But my current view is to remove the Shiva from the game until matches/game play can match the scale of operations it was designed for (its too big a fish for a small pond),
I disagree entirely. The Shiva, right now, is just fine. It's the air equivalent of an Assault mech. It's the end-game for pilots like myself. In return for having increased firepower and survivability, it's a bigger target. It doesn't move too fast to make lining up shots overly difficult. How is it not a fit for the game as it stands?
Thank you...
In my opnion, its to heavy a aircraft for such a small battleground. There are not the needed player resources (mailiny suitable AA assets), the scale or the time invested per sortie to justify the amount of damage they deliver and the amount of AA damage they can absorb.
They seem to be designed more toward strategic targets(for which their are none in game)...warships/drop ships. They are the heavy strike aircraft that strike fleet assets, bases, etc...where they are fast and nimble compared to the large, immobile/stationary targets they engage. But would be chewed alive by lighter fighters/interceptors(Sullas and Hawks)...hence teh need for their own escort of Sulla and hawk types aeros. That they would surgically strike targets after they have been soften, or by using well planned surprise strikes...but no where near the frequency in which they run sorties in game.
The Shiva seems to equated to a Strategic/Heavy Attack Bomber...these combat types dont go in alone and they go in after the area has been "prepped". But we cant even muster the defense to deter the Shiva from operating over our small battle area, there is no "prepping" to be done in order to "earn" one side's access to the battlefield, nor are there enough player resources to muster to properly counter the Shiva in order to push them off the battlefield, while still remaining viable against the main Mech threat.
No fighter CAP over the battlefield is effective enough to prevent the Shiva from tanking/lasting long enough to deliver its load and still likly return back to base for repair and reload. There is no open area ti intercept these heavy threats before they reach the battlefield, they all launch from the frontline, instead of from the rear.
It just feels out of place...too big a fish in a small pond, a battleship attacker, with no battleships.
My experience is that it takes much too many rounds to down a Shiva, even in a Huit. My shot is good, the AA assets are too small for this big bruiser and/or the Shiva is too big a player in our little battlefield.
Im willing to consider that latency may be dropping some of my shots, but honestly, my system performance is execellent in game, so I doubt its an issue...in the meantime, I have to go by what I see until I get a strong suggestion of it being something else.
I still need to try out the LBX Partisain, but Ive yet to get the opportunity in the last couple of days...though I doubt a 600m round will get the job done against anything except an aero on a close attack run directly at me. But that defeats the point of acting as a team oriented, area defense against Aeros.
