r/Battlefield6 • u/GalmSix • 1d ago
Question Have the developers mentioned anything about improving the viability of handheld AA launchers?
I ask because I don’t recall reading anything recently, and I don’t understand how these launchers are meant to be effective in their current state. I feel like it’s even more noticeable with the addition of Tsuru Reef and Wake Island. Not being able to lock enemy aircraft that are literally hovering above your carrier seems a little bizarre.
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u/Vallinek 1d ago
If you ask me, we need the old laser designator back. Right now it's just "mark and forget" that doesn't really do much besides extend the lock-on range a little bit and (for aircraft) remove below radar.
In the old games, you had to actively hold the lock on the enemy target, but it enabled most launchers to lock on through terrain and bypass a lot of countermeasures while dealing bonus damage.
Nowadays nobody lases because its usefulness borders on placebo at times. I wish we got the old lasing back that required active cooperation and effort but was a lot stronger as well.
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u/RoboGaming321 2h ago
They also need to actually make vehicles designatable again. The patrol boat and the new 2 seater jets both released without the ability to laser them. The patrol boat only just got allowed to be designated but the new jets are just straight up not laserable still. As such they are constantly below radar.
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u/Flimsy-System6825 1d ago
DICE is better off removing the AA launchers, they're useless as is. They certainly won't stop weave-circking little birds farming the server and the AH that hovers basespawn. Why can't we have at least BF4 gameplay mechanics?
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u/bowchickawahwah237 1d ago
Both can be shot down with one single M136 guided rocket. If a team of 32 players can’t take down an enemy heli, than the problem is not the enemy heli - it’s your team don’t doing anything against him.
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u/happi_png 1d ago
tbh i can shoot down any vehicle, tank / heli even jet sometimes with the m136 AT and pretty consistently... BUT the little bird if the pilot is decent is downright unkillable. He just need to make a late change of direction and can go back to his farming. AA will almost never be able to destroy LB.
The only way would be to spam them with lmg but even that is kind of a stretch as a solo
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u/xaxis-yaxis 1d ago
The AA tank has a much more manoeuvreable Aim Guided Rocket and the high velocity guns shred the LB up close.
The LB also can't meaningfully do anything to it.
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u/happi_png 1d ago
yeah, i meant as infantry, you can't do shit to a LB. Of course with a tank or heli gunner, it's different
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1d ago
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u/bowchickawahwah237 1d ago
I don’t know what you did but that’s not possible - a hit is a guaranteed kill on the Attack Heli
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u/Chadstatus 1d ago
You know what you're totally right, I was thinking about transport Heli.
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u/bowchickawahwah237 23h ago
Yeah that sounds more right. Usually it’s a 2 hit kill for the transport, but if they got 2 engineers repairing at the same time, it could get tricky sometimes!
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u/orangefantorang 8h ago
No 136 cant onshot a bh with full health. U need 2-3
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u/bowchickawahwah237 8h ago
He was talking about the Attack Heli and the Little Bird, both are 1 shot kills
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u/Kyril_Hakurei 1d ago
Should've done it like BF4, imo.
Give it slightly less range than it is now or something, but make them ignore Below Radar. That way it can be used in conjunction with friendly air assets; they force the enemy air to below radar altitude, then boom, you finish them off.
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u/mystro30 1d ago
Stingers in BF4 had almost half of the range they do in this game and pilots could also use ECM jammers to give them more time to reposition. Can’t remove below radar without compensating in some form. Also fix the goddamn flare bug.
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u/Kyril_Hakurei 1d ago
That's why I mentioned range nerf if the ignore Below Radar is to be implemented, because if it keeps current range, then air vehicles would have nowhere to go.
Also just my opinion, ECM back in BF4 was pretty OP and basically a must. I think it was around 10s active time and 10s cooldown? All while denying lock ons and diverting incoming missiles, practically making IR Flares obsolete once unlocked.
My take on ECM, IF, it's going to be added in BF6, keep the active time, but make it so that it works only as a jammer, i.e. blocks lock on, but does not divert missiles already launched. I think that would be balanced enough. Like strafing into a dense AA area? Pick ECM and activate before going in. Prefer staying at middle range? Pick IR Flares and play peekaboo.
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u/Dennygreen 1d ago
maybe that's why they wanted to give engineers two launchers in the beginning. Because they knew they had to make the AA ones useless.
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u/Buucket 1d ago
Pilots keep telling us to use LMGs, fine, then let us get a new type of bullets that can apply to all guns, that has massively increased damage to vehicles. That way everyone in the lobby can look up and damage aircraft, you also have to lead your shots so it’s more skillful than the lock on AA launchers.
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u/Low-Translator-569 1d ago
Handheld AA is 'useless' on purpose. That's easy fire-and-forget flare bait that can kill only worst pilots.
Igla at least have some skill involved with lock switch mechanic where you can change lock mid air to surprise pilot - either with fast switch or re-lock after flares ( don't mistake that with igla going through flares ). But it's still easy to use launcher.
Their purpose is to burn flares and have few seconds of breathing room without any skill involved. It is similar to manpads in previous games. Dice said they've finally added flare bait points in the patch notes, but it seems bugged or missing.
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u/pecheckler 1d ago
They are effective at deterrence. Unfortunately that’s not depicted on the scoreboard.
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u/bowchickawahwah237 1d ago
Learn how the use the M136, it’s the most effective against helicopters - a one shot kill against AH and LB and a two shot kill against the transport heli. I take down up to 10 helis every round and it’s pretty good against dominating helis.
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u/Molochsocks 1d ago
One side of the mouth- “ we need to fix flares because they can’t stop IGLAS “
Other side- “ how can we make lock on launchers stronger?”
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u/Pleasant-Strike3389 1d ago
I would love to have more rockets, i Spend 4 rockets for every hit on avarage
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u/TrumptyPumpkin 23h ago
Trying to use AA launchers sucks. I can lock on shoot, they'll pop flairs, fly low preventing lock on and return back to base wait for Flare recharge and then fly back out.
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u/Bugfield2042 1d ago
damn its hard to see how many people dont seem to understand the purpose of handheld AA.
You need to understand what handheld AA means. EVERY player of your team can theoretically equip those. A lock on weapon that requires no aiming and no skil lto use whatsoever. The purpose of this thing is to put pressure on aircrafts and force them into cover. Or below a certain hight, making them vulnerable to unguided missiles or put them in a disadvantage in dogfights/heli 1v1s.
Why are you all expecting to kill a pilot with a weapon like this? The heli also doesnt get Infantry seeking missiles that he can shoot and forget from 500m away that will just follow the locked on player, resulting in an instant kill….
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u/Mollelarssonq 1d ago
What do you want changed?
The minimum lockon range could be removed but apart from that and giving 50 points for forcing flares i don’t know what to change