Flare duration

Flares remain active longer than their visual animation indicates, creating a mismatch between what players see and how the mechanic actually functions.

Details:

- After flares are deployed, the visual animation ends before the effect actually expires.

- Players are able to begin locking onto a vehicle shortly after flares are popped (around ~1 second), even though the flares are still active.

- Any missile locked during this hidden “active” period will still miss due to the flare effect persisting.

Impact on Gameplay:

- Infantry players:

  - Cannot reliably determine when it is safe to lock on.

  - Missiles appear to be correctly timed but still fail, leading to confusion and frustration.

- Air vehicle players:

  - Cannot clearly tell when they are no longer protected by flares.

  - Leads to inconsistent decision-making and reduced clarity in defensive play.

Expected Behavior:

- The visual flare animation should accurately represent the duration of its active effect.

- Players should only be able to lock on once flares are fully inactive.

Actual Behavior:

- Visual animation ends early while the flare effect continues for a few seconds.

- Lock-ons initiated during this period are misleading and result in guaranteed misses.

Suggested Fix:

- Update flare behavior to match a clearer visual timeline.

- A possible solution is to adopt a system similar to Battlefield 2042:

  - Initial large burst of flares

  - Followed by smaller, gradual flare releases over a few seconds

  - Lock-ons should only be possible once the full visual sequence has completed and the effect has ended

   - Do not make the effect of flares shorter, it’s already very short

Request:

Please align the visual animation with the actual gameplay effect so players can reliably understand when flares are active or inactive.