The Real Problem with AA is Procrastination

Here's the issue as I see it: AA isn't fun. At all.

If you pull a Burster or a Skygaurd then you're on AA duty, and that's it.You cannot engage vehicles. You cannot engage infantry. You're stuck dealing with air, and only air. Now that would be okay, but there are two issues. One, there is no guarantee of air. You will always have a need for AI or AV, but AA is really a flip of the coin, and as such fewer people will regularly run AA. The second issue is that it is extremely difficult to kill even an ESF in a one on one engagement unless they become over aggressive. Even mediocre pilots will just escape and return until they eventually catch you off gaurd. You can keep the skies clear for a time, but you get very little points or satisfaction from it, again causing less people to want to do it, which is a problem considering the fact that you need several people to make a genuine no fly zone.

The alternative is of course heavies with lock ons, but that has a whole other set of problems. Using this, you can either stay back and focus on AA, which leads to the same fun sucking issues that bursters and Skygaurds have, or you can tangle with them while also engaging infantry. This is a risky proposition, as you may get hit by air while handling infantry or vice versa. Further, even if you do get a shot off, the ESF will simply repair and come back. Again, not very satisfying or motivating.

I'm not saying that I know how to fix it, but the AA doesn't work as it is now. It is neither fun nor rewarding, and if we want to find a proper balance, that is what we need to fix.

One problem with dedicatd AA is that it is designed as a support role but doesn't provide the xp rewards that other support roles provide. Current AA is designed as deterrence, and that is fundamentally a support role. When done properly, aircraft go somewhere else. At that point, you have nothing to shoot, so you don't have any fun, you don't get any xp, and you don't even know if you are accomplishing anything. It feels extremely unrewarding, so no one does it. Shocking, I know.

Other support roles have similar issues. Driving an ammo/repair sundy isn't exactly fun for most people. However, you get a ton of xp for it, so people do it. Using dedicated AA weapons needs to provide similar xp. If people sitting in a skyguard/ranger/burster max got significant xp when sitting near active battles, using one of those weapons would feel a lot better. It still wouldn't be fun, but some people would definitely do it. This doesn't fix any of the other issues with AA, but it would at least be a bandaid.

If you want a real solution, dedicated aa needs to be skill based, higher damage, and more versatile. Lockons are fine as deterrence, since they don't really pigeonhole you that much. However, skyguards/bursters need to be overhauled. They need to be more effective against ground targets (ap guns can still snipe infantry/esfs relatively effectively, and skyguards should be similarly versatile), they need to do more damage (so you can actually get kills with them instead of going for deterrence), and they need to be harder to use (ie you should need direct hits instead of flak explosions). A skilled skyguard driver ought to be able to murder an inexperienced esf, and a skilled esf pilot ought to be able to murder a novice skyguard driver. Make dedicated AA rewarding to play and play against, and a lot of things will be healthier. That said, this is a far larger change than adding some xp bonuses.

If gun is superdeadly to justify such skill requirements then why not. If it's a slow walker with 30% more dps - then no, doesn't worth it.

As for lib, it's already very rigid for exactly that reason - ease to hit, in a duel shielded sundy with walker vs 1/3 lib with TB, flying super tank usually wins, despite walker starting first. So i dont like idea of splitting gun to anti-esf and anti-lib versions. AA is already stupidly specialized class.
If lib shouldnt chose between gun for MBT hunt and gun for lightning/harrasser why should AA be THAT limited?

i agree most of the time it really isnt fun. every great once in awhile that big gal lib esf force zerg comes while, and this is important or you get gibbed instantly, theres a few other AA sources. and you wreck them all. but then , thats it, funs over again

People seem to wait a lot when they are playing antiair. There is too much downtime between shooting planes. But planes have to come from somewhere right? I assume most pilots get their lib/galaxy/esf from the warpgate. So, why not bring your AA to the planes instead? Camp their warpgate.