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So I don't normally create a separate thread for things that are already being discussed elsewhere but I felt that, without an official thread of any sort, I wanted to put my ideas in a place where they wouldn't get buried in the mass of complaints.
So... anyway. Bomber Escort. Its actually a great idea conceptually and... cinematically? I think the only game where I've felt like this was the opening of Call of Duty so kudos on that. The thunder of the bomber stream and the hammering of AA all add to a pretty impressive spectacle. One issue - please tie the sound of AA fire to... you know... actual AA guns. It took me a bit to realize this but the heavy echo of gunfire is actually a location-triggered background effect not tied to the actual live AA positions. It breaks immersion to realize all the heavy AA is dead but you still hear them hammering away around you.
Now, on to the elephant in the room: the balance of the mode itself. I said the thing was conceptually a great idea but as usual the implementation left a lot to be desired. My summary take - this is, unfortunately, likely to end up like Invasion and for much the same reasons.
Now, I agree with the Bomb-hauler's point of view on this mode: this is just Invasion in reverse and what they suffered through in the initial iterations of Invasion is what us fighter-jocks are going through right now. And I also agree that the mode doesn't DRAMATICALLY need to change for it to improve - its not the huge flailing unmitigated disaster that some people claim it to be. But it is badly broken.
Now, what do I think needs to change to improve balance?
Increase the number of respawns for the Defenders, decrease it for the Attackers. Right now, loss rates are almost 2:1 in favor of the Attackers and for good reason: the Attackers don't have a huge cloud of bombers shooting back at them, nor do they have to choose between killing bombers and killing escorts - that's what their own bombers and attackers are for (I'll refer to them as SEADs from now on). In short, the Attackers have aircraft dedicated to specific roles in the battle while the Defenders don't and have to choose between the SEADs, the Bomber Stream and their fighter escort. At least two games I flew with Rei on the defender's side were lost, not to bomber breakthrough but through sheer attrition of the defensive group. And as Rei said - it makes sense. The Attackers are a long distance from their bases striking at a target deep within enemy territory - they should not have easy access to reserves. Cut the Attacker's respawn numbers in half.
Increase the number of HP the Strategic Target has. Right now, the Strategic Target is too easily one-passed to the point where the Attacking group can basically roll their face all over the keyboard and still win 70% of the time. The Defenders, on the other hand, must have some pretty on-spot coordination and some pretty skilled pilots to make it work. Increasing the number of HP for the Strategic Target from 10 to 15 will give a bit more margin of error for the Defending group and would mean that the target cannot be one-passed by even the largest bomber formation (14).
Increase the volume of AA fire and/or make it so that Ground Defenses cannot be capped out. Right now, I actually think SEAD is superfluous because, just as in Conquest mode, the value of an air kill is a lot higher compared to the value of a ground target kill so all the Escorting group has to do is kill a couple of interceptors and BAM!, all the AA fire disappears magically. On top of that, the AA fire is a lot less lethal than the briefing tries to portray. It will damage a Bomber Formation, but it will not cripple it absolutely and this is assuming best case where there aren't any escorts up high distracting them. I say at least double to number of high altitude AA per cap. An even better solution would be to add additional AA points AND make it so shooting down planes atop the cap will not affect the cap meter at all. Give SEAD a reason to exist beyond being a distraction.
Add an Airbase for the defenders. Again, give SEAD a reason to exist beyond being decoys. The Defenders need a faster turnaround and an Airbase will give them that as well as more flexibility to adapt to the needs of the situation. They can get repaired between waves so they don't waste time and valuable spawns after getting shot up. They can swap out to more suitable airplanes to the situation (German GAAs to counter Russian GAAs XD) and they can get back in the air faster than the current 30s respawn.
These are just some ideas on how to improve the mode and give the defenders a more leeway. Heavier AA makes the role of the SEAD all the more critical (especially if the caps could not be reasonably captured by air kills) and gives the Defenders something to lean on to help soften up or straight up stop a bomber wave. Reduced Attacker respawns will make good plays on the part of the Attacker way more important than it is now while incresed defender respawns means that defenders now have a fighting chance of... you know... not running flat out of reinforcements as the last wave hits. And increasing Strat Target HP means that bombers can no longer one-pass the target meaning that there's more room for mistakes on the Defending side.
Ultimately, though, I feel this mode's balance relies too heavily on disparities in teamwork between the teams - just like Invasion. A well coordinated defensive team can still pull out a win, especially if 90% of the attacking team are... you know... GAAs and Bombers. The only Attacking game I lost last night was the result of my cousin being the ONLY human in a vaguely air-to-air capable airplane on the Attacking team. Needless to say, his solo Starfire couldn't keep the Banshee/SpitfireXIV/XF5U/Yak-19 human swarm at bay and the IL-20/P.1099B-2/RB-17 bunch on our team couldn't do jack. I forsee this being a problem going forward.
Edited by SpiritFoxMY, 08 October 2018 - 02:20 AM.
.....and buy a few bombers to keep your win / loss ratio at a respectable number.
