Ground based AA is far too strong vs ESF

Flight ceiling is 1k over sea level, not 1k over ground.

You just admitted air balance is completely ******. If the best counter to something is itself, then it means the best player will be nigh untouchable because the only thing that can kill him is himself.
Who watches the Watchmen

It appears you have already learnt how to get good, now you need to learn to get better. Try FS (25% repairs at max rank, or ~12% at first rank) or just learn to mid air repair. Same maneuver as a rendezook, just with a repair tool instead of a rocket launcher. Its really not that hard to do if you've practiced it a few times. I'm getting rusty at it since I don't fly as much anymore but its still pretty doable even for me.

600m is where vehicles stop rendering, so at that height/distance the Lib can't even see you. Aside from that, the COF (if expanded to reduce the range) would have about the same effectiveness at that 600m as it has now.

For flight ceiling galaxies, using Lightning AP rounds seems to be more effective imo since you can deal more alpha and you give them less warning. And usually, the second round is already on the way even before the first one hits. But yeah, flight ceiling galaxies are another issue entirely, probably something that should be solved outside of Skyguard/Burster balance.

I think if EVERYTHING in the game (small arms fire, shoulder fired rockets, any weapon mounted atop a vehicle, in additon to AA, lock-ons, Daltons, tankbusters(lol), and other enemy aircraft) weren't a deterrent to air-to-ground, Flak wouldn't be so bad.

A2G is a skill based endeavor?

Not when the weapon and the platform does the work for you. ESFs with Hornets aren't able to kill any MBT because the pilot is skilled. They can do it because Hornets are impossible to outrepair even with maxed repair guns and it is impossible to shoot back at the ESF.

A2G ESFs are basically skill simulators. You seem to be confusing the simulation with reality.

800m, but at that distance most weapons, even the Walker will either miss entirely or only land sporadic hits.
Gals and Libs render out to 1000 meters depending on how cluster****y your surroundings are.

Since when did hardcore pilots ever have a good grasp on the game as a whole?

It's fun for you, but most people think it's either OP or UP. So most people don't think the system if fun or balanced. A good system wouldn't have that, both teams would think they are good but not UP or OP.

Base would likely be capped by then.

The sheer amazingness of AA that cannot aim straight up is almost indescribable, what is area denial if you cannot area deny?

Whenever I fly behind hills or terrain, FLAK and Rockets tend to ignore said terrain and continue hurting me. Dodging by terrain would be so much more used if projectiles would learn how to work.

If you get hit when behind cover (not only for aircrafts) it´s not a problem with the weapon. It´s a clientside hitdetection problem.

I know

Or a striker ;D

You didn't complain about the person I was replying to only being interested in his little part of the game? Why would you complain about what I'm interested in?

Of course if you would read my posts for any other purpose than complaining about them you'd see that I am concerned about all players - just not to the exclusion of ESF pilots.

Compare an ESF anti-armour weapon to the anti-armour weapons on the Tank. Then complain about how the ESF has weapons which are so much more powerful.

Seriously dude this is not 2012 any more... get over it. Rocketpods are next to useless. Anyone who flies with them now is doing so at a great detriment. Hornets are better at taking out infantry and you have to get a direct hit with a guided rocket to get a kill with them. Too funny man. Go fly with them in real fights before you comment.

How much damage SHOULD a hornet do to a tank? How many times SHOULD an ESF have to fly directly towards the tiny little spot on a tank where they actually do any damage for the tank to be destroyed by the anti-tank weapon? How do you determine your answers? I'm not sure why you are talking about Hornets and personnel as we were talking about anti-armour but I guess those who are about inflaming the discussion get to switch to whatever topic they suspect will make it boil over. GJ. I'm not a proponent for Hornets vs infantry at all... so I don't know why you are complaining to me about it.

PLEASE quote me on this. From any time in the last 2.5 years on reddit, here, or anywhere else you can find me commenting on PS2. PLEASE show me where I have said such. Why do you always do stuff like this Flag? You seem to have a lot of experience in the game - especially with aspects that I don't play - I would MUCH MUCH MUCH rather have a productive conversation with you but every time you reply to my comments - over the last year - you just want to start a fight? Think you could play a different tune for a while?

LOL! Really Flag this is not 2012. Air is the most nerfed weapon in the game - continually. ESFs are an absolute joke compared to how they were. Air is so NOT favoured by SOE. I don't even know how to respond to this without insult so I am not going to try further.

Sounds like your problem not mine. Perhaps if you were concerned with the argument instead of the one making the argument - in other words if you dealt logically instead of employing the logical fallacy of Ad Hominem - you would have an easier time.

You think that because the character I have on display is an ESF pilot almost exclusively that I am blind to other areas of the game. Hey call Sherlock he may need an apprentice. Your powers of deduction are dazzling. I'm glad you enjoy all the aspects of the game that you do Flag. I hope you continue to enjoy it. Shame you are so interested in playing Forumside games instead of being invested in making the game better.

no

You seem to think that dealing damage is what the ESF pilot thinks is skill. You are wrong. What takes the most skill in A2G is avoiding every weapon in the game pointed at you and being able to fight of dedicated A2A ESFs and Libs which will hunt you while you do A2G ops.

If you really think that shooting someone with a rifle in PS2 takes "skill" then you are likewise " confusing the simulation with reality."

Regardless of your intention, your post implies otherwise.

AV guns? Hornets, rocketpods.
It may not be 2012, but that doesn't automatically make the lolpods fine/balanced. At the moment they do too much direct for a splash weapon. And on that note, the hornets do too much indirect for AV weapons.
On top of that, they're only 50% of the loadout for that single player.
To compare, the hornets have more splash per rocket than the tank AP guns while they're supposed to fill the same role (more or less). Why?
Because for whatever reason air, or more precisely ESFs are held to different standards than the rest of the game.

Don't forget, the ESF gets dual weaponry. Yet the available guns don't really pay for this by having to be more specialized than the ground weapons, so it's basically something the ESF gets that noone else gets.

If the ESF was balanced by the same terms as ground vehicles are, I'd expect a lot of entitled crying to happen.

Not enough so that a single ESF can doom an MBT. If it's so damn important to kill the 2/2 MBT, bring friends. Make that a requirement rather than an option.

Again, it may not have been an active intention of yours but that's what you're implying, and how you come across here on the forum and such. If that's wrong, well give your own posts a look-over the next time and ask yourself how someone who don't share your position (imagine what someone who only plays HA/LA, as an example) might interpret your post.

There's a chance you're a victim of circumstance here, as I'm so damn tired of both the situation between air and ground vehicles, as well as some of the truly despicable "members" of the sky knight society. I'm sure you can think of someone that fits that description.

If that is true it says more about how ESFs started out than how they are now.

Call it what you want. At the end of the day you come across as someone who may understand the PoV of the ESF rather well while remaining rather .. let's say uninformed about the rest.

The character stats weren't the only metric I went by. However they did support the general sentiment I had of your person.

If the whole sentiment about you is wrong, congratulations. You're doing a tremendous job misleading others.

This man spells the truth.

However, I'm frankly a bit sad that there is no proper high-speed interceptor in this game. Perhaps it could be a two-seater. Imagine how awesome it would be to try to spot the enemy and guide missiles to him while your pilot pulls extreme speed maneuvers and the whole world turns upisde down from the cockpit view. Kind of like the BF3 jet mission but not on rails and with intelligent enemies.

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1). Okidoki
Hornet missiles: 2 shots @ 120 rpm, 3.25s reload fully certed.
2000 dmg each; suspected same dmg multiplier as rocket pods. (mbt: 20% dmg resist).
-> max dps: 2000*2*0.8/3.75= 853 dps, going against the mbt's armor facing.

Vanguard AP cannon
2075, *1.15, reload 3.5s at max rank.
682 dps.

If Hornet pilot and mbt driver engage front of an enemy tank the pilot can out-dps the mbt driver by 25%.

Lightning AP:
1600, *1.15, 2.7s reload.
681.5 dps.
Well, what do you know..

The 350 nanites air vehicle out-dps-es the 350 nanites ground vehicle by 25-ish % against mbt's.
the ESF also has an easier time getting of rear armor shots; you know the 'tiny little spot' etc.

In addition, unlike the ESF, the Lightning doesn't get to bring another weapon to the party.
So, you can't bring "rotary nosegun + hornet missiles" or ..

Reaver Vortek rotary:
320 dmg (@130m..), 750 rpm, 83% dmg reduction for the mbt.

Basilisk: 167 dmg @ 100m; 351 rpm; 70% dmg reduction for the mbt.

Rotary: 320*750/60*(1-0.83)=680 dps. That's right. admitedly let down by the low mag size, but still...
including max rank reload speed; 2s to empty the mag, 1.75s to reload:
680*2/(2+1.75)=363 dps @ 100m

Basilisk: 167*351/60*(1-0.7)=293 dps.. not including reloads for the basilisk.
The "battlesundy" typically brings double basiliks; alternatively furies. It engages at shorter ranges mostly, but then again people will need to reload..

Why must the 350 nanites, single pilot ESF have more firepower than the mbt on board, weapons wise? (make no mistake: launch hornets, reload, empty vortek mag, reload, switch to hornets..you can approximately outdps a AP+ basilisk tank with full crew, even if both of you fire at the front of an enemy tank. If you use your mobility to get to the rear...),
You're complaining you have difficulty doing more dps than 2 people in a more expensive & less mobile vehicle than yours? Which is far more vulnerable to AV mines, dumbfires, engi-AV turrets, C4, fury's, bulldogs, hornets etc?
poor you..

The equivalent to the mbt is the liberator.
The equivalent to the ESF is the lightning.
The double weapon system gives tremendous A2G potential in "unopposed" fights; a 1/2 mbt driver that switches, loses control of his driving; like the liberator.

Total theoretical DPS vs mbt of a ESF:
2 hornet missiles, 0.5s. Let's say 1s and you switch weapon.
2s vortek rotary. 1s, switch back to hornet.
Total "cycle" time: 4.5s.
Total dmg: 2000*2*0.8 +25*320*(1-0.83)=4560
-> 1013 dps going into the tanks armor facing.
About 1.5 times lightning AP dps.
Of course, that is a theoretical argument, you'd need to keep aiming at your target etc. But, a slight bump throws of a lightning's aim too..
Otoh, if you're going for a hornet flyby anyway, might wanna launch and magdump the nosegun too

2)
So.. rocket pods are useless because there are better farming tools, like the banshee vs infantry, and the hornets vs vehicles.. o-kay. Here's a thought: put rocket pods on a prowler, instead of the marauder.. see what happens..

3)
debatable, and it depends on the strength of AA, among other things.
But, making it do the same DPS as AP cannons seems a good start to me..

AA isn't too strong; it is the fact that there is not much cover from ground forces half the time. So that means anyone with a lockon rocket launcher can and will look up and fire away at the passing overhead aircraft.
For people who says aircrafts are crutches, I challenge you to fly around a 48+ fight and tell me how that goes for you.
Oh, and does everyone really have a problem with force multipliers in this game? Don't forget, this is a combined arms game, not infantry only.