Please Devs, try to fly.

if they add a new esf then they are gonna alienate people who have spent cash and time certing into esf's already ... here you go all this time the air 2 air game is with esf , now forget all that time money and or certs and dump more tim moey or certs into thi plane that is pretty much the same but tuned for air . if thy wanted to have an interceptor or whatever they shouldnt have given esf's so many options in the first place , as you can already tuen your esf into an interceptor. if anyhting they will intorduce new weapons and equipment and new certs into the existing esf framework .

Honest question, are you guys (OP and supporters) relatively new to the game? I mean, joined up in the past month or so?

Not too long (few months) ago there were massive threads about nerfing air. Infantry could barely go from base to base without there being 20 ESFs podding them and circling like vultures constantly. Sure we have more weapons now but it's a delicate balance for A2G & G2A. The Devs play the game themselves you know. Many of them. And they spend over an hour every Friday following around outfits and publicly showing fights as well. It's safe to say, they know what happens in game and talk about it internally.

There's also the folks that think Planetside2 should be about 1vs1 air to air duals and everyone else stays the **** out....eh.

I would not mind of they raised the flying ceiling though, at least to make it like the side borders where you get a warning, so you can go higher for a few seconds if needed. This may allow easier movement for aircraft to and from a region but A2A ESF to do their intercepting work. Keep in mind, a new cert line for boosters is coming too.

Also why not try different tactics instead of hovering to attack? Why not boost through and do salvos on quick opportunities? I've seen The Enclave do insane Close Air Support using Waypoints to target things; coming in from high, firing and boosting off in groups. I think a lot of complaints come from people doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

Have a look at the Sauron, trust me SOE couldnt give two ***** about what we have spent on items and their upgrades.

Rocket pods are fine as they are. If anything, they need a small buff.

Air vs ground is where it needs to be, with neither completely dominating the other. Especially not the AA MAX as you simply can't get masses of kills with it, just assists. The AA MAX deters aircraft, which is what it is supposed to do. It needs quite a large range nerf with a small buff to close up damage to compensate, but that's it.

The ESF is a superb solo vehicle. In the right hands it is easily the most versatile and powerful single seat vehicle in the game. That is good balance. The most powerful things are the hardest to master and use. That gives the more skillful players something to work for and a justified higher return in the shape of kills and exp.

I reckon this team of devs know their onions when it comes to finer balance.

Exactly, and by many pilots own admission, the biggest threat to their ESF back then was a mid-air collision with a friendly. Literally.

We simply cannot afford to go back to those awful times. The game's population won't stand another exodus. Populations are great now. We have to try to keep them that way because the game is only fun when plenty of people are on a server. Server merges can only compensate for dwindling numbers for so long, for obvious reasons.

Dude... i understand your problem because i suffer from the same, but Luperza as a developer is worth 10 maghigbys working at full or maybe more. I talked to her and luperza told me to ask in the friday night about this. And that's what i'm going to do, i recommend you to do it too. As more people ask the same thing they will surely asnwer us.

Honestly, it seems like you dont know how pods performed back then. It was ridiculous. 2-3 hits within a 5m range around an infantry target killed it, tanks got killed within 2-3 seconds.
Now you need 5-6 direct hits on an infantry target to kill it, you can even better use the A2A nosegun to kill infantry. You have to make at least two passes to kill a tank as well. While i am fine with that, however the AA is not well balanced atm. It feels like AA is still balanced to counter the "old" pods, when they took 2-3 shots to kill infantry and instagibbed tanks.

The ESF has no place whatsoever in this game right now. For gaining air superiority (what would equal A2A purposes) you can use bursters cheaper, easier and more effectively. And any A2G attempts get shut down immideately by all the different forms of AA.

Then esf would be completely useless.

What a bunch of ********.

These folks used their brains and OWNED it. They figured out how to be immensely effective and change the flow of a battle. Change up what you do and approach things differently instead of exaggerating.

Fixed.

Shouldn't need to throw esf's at the enemy wave after wave to accomplish anything. If you think that's how I should be time for a dramatic drop in respawn timer and resources cost.

The devs don't even have to get in an airplane. They just need to go to any fight on Indar and look to the sky during primetime. There will not be an ESF or Lib in sight, i can guarantee you that.

Strange how so many ESF pilots in the forums are saying how useless ESFs are... yet, in game I see so many of them being used effectively in large scale combat, even with lattice.

The forum says one thing, the battlefield says an entirely other.

When I do attack ground you normally have to hover for a few seconds or slow down for targets to render. While the whole time your aircraft has already been rendered is is either A) Getting slapped to hell and back by AAA or B) No one is smart enough to even notice.

To be honest though I would love to start flying in formation ( a few of the H4TZ have started doing that and we have been having a blast hunting libs.) but just hitting ground targets is a pain in the royal butt lol.

Stop trolling, you don't, what you see is swarms of ESFs farming spawn rooms in uncontested battlefields.
80% pop doesn't count.

I would feel real sorry for you if I weren't getting killed on the ground by ESFs every day.

Strikers were the first foot in the grave, GU9 is the other. Abandon ship!!!!!!1one

What a bunch of ******----

They NEVER used their brains. That's why air was nerfed from the get go! People were too stupid to effectively use the AA that was available. Which was more than enough. I am so sick of hearing "can't go back to the way air used to be".

As it is air has no role. Its a dying sideshow in the game currently. And pilots, even those who never complain are getting sick of it.

It takes over 500 rotary rounds to kill a sundy! 7 direct hits to kill infantry.

A pilot rarely can make any difference in a battle. His role is simply self serving. You farm, that's it.

Why do you think the max and countless lock ons exist? Because people can't think and play. You may as well throw turrets out the window. Spawn a max, they will take care of everything.

Air is seriously broken. Its just fun to fly, that is the only thing keeping it alive at the moment.

So esf should not kill anything? LMAO

If you are constantly getting killed by esf then you need to give up and play something else. Seriously, you must spend more time spawning than actually playing.

Nerf AA is a given. It needs to be.

Pods should be punished by taking the rotaries and afterburners away. If you want the rotary and afterburner run as a A2A ESF.
Seems fair to me...this coming from an ex heavy Pod user. might go back to using them.