Man do I feel dumb...

Phoenix is not very effective, but it's fun. So fun, in fact, that I have an Auraxium medal for it... I really enjoy shooting down those hovering rocket-podders and annoying the **** out of infantry that are camping on hills.

Striker is effective, but not very fun. And Lancer... is.

I'm going to have to give the weapon another go myself it seems. I missed out on its apparent OP bonanza, and I've long since written the weapon off. The DPS was just too low for me to carry it on my own; I could never take out a vehicle alone. That I could with the Striker, and that the Striker was far more useful in more situations, led me to remove it entirely from my loadouts. 1750 seems a bit high contrasted against my real world experiences with it, but I'll have to take another look.

1750 is what the default Dumbfire does.

atm before the nerf it had even 2000 dmg like the decimator

Of course the Striker is better. The Striker is massively OP.

It amazes me that any relatively nearby sunderer stays alive for more than 3 minutes against the NC given that the phoenix exists.

I'm with you on this one. The Phoenix isn't bad, but it's not how I want to play the game. It rewards campers and lack of direct involvement in a fight. I'd rather stay mobile, attack quickly, and use a Decimator/Shrike up close and personal.

It is indeed fun! My favorite is shooting down ESFs with them as you only need to hit them once and they will explode shortly after. I see lots of videos where guys pop their head out and fire but to me that is one of the dumbest things to do with it. Get to where your behind cover, even if it's slightly behind a corner and fire it as you can always guide it back to where you want it to go assuming you don't wait too long. The reload is long but who cares because most times I use it I'm relatively safe or just guide long enough to ensure a hit then exit to make reloading a bit faster. There are trade offs when things are this convenient.

Not everyone plays the same. The way you might use it may differ from other people. Direct involvement is a matter of opinion. I use it as primary launcher and basically dumb fire it lots more then I guide it. I do however fire from behind slight cover as to ensure I have a chance of surviving when I'm trying to take out armor. I swear the phoenix was invented by Devs who like playing as TR/VS snipers because that is who you should expect to see popping up on your screen if your "Directly Involved" in the fight when using it. Taking a second to not run around all crazy should not be classified as uninvolved.

I wasn't implying that the Phoenix can't be used this way. It can.
As you've pointed out though, it is best used out of sight of snipers, and where the user won't be in the line of fire while guiding the rocket. Both of these encourage untold amounts of NC to sit inside a spawn room or far away from any capture poinst. This is the exact opposite of what is needed to capture and defend bases.

Very true, but I think it's not the weapon but the user. Can't test this theory but I believe those same people would be sitting there doing nothing regardless of what they were using I suppose the phoenix is an incentive to do nothing even more but to give in to it means they were only a death or 2 away from sitting that fight out regardless.

I come back to say I no longer feel dumb! This gun IS fun!!!! Very nice to hit ESFs, or anything that are right outside everyone's field of vision who think they're safe camping spawn rooms! Also nice out in the open to hit those bastard tanks and MAXes hiding behind hills! =D Got 4 ESF kills when I logged on after I learned it does that extra vehicle damage. Thank you so much for pointing that out.