Canoso77, on 23 September 2018 - 12:33 PM, said:
Thanks, Captain Underpants. Well, I did elite the AO 192, and researched the FW 57, so I'll try that. I'm not racing up the tiers just yet. I'd like to get the basics down before moving on. And no, no skill points to burn. Just one German pilot working on his second skill point. What do you recommend after tier 5?
Eh... depends on what you mean by "recommend after tier 5"
If you're aiming for heavies, the Germans are generally considered the best all-around but suffer from a very steep learning curve once they hit tier 8 and the Me262. The thing is too fast for its own good, its guns are short ranged, slow firing and unreliable, and it really cannot maneuver worth a damn. Most people like the tier 9 and 10 though, although many consider the 262 HGIII to be a step down from the tier 9 HGII because of the loss of rockets and being forced to use the devastating but unreliable MK213/30s
The American Heavies are excellent at tier 5 and 6 - the P-38s are the most maneuverable of the Heavy Fighters, as well as being fast and carrying excellent ordnance and a single powerful 37mm to back up the .50cal. The problem is tier 7; the Tigercat is a controversial machine at best, and tier 10; the XF-90 is waaaaay too fast for its own good and turns like an ocean liner. But you are rewarded with one of the most overpowered airplanes in the game at tier 8 in the form of the XF5U Pancake
The British heavies are like big, fat, multiroles. The tier 5 Brokenfighter is... pretty broken although its been nerfed recently by the reduction in the elevation arc of its turret. The others are mediocre, having modest maneuverability, modest speed, modest altitude and massive ordnance. Like the German line, the tier 9 is actually considered better than the tier 10 although the Javelin has one of the best all-around performance of any of the three heavies.
Now, if you're asking for German airplanes... well, tier 5 - 7 is generally a low point for the German tech trees.
The tier 5 Focke Wulf 190 A-1 is a very unimpressive airplane with terrible maneuverability, average speed, weak weapons and meagre altitude, making it up only with an extended boost time and incredible roll rate. The tier 6 is incredible and is my personal plane of choice while the tier 7 is good but faces some very rough competition. The line then divides into the BVs which are very good at tier 8, superb at tier 9 and... odd at tier 10, and the Focke Wulfs which boast one of the funniest planes ever at tier 8 and then go downhill rapidly with the very mediocre tier 9 and the awful tier 10 Fw252.
The tier 5 Messerschmitt 109 Emil is borderline overpowered and is only held back by the even more overpowered Spitfire I. After that the tier 6 and 7 are generally disappointments, having terrible firepower on what would otherwise be stellar airplanes (though some people like them a lot). The tier 8 is good, then the tier 9 and tier 10 are considered the most powerful planes of their tiers.
The Heavies are actually pretty good until tier 6 with the Me410 which is the plane that makes its living charging people head on and DARING them to try to match it. Then at tier 7 things go pear shaped with the decent 109Z and the... bad... Me262 as I described above
The Attackers at tier 5 and 6 are just awful at worst... and stunningly mediocre at best. The Kanonevogel and Duck at tier 5 are slow and lack any form of explosive ordnance, relying on their guns to slowly shoot buildings apart. The Ju88P is the same. Then it takes off at tier 7 with the excellent Me265. The tier 8 329 is a little overshadowed by a lot of other airplanes at the tier but is a solid performer as is the tier 9. And the tier 10 is the plane of choice of many of the top players on the NA server.