Regardless of how much it pulls it does feel like a much better missile than the alternatives at the BR - though that may be because I always go high in the Lightning and fire them downwards.
It is probably due to the large amount of tnt. It wont reach as far as most and loses energy faster but it will basically kill/cripple any plane close enough to trigger the prox fuse.
If they buffed the range on this missile which was very anaemic, it will be more annoying to face them. Give them a gunpod and move it to 9.0, it has the engine power for it
The Vixen is one of my most played planes (63% wr over a thousand battle) and I struggled a lot after the red top change for like 20 battles or so but now I’ve finally adapted my playstyle and I love it again.
Nowhere near what the red top/vixen once was before the drag nerf tho, but pretty decent nonetheless. The new red top with improved range is now better in a support role(like the Sea Vixen excelled at) to shoot down pilots distracted chasing a teammate BUT are much worse against anyone that is aware of your presence.
It was always relatively easy to dodge the red top but when it was 16G but you needed to pull much more. You could dodge 1, maybe 2, but by the 3rd or 4th missile you’d have lost too much speed. I got many 1v1 kills like this back then. The 12G red top on the other hand can be dodged without a sweat by pressing the S key for less than 1 second, doesn’t really make you bleed speed much.
With that said, I wish Gaijin would model dual plane missiles some day.
Is it as sensitive as AIM9E though? My AIM9E once killed my teammate IL28 5km away when locked onto a F5C, and it can’t help locking onto the sun every time. Does the red top also do that or is it a bit better?
Red top does have a better thrust, unlike AIM9E and R60M which would pull 0G after 3 seconds.
Sun will always be an issue but I have only had a couple times where it went for a friendly. And those were when the friendly cross between the missile and enemy.
It loses more energy in turns but will kill/cripple anything that gets close enough to trigger the prox. I feel like it is a missile that you have to baby a bit but, if you do, it wont let you down with random “hits” or tracking other planes
Then it is better then AIM9E although I have been doing well with F100A, I guess part of my problem with friendly firing is cause I am always going for F5s and F86s which have tiny IR signals. It is ridiculous how missiles can lock onto the moon though.
It is much better than a 9E post buff (I count the G nerf as a buff) and it feels like it’s more flare resistant now (I’ve managed to hit turning aircraft that are flaring so much more often)
That said it still needs it’s all aspect capability
Also, question for anyone who has it, now the Red Top is 12g pull, does the Firestreak pull better? I’m confused because the Red Top was an upgraded Firestreak