I gotta say it’s just so weird. we have an aircraft here with amazing climb rate, as well as good turning, and decent firepower. well the thing just goes the same for Spitfire LF mk9 and VL Pyörremyrsky, probably yak9u as well. So how did this even happen?
Climb rate? Basically every fighter at it’s BR and below it outclimbs it.
Decent guns? Gaijin keeps screwing over the Ho series cannons.
Turning good? That’s basically the only trick Japanese fighters have.
To beat a Japanese fighter is simple; Do Not Turnfight It. Boom n’ Zoom it for an EZ win.
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Imho you mix the Ki-44 up with another JP aircraft as:
- There is no Ki-44 with Ho-5 cannons
- The highest BR is 3.7 in Air RB with 4 x Ho-103 0.50 cals
- The Ho-103 was buffed ages ago and is a very potent weapon
- The climb rate of Ki-44s is amazing - imho way above adversaries
Imho the OP is correct, the JP version at BR 3.7 & rank II is a monster if flown by a decent pilot. Imho the main weak point is the very slow top-speed and the rather subpar turning abilities compared to other JP fighters.
If they would increase the rank II to rank III we would see a BR increase like with the J2M2 from 4.3 at rank II to 5.0 at rank III.
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the KI44 is a pathetic little airframe with a gigantic engine strapped into it and from a test flight it doesn’t seem to like keeping speed after a turn far worse than other Japanese planes.
I can tell you why the LFmk9 is so powerful though, British mains are good players and the spit in question is hidden in a folder so a lot of the playerbase skip it, so only players that are in the know are using it.
Ive never had issues against the VL or yaks but that’s because I’m usually in a spitfire. Just don’t head on with a yak and you’re probably going to win
Poor energy retention, loses power very fast with altitude, poor nose authority. Firepower is okay, the Ho-103s have good damage but really lack range.
It is one of my favorites but it has very obvious downsides.
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I’m gonna have to get back to you on it as it’s possible I’m mixing up, but as someone who has played the majority of the JP tree there hasn’t been a single prop-driven fighter that particularly impressed me outside of the turn time, bar the J2M5 Raiden Kai. When it comes to climbing, acceleration, top speed, energy retention and firepower nearly every other nation beats them out at nearly every BR.
All I remember of this plane is it being undertiered with an exploding engine; and it wouldn’t be my clubber of choice.
You can fix the engine overheating through MEC, by giving it just 90% prop pitch. Give up 50hp or so for infinite WEP.
every single damn fighter between 3.7 and 4.3 (and most 4.7) is outclimbed by Ki-44-II hei. you cannot be serious.
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and that is not the case with Ki-44. basically it’s just as good as a Spitfire LF Mk IX at 4.7
With MEC this thing can easily reach 25m/s climb rate and no overheating. clearly gaijin simply judged it by the number 44. It is in my recollection that US pilots reported in test flight after the war that Ki-44 is superior to any other Japanese fighters.
delusional
For a very short time before it runs out of breath. It’s only very good at below about 4km, and unlike Yaks it doesn’t have bullshit speed retention.
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you choose to fly it into a dogfight and it’s purely your skill issue. why does it need energy retention with an exploding engine? does wyvern S4 have good energy retention?
Simple
Because the Ki-44 is mid at best and even if you consider the very few things that it has going for it you can find other Japanese aircraft even at it’s own BR that do it just as well or even better that are overall better aircraft
As an example what does the Ki-44 II Hei has over the Ki-61 I Otsu for example, nothing the Ki-61 I Otsu is the superior aircraft in comparison to the Ki-44 and i don’t consider the Ki-61 to be that great of an aircraft either.
As you should, because its straight line speed is subpar.
I don’t even know what you’re trying to say here.
Climb rate. Low altitude performance.
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Climb rate is certainly insane:
Despite this, I still met an enemy Ki-61-lb at the same alt and he forced me down low, being able to out-turn me. Being faster with better climb I could have probably energy trapped him though 🤔
Ideally, get low where your engine develops its full ~1500hp and draw him into an upwards spiral.
give me an example of any aircraft at this br with this much climb rate, plz
and it’s climb rate is insane. with WEP and proper MSC, Ki-44 can easily maintain 25m/s climb at below 4km. straight line speed and energy retention doesn’t stop Spitfire Mk 14 from being incredibly strong in BnZ, and neither will it be in the case of Ki-44. With insane climb rate and decent maunuverablity, one single aircraft is able to bust an entire game.
and I have told you. you already have this outrageous climb rate advantage. does an F-104A need to worry about energy retention? with this outrageous power-to-weight ratio, Ki-44 is absolutely broken.
and yet you can still reach 6km altitude in less than 5 minutes. I am wondering if its climb rate is superior to Bf-109G6’s.