17 replies to this topic

[riose]

Hello guys, I play on the EU server but decided to write here since EU forum seems to be less active, and definitely more cluttered into unnecessary subsections. I was trying to come up with optimal crew skill, equipment and consumable choices for all types of aircraft. Btw, Magus thread and his video linked there was a great inspiration for me:
http://forum.worldof...-gunner-skills/

I would appreciate your opinions about whether or not they are truly optimal. Thanks for your time

Slow Turn and Burn Fighters (Japaneese fighters up to T5, Russians up to T4 [e.g. I-16, I-17]):
my reasoning behind skills & equipment choice: max out their survivability & DPM & maneuverability (engine power is so weak and speed so low that it's not worth investing in their increase)

 

Skills (in order of their priority):
3 points Evasive target        (+25% damage reduction when actively maneuvering)
3 points Adrenaline Rush     (kill a plane -> 25% reduction of weapon overheating & +10% firing accuracy for 10s)
2 points Aerobatics Expert   (+2% maneuverability in all axes)

 

Equipment:
Lightweight Airframe         (+3% boost to pitch, roll and yaw)
Control Surface Adjustm.  (+3% boost to pitch)
Improved Optical Sight     (+10% better aim)

 

Consumables:

Pneumatic Restarter, Fire Extinguisher, First Aid Dressing Package

Fast Turn and Burn Fighters (Yaks & Lavochkins & Spitfires & Japaneese fighters T6+):
my reasoning behind skills & equipment choice: max out speed & survivability & maneuverability

 

Skills:
3 points Evasive target             (+25% damage reduction when actively maneuvering)
2 points Aerodynamics Expert  (+40% bonus to Engine Tuning & Aircraft Polish boost)
2 points Aerobatics Expert        (+2% maneuverability in all axes)

 

Equipment:
Engine Tuning              (+5% thrust)
Aircraft Polish               (+5% top speed)
Improved Optical Sight (+10% better aim)

 

Consumables: 
Pneumatic Restarter, Fire Extinguisher, First Aid Dressing Package

Boom and Zoom Fighters (all German fighters, all US fighters, Russian MiG line):
my reasoning behind skills & equipment choice: speed is absolutely crucial here, so focus on boosting it by any means

 

Skills:
2 points Aerodynamics Expert  (40% bonus to Engine Tuning & Aircraft Polish boost)
2 points Engine Guru 1            (+3% engine thrust)
3 points Engine Guru 2            (+2% engine thrust & +2% top speed)
2 points Cruise flight                (+20% view range & +3% engine thrust & +3% top speed after 20s of not receiving or causing damage)

 

Equipment:
Engine Tuning              (+5% thrust)
Aircraft Polish               (+5% top speed)
Improved Optical Sight (+10% better aim) / or Improved Radiator (30% faster engine cooling while idle)

 

Consumables: 
Pneumatic Restarter, Fire Extinguisher, First Aid Dressing Package

Heavy Fighters (all nations):
- same as in Boom and Zoom Fighters but with these consumables:
Pneumatic Restarter, Fire Extinguisher, Engine Ventilation (restores 40% of boost duration)

 

Option #1 - alternative equipment - perhaps sacrificing accuracy in exchange for +15% of aircraft hit points is not a bad idea:
Reinforced Airframe equipment instead of Improved Optical Sight (+15% HP, -10% chance of critical damage to engine, crew, wings and tail)

 

Option #2 - alternative skill:
Raptor Strike (3 points) instead of Engine Guru 2 (3 points) (+50% critical damage when pitch angle is greater than 45% degrees and aircraft speed is at least 60% of its maximum dive speed)
But i think this skill is beneficial mostly for killing Attack Aircraft which usually happens only when the game has already been decided anyway.

Rear gunner in Heavy Fighters:
I think the choice of skills here is pretty straightforward:
3 points Defensive Fire       (30% damage reduction)
3 points Precision Gunner  (critical damage boost)
2 points Quick reflexes       (50% reduction of aiming time)
1 points Vigilance               (+20% view range)

Attack Aircraft:
I don't fly these but here are some suggestions for the sake of completeness:
2 points Demolition Expert (+15% increase of damage and splash radius for rockets and bombs)
2 points Protection Expert (40% bonus to Reinforced Airframe, Improved Covering, Additional Armor Plates, Concelaing Livery)
2 points Marksman 1        (-5% weapon spread)
3 points Marksman 2        (-5% weapon spread,  -10% weapon spread when shooting on moving targets)

 

Equipment:
Improved Optical Sight   (+10% better aim)
Reinforced Airframe / or better aiming for bombs
Rear gun stabilization

 

Consumables: 
Pneumatic Restarter, Fire Extinguisher, First Aid Dressing Package

[Nvfx]

What's your name on EU server?

 

While gun time is important, if you have the survivability and know what you're doing on dodge, you technically can just out turn people, I would take scope only on planes that requires hard to hit guns, like the J7W1/2/3. La's don't need that because they have laser pointed guns.

 

You can't just generalize all us, german or uk fighters as bnz fighters, as mustang, corsair and thunderbolts are all BNZs, but they are flown differently in different circumstances. Going full polish means you're missing out on some elements of those planes.

Not utilizing them to their best points of each line, cruise flight is only good for specific planes.

Not all of the has the speed as the best element, thus polish isn't necessarily good for all of them.

 

For any plane, I never bring first aid, you need flaps more than that because if you can't roll, you can't dodge aka dead. When your pilot is hurt, all you have to do is wait 5 to 10 seconds and you heal. Not worth the consumable.

 

Big nono on raptor strike, that is still a gimmick skill. Waste of 3 points.

Also big nono on Adrenaline rush, too situational, unlikely you're gonna string targets without getting shot up. Rather spend it on scope skills. 

 

US Mustangs, 109s, Migs, Japanese Ki and spitfire lines are consider as pure light fighters. Should be optimized on both speed and turning for well roundedness, added covering for less likely chance of getting tail/ wing crits.

Note that all these pure fighters may change in attributes during tier jumps so you really have to consider each plane's true strength and weaknesses. Example, How a Tier 8 Spit is spec'ed and how an attacker should be spec'ed. Spit is more turn dependent, while attacker would be more speed dependent, because attacker is a much faster plane relative to the other planes in tier 9, where as the spit falls on speed in tier 8 relative to the other planes.

 

While TA, Corsair, thunderbolts are heavy killers. These planes are opted for speed, but configures differently based on their plane specialty. 

 

 

 

Edited by FIight, 03 March 2017 - 04:20 PM.

[riose]

My name on the EU server is the same, here is the link for your convenience:

http://worldofwarpla...00081550-riose/

 

Thanks for your input, it seems like this topic is way more complicated than I initially thought. Too bad I was unable to find any detailed aircraft specific setups anywhere on English speaking forums. I am nearly sure this topic has been covered in much more detail on the Russians forums but I don't know the language and hunting there with google translator seems like too much trouble for me.

 

Since you wrote that Mustangs, 109s, Migs, Japanese Ki and Spitfire lines should be optimized both for speed and turning, could you please post here your standard setup? Setup for each important aircraft in the game would be best but I understand that would be too much to ask

 

I made a mistake with First Aid Dressing Package consumable, I checked my hangar and I almost always prefer Control Surface Trim over med kit. Didn't know that pilot will heal completely after 5-10 s, it that's indeed correct it makes med kit basically useless.

 

Cheers,

riose

 

 

 

 

[pyantoryng]

The consensus around this part seems to be that the special skills are not worth it and is generally better to focus on the regular, passive skills. The only special skill that is worthwhile is Russian female's guaranteed fire on yellow targets...and it's exclusive.

 

Also, injured pilot mostly affect firing accuracy than other performance, so unless someone managed to KO your pilot while you get someone squarely in your gunsight it's not going to be a big deal.

 

...and the shoot-weakest (Weakest Link?) skill for rear gunner is very handy as you can reduce the number of guns on your rear very quickly if your pursuers happened to be beaten up and you have powerful rear guns.

 

As a GA pilot, bombardier is a must with Marksman coming next...the other skills would depend on what you want to use, as with GA you can run an all non-complex set of gunsight, ordnance sight, and rear gun stabilization (goldless player would likely to stay away from complex equipment as they cannot be easily changed) or go full-on tank with all the armor equipments that would add a truckload of HP to the GA. Also note that the percentage added to the equipment's effect increase is multiplicative and not additive, so I'd say that the Protection Expert is not worth it outside of high tier where you can reach an obscene amount of HP with it.

[riose]

Thanks for your suggestions regarding GA aircraft pyantoryng. I suppose by bombardier you mean Demolition Expert skill. The reason I decided not to include the Weakest Link skill in my list is that rear gunner in Heavy Fighters is usually very weak. One exception I know of is the Beaufighter that sports 4x.303 Browning guns which I believe are quite strong for its tier. 

[pyantoryng]

Must've been changed at some point...because when it was first released Demo Expert was called Bombardier. Using only a handful of pilots mean that one tend to forget checking out skills from time to time...

[Nvfx]

riose, on 03 March 2017 - 10:34 AM, said:

Since you wrote that Mustangs, 109s, Migs, Japanese Ki and Spitfire lines should be optimized both for speed and turning, could you please post here your standard setup? Setup for each important aircraft in the game would be best but I understand that would be too much to ask

 

for most pure fighters except for Ki, i always run equipment 5% engine power, 3% all axis turning and covering.

For skill at least 2 points in engine, 2 points in aerobatic, and 2 points in 2% turning.

Covering gives you some HP but primarily reduce critical damage when you do get shot, so you can recover faster when you realize getting hit. Almost always get covering. It just helps in general when you don't get crit so hard.

 

For Ki, since the guns are harder to hit with at tier 89X. I run 3% all axis turning, gun scope, and covering.

skills, scope 1 and scope 2. Then if you have 3 or 2 more points, run either evasive target or 2% more turning, i would say evasive target is good but Ki planes are pretty hard to hit if you're dodging already. 

it

standard consumables - flaps, fire extinguisher, and engine restarter.

If you have firefighter (turning extinguish fire), you might want to switch for turning consumable instead of extinguisher, but not recommended.

 

5-10 seconds still doesn't full heal injury, but medpacks just not worth the it as medpack doesn't full heal pilot. Waiting is 5-10 second is same as healing immediate - Pilot is still hurt (yellow). So waiting 5-10 seconds is better.

[riose]

FIight, on 08 March 2017 - 06:18 PM, said:

For skill at least 2 points in engine, 2 points in aerobatic, and 2 points in 2% turning.

I suppose you actually meant  2 points in engine, 2 points in aerodynamics (expert), and 2 points in 2% turning (Aerobatics Expert).

 

Thanks for a very informative post, after your comment from the last week I reconsidered my choices and came to a very similar conclusion regarding the optimal setup for these, as I call them, hybrid fighters. The only exception is covering, I am not entirely sold to the idea that -20% chance of receiving a crit (instead of getting critted 5 times you will get critted "only" 4 times) is more important than e.g. boosting the top speed by 5% in already fast planes like Migs, Mustangs or Bf 109s (Aircraft Polish).  

 

Also, what's your opinion on using gun scopes in general? Do you think they are worth having in other planes beside high tier Kawasaki line? I started a thread about this today, you may want to check it out:

http://forum.worldof...ispersion-data/

 

 

 

 

[ArrowZ_]

Good list, in regular pub matches mixing with bots & players these selections are mostly on point. Can't comment on equipment tho as there are many differing opinions about what to use for the correct situations & I'm sure this would apply to crew skills as well. My general advice would be if you happen to play in your prime time in EU where there are alot of players or are in a pvp event (either WG or community hosted) it's best to take defensive unique abilities and keep your passive abilities to the strength of your planes. Evasive tactic is a pretty good unique ability to have if you have a hard time shaking off a few pesky players on your tail who will not just break off. All opinion based tho, and If it were me on a pvp environment I would take any dmg reduction ability that will increase my chances to survive in a messed up furball.

 

The other defensive ability where it activates only at the point where you lose 75% of your HP is quite pointless, at that point something must have gone wrong in order for you to lose a majority of your hitpoints & just a simple burst of damage at that point will knock you out of the battle by pretty much anything including the all too familiar 500% gun accuracy from the bots and riding your tail when you least expect it, usually when you are at low health this occurs.

 

The good news to all this is if you're not happy with the current crew skills chosen, you can always reset all your points for a few 100k credits or some gold (can't remember the figures since I don't reset as often as I need to). This is a good opportunity to try out different combinations but at the cost of burning through your credits or (if you really don't mind spending real $$$ into this game) gold.

Edited by ArrowZ_, 09 March 2017 - 12:51 AM.

[riose]

Thanks for your opinions and suggestions ArrowZ_, I am also thinking on using Evasive target in all more agile aircraft that i own. I am aware that it's possible to reset skill points for credits or gold, but considering I have around 60 planes in my hangar I'd rather have my skills chosen right at the first try  

[Nvfx]

riose, on 08 March 2017 - 01:17 PM, said:

The only exception is covering, I am not entirely sold to the idea that -20% chance of receiving a crit (instead of getting critted 5 times you will get critted "only" 4 times) is more important than e.g. boosting the top speed by 5% in already fast planes like Migs, Mustangs or Bf 109s (Aircraft Polish).  

 

It's just as ArrowZ has said. Survival is important. More speed doesn't necessarily mean it's better because you can always force overspeed, unless the other guy is drastically better turner than you. If you get crit on engine, wing, or tail, your plane control falls drastically. If you can't pitch, or roll or even boost. It'll be even worse than having less 5% extra speed for you. Extra 5% speed doesn't equate to 5% boost power, it's just the allowed maximum a plane can go. So only really the super fast planes with great boost like the Heavy Fighter or F6U, Ta183, Thunderbolt can fully utilize the dive speeds.

[riose]

According to this post:

http://forum.worldof...-engine-tuning/

the effects of "Improved Polish" and "Aircraft Polish" are drastically different. If Bot_Rocket findings are still valid I believe it makes more sense to use Aircraft Polish (if such an equipment is available) over Improved Covering. 5% higher speed in ANY flight regime is a huge boost for any fast aircraft, and can make the difference between being able to escape some pesky fighter on your six in time or dying in the process.

Edited by riose, 09 March 2017 - 07:03 PM.

[riose]

[deleted - double post]

Edited by riose, 09 March 2017 - 07:02 PM.

[Nvfx]

it's all on play style. 

[ArrowZ_]

I'm curious how any one player would specialize a 15 pts crew skill for a Fighter, MRF, HF & GA. Has anyone in this region reached that point yet? Just wondering.

[Nvfx]

ArrowZ_, on 10 March 2017 - 08:51 PM, said:

I'm curious how any one player would specialize a 15 pts crew skill for a Fighter, MRF, HF & GA. Has anyone in this region reached that point yet? Just wondering.

 

Probably, Engine 1, aerobatics expert, turning 2%, aiming 1, evasive 25%. Maybe cruise flight, for most standard speedy planes (already at 13 points). Really depends but i'm sure you know that already.

 

I don't like using any of the tier 2 stuff partially because your invested returns aren't as well rounded if you were to spend it on other stuff. 

On that note, after playing so long in the upper tiers, the best I've gotten is just 12 skill points. I cannot image how much one would have to play to reach that point, exponentially speaking.

[Oddzballz]

I am finding playing the P-40 to be fun and challenging.  Yet, i endeavor to go the route of the P-38 line and see how the difference is. 

 

What do you suggest to follow.  Heavy attack or BnZ?? It seems to border both and can kit out to do both.  What modules would you suggest for dog-fighting or rocketry? 

[Tarran61]

Oddzballz, on 27 October 2017 - 08:57 PM, said:

I am finding playing the P-40 to be fun and challenging.  Yet, i endeavor to go the route of the P-38 line and see how the difference is. 

 

What do you suggest to follow.  Heavy attack or BnZ?? It seems to border both and can kit out to do both.  What modules would you suggest for dog-fighting or rocketry? 

 

I went both as far as research but man am I loving the P-38F and J's.