Right now 12.7 ends up facing 13.3 and 13.7 way too frequently, and it makes playing SARH-missile aircraft (AIM-7P/7M) really hard to deal with. There’s no fighting back against Fox-3 missiles at that point.
What makes this frustrating is that Gaijin themselves already explained why this separation matters. Back when they raised the max BR to 13.7, the stated goal was to separate aircraft with Fox-3 missiles from earlier generations that don’t have proper ways to counter them. That’s a good goal, but 12.7 still gets thrown into 13.7 lobbies constantly, so the exact thing that change was supposed to prevent is still happening to us.
And it’s not just me saying this, there are several active threads right now with the same complaint about 12.7-13.0 being rough because of Fox-3 aircraft leaking down from above. This isn’t a one-off, it’s a pattern across the bracket.
Two ways to fix it:
Increase the maximum BR to 16.0+ and decompress top tier properly, the way it was already done once for the exact same reason.
Reduce the frequency of full uptiers for 12.7 aircraft until proper decompression is implemented.
Yeah, I had the F/A-18C prem when I was still new to the game and didn’t really get why I was getting wrecked so much at 12.7. Took a while to realize it wasn’t a skill issue, it’s literally the SARH vs Fox-3 gap. Su-30MKK on the other side just makes it worse, that thing brings PL-12 into a bracket that’s mostly still stuck with old radar missiles. Su-30MKK on the other side just makes it worse, that thing brings PL-12 into a bracket that’s mostly still stuck with old radar missiles. You can check my stats on it if you want, that plane is just too strong for where it sits.You can check my K/D on the Su-30MKK, it kinda speaks for itself how overtuned that thing is for its BR.
yea but why are you complaining about SU30 being OP then using it and making others suffer like u did and yes it is a skill issues many people still do well in f18C even with su30s making it hard just takes a different play style
Using an OP plane when it’s available doesn’t mean I think the balance around it is fine, that’s just how the game works right now. And “just play different” doesn’t really address the actual point, which is that SARH missiles are structurally outclassed by Fox-3 regardless of playstyle. Some players doing well anecdotally doesn’t mean the bracket as a whole is balanced.
just because a plane is harder to use doesn’t mean it cant perform it may not be for everyone SU30 is just beginner and lower skill friendly just because F18 isn’t mindless lock and shot doesnt mean it cant win a game it had a 50% winrate last month with like 800k games even tho this is worse than Su-30MKk winrate last month it is still drowned by new players and put up by older more skilled players
Winrate is always going to hover around 50% almost by definition, that’s just how matchmaking works over enough games, it doesn’t really tell you much about whether the matchup itself is fair. My point isn’t that F-18C can’t win, it’s that a SARH-only aircraft has to work a lot harder to get the same result against a plane throwing fire-and-forget missiles at it. That’s not a skill argument, it’s just what the missile types allow. Su-30MKK being “beginner friendly” is kind of proving the point too, if a lower-skill player can be that effective just because of the missile he’s carrying, that’s a sign the tools are doing the heavy lifting, not the balance.
yes but Gaijin uses it radar and RWR for balance because those noobs will just die to a good player and not even see it coming after 1 or 2 kills SARH missiles will always and have always been worse than fox-3s and because F18c early gets better RWR and radar than SU30 its much more survivable
Fair point about radar/RWR being part of how Gaijin balances it, and yeah F-18C’s radar and RWR are solid. But better situational awareness doesn’t really solve the core problem, it just tells you a Fox-3 is coming, it doesn’t give you a way to answer it. You still have to notch, chaff, or run, while the Su-30 pilot can just fire and keep flying normally. So it makes the F-18C more survivable in the sense of not dying blind, but it doesn’t make the engagement fair, you’re still on defense the whole fight while they dictate the range.
On top of that, with SARH you basically can’t attack and defend at the same time. The second you’re defending a Fox-3, you have to give up your own radar lock, so you can’t push your own shot through. Su-30 and other Fox-3 planes don’t have that problem, they can defend and still keep threatening you at the same time. That’s the actual gap, not just awareness.
cant fly with out wings after getting jump scared by aim120 because of rwr and f18C early has good radar so it can turn a bit and keep lock just cant turn around
