In Air Battles (namely air RB), Setting another players aircraft on fire should automatically count as severe damage.
While not as severe as control loss, Fires cause such significant damage to an aircraft that it severely hinders that enemies ability to continue.
Engine fires are pretty self explanatory. Setting them on fire means A) Reduced acceleration B)Reduced top speed C) Zero acceleration (if single engine or reliant on ALL engines to maintain flight such as the SM.79s) D) Loss of control (Aircraft dependent if multi-engine) E)Reduced manoeuvrability
Drop tank fires severely reduce an aircraft’s time in battle
Internal fuel fires reduce the enemy’s time in flight (to potentially zero instantly), cause airframe wide damage and can result in a kill by the fire alone.
In conclusion, setting a plane or helicopter on fire causes more than enough damage by its mere existence to warrant it resulting in a severe damage
I disagree, fires alone are too inconsistent (which isnt a problem) sure they can be a death sentence but they arent always, engine fires even on single engine fighters can be put out sometimes before your engine dies and you can make it back to base, made easier if you have enough altitude, and some fuel fires can go out nearly instantly
the severe damage mechanic was made to diminish the effects of kill stealing but if someone has survived a fire, and is limping back to base, in theory they could be repaired and then it wouldnt really be your kill anymore so why should you get credit for not finishing someone
this would only create more false positives for severe damage which isnt helpful, severe damage should be a guaranteed kill, which fires are not
its not worth worrying about the 1% of times when you set someone on fire and they would die and then they get kill stolen tbh
Tbh the damage required to get a secured kill should be lower. I’ve sometimes destroy both wings of a plane and some guy came and sniped the pilot and got the kill. It’s really unfair. A plane dying while it’s on fire should probably give the kill to the guy who set it on fire
The severe damage mechanic is so different on different planes, before GJN implement new stuff to it, it should be balanced.
All P-38 (one example) you can get a severe damage and they fly totally fine, while other planes get a crit or even a hit and are unflyable. There is no logic behind it at all.
Yeah sorry but if you can fly it back to base you didn’t get the kill end of story really, you may disagree but I can say with some confidence that people would not like that change you’re talking about at all.
If the fire causes the aircraft to break apart or results in the loss of an engine (or all engines), then the game should count it as severe damage. If the fire goes out and the aircraft is still capable of returning to the airfield, then such a fire should be treated as critical damage.
Of course, there are fires in the game that cannot be extinguished, so the system could probably award severe damage immediately in those cases. If the fire can be extinguished, then it should be counted as a critical hit instead.
What is wrong in War Thunder:
In the context of War Thunder, the terminology works a bit differently than in traditional technical aviation.
“Hit” is a regular hit. Thats fine.
But “Critical hit” is a hit that damages an important part of the aircraft, but often still allows the enemy to keep fighting or make it back to base.
“Severe damage” is a near-destruction state where the aircraft is practically already out of the fight.
So in practice “Critical” in WT is actually a lower level of damage than “severe damage.”
In real-life aviation and technical terminology, “critical damage” and “severe damage” are not always strictly standardized terms, but they are usually understood like this:
“Severe damage” means heavy or major damage to the aircraft. The aircraft may still be controllable or capable of flight, but its performance, safety, or combat capability is seriously reduced.
“Critical damage” means damage to a system or structure that is essential for survival of the aircraft. It creates an immediate risk of losing the aircraft or crew.
In other words:
severe damage = very serious but potentially survivable,
critical damage = directly threatening the aircraft’s ability to remain airborne.
which is basically already what happens, because the fire just acts like if you shot the enemy aircraft more, the fire can progress to severe damage if it destroys the engine or control surfaces (things that if destroyed already count as severe damage) and you get the credit for that
Except a calculator can’t even show the number of times I’ve set a plane on fire and I only end up getting an assist despite said fire taking out his only engine and cutting his control cables
If the fire leads to enough damage it should be considered “Severe Damage” , some planes have EFS so if they get a small fire and extinguish it this shouldn’t be “Severe Damage”. I think the severe damage mechanic is gonna be botched no matter what. If its too strict in giving out severe damage it doesn’t make a big difference and if its too loose then there will be many people “Severe Damaged” flying around.
I do think its in gaijin’s “financial interest” to give less rewards and be stricter with severe damage. They are gonna do what they want.