Finally grinded it out, queing at 12.7 so the players are all going to be relatively decent CAS/CAP players that don’t fly in a straight line and I’m having a bit of trouble figuring out how best to play this beast.
IRST vs SRC?
Seems like I can’t multitrack, and see real time info where all the missiles they are firing are heading while in IRST. Nor Can I lock from planes directly from the scope in 3rd person, I have to “aim down sights” to get a lock? Do players get missile warning anyways? I find the missiles have such a massive smoke trail and again queing at 12.7 instead of 11.7 I don’t think these players are blind so I’m not sure bothering with IRST is even worth, not to mention clouds.
I’ve tried switching to IRST after getting a lock then launching, but again doesn’t seem to fool anyone. Also if someone else is playing SPAA and not using IRST they are going to get pings/lock warnings anyways, plus again giant smoke trail. Not sure what I should be doing with IRST if anything.
What is the point of the LEAD mode?
Seems like every time I forget to switch to LOS the missle just goes apeshit and never hits, is there any use case for this mode? I see people saying “targets flying in a straight line far away/high alt” but what problems does LOS even have with zombies like that anyways?
Shooting down incoming missiles?
Have everything bound and know how to switch targets, but I seem to have trouble with shooting them down with guns, should I use missiles instead?
Fire and forget?
So I know that if I launch on a target, then switch radar lock to something else the pantsir will automatically navigate that missile for me towards the target I fired on, how well does the system do this compared to manual aim? And is there a way if I only have a single target to lock to have this happen? Seems like if I drop lock the missile just goes to my cursor? Is there a way to turn on TWS mode without having anything locked?
Survivability?
So some maps seem to just be awful, everyone knows the objectives on the map are just suggestions and everyone is just trying to get into position to spawn camp, not to mention that’s the first place pilots are looking for SPAA. But leaving spawn in a giant bus with a spinning billboard ontop of it that periodically sounds out a giant smoke trail (I’m here come fuck me!) is also dangerous on a lot of maps were you can’t go to some corner and hide from other tanks. At this point I’m dying to tanks finding me more than CAS. And as per Russian tradition, the thing has no gun depression so fighting back against tanks is usually just impossible unless you happen to be on a slope facing them.
Secondly the pantsir has no smoke, and its SLOW, so unless I have some really good cover I can get behind quickly, besides shooting down missiles coming towards me what else can I do?
Also how do I lock onto missiles? SRC doesn’t seem to work, missiles only show up if I lock a plane? I don’t get it. Do I have to use IRST to find missiles if I don’t have the plane that fired them locked? Just doesn’t make sense. Also is there anything I can do if a heli decides to just send 8 atgms at me? I’ve had that happen multiple times now and I can’t deal with all of them while he’s just like 50m above cover and can just slip down in 2 seconds under the trees.