Is my Reaver vs. Scythe analysis accurate?

actually it wouldn't need to be some complex calculation. you would simply make the effective collision size of the shots have an 8 meter radius. it would be extra work to make one system for large aircraft and another for ESF.

i am saying that in my experience flak rounds tend to follow the contours of ESF. at the very least what flak collides with isn't a sphere. it might be a cylinder that follows the length of the craft, but according to my flack these objects are fairly long and not very tall.

Either way, from what I've gathered from my outfitmates who don't share my aversion to using the flak weapons there's not a really notable difference between the different ESFs, as whatever difference there could be is sort of lost in the CoF at any meaningful distance.

at close range it makes a bit of difference, but for the most part it doesn't matter, at least for mosquitoes or reavers. however the scythe (if the flak works how i understand it) is a giant dinner plate when seen from the top and bottom. i think from those angle the flak profile of the scythe is comparable to liberators, but then again i have only ever played vanu so this part is speculation.

Fine, nerf the Scythe until a galaxy is a better fighter, see if I care... Which I do, but you can't stop the brainless masses. people of the net.

Sure, if you agree with making the Scythe 9001 times (warning: exaggeration) as efficient as the Mosquito against ground targets because the pancake shape is much bigger. If the size is the only significant factor in the equation, why not.

As a higher level pilot, it is a horrible idea to try and argue about balance based on duels. The Scythe is generally the least popular choice among the top pilots for group fights because it's benifits in duels don't translate well to group fights.

there are as good as no differences in number fights between esfs, since the meta changed to lockon mechanics. In that regard there is nothing to balance and you should know that as a "higher level pilot".

So there are a couple of things that aren't being taken into consideration in this conversation right now that id like to point out. Firstly the reaver has the best Afterburner speed allowing it to close distance faster then the other 2 esfs negating need for pinpoint aim (if you so choose to use it) combine that with its insane dos and the thing is just born for rushing. Secondly the reaver has incredible brakes (varies from airframe to airframe) allowing it to get into a hover fighting posture the fastest and most readily.

Most engagements are decided by who engages first (assuming equal skill) and gets the most damage straight up. Which the Reaver is the best at. If you let a scythe stay 150+ meters away from yourself expect to lose because of the very slim profile your unlikely to hit enough rounds to down your opponent.

I can confirm that the pancake profile of the scythe activates more flak then the other 2 esfs by a wide margin but tipping yourself on the side fixes that pretty quick for the scythe. The pancake also plays into duels (aka client side) you can get a ton of damage in up close with a reaver while a scythe is maneuvering due to the two participants seeing different things. Ohh and always engage a scythe from his pancake its the largest aircraft that way its dam near impossible to miss.

My advice to Reaver pilots would be to force the scythe into a hitpoint trading battle, so get up close and fight nose to nose. Reaver will win pretty much every time if you are trading properly.

If nobody has noticed some of the best air wings in planet side fly reavers because of their great team fight and solo traits. In Flight club duels the Reaver has won all but 1 of the large (station cash events). That consisted of 1v1s with elimination rounds. I honestly believe the Reaver has the highest skill cap of all ESFs if you can get over the frontal hitbox hurdle, due to its ability to close the gap and insane damage output.

ps. Scythe is the worst at team fighting (like really really bad)

I have almost 20 days in a scythe and almost 15 days in a reaver and probly 3 days in a mosquito.

Yes scythe is clearly the best plane.

By a large margin.

The Reaver has actually the worst brakes and Scythe has the best.

Yes this is correct. Try landing a reaver after flying a scythe for a while. You will overshoot every time because the brakes are terrible.

Going back to you looking for an actual number to see how much better the scythe is over a reaver. If you use the numbers you presented in the original post the and assume the scythe hits every round in your hit box for its full dps value(3286) and you in turn shoot him but miss roughly 43% of your shots due to the scythe hit box being 57% the size of yours then your actual dps on the scythe drops to 2280. Well below the 4000 dps your gun is capable of and below the scythes 3286 dps. Though there are way to many factors to actually compare the two by the numbers.

This in itself is a big misconception, as flak does not need to make contact with the craft inorder to deal damage.
Flak is a AoE smart round in a sort of sence, and will damage when the projectile is near the target. Meaning the Reaver with its big wingspan is also in the same league of Area of effect in terms of profile size.