The truth about Rocket Pods

4 pages of debate about the AH-64 Apache/F-22 Raptor? Of course flying saucers are going to own infantry unless there is a wide spread of infantry that can cover every possible lock-on angle or dedicated AA bursters to counter a unit that counters everything.

In my opinion ESF should destroy a tank if they hit a full salvo to their back. No vehicle should be so powerful that it let's you be so cozy that you can ignore the enemies.

I personally enjoy using Skyguard. I think the point is not to shoot enemy fighters when they are few hexes away, but instead, when they are too close for them to do anything. Seeing them wobbling in panic is priceless.

The problem is that the aircraft pack significantly more firepower than their ground born cousins.

An ESF can obliterate a tank in a heartbeat. The only thing on the ground that comes close to that is a point blank vulcan.

But he's right. And pilots crying about maxes know this damn well, too.
HA AA is easily countered by flares, terain and pilot skill.
Skyguards...Viability doesn't come without availability. As long as Skyguards cannot be spawned everywhere, they cannot be called viable, even if you triple their dps (how it should be done).
By nerfing burster maxes, AA would get its back broken. The glorious days of lolpodding would return. Never again...

You can fly an ESF to anywhere on the map in less than 2 minutes. FACT. You just cant handle the fact that ground troops can shoot you down. Get some skills and move on. Stop your whining.

Tripple the damage per shot of a skyguard ? are you kidding those things are insane powerful , get close to one and you are probably dead .

They put out alot more damage than any dual burster max , they are just not as accurate from long ranges .. Nor should it be or it would be too over powering .

Yes, well that's the whole point of being in the air isn't it?
And how am i whining? Never did I claim that infantry shouldn't shoot me down, never did i claim that ESF's should be buffed nor did i ever claim that infantry should be nerfed.
In fact, I even admitted that infanty (Lock-ons) are the biggest counter to ESF's instead of the AA MAX.
I'm just trying to put some counter weight to the people claiming that air is OP from my own perspective, AA MAX will be able to scare away ESF's, but a group of (dedicated) Lock-on HA's kills them, atleast that's my experience.

BS, the problem has always been ground is a bunch of un organized big gun cry babies. Don't get me wrong, I am mostly on the ground, I KNOW> Air can still be kept away without the burster max. But it appears to difficult at task for ground to think and organize. They are pretty much dumbfounded if they can't spam an AA max.

Throw tactics and teamwork out the window with ground forces. Thats why there are so many overpowered launchers/turrets/lock ons/etc.... JUST GIVE ME A BIG GUN, and I will get the job done.

Uhm.... I don't know what game you are playing, but NONE of the current Lockon weapons fire like a Javelin.

Let me reiterate this again. NONE OF THE CURRENT LOCKON WEAPONS FIRE LIKE A JAVELIN.

The ES G2A Launchers don't, the NS Annihilator doesn't, nor does the Striker.

The only weapons that come close to working like a javelin are the following:
NC Phoenix (With a good user)
NC Raven (With a good MAX User)
The AV Mana Turret (With a good user)

So again, the argument that cover doesn't work, is incorrect.

And lastly, groups do use that tactic, except you ignored the whole earlier whining about 'TOO MUCH AA'. Which is going to happen, but complete air denial? No. Any AA defense gets overwhelmed by mass air and mass ground forces. Does not prevent air from returning or also having more coordination done on the other end, much like how AA complained about not being very 'deterrent' and people telling AA to 'get coordinated'...

Tekulila, it doesn't need projectile drop because at EXTREME ranges, even WITH leading, you can't tell where the rounds are going to land unless you 'hit'. And even then, you can't readjust properly to make it consistent. Pilots with half a clue will also not make it easy to lead at distance, so projectile drop makes any form of AA deterrence non-existent at a certain range.

Also, no one said Lockons suck because they don't one shot ESFs... That is YOUR foolishness. The Lockons suck because it can be easily duped into going into obstacles due to the interception code where it jinks the missile sharply instead of 'curving' the missile like how the AV Mana Turret Missiles go.

Just as much as you like to make Double AA Burster MAXs 'click and win' AA, instant air denial in 3 (And yes, you said 3 earlier, now you say 2) hexes, which is not true in both respects.

And how is this any different from Air... Oh wait... Air doesn't require organization EITHER. And I also spend time in the air and been where there is a bunch of us just hovering like vultures in areas, and other areas, I did fly through larger groups of ground forces.

What I don't understand is most infantry ***** about getting farmed with rocketpods, yet have no quarrels running straight into my carbine time and time again without achieving anything. Get killed on their way to get killed, cry on forums, die where they think they should've, no problem. I mean most people who play this game say they do not care about K/D, so why do all these people suddenly care about getting killed by a ESF or Liberator.

Considering the tiny damage radius of a rocket pod and the readily available means and ease of ability to kill/deter an ESF anyone saying they're op is ******* stupid. That is all. Thread closed. GG

AA defense does prevent air returning, it's called "killing them".
This reminds me, when the lancer was brought out and we QQ'd about it being UP, you guys told us "Get organized and use it in group" and look, it's the best ESRL.
IF AA would organize as our outfit does with lancers, AKA taking one target and melting it with 20 heavies in 2 seconds there wouldn't even be ONE rocket pod fired in and around that base.

OP is baiting or a troll.

No ESF "clears the skies" because of a single heavy with a Lock On. Its almost impossible to hit a ESF with lock on even if the pilot is half ***. You basically have to have the damn thing in a dead hover to get a lock.

Nice try though.

Here's a cluebat for you Chipay - AA only kills if the pilots suck. Mass AA will kill just as much as Mass Air, Mass AV, or even a bunch of drunken idiots firing the Dumbfire Rockets at a single target.

I also never stated the Lancer is underpowered. It is not the greatest for use against as a single user against air, nor is the Dumbfire RLs all the factions has. But at the same time, you aren't going to see people understanding the simple fact that Air has to also SUCK IT UP like the rest of the groups where they have to 'work as a group' when hitting a place with AA, JUST LIKE THE AA PEOPLE WERE TOLD WITH THEIR WEAPONS.

The thing is, people keep making Air sound like it can't exist now... That it has been nerfed to uselessness. Except I am up there in the air, my not-so great ability flying WITHIN 2 HEXES of a base of large fights WITH GROUND SUPPORT. It's not nerfed to hell and ground's AA ability isn't denying me my chances to getting in some licks in on them as air. Disorganized ground forces don't exactly 'destroy' air unless you are BAD AIR to begin with.

So AA should be buffed?

Actually, incorrect. In order to kill an ESF as a lockon user, the pilot has to be oblivious to the warning, and at least 2 of the 3 hits from an Annihilator. In the case of the Striker, oblivious to at least 7 of the 10 missile hits of a Striker before the last 3 or 4 finish it off.

In the time to accomplish this, the pilot also has to be completely oblivious to the initial 2 second 'LOCKON' flashing warning from ONE Heavy. During that time, 4 seconds are also added to the time due to reload, additional 4 seconds for re-acquire. It is possible for a HA to lockon to a moving ESF or Liberator, but at the same time, it is possible for an ESF to GTHO and break a lockon attempt if they were at the extreme range. If they were still within range of the lockon, it will be hard to get out, but again, the time it takes for the rest of the damage to kill can be spent GTHO. Lingering or ignoring it == Death.

The problem here, is people ASSUME Lockons, as 'easy' as they are... Do a lot of damage. Strikers only do more damage than an NS Annihilator if they manage to have a full clip hit successfully versus 1 Annihilator missile. There is still the 2 second reload time and the 2-3+ second reacquire time. One Lockon User cannot kill a SMART ESF pilot. Multiple Lockon users can, but the fact it will take 2-3 Lockon users to do so means 2 people no longer focusing on other things and you are also given a fair warning that someone is trying to lockon to you.

Assuming rocket pods stay that way, then yes, some AA options should be buffed. Skyguards (fully certed) should be to ESFs, what ESFs have been to tanks in the last months. Walker and Ranger should be strong enough to defend a MBT against a single ESF.
At the moment, both aren't viable secondary weapons.
On the other hand, Maxes should render for air like vehicles and the sky ceiling needs an increase to allow more aa dogfighting. Liberator should get a buff with the increased ceiling in mind.

Or you are just inexperienced?

I was not lying. I have done it. It is really not that hard. try it some time.

Decided to try out some rocket podding very late at night, see what the big deal was about

Flying my ESF, get hit by flak cannons, take quite a bit of damage really quickly, figure this is sort of a risk-reward thing.

Rocket pod a tank, barely hurt it

"Huh?" was my general response

So I go into the VR, rocketpods tickle armor, main gun tickles armor, only things I could damage reliably was other air vehicles.

And if this is the case, whats the point of ESF's if they can't hurt ground? The only thing I could hurt was infantry.

If they are going to be this weak against ground, god I dunno where to take these things now

If we buff them vs. flak, it just goes back to the old days of them roflpodding entire squads with impunity.

If we buff their rockets, they just 1-2 shot infantry and its back to the old days etc

ESF's as they are to me just feel really really out of place, and probably why I see so very, very, very few of them flying today