ridiculously effective. I equipped them for the first time in weeks, and absolutely destroyed 4 pilots in a row, even though they were working together, even though one had flares.

Yes, I think it needs a buff. It needs a longer duration and a higher top speed for sure.

What I fear most are good pilots with coyotes that lead with volleys when reengaging and switch to rotaries.
They know the blinding effect of the 6 missiles, they're good enough to land 6 missiles on highly skilled-dodging pilots.
Makes me do the same to noobs bc why face resistance when you can coyotecream nubs in a diff cont?

All this talk of Sky Knights™ is jolly dandy. I have a lot of respect for these nosegun duelers and my hats (yes, multiple) are off to you, sirs.

However, as a lowly grunt who's feet are firmly on the ground for 99% of the game and not wanting to detract from the topic, I offer this alternate perspective: Any ESF below 100m is a scumbag farmer who gets what they deserve. And that's just the way it should be.

Good day, sirs. *tips multiple hats

You want a buff for AB tank, which is useful for both A2A and A2G, so I say I want a buff for Tomcat, which is only for A2A and not as good as coyote. You got some kills? I got some too! Why? Because we are experienced! Try coyote? We do even better! You can have more speed, more acceleration, and even longer duration for AB, but I will have my faster reload/speed or doubled clip for Tomcat. It's a trade-off so we can both get what we want to be the best in what we do.

We can keep things the way they are and have a compromise that nobody likes, or we can negotiate like sensible human beings for the things that we want. Call it "politics" if you will, but it is give-and-take. Either we see patches of nerf after nerf, or buff after buff, your choice.

On the subject of people classifying things as 'cheese' or 'crutches', I do love those posts and the elitist idiots who make then.

I have a simple philosophy: If it's in the game, it's fair game. Use it to win.

If 'elitist idiot A' does not like using it because that only want to use 'high skill' weapons, that's fine. That's there prerogative. Just as mine is to use a max, melt faces in one shot with a shotgun, drop a land mine as I run away and blow the pursuer to bits, pop a shield and scratch my nuts for a few moments before killing said idiot etc etc.

If people only like 'high skill' stuff. Go play that game. Because this is Planetside and all that stuff you don't like is in the game.

Truly skilled players use the best tool to get the job done, and learn to adapt to anything or weapon, regardless of how stilton they think it is, that challenges them. It's the ones who 'think' they are skilled that ***** and whine about 'cheese' and 'crutches'.

Count me in too. I've never had a problem with Tomcats OR Coyotes. Tomcats you charge, Coyotes you run away and re-engage on your terms. If the enemy has cornered you with multiple ESFs running a mix of loadouts... well, you've just been outplayed. Use better SA next time or coordinate your own group.

A different reason than the last guy, whose argument was that he runs in air squads where numbers are more important than skill or loadouts. Which is fair, numbers matter in planetside.

I'd argue you're just wrong though. Yes you charge tomcats and back up vs coyotes. But those only work if the nose gunner is a much better pilot than the missile user. You're used to being that better pilot but for most people AB is the inferior choice, when they're supposed to be equal.

The fundamental problem with buffing AB is that it helps experienced players far more than new players- AB is a high-skill cap loadout choice.

Have you even read this thread? On the anti-lockon side, we're asking for nerfs, not saying "don't use lockons." Fact is, they're overpowered and need to be balanced, and you're defending them exclusively because you can't win without them. Quite frankly, you have no experience in ESF's, and deserve no say in A2A balance discussions.

That doesn't even sound remotely true.

The cult of the nosegun doesn't want lockons to be a competitive option. Whether it's arguing for their outright removal, nerfing them to be harder to use than the noseguns, or asking for a reliable way to negate them - Skygods don't want lockons.