A Symposium on the Quality of Each Plane, in Plane Ball

[elixirwithani]

On the Quality of Each Plane, by its Perks, as Pertaining to the Great Mode of Plane Ball:

Editor's note: ball_football is King.

--

EXPLODET, THERMOBARICS: Strong counter-push mechanic. Runs low on energy with great frequency if you reposition too often. Initial positioning is key. Weaker against mouse control enemies. Vulnerable when not given time to deploy minefield. Vulnerable on open maps.

EXPLODET, REMOTE MINE: Strong change of pace plane, strong on maps with rising lanes, relatively easy to use in open areas. Strong possibility of handing enemy team a goal if mistimed.

EXPLODET, DIRECTOR: Combines the least useful parts of both Thermobarics and Remote Mine. Need for perfect control of detonation timing cripples any potential synergy of "push" effect with uncontrollable mines.

--

BOMBER, PRIMARY WEAPON: Very good, very nice arc mechanic. Scales insanely well with bars. Misused with great frequency by less experienced players who empty all energy stores in one burst.

BOMBER, SUPPRESSOR: Extremely useful against lighter compositions. Range and tracking of suppressor is dominant against swarms of small things. Poor positioning and overextension will negate value of secondary weapon.

BOMBER, BOMBS: Extremely powerful when above the general flow of the match. Extremely good at containing vertical choke points. Extremely useless at defending the goal Xv1. Lack of rear facing weapon is crippling against good opponents. Self-damage from secondary weapon is brutal. Unforgiving energy rates for a weapon that is difficult to aim.

BOMBER, FLAK TAILGUN: Powerful against heavier compositions. Short range of secondary and lack of tracking leave it vulnerable to flanking.

--

BIPLANE, PRIMARY (non-HC): Very low energy consumption. Great range and damage. Can be difficult to aim.

BIPLANE, DOGFIGHTER: Counter-intuitive secondary fire mechanic. Purpose of Plane Ball is to move forward, however, secondary fire slows and frequently stalls plane. This effect confuses the purpose of the plane: its ability to score while shooting is limited, yet it is a light plane and so cannot be classified as "good" on defense, especially given the Biplanes inherent lack of turning ability. The plane is designed in every sense, from its ball carry speed to its base armor, to be a "tanky" ball scorer, but its unique secondary fire mechanic pushes back against that concept and leaves it in a state of limbo. Cannot effectively play the bottom lane of a map without smacking into the floor or zeroing its own energy attempting to un-stall, which is an issue as that is where the ball tends to be.

BIPLANE, HEAVY CANNON: Same secondary fire issue as Dogfighter, combined with even more stalling potential from the primary fire. Incredibly unforgiving 2/3 shot bursts with Turbocharger/Ultracapacitor, respectively. Outrageously difficult to use effectively without benefit of mouse control or countless hours of practice.

BIPLANE, RECOILLESS GUN: Secondary fire is not as powerful as Dogfighter, but it does not inhibit the planes movement speed. This plane is extremely well suited to scoring and carrying the ball under duress. Burst is strong enough to bring down other light planes, and has significant base armor. Can be difficult to maneuver without Flexible Wings green perk.

--

LOOPY, ACID BOMB: Incredible support plane. An Acid Bomb increases the killing power of your other planes exponentially. Very strong lane control mechanic. Weakened by high energy cost. Acid Bomb Loopy must often decide between using secondary fire and using primary fire, as it will virtually never have enough energy to both use an Acid Bomb and fire more than 2-3 missiles. Difficult plane to get the "flow" of, due to aforementioned weakness. Cannot 1v1 an EMP Loopy if enemy hits their EMP at close range. Will destroy EMP Loopy if engaged at a distance, which is often difficult due to short range of Acid Bomb.

As with other Loopy types, the purpose of this plane is frequently misunderstood. Players with less experience will often fly this plane at top speed and wait to use their primary fire until they are virtually on top of an enemy group. As with both other Loopy types, this results in a significantly decreased DPS, and death.

LOOPY, TRACKER: Potential of Tracker to counter Time Anchor was seen in TBD, however the pace of a Plane Ball game does not allow for a light, ball-carrying plane to employ that strategy. Tracker is limited by its weakness at corners, the long deployment time of its primary weapon, and a lower potential DPS compared to its counterpart the Double Fire. However, Tracker is very strong against difficult-to-lock planes (such as Trickster) when in the open.

LOOPY, DOUBLE FIRE: Higher DPS than other Loopy perks. However, this DPS is reliant upon both missile streams locking onto target. This is often difficult to achieve. Very powerful 1v1 plane if EMP can be hit and proper flight pattern is maintained. This is often done incorrectly.

LOOPY, EMP: Undoubtedly powerful, though limited in that its effectiveness relies and scales directly upon the enemy plane being out of position when it is hit by EMP. Ergo, if the enemy is not out of position, EMP is significantly weaker in a team contest. In a 1v1 situation (this should not often arise in the middle of a Plane Ball match), EMP is dominant if it hits, though the time required to maneuver and kill the enemy without getting killed yourself is more often better spent simply flying away and advancing the purpose of the game, which is to score goals.

--

MIRANDA, SECONDARY (non-TA): Incredibly strong mechanic for stalling while waiting for team re-spawn or kills. However, this strategy requires that your team has gained a dominant positioning advantage, likely through a mistake by the enemy team (overextension, misplayed pass, death, etc). The counter to this strategy is discipline and knowing your role. It is undoubtedly powerful, though with respect if you find yourself dealing with it, you did something wrong. Energy rates are fine, as constantly using your secondary prevents the Miranda from going forward.

The ability to "flick" missiles backwards, with the effect of either decreasing or increasing how long they are airborne, is very strong.

The ability to "bounce" off objects when timed well (good luck) results in a large speed boost (or total loss of speed), which can be used to strong effect.

MIRANDA, LASER: The same problem Dogfighter suffers from, though under a different guise. As the weakest (armored) plane, Miranda in turn benefits from the highest maneuverability. This means that Miranda should be spending its time moving the ball and maintaining possession for your team. Lacking the range (and bounce) of Trickster or Time Anchor, Laser is slightly less useful at doing a Miranda's other job - damaging the enemy Miranda. The weakest Miranda - though it can be used with great effect.

MIRANDA, TRICKSTER: A slightly more useful Laser. The range and bounce shot of Trickster give it a distinct, though minor, team-play advantage over Laser.

MIRANDA, TIME ANCHOR: The most maneuverable plane in the game. As such, this is the plane that benefits the most from improper defensive positioning and lack of discipline. This plane requires time (no pun intended) to execute its more complicated maneuvers, which is a significant weakness. Rarely used in the highest level of play due to its defensive shortcomings and its offensive predictability, when compared to Trickster. Very strong 1v1 (with and without the ball) plane, though as with Loopy, you should not often be in a 1v1 situation without the ball. In short, this plane is a pub-stomper that greatly benefits from a lack of cohesion and game-sense on the enemy team.

--

DIRECTOR, BOMBS, DOGFIGHTER, HEAVY CANNON, and ACID BOMB should be given minor buffs to improve their quality of life.

DIRECTOR: Increase primary fire damage, or decrease energy cost of mines.

BOMBS: Mechanics change - the bombs now fire backwards out of the planes tail, in an arc.



DOGFIGHTER: Increase range of secondary fire, decrease stalling effect of secondary fire.

HEAVY CANNON: Reduce damage of primary fire. Reduce energy cost of primary fire. Reduce stalling effect of primary fire.

ACID BOMB: Decrease energy cost of Acid Bomb to be in-line with cost of EMP.

--

Up next - Plane Ball Strategy: why there isn't any.

[Greekjr14]

BIPLANE, HEAVY CANNON: Same secondary fire issue as Dogfighter, combined with even more stalling potential from the primary fire. Incredibly unforgiving 2/3 shot bursts with Turbocharger/Ultracapacitor, respectively. Outrageously difficult to use effectively without benefit of mouse control or countless hours of practice.


;D