[Suggestion] Simple ideas to fix Air gameplay

It's like colorblinds trying to describe green, red and blue .

The best way to fix air would be to take away their AI nose-guns.

That way you have to make a meaningful choice on your secondary weapon for what kind of target you want to engage, and have a much more limited supply of "AI ammo".


It would also help a lot to have the ability to just straight up spawn in a ESF over uncontested friendly territory, so that when spawn camping with air happens, you don't have to look for the nearest aircraft terminal (unmarked, so you have to know their locations be heart) then spawn in that region and physically run towards it.

The best way to fix air is to release Oshur and make everyone and their mother fly for a week straight. If it's so bad you should be up there strafing infantry instead of complaining about it and then see what you think about fixing air.

I doubt that would help much.
As it would just remove the ESF's Anti-infantry capabilities, it doesn't help actually handling them.
While it also means, those ESFs are even less diversified.

Ah yes, If you're an A2A Pilot, being able to spawn directly into an ESF locally would be grand - Even if you spawned at the warpgate, you could be there inside 10 seconds.
Anyone isn't an Ace, is easily fodder unless said opposing ESF (Pray just an ESF) happens to also be a Novice.

So you mean, Even more hard-core "Pilot or **** yourself" Gameplay.
The Controls are horrid, The Skyknights are absolutely *********, waiting cross-faction to gank.
And if you don't pitty the Poor pilots, they pretend if everyone flew, they'd see the light.

Or they release Oshur, the Skynights, farm every single person forced to become either an Ace Pilot or be endlessly killed,
and the Game gets the hardest nerf Hammer the world has ever seen.
Which wouldn't help - But hey, maybe instead you'd look at it from anyone who isn't a Pilot.

Not everyone is playing Planetside to be a Pilot, with every other aspect playing 2nd Fiddle to their aerial dogfighting skill with the Reverse maneuver.
Can't expect every single Tank Driver, MAX user, or Infantryman, to study & be a Pilot - not everyone is grand at it either.
As no pilot is dropping out of their Plane, to drive a tank, the moment one shows up.
Nor are they dropping down, to engage in a Sniper-Duel, or Knife-Fight on Foot.
The Tank Drivers & MAX users, aren't expecting Pilots to get out of their Planes, to duel them in their preferred vehicle.
But Pilots? For forsaken reason, it always ends up being "Hey, you need to fly. as I fly. So you need to fly, if you want to play."


Imagine if we all followed this logic of "Air shows up, You must now fly"
We wouldn't have Combined-arms, we'd be "Skies of Duelists", not Planetside.
As once you're in an Aircraft, What exactly can you not kill?
Liberators counter armor.
Valks & More so ESFs, Counter Infantry & Maxes.
Galaxies & Valks can fly above AA range, dropping Infantry to cap a point.
ESFs can even destroy armor.
Aircraft can mobilize faster than any Ground-force, and an Air-force has the hard-counter to every single kind of target.

You have a Sky Bastian.
Which literally requires Aircraft, and demolishes anything around it, let alone the ground.
G2A has less range than A2G - **** Controls, and hellspawn of a learning curve, shouldn't ensure Air is the one place, that Hard-counters everything, and is the counter to itself.
MBTs have more practical counters, than the cheapest Aircraft - and MBTs, are 450 Nanites. Let alone MAXes.

Or is the Sky, needing more advantages, as you don't have enough casual farms.

It would be nice to have a rear view if only a very simple one.

ESF problem is that they are used more to molest infantry, instead of securing Aerial Superiority.

Virtually all other issues with aircraft would be immediately resolved if fighters were used to escort and/or counter enemy A2G craft, instead of filling in for it.

If you also made it impossible for them to get one-shot by barrel-rolling Liberators, that would also be an AMAZING improvement to the quality of air-game.

Add side views to the aircraft.

I think we should nerf tanks because they can fire above the horizon.

G2A being deterrents, with flak set-up in such a way, that the moment it works decent, the Pilot becomes instant-gibbed , and when it doesn't work, the Pilot massacres the ground - since any G2A weapon is so specialized, they are also incredibly counter-productive & near suicidal, the moment air isn't near.

This problem isn't solved by Aircraft screening against Aircraft - Being entirely reliant on allied Pilots killing Aircraft, does not in the slightest help, that the Ground's Interaction & Means to deal with air, are completely garbage for Both Pilots & the Ground.

Air does not require anything on the ground - And is incredibly lethal, having the speed & Firepower to erase ground units faster than anything on the Ground.
G2A is not incredibly lethal, until the point, there is so much, that the Pilot is near instantly dead, due to near impossibility of evading the flak-mechanic.
This is not fixed by Aircraft Killing Aircraft.

Without Aircraft, there is no requirement that Aircraft screen the ground from aircraft. That itself, is an identical fix, and is utter rot.
G2A & A2G needs reworks; Mostly the G2A, as it is, unlike everything else in this game, a Deterrent, set-up in such a piss-poor way, that the moment it isn't 1-6 (Counting all the types) AA vs Singular Isolated Pilot, but more, the Pilot switches from One-sided-Farmer-Fest to Instantly-Dead-Pilot.
Since Flak you basically can't dodge, and it works as chip-damage - That itself is utter crap due to how it works, it switches from Crap-effectiveness to Absurd Unavoidable Death.

So to summarize.
Air-Patrols, Air-Screening, and A2A being a constant, Does not help, fix or similar, the Air Problem.
All that does, is Give Air, an easier time killing itself, and makes All ground-forces reliant on Pilots entirely for their ability to operate if Air Exists; And solely Air, has this power.
It also would further the problem, that Air is the only practical counter to itself, while also sporting Hard-Counters to everything else.
As it doesn't help at all, the moment Air isn't killing air, we're in the same hole, just the Sky-Gods get to be even more important, than anything else in this game - as they'd be the sole defense against Liberators , Which is ******.

To fix the Problem, isn't to give Air more power, or expect more Air units.
Nor give them more abilities to kill each other.
The Ground has the lack of practical interactions with Air, that isn't being demolished.
and due to flak, the moment it works, it works too-damn-well, and then the Pilot is demolished - Bad ******* system.

G2A is no longer a problem when A2G stops being agile fighters that can disengage freely once the first hint of resistance appears.

It is also PERFECTLY REASONABLE to expect that aerial superiority is won by Aircraft, specifically ESF's.

The only abomination right now is that the types of Aircraft meant to secure aerial superiority are more commonly used to secure infantry superiority on the ground.

ESF's should have guns for hunting other aircraft and, as a specialization that sacrifices some of their A2A capacity, tanks.
It should absolutely not have the tools for dealing with infantry as a primary function, because that can only lead to degenerate gameplay we're seeing.

G2A is not solved, by Air killing itself. The Ground should not be reliant on Air, just to defend itself from Air.
As the moment there isn't Allied-Air, we are back to G2A being the sole thing against the Massive Pain-train that is the A2G.
Aerial superiority: The moment, the Sky isn't full of Allied Air, Your Notion of "Air Screening" being salvation dies in a hole.

Aerial superiority, I rather not be reliant on Allied aerial superiority, to not be mauled to death by an ESF or Liberator, and every G2A option to be utter piss, so I can be amazed at Praying an Allied Aircraft wanted to fly over Friendly Air-space instead of Farming easier-to-kill targets.

ESFs have an A2A Set of tools.
I don't see Air, being reliant on Armor, to kill Armor; Why in christ, is the G2A solved by A2A being Better?
Like ***** sake, I don't expect to own the Sky, I expect that G2A Actually works.

Let alone that it ignores, that due to the number of Pilots needed, Air could chase itself around the map, being ineffective in defending the ground even if they didn't switch about trying to kill the easier targets that is the Ground forces, leaving the Ground in a state of being massacred by Air across the map, while Allied Air is consumed in Duels.
It would be the same as if Tanks were required to kill Tanks, and Air died by proximity kill-fields to Tanks; We just need more tanks to solve this lack of Tanks protecting the Allied units.

Fix the problem, by actually addressing the problem.
Air doesn't have troubles killing itself. Air is damn good at killing everything under the sun.
G2A however isn't good at all at its job, nor is enjoyable for either side; That doesn't change by Forcing the Ground to live-or-die by Allied Air Support.

On the contrary, it is better to leave only the view from the cab.
How do you imagine that techniques sees itself from the outside? There is an invisible fairy flying there, which transmits the image to the pilot's eyes?

While I agree with this statement in principle, his point was that when ESFs are no longer the infantryman's worst enemy and instead focus on fighting other aerial vehicles, it would balance itself out. And that is something at least worth considering.

Galaxy, Valkyrie: transports, some support capabilities (seriously, leave them as is, they're fine)
Liberator: kills infantry and tanks (remove Dalton ESF oneshot), tailgun can keep its AA options for pinches
ESFs: kill all the above and each other, limited capabilities to kill infantry (maybe remove all AoE weapons, but increase nosegun damage to other aircraft)
That means that transports need to pack some AA and/or fighter screens, meaning we'd see escorted galaxytrains for example. And after that is done we can still see how G2A fares and if it's still such a prevalent thing at that point.

Yes, precisely. Thank you.

G2A is at a fine place when it's doing what G2A is meant to do: deter hostile aircraft.
For G2A deterance to be valuable however, there needs to be a balance in how much damage A2G can inflict, especially on Infantry.
Fighters have too easy of a time rotating out of combat to recover, so they should not have the ability to reliably kill infantry.

So before the Ground has viable options against being Mauled by Air..
Air needs to have their ESFs & A2A Interceptors have an isolated circle of counterplay..
So in the mean time, we have Liberators being anti-anything-on-the-ground, and ESFs still killing near everything too'
And when your Air-Game has options not eclipsed by ESFs we can finally stop being fodder for solo-pilots in 1:3+ engagements?

Nothing about ESFs or Liberators being attacked by another Aircraft, makes ESFs or Liberators not Hellspawn incarnate.
As it would require those A2A units , to actually be defending the ground, and not encouraged to farm it.
So they have so specialized, in that role; And even then.. If that works out, Ground is still near damn defenseless.

Let alone, How long will this take, for this web of Air vs Air, being solved, in an isolated bubble, till the G2A finally gets addressed.
As being reliant on these Pilots, to not be murdered by these same Pilots, is still ******.
And the Ground has had this situation, where G2A is so garbage, for literal years, and you want to improve A2A combat, with G2A to await until that is sorted-out in isolation? Seriously?

It will not matter how grandly effective Pilots Killing Pilots is, if G2A is still absolutely horrid garbage.
The grandest A2A Dueling system wouldn't solve the interaction between Ground & Air being ****.
Nor would Great A2A Cover; As the moment there isn't a Guardian Air Angel, the Air would **** everything on the ground.
If the inverse was true, no Pilot would be content, with the idea of a specialized G2G Vehicle protecting them if it was around that zone; They'd be royally pissed off, that they have to be a Ground Vehicle, or have a Buddy constantly in one around them, to not be hard-countered by a Ground-Unit.

How about we turn Air's A2G into Deterrence, so Pilots can enjoy this concept, of sharing in the sole Deterrence Weaponry-type in this game.
AV is Lethal.
AI is Lethal.
A2G is Lethal.
G2A is... Deterrence, Unless it's on an Aircraft.

We don't need Air to be the counter to Air, any further.
Air should not be the God that counters itself & the Ground.
G2A should not be Deterrence, it is not a viable notion, let alone when A2G is lethal.

It is all a matter of proportion.
There are Tank configurations that cannot threaten Aircraft, and there are ones that have limited capability against Infantry.
The same is broadly true for Infantry and Aircraft in relation to other units.

Majority of combat action is still conducted on an EQUAL TO EQUAL basis, it is the disproportion in Aircraft efficiency against Infantry that causes the problem in the equation: Aircraft can remove infantry faster than Infantry can remove aircraft.

A2G is also generally NEVER going to be much more than deterrence to an ESF.
This is not however an issue of inadequate G2A. G2A is perfectly capable of eliminating Valkyries, Liberators and Galaxies, because those ships cannot outrun the damage flying their way... but the ESF can.

Current A2G in relation to ESF's is at the right place where ESF's can exist in an airspace above infantry, it needs to be this way so that flying an ESF is worth the cost of pulling one out.

One-Man Aircraft, the Price of a Lighting Tank.
Said Lighting Tank, if it less effective against Infantry, can't escape virtually every infantry unit, by near teleporting across 7 hexes inside a second.
Aircraft? Yes. If that Infantry was a threat, it can escape it entirely & casually.

Now if the Aircraft is suited for Killing that Infantry?
Unlike the Tank, which is difficult to escape, but terrain can help; That ESF ignores terrain besides the deep insides of buildings, and invalidates directional cover, on top of being so much faster than the infantry.
This even affects Vehicles vs Aircraft; If the aircraft wants to hunt, nothing is fast enough to run.
But if the Vehicle was a threat? The Aircraft can completely disengage perfectly.

Current A2G for ESFs, is a floating turret that can eviscerate MAXES, infantry groups, and is more effective than an equally priced Lighting Tank, let alone the G2A Version.
With how G2A & A2G is, that ESF's skill is all that matters, while Ground, only sheer numbers of G2A Matters - With that Pilot being able to survive 3:1 encounters of equally priced assets.

Tanks, Can not boast this.
MBTs can not boast this.
When an Aircraft over-steps their bounds, they are able to completely survive the encounter, nail a few kills, and back-out , it takes so far over-extension & slow reaction, for them to die.
When a Tank does this, let alone the smallest Tank, said Tank dies. Often rather fast.
If Infantry Over-Extend (let alone MAXes), They certainly die. Usually without a second to process what happened.

A Liberator, is a death sentence to any MBT, Sunderer or Vehicle.
This Liberator is the same price as a MBT, yet is faster, armored, and has the firepower of the Main-Cannon under the Pilot's control (Which used to one-clip an MBT ffs), in addition has an secondary weapon via the Gunner, that is equal or greater than an MBT's Main-Gun, It then has a 3rd rear gun.
These things rarely die, past sheer stupidity, and are capable of killing ESFs in the sky, solo, as in 1 pilot.
MBTs, are not even close as effective when Operated by a Single-man, as Liberators; Which also pack extra buffs, as passive such as Boost, in case they over-extend, they have a Get-out-of-jail-card.


The ESFs like to murder infantry casually across a map.
Liberators End the existence of Vehicles.
Both of these operate solo without help, or even communication - yet are effective killers that rarely die.
Where 1:5 is still odds for Aircraft survival, against dedicated G2A platforms that are suicide against G2G.
Including that G2A also dies to Aircraft, in the process, adding additional cost to the 3x resource costs of engaging air.

Their Land Equals, can not operate Solo in 1:3 Operations.
When Land Over-extends, they Die.

No G2A can Remove Air in equal time, and with the Mobility of these Heavy-Hitting Aircraft, distance doesn't matter.
When you drive an enemy a Hex away, if they can travel 7 Hexes in under a minute, it achieves nothing.
TTK Favors Aircraft survival at all times.

G2A is not killing Liberators. Galaxies are capable of out-ranging G2A entirely. Valks are tanky bastards.
The amount of Skyguards needed to piss one off, is more Nanites than the Liberator, and has a risk of losing Skyguards which adds additional cost, since that Liberator can return inside a minute, from the warpgate itself.
Unlike incoming Enemy armor which can take multiple minutes to cross a single hex.

As well; Liberators have Built-in Boosters just like ESFs.
Only the Transports lack these Built-in Boosters. Which are still faster than G2A Units past a Buggy.

Lighting Tanks, are the same price.
They aren't wielding 2 sets of weapons, with a faster-than-hell TTK on their opponents, built-in auto-repair, Built-in-Radar, nor wield universal damage weapons - Let alone Aircraft Agility.
A Lighting Tank, is specialized; An ESF can fight anything & go anywhere inside a minute.

Lightings also kill slower than that ESF.
That ESF even automatically reloads primary weapon while using their secondary weapon.
If ESFs need to be hyper-lethal Floating Gun-Turrets to be pulled.. Maybe they need a redesign entirely.

Like, Liberators are murder-machines that end any vehicle, even when it's 1 pilot.
MBTs wish they could solo-kill a 450 Nanite asset inside a minute without a Gunner.
They can't, and they don't have the Speed; Liberators are also Resistant to ******* G2A Flak Weapons.

Was any of what you wrote even half as bad as you try to make it sound, you'd see the skies swarming with Aircraft at all times.
They are not.

The only times you'll see more aircraft than tanks in a battle, is when the defending team is no longer able to hold onto their AA turrets, or there is no such turrets to begin with.

Aircraft has a barrier to entry, since piloting is difficult compared to other things we do in the game.
It is remarkably fragile, so even if it survives and escapes the battle it does so at the expense of giving up any pressure it could exert on the enemy.

You literally cannot make Aircraft, especially ESF's any more fragile (be it by reducing it's HP or strengthening the G2A tools) without completely invalidating their presence on the battlefield.

The only lever left in this equation to manipulate is the Aircraft efficiency against ground units, and right now the worst offenders are the AI noseguns.
Once ESFs cannot kill a Heavy before they get to lock-on and fire a rocket, things might start changing for the better.

Absolute horrid controls, Inverse Skill Curves and Skyknights waiting to gank new pilots.
Given that Pilots Operate Solo, and don't need allies - Unlike Tanks, It's well known there is few Pilots.

Yet they have a dramatic effect - While in singular numbers.
Liberators can & do kill MBTs casually, which they can merciless chase-down - and do so with just their Nose-Gun.
The moment Someone gets an Air-Ball everything else dies - no One survives even a Small cluster.
Not to mention, AA-Turrets on bases are utter ****, and are even outranged by ESF Nose-Guns.

ESFs have a Booster, and need only activate it - If they aren't packing a Near-full Instant Heal Fire-Suppression.
And if it was lock-ons: Air have Flares, which negate any in-flight Rockets to explode, and become entirely immune to being targeted for a period, That's the hardest Weapon-Type Counter in this game.


ESFs, while fragile - Have one hell of a survival rate.
Never even suggested reducing their HP, as that isn't the issue - The G2A Weapons are crap.
Flak as a mechanic, is Garbage. Either Flak users get shafted, or the Pilot gets shafted - It's a crap mechanic.

AI Noseguns are savage yes.
But a single one-man Liberator is able to gank any MBT or Sunderer inside a few seconds , destroying it easily.
..It takes 3 Rockets, and ESFs not only out-range Lock-ons, They have a literal hard-counter to that entire system.
And thats not counting their ability to literally out-run the rockets (which takes 3+), drive them into the ground, or tank them with Fire-Suppression.

Reducing ESF's TTK advantage, doesn't solve the AA MAX, the AA Lighting, AA on vehicles, AA Turrets, or the AA Launchers being bad at their jobs.
It would only reduce the speed of kills, with the Nosegun -- And if it is quicker to lock-on than Die to the Nosegun..
It'll be abit akward for the Pilot, as that Lock-on is one hell of a length.
As well... They have an entire secondary-Weapon, the benefit of an ESF, it packs double.