[Suggestion] Nerf Mosquito and Scythe Air to air and buff Reaver

The title says it all. Reavers have so many disadvantages for air to air fights. Buff reaver air to air noseguns and make its hitbox smaller so it can compete with other ESFs.

The Reaver has the highest skill cap of any ESF (Meaning it also has the highest potential), but it also has a high skill floor.
If you think it can't compete, I have some bad news; You're sitting firmly below that floor.

The Reaver is way easier to hit and has worse weapons for nose to nose fights. Back when my server used to do air duels among top pilots the almost always chose Scythe... then Mossie... and last Reaver. Scythes were always on top of the kills.

Reaver IS harder to use, but does not have a better pay off for the hours you put in vs same hours in the other two ESFs. I can do things in a Scythe I could only DREAM of doing in a Reaver.

So there's a higher skill floor than either of the other two? Isn't that unfair for new pilots that want to get better at the air game? I mean if the other two factions can produce pilots easier than the NC doesn't that put the NC at a substantial disadvantage when it comes to air due to not enough competent flyers and should be addressed?

Wasn't the vortek rotary proclaimed the best A2A nosegun for ESFs???

Yes, they tended to choose the platform they were most comfortable with. The Reaver is still the most damaging ESF by a large margin. Yes, it's easier to hit, but the key to the Reaver is not to allow your opponent a target to begin with. Flying with top tier pilots in a duel setting is going to skew the results because the Reaver is simply not designed for that type of combat, and trying to force it into that box belittles it's strengths in other areas.

This is how asymmetrical balance works, you get stronger in one area while losing out in another. Scythes have stability at the cost of speed and turning, the mossie has mobility at the cost of v. thrust, and the Reaver gets speed and vertical thrust at the cost of airbrakes.

Duels are not the way the game was intended to be played, flat out. Thats not to say they're not fun, or they're invalid ways to play, but you cannot assess a vehicle's performance when you take it out of it's designated habitat. It's like using a Flash as an MBT and whining that it's underpowered. It's wrong, and it makes you look foolish.

It has been nerfed a bunch of times. On top of that the smaller hit boxes of the other two ESFs counter the small advantage the Vortek has. Oh, and they are buffing the other ESF noseguns soon to be "on par" with the Vortek so we won't have ANY advantage there either.

Thats the thing though, everything on NC has a high skill floor. It's just how the faction was designed. The other two factions can produce mediocre pilots at a faster rate where the NC creates fantastic pilots at a slower rate. It's a matter of quality vs quantity.

I agree that it's rough on newcomers, but honestly it's not that great a difference.

This is all and good except in the wild the Reaver can only use that advantage (that is going away anyways) if it gets the drop on another ESF AND that pilot does not instantly turn to fight (like all top pilots do).

Reaver has the highest afterburner strength???

Correct. Which does nothing for you in the current air Meta. I have to use Racer and AB tanks in order for it to mean anything... which is to say I can sometimes run away from the more accurate Scythe and Mossie guns but it's a crap shoot and does nothing to help my faction.

I think it's very unfair that you dismiss the two largest advantages that the Reaver has like they're nothing. I know you're petitioning to get the Reaver buffed, but don't look at the situation with tunnel vision. The Reaver is not exceptional, but neither are the either two ESFs. It's not particularly horrible either, and neither are the other two.

The fact that you think running away is the way to survive says it all. You have more chance of surviving by fighting back. Once you start running, you are essentially defenceless.

But then again, I've noticed that trying to escape has become the norm in newer pilots, and I always cheer when they do, because they suddenly become a bunch of free certs and experience.

Now, if they turn and fight, they have more of a chance, because the Reaver can promptly out cartwheel my Mozzie with it's amazing thrust capabilities. I'm not so great at keeping my reticule on a target during a waltz, so suddenly the enemy has a chance. Still slim, considering air is getting filled with mediocre pilots, but higher than if they turned and ran.

To think that "nerfs", "buffs", OP and UP is the path to gaming gratification is beyond sad.

I watched a Twitch stream couple days ago, Reaver pilot on Emerald, best I have seen. Really highlighted what I also feel are the Reavers strengths, but few can get good enough to really consistently pull off. I can't, even though I try. I fly all 3 factions, {and 2 servers now}, but even doing that screws up flying esf a bit for me, since isn't consistently the same thing.

Imho, as others have said, Reaver feels, both handling and faction specific weapons, feels "more" different than mossie and scythe. It's a brick, with a shotgun, yeehaw. Unfortunately, people scream when shot in the face w/AH, so is soon getting nerfed. Also, the next update gives EVERYONE in air 500m engagement radar, so Reaver's potential up close n personal advantage taking a big hit, especially with full stealth will no longer protecting from Coyotes....holy feces. You think it's hard in a Reaver now, just wait.

What do you mean by that? Those words get thrown around a lot, but are you at all interested in substantiating your claim?

These would balance the reaver, except that there is nothing to balance out the larger hitbox of the reaver. The advantage provided by the AB and high damage are relatively marginal, and the high damage only matters if you are running the rotary (or the AH, but that's another can of worms). Typically speaking, the more accurate combatant will win, and it's far easier to score hits on a reaver than the other ESF's.


The ESF's are almost balanced, with the exception of the reaver hitbox issue. This was addressed at release by giving the reaver more HP, but after this trait was removed the reaver has been struggling statistically ever since.

Skill ceiling == the best you can get with a platform without it hindering you.
Skill floor == The absolute worst you can be to be productive.

Granted, there is no threshold for these terms, but they make it easier to abstract the amount skill needed to be productive, and the maximum amount of skill allowed.

If everything in NC has a high skill floor, isn't that a game imbalance?
Say for example, only one reaver pilot was in the air, but was ridiculously good, but opposing factions also had decent pilots, teamwork will win 90% of the time, that seems like an oversight imo.

A higher skill floor doesn't imply imbalance unless the high skill ceiling is absent. Trust me, one good Reaver pilot can take on multiple opponents, and regularly do.

Reaver does the highest damages, in fact reavers nosegunS are the noseguns that deal the highests damages between all 3 factions, its has really fast after burner and movements capacity that scythes and mossie cannot rivalised with

All 3 esf's got the same "battle potential", scythe been the easier potentiel to reach then mossie in 2d place and finally the reaver is the one that need the highest level of skill, If you manage to reach it you're the best.