Spitfire XIV or Tempest 5 for CAP?

[GC_Mandrake]

Noob here, trying to figure out the best choice in multiplayer for CAP at medium/high altitudes (15-20k feet). Which RAF airframe performs best in this role in the game? Any input gratefully received!

[ShamrockOneFive]

I'd say medium altitude is 10-20,000 feet. High altitude is more 25,000 and up for WWII aircraft.

 

Both aircraft are extremely high performers in this area and just as the RAF pilots of the time debated who had the better fighter we can probably also debate that as well. What is probably going to be more important is not the aircraft here but your familiarity with flying and fighting in either. If you tend to lean towards the Spitfire, get some stick time with the XIV and that should serve you really well. If its the Tempest that's your aircraft then again get some stick time with that and make that your aircraft of choice.

 

If you're new, you're going to focus on stats and performance numbers, but unless you're wringing the absolute maximum out of the airplane its more likely that the type you're most familiar with is going to be the type that gives you personally the best performance.

[GC_Mandrake]

1 hour ago, ShamrockOneFive said:

I'd say medium altitude is 10-20,000 feet. High altitude is more 25,000 and up for WWII aircraft.

 

Both aircraft are extremely high performers in this area and just as the RAF pilots of the time debated who had the better fighter we can probably also debate that as well. What is probably going to be more important is not the aircraft here but your familiarity with flying and fighting in either. If you tend to lean towards the Spitfire, get some stick time with the XIV and that should serve you really well. If its the Tempest that's your aircraft then again get some stick time with that and make that your aircraft of choice.

 

If you're new, you're going to focus on stats and performance numbers, but unless you're wringing the absolute maximum out of the airplane its more likely that the type you're most familiar with is going to be the type that gives you personally the best performance.

Thanks for this - IIRC the Tempest V was tested by the Air Ministry against pretty much all of its Allied and German contempories (including the Spit XIV I think) and was found to outperform them all up to 20k feet. Would you say that the game reflects this at all?

 

[Dr_Molem]

In their current states, the Tempest is superior in all departments except climb rate as long as you stay below 7000m (and still, if you have some energy, you'll be able to run circles in a square meter).

Edited May 16, 2023 by Dr_Molem

[=MERCS=JenkemJunkie]

The 152 may end up with top level performance, but I'd be surprised if it gets the exorcist level abilities the tempest has.

[ShamrockOneFive]

1 hour ago, GC_Mandrake said:

Thanks for this - IIRC the Tempest V was tested by the Air Ministry against pretty much all of its Allied and German contempories (including the Spit XIV I think) and was found to outperform them all up to 20k feet. Would you say that the game reflects this at all?

 

 

Yes, but with the qualifier that performance gets you potential. Exploiting that potential is piloting/tactics/practice/skill. A good Tempest pilot would be extremely dangerous to the best on the Axis side for sure. The Tempest does its best work in the sea level to 20,000 range and that is where most of the fighting in this series' multiplayer and single player takes place.

[LukeFF]

Guys, I'm going to say it only once here: talking about a plane being a UFO or any such related talk is not permissible. 

[=MERCS=JenkemJunkie]

I'll rephrase it then. If your 10 year old nephew came over and wanted to try flight sims, and you didn't want him to get frustrated and cry, you know what plane you would give him. You'd say "here little Timmy fly the tempest, go get em champ!".

 

For new adult players, I wouldn't recommend the tempest as when you first start playing is when you'll be most tolerant to dying. If you start with the tempest you'll be more successful initially than in any other plane, but you'll be picking up bad habits that will hurt you in the long run and fall into what I call the tempest trap.

 

If the new player has been playing the tempest for months and does at least semi well in it, and decides to try a new plane, hes going to struggle immensely and get frustrated, and be faced with 2 options. One he can go back to the bottom of the skill ladder in a different plane, or he can just keep spamming the tempest, and many players just keep spamming the tempest and get stuck in the tempest trap instead of enjoying all the other planes this game has to offer.

[[CPT]Crunch]

Maybe your hanging out in all the wrong places, cause I rarely see Tempests the crowd fly with.  Big fat nothing burger, I've killed them in A-8's before.  Tell us where the Tempest touched you.

[=MERCS=JenkemJunkie]

So? Every plane has killed every plane at some point, I've killed it in worse planes than the A8 myself. Anecdotal kills have nothing to do with whether the tempest is fine or not. You're not a new player, if you haven't noticed that the tempest is not like the others by now, I can't help you. The reason you may not come across it often, is also because it is usually restricted or removed due to the "tricks up its sleeves".

[[LeLv34]Lykurgos88]

Tempest V is the best air superiority fighter currently in the game. And I have flown hundreds of hours of Il-2 GBS (and 1946 before that).

 

The ease-of-use is a significant aspect. While Spitfire XIV does win Tempest in pure climb speed, high altitude battles and perhaps lenghtened turn fights, it IS harder to fly and has a characteristical wobbliness to its controls while Tempest is more stable. That alone will favor Tempest 90% of the time.

 

In multiplayer servers there is rarely any downsides to picking Tempest V (for newbies and veterans alike).