The damage is the same as the default launcher, 1700. You can also dumbfire it by pressing E (eject) after launch. You can also fire it, guide it to perfect aim and then eject, in order to save time, and start reloading the next one. It's hands down my favorite ESL. I wouldn't have an issue if they buffed it by 50m for NC although I find the distance good enough around the main fighting area (Crossroads, Ti Alloys, The Crown). A range indicator would be useful as well (aim at object, distance shows). The VS one plain sucks but has so much potential if tweaked and the Striker is boring to me.
"Grammar: it wins." If you're going to antagonize people on common grammatical mistakes despite fully understanding their literal meanings, you should learn to live and die by the sword. Did your lifetime of pointless online trolling not teach you that? On topic: I agree that the Phoenix is overly "balanced" by having every aspect of it mediocre or subpar, such as the range, damage (yes, I realize it is the same as the Shrike), and maneuverability. I wouldn't think it so bad as it is currently if either its maneuverability or range was improved to make it more practical at its niche role. It also wouldn't hurt if the rockets didn't seem to disappear once they ran out of fuel or went out of range, whichever it may be, along with perhaps a fuel or range indicator. Really, it's an interesting weapon to have in the NC arsenal that I would not complain about at all if it wasn't one of those $7/1000 cert weapons. But it doesn't even seem like a valid sidegrade considering its complete inability at offense, which I have no problem with if not for its poor defensive/support power too at an individual level scaling up to several simultaneous Phoenix users.
I could see maybe raising the range to 350, because realistically repositioning the missile will shave up to 50m off the travel time unless it's a clear shot. Striker has like 500 and the Lancer's effective range is probably armor render distance once they fix the CoF on it. 400m would definitely be too much. I think with 400m you would probably be able to attack a sunderer anywhere in a hex while standing on a capture point. I don't think it needs to be more maneuverable though. I have fired the thing over cover and then down a hill and hit armor behind infantry that no other launcher could. It's extremely powerful from about 40m-250m once you've gotten the hang of steering. If your flight vehicle sensitivity is extremely low or high it could cause some issues, I have mine at .35 and it allows precise adjustments without preventing you from getting to maximum turn speed. More than anything though, it really needs to do more damage to air. As an avid shoot dumbfires at air enthusiast, I was really looking forward to being able to compensate for the minor adjustments that pilots make while hoverspamming to dodge missiles. Atm it really doesn't matter, they can take one and keep hoverspamming like it's no big deal.
Its range is just awful. VS can snipe out to draw distance (1,000m) Guess not - corrected to 500m. Which is still very solid. Striker Locks on out to 500. Phoenix decons at 300? Thats no bueno. The bad hit detection and camera fails will be fixed soon enough. My take? Tighten controls - add at least 100m to the range - and feel free to nerf the damage to the point it can't OHK infantry and does significantly less to armor. It's camera guided nature really screams "Consistent-Low Damage-Harassment Weapon" not "Unstoppable-Burst damage-if-you-can-manage-to-actually-land-a-shot" - that's too Decimator Esq for me.
No, the VS can't snipe to draw distance. Lancer is capped at 500m, right when it would have started being useful.
shorten lock on for Striker, lower charge time for Lancer and increase damage to armor for the Phoenix.
The range is the price you pay for SOE having render distance the way it is. Around 300m is when infantry will (or SHOULD, doesn't actually happen reliably) render to people, meanwhile vehicles render at a much further distance. You're basically asking to be able shoot down ESFs without them even being able to see or counter you, that is something I think SOE really wants to avoid (this obviously goes for tanks as well, but seeing a show the Phoenix can one shot an ESF...). Put yourself in a pilot's position here. Your plane will just die to a Phoenix from the 300+ range instantly with no warning. That is incredibly ridiculous and should not be in the game, so your suggestion of a 500m range can't be taken seriously. If SOE can fix render distance, I'm all for the possibility of added range to the Phoenix, but there is no way I would ever support a situation in which invisible infantry can one shot an ESF out of nowhere.
It's probably just the same laggy unreliability that happens when you try to roadkill people and nothing happens. The Phoenix is a "vehicle" afterall, it is probably prone to the same problems roadkill attempts are.
"Consistent-Low Damage-Harassment Weapon" is the Lancer. The trade off for low damage there is the Lancer's insane projectile speed. Lower the Phoenix's infantry damage maybe, but trading armor damage for more range is a terrible idea. "If you can manage to actually land a shot" implies it's somehow hard to do so. The projectile speed is fine, and the maneuverability is good enough if you know where your target is. Honestly, I've never had an easier time hitting vehicles or (bad) ESFs. I would not trade damage for better maneuverability. Remember: We're NC. Damage is supposed to be our shtick. Not true. It takes at least 2 shots.
Well, the Phoenix is a vehicle, so it is pretty visible at any vehicle render range. And it is pretty much impossible to hit air now, since the air just moves faster then missile or hovers higher then 300m range. I would be ok with 300m if other lock-on weapons were limited to the same range. But e.g. striker has 500m lock-on range, which is considerably higher then infantry render range. So with striker your aircraft is recieving lot's of "invisible" damage. I support the idea of increasing the damage of phoenix against vehicles and incresing range a bit, but reducing anti-infantry damage by half. so it only removes shields from infantrymen, but still usefull against MAXes.
"Gee, I wish my rockets did more damage even though they are detonating 200m short and hitting nothing - while we are receiving effective enemy fire from outside of render range " said no one ever. When it comes to armor; effectiveness at range = lethality. Period. Remember when they nerfed the HRB? They didn't nerf its damage - they nerfed its effectiveness at range. Remember when they nerfed the Enforcer? They didn't nerf its damage - they nerfed its effectiveness at range. Remember when they nerfed the Enforcer *again*? They didn't nerf its damage - they nerfed its effectiveness at range. Remember when they buffed the Enforcer? They didn't buff its damage - they buffed its effectiveness at range. Remember when they buffed Prowler siege mode? They didn't buff its damage - they buffed its effectiveness at range. Its really easy - You need to acquire your target, you need to be able to reach your target, you need to be able to hit your target, you need to be able to kill your target. IN THAT ORDER. If you can't reach him - you cant hit him, if you can't hit him, you can't kill him no matter how much damage you *might* do. I swear its always the sub 1.0 K/D guys that want to lecture me on this stuff. Always.
My main problem with this is the ridiculous collision box, I feel like I am flying a cargo plane with this thing. I agree that it should become dumbfired at max range, why would it just stop being effective?
HA!! You gotta be kidding me. You're given an explosive sniper rifle and you complain. Seriously, went up against a platoon who have 5 of these things(we actually had superior numbers) screwed our battle lines so badly by blowing everyone up! Even if you need direct line, you always need to use basic rules of cover and concealment, and at 300m, if you're hard to see, the only thing that might get you is a sniper. Its way easier to shoot as compared to a dumb fire or lock on. Lock ons give the enemy a warning, dumb fires travel slowly and can miss very easily. And its extremely useful against infantry, especially in big battles. As for shooting them down, unless you know for a fact that its a phoenix coming for you, you'll just try to dodge it. Not so easy to dodge a controlled missile.
