Background:
The new EldE 98 has is a bit underpowered and doesn’t compete with other Anti Air systems.
There’s a lot of stuff to intercept with the update! And the main issue is that the EldE 98 has a VERY limited ammo pool. You got 4 missiles ready to go and 4 to resupply with.
Suggestion:
I suggest that the EldE 98 and the Antelope should get a modifier that allows them to resupply more than once. 16 missiles total or more is on par with other systems at the same battle rating.
Comment:
Cool vehicle overall but it has glaring issues. I feel like the vehicle could be vastly improved by just allowing it to resupply itself up to 16 missiles or higher.
Other than that EldE 98 has some horrendous mobility issues but a suggestion already exists for it.
Having played the Antelope, I don’t think 8 missiles is overly restrictive. 4 missiles in the first place were enough, some risk to resupply from point could be taken if more was needed. 8 missiles as we mow have for both these vehicles is absolutely fine if you are not wasting ammunition.
Sure it might be enough for the Antelope’s own BR but mind you that the EldE 98 is 12.0 and not 10.3.
At 10.3 there’s more people coming in closer to deliver CAS.
in 12.0 a drone will probably highlight your position and glide bombs or long range missiles will be flying towards my location. Life of death depends if i intercept these high performance missiles.
so yes I think 8 missiles is overly restrictive as other vehicles get 24 total using their own resupply.
my only option in the EldE 98 is to wait for the perfect opportunity to fire and hide very well.
A lot of toptiers new playstyle revolves around not even getting within 10-12km of the battlefield.
The only reason i included the Antelope is because it has the same ammo capacity as the EldE 98.
But if the Antelope is fine as you say i’ll leave it be.
the main issue is the EldE98’s performance compared to other AA systems this update.
There’s no longevity as an anti air system using the EldE 98.
You might kill a drone
maybe get two air kills maximum
most planes getting killed are planes already exposing themselves to AA fire.
I still think its a very necessary buff to bring up the maximum resupply on par with other systems.
+1 from me. I agree with your points — the EldE 98 is cool in concept, but right now it’s just not on the same level as other 12.0 SPAAs.
Only 4 ready missiles and just one resupply for 4 more feels extremely limiting, especially when systems like CLAWS, SPYDER, and IRIS-T SLM can handle multiple threats over longer periods without needing a crate.
Having to drive to a resupply point mid-match (while being almost immobile) just to stay relevant makes it way too vulnerable.
I also agree with your suggestion — letting EldE 98 carry/resupply more missiles (like up to 16) would go a long way without making it overpowered.
Suggestion is fair and balanced: a resupply multiplier or internal ammo pool increase to 12–16 missiles would bring EldE 98 closer in line without powercreeping.
I get the point about Antelope, but I think it’s not a fair comparison. EldE 98 is at 12.0, where the air threats are way more intense all over the place.
A single enemy jet can carry 6+ guided munitions — sometimes even more with loadouts like SDBs or Mavericks. That means just one aircraft can overwhelm your entire ammo pool.
At that BR, other nations get SPAAs with 12–16 missiles, often without needing to go to a resupply point.
EldE 98 only has 4 ready missiles and 4 more if you resupply, which is tough when the vehicle is slow and exposed.
It’s not just about saving ammo — it’s about being able to stay useful in a long match with constant air threats.
Antelope works at its BR, but EldE 98 needs more ammo to be competitive at top tier. The suggestion to let it carry or reload more missiles makes sense.
Not played SLM or SLAMRAAM, but Spyder’s radar & missiles are so terrible that I am constantly having supply problems in that too. 8+8 does not last long when every target requires several missiles.
I’ve ran out in most games. Extremely difficult to resupply it at a cap given how huge of a target it is too.
Not to diminish the point of the post, I have no doubt 4+4 is rough, but Spyder is bad in its own right.
Agreed on the Spyder’s ammo consumption but i think its an issue with the missile performance and not the ammo capacity. The point of my post is the ammo resupply capacity and not the missile performance itself. I feel like the german boys are doing a good job reporting on the issues regarding missile performance and its buggy nature.
Would be cool if the short range EldE 98 get 24x missiles total. It would allow it to compete by being a smaller target that can be more aggressive with its positioning. Sure it cannot intercept 6 missiles coming its way but it can fire upon a lot more targets throughout a longer game.
Since you have to sit and reload for a while!
You fire 4 missiles…
You build an ammobox for 10 seconds
You rearm for 30 seconds
And reload for 20 seconds
Enemies have 1 minute window to attack between full reloads (not including partial reload in this)
If you pressure an EldE 98 to use up all its ammo you got a window large window to exploit that weakness.
I think it’s balanced as air systems still have a way to overwhelm the EldE 98.
There’s no evidence to suggest it had internal ammo but resupplying is an external factor that is purely a balance choice how many imaginary resupply trucks is allowed to drive by to restock my launcher.
More ammo for the EldE 98 is balanced thanks to its limited capability in intercepting multiple munitions. Even if a KH38 misses the EldE 98, the nearby explosion usually kills the system anyway. i don’t think it would throw off balance if the EldE 98 had a 24x ammo… considering you have to reload a lot!
So yeah my suggestion is to raise the EldE 98 resupply to between 16-24 missiles.
The higher the better obviously. It would make it a more attractive choice which fills a important role in the game.
I hardly agree with this but in all honesty, even 10x more ammo wouldnt change the fact that the missile itself is very bad. I had a few Matches with it and tested it in Custom matches and it feels like:
1: The missile itself doesnt track half of the time
2: The missle wont hit 12km range especially if the target is manouvering even slightly
Often times the missile just starts flying into orbit if the radar of the Elde is losing lock which, in my understanding, shouldnt happen with a IR seeker on board of the SLS
Again this post is not about the missile performance, i know it has issues but other people are reporting on it. This post is purely a balance through resupply means.
In general id suggest that if the vehicle has like less or exactly 10 rounds or 15 or so, that the crate contains 2 full refils, like, the vehicle has 15 rounds and the ammo crate 30. Or maybe even if the vehicle only has 20 rounds.
No.
Also im done with it anyway. I gave my opinion to the topic, that not just SAM but all limited ammo weapons should have increased ammo capacty, that still on topic. Anyone not your opinion isnt automatically off topic.
Eh, i think 2x is decent but still laughably small. In my Su34 i will normally kill at least 2 people because i have 6 KH-38MT’S and the Elde gets 4 missiles. If the Elde player is trying to save his team by dealing with my missiles since im outside his range he’ll be nearly put of ammo just stopping 1 refill of my missiles, 2 minutes and i sling another 6 and now hes out. The vehicle is pretty slow and the trailer is buggy and the radar is horrible lol.
I think 3x refills for vehicles with 8 total missiles is more fair. So 4 initial and another 3 refills of 4 missiles. The vehicles are already the worst at 12.0 and bringing them to 12 missiles is still them being underpowered compared to whats already available.
Now maybe if gaijin drops their BR then they should just get 2x refills but thats a different argument of balance altogether
yeah, not to mention 12km range isnt enough to counter anything, and it can’t even stop smart bombs at all, if it doesnt have a rocket booster, it’s not getting hit since it can’t track it with IR, since the update, i’ve died a total of 3 times to the new AAs, and it was during suicide gun runs, i literally just dump 8 GBU-39s from orbit and score 3-5 kills every single time because the new AAs literally can’t counter them, even the slamraam cant destroy the glidebombs somehow, a single bomb ate 14 missiles (direct hits, i was spectating the bomb xd)
also, the IRIS-Ts literally don’t work 80% of the time, i lock a target, open skies, open field, and it just flies off to china, spining around and eventually hitting the ground, and it’s supposed to have IOG…
not to mention the horrendous IRCCM… a single flare decoys the missile, literally worse than aim9Bs xd
TL;DR russian cas spam is unchanged, if they die it’s because they’re genuinely as dumb as we all know they are.