#Harpy Upgrade Idea v2

10 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

wooden monolith
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Alright, so I heard you last time. That idea would be too broken in our favor to balance, however I still think there's a place for a radar guided "Big Stick" option with extended radar ranges to provide Theater Air Defense.

Enter: the Air Defense VLS from the ITC mod pack.

Requiring only a UAV tablet to operate, a Harpy gunner could Employ a SeaSparrow Air Defense Missile from an emplaced position, similar to Savage's VLS. It comes with a 16km Radar, which is about the maximum amount of energy the missile has.

Pros

  • Comes with it's own 16 km Radar, and is radar Guided (Can see past ground clutter!)
  • 16km Max engagement range
  • Correctly configured Datalink, so it can integrate with Reaper, Demon, and the Avenger.
  • 16 Missiles in the tube.

Cons

  • Quick burn means it runs out of energy pretty quickly, setting it up to where the AI can actually notch the missile or turn and burn and evade it. Even helicopters moving at a perpendicular angle at max range can soak up the missiles energy and defeat it.
  • Fixed position asset. Can't move like the other Harpy assets.

"Nice one Doc, you proposed something objectively worse than the last one. Why?"

For a couple reasons. Firstly, because the "worse" version is balanced, but still bring a ton to the table. To hit the MiG, an operator has to time his shot and engage at an optimal time, but it can hit it from further out than anything else in our arsenal, and can see it with the Avenger radar thanks to Datalink. Secondly, because it's a correctly configured radar-guided munition, and works against ground clutter, alleviating the incredibly frustrating issues where Harpy can see something, but can't lock it or engage it because there's something in the background, and now the platoon is yelling at them. Imagine if Butcher couldn't fire because there's a hill behind their target, or Reaper couldn't lock because the ground underneath their target. It's THAT frustrating. Thirdly, because I just wanna watch radar and play space invaders by yeeting telephone poles flying at mach fuck, and I don't think that I'm the only one.

oblique parrot
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another good way to balance it would be to drop the amount of missiles down to like 8 or 6

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or (idk if they can do this) lower the radar range

wooden monolith
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Meh, the Savage VLS gets about the same amount. I think the munitions self balance by way of it's defeatability.

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You'll probably have to shoot more.

sullen pivot
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I just want something unaffected by ground clutter

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having infrared missiles get confused by a fucking hill always pisses me off

plucky wigeon
wooden monolith
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Y'all better hope nobody makes an IM-SHORAD mod, or else I'm gonna become (politely) insufferable.

sullen pivot
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we need that humvee with a bunch of hellfires strapped to it