When are bursters getting nerfed?

^ This.

People always complain about something being Overpowered when 'their' tactic gets defeated by it. Yet, they don't bother to use the Tactics that will counter the one that defeated them. This is a combined arms game. With the holy circle that goes with it.

Air > ground/armor > infantry > AA > Air

As a response to this I agree in the current balance situation.

Which is why I initially asked Higby on twitter if AA and A2G were both going to be toned down. So they can actually operate near each other in a less cutthroat manner.

I love how we have two people arguing over whether stealth or nanite repair are better defense options in a burster thread. (Protip: There's an armor for that)

Hehe, right? I use nanites/fire suppression right now, but my squad ran into a a composite armor/dalton lib who managed pretty well against a pair of bursters. It was a pretty small fight, so who knows how well it'll scale, but it certainly piqued my interest in composite.

https://players.planetside2.com/#!/5428010618038046337/vehicles

Dont have a problem with bursters I just change my angle of attack like ill come from a angle that they wont be expecting. 2 bursters taking out 6 EFSs lol they the ESFs must be complete noobs to get taken out, 1 or 2 yes but not all 6 of them unless the bursters are hiding behind the shields and the dumb A** ESF are just hover there wanting to be shot lol.
My set up for my mossie is:
Nanite Repair Maxed out
Flares Maxed Out
Dogfighting Frame Maxed Out
Rotary
Lolpods

The way AA is to me is fine except for the Skyguard that could do with a buff when I get shot by them I just line them up and blow the back end to pieces.
PS to the OP to bring down a burster I recommend you fly straight up come from top unload a barrage of rockets and then instant swap to the secondary and finish them off easy

This statement in your original post is why I figured you sucked as a pilot. You want bursters nerfed yet you want them adjusted to where they have a 50/50 chance against an esf. If you can't take one lone burster out 99 times out of 100 you are not a good pilot.

If two bursters are taking out you and your 5 friends then you guys need to analyze your tactics.

I think bursters create too large no fly zone. I also think that skillpods should be antitank weapon instead one solution against every type of enemy. Flying ESF is becoming very boring.

That's how it's supposed to work, but bursters aren't vulnerable to ground forces until the ground forces have cleared out every inch of enemy territory that the burster can hide in. And even then, the bursters can shoot out of spawn shields. And all the while, bursters (especially lockdown/ZOE) can prevent aircraft (dogfighters and liberators included) from operating within 800m.

That's why Skyguards SHOULD be the primary G2A weapon. Ground forces can move in to destroy a Skyguard so air can continue to engage the enemy. Bursters have free reign to fire on aircraft until the battle is over. And if the air disappears, they just switch to AV. And if ground forces DO kill a MAX, it just gets revived.

You might as well have said:
"Taking Burster fire from that enemy base? Well move in your tanks and infantry to capture the base and then there won't be any Bursters there."

Did this come out right?

Really, it's much easier for you to fly behind enemy lines than is for me to record, render, and upload a video of me doing something you can just go out and do within two minutes. Don't be lazy, just go do it.

A burster won't hit ANY decently flown ESF or Liberator at even 1/4 of that range so, I sincerely hope you're joking... and not just crazy.

You make it sound as if the only way to be a 'good pilot' is to only use scout radar and vehicle stealth. Honestly man... players have their right to make choices on how they build their own Reave/Mossie/Scythe and you shouldn't call them sucky pilots because they dont go with a choice *you* use.

Stealth is only good for the extra lock on time, but once they see you, your stealth is blown out of the water. Scout radar is a viable tool however, very good choice to hunt ground targets.

But those two are just one type of choice any pilot can use and use their judgement if that is their PLAYING STYLE. Obviously, with all the TR Strikers and Lockdown/ZOE AA Bursters out there... without Composite Armor and Flares, you might aswell write your Reaver as a loss.

I use Composite Armor as it is valuable to migitate the damage. And flares have saved my hind many more times than I can count. Without flares, all the striker HA's would've blown me out of the skies, even if I was indeed running away at the first sight. And composite armor, even at level 1, gives me the extra survivability I need in order to get out of the AA reach zone so I can land elsewhere and repair.

With a Scout Radar + Vehicle Stealth setup, you need to basically fight at places where there are lots of cover and hiding places for your Reaver to go to.. or dive in and out of obstacles that break lockon timers and interrupt AA fire. But in middle of clear skies like Esamir with little to no hiding places for the ESF to go to hide? Then Flares and Composite armor is almost a must.

You cannot simply demand all the pilots to obey you or tell them that your setup is the only way to go. This thread is about how OP Bursters are. I played with my Reaver today at Esamir... and once AA Maxes start shooting from the spawn rooms. I might aswell fly elsewhere and hope they dont got AA maxes there, that's just how damn powerful they are, not to mention how accurate they are. Even the AA towers aren't as strong as an AA MAX at times, particularily the ZOE and Lockdown MAXes. Skyguards are good, but they are second-rate compared to a MAX and honestly dont scare me as much, unless they are like more than just one sitting there.

Thing is.. an AA MAX can match two Skyguards alone at times and if they got good cover, it is almost impossible to retaliate against a MAX unless he is in middle of the open. And no way would any pilot smart enough slow down to aim and combat a MAX.

And sadly enough, AA MAXes are RARELY alone. They are usually in groups of 6+, along with alot of HA's using lockons (especially TR Strikers) and a Skyguard or two backing them up.

Currently burster MAXes are the best air superiority option available to a player, allowing sunderers with a few people to instantly establish air supremecy over large regions of the map. Calling AA MAXes detterants to air is like saying LMGs are detterants to infantry.

AA Maxes are fine. You need to keep moving, full flak and flares, and DO NOT dogfight over/near enemy AA. Common sense... something many players lack, choosing instead to cry about imaginary imbalances on forums.

Changes that I would like to see to AA MAX'es

Don't allow AA (or any) MAX to be revived

Drastically cut the effective range of the flak. It should be for short range protection only (hopefully a new A2A craft will deal with Libs. Please make it so, I really want to fly a proper dedicated A2A plane that is rubbish against ground but great at A2A).

Don't allow special abilities to be used with AA MAX. It's already grossly unfair to the NC anyway.

Make changing weapons arms reset the timer back to maximum (or half if that's fairer)


These changes should help a lot without leaving AA MAX users feeling like they've been cheated out of thousands of certs and/or Station Cash. That shouldn't happen to anybody in this game, no matter what your preferences are.

It's a shame that we've ended up at this point. AA duty should have been something that people dedicate their time to as a career like it was in PS1. Powerful but relatively uncommon AA MAX'es would have been more manageable and easier to balance.

Too late now though, which is a huge shame

1. No
2. No. Back when AA range/render was short, Libs and other aircraft would simply outrange bombard people for easy kills. We don't need that garbage again. Learn to fly or stick to the ground.
3. I could see why some would want to tone down Lockdown damage with bursters, but doing so would make that Max ability 100% worthless, so no. Again, learn to fly correctly.
4. Another no.

All your suggestions would heavily tilt the pendulum back in Air's favor. Air vs Ground is in a good place right now. Good pilots excel with some challenge, bad pilots fail. As it should be.

I agree. Pilots are free to use whatever they want. A good pilot doesn't need flares in my opinion and from what I've watched. Scout radar is much more valuable for locating targets for you or your squad. Example..... I was in a public squad being harassed by 4 esfs and a lib. I was the only member of the squad that had certed striker. I went up into the hills away from the base and my squad and started to lock on to the aircraft whenever they came in range. Everyone of the esf's would pop flares and bug out, leaving my squadmates alone. The lib was the only one that approached, and I shot him down. None of the air would approach because they had no ideal how many troops were locking on or where I was. Obviously they were noobs but with scout radar they could have found me easily and took me out. Combined with stealth they could have been upon us and taken us out before I even got to those hills or got my striker out. Therefore in my opinion if you do choose flares over radar your skill might be lacking.

Lots of times they are dead before they see you. Ever get killed by an esf that you never even saw on your radar.... sux.

If your good you can attack and be gone before they ever get a good lock. As for the bursters, your not going to take a nest of them solo as it should be, but surprise is your best weapon which is what stealth gives you.

And as that HA with striker that's trying to take you out, when I see those flares, I know you don't have radar and therefore I can harass you and keep you away from my squad and you will have a difficult time finding me until I fire. Your useless to your squad being kept at distance. When I see you on my radar and realize you don't have stealth, I can see which direction your coming from and be ready...eventually you can't come anywhere near me.

What sux is when you come blazing at me knowing exactly where I'm at and taking me out before I even know you are there. When I see your esf on my radar, I'm not threatened, I can take action. When I don't .... I'm usually dead.

A good pilot always fights where he can win. I like fighting on Esamir because its so hard on pilots. I still get stealth killed there though.

Anything shooting at you from a spawn room will own you ... what are you talking about???? You better fly somewhere else if I'm in the spawn shooting at you with a dumbfire much less AAMax. I'm not demanding anything. I'm simply stating my opinion that if your giving up stealth or scout radar for anything else, your skill level is in question. If its working for you great, but op is in here wanting AA nerfed and I question his tactics because I see others that are successful.

If he's under an overhang its difficult but the majority of situations a good pilot can take out an AAMax with a dive attack or other means if they can get the angle. Stealth is a huge help.

Your not going to take out that kind of force by yourself and not many pilots can go up against a group of us with strikers... but the ones that can are blazing in using stealth, know where we are, and are gone before we can lock... if we're still alive. You get 10 of your friends equipped with stealth and dive attacking where you can and you will be a devastating force to anything on the ground but don't listen to me... I like that your using flares and armor, makes my job easier.

I'm not sure if this post was serious or troll.

If you are getting killed by burster MAXs which are sitting in the spawn room shooting out of the shields then you are a bad pilot and its not surprising you aren't happy burster MAXs are killing you easily. Bursters shooting out of spawn room shields have horrid fire angles and its extremely easy to break LOS and get away.

Skyguards are not and have never been the primary G2A weapon for base defense. They serve an important purpose, and base defense is not that purpose. Their purpose is for defending mobile armor, and thus on a Lightning chassis are the fasting moving anti-air unit in the game. They also can only be pulled from tank terminals.

Additionally, Strikers are far more annoying that burster MAXs at the moment. Since GU08 it seems the Striker rounds (possibly all lock ons? Striker is the most used one so I see it the most.) have an uncanny ability to follow you forever going around or through terrain against both aircraft and ground vehicles. Strikers have 500m lockon range and are guaranteed hits when fired (minus flares) which is around the "taking random potshots" range of a burster MAX.

Bursters can be pulled from any terminal and hide in any building. They can be repaired while hidden, and revived if killed. They won't kill many planes while standing in a spawn shield, but they can be repaired to full while in a spawn room in seconds, then pop back out to get G2A kills.

Your comment that ground forces should move in to clear Bursters is absurd and I think you know it. If ground forces can stop a Burster MAX from popping in and out of a spawn room, then the spawn is camped and the fight is over.

When rocket pods are removed from the game. End of thread.