erm so how do i take down planes?

I'm new to the game, got alpha squad from a friend who didnt want to play.
So.

I bought Rocket launcher because i was pissed at the plane zergs constantly above our heads. But..

I dont know it doesnt look to do any damage to them. Even if i hit them by the time i reload they are out of range.

When they do die it's another plane who kill them and i get an assist.

I'm in a fight point right now there are like 30 planes above and you spawn and die.


How to deal with them?

Method I:

Grab a Vanguard, fire one single accurate 150 mm shell.

Watch plane explode, enjoy the fireworks.

Method II:

Grab a Lightning, upgrade the ammo storage for the C75 Viper cannon, upgrade reload time and ammo capacity, learn to aim (this gun is tough).

Watch plane explode, enjoy the fireworks.

Optional methods, such as dual Burster MAXs, the guided SAMs or the Skyguard turret for the Lightning exist as well, but these suck (and the Skyguard sucks more than the single Burster, which sucks more than the SAM, which sucks more than the double Burster).

If you're being spawn camped by a horde of anything it's impossible to deal with without a group effort or a zerg of your own from another location.

I don't think it was the dev's intention to make it so that any one infantry could easily take out an aircraft, ground troops infinitely outnumber air targets, if it only took one person to take down a fighter or gunship then nobody would fly. With that said, anyone can take out a fighter if the pilot is not smart enough to retreat when they start taking damage. A MAX with dual bursters hurt fighters bad, and two shots with your launcher put fighters into the fiery red-zone of health where even small arms fire is dangerous. The best AA is an AA fighter, it's the only one that can easily take out other aircraft as a lone wolf, and that makes sense IMO. Also, for the love of god, if you want aircraft kills then don't start firing right when you see it, that's a great way to make them flee, but if if want the kill then it's a great way to stop them from getting close. Wait until you know you can put some decent damage on them and then open fire, if your goal is kills then don't fire at them when you know you won't do any decent damage to them.

Your not supposed to.Didnt you get the memo?Ground units are a play feature for the flyboys.Just wait until they have their fully speced composite armour,flares and rocket pods,it will only get worse.

Airside 2.

Keyword there: group effort. The sooner you guys figure out that this is how Planetside works, the better you'll do.

Method I: Get something with which you can lock on to the craft. Watch it flee in terror, or do some crazy stuff for your entertainment (warning: the latter is rather uncommon, and is linearly related to the amount of skilled pilots in your area)

Method II: Teamwork and get a couple of lock ons or Skyguards or AA turrets. If you don't have teammates, get in an AA turret or Skyguard, you'll still shoot down lots of new pilots. Or just hide in a zerg. If no zerg is available, create one.

Method III: Start flying yourself. It's fun I can guarantee.

Side-method I: If you are Vanu and you don't have teammates, you can spawn a Magrider. The cannon is scarily accurate, and low flying hover heroes will die to the fury of your superheated plasma cannonballs.

All of the methods Bengal indicated are fine. He also missed the obvious one which is get in a fighter yourself and start taking them out.

However the real problem is your side allowing the enemies to gain air superiority in the first place. If you are playing solo you will have to suck it up - this is one of the many drawbacks of playing solo. If you are in an outfit though then tell them to get a grip and regain the air. Even half a squad of reasonably co-ordinated dual burster Maxes will be able to shut down the airspace where you are operating for the enemy.

No offense, but those words look a bit ironical, if written by someone with Reaver avatar.

Plenty of teamwork here on the NC side of things - Carpe Libertas!

@OP: The ground to air missiles that the heavy assault carries are not designed to one shot an airplane. It's a group effort if you want to keep gunships away - at most you'll scare them away with a single missile. Now if you fire a couple of those at the same time (and the enemy doesn't pull their flares out) you might very well instakill them - and then they have a cooldown till they can spawn another reaver (increases with every death - I usually have to wait 15 mins for a new reaver on busy nights)

Lol

erm if it has to be a group effort to take down one plane i feel this is going to turn into Flight Simulator (every one in planes)

Everyone has the AA burster max unlocked by default. You have to unequip the antitank launcher first. Many people just don't notice it. Myself included during the beta.

Equip Engineer. Use Mana Anti-Vehicular turret....

Oops...

You don't

Anti Aircraft doesnt exist all we have is annoy aircraft weapons nothing that actually is lethal.

Welcome to AirSide 2 Where the pilots all cry "team work is needed to kill us!" but they fly 1 man planes solo... the hypocrisy is mind blowing

Currently, there is no viable way to feel as if you're contributing to KILLING aircraft. Scaring away , yes, but then you might as well not do that especially when there's a flyer zerg above your head.

That was possibly the first post I've read on these forums that was constructive, correct, and amusing all at the same time. Respect.

On-topic, the tears of groundpounders are absolutely delicious and I will enjoy them immensely during my visits here. Meanwhile those people using this time to learn how to deploy AA effectively are becoming increasingly difficult to avoid - you forumfolk should teach those guys a thing or two about how to win. Maybe they'll come here and join the pity party rather than shooting us down.

You will never, ever be able to reach a good balance point in which single AA > ESF, because ground forces are far, far more plentiful than air. Ever fought on a continent where you have 10% population, and one other faction had 80-90%? It sucks. Now imagine that, all the time, except with the added bonus of everything that wants to kill you being able to see you first and shoot first every single time due to rendering issues.

I'm gonna keep mowing down hordes of infantry with my rocket pods. There can be 50 infantry down there, and not one (1) of them cares about anti-air. I can hover above them without getting one lock on me, or one flak hit because.... noone cares!

All it would take to make me go away and not come back would be someone clicking that sundy and chosing the default one arm Burster MAX and putting a few rounds on me, but... again... noone cares!

It seems the only AA people are willing to use is forum QQ. No matter, you'll keep dying, because as it is, even if they buffed AA to one shot kills, I'd still be there hovering and killing you, cuz noone bothers to get it.

I dont even need the breaker rockets... I can just stick around and take pot shots with my rotary... Not a single **** was given

No one uses AA cause its pointless you get no certs for scaring off an aircraft so either someone ***** his rate of cert income to do a role ineffectively or he like you just goes and spams the FOTM weapons.

If you're just playing for certs, you just missed the point.
When I'm on the ground I'm rolling as a skyguard or a single burster MAX - do I get less certs for it? Sure I do, but the rest of my team can go about their business safely and capture that base - and if you get another person to help you with AA, you'd be surprised at how many kills you can get.

Also regarding that I'll just come out and say that the Skyguard could use a buff, not to damage, but accuracy, especially at range. (and I'm mainly an ESF pilot) the burster MAX is fine as it is.

If 2 or 3 people go AA in a zerg of many times that number, you will not have to worry about ESF's - ever!