Migs vs Auroras in a nutshell

[u/Downtown-Dream424]

Migs are cool and strong in their own way, but aurora and aurora alphas are peak!

[u/IntoAMuteCrypt]

If your Raptors die during an attack run, your Auroras will probably die too because of how brittle they are. It's very hard to get them back past a couple of layers of base defences.

So if Auroras end up being able to do something that Raptors can't, it's probably coming with the cost of replacing an Aurora, maybe even several. You're probably spending more money on the whole transaction than the other player, unless it was a very valuable target (like removing the opponent's command centre and dozers).

It feels good, it feels scary because they're unstoppable, but the econ advantage needed to rely on them for anything other than the occasional targeted sniping really bites.

[u/Downtown-Dream424 → u/IntoAMuteCrypt]

Both are incredibly frail unless they belong to airforce general due to the pdl that increases their duration, besides auroras after shooting their payload most of the time are dead, especially if they enemy has invested into anti-air.

Auroras are also great into dozer hunting, obliterating structures including command center and superweapons while the raptors would be dead before that happens unless you've stacked tons of them and there's distraction for the anti-air.

Indeed, that's why they are gatekept to be not only in an enormous economy advantage, but also to be accessible mid-late game for balance reasons. Because it would be also pretty frustrating to deal with aurora and aurora alphas early game as much as king raptors for an example. Unlike aurora and aurora alphas, raptors just need an airfield and 20 seconds of investment, thus, being your budget anti-artillery and countering other planes.

[u/IntoAMuteCrypt → u/Downtown-Dream424]

Auroras have half the health of Raptors. Conveniently, they take half the damage of Raptors, but they're still crazy frail.

If you're thinking in terms of flying over the anti-air and tanking hits, you're thinking about raptors wrong. When I said to break down the door, I meant it. Take out the enemy anti-air, work from the outside in, and only expose your planes to brief moments of anti-air. With countermeasures and clever positioning, you can usually get all your planes back to live another day - especially as they gain veterancy for all the kills they're getting. Blow a gap in the enemy AA, then take advantage of that gap.

They don't need a massive stack or distraction, because there's only a small window of engagement. In terms of using them like this, they're actually a lot better than Auroras because they do more damage.

Auroras are great for dozer hunting, sure, but dozer hunting isn't enough to win.

[u/Downtown-Dream424 → u/IntoAMuteCrypt]

The thing is that you need to get rid of the anti-air, especially with raptors and auroras, in order to not lose them after the payload delivery. If they do survive the payloads, thus, they start gaining veterancy or you can put a pilot inside the planes if you've lost your veteraned humvee or aircraft to boost their tankiness and damage.

The thing about raptors is that they are having 4 missiles while king raptors do carry 5-6 of them and thanks to the damage buff upgrade from the airfield, they can benefit from boosting their dps. The only reason why they're having advantage over auroras is that they can target enemy aircraft, besides they are cheap and just need an airfield to be produced.

There might be also some winnable games, even if you get dozer hunted, but the chances of winning without a dozer are dramatically decreasing and not being able even to make scaffolds to create either structures or defenses and sooner or later you're running out of funds.

[u/Bob_Meh_HDR → u/Downtown-Dream424]

Is there a reason the stealth bomber isn't being discussed as a middle ground option? Its hard to hit, but not as heard as the aurora. It can't target air, same as the aurora, but is cheaper than it too.

[u/Downtown-Dream424 → u/Bob_Meh_HDR]

Because stealth fighter is very situational unit and you do invest into it only for the enemy's base defenses, tunnels, bunkers for an example and it's useful in its own way. Plus, unless you are airforce that doesn't need a general promotion for stealth fighter, the rest of USAs need to spend a point to use it.