EBAA Wildcat should be either nerfed or reworked

Question

I've been waiting since the game's release to see some kind of major change to the Wildcats and I've still yet to see one. The Wildcat's horrible driver loadout design has been abused for a long time now of just sitting in your spawn or in an annoying spot of the map to be removed from and just shooting down EVERY enemy aircraft from across the entire map. In previous Battlefield entries I've found it to be fine getting shot down since the mass majority of the time it was justified, but in BF2042 you spawn an aircraft in only to see that you're immediately being locked onto by an enemy Wildcat who is sitting in their spawn across the ENTIRE MAP from you, they fire a missile, you fire out your flares and the second your flares are over the same Wildcat just immediately locks on and instantly downs you with another two missiles while still being on the opposite side of the map from you. This just doesn't feel good at all and not justifiable in the slightest. You can't even really use ATG missiles on them to fight back since they take multiple missiles to destroy, can use the repair system to make them take additional hits to destroy, and have thermal smoke packages to avoid missile lock-ons. These three things combined makes it impossible for aircrafts to fight back against them and ground forces have a hard time getting rid of them since they have no penalty for just sitting in their spawns where nobody can reach them.

The Wildcat is also supposed to be a "Squad-Friendly" and "Soldier Killer" vehicle, but nobody treats them that way since the drivers typically care about sitting in an unfair location while solely focusing on aircrafts. It makes it boring for players to be in the weapon stations which destroys the "Squad-Friendly" tag and the fact that they're never being used to push targets that destroys the "Soldier Killer" tag. What I feel like would be the best course of action is to simply rework the driver's loadout so that it's not focused on being an AA vehicle, but rather a vehicle for pushing targets. You could keep on of the AA weapons the driver currently has, but make it as one of the weapon stations instead of being on the driver's loadout so that if somebody tries to keep playing like they currently do then another player can just hop into the driver seat of the Wildcat is forcibly take it into battle.

This is the last unhealthy piece of gameplay in BF2042 that needs to be addressed in some way at minimum because, on release up until the introduction of the class system, the three unhealthy pieces of gameplay were Rao with an AA launcher(which made it miserable to use the stealth helos), everybody running C5 explosives instead of any other gadgets to just instantly destroy tanks(which usually ended with them dying in the process), and Wildcats making the game miserable for many players who want to just have fun with the aircrafts. Two of those 3 problems were fixed by adding the class system so Rao couldn't use launchers anymore and the change that made it to where only the Engineer class is allowed to have the amount of C5 explosives required to destroy a full HP tank(which is three explosives) while every other class with C5 can only have two, but now the last unhealthy piece of gameplay is the current form of the Wildcat and how it is used.

up_hawxxeye · Answer

With all due respect, the Wildcat has seen several major changers that restricted it to a more anti air role as well as having the effective range of its AA cannons decreased.

As about the missiles...unless you are a stealth bomber jet, if you ever get hit by a wildcat missile, it is bad piloting. You are supposed to use the generous immunity window the flares give you to get out of sight or bellow radar. Depending on your choice of aircraft, you can then proceed to attempt to turn the tables on the wildcat, especially now that they nerfed the APS sentinels that could protect them.

The more recent wildcat guides out there advice against using the AA missiles because you are not going to ever hit anyone who knows what they are doing.

ranzigeridder2 · Answer

@UP_Hawxxeye Fully agree!On top of that TO wants it to be a vehicle for pushing targets, but there already are sufficient other vehicles that fit that purpose.I would only reduce the number of passenger seats/weapon stations, as for its intended role of mobile AA it does not need more than 1 extra seat on top of the driver.

lady_one · Answer

@Uplandsystem&gt; sitting in your spawnSitting at spawn is not a Wildcat issue, it's a general issue. TORs sit at spawn. Regular tanks also sit at spawn on some maps (for example Orbital). Infantry sit at spawn on some maps (Orbital again, also Exposure). I'd really like it if DICE did the Battlebit thing and prevented people from shooting and taking damage while in spawn. Bonus points for a slightly more creative implementation, e.g. vehicles spawn able to shoot out of spawn, but after 30 seconds of being alive they lose this and the area they can't shoot out of is slightly expanded.&gt; you're immediately being locked onto by an enemy Wildcat who is sitting in their spawn across the ENTIRE MAPSlim chance on some 64 player maps, impossible on 128 player maps. The Wildcat would need to be in the middle of the map or even closer to your spawn, at which point it's your team's fault for not taking it out. If there's a wildcat on A2 on Exposure, that's your team's problem, not a Wildcat balance issue. Go fly on the lower half of the map.&gt; You can't even really use AGMs on them to fight backSo don't? Use TOWs instead? Fly above the wildcat? Stay away from the wildcat? Wildcats don't cover the entire map, no matter how much you insist that they do.&gt; the second your flares are over the same Wildcat just immediately locksYou did not move away from the Wildcat or take cover. This is your fault. The Wildcat isn't going to disappear, nor can it chase you that much, especially not to the OOB areas aircrafts have access to. Go fly away somewhere else. 2042 has below radar, like those past games you're mentioning.&gt; The Wildcat is also supposed to be a "Squad-Friendly" and "Soldier Killer" vehicleNo it's not. Where did you read that? Those descriptions that also say APS does not work at close range, that give extremely vague names to weapon stats like calling bullet velocity "firepower"? These are sadly all bad and irrelevant, some of these have not been touched since launch, many were completely wrong and some are still wrong like the APS one. The VCAR's drum mag used to say that it's great for full auto for a long time. That would've been nice. The SVK is still an "Extreme long range" or whatever weapon, even though the 2-shot-bodyshot HP ammo was nerfed around launch, and the weapon adjusted to be good at close range. Pretty sure the NTW-50 also still claims to be long range.What might have made the Wildcat a "soldier killer" was the 40mm, which has some splash against infantry and which the Wildcat no longer has.&gt; rework the driver's loadout so that it's not focused on being an AA vehicle, but rather a vehicle for pushing targets2042 needs an AA vehicle because all the AA infantry weapons are atrocious. That's not to say old titles were much better.&gt; just have fun with the aircraftsHaving a CoD attack helicopter killstreak, but it lasts for the entire match?

hudson1531 · Answer

100% agreeNeeds a rework and has to be buffed.You get into a 128 conquest game with good pilots the AA is doomed, even the best AA gunner cannot fight off two jets coming for you at once.BUT as this is the end for 2042 i would not expect any buffs or nerfs for any vehicle in 2042...the exception to that rule is the Draeger is getting some tweaks done at some point.

uplandsystem · Answer

@UP_HawxxeyeFrom release to now I still have just as easy of a time shooting aircrafts down with the Wildcat so no changes were big enough to notice a single difference.

The APS Sentinals is Irish's gadget and not related to the Wildcats that I mentioned. The thermal smoke package along with the system repair upgrade and the nerfs made to aircraft dumbfired anti-tank weapons makes it practically impossible to get rid of a Wildcat without a second helo with only anti-tank weaponry also assisting on getting rid of the Wildcat in question.

Also it isn't a pilot skill difference because I'm considered as an almost top-skill attack helo pilot in both BF4 and BF2042 yet still can't do anything about them and its not just me because I see a lot of players complaining about them in matches(so if I'm considered an "almost top-skill attack helo pilot" and struggling with them then you can only imagine how casual players who want to learn the helos feel with how oppressive the Wildcats are). In BF5 mobile AA tanks were more acceptable/tolerable because there weren't any helos in the game that were extremely easy targets and they had MUCH more restricted range effectiveness than the Wildcats do and they didn't have lock-on missiles.

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EBAA Wildcat should be either nerfed or reworked

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