[Vehicle] The Dervish is much better than everyone thought it would be.

Discussion in 'PlanetSide 2 Gameplay Discussion' started by MichaelMoen, Aug 10, 2021.

  1. MichaelMoen

    I know it's meant to be an air superiority fighter, but EVERY Air2Air encounter I've had with a Dervish that had a second gunner, I've lost. The accuracy of the gunners and the sheer DPS means its an unwinnable fight every time. The damn things even keep pace with me when I try to disengage.

    I've even been farmed on the ground by one. These two person groups know they're gonna win, they've gotten cocky flying those things.
  2. Liewec123

    Agreed a 2/2 dervish will win most dogfights against esfs,
    but that is all because of the turret, aiming as the driver is hugely impractical and unwieldy
    so you're in a 1v1 against a flying turret while an extra guy watches, so it makes me think,
    wouldn't they be better off just both pulling ESFs?

    Suddenly instead of one guy shooting you while another guy watches, there are 2 guys shooting you!

    Preemptively response to anyone saying 'but harasser is the same, and it works!':
    I know harasser is also 'one guy shoots while another guy drives',
    but the difference there which makes harasser strong is a combination of its smaller size than other ground targets
    And also the ability for the driver to make rapid turns and unexpected movements to evade fire,
    Dervish is freaking HUGE and moves in smooth predictable motions,
    So the driver actually feels like he has something to do
    Dervish doesn't have the strengths of harasser, Its just a giant flying target board.
  3. Demigan

    But the Dervish does not go into the same hover combat, so you don't need to have similar skillsets to beat a hover flyboi, which is great! Now if they could work on making it even better so players have to switch between playstyles to try and counter others and we've got a much more solid flygame than ever before. Still not great, but better than the broken garbagefire that it is now.
  4. ObiVanuKenobi

    Dervish is very weak to rocket pods. If you get close so you can't miss (ideally below it) you should win every 1v1.
    Normal nosegun combat favors Dervish i guess.
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  5. Demigan

    Yes! Thank you! This is exactly what the air-game needs (the rest as well). More variation that encourages play and counter-play! We should have had rocketpod-like A2A weapons (and G2A weapons) to deal with other aircraft since PS2 began, and using them against the Dervish is a great way to introduce that kind of gameplay. We need more of that (and likely balance it out a bit more).
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  6. LodeTria

    It looses extremely easily when you match it's man-power needs, so 2 ESF vs 1 Dervish.
    Aiming the noseguns is also a pain due to how the thing flies and without the nosegun firing at things you're basically free food for even a single esf.
  7. Botji

    This is kinda a 'git gud' situation, ofc the Dervish can be crewed by amazingly skilled people which also affects things but its quite literally a flying/hovering pancake and its helpless, in several ways, if you get under it because it has no good way of quickly fixing that problem.

    Even a stock ESF nosegun will do massive damage before a Dervish can get out of that situation if it tries to stay in the fight and its not hard for a ESF to get into that situation to start with or again and again if needed, even just full on boosting head on under a Dervish will/should send them running in a half panic. Dervish cant just push its nose down or twist and flip around like a ESF can without building a lot of momentum = splat unless you are really high up.

    Im half convinced Dervish is less agile than Liberators and you just have to use the same strategy when fighting them except that its the top side and not the bottom side that has a dangerous turret... though I will say that the Drifter performance slot does change a few things and if it was a duo of skilled people using that its not a whole lot you can do aside from boom-n-zoom or just a DPS race.
  8. Demigan

    What would you suggest for simultaneously upgrading and nerfing the Dervish?
    You (or at least others) basically say "in the right hands it can be immensely powerful but also suffers some immense flight mechanic limitations".

    Seems to me it needs a solution to:
    - make sure the pilot can actually use his guns a bit more and not be a ferrymen for the topgunner.
    - make the topgun a bit more fair against ESF, so that if the pilot can also shoot at then they aren't insta-screwed.
    - let the Dervish complete more air-maneuvers to fight off ESF.
  9. LodeTria

    As someone who flies both, yes it is less agile than a lib. It feels so strange when you go from a Precison dervish to a High-G lib, being actually able to roll and turn.

    For drifter it feels like you are constantly over-correcting your aim and have to constantly fight the thing to keep on target even against stationary targets. I've only used drift in vr but I can't even imagine trying to get the noseguns to stay on target against someone who's actually evading. I suppose the hope is relying more on your topgunner than your noseguns but the topguns aren't that great vs ESF.
  10. Botji

    I dont really think the Dervish needs to be nerfed though, the weaknesses it has impacts it enough to keep it in line.. if anything I would just want it buffed by all the performance + stock having their Yaw sensitivity turn down to like 1/5th or perhaps even less of what it is now to make it so a single tap on the Yaw button doesnt send your aim dozens of meters off target.

    The main reason I dont feel the Dervish needs a nerf is that its a big and often easy target for ground vehicles to blapp if they attempt A2G aside from long range shots, which ground targets can/should be able to evade without too much effort, and putting it up against other aircraft with 2 or more crew its on par or worse than what have been flying around for years.


    I dont have too much time in the Dervish yet but I still feel fairly certain that given time Drifter will be THE performance slot on a Dervish, it just enhances so much and opens up options that are not available with the other performance options.

    The sliding/drifting/strafing motion can be used for smoother aiming at targets which kinda negates the big aiming drawback for the pilot. Its also super frustrating trying to chase down a slippery slidey Dervish with a turret constantly plinking at you or sending big balls of damage on top of probably being the only type of Dervish that can reliably fight ESFs with lolpods/etc since its not such a stationary target and borderline impossible to get and stay above/below to take advantage of the weaknesses of the Dervish.

    Drifter Dervish basically becomes a sideways flying Liberator, "lol just get above/below it!" doesnt really work against them and just like that the largest weakness of the vehicle is gone and is instead a advantage just as it is for Liberators since chasing them makes you a easier target to hit and suddenly you can be faced with a mean front gun as well.

    Imo Precision Dervish is mainly for long range sniping and/or ground pounding since you then want time on target rather than sliding around all the time but still, with Drifter you can slide around a base/area while your top gun can still maintain accuracy so I would probably still favour the Drifter in most scenarios unless its purely infantry/ground vehicle farming.
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