Why are Scythe rocket pods fired two at a time?

If they are supposed to be anti-infantry, they should have the same spammy fire system than the other pods. Don't get me wrong, I like one-shotting infantry with one trigger pull (if I manage to aim properly) and stripping away 1/4 of an ESF's health with only 1 shot, but that is not really the purpose of rocket pods. They are supposed to be spammable, anti-group AI weapons, and that's because the other 2 types of pods are fired 1 at a time but very fast.

It also seems to eat into the NC's own faction trait, aren't they the ones supposed to get low fire rates but high individual damage? With projectiles coming from your camera, firing 2 rockets at once with 14 in the clip is exactly like firing 1 rocket that does double damage with 7 in the clip, that sounds very much NC.

They fire slowly enough that you can aim every shot individually, but at the cost of having lower splash. Accuracy is supposed to be a vanu thing, right?

It carried over from when the lolpods were more multi-role, and it made it so the VS ones were a bit better at AV, and the NC and TR ones a bit better at AI.

They just never adjusted this to follow the listed role for the weapon.

Rocket pods are obsolete now, no one seems to use them.

To be honest, having the VS pods staggered when fired would be a good solution to many issues perceived and caused by this "imbalance" of faction specific rocket pods, with minor downsides for their intended roles (actually could see a reason to slightly buff them splash-wise if this was to happen, as well as more reliable/consistent AOE output on targets). Staggered double shots slightly offset in launch times would increase the amount of accuracy needed to precisely land shots on a moving target that showed an opening briefly, putting this weapon system in line with the other two factions systems in terms of functionality when engaging each type of target.

The whole issue IMO is that the double blast hitting a moving, armored target showing an opening has such a penalty when just one (two rockets*) lands. The alpha strike damage on targets that should not be primary targets for rocket pods turns this weapon into a multi-purpose chance/skillbased weapon that can turn the tides of many engagements due to the burst output that is able to be achieved with a landed shot or two. When targets have the opportunity for a salvo to connect, the timeframe needed is very small for the shot to be taken and the damage to be dealt; whereas with the other pods, this concentrated burst damage cannot be attained to any degree unless conditions are more then ideal or with high luck involved. Many common scenarios can be argued defending they all can perform at the same damage output in each circumstance, but many situational scenarios occur where NC or TR pods would be ineffective where VS pods can perform in an effective manner.

Spamability is lacking for VS pods, whereas it is something that is needed in this weapon system type (rocket pods); unless we absolutely want a high disparity between the functions of faction specific pods. Yes, this has been an issue for some time now, and why should it be changed now could be a common argument which could be debated for ages. But would a change in this weapon system be warranted due to how differently this weapon system can function compared to its cross-factional counterparts?

Lastly, do we even need the Scythe to have double fired rockets at this time? Would doubled rate of fire for more controllable damage and ammo usage suit the game and players better while solving certain issues that may or may not appear to every player? What is the clear benefit for having the current setup? Is this design going against the anti-infantry role SOE appears to have taken with pods and placing more benefit towards using them against armored targets? Could a change in certain aspects increase overall effectiveness against infantry units while bringing them more in-line with the other factions pods in terms of non-infantry engagement reliability, burst, and ranged precision?

Do the VS Photon Pods need a firing-mechanic rework without direct DPS changes? Would indirectly reducing the armor effectiveness while directly increasing infantry effectiveness be something VS players would consider a fair change to the balance, purpose, and capabilities of all rocket pods?

yeah go ahead run rocket pods on your esf on emerald, see how long you survive

What does this have to do with the topic? And I play on Ceres anyways.

uh what should i be using then?...

Hornets, and direct-hit people.
Or the Saron nose gun.

i use the saron when theres enemy air about, the ppa for infantry, and Have been using the pods for tanks and maxs.
hornets better for that role?

Yes. You should be able to kill a max with two rockets, and they do a hilarious amount of damage to tanks (think wire-guided descimators - and you get to fire two).

MORIDIN you should know better than running rocket pods!

hasnt my outfit taught you anything :'(

ALWAYS run afterburners

(unless you enjoy being the fat kid that cant run for any longer than 20 feet)



fuq ground farming with the esf, i can do it better and more easily with my mag rider.


if i wanna fly around im gunna kill some got dang air planes!

yeah no hornets unless you are like super ACE pilot and think you can outrun a guy that just dosnt seem to GET OFF UR BUTT!


also saron nose gun is acceptable but you better put some got dang afterburners on there too!

I have switched from Pods to Hornets. I bought them when they were on sale for 1 SC, and have recently began to enjoy them, You won't spam them, like you would rocket pods, but they fire two rockets, and if you can aim you will one shot infantry. I think even maxes too, although You may have to fire your first volley, and switch to your nose gun to finish off a max, but they do so much damage.

Using hornets over the pods, though, you have to adapt how you kill infantry to a more sniper like role. Instead of the standard spray n pray approach you use with pods, you aim at one guy, fire, kill him, and then aim at the next target. Sometimes you can kill two people in one salvo, but you are switching to a "one at a time" approach.

Is it more effective? Well that depends on your play style. Some people prefer spamming lolpods, and if that is what you like then you can stick with them. But I prefer to fire my nose gun in bursts anyways, so this method fits my play style a bit more. Another benifet of the Hornets, is that they follow your cross hair after behind launched. You still have to lead a bit as they don't turn very fast, but if your target moves after you fire, you can just follow them with your cross hair, lead a bit, and at least one of the rockets should hit them, if not both. You can't do that with rocket pods. Hornets also do more damage to Vehicles, and are easy to use against them vs rocket pods. You can just hover above, and even a vanguard trying to get out of the way will find it hard to escape your laser guided rockets.

Again it is preference on individual playstyle, but I found them very useful and like them a bit more than rocket pods. Something to note though, it is more difficult to use them against ESF's when they are within a certain range due to the missile's slow turning rate. They are best used to snipe other hovering ESF's from a distance, but if they engage you at close range, the rocket pods become a bit more valuable at that point. But then again, most pilots will be using coyotes anyways, so at that range you can just stick to your nose gun.

lol, i usually only pull one with you guys when ive run out of everything else.. or in large packs.
infantry farming with the ppa is quite fun, and when they pull a tank or hop into a turret its rockets away.
i find i cant out run things even with afterburner so its fight or die.
and my maggy is all av, and my lightning skyguard focused.
so yeah.. do more scyth missions and show me

ok dude im not on today but prolly late tonight or tommorow i will be on but find Gunslinger115 i think hes streaming and find Dabwizard, prolly our best pilot in VREV and he could show you a thing or two in fact i wanna get him to start streaming his piloting because sometimes hes alive for like 45 mins and ive died like 45 times and hes like dude u ok?

So we can all agree that Hornets are high-accuracy while pods are to spam... which brings me back to the topic, why are Scythe rocket pods not as "spammable" than the other 2? It really does seem to be a leftover from when they were multi-role. Typical SOE, change some of the game, then completely forget to tweak some other parts of it to account for those changes.

Pft, the loadout is fine. Aiming hornets is also super-easy.

It pretty much is a left-over quirk.

I hear what you are saying, but you spam them in 2's instead of 1's. You are already piloting a flying pancake, just enjoy the trade off. If you want everything to be the same, then give the TR and NC scythes, and then we can use the TR pods instead.

Pistol shoots 1 bullet at a time: waaaaah, our faction is UP, we want to shoot several at once!
ESF shoots 2 rockets at a time: waaaaah, our faction is UP, we want to shoot one rocket at a time!

Days like that, i'm glad i'm not a game dev...