So, my question to anyone who thinks Rocket Pods are fair and balanced...

Do you have any idea how dangerous it is to even get close enough to use rocket pods? You deserve the kills you rack up with it before being blown to pieces.

You can't protect yourself because you will be locked immediately by rockets, you're going to take fire by anyone else close enough, and you can't be moving while using them or you won't finish the kill(s).

Rocket Pods are more than fine. I hate dying to them, but I've used them so I know how much effort it takes to use them properly.

Flying in and of itself takes a lot of work and practice. It's ridiculous to keep saying pilots are OP for random things when the only people who even are piloting in this game without crashing almost immediately put a lot of effort into learning the system.

I've been dabbling in flying for a bit now and I'm not even a moderately good pilot yet. Flying is probably the absolute hardest thing to master in this game. Step off and go back to your Lightning.

Putting in effort is one thing. When the counter to it requires a monetary investment or hours of farming, that is when you have a problem.

There wouldn't be nearly as many complaints about 'how strong aircrafts are' if skyguard, a second burster, or a S to A launcher for infantry weren't hours upon hours of farming into the game. Right now the rocket pod works on the basis that if you pay right now you can kick the crap out the mass number of F2P gamers who've yet to invest and may or may not be turned off by being fodder.

You mean the counter to a weapon that requires a monetary investment or farming is... ANOTHER weapons that requires the same? You're acting like rocket pods are easier to acquire than their counter

Quoted for truth. Rocket Pods if I remember right cost 700 Certification Points, Doesn't the other arm for burster MAX cost the same amount of certification points?

Rocket pods are fine, they need to nerf the lock on missles. They track your path, so you can't dodge them with mountains.

They cost 700 cert points and at the default level only have 36 rockets total, or just enough to kill a MBT and a lightning (assuming everything hits) before having to go resupply. By comparison a lightning skyguard has far more default ammo, dual bursters can sit on an ammo pack, and turrets are infinite.

both are 1000 certs or 700 SC ($7)
your point still stands.

Skygaurd + Ammo sundy also = infinit ammo.

you can get ammo for your aircraft from ammo sundies as well, but not as easy.

The only time rocket pods are completely "OP" is when you have gaggles of infantry clustered together with no AA.

Not to mention lock-on A2A missiles are a direct hard counter. You're pretty helpless if even one of those guys show up.

I think the bigger problem is no-one wants to fight jets, not that they are unable.

You know come to think of it, even a tank can sit next to a sunderer who has vehicle ammo resupply- and that same sunderer can't resupply air vehicles can it?

So we're flying around with limited ammo that can only be replenished on a landing pad while everyone else has access to unlimited ammo on the spot if properly set up? Man.. maybe I should go anti-air instead!

Well, right now the counter is shoot pretty much any gun at the ESF making the bombing run.

ESFs are made of glass and glued together with spit, and good pilots know it. They veer off and abort their run the second they start seeing hit indicators - which even a pistol will cause. Bad pilots don't know it and usually die immediately anyway from crashing into the ground or getting hammered by multiple rockets anyway.

Either way, rocket pods are basically only an issue for people who stand around and wait to get blown to kingdom come. Sort of like the HEAT guns are death to stupid infantry, and the Dalton is death to stupid vehicle drivers. I stopped having issues with rocket pods the moment I started habitually snapping a few shots off at any ESF near me.

I WILL agree that rocket pods are very dangerous in the hands of a competent pilot, but not particularly more so than the M60 bulldog is in the hands of a good Sunderer gun crew.

Takes no AA, complains about air killing him.

And of course you wouldn't see the fail present there.

The in-game store may as well say 'Purchase this weapon and for the next 2 to 4 weeks, the majority of players will not be able to counter you. We should also note that your counters are niche weapons which cost the exact same as this one while this weapon maintains the versatility to perform as a both a means to combat ground and air units.'

Paying for an advantage that is only negated or kept in check by the opposing players paying to 'keep up' while SoE operates as the black market arms dealer working both sides. By the very design of the game and the default, new account scarcity of options to combat air units, the Rocket Pods are the definition of pay to win. Eventually more people will have their counters but that isn't stopping the **** train that is rocket barrages against fresh faced players currently.

This is like how NC weapons were the first to be tuned up with the massively increased TTKs and the TR & VS were screaming foul as their TTK wasn't altered at the same time. They were effectively playing entirely different games.

I just can't understand why A2AM in SC costs the same as Rocket Pods... No really... it is twice cheaper in cert

Let's make this very clear; the only way that Rocket Pods are useful against air vehicles is if they are standing still or moving at a slow rate, i.e. Liberators or Galaxies. Of course you are going to be a big target- I've seen people abandon dog fights just to go shoot at a galaxy just because they know it's an easy kill.

It's not the rocket pod user's fault that the liberator/galaxy pilot does not present their guns to any following air combatants, for the same amount of certification points that it takes for a pilot to purchase rocket pods, I believe both aircraft can buy/max out upgrades to their air frame which increase speed or turning rate which would help counter it.

TO ANSWER OP'S QUESTIONS.

1. No its not fun when i get owned by them, BUT i realise thats because im lazy and cant be bothered countering them, also my team is too lazy to try counter it.

2. It actually doesnt take out groups, whenever ive emptied a clip into a group, its pot luck, somebody will die, max 2 people.
Lesson: Dont group up, just like in ANY FPS, EVER.

3. Counter play? no way, dual burster maxes will ANNIHILATE EVERYTHING. Maybe turrets need more defence, though.

Stop complaining and treating this game any differently, just like EVERY OTHER FPS EVER, YOU HAVE TO COUNTER, THINK AND NOT BE STUPID. you cant just be stubborn, pick on class and cry for everything else to be changed.

Ok I don't know why I would be biased because I suck at flying and I only really play infantry. My question to you is what gun feels fun to the face when you're dieing to it? I can't think of any... especially not big AOE instant kill grenades or instant death sniper head shots. If there is a fleet of ESFs overhead harassing my outfit I just hop into my HA and start locking on and wearing them down and if the pilots are good enough to avoid the lock-ons I just switch to my burster max and completely own them, if I land all my shots they are down in one clip. Also rocket pods are not anti air, yes they can be used but they are not effective on anything but galaxies maybe.

Yea, cause they have no splash damage either...XD And their AoE is so large you can't run or drive out of it fast enough. Their so OP its beyond OPness. Especially when the aircraft can just hover because the AA in the game can't scratch it. Yea, its balanced alright.

Its the first blatant example of their P2E(Pay To Expedite) store. FTPs can unlock it after grinding for 8 hours a day for a month. Although I'm sure by the time you unlock it, there will be four or more P2E weapons to contend with.

That only works if the games balanced and the counters WORK. The AA in this game is laughable and no ones going to grind out 1k of certs to unlock the AA gun on the max which is the only real deterrent, if protected by 10 engineers who are spread out outside the rocket pods AoE who can repair the max after the...oh well... the second barrage killed them to...

its balanced, its a freaking Air to ground weapon, they are sposed to be brutal, don't get caught in the open an you'll be fine.

edit
As was said few posts back, everyone is more happy to tear down everyone els an make sure everyone only has what they have, instead of working towards it themselves. As in todays gamers as usual, they are more inc to try an get everything nerfed than do the graft for it themselves.

The only argument I am making is that balance is not possible to determine this early in the game's life.

I have no opinion on the nature of rocket pod power at the moment because I rarely fly myself and rarely am attacked by rocket pods so my experience with the weapon is too limited to form an opinion I would consider informed.