Why can ESFs kill my MBT with no way to retaliate?

I'm not denying that it is a design flaw, but I'm denying that it is an issue.

It is a "weakspot" that is easily covered, and even in the case of a deployed Sunderer the gunners can just jump out, crouch under it and outrepair the ESF. They could outlast its whole ammo pool in fact, that said pool is 50 shots big is a different issue that is no less stupid.

The ESF "secondary" (I think that would be the nosegun, but who cares...) is pretty much exactly your MBT secondary when comparing them directly.
Hornets = Halberd & co
Lolpods = Fury is propably closest. Can MBTs actually equip that?
Coyotes = Ranger
Lolcats = Walker
Of course in A2G vs G2A you have to invert the tasks, so Hornets = Walker.

And the ESF doesn't really have a ton of advantages.
Its mobile and has a lot of firepower.
Your tank is sturdy. A lot sturdier than the ESFs advantage in firepower.

ESF with Hornets => can kill a tank
ESF with Lolpods => can annoy a tank, kill it if it gets close enough and hits a lot
ESF with Coyotes or Tomcats => Can annoy a tank with the nosegun, but is even less dangerous than a flash with a basilisk. Kills only on rare chances or ******** tank drivers

The other way round its the same.
MBT with Walker => can kill an ESF
MBT with Ranger => annoys ESFs, can kill them if they get too close
MBT with Halberd or Fury => Can annoy an ESF by shooting at it if it flies low, kills only bad/hovering pilots or on rare chances.

TTK of Hornets vs MBT is about 7.5 seconds, assuming everything hits and he is not in your rear. If he is in your rear you deserve to die either way. Ignoring flight time and a possible Vanguard shield of course.
Engagement range is maximum 300-350m.
TTK of Walker vs ESF is 3.6 seconds at 50m, 5.5 seconds at 400 up. Assuming everything hits of course.
Engagment range is everything in sight, except a small cone above you as stalkish pointed out. With a velocity of 1000m/s it is rather easy to hit any ESF that could engage you.

The one equipped to deal with his opponent wins. I don't see the problem in that.
Complaining that MBTs equipped solely for fighting other ground vehicles can't kill ESFs is like A2A ESFs complaining they can't kill MBTs that disrupt their dogfights with a Walker.
Haven't seen the latter, but a lot of the first.

Not helpless in any of those cases. Yes, please use your brain.

The ESF is to the Lib what the Lightning is to the MBT.

Or are Lightning tanks not supposed to shoot at armour?..........

This game isn't played in isolation bud. You have teammates.

Regardless, I've had so many encounters in the middle of nowhere where the ESF has to evacuate because I've set them on fire with my AA gun on top. Guess what happens next. I get out and repair. They come back. Same thing repeats until they realize they can't kill me on their own.

You are either don't understand or pretending not to. Getting a dedicated AV secondary allows me to kill other tanks and armor. Getting an AA secondary allows me to deter ESFs. It's the only thing it does and does it badly.

Well i do wish the regular guns had more of a fighting chance. Or any chance at all against air. Sorry if you find it comical, you should try tanking sometime.

Weapons aren't defense. Or we should make flares or FS take the secondary weapon slot. And hey it WOULD kinda deter G2A attacks, so it's good right?

I don't know how to fly so i won't tell you how to do it, but please don't spout such s**t when you obviously don't know how to tank.

I already said it happens to annoy me when i get killed on my way from last base to currently contested base. Learn to read or stop trolling.

Hey, i remember you. You're the guy that said if an MBT geared for AV can do anything at all against aircraft it would become jack of all trades, right?

In the same way an infiltrator can kill a sundy i guess. It's possible but cliffs and other suicide attempts kill more sundies.

OK, perhaps come back when you learn to fly.

Yeah but lightnings are pretty terrible at attacking MBTs
ESF are not terrible at attacking anything.

It's not a perfect analogy. But claiming that ESF's role and Lib's role should not overlap is absurd.

How about you learn to drive a tank. I do it regularly and ESFs are not a high concern.

How about this solution. You obviously have a teammate to gun your secondary since you want the most firepower against armour, right? Instead of rolling 1 MBT, take 2 MBTs both with AA secondaries. If an ESF comes along, you both switch to secondaries and absolutely wreck the ESF. And you've now got even BETTER firepower against armour! Use your brain.

What if my gunner doesn't have certs invested into an MBT? Or what if someone could explain why you're suggesting i need two players 2 MBTs both rocking AA to survive a one manned ESF? (Lets not even talk about killing)

You don't need it to survive ESFs as has been stated over and over by nearly everyone here except you. It will definitely kill an ESF who makes an attempt at you though.

Well why didn't you say so? I made the whole thread with that in mind. Apparently missed everyone explaining how to not die with an MBT using an AV secondary against a hornet ESF. I already know a trick if there is a cave or tunnel nearby, but thats not too often

Reread the thread.

I did read it quite well and respond to some of the silly suggestions even. Stop posting maybe, you've said nothing constructive so far.

At first I thought you were a new player. That's how absurd this thread is. People gave good suggestions, and you've been completely rude to almost everyone with a different opinion. It turns out you're just another self-entitled, immature gamer who's idea of 'balance' is to make your preferred weapon of choice unbalanced.

That's fine, but the ESF does step way to hard on the libs ground capability.
It's better at killing infantry than both the lib and the valkeryie for less nanites and less manpower. It's A2G guns are also extremely versatile, with hornets being able to splash damage infantry to death despite having great armour damage, something the dalton was correctly nerfed for. They can also kill maxes in 2 missiles although this is pretty skillbased.
Rocketpods are also too good vs tanks, with a salvo taking down more than 50% of a MBT health.

We'll just have to agree to disagree then.

No i am not a new player. I do not agree with you. I don't think any of your suggestions are valid, or your idea of balance is valid. I think you're a self-entitled gamer who's idea of "balance" is to keep you preferred weapons of choice stay unbalanced.

HAHAHAHA

That's quite the illogical sentence there fella! Preferring that my weapon of choice remain unbalanced (on the UP side of balance) is by definition not self-entitled.

You're becoming very rude English isn't my first language.

Me?!

Your premise that MBTs have no way of retaliating against ESFs (right in the title) is just plain wrong.