Player returning from looooong time absence, have question about aerial balance.

Pretty self explanatory, I had reached BR 66 and was an avid play for a while, most exclusively a jet jockey. I live through both "Rocketpodside" and "AAMAXSIDE" and then that pesky several mile long lock onside.

basically the games balance between jet fighters was always tumultuous, either they dominated or were cleared from the skies entirely...

So I am curious, how is these days?

Air units are hard to use. In return they're really hard to kill, most if not all AA options are in a very poor spot.

Pilots will tell you air is weak. You get insta locked for days, and everyone is carrying super murder flak in their back pockets.

Infantry will tell you air is OP because they can't land kills.

Something about a skyguard will come up, a Lib will eat it.
Two skyguards will show up, the Lib will be long gone.

Somewhere, a Skywhale stomps a MBT; and life goes on.

By hard to use, do you mean they revamped flight physics? Or has their weaponry been nerfed/changed? I stopped playing after the introduction of the third continent, and before the arrival of the 4th.

The physics got changed a little to be more in line with their console release. Coyotes are bad because of stealth being the end all be all of passive slots, libs are beasts with good pilots, battle whales are underutilized still. Air is overall decent on the ESF side, don't take the banshee.

Ok, never heard of a coyote or a Banshee. What are they exactly? Or a link to them would be appreciated. Glad to know my precious scythe isn't grounded just yet.

Banshee was a TR gun since release. It's the one that had splash damage that kills infantry. Used to be overnerfed compared to other AI noseguns.

Coyote is sort of mix of dumbfire and lock on missiles. You launch them at the enemy aircraft and if they fly close enough to the enemy they instalock and hit them. Resembles flak weaponry.

As for now, they changed flight mechanics, we have more lock ons, so consider investing in flares, hoverfights got obnoxious with reverse maneuvers.

Isn't fun for anyone that isn't already good at it, essentially. AA is still not encouraged enough, and there are few options for new players to defend themselves against a good pilot.

All in all, mediocre in both A2A and A2G, imo-- but I'm not an expert or anything.

A very succinct explanation

the light PPA is still OP, the air hammer is still annoying, and the banshe has been nerfed - still effective but not as much

and any reason to use the Hailstorm over the Antares? The antares has more ammo, faster muzle velocity, more damage. Or do stats lie?

ESFs are fine for people with skill and situational awareness. For newer pilots who don't have those things, flak and lock-ons can be overwhelming. For those somewhere in the middle, it's a challenge but doable.

The bottom line is that good ESF pilot can get a decent farm against clueless players on the ground, AA or no AA. In larger battles, the AA gets so thick that there is really no deeper meaning to playing A2G, other than hit and run tactics on the first squishy target you see. I personally think that is a boring way to play as it's just repetitive farming, but it's pretty much the best option for A2G in heavy AA scenarios. In low AA scenarios, ESFs are pretty effective, but that usually ends as soon as someone gets fed up and pulls a burst max, or if there are a couple of skilled dumbfire users on the ground.

I personally think the only way to keep playing this game in an ESF after reaching a certain level is to focus on enemy air. But that's from someone who wants to fly above all else. For the player who just wants to hop in an ESF every once in a while and get a decent farm, that is where the A2G game works.

The antares has lower burst damage than the hailstorm. It's really an alternative to the saron more than anything, though I think it's a downgrade. The hailstorm is basically a high burst damage weapon, best for ganking.

The Antares is one of a set of new Noseguns for the ESFs. These have mostly the same stats as the default nose guns that fire slower and have a buttload more ammo.