What? Finally a non QQ thread! This forum is full .. My question is what u think is the best anti air build for an ESF ? I mean, weapons and other slot options (flares, stealth etc) ?
Rotary Gun, A2A missiles, Stealth, Flares. (Personally i run Fire Suppression.) Preformance is dependant on what Empire you are, really.
Use A2A missiles if you want to be a scrub. use your nose cannon and rocket pods if you want any sort of respect from your enemy. NC I use Mustang AH, Breaker Rockets, Stealth, High Speed Airframe, and Flares. Mustang AH: Like a scattergun for a nose cannon. Fires explosive pellets, good damage to enemy craft. Also good for ground targets. Gives less notice as its not a stream of bullets but rather a burst of damage all at once. Breaker Rockets: Much better for taking down Libs and Gals IMO. Far more effective than a few lock on missiles as you can carry many, many more. Able to strafe ground targets when air is not around. Fleeing ESF pilots are also pretty easy to hit with them. Stealth: A must have. You dont appear on radar by proximity; always nice! Airframe: Depends on your faction, and most NC wont agree with High Speed. I use it to escape flak and lock ons more than to evade other fighters. Its nice to have an escape plan. Most will swear by Composite Armor or Dogfighting Airframes though. Flares: They do what they do. If you cant evade a lock on, pop a flare. I use my setup because it very versatile. Its effective in the air and effective for ground targets when there is no air around.
Would normally have agreed with stealth, but since the last hotfix composite armor isn't nearly as bad a choice depending on playstyle. Even though it won't directly help in 1v1 dogfights.
Ha Haha HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA You're certainly not earning any respect from any enemy ground forces using those. As for the A2A missiles: Are you there to kill enemy aircraft or are you there to lolpod enemy infantry and then whine when you try to dogfight some guy who came with A2A missiles and get shot down?
You must always have Stealth + Flares. Racer is the best for the Mossy IMHO, don't have a Reaver, and Sythe I don't have enough cirts in to know the difference, but I kinda like Hover on the Sythe, I feel like I can keep a tighter circle with it while trying to circle an opponent, and I can't really keep my aim on with my racer mossy doing this. Weapon loadout Depends. A2A missiles + default gun: Very good at playing an airial sniper role, especially effective as a force multiplier if have friendly air (you do not need to be organized with them, just having frienly ESFs in the air is enough). This is the best setup if you have been pushed back to the warp gate, as you can patrol within range where you can always flare and get back within your Warp gate shields and maintain lock on and needler range on any pursuer. You have to have impeccable aim with the needler, otherwise you wol't destroy enemy air, you'll just deter it. This is also a good setup to kill steal without putting yourself at risk of colliding with friendly aircraft. Another great advantage of the default gun is that it simply rips libs apart without using much ammo; even at range, so you can sit well beyond hitting distance of most lib gunners. The one weakness of this loadout is that if an ace pilot gets you in CQ combat you will lose, as you simply lack the dps to go toe to toe with a rotary; this will happen if you don't finish off a pilot who closes to engage you with the needler, or if a skilled pilot closes on you while you are too focused on your target. AB pods + Rotary (Shotty is probably best, but I don't have a Reaver): Best solo dogfighting loadout. This is also my prefered setup if our team has good map control and I don't feel like rocket podding. Best thing to do is climb to max altitude, get behind enemy lines (you do not want to be spotted or taken out by anhilator yahoos and skygaurds) and swoop down on spots where you think ESFs might be. Great, great fun when you're on, but when you're having a bad day you wol't be up in the air very often. A2A missiles + Rotary: In my opinion this is a dangerous build. It can be great in a squad when you have one or two wingmen, as it allows you to snipe at range and force enemy actions with the A2A missiles, while having great CQ dps to rip enemy ESFs apart. I have a couple issues with this build though, and it's been a long time since I've loaded a mossy with it. The rotary forces you to close to close range, where A2A missiles don't have enough time to lock on. Also when I find myself trying to close on rocket pod using ESFs, I often get instagibbed by invisible ground forces, or suddenly a whole squadron of enemy ESFs pop into rendered existence with my momentum carrying me into the center of them (the needler allows me to stay at ranges where I can usually take evasive action to survive). Rocket Pods + Rotary: Don't underestimate the utility of Rocket Pods in a dogfight, sure you'd often be better off with extra AB fuel most of the time, but not always. Pods hit ESFs hard, a rotary clip even with a few misses and a landed pod or two will kill an ESF outright. This also opens up more options in terms of attacking the ground. This setup isn't very far behind any of the above for dogfighting, and the best thing about it is that you can also kill ground targets without hovering; this drastically increases your survivability.
that depends on the situation you're in. if you're one on one dog fighting, i would recommend going composite armor , flares , and hover air frame for reverse manuever to counter fire. if you're facing ALOT of enemy air + ground, i would recommend going stealth , flares , and dogfighting air frame, mainly to dodge all those flak turrets and go around sharp corners to loose the enemy.
Level 1 stealth is huge. If I am fighting a enemy esf it's like night and day if knowing their exact position/which direction they are facing. Composite can be good, but flak can usually be avoided in teh first place by staying away from areas with a lot of ground troops.
Oh look another VS kiddie. Next time dont edit the quote to say what you want it to say. Now thats what it actually said. I actually prefer enemies to use A2A. I have flares, and they are generally unskilled pilots. They tend to panic when you start hitting them with your nose cannon and/or dumbfire rockets. The majority of them flee and crash, suicide, or bug out to a nearby base with lots of AA up. The remainder get shot down and gain a bit of honor back for not immediately smashing themselves into the nearest rock in a fit of rage. A very small fraction of them actually manage to shoot me down.
Ignore people who tell you its insulting to use A2A missiles, that is what they are designed for.As for A2G missiles, they are not the "free cert" farmers people try to portray.
Use what works. If you want to kill Air, use A2A. The irony of someone calling you a scrub for choosing a more effective weapon is, I'd imagine, lost on them.
The bottom line is that the people insulting pilots for killing them on the ground just cannot pilot themselves.
Air to air missiles work fine, just don't open with them nor expect them to work the first shot due to everyone having flares. It's billed as an air to air role, so screw people that can't get over others using them. Let them pretend there is some kind of "skill" in ejecting out of their burning wreckage so that you get no kill xps. After burners will allow you to not only live longer by escaping danger zones, but allow you to catch your prey easier. That's what they should be telling you instead of insulting the missile option. Know that rotary isn't that great since the bullet speed reduction, default nose cannons aren't that good either, and that air to ground rockets work outstandingly in taking down aircraft at close range. Mostly just expect to die a lot to ground fire. All aircraft are loathed in this game, and people will go to great lengths to swat you out of the air no matter what build you run with.
