Been playing some air rb again as i found korean jets to pay consistently well.
However i also noticed pretty significant disparancies between the sl rewards i get for similar performance. For instance, 3 kills in f2h2 has given both 20k and 30k sl.
Now likely up and downtiers influence this but i cannot help but wonder if instead…
Destruction and severe damage seem to be separate itemized sources of sl.
Coincidentally i found i get way more kills through cutting off someone’s wings in a way that only counts as critical damage rather than severe (while severe often leaves the enemy easily able to fight back and kill…)
So i ask - do kills achieved by critical damage leading to a imminent crash pay less objectively (you get reward for destruction credit and critical damage) than causing severe damage and finishing it off yourself (you get both destruction and severe damage, maybe even critical credit).
Anecdotal experience seems to indicate yes but i only have a singular data point (my games) with questionable variable control.
no expert but in no severe you get sl for doing the crit and then all the sl for full kill
where as if you get severe then you get kill, it basically splits the sl into too chunks of severe+final kill which should be same sl as a kill in one go
From my pov a clear yes. The SL reward in your example stays the same. I fly basically just 2 aircraft (but these 2 in more than 10k Air RB battles) and the total SL reward is the same for an instant kill and the split between severe damage and finishing off.
I killed literally just a bomber too quickly and was rewarded 44 points, while another player who also only had one kill at the time had 380 points. The difference? I was using 37mm and 23mm cannons, he was using .50 cals.
So yes, preforming “too well” punishes the player. Any Aircraft that uses large caliber shells, compared to LMG caliber will receive less rewards per kill specifically due to the time to kill being shorter.
…has nothing to do with the question of the OP (do you get the same SL rewards for an instant kill vs a reward split into severe damage and finishing off). The question of mission score based on more or less hits and crits was not asked.
Regarding your observations regarding mission score:
The mission score for a severe damage is always 360 points, whilst the finishing off part rewards you with 90 points. The only exception of this rule is when you kill an enemy which uses an aircraft lower than the minimum BR of your match - like if you kill a Fw 200 in a 3.7-4.7 match.
On top of that there is no distinction between used calibers of cannons - kills with bombs (like bombing them on airfields) or unguided rockets receive separate SL rewards on top of mission score for hits (25 points), crits (175 points) and the mentioned values for the kill itself.
From my pov there is no such thing as “performing too well” with large cannons - it only increases the chances for an instant kill like a pilot snipe or an explosion without scoring multiple hits like the typical A6M pilot peppering a poor soul with 7.7 mm fire for ages - despite he still has 20 mm cannon ammo left.
You might want to share the replay with your 44 points so that your described situation can be analyzed properly.
Post battle data is a horror to navigate in attempt to see how much and from what reward has came. World of Tanks exists even longer than WT showing HOW THE FRAKIN BATTLE RESULTS WINDOW SHOULD BE ORGANIZED, while War Thunder struggles to make sane one for the 2nd decade.
Solution:
a single full informationally filled (readable!) window
always accessible through
compact reward message in Messages
But all we have is 2 separate views none of which provides adequate information separately nor combined.
It’s just splits full enemy kill. It should give 80% of reward if other player fully destroys plane you severly damaged, and if you finish it - you receive the rest 20% of reward.
The ‘crit’/‘severe’ damage counting mechanic is confusing. Killing elevator, rudder etc. sometimes counts as ‘crit’, while slightly damaged engine shows ‘severe damage’, i still don’t get how this work (if this even work). As result: you set plane on fire, it can’t fly at all, but someone hits it once and receive kill with full reward, while you get assist.