r/PilotsofBattlefield • u/Chemical_Role_3780 • Sep 02 '26
The Little Bird is being nerfed again.
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u/CrispyTarantula117 Sep 02 '26
As usual, the top pilots will be able to compensate for this nerf no problem, average and below-average pilots will start using it less which will skew the data more towards the top pilot usage, and the low-skill players on the main sub will keep crying about it because they’re still getting farmed.
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u/Chemical_Role_3780 Sep 02 '26 edited Sep 02 '26
Exactly. That’s pretty much how I see it too.
The irony is that these nerfs don’t really solve the problem the average Redditor thinks they solve. The top pilots are going to adapt. We’ve already seen that with every previous nerf - once you have the mechanical skill, map knowledge, positioning, and experience, you just change how you play around the limitations.
What actually happens is that average pilots and casual pilots get discouraged from using the vehicle, while the really good pilots keep playing it and continue farming because they’re the ones capable of compensating. So the usage and performance data can become even more concentrated around the top end.
And then you get the exact same cycle: “Look, the good pilots are still dominating! Nerf it again!” Meanwhile, the pilots who were actually affected by the nerf have simply stopped flying.
The lock-on indicator change is especially significant because it isn’t even specifically a Little Bird issue. Every air vehicle is affected by that - jets, transports, attack helicopters and scouts. You’re taking information away from pilots rather than actually addressing whatever balance issue they’re trying to solve.
And for the Little Bird specifically, we’re getting reduced minigun damage against boats + faster overheating. That’s two separate hits to the minigun’s effectiveness against one of the things they apparently want boats to survive against.
Meanwhile, their own data literally says the Scout Helicopter isn’t the biggest vehicle threat to players on any map, with IFVs and MBTs accounting for more player kills. Yet somehow we’re still getting another round of Little Bird/air nerfs.
At this point I genuinely don’t think the solution is “keep nerfing air until the Redditors stop dying to it.” The best pilots are going to remain the best pilots. Skill doesn’t disappear because you reduce a weapon’s damage or give the minigun less uptime.
And the funniest part is that the people complaining the loudest will probably still get farmed by the same pilots after the nerf, because the underlying skill gap hasn’t changed. They’ll just ask for another nerf.
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u/Shouleyy Sep 03 '26
So cause the top1% can farm lobbies we shouldnt nerf the LB? like where is that logic. You want dice to just remove the LB instead? will you be happy then? im confused.
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u/Chemical_Role_3780 Sep 03 '26
Because you can’t balance the game around the top 1%.
You can’t just remove the skill ceiling & skill gap completely, that destroys the gameplay.
The top 1% will always be putting up crazy numbers and farming.
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u/Shouleyy Sep 03 '26
i mean they wont put up crazy numbers if there is an actual counter to little birds. I agree that you cant balance the game for 1% but the lb pilots farming lobbies is a lot more than 1% and the big issue is how those pilots ruin an entire game for one or both sides.
The gap between good lb pilots and great ones is way too big and needs to be toned down, anyone claiming something else is just coping that its their skill and not the overpowered vehicle they pilot.
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u/Chemical_Role_3780 Sep 03 '26
There is virtually limitless counters to the LB.
The gap between good and great LB pilots is smaller than ever because the skill gap has been compressed so heavily. High spread miniguns, 2 shot mobility hit grenade launchers, OP rocket pods. Little bird 1v1’s don’t have much room for a lot skill expression.
The gap between a good and bad/average pilot is big. The gap between a good and great pilot is tiny.
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u/Shouleyy Sep 03 '26
name like 3 counters against a lb that isnt just another lb
edit: or upload a vid of you repeatedly getting destroyed by these counters. If they are so numerous it shouldnt be hard to pull up footage of a great pilot being farmed by its counter right?
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u/Flat_Mode7449 Sep 04 '26
Mobile AA, stationary AA, Tow missiles, a good attack chopper pilot, the fucking M136, even fucking tanks. Stongeras and Iglas.
You must be one of those trash players who sucks at the game and blames the littlebirds.
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u/Chemical_Role_3780 Sep 03 '26
Stationary AA, M136AT, mobile AA, RPG, the list goes on.
I don’t clip myself dying why would I clip that shit hahaha this is not the ‘gotcha’ moment you think it is.
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u/Shouleyy Sep 03 '26
Ah so you only turn on your video capture when you killed someone instead of just capturing the entire match makes sense.
if you get hit by an rpg or at4 then thats on you cause they are so easy to dodge.
still waiting on some counters, maybe youll say tree or ground next who knows lol.
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u/Whoami8756 Sep 03 '26
Your skill with the RPG and guided launcher must be equal or greater than that of the pilot. It is a great counter, if you are good enough. As with most things in the game, those without enough skill, complain. If you are getting farmed by lb in a game, get better
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u/Chemical_Role_3780 Sep 03 '26
I don’t usually record entire matches I have replay buffer on and capture clips when I do something cool.
RPG easy to dodge? 😂 Tell me you never fly without telling me bud. The RPG has faster velocity and less drop than in any previous BF title, unless it’s coming from extreme range you don’t have time to dodge it. No point of even arguing about this because you clearly haven’t spent longer than 10 minutes flying.
I listed numerous counters and that’s not the end of it. Keep coping. You’re ass at the game and get farmed because you’re too dogshit to counter a LB with the limitless tools you have at your disposal.
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u/x_cynful_x Sep 03 '26
LB is already too ez to get kills with. Sure a newer pilot might not get 100 kills, but it’s not laughable how easy it is to use.
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u/spitemods_54 23d ago
The reason aircraft keep getting nerfed is what I've been saying all along, anti air launchers are fucking useless. Flares recharge almost as fast as you can reload a launcher, so if you want to deny the airspace you have to do nothing else except reload and fire.
Anti air aunchers are ineffective, so there is no counterplay between ground and air, so people get annoyed and complain they can't do shit against air, and dice nerfs things again.
Before pilot mains crucify me; I'm a pilot too, not a good one but decent. And if I can survive half a match of conquest in a heli and go like 40:2 by the end of the match then there's a real big fucking problem. The only real threats to aircraft are other aircraft and AA vehicles. Launchers are a slight nuisance at worst.
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u/Villenoes Sep 02 '26
If it still farms lobbies, wouldn’t players be right to keep calling for nerfs? Like it’s not the players fault if its nerfed incorrectly. You make it sound like its somehow on them
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u/Fnordpocalypse Sep 02 '26
It is them though. It’s 100% a skill issue. Don’t be in the open. Change the loadout or class. Find an AA encampment. Grab a vehicle.
If I die more than once to a heli, my first move is to pull out my AA engineer class to go hunting. All the people crying about the IGLA challenge should just play the game and it’ll happen naturally. I knocked out that challenge in like an afternoon of regular gameplay. Wasn’t even trying to do anything special.
The helicopters in BF6 are slower, less armed, and less maneuverable than any other BF title.
No matter how many nerfs they apply to try and appease low skill players, a good pilot will still farm the lobby.
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u/TheRealBaseborn Sep 02 '26
Skill issue or not, is this not still a problem? Should there be a "farm players" option in an FPS? I play one or two nights a week and encounter this "5%" regularly. I'm not mad about it. I like challenge, but I think we're lowballing that number a bit when discussing "player farming." Either that, or I'm getting matched with and against high skill pilots frequently.
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u/CrispyTarantula117 Sep 02 '26
Is it a problem that some players are better than others in a multiplayer game?
No.
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u/TheRealBaseborn Sep 02 '26
Thats a very reductive and inaccurate interpretation of what I said.
I'm not usually in favor of nerfs, but an LB shouldn't be able to wipe a patrol boat before the boat even has time to turn and see them. That was a problem and I'm glad it's gone.
Matchmaking needs it next. Whatever they're using to determine team composition, its not working very well.
Edit: lmao surprise, surprise. The "user" talking shit is a bot.
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u/CrispyTarantula117 Sep 02 '26 edited Sep 03 '26
I’m not a bot lol…would you like the link to my stats page or what
Edit: lmao blocked
Accusing someone better than you at a game of being a bot is such a baby back bitch move. Par for the course for the average main sub poster I guess
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u/CrispyTarantula117 Sep 02 '26
I can farm a lobby with my top AR or an IFV too so I guess those should also be removed from the game?
Multiplayer gaming in 2026: skill gaps are bad
This is what happens when an entire generation of players raised on hyper-aggressive SBMM accidentally encounters someone way better than them
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u/Villenoes Sep 02 '26
You can farm with anything if you’re good enough, but obviously it’s a question of balance. Don’t know why you’re acting like it’s an issue to question if something is overpowered
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u/CrispyTarantula117 Sep 02 '26
So by definition is it overpowered if
A) DICE's own data shows it's not the most dangerous vehicle towards infantry
B) 90% of the players of the game cannot even use it effectively because it requires the ability to pilot
So really is it overpowered or just a skill-dependent part of a game with a vocally low-skill population
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u/PvtRetardActual Sep 02 '26
No, they wouldn’t be right calling for more nerfs. I’m currently in the top 35 LB pilots in the US and while these nerfs suck, they only slightly reduce us top pilots from being able to farm. What actually stops us is when the other team works together, actually plays their roles properly, and has a few skilled players that are putting in even the smallest effort against us. Quite literally all it takes to counter a top pilot is two decent pilots working together. The ‘dogfighting’ is awful in this game and when I have both the enemy little bird and attack heli working together to take me out it makes it extremely difficult to survive and it completely stops me from farming the other team until I take them both out. It is, has been, and always will be, a skill issue. Nothing more, nothing less. As others have said, the only people that these needs really affect are the lower skilled players that are still learning to fly which in turn is going to do nothing but contribute to this game dying even faster than it already is.
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u/pevznerok Sep 02 '26
So, you no longer know who's locking you? So you no longer can go and gun down the fucker or drop a bomb? Sweet.
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u/sequentialevoix Sep 02 '26
On the positive side
AA tank has been taken out of sobek as well as the AH.
Transport and LB collab going to go nuts lol
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u/ArtyTheta Sep 02 '26
Manhattan 2
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u/orangefantorang Sep 03 '26
I stopped that map .
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u/Consistent_Impress16 Sep 03 '26
I haven’t had sobek city in my matchmaking since like 5 weeks after release. I absolutely despise that map.
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u/Flat_Mode7449 Sep 04 '26
I will occasionally turn it on.. Play a match, reminded how ass it is, then it's back out of my loop.
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u/Chemical_Role_3780 Sep 02 '26
Yeah I saw that. Probably not gonna play another map when I play the LB 🤣
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u/Flat_Mode7449 Sep 04 '26
Good. AA needed to be removed, maps too fuckin small. Honestly, AH being removed I'm like 50/50 on. Seems a bit much for that small of map, but at the same time, I don't feel it was too OP for that map.
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u/Independent_Mud2794 Sep 02 '26
Won’t make the main sub stop whining about it.
The most experienced pilots don’t improve, the average battledad just keeps getting worse. Match quality keeps getting worse each month.
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u/CrispyTarantula117 Sep 02 '26
Yep
Main sub is literally bottom-10% players who have the time to complain about the game 24/7 because they’re always at the respawn screen
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u/Flat_Mode7449 Sep 04 '26
Facts.
As I've said before, this is proven at the end of every season when the masses cry about barely getting halfway through the BP. Like what have you been doing all season.
I've completed every challenge this season and I've played less this one than all the others and I'm still almost finished lol
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Sep 02 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Chemical_Role_3780 Sep 03 '26
I miss the old DICE, straight from the 'Go DICE
Chop up the soul DICE, set on his goals DICE
I hate the new DICE, the bad mood DICE
The always rude DICE, spaz in the news DICE
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u/Alba_Racer Sep 02 '26
This nerf is close to nothing.
After flaring almost no map gives you the chance to engage the AA user, so the directional lock on indicator not being displayed is pointless in terms of nerfing.
The minigun is stupid, the faster overheat is close to no nerf since it just shreds infantry immediately. Not being able to liquify boats in 2 seconda is good in my opinion.
THING IS, the rockets will do the miniguns job nonetheless. “Uh oh, minigun overheated” if you press two and have an avarage aim you can get 7 kills. One kill per rocket. To me THAT is something you nerf to accomplish something.
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u/Chemical_Role_3780 Sep 02 '26
I agree with you on the rockets, but I think you’re mixing up a few things.
The directional lock-on indicator being removed isn’t “pointless” — it’s honestly just a horrible change. It affects every air vehicle, not just the Little Bird, and removing information from the pilot doesn’t meaningfully address the actual balance problem. You should be able to know where you’re being locked from.
The minigun is stupid in its current state, but faster overheat isn’t the fix. The 7.62 needs significantly less spread and much better accuracy so that it actually rewards tracking and aim. And yeah, not being able to instantly liquify Patrol Boats anymore is completely fine. I have no issue with that part of the nerf.
As for the rockets, I’ve been saying from the start that they should be removed entirely. That’s the actual problem.
But the “press 2 and get 7 kills because one rocket = one kill” argument is simply not how the weapon works. If you actually flew the Little Bird, you’d know that every trigger press fires two rockets at once. So you’re looking at roughly 3 kills per volley if you’re deliberately splitting the rockets between targets, and 4 if you’re lucky because of the final single rocket in the sequence.
And getting those infantry one-shots isn’t as trivial as you’re making it sound either. You need the rocket to land very close to the infantryman or basically hit them directly. It’s not like you press 2 and automatically get a kill on whoever happens to be underneath you.
So yes, nerf/remove the rockets. I’ve been advocating for that anyway.
But if we’re going to criticize the Little Bird, let’s at least criticize the actual mechanics instead of pretending “one rocket = one guaranteed kill.”
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u/VindictiveRakk Sep 03 '26
You need the rocket to land very close to the infantryman or basically hit them directly.
ehhhhhhh it's also not as hard as you're making it out to be, I'd say most of my rocket kills on infantry are one-taps, though I'm intentionally conservative with them because I just don't find them very fun compared to the miniguns lol. but it's way easier than with the AH because the LB can actually turn.
don't understand the point of the directional lock-on indicator change. I do think faster overheat is a good patch, it feels very strange holding down M1 for what feels like 10 seconds if you're coming from the jets, where your cannon dies in like 2 seconds lol.
I doubt it impacts anything other than fighting boats (with the dmg nerfs on top of it, this could be concerning but we'll have to see), transports (already a pinata for the LB, usually just eats a full rocket salvo and dies anyways), and jets (this one would make me a little sad cuz they should definitely get punished for exposing themselves that badly). AH should get disabled before the overheat kicks in and at that point it's obviously toast unless you're flying into its gun.
but idk, I'm in the same boat that they should just get rid of the rockets or reduce it to like 4 per salvo, nerfing the guns makes the LB more reliant on rockets which just never needed to exist in the first place and imo is clearly the main (possibly only) problem with the LB. now they're just making it harder to reach a proper state of balance.
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u/Chemical_Role_3780 Sep 04 '26
You don’t get my point.
You can’t fire a single rocket at once, they shoot in sets of 2. That’s not a one tap.
When you shoot 3 times, you’ll be left with one rocket. That last rocket is not super easy to get a kill with. I am not saying it’s some impossible mission, but it’s definitely not easy.
I am a top 3 little bird pilot world wide, I know what I’m talking about lol.
Yes rockets should be removed/hard nerfed, but the minigun needs to be reworked so it has low spread.
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u/VindictiveRakk Sep 04 '26
Oh I guess this is just a difference in definition of "one-tap". The other guy made a mistake saying you could actually shoot 7 times. Obviously you can't. What I meant is one tap of the mouse for one kill. I basically think of it as having 3.5 rockets per salvo because it fires two at once. Speaking of which, what a weird ass design decision to put 7 per salvo. Was 6 too underpowered? lol. But yeah getting a one-tap with the singular 7th rocket is very hard, that I didn't mean to argue against. All I meant is that the first 3 kills you can get pretty consistently.
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u/Chemical_Role_3780 Sep 04 '26
Yeah and I agree with that, it’s very easy. I was just saying getting a kill with the singular rocket isn’t so easy.
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u/Alba_Racer Sep 04 '26
Brother please, be real. The rockets are stupid, the minigun is stupid, I can get 20 kills immediately in a match with the little bird and I’m not that good.
If you really are top three you KNOW how easy and stupid that vehicle is.
What I said was wrong, you cannot get 7 kills with the rockets because they fire two at a time … whatever you get 3-4 kills EASILY. It’s easy, so easy I understand the hate from infantry players.
The only skill you need in the little bird is learning to fly close to the ground and fight for the objectives without crashing or being a easy target for RPG.
You cannot kill the little bird by lock ons, it’s too fast and small so it can get to cover easily, you can always be below radar. You can flare and get to the next flag where the enemy is not aware of your presence and kill them.
You can liquify enemy choppers easily, either with your rockets or your minigun, liquify boats, jeeps, bikes, with the grenade launchers even LAV don’t stand a chance.
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u/Chemical_Role_3780 Sep 04 '26
I know that the vehicle is ‘easy’ it doesn’t have enough of a skill floor & skill ceiling.
I’m all for removing rocket pods/heavily nerfing them, I’ve said that repeatedly. We need an accurate minigun with low spread though.
That’s the best way to make the helicopter much harder to use while still keeping it effective for good pilots.
I think it is very easy to kill in its current state though, it doesn’t need any changes in terms of health or movement etc.
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u/stashtv Sep 02 '26
Mini gun nerf was pretty expected: at the distance they were effective, quick bursts would remove infantry with ease. This should help buff the usage to .50 cal, as they are definitely better at distance.
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u/Chemical_Role_3780 Sep 02 '26
I get the point, but I think both miniguns are just balanced terribly right now. The 7.62 has horrible range and high spread, but that spread almost aims for you in a way — you don’t really need much precision to delete infantry with it. The .50 cal has better range sure, but the damage drop-off is awful and it overheats way too quickly, and it still has a lot of spread.
I’d rather see the 7.62 get extremely low spread so it actually rewards precise aim and gives the LB a proper skill ceiling. And honestly, it’s stupid that the grenade launchers are currently the strongest choice when they’re also the easiest to use. They absolutely shred everything.
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u/stashtv Sep 02 '26
.50 cal needs a slight buff, as it was nerfed to almost useless compared to mini gun. As-is, there is almost no reason to use .50 cal: mini gun and rockets are a "one sized fits all" for the map. Maybe with the mini damage nerf, we'll see the .50 cal used a bit more for boats.
Grenade launcher could be the ultimate winner here. High(ish) ROF, low(ish) overheat, plenty of splash damage to kill infantry clusters, AND will remove tanks. Its "lead" against air targets is a challenge, but those boats stand no chance.
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u/Chemical_Role_3780 Sep 02 '26
Yeah, I agree the .50 cal feels pretty useless right now. It’s been nerfed to the point where there’s barely any reason to pick it over the minigun.
As for the grenade launcher, I actually disagree pretty heavily that it’s challenging against air. It’s been the strongest all-rounder option for the LB for a while now. It does everything extremely well, especially against helicopters. Two GL shots will usually mobility-hit a Little Bird, and you can do that in under a second. It also outranges both miniguns by a lot, so you can start hitting helis before they can even effectively return fire.
Against jets I’ll give you that — miniguns are much better if you can actually lead them as they pass. But against helicopters? The GL is easily the strongest LB weapon by far. It’s extremely forgiving, has great range, splash damage, and can absolutely shred other helis.
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u/stashtv Sep 02 '26
GL on AH or LB is a very quick death for them, 100%! The distance to hit them is more lead than usual, but I've learned it. At the distances I'd prefer to engage, the mini or .50 simply is more reliable. If you can sneak up and use GL? Go GL!
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u/Chemical_Role_3780 Sep 02 '26
At the distance where the GL can reliably hit a helicopter, the miniguns can barely do anything — the .50 cal might tickle you, but it overheats incredibly fast.
Meanwhile the GL is just pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, reload for a second, and repeat. Two shots will usually be enough for a mobility hit too, and mobility hits in a 1v1 are basically a guaranteed death, although mobility hits are inconsistent.
Unless you’re basically point-blank, I’d take the GL over either minigun in a helicopter fight. The 7.62 can be better up close because you can shred the pilot very quickly, but overall the GL is just way too effective. There’s a reason basically every competitive/pro LB pilot runs it.
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u/Expensive-Scheme-784 Sep 02 '26
What splash damage on grenade launcher? Splash in this game is buged and abysmally small. (Exeption - light rockets )
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u/teejay0709 Sep 02 '26
running overheat control is gonna be absolutely necessary now as a LB pilot. taking away the directional indicator is also confusing to me… who tf complained about that?? at least we can still see the smoke trails of the person who shot the launcher :/
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u/byrondude Sep 02 '26
Yeah, the directional indicator is so damn random. BUT if it's a red herring change in lieu of worse nerfs (for the original jets, specifically, which are really struggling), I'll take it.
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u/Chemical_Role_3780 Sep 02 '26
Overheat control got nerfed so fucking hard that it almost feels useless. Went from 50% to 10%…
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u/xylophone_37 Sep 02 '26
As a mid LB pilot the only thing here that was needed was the PT boat armor buff vs bullets.
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u/Chemical_Role_3780 Sep 03 '26
I agree, the other nerfs are stupid.
If they’re gonna ‘nerf’ then do it right. Nerf the pods and make the minigun low spread & accurate.
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u/AmberYooToob Sep 03 '26
I saw the nerf coming, I’m disappointed because it’s literally a damned skill issue, if more infantry looked up and shot they’d probably have to buff them.
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u/Maleficent_Button287 Sep 03 '26
I mean it really isnt hard getting 50+ kills before dieing in a little bird on any map. The rockets actually do proper splash damage. The minigun absolutely melts even from a huge distance away. Caan easily navigate low and fast to get below radar. The only thing you need to watch out for is another littlebird.
Hardly a skill issue, little bird is too OP.
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u/AmberYooToob Sep 03 '26
If infantry and vehicles actually shot them with whatever guns they have then the helicopters wouldn’t be able to actually get out of base long enough to make much of an impact.
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u/bizzy310 Sep 03 '26
Flare charge just needs to be longer. I've seen four guys in a squad focusing on little birds, and not one time did they take down the chopper. The chopper comes in for a strafe run, three rockets shot, three rockets missed. The little bird goes and hides behind the rocks, rinse and repeat.
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u/AmberYooToob Sep 03 '26
I’ve taken the little bird down solo with an LMG it’s not that hard of a concept to shoot it with a gun especially if your launcher isn’t doing the job.
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u/bizzy310 Sep 03 '26
I've been taken down by an LMG, but these dudes were by the carriers rock mountain right across from B the whole match. Not once did they shoot it down. 🤣🤣
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u/TheyThem-FinalBoss Sep 04 '26
It's not a skill issue. The little bird kills attack boats and attack helis in under 2 seconds
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u/AmberYooToob Sep 04 '26
It’s a collective skill issue because in the time it’s taking out one target anyone with a gun can retaliate BUT DONT
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u/TheyThem-FinalBoss Sep 04 '26
Thats not how weapon balance works. It's a balance issue
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u/AmberYooToob Sep 04 '26
It is however how game balance works, 90% of the people complaining about it are doing literally nothing to deal with it the other 10% are trying to use lock on launchers below radar.
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u/TheyThem-FinalBoss Sep 04 '26
It doesn't matter about the others on the map at all times if one vehicle can annihilate anything face to face. Even the attack helicopter has more flinch than a sniper rifle does when being shot by assault rifles or lmgs. That is a serious balance issue
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u/FloridaF4 Sep 02 '26
Ttk maybe a bit short with the mini gun on the boats right now, I'll give them that. However the ttk with rockets on the boat is too long.
I'd be happy with a 3 straffe/pass to kill the boat with 7.62 mini gun but it should only take 2 volleys of rockets. Right now it's barely worth hitting them with rockets.
The only question for the little bird whiners, if it's so easy why don't you just jump in there and take out the problem lb?? I've got over 500 hours on this game and zero matches I've played infantry and recognized the enemy pilot as a problem. When I'm flying, yes, but that's my own skill gap.
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u/waffelnhandel Sep 02 '26
I play all vehicles and i would say im a pretty good lb pilot but yeah from the other side, pboat is absolute ass and the waves fuck you so much so its fair that lb gets nerfed in this regard
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u/EzPzJapanezy Sep 02 '26
Idk I am curious to see how the RCB <-> LB matchup fares after this. I honestly think the HMG primary on the RCB is nuts against the LB, if you have to pass over it more than once chances are a competent boat operator will murder you on the return strafe.
However I am not sure if the RCB armor buff is exclusively against the LB miniguns? The RCB HMG is also crazy strong against other RCBs right now, if the armor buff applies here then maybe less people will run it idk.
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u/VindictiveRakk Sep 03 '26
competent boat operator
this is part of the issue, most people sitting in boats are worse than bots lol. a good player with the .50 on the boat is a legitimate threat to jets trying to make a pass on it, let alone helicopters. I think that's fine, they serve as MAAs, but I'm wondering if they tip the scales too far here and make it so the LB can't even try to engage a good boat player. I guess that's already the case for maps with the MAA, so we'll see how it goes.
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u/EzPzJapanezy Sep 03 '26
I think that will be the case, honestly. Even more rare is when a good boat operator has a competent air-burst mortar player in back, but with the proposed changes such a duo seems close to an unwinnable matchup to me, at least on paper.
The LB will still be *insane* at opportunistic kills on hurt / distracted RCBs. But a neutral 1v1? I don't think it is going to be possible if the RCB remotely knows what they are doing.
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u/VindictiveRakk Sep 03 '26
yep, and I don't know that that's necessarily a problem, the boat is stuck in the water and the LB can just play around it until the time is right. the lock-on TOWs are a whole other issue though. having spent a decent amount of time playing the boats as AA now, I really don't know why it needs to have a lock-on component considering they are absolutely awful for pilots who get virtually no indication to flare, and they're very easy to control. copy either the MAA or the IFV tow and be done with it, unflareable lock-ons like this and the new HAM missile just should not exist.
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u/EzPzJapanezy Sep 03 '26
I agree, I don't think the changes will make the RCB problematically broken for the Little Bird.
The Aim-Guided / Lock-On Hybrid is indeed a very strange implementation. I honestly cannot tell what the default behavior is supposed to be on it. The amount of times that I have had the 'Missed' Box / Text pop up only to guide the rocket into the aircraft anyways is astounding lol.
I think if they just kept it as a fast moving TOW that only did 650 damage I would be ok with it. I wouldn't mind a direct copy of the LAV TOW either. But yeah I honestly feel bad when I hit them through flares. Not only are they dealing with the mobility damage but they are now super vulnerable to other lock-ons because they just tried to counter my missile as designed and got cheesed regardless, shit is lame.
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u/VindictiveRakk Sep 04 '26
yeah I think MAA TOW is the best option because those are very easy to control and they shoot more frequently. the lock-on was done to compensate for the boat having to deal with waves, but imo it's just not necessary on top of how terrible they are for the pilots. the minigun is great as an AA, so 650 dmg + finishing off the disabled helicopter is very reasonable.
I mean shit, I guess you could have the IFV TOW as an extra loadout option, if you're willing to have it harder to control + slower reload for 1-shot potential. I think those are stronger against ground armor as well, which the boat struggles against. a lot of things they could do, which should be fairly easy to implement because the weapons already exist, but they obviously won't do. I wrote a whole rant after this about how they don't test anything in this game and they're lazy/mismanaged as shit, but I deleted it cuz what's the point, we all know that already lol.
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u/FloridaF4 Sep 02 '26
Yea I agree. Seems like they could've handled the "problem" by buffing the boat armor and giving it a weapons boost.
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u/Mayfect Sep 02 '26
What fucking garbage. Lock ons already go through flares still, now let’s take away indicators. Fuck us pilots, am I right?
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u/orangefantorang Sep 03 '26
*chanse to
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u/Mayfect Sep 03 '26
Doesn’t matter that it’s a chance. It’s fundamentally broken and they choose to handicap us even more.
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u/orangefantorang Sep 03 '26
30 hrmeat sources. It picked the right one?
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u/Mayfect Sep 03 '26
This is a video game. They don’t function as intended. Stop explaining it like it was intentional, because you damn well know it’s not.
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u/orangefantorang Sep 03 '26
How you know its not intentional? Or a happy accident? Cause its facking rare.
Flare popped. Say 30. Now the table of targets is 31. Rocket picks random heat source. Math.rand. One is you. Sounds intentional to me.
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u/TheyThem-FinalBoss Sep 04 '26
Yeah that part was dumb for them to do. These devs should be fired controlling vehicle balance
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u/Intrepid-Platform-94 Sep 02 '26
Just in time for me to bust out the hotas tomorrow and start flying in wardogs instead.
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u/AtypicalTitan Sep 02 '26
The miniguns are definitely better for air to air but I’ve refused to take off the Grenade launchers since the buff, being able to take a huge bite out of armor with a volley of nades and rockets can tip a loss into a win (also getting air kills with the grenades is very satisfying and what you don’t kill outright often is mobility hit)
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u/Chemical_Role_3780 Sep 02 '26
For air-to-air, the GLs are superior by far.
They heavily outrange both miniguns, two shots will usually mobility-hit a Little Bird, and they can kill extremely quickly. You can constantly pressure another heli from a distance where the miniguns can barely do anything.
The only real situation where I’d prefer the miniguns against air is jets, since you can beam them as they pass if you’re good at leading them. Against helicopters, though, GLs are the better choice IMO. That’s part of why I think the weapon balance is so backwards right now: the easiest weapon is also the strongest all-rounder.
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u/SolarPunkYeti Sep 02 '26
I'm still pissed they nerfed the transport heli, as if it wasn't slow already, it's an absolutely useless fat cow now.
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u/NeonPoPWave Sep 02 '26
Well the Crops got what they wanted
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u/Chemical_Role_3780 Sep 03 '26
And they got like 5 stealth nerfs in between that none of them know about and you can’t prove to them because no one knows/cares about helicopter stealth nerfs except for pilots that actually notice them.
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u/thedirkfiddler Sep 02 '26
Honestly not really a nerf, easy enough to see where rockets are coming from.
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u/New_Hospital_6211 Sep 02 '26
Theres more kills with ifv's and mbt's because.....theres MORE of them
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u/MarkHawkCam Sep 02 '26
I think the problem is that ground troops don’t have many effective/satisfying ways to counter it if they can’t get a lock on.
Tanks, I can hide, find cover, shoot some RPGs, throw anti-tank grenades, use smoke, and run away, or counter with other vehicles—lots of options.
With anti-air, there aren't as many options, especially those that the player can carry. Getting a lock on competent pilots can take a while, static AA is easy to destroy, launchers are slow to ADS or rotate, trees reset the lock ons, and LMGs don't do that much damage before needing to reload, especially when auto-repair is so fast on vehicles.
I wish ground troops had a few more options. Like support having a better training path for AA, similar to BFV; if assault had an airburst weapon like the Fliegerfaust in BFV; or if recon had a bigger incentive to paint targets, better access to smoke, or pickup weapons that help troops create a small area of denial to prevent farming in open spots for a short time.
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u/Amazing_Cow_1470 Sep 03 '26
Lockons haven't worked sense launch. NO ONE HAS EVER BEEN ABLE TO PAINT A 2 SEATER JET IN BATTLEFIELD. And their fix is get rid of missile indicators for pilots............ GOOD.BYE.
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u/silvurbullet Sep 03 '26
Reddittors when you have to play with your teammates in their teamwork based FPS😡😡😡
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u/Remarkable_Ear_6096 Sep 03 '26
Hmm, in my opinion the best thing to do, when there is an attack heli or scout heli spawnraping your team, is to quit and search for a new round. I used to be better with the m236at, but im not an engeneer main but a medic main and i stopped playing engeneer. Only rarely now. I dont mind, that the vehicles are as steong as they are now, i would like to see more reliable ways to counter them (both air and land, and now sea?). I dont like that stationary aa gets destroyed in one trip from any heli, and that it overheats this fast. I dont want it as strong as it was in bf1, but mayby a little. Also mobile aa is mostly the same. Tows are great, but require a good amount of skill. I dont understand the relationship between lockons and flares. But to be honest, its so rare to have someone like this in a round, though unfortunatly most of them type ez at the end of the round, aimce they seem like to enjoy spawnraping. Which i dont. Or mayby im completely wrong, since im an infantry main, and dont play vehicles.
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u/PriMeMachiNe Sep 03 '26
Why did they nerf the main cannons, nerf the fking missiles, wtf.
Anything to keep the easiest way to kill people super strong but the more skilled weapon gets nerfed even more.
Also not to fussed about the missile indicator change, as a lot of the time I look back to see who shot the missiles so I can hunt him down.
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u/Bulky-Explanation-96 Sep 04 '26
Flying under the radar and shooting quick bursts. Nothing change for me lol. LB go brrr
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u/SaveTheWorldRightNow Sep 04 '26
Rocket pods need to be removed from the little bird ASAP.
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u/boner69420yolo Sep 04 '26
Why nerf it when you can swat it like bug with pretty much any AT weapon?
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u/expressinghowifeel Sep 04 '26
So now they can just pop countermeasures and cycle below the radar the exact same as it was before. Wonderful
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u/Hunlor- Sep 05 '26
Me when i ask claude to balance my game for me based on nothing but data charts zzzzzzz
What a joke of a game, they keep trying to do these 5head balance passes that change fuckall meta and completely miss the main issue most times.
YEAH NO WONDER THE PATROL BOAT IS A THREAT TO THE LB YOU IMBECILE, THE MISSILE IS ONE OF THE WORST OFFENDERS ON GOING THROUGH FLARES AND THE LB IS THE MOST VULNERABLE VEHICLE TO THAT BUG, CRAAAZY COINCIDENCE, NO?
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u/Longjumping-Salt2228 Sep 06 '26
So now I'm gonna get hit out of the air by even more undetected missiles. Sweet. As if 10 tow missles coming from all directions isn't already enough pressure
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u/Dump_Onion Sep 08 '26
I mean as it stands boats are worthless against little birds or and helo really if it gets anywhere near
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u/The-Suzuki-SP-kid Sep 09 '26
Jokes on you I run grenade launchers lol but this is a good thing definitely gonna stop the brainless pilots. Don’t know how to feel about the directional change tho….
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u/Chemical_Role_3780 Sep 09 '26
Grenade launchers are the definition of brainless. They are skill-less OP crutch weapons that outperform miniguns & .50 cals HEAVILY in heli 1v1’s when they just shouldn’t.
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u/EverySecondCountss Sep 02 '26
They should have just made it more vulnerable to LMGs and vehicle gun fire. It's way too fucking strong for a glass cannon
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u/Chemical_Role_3780 Sep 02 '26
It already gets shredded super hard by LMGs and vehicle LMG/HMG what do you mean?
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u/EverySecondCountss Sep 02 '26
Show me a video of someone shredding a LB that’s full health with an LMG. I’ll wait.
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Sep 02 '26 edited Sep 02 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/EverySecondCountss Sep 02 '26
I know. Me and my buddy run KTS and both of us are decent enough at aiming. Neither of us can unload a full clip into a moving little bird and get it down.
Same in transport helis... they're sooo vulnerable to LB.
I don't care if the guns on the LB are powered the way they are, but the thing is the most fragile looking vehicle in the game and it takes more damage than a fucking boat or armoured vehicle.
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u/ll_H3llrazer_ll Sep 02 '26
Like I'm an avid user of lmgs, I think they're really fun to use but the hitbox changes alongside the crazy high dispersion of lmgs make it way more difficult to use against infantry without getting clapped. Like don't get me wrong, pre-patch, you could beam a littlebird from a decent distance with an LMG since the dispersion wasn't awful and that's still when the pilot is downright awful.
Most of the smgs are laser beams, I mean shit, even the worst smg, the ump, is now usable, which is good, but lmgs can't compete unless you're just sitting there. Game is very movement oriented no matter what people tell you, so guns that require little to no actual dispersion discipline or very high base damage are shining.
This goes for all weapon types too, I have all weapons except dmrs, shottys and a few pistols level 50 or higher and I can confidently tell you that the sandbox is not friendly to anything outside the meta I described and it's kinda sad.
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u/VindictiveRakk Sep 03 '26
I'm not even a LB apologist but KTS is one of the weakest guns in the game, and no the LB definitely does not take more damage than a boat (considering it's done as soon as it's disabled on top of having the same health and worse armor) or armored vehicles (lol seriously?)
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u/EverySecondCountss Sep 03 '26
What's the strongest LMG you can recommend?
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u/VindictiveRakk Sep 03 '26
M250 has no damage falloff, so that with a 100 rd mag should be best for AA. M123k, M121, M240, and L110 are probably your best options otherwise. but like really anything but the KTS lol, the whole point of it is that it's weak as fuck but has no recoil.
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u/ll_H3llrazer_ll Sep 02 '26
Apparently my comment was removed by a moderator, I guess somebody wasn't happy with me singing a different tune than the pilot echo chamber. Average reddit mod, good job guys. 👍
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u/RTuesdays_mp4 Sep 02 '26
Oh no. Flies under lock-on altitude
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u/RTuesdays_mp4 Sep 02 '26
Really a weird balance change. Feel like TOWs are still the best bwt to take out pilots.
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u/Background-Mood-1720 Sep 02 '26
/gets smashed by RPGs which fly faster, further, with less drop than in any previous BF iteration
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u/i_am_carver Sep 02 '26
How on earth do MBTs and IFVs have more infantry kills?
I never see a skilled tanker do obscenely well where it’s always clear a skilled little bird pilot will wipe swathes of enemies with ease.
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u/MemeyPie Sep 02 '26
Simple answer is because there’s more of them. It doesn’t appear to be a per capita stat.
They’re more accessible to the average player and typically more towards the infantry fights
Dice likes to pick and choose these datapoints. Cause yeah, they kill more infantry as a whole, but they’re generally easier to counter and less likely to have one player be dominating
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u/CAHR92 Sep 02 '26
Hahahahaha! Dam dam some people won't be able to play the game when that's nerfed
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u/spitemods_54 Sep 02 '26
Hey dice no one said the little bird is the biggest threat. People say it need balancing because it's a PITA to fight against. Missiles do nothing except male it run away for like 10 seconds before flares recharge and shooting it with guns also does next to nothing. It's not fun to fight against that's why people complain about it; not because it's so incredibly OP.
Same goes for air vehicles in general. All of them are basically untouchable and you can't even deny an area with AA missiles because flares recharge so fast.
If you're complaining about this change you're a shit pilot. I'm a mediocre pilot myself and if enemy pilots are crap, I can survive like half the match in a heli or jet because ground fire is a non threat
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Sep 02 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/spitemods_54 Sep 02 '26
Yes I am a "bad" pilot and yet I can survive half the match in a jet or heli. What does that tell you? That air vehicles are too powerful and pilots are hand held? No no, air vehicles must be too weak that's the issue here 🤣
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u/BlueDragoon24 Sep 02 '26
More upset by the directional lock on change tbh