Upcoming adjustments to Air vs Ground balance

The missiles are so slow that extending their lock-on range will actually make it easier for pilots to dodge them due to most HAs trying to fire as soon as possible. Additionally the requirement to have a lock-on to fire is a pretty big nerf, there is plenty complaining about that already.

Well i went ahead and kindly asked for a refund.
It was granted.

Still this change made me a little scared about future purchases.

lol "almost perfect" LOL You'd figure that all the lil weiners that were flying around scooping MASSIVE AMOUNT OF EXP would now start to cry when they haven't even seen how this will play out. I'm totally AA and I don't really see these changes with any amount of positiveness, in fact it may totally change my role now because of the required lockon which I failed to understand why such a nerf right there.

Did you get a refund in money or certs (what did you spend originally)?

Heavy Assault will be useless because G2A missiles can't be dumbfired anymore?

I'm sure all those people who wanted to assault Biolabs, Techplanets, and a variety of other targets will be greatly saddened to hear this!

I spend SC and got a SC refund.

I'm pretty reserved about these changes... but change is inevitable.

In the instances of changes like this (particularly that Flak Armor buff raises my eyebrows a bit... both in interest and in concern) will there ever be opportunities to "re-cert?"

A lot of people - especially those pure free-to-play-ers - have invested a lot of certs in weapons or defensive items that you have the power to change at-will, while we are left with an expectation of our character builds that will be somewhat lacking after the changes. Maybe every time you do a patch like this, you should give people the option to re-cert up to three items or so... let them get points back they can reinvest in something else since you may or may not have altered their playstyles.

Higby has confirmed in interviews that they are working to implement a way to re-cert, likely using SC and maybe (crossed fingers) a free re-cert every so often (maybe with a small cert loss penalty?).

How did you ask?

What was the method of getting the refund? I spent $50 towards the game and am very unhappy with the change to the AA rocket launcher. It was versatile and now it's not worth carrying with it's core functionality changed. It would be nice to get a credit back in SC.

I'm won't be spending money on anything if arbitrary changes like this are going to be a regular occurance.

Sort of a mixed bag here... Some changes are good, other bad, other really really bad...

But I'm more worried about this Decimator thing... Also I can't help but feel that the change to the Ground to Air rocket launcher was made so that everyone would find it suddently not suited to their playstile and go but this new overpowered Decimator rocket launcher.
I'm prepared to see my magrider blow up in one single hit on the rear armor...

I didn't take the time to read through 30 pages of comments, so I'll just politely ask and apoligise in advance if it's been brought up before.

Higby, what's your opinion on the nerf to ESF's Flak Armour?

Sensible changes, nothing too drastic.


Seems like a toning down of air power, which everyone - even pilots knew was coming, and a way for infantry to escape a spawn room surrounded by the usual 100 HE tanks. Might even be worth trying to fight out of a camped spawnroom now.

Not interested in A2A combat. I fly low, pick few enemies and if it so happens intercept over-committing enemy ESFs. Not interested in countering air at all unless it's squad/platoon command.

Well, I may have misunderstood the "no fly zone." In my mind that sounds like an insta-kill rather than a risk. I'm totally fine with tanks one-hitting me. The risk you're talking about is already there. So, what changes are we talking about?

Keep in mind it's an opinion not a fact. I'm generally bad at dogfights and it usually goes one way or the other. That's not to say there can't be proper A2A combat. At the moment there seems to be one dominating tactic, probably due to lack of experienced pilots. Anyone who's good enough can spice things up a lot, using different maneuvers to get the advantage, etc.
I'm pretty sure things will change a lot in time. When you get more and more into proper dogfights you start to adapt and learn, if you're into that. A2A is a joke in a sense that people are using one basic tactic which is really boring...There's nothing else really wrong with it. Even lock-on missiles are fine. Any good pilot can easily react before you get proper lock (unless you intercept) and gives you no chance for second shot.
A2G is...meh. I'm fine with whatever changes they make in that regard as long as your chance to react remains. As I said I'm not fan of hovering. If anything I do flybys and hover only to pick up loners running across a field. Camping around bases and all that...not my thing.

Yep, you have, but it's more complicated than that. I'm sure I won't be able to explain it. "Ground rules. Air flying into this zone is quickly dispatched." Again, this to me sounds like the moment you slow down you're f*ed. I don't know if you're aware, but using afterburner at low speed doesn't want to push you forward, but up instead. It's annoying when you need to get out of danger zone quickly. All you can do is hold down W until you're around 50kph. This is a good two second delay which at times is too much.
I'm also not sure if you're suggesting buffing any AA. If you do then please also think about improving ESF acceleration.
Don't really get it why we'd need to split it into layers. AA spread is so huge at long distance that getting hit by one bullet or w/e is not a big deal and lets you know about upcoming threats. Reducing it to 10% in some layer makes no sense to me. Or rather, I find it unnecessary.
Also does 100% mean what it is now or some new, higher damage?

. I don't expect to die, I don't expect to live. For me it's ALL about the current situation. I know my risks, I know what can kill me and before I commit I'd rather do few flybys and see what's up. Then poke a bit, get one or two kills and repeat. It's more about preparation, timing and picking your fights.
Same with tanks. If they're distracted by ally ESF then why shouldn't I drive in, kill them and expect to live? If I do few scouting flybys and I get an idea what's up, what my allies are doing, how many enemies there are, how much AA, etc then I do expect to live and take out one or two guys before they realize what's up. Obviously luck is also involved and someone spawning in just at the right time with rocket launcher is great. I deserve to die. One man, totally unaware of the situation can make the difference, yey!
Don't know how to explain this, but think about flying through a techplant vehicle spawn-area at high speed. Supposing I don't crash, do I expect to die when there are few allies who MIGHT spawn a tank the moment I fly through? Depends. It's just basic risk assessment. I don't want any layers to...well, decide for me. No layer should define what is a no-fly zone or not except players themselves. If they're not noticing me, I expect to kill them with tank, flash, C4, grenades, ESF or w/e you can think of. If there's TONS of AA then it effectively becomes a no-fly zone. However, there are still opportunities if you just pay attention and time it right. I don't like the idea of any definitive hard deciding factors. I like to think that one HA or one MAX could mean victory or defeat.
I don't mind if one guy with C4 can take out whole tank squad. Running back and forth between Sundy or w/e to resupply. I don't mind if one tank can destroy platoons worth of enemies on his own if done in a "proper" manner. Basically exploiting any weak points or distractions, using anything he can to keep himself alive, hidden, etc. Don't want any restrictions. I want impossible things to happen.
This is not to say it can't be done with your layers, but why? Why is it necessary? I think it's much more viable to keep every unit separate and do minor tweaks over time to balance it out. Rest is COMPLETELY up to people. I hope you get what I mean.

Totally agreed. Let them get their EXP/cert share and it's fine. For AA you can create a "Total damage" stat. Based on that you get your levels and rewards. No need to get kills per say. You could effectively deter same ESF several times and gain tons of EXP from it.
When it comes to me, nothing is set in stone. Not even my own opinions, they're worthless. I only question the necessity people seem to have to make or want these changes.

Rofl, this is pure design to sell the new rocket launcher.

Sure, nerf aircraft and now we have tanks on their way, not to panic! here comes super AT rocket launcher to the rescue.

Profit.

Didn't read through 30 pages (call me lazy?).

Did I miss something about Skyguard? You know, that silly little AA tank with only a single role in life that costs resources AND a potload of Certs just to make even reasonably viable with almost ZERO profit for using? I know, we should all be completely altruistic and spent all of our time/money on a weapons platform JUST for the sake of teamplay, with no other reward....?

That same one that has at least 5 HARD counters (ESF, Tanks, HA, Mines, C4), but is still a sitting duck for free Xp by any passing ESF despite supposedly being an AA gun and "deterrent"?

If I am completely wrong and missed something about them making Skyguard useful/profitable, please feel free to flame me, right AFTER you point me at the information stating otherwise!

Thank you!

It's actually on the first page lol =P something about flak being buffed, therefore Skyguard is buffed.

Such blatant bait and switch with the lock-on launchers!

If there is a need to make such drastic changes, consider dropping the item entirely rather than completely changing its role. This is an extremely disheartening change and either needs reversion or drastic revisiting.

I'm absolutely sick of dealing with hovering liberators as it is, and this... this change is just outrageous.

AA tower turrets are so pissweak that you're better off using small arms fire to 'deter' ESFs. No mention of buff. Might as well remove the bloody things completely to save up on CPU usage and reduce server load

Don't be mad rocketpods got nerfed... it needed to be done..

Stop being jelly..