Okay this might sound as a ranting but I’ve been thinking about this for a while and I need to let it out.
With the announcement of the 5th gen comming in the second half of this year and next gen missiles, it’s time to stand up for a moment and force a timeout.
No, the game IS NOT ready for fifth gen fighters and next generation missiles, and I’m not talking about not having enough 4.5 gen fighters, or any vehicle or weaponry reason. I’m talking about the gamemode in it’s core.
Air RB was conceived as a slower, more strategic and demanding mode when the game was released. Bombers played a major role and there was a very noticeable feeling on defending them. People were more organized and it felt authentic. But, whether we like it or not, that worked for props, and maybe early jets until 9.0, that’s it.
I remember reading a long time ago a very old post in this forum where a player said “air-to-air missiles are never going to be added because RB are not meant for them to be in there”, and I hate to admit that he was right.
As a disclaimer for what I’m going to say, I enjoy air RB. WT has been my most played game in the last two years, only paired by other combat flight sim we all know about. This is NOT meant to be a tantrum against Gaijin or the game, it’s just the way I’ve come to figure how this mode could be improved.
The problem with air RB has nothing to do with balance, or buffs, or nerfs, or BR placement/compression/decompression. In fact, I think BR compression is an issue, but not a major one. The main problem with air RB is, in fact, the gamemode itself. Why do I say this? Well, ARB is designed in a way that (not intentionally) inclines to favor air superiority fighters, because, guess what, they are exactly designed to excel in air combat.
Maybe someone is reading this and thinking “well, duh, that’s why it’s called Air Battles”, and they would be right to a certain point, but think about it for a moment. Everyone complained about how the F/A-18 would be DOA because it would be too slow, it’s radar wouldn’t compete with the EF 14.0, etc. But have you stopped to think that the F/A-18 was never meant to compete against the EF? And not because they’re used by allied nations, but because they in fact carry VERY different roles? Why would anyone bring a multirole fighter into an air battle with an air superiority fighter?
I know this still sounds “duh”, but let me explain. ARB creates a meta. Every update this meta is altered in some way, and not in the favor of balance, because the jets’ performance is not altered for this matter (as it’s meant to be as realistic as the game can offer). Now we have the Su30SM2, which is the new king due to it’s strong radar and missile capacity. How is a “semi realistic” hornet supposed to compete against it? Some would argue that “it’s not the plane, it’s the pilot”, but when a plane can force you defensive while still keep you locked into the notch, you gotta admit the plane has certainly some influence in the outcome.
I’m not complaining about how better jets perform better at their role than other jets meant for other role, I’m complaining that EVERY jet is forced into an air superiority role whether it’s designed for that or not.
Where do I want to get with all this? Well, there are certain ways all this could be improved. One of them (the easiest) would be altering rewards depending on how the player performs on their jet’s role while also adding a new classification for the hangar (now we got “fighter jet, naval jet, strike fighter” in top tier, but we could have “air superiority fighter”, “multirole fighter” and so on). This would mean that, for example, air superiority fighters like the F15, the Su27 family or the EF would get more rewards for getting kills, while at the same time getting drastically less rewards for bombing bases or striking ground targets (and the other way around for strike fighters and a more “in the middle” ground for multirole fighters).
This would be just a small patch on an open wound, so there’s the second option (and obviously way more difficult). That would be implementing a separate gamemode for ARB, that would work in a similar way to Sim Battles (which should also be reworked a bit but that’s another topic). By that I mean:
-VERY large maps (like, 300×300km). I say this because Sim maps im ARB only make the meta problem worse.
-Objectives and role assignment before takeoff. (Bomber escort, interception, CAS, CAP, SEAD…)
-Intelligent payload creation. No real jet would takeoff with 14 missiles for a mission, that’s straightup a logistic madness and no one would approve that. For example: The super hornet was given two extra pylons so they wouldn’t have to sacrifice a weapons to carry fuel tanks, not to bring 14 missiles, because the super hornet IS NOT an air superiority fighter, and no, I’m not getting tired of saying that)
-Flight plan, waypoints based on the objective chosen. In the same way than Ground RB and Air SB do, enemies should not be visible with a tag on the map. That’s where you should rely on your radar and your mission flight plan to locate the enemy. Also that could bring AWACS and datalink to the table but that would be VERY far into the future.
-Rewards based on objective completion, not in 15 minutes-span performance. Real missions take time. If you’re an F16 on a SEAD mission. Take off, locate the SAM sites, take them down, get intercepted by a pair of fighters, shoot them down with your wingman and land successfully, that should give you a generous amount of rewards.
-Squads making sense. In current ARB, squads are pointless. You joim a squad with a random teammate in case you’re not playing with some friends and the only purpose that serves is the “best squad” reward. There’s no real point of them. In the rework, Squads would be created via role-matchmaking. You select a mission, you’re paired with another player to fight in a binomy, or maybe even with a full 4 to 6 player squadron to escort a pair of bombers. That would create very interesting scenarios and would create a real sense of community and teamplay.
-Immersive air combat. From BVR to BFM, this mode would make air combat way more enjoyable. Third partying would be nonexistant because everyone would be busy doing their task, your own reinforcement would be your wingman and that’s it. You should watch your every move and could finaly get a proper dofight without getting rammed by 8 missiles from a Su30 that was passing by.
-Less painful stock grind. With every top tier jet (14.3 now), you get two Fox 2 and 2 Fox 3 in stock, while also having access to dumb bombs in most of them, and no chaff. This is AWFULLY PAINFUL to grind with and not fun at all. I’ve had a lot of planes that I loved with my heart and ended straight up hating due to the stock grind. This would not be a problem in the rework, as 4 missiles and some dumb bombs are NOT a bad payload for actual missions. Sure, you won’t be doing all-in air combat as soon as you get your jet, but you wouldn’t be useless. With a stock jet you could hop on with your 4 missiles, a couple bombs and go doing some CAS or a high risk SEAD mission, and it would way funnier (and less frustrating) than rushing a whole map while getting missile spammed just for the hope to reach a base without dying over and over.
That’s it for my proposal. I don’t know if y’all agree with me of what you will thing about this but I honestly would love to see something like this in war thunder, because right now I have a lot of vehicles on my hangar that I just can’t use because they get slammed in every game. I would love to see harrier missiones, strike eagle pairs on their way to SEAD, strategic bombing, etc. Right now, top tier in Air RB is a furball mess of half the team rushing for bases while other just crash into trees or get slammed from above. I want to see new things. I love War Thunder and I think it has so much potential that it’s a shame to see it be thrown way like this.
I would love to see your feedback on this. This is my first post and I’m honestly kind of nervous. I’m also widly open to debate so feel free to share your thoughts.