This sounds crazy, but... the Dervish should have a cloak module, just like an infil. The dervish is slow, horrible handling, has no real competitive edge or niche to any other aircraft, would make it interesting.
It's the same cost as a Reaver, same speed, has 2 guns, more HP and has a similar profile to a scythe for better or for worse. They're already hard to kill in an ESF when they are well piloted and manned.
They have a fraction the maneuver speed per km/h, substantially more surface area/ attack area from below / above, and are not as fast. This does not take into account of the max potential damage per/sec from a lone reaver with full missile and anti-air loadout. Furthermore, A2A loadouts of both platforms (Pixie & DV-21 & DV-22T vs. Tomcat & Vortek (x2) ) (Even in a 1:1 platform standoff, engagement ranges of the Pixie, lock on, fire rate & delay, projectile flight time, reload, then reacquire lock... 'one combat cycle' pose it at a severe disadvantage to a single reaver). Especially when considering attack angles and maneuverability, the Dervish under performs. Reaver. 3000 hp SPEED: Reaver: 200 km/h cruise 348 km/h w/ after burner Dervish: 3500 hp 198 km/hr 263 km/hr w/ after burner TURN RATE: (360 deg turn) Reaver: Latteral Static: ~27 deg/sec Latteral Maneuver: ~100 deg/sec Vertical Maneuver: ~80 deg/sec Dervish: Latteral Static: ~32 deg/sec Latteral Maneuver: ~52 deg/sec Vertical Maneuver: ~22 deg/sec This DOES NOT even take into account the huge delta in armament and utility options.... 500 hp advantage is easily destroyed with a severe disadvantage in full combat cycle rates. Without even nerding out on the Capabilities and Parameters (C&P) of this platform... just look at the behavior of players. You can EASILY tell how unliked the Dervish is... NSO players select it out of necessity because it's quite literally the ONLY ESF they have. There's a reason you hardly see Dervishes... people don't like dying. and you die really easily in the Dervish. I petitioned DBG for the kill count, pull count & lifespan duration, killed by weapon/platform/ ... per platform numbers, they refused to provide... and that's just a general baseline. Giving the Dervish something ultra unique like a legit in-flight cloak, would likely counter the severe disadvantage the platform has on its ability to maneuver and much larger hit box than any other ESF. NOTE: If you want to validate my numbers, just pull one of these platforms and time the duration to perform the tests, divided into 360 degs = deg/rate).
they much much larger than a scythe, they also have far less agility than any ESF making them far easier to hit, and being 2/2 is pretty much mandatory, because they are outgunned in a 1v1 against an ESF. i do feel like cloak (atleast a minor cloak which is only effective at a distance) would be a cool addition. it already looks kinda similar to stealth jets, would be cool to be a kind of ambush vehicle, i wouldn't mind if it lost the bonus HP to make up for cloak. though personally i feel like NSO should get AI as their faction trait, Dervish should have a utility slot option to replace the second seat with AI for the top gun making it a 1/1 ESF. (and chimera rumble seats should be replaced with weaker versions of HCG, which passengers can use, and then chimera gets a utility slot option to replace those extra seats with AI, making it an ordinary 2/2 MBT but with auto-turrets.)
My sentiments! Great point too on the Chimera. I feel a simple upgrade to the Chimera would to just let MAXes hitch a ride because the rumble seats mean certain death for most infantry. Allow NSO MAXES to use their utility on the rumble seat, and there ya go "Chimera..." The AI slot I posted once before, however it was out of utility since many people know the very low survivability rate of the Dervish and often refuse to gun for it, not to mention there's only 3 weapon options/ loadouts compared the 7 of other ESFs. The disc shape would be perfect for a cloak utility. As is, other ESFs can afterburn their way out of combat and easily outrun G2A, unlike the Dervish. This would address some of those issues. The balance would be "F" utility is Cloak toggle on/off. Replaces Afterburners. Longer cloak time compensates for lack of escape velocities, requiring concealment. 20 seconds of Cloak gets the Dervish just over 1km at maximum cruise speed, which isn't that far. The cloak will also allow the Dervish to close range on weapon systems such as the Pixie that have a VERY close A2A engagement range, long lock on time, slow projectile speed, poor AI pathing, etc... UTILITY: "Mirage Reactor" (Matches Dervish name theme) Level 1: Consumes energy to bend light around the Dervish, resulting in near perfect invisibility, Last for up to 20 seconds and fully recharges over 20 seconds. While Mirage cloak is active, the Dervish cannot receive repairs. Level 2: Consumes energy to bend light around the Dervish, resulting in near perfect invisibility, Last for up to 20 seconds and fully recharges over 16 seconds. While Mirage cloak is active, the Dervish cannot receive repairs. Level 3: Consumes energy to bend light around the Dervish, resulting in near perfect invisibility, Last for up to 20 seconds and fully recharges over 12 seconds. While Mirage cloak is active, the Dervish cannot receive repairs. Level 4: Consumes energy to bend light around the Dervish, resulting in near perfect invisibility, Last for up to 20 seconds and fully recharges over 8 seconds. While Mirage cloak is active, the Dervish cannot receive repairs. Damage does not remove the Mirage Reactor cloaking effect. P.S. UP VOTE IF YOU LIKE!!!
