Air Domination the most misunderstood game mode in War Thunder

[RecklessWILL 495]

When I first played Air Dom I found it confusing and really didn't like it. Now I'm a rubbish pilot so, to be honest , I struggled with EVERY game mode (I'm a a tanker!).

 

After persevering though I can honestly say I enjoy Air DOm. At least as much as other modes. In fact, normal domination (in air arcade) is terrible. My least favourite.

 

I'm trying to understand why people hate AIr Dom so much. it seems the most misunderstood game made by far. I see players, regualrly, doing really stupid stuff in this mode and then blaming the mode for it.

 

I see players rushing into the furball. I see players who have not a single idea that the cap zone has altitude limits and, no matter what you're doing, if you're too low you are wasting your's and your team's efforts and time.

 

I hear all these stories about the mode timing out before either team wins. Well I've not encountered that at all. Not once. 

 

Yes it needs some work (for instance I feel there should be mini-bases to the side or rear of cap-zone,  or ground targets ... you know to give the poor bomber pilots something to do).

 

It's a pretty good game mode though all-in-all.

 

Thoughts ... 

[Shanina 1,735]

Some love it, some hate it. I kinda like it.

[NectariaCoutayar 16,573]

I think it's one of the best things that happened to arcade in a long while, it really embodies what AB domination should be about. A team deathmatch to dominate the other team. Generally it also leads to longer battles and I'm in favour of that as it gives an incentive for everyone to up their game and stay alive longer.

 

Certainly on the RU server these battles can be nailbitingly long and challenging between the clock and a final showdown of the often better players of both teams. It's not a rarity for me to end up with 10/12/15/heck 20 kills, great fun.

[VonRuchalfast 17]

I kinda like it aswell, no ability to repair is the only thing that sometimes makes me frustrated in it :P

[Blastmaster1972 1,235]

It's the most utterly stupid mode to play when you're trying to upgrade a bomber...

 

That being said... my best AB match ever was in an airdom... 15 kills,  4 with the PBJ... oh, the iron E!

[*AcemanElite 1,733]

It would be alot better if bombers and attackers had something to do.

 

I don't mind it, but when there are thick clouds it's really annoying.

[Franigo 2,253]

My last experience: Being lowest BR in a 4.0 to 5.0 Era III and IV match, resigned to facing much more potent planes. I cautiously climbed, killed one who chose turning to fight a slower but much more manoeuvrable plane, noticed that no red was at altitude anymore and suddenly capped after three minutes because every last red was furballing below the zone and the respawned planes dove below it right away. We are talking Ki-84s, 190s, G-series 109s, the equivalent Spits and planes like that here.

You cannot fix that. Players in Era IV losing Air Domination because they'd rather furball at tree level in the most ill-suited planes.

[Shanina 1,735]

A nice side effect of AD...it looks like players start to understand the joy of and/or need to fly high.

 

I see more and more players go high now...and not only on AD maps.

 

Of course that's more bad news for bomber guys, but...uhmm...lol :Ps

[_Septic_ 161]

Hated air dom at the start, I was one of those that cried "It'll be the death of the game!!!"....I was wrong, it's a good battle scenario (although rough on pure bomber pilots). But even the bombers can play a thinking mans game and seriously affect the outcome. Get high but don't try and cap, mooch around outside the zone, and see if you can drag the fighters waaaay out to the edge of the map and out of the game, I've done it a few times, shallow dive and see just how many muppets follow you.

[PrivateRico 102]

When I first played Air Dom I found it confusing and really didn't like it. Now I'm a rubbish pilot so, to be honest , I struggled with EVERY game mode (I'm a a tanker!).

 

After persevering though I can honestly say I enjoy Air DOm. At least as much as other modes. In fact, normal domination (in air arcade) is terrible. My least favourite.

 

I'm trying to understand why people hate AIr Dom so much. it seems the most misunderstood game made by far. I see players, regualrly, doing really stupid stuff in this mode and then blaming the mode for it.

 

I see players rushing into the furball. I see players who have not a single idea that the cap zone has altitude limits and, no matter what you're doing, if you're too low you are wasting your's and your team's efforts and time.

 

I hear all these stories about the mode timing out before either team wins. Well I've not encountered that at all. Not once. 

 

Yes it needs some work (for instance I feel there should be mini-bases to the side or rear of cap-zone,  or ground targets ... you know to give the poor bomber pilots something to do).

 

It's a pretty good game mode though all-in-all.

 

Thoughts ... 

 

There was a huge argument with another guy in a different thread about how the winner of the furball is the team that usually wins air domination.  Well just today flying my D.520 I helped my team win an air domination battle before the furball was even settled.  I managed to splash two bogies that tried climbing up to meet us and I think both of them were either unaware of or ignored me in their attempts to get up into our fight.  Either way they both exposed their bellies to me as they were climbing, the first one took a single burst while the second one took two bursts I think.  The deck level demolition derby is a distraction for those of us who know what to truly do to achieve a success in the mission.  I think I attained my highest altitude ever in a fighter today in my 520, over 4000 meters.

[cortez14 375]

I've had some great matches and some horrible matches, which can be said for any game mode I suppose. My biggest problem with Air Domination is that it's hard to feel like you're making much of an impact on the game. You can shoot down lots of enemy planes, but if the same thing is happening to your team it doesn't really matter. Also it is really easy to get swarmed by the enemy due to how close the spawn is to the zone and etc.

 

I believe that what we really should have more of is the two airfield domination maps like Peleliu and the old Mozdok. With those you can always swing the battle in your favor by capping the opposing airfield, but generally you either have to be sneaky about it or gain temporary superiority. Also, on those maps there is something for the bombers to do.

[max_nz 152]

I think the main problem at the moment is that ppl still don't understand how it works , yesterday I had a match where ppl where asking 'how do we cap' and that's fairly common

[PrivateRico 102]

Yeah, that's the biggest issue I have seen is people are running around with no idea how to achieve a victory and just doing whatever.  Some better in game explanation of what the objective of the missions is would possibly help for some.  But there will always be those lone wolves that do their own thing and can't be told or taught the way the game is supposed to be done.

[PeachyKeenM8 1,226]

Mmmm, it's great when you have a decent team, and aren't flying a shiny new seafire bus trying to bust out upgrades.  Meta is kinda broken too - take the time to climb, clear altitude of enemy fighters, sit up high, nothing to kill.  If you dive down low to kill anything, everyone swan diving from spawn has energy advantage over you.. rather frustrating.  Cap zone should have a higher cap floor & ceiling as well imo, 1500-6000m would be nice for Tier IV matches. 

 

-snip-

Welcome back, Nectaria. 

[Ezz777 1,493]

There was a huge argument with another guy in a different thread about how the winner of the furball is the team that usually wins air domination. 

Not exactly, AoC was saying that most of his AD wins came when his teams lost the furball (he then backed down from that it should be noted). But fwiw the key appears to be getting a decisive plane advantage. In your example, do you have the kill totals for both teams?

Edited May 17, 2015 by Ezz777

[xoxSAUERKRAUTxox 410]

When I first played Air Dom I found it confusing and really didn't like it. Now I'm a rubbish pilot so, to be honest , I struggled with EVERY game mode (I'm a a tanker!).

 

After persevering though I can honestly say I enjoy Air DOm. At least as much as other modes. In fact, normal domination (in air arcade) is terrible. My least favourite.

 

I'm trying to understand why people hate AIr Dom so much. it seems the most misunderstood game made by far. I see players, regualrly, doing really stupid stuff in this mode and then blaming the mode for it.

 

I see players rushing into the furball. I see players who have not a single idea that the cap zone has altitude limits and, no matter what you're doing, if you're too low you are wasting your's and your team's efforts and time.

 

I hear all these stories about the mode timing out before either team wins. Well I've not encountered that at all. Not once. 

 

Yes it needs some work (for instance I feel there should be mini-bases to the side or rear of cap-zone,  or ground targets ... you know to give the poor bomber pilots something to do).

 

It's a pretty good game mode though all-in-all.

 

Thoughts ... 

Good to read, WarBuff!

[RecklessWILL 495]

I kinda like it aswell, no ability to repair is the only thing that sometimes makes me frustrated in it :P

Yeah that too needs work! I spent countless minutes (perhaps even hours!) of sheer confusion flying around looking for airfields. 

It would be alot better if bombers and attackers had something to do.

 

I don't mind it, but when there are thick clouds it's really annoying.

Couldn't agree more!

 

I don't fly bombers (or attackers) at all but I appreciate there are a great many players that do - and that's all they want to fly. I do feel it's unfair to exclude, entirely, pilots of certain types of planes. It's a little too narrow in scope at the moment and could do with some considered expansion. 

[VermWinterborn 619]

Havnt found anything i like about it yet. 

[RecklessWILL 495]

Mmmm, it's great when you have a decent team, and aren't flying a shiny new seafire bus trying to bust out upgrades.  Meta is kinda broken too - take the time to climb, clear altitude of enemy fighters, sit up high, nothing to kill.  If you dive down low to kill anything, everyone swan diving from spawn has energy advantage over you.. rather frustrating.  Cap zone should have a higher cap floor & ceiling as well imo, 1500-6000m would be nice for Tier IV matches. 

 

Welcome back, Nectaria. 

I've been in that scenario  myself a number of times. Patience pays off I have found. Give it some time. Don't dive. Hold your ground. Folks will start climbing in sheer desperation and then ... pounce. 

 

I had one game last week where I circled on my Mig 3-34 for like 3-4 minutes (an eternity in AB!). I'd managed 2 kills and was getting somewhat anxious that I was missing all the 'fun' below.   There were a couple of heavy bombers on my team, circling doing the same thing. They dived and ... died within 1 minute. 

 

The game was a long one (19 minutes I recall). Anyway I noticed enemy planes climbing straight from their spawn in to the cap. I scored 6 kills in about 2-3 minutes. The game over - we won! Also I was able to cap.

[trout0r 1,098]

When I first played Air Dom I found it confusing and really didn't like it. Now I'm a rubbish pilot so, to be honest , I struggled with EVERY game mode (I'm a a tanker!).

 

After persevering though I can honestly say I enjoy Air DOm. At least as much as other modes. In fact, normal domination (in air arcade) is terrible. My least favourite.

 

I'm trying to understand why people hate AIr Dom so much. it seems the most misunderstood game made by far. I see players, regualrly, doing really stupid stuff in this mode and then blaming the mode for it.

 

I see players rushing into the furball. I see players who have not a single idea that the cap zone has altitude limits and, no matter what you're doing, if you're too low you are wasting your's and your team's efforts and time.

 

I hear all these stories about the mode timing out before either team wins. Well I've not encountered that at all. Not once. 

 

Yes it needs some work (for instance I feel there should be mini-bases to the side or rear of cap-zone,  or ground targets ... you know to give the poor bomber pilots something to do).

 

It's a pretty good game mode though all-in-all.

 

Thoughts ... 

They increased the time per round in Air Dom which has helped!

 

I think it's one of the best things that happened to arcade in a long while, it really embodies what AB domination should be about. A team deathmatch to dominate the other team. Generally it also leads to longer battles and I'm in favour of that as it gives an incentive for everyone to up their game and stay alive longer.

 

Certainly on the RU server these battles can be nailbitingly long and challenging between the clock and a final showdown of the often better players of both teams. It's not a rarity for me to end up with 10/12/15/heck 20 kills, great fun.

Hey Nec!

I just wish the timer was longer and there was an airfield for each side so you could have those epic games where most people lose all their planes, meaning you may need to land to preserve your plane and fight on. Things like old mozdok rocked.

 

Good to read, WarBuff!

Played you early today in Air Dom, you certainly stayed high :p

That said, in your circumstance I would have done the same thing. You had a three man squad battling you for altitude with no/little help from your team, then as the game went on your team was getting rekked...

[Ezz777 1,493]

Played you early today in Air Dom, you certainly stayed high :p

That said, in your circumstance I would have done the same thing. You had a three man squad battling you for altitude with no/little help from your team, then as the game went on your team was getting rekked...

It was being discussed at length in another thread, but yes, the key appears to be winning the main engagement. Area denial doesn't appear very effective.

[PrivateRico 102]

And again our friend is still making the same clueless argument as in the other thread, the main engagement according to him is the furball at the deck.  Which is only in his fanciful imaginary world, the true main engagement is at altitude.  In every air dom game I have played where I attained altitude superiority my team has won.

Edited May 17, 2015 by PrivateRico

[Ezz777 1,493]

And again our friend is still making the same clueless argument as in the other thread, the main engagement according to him is the furball at the deck.  Which is only in his fanciful imaginary world, the true main engagement is at altitude.  In every air dom game I have played where I attained altitude superiority my team has won.

Lol... you do realise that 'clueless argument' is looking like it was correct. Now there's little point in jumping up and down about it - to paraphrase peachy or sunset (can't recall which)- winning arguments on the internet is trivially easy. But if you want to keep it up i absolutely will rub your noses in it. I don't have the stats on it, but i'm pretty sure in every one of your posts on this you've done nothing but use ad hominems in place of an argument. But thanks again.

Edited May 18, 2015 by Ezz777

[PrivateRico 102]

As I have said in the other thread I am done trying to enlighten this clueless person, numerous explanations were given and he refuses to accept them clinging to this notion that the primary engagement is at the deck.  When the capture zone is nowhere near there and the people that dive down there are being a detriment to their team by not bringing the firepower where it is needed.  The point of this game is to achieve the mission objective, not kill everything on the opposing team.

[Ezz777 1,493]

(Apologies to everyone else, as i said, i was happy to leave it, but if they continue to bring it up, i'll continue right along.)

As I have said in the other thread I am done trying to enlighten this clueless person, numerous explanations were given and he refuses to accept them clinging to this notion that the primary engagement is at the deck.  When the capture zone is nowhere near there and the people that dive down there are being a detriment to their team by not bringing the firepower where it is needed.  The point of this game is to achieve the mission objective, not kill everything on the opposing team.

Lol, there you go again. Chalk another one up for ad hominems in place of an argument. Have you read the thread yet? Step one of internet arguing is understanding what is being discussed. You're failing at that at this stage.

 

 he refuses to accept them clinging to this notion that the primary engagement is at the deck

That wasn't the issue. The issue was whether influencing the primary engagement would help you win. I said it would. AoC started by saying the opposite, but then changed his tune to suggest it was irrelevant.

 

So far everything points to winning the primary engagement (wherever it is) means you're more likely to win the battle.

 

 

When the capture zone is nowhere near there and the people that dive down there are being a detriment to their team by not bringing the firepower where it is needed.  The point of this game is to achieve the mission objective, not kill everything on the opposing team.

Mate, honestly, read and learn about how the mode works before simply concluding that you are right and i am wrong. Simply put, we can show that having a decisive kill advantage correlates to winning (for causation we'd likely need heat maps etc.). Thinking that your firepower is needed elsewhere sounds like a L2P issue. If you don't get what wins AD, then best don't hammer others on the matter.

Edited May 17, 2015 by Ezz777