Pilot level and damage model

[Nibbio]

Progressing with the SP campaign and pilot level, it seems that the toughness of enemy aircraft increases.

At a lower pilot level instakill snapshots were quite frequent, now at pilot level 6 I have to park on the enemy's six and pour lots of lead before a kill. Just my impression?

Edited November 1, 2014 by Nibbio

[Yakdriver]

yes.

snapshots have a better chance of shredding one layer of plexiglass and headshot the dude.

now you park on his butt and have a TON of metal between your bullet and his head.

 

go back to snapshots.
simplez?

[Finkeren]

Firing from direct 6 o'clock is the least effective way of shooting down an aircraft, because most of their armour is placed to protect against attacks from precisely this angle.

 

The targets silhouette is also at its smallest when viewed from directly behind.

[Y-29.Silky]

I think this is a good place to currently ease my mind of what just happened to me twice in a row (in multiplayer)

Flying the 109's that I still think have paper wings, my wing was sniped off diving ~550kph. The AA can't make my aircraft smoke, possibly injure the pilot, take off a stabilizer, or something, no, it has to rip my wing off everytime. That's a frustrating damage model.

[StickMan]

The AA can't make my aircraft smoke, possibly injure the pilot, take off a stabilizer, or something, no, it has to rip my wing off everytime. That's a frustrating damage model.

I'm sure the engineers that designed the AA during the war were told "Hey guys, make sure that it only does enough damage to diving aircraft so that they will only smoke, hit non critical areas or at worst cause the pilot to fly back home and ask for a Band-Aid from the medic". Edited November 6, 2014 by GeneralZod

[Y-29.Silky]

I'm sure the engineers that designed the AA during the war were told "Hey guys, make sure that it only does enough damage to diving aircraft so that they will only smoke, hit non critical areas or at worst cause the pilot to fly back home and ask for a Band-Aid from the medic".

So, that statement is comparable to, "If you can't snipe a 109's wing off who's diving at 550kph, you're going to the Gulag." .. Maybe Vasily Zaytsev trained them too...

[indiaciki]

I never got the idea of a "pilot level"... you're dead or you survive your sorties. That's it.

[Reflected]

No, DM is not related to pilot level. The devs have made some arcadish decisions, but they wouldn't go this far (I sure hope so). As far as  I know, as you progress in the campaign you encounter better AI pilots in general, and more experienced AA gunners. That's it. 

 

On a sidenote I dislike this too. Imagine the VVS in 1942: "Comrades, it's Hans Jürgenmeister's second mission, so the aces of the squad should stay here and do the dishes. Only the newbies get to fly so that he stands a chance. Also, the AA guys will get a leave for today. Harasho? "

[unreasonable]

What I am unsure about is the relationship between the wingman numbers, AI numbers and behaviour, pilot level, and how far along you are in the campaign. So my pilot level is currently 8, but I have just started a new 109 campaign so I am in chapter 1 and will stay there for a few missions.

 

Does anyone have a clear idea of how these factors interact?

[TP-Bloomster]

Campaign sucks, Most only do it to unlock the mods, (Cos that was how it was done in RL stalingrad! )