The last few changes to the Air Combat mode seem to have caused dissatisfaction among the majority of players - whether it's the reduction in the base spawn rate or the enhancement of the base AA. It is not difficult to see that the game of "bombing the base" is loved by most players, and everyone is angry about weakening the playability of the "bombing base" gameplay. My following ideas may solve some of the problems:
1. Increase the number of bases and reduce the strength of base AA: Bases before this version (air superiority) can actually be easily taken by players, and this is undoubtedly very reasonable - many players who love the top jets of War Thunder will choose to spend a lot of money to buy a top jet in one step and rely on it for research and development. These players are often novices, not good at flying aircraft, and have no experience in high-altitude combat. Therefore, they will choose to fly close to the ground and bomb the base (which can not only avoid the radar bombs of high-altitude fighters, but also achieve the purpose of bombing the base faster). Imagine if Base AA were as strong or even stronger than the current version, and these novice players would be shot down every time they bombed the base, which would have a strong sense of frustration and cause them to abandon WT. This is not good for Gaijin or for the player. Therefore, I propose to adjust the refresh rate of the base to 1 minute per batch. This ensures that every newbie who has just gotten their hands on a top-of-the-line jet can grab their own base without having to argue or even deliberately TK because of it.
2. Increase the type of base: Actually, I don't want to completely negate the practice of "strengthening the base AA" - this does increase the difficulty of the game, and it can better train the player's level against the ground AA. So, why don't we add two new base types? The first is a "mid-level base" defended by AA cannons. These AA cannons should be as powerful as the current version, or even stronger, to ensure that the aircraft has to be raised to an altitude of more than 4,000 meters to drop bombs without being shot down (see the airfield AA in SB mode, such as Type 87 and Shilka River). At the same time, the health of the "Intermediate Base" will also be increased - it will require a bombardment yield of 1.6 tons to completely destroy (about 18 500Ib bombs when converted to 500 Ib, which is 50% more than the 12 500 Ib bombs required for the current base). Don't worry that no one will challenge this kind of base - we can increase the yield per unit of bombardment yield by an equal 30% (in the case of Phantom S, with a Premium account, the gain from destroying a current base is about 23000SL, and the gain from completely destroying a "medium theater" is about: 23000*1.5*1.3=44850SL, which is very substantial). Of course, the threat to players comes not only from the ground, but also from the air superiority fighters on the opposite side. In this way, we have solved the problem of "the multipath clutter on the ground is too strong, and the enemy is flying close to the ground, so we can't hit them at all" for the air combat enthusiasts. These "intermediate bases" will spawn further back on the battlefield (not interfere with the main battlefield operations) and will have a limited number of 3. When the "Intermediate Base" is destroyed, the enemy's score drops even more. The second type of base is the "advanced base": unlike the "intermediate base", they have better air defense - equipped with FlaRakRad, ADATS, Ito90M, and even the Pantsir S-1 and TorM1. So what is the meaning of the existence of the "advanced base"? The answer is to train the player's ability to "strike outside the defensive zone". Many top-of-the-line aircraft are armed with long-range air-to-surface missiles (e.g. AGM-65, KH29) and guided bombs (e.g. TS (GB) series, PGM series, Paveway series and KABs), but are useless in air combat mode (and there are no high-value targets to destroy). The introduction of "Advanced Base" solves this problem well: players are forced to abandon a large number of bomb loadouts in favor of a small but accurate strike weapon. For masters, simple high-intensity air-to-ground confrontation is also a pleasure. The "Premium Base" will have twice the HP of the normal base, equipped with 4 missile anti-aircraft vehicles, and the income will be increased by 50% (still using the Phantom S's income coefficient under the Premium Account as an example: just destroying a "Premium Base" will get 23000*2*1.5=69000SL). For those who challenge the AAs and clear the way for their teammates, they will receive 4000SL for each anti-aircraft vehicle destroyed.At the same time, they can also get a proportional benefit from the destroyed base (e.g. the player who destroys an AA will get 23000*10%=2300SL when the war zone is destroyed, and so on, with a maximum coefficient of 40%).And the potential of this idea is huge: when more advanced air defense systems and surface-to-surface missiles are introduced in the future (such as the S-400 and KD88), this model can be directly applied if it has already been completed.
3、Bringing AWACS to the game: AWACS is an indispensable part of modern air warfare, and it is natural that it is indispensable in WT. AWACS aircraft can be used as a substitute for the "visual lighting mechanism" of the top room to provide enemy intelligence for friendly fighters. AWACS flies at high altitudes and has some electronic warfare capabilities of its own (perhaps to encourage players to use the AIM-54 against them, as well as the future R77, AIM120, and PL12, PL11B). In the future, WT's air battles will revolve around the struggle for information initiative, rather than a barrage shooting game with more missiles.
The last few changes to the Air Combat mode seem to have caused dissatisfaction among the majority of players - whether it’s the reduction in the base spawn rate or the enhancement of the base AA. It is not difficult to see that the game of “bombing the base” is loved by most players, and everyone is angry about weakening the playability of the “bombing base” gameplay. My following ideas may solve some of the problems:
1. Increase the number of bases and reduce the strength of base AA: Bases before this version (air superiority) can actually be easily taken by players, and this is undoubtedly very reasonable - many players who love the top jets of War Thunder will choose to spend a lot of money to buy a top jet in one step and rely on it for research and development. These players are often novices, not good at flying aircraft, and have no experience in high-altitude combat. Therefore, they will choose to fly close to the ground and bomb the base (which can not only avoid the radar bombs of high-altitude fighters, but also achieve the purpose of bombing the base faster). Imagine if Base AA were as strong or even stronger than the current version, and these novice players would be shot down every time they bombed the base, which would have a strong sense of frustration and cause them to abandon WT. This is not good for Gaijin or for the player. Therefore, I propose to adjust the refresh rate of the base to 1 minute per batch. This ensures that every newbie who has just gotten their hands on a top-of-the-line jet can grab their own base without having to argue or even deliberately TK because of it.
2. Increase the type of base: Actually, I don’t want to completely negate the practice of “strengthening the base AA” - this does increase the difficulty of the game, and it can better train the player’s level against the ground AA. So, why don’t we add two new base types? The first is a “mid-level base” defended by AA cannons. These AA cannons should be as powerful as the current version, or even stronger, to ensure that the aircraft has to be raised to an altitude of more than 4,000 meters to drop bombs without being shot down (see the airfield AA in SB mode, such as Type 87 and Shilka River). At the same time, the health of the “Intermediate Base” will also be increased - it will require a bombardment yield of 1.6 tons to completely destroy (about 18 500Ib bombs when converted to 500 Ib, which is 50% more than the 12 500 Ib bombs required for the current base). Don’t worry that no one will challenge this kind of base - we can increase the yield per unit of bombardment yield by an equal 30% (in the case of Phantom S, with a Premium account, the gain from destroying a current base is about 23000SL, and the gain from completely destroying a “medium theater” is about: 230001.51.3=44850SL, which is very substantial). Of course, the threat to players comes not only from the ground, but also from the air superiority fighters on the opposite side. In this way, we have solved the problem of “the multipath clutter on the ground is too strong, and the enemy is flying close to the ground, so we can’t hit them at all” for the air combat enthusiasts. These “intermediate bases” will spawn further back on the battlefield (not interfere with the main battlefield operations) and will have a limited number of 3. When the “Intermediate Base” is destroyed, the enemy’s score drops even more. The second type of base is the “advanced base”: unlike the “intermediate base”, they have better air defense - equipped with FlaRakRad, ADATS, Ito90M, and even the Pantsir S-1 and TorM1. So what is the meaning of the existence of the “advanced base”? The answer is to train the player’s ability to “strike outside the defensive zone”. Many top-of-the-line aircraft are armed with long-range air-to-surface missiles (e.g. AGM-65, KH29) and guided bombs (e.g. TS (GB) series, PGM series, Paveway series and KABs), but are useless in air combat mode (and there are no high-value targets to destroy). The introduction of “Advanced Base” solves this problem well: players are forced to abandon a large number of bomb loadouts in favor of a small but accurate strike weapon. For masters, simple high-intensity air-to-ground confrontation is also a pleasure. The “Premium Base” will have twice the HP of the normal base, equipped with 4 missile anti-aircraft vehicles, and the income will be increased by 50% (still using the Phantom S’s income coefficient under the Premium Account as an example: just destroying a “Premium Base” will get 2300021.5=69000SL). For those who challenge the AAs and clear the way for their teammates, they will receive 4000SL for each anti-aircraft vehicle destroyed.At the same time, they can also get a proportional benefit from the destroyed base (e.g. the player who destroys an AA will get 23000*10%=2300SL when the war zone is destroyed, and so on, with a maximum coefficient of 40%).And the potential of this idea is huge: when more advanced air defense systems and surface-to-surface missiles are introduced in the future (such as the S-400 and KD88), this model can be directly applied if it has already been completed.
3、Bringing AWACS to the game: AWACS is an indispensable part of modern air warfare, and it is natural that it is indispensable in WT. AWACS aircraft can be used as a substitute for the “visual lighting mechanism” of the top room to provide enemy intelligence for friendly fighters. AWACS flies at high altitudes and has some electronic warfare capabilities of its own (perhaps to encourage players to use the AIM-54 against them, as well as the future R77, AIM120, and PL12, PL11B). In the future, WT’s air battles will revolve around the struggle for information initiative, rather than a barrage shooting game with more missiles.
This vision is easier to read
There are also a kind of minibase on very low BR ARB maps like Mozdok, whose diorama structures are individually part of the base 's " health " and destruction of enough causes the base to be destroyed, even if sufficient TNT equivalence has not been applied to destroy it that way. ( This also works in reverse - the base can be destroyed by TNT equivalence like normal, even if not all it 's structures have been damaged by blast )
Having more ways to interact w/ the targets makes them more interesting to play against, imo. Having the mechanics of those lowtier bases expanded is something I’d like to see.
The MIM-104 Patriot and S-300 complexes were added to the game files last month, along w/ several other stationary SAM 's. So it should not be too many updates before we see what new gameplay will be introduced for Air modes.
Indeed, there is such an existence as a “small base”. However, this kind of “small base” may not satisfy the appetite of top jet players (as we all know, many of the top jets are already multi-role fighters, which means that they can carry air-to-ground weapons as well as air-to-air weapons, and more and more multi-role fighters will be introduced to the game in the future). We share the base like we’re cutting a cake. Sometimes, making the “cake” bigger may be able to resolve a lot of unnecessary disputes. As for the fixed SAM, I don’t want it to be the preserve of SB players either, maybe WT’s AB needs a complete reset in RB Air Combat to make room for SAM to join.