[Guide] [Video] Destroy any tank in 4 seconds with your ESF.

there Tank Buster

Yes, but I cringe when people say "I win Shields" which is far from the truth.

Thanks for showing that weapon that's supposed to hard counter ESF can't do jack shït against it, unless pilot fücks up pretty badly. Way to go balance.

Have you tried it with the Needler? Or does it feel too slow?

How to you gauge the timing on your switch back to the Hornet? Do you just shoot M18 Rotary until empty (and you see the red flashing 0), or do you actually count off the Hornet Reload timer in your head? (since there is no visual indication on the HUD while it's passive)

Your M18 has the Mag partially upgraded (52 rounds). If it was fully upgraded (57 rounds), would you empty it before switching back to Hornet, or would you just shoot until 52 and then switch?

I know that switching to Nosegun too quickly after firing both Hornet Missiles will result in the Hornet not Reloading. How do you gauge the timing on when to Switch to Nosegun aftering firing Hornet, so that the Hornet Reload is activated?

It seems you're doing some good braking when coming to target and some moving as needed to adjust to target movement and maintain fire. What Airframe are you using, and do you feel other Airframe would be fine, or would be notably harder?

Skyguard is a solid AA Weapon on multiple levels, but it's on a Unit that is vulnerable to ESF Hornet and Rocket Pod AV Loadouts. Especially when the Skyguard is extended from Ally forces (or there is no other Ally AA), does not have good line-of-sight, is not watching their rear, or is not paying attention or distracted.

The Hornet does not actually have a wide range of good targets. It excels vs. MBT, Lightning, and Non-Max Infantry (and Max if you're a good shot). And Skyguard happens to be on the Lightning. Hornet is also good on targets that are stationary and not paying attention.

Perhaps the Reaver or Scythe would be making more noise, and the Lightning would be better able to hear the. I don't know. Though I do think that Mosquto flight noise should be changed to be easier to hear for enemy ESF pilots.

The skyguard allowed the ESF to sneak up on its rear. Obviously it would die. What if both spotted each other at the same time at a distance? It has nothing to do with balance. It's about the mistake the tanker made.

The ESF would just fly off?

How about a reversal situation... where a Skyguard snuck up on an ESF from the rear. Would it be obvious that the ESF would die?

Actually unless the ESF was landed, chances are the ESF is still going to fly off.

That's the imbalance. Whereas a ESF can ambush and destroy a Skyguard, a Skyguard is extremely unlikely to ambush and destroy a ESF. In a 1v1 scenario there very clearly is a lack of balance.

Clearly, ESFs are nowhere near versatile enough, and the developer philosophy of 'air counters air, everything else is merely a deterrant' isn't balanced enough in favour of aircraft.

./thread

./sarcasm

Thank you for showing everybody why Air has to be nerfed xD

I never tried this with a needler, since the hornets are already reloaded when I fire off a whole higher-DPS M18 Rotary magazine.
As for gauging when to switch, I gauge mainly by feel so far.
First, I give the hornets the tiniest possible "extra time" to start reloading, then I fire my M18 Rotary until I notice it's out of ammo (it ceases to fire), or until I feel I'm about to be blown up/fly too far over the tank.
Counting down the hornet reload time in your head is probably the most efficient way,
and I might start doing it once I upgrade my Hornet reload speed and M18 Rotary magazine size to max levels,
but I didn't bother yet.
I use the racer airframe, so I think any other would be fine if you're concerned about maneuverability.
Anyway, I've updated the video's description with my loadout,
and I'll do some extra vid on keeping precise track of the hornet's reload if I eventually find it game-changing.

The esf would fly off, because it can't win in a head on fight. Meaning Skyguards = win
Very rarely do Skyguards sneak up on ESFs, but if they do, the ESF usually does into some crazy maneuvers and most likely die.

I guess in the end you and I have different definitions of "winning". In my book it's only a win if one of them dies... if both survive the encounter then it is a draw.

Why does a kill for the ESF count as a win but no kill counts as a win for the Skyguard? Shouldn't we apply the same standard of "win" to both units? Would it be fair if it was extremely unlikely for the ESF to kill anything but if it got tanks to run away and repair it would be considered a sufficient "win"?

this just displays yet another ability air has that ground doesn't, reloads occur while weapon is not equipped,

Because the role of the skyguard now is to deny air to enemy. If it does that, it wins. Who ever said that kills are important? if A2G can't operate properly, it's a win for your fraction. Sure, they could improve the system such that emphasis is placed on area denial and overall support you provide to your team, but Skyguards atm isn't meant to be the frontline air defense.

This occurs in all ground vehicles.

Why would it matter? They fire just like Thunderbolt missiles in the MechWarrior Living Legends Crysis mod. The difference is tbolts weren't guided. They could lock, but they had horrible tracking so it was best to dead fire them. Sullas in that mod flew like Reavers without the ability to hover or vertical thrust... so it was much more challenging to do approaches, but I was still pretty dead on.

All the guide does is give long range shots some utility. What the OP showed doesn't need guidance. He's pre-targeting. He has to at that range.

I can dodge Rocket Pods from Sinist until he's empty & unhappy, but even the single most incompetent pilot I have ever seen can fumble about in the air and still hit my tank many times with "ease" while I am trying to avoid him before smashing face first into the ground. There's new player help and then there's help for even the handicapped...

Feel free to download the mod I mentioned. We'll load up a game and we'll see if you can dodge a thunderbolt. You can use the fastest vehicle you can find (ground vehicles can hit 210+kph). I'll wager you can't do it.

Reason you can dodge pods is because the pilot has to sit there and unload them to do any sort of damage. With Hornets, they can come in low and fast and dump them quickly, much much different. I'm not disagreeing with you. I'm just informing you that the results you are looking for won't happen with your suggestion.

Simply put, you don't need guidance to hit something with Hornets. It just helps if you do it from 500m. But as the OP has shown, that's not the optimal way of using them.

which round vehicles have dual weapon systems? if you mean seat switching that is not the same thing.

Ya, risk would be bad.

Why is seat switching not the same thing? In a vehicle you press Reload and it will Reload no matter what. Or, if you empty the Mag and wait until the Auto-Reload starts, it will Reload no matter what. (though I wish it would just Auto-Reload no matter what when empty, not just require waiting for the Auto-Reload to kick in first while active)

You can even exit the vehicle, and it will still complete a Reload that has initiated.

The idea behind Infantry requiring active selection for certain Reloads (the ones with Reload animations), is that it requires being done manually by the player.