I think I'm doing better than most as a DS pilot simply because I have not, until 1.9, decided to run ADS on a regular basis. I'm not a leet ADS pilot.

I go isk positive, but also am not trying to rack up kills. I am providing a service whether it be mCRU, denial fire or link destruction. Also, distract to keep people busy focusing on me. Then to just fly for the enjoyment while peoviding something other than sitting out a protostomp.

I, from the beginning of my playing DUST decided to train with DS to be able to circle and strafe instead of hover or dive.


The only thing I have a problem with is swarms being able to lock on for that third or fourth volley.

I've said it once and I'll say it againGǪ one person with swarms should not be able to down a DS or tank. This is simply because the dynamics are different between a vehicle and infantry and it is too darn easy for that one person to go change out to AV at their convenience vs. a pilot wanting to stay running vehicles. There is no excuse to want to destroy a vehicle other than a player hates the playstyle. That is not a valid excuse. Forcing the vehicle to leave and rep or simply be denied the area is what the goal should be for a lone AVer.

1: Ish. I still play with dropships, but now I always have to run. If you stick around, you're dead. I have to constantly run back and forth to figure out where the AV is. Sometimes you don't get a chance (Normally if there's 2 or more AVers).

2: I considered it... for a few seconds, before deciding that that would be stupid.

3: All the time. Invisible swarms, soundless forge/railgun shots, missing damage indicators. Never heard of pilots falling out, though.

I've been a Gallente loyalist from the start, refusing to ever once skill filthy ass caldari out of sheer principle.

The incubus was always the underdog, but now, its on the exact same chopping block as my beloved Prometheus. Rattati, the DUST Judas, has betrayed us. The Pie Thong is his piper, and oh how he dances to its fiddle

Even I, a great champion of the Federation, have been forced to infiltrate this Villains lair, and steal his precious craft.

Using the Pie Thong is the only recourse. We have been stripped of our teeth, declawed and neutered. He is a madman, cackling behind a mountain of irrelevant data. We...we could not best his diabolical aim to destroy us from within

Damn Caldari scum got to our manufacturing lines...

I used to fly 99% of the time, now I run infantry 99% of the time. Flying just isn't as fun as it used to be, it's more frustrating than anything now.

Derrith Erador is one. Up until a few weeks ago I would 1v1 him every night at least once or twice in PCs, and even after HF Delta he still managed to perform well. Given that we would both kill each-other in a tit-for-tat manner, it was pretty fun.

Then you have Pvt. Numnutz, who's pretty good at dropping people in and out of areas quickly. I know there are more but these guys stand out the most.

Espeon Bons is another one, who's pretty good with it until someone gives him an alchoholic beverage. Given how a lot of people only used ADSs because they were overpowered, there's no doubt that the recent changes have caused some Pilots to stop flying.

I flew a Myron a lot yesterday, and I haven't noticed any missing audio effects from Rails & Swarms. Then again, I haven't gotten into many fights against Rails so my findings are rather limited.

1) I don't bother with the pyhton, same ROF as my incubus so i perfect my incubus skills instead. Trying out gunning fits for my grimnes but 'm probably just gonna stick an XT-1 on a gorgon.

2) I haven't stopped at all, but I am exploring other ways of providing air supoort without losing 360K a ship. Its not fun being grounded for 3 or 4 matches i na row, and my proto logi aint cheap either. I'm not one of those corp sugar daddy pilot wh0res either, so i earn my right to fly.

3)Glitches related to flying ahs changed plus a few more have been added. Plenty of times i've been fired at by swarms, afterburn, spin my nose around, the objetive will be 400+ meters away and i still register a swarm hit.

In terms of rendering, especially on fast approach, its buiiding,then building details, then turret installations, then nanohives, then any obstacles (cranes, poles etc) then infantry. It can be pretty inconsistent, and frustrating as hell.

I can pull out minmatar commando/proto swarms/ bk-42 CR, wreck anything in the sky and still be cheaper than my turrets. So there you go.

Quite possibly. I'd suggest making a thread or filing a a help ticket and ask CCP to look into it. Judge is a CPM and ADS Pilot so I'm sure he wouldn't mind hunting down a video of the bug and giving it to CCP.

When it comes to rooftop campers, I would suggest not using ADSs for that as many players have become proficent with AV weapons. A better tactic is a MLT Dropship going AFAP and having the pilot jump out and kill everyone there with an HMG.

As for how long they've been flying, I know many have been flying for well over a year. In the long run however, it doesn't make a difference. Either you're good or you're not.

I second pretty much everything Tesfa has said.

I've been piloting properly since about 1.0 or slightly before. We've been through some pretty horrendous times (1.4 and before where we had 600m range Railguns or 400m lock-on more powerful Swarms) and we've had times where we've been OP (1.7 Hardeners, 7.5s cooldown Afterburners.)

Currently, the main role of an ADS is to provide fire support/suppression and to insert/extract small teams to important locations. These are the reasons that these roles don't play out properly:
- we can only really provide fire support against uncoordinated non-AV infantry: the power of infantry-based AV means that our window of retaliation is miniscule; they will almost always hit you once when you are unaware and the follow up shots are fast on their heels meaning you are forced to run immediately (and no longer assist your team) or stay (and likely die.)
- with small turrets as they are, you can kill an infantrymerc pretty effectively at 50-70m, but with the small splash radius (missiles/blasters) and/or low ROF (pretty much all of them) and the incredibly lacklustre ADS racial bonuses, your suppression is minimal. What is needed is small turrets more akin to the Large Missile: rapid firing, high visual impact and generally intimidating. Blasters are simply terrible at suppression due to a number of factors (inability to kill being the foremost) and small rails are simply too precise to hit infantry reliably at standard A/DS engagement ranges,:though small rails are effective at suppressing tanks (which is perfectly reasonable.)

- the ability to insert troops is relatively simple, since a fast pass and a good pilot can drop troops almost anywhere larger than twenty square feet. Extracting, however, is nigh impossible when enemies are looking askance at you: the power of AV means that you rarely have enough time to even slow down before you need to run (or die as a result) meaning that you are unable to extract friendlies from a hot zone - which is stated as a purpose of the DS.

ADSs are useable and can have a great impact, most notably when you have a full squad including scans and another vehicle allowing you to pinpoint where you are needed. DSs are in a pretty good spot: with mCRUs they can recoup a healthy WP amount for the pilot and provide a solid point for your team (particularly in Domination) and have enough tank to resist uncoordinated AV before retreating. DSs still have the issue of extraction non-viability, but are otherwise very solid.

Generally, Dropships are in a slightly below-par situation: against infantry, infantry kill better for the most part (exception being a very coordinated and high SP-invested ADS: 1-2 gunners using proto modules/turrets) and against vehicles, infantry based AV is far superior to a dropship's firepower (even a maxed out Incubus is inferior to most Swarm users.)

What the ADS needs is a more defined ability to perform its role of harassment and area suppression: small missiles/blasters that operate in a similar fashion to a large missile turret, allowing you to perform sweeping passes and saturate an area.
The DS needs to be able to resist more firepower when coming in to extract infantry; something like a specific 'Bastion' or 'Siege'-esque module to allow greater resistances/reduced impulse effects when dropping down.

I've found more success running a Myron post 1.9 than running my Python (Probably because my Python is made for speed, not tank) . The only real problem I have is the fact that swarms seem to still be able to follow me around corners. Flying standard drop ships is much more fun than it used to be though, so overall I'm enjoying it.

Maybe you misunderstand: I meant that the firing and operation of the turrets would be like the large ones, not that they would be of the same power.

Rails as side guns are NOT "pure AV", at least not in practice. While I agree that a steady craft with a decent gunner can apply consistent dps with a rail, it is marginally better than a simliarly aimed missile. This doesn't mean the rail in and of itself is bad at AV, its simply that its pros barely outweigh its cons, even before its compared to missiles.

And, the bit about not being only AV. Small rails now are really good for blapping infantry.

This is a misconception

Meant for av is different to av only

The plc is meant for av, skilled players use it for anti infantry
The forge gun is meant for av, skilled players can snipe with it

Killing people with small turrets needs to be effective because simply they are quite big @ss guns to shoot infantry with.

They do expire, but its after like 400m of travel time, which is a good chunk of the map