Is the A-10 useless?

[mustix]

In the other AC games, the A10 was always a great plane, so I bought it as soon as I could. But it is useless, maybe because no FOAB bombs...

[Gonzo850]

I had a really hard time fighting the Sol guys and MisterX because the A10 was slow to recover from g-turns and would sometimes get hit by a second missile right avoiding the first one. But that is to be expected from an A10. I find the main gun is fun to use on the ground.

I dont know much about the FOAB I think its Russian. Maybe the SU34 should have that.

[628]

Originally posted by mustix:

because no FOAB bombs...

You mean FAEB (Fuel Air-Explosive Bomb)? That SP weapon is strangely absent in this game, maybe for making the missions more challenging. SFFS and UGB (buffed by Parts) can be your help if you are stuck in AtoG missions.
Yet, I know your feeling. I also wanted to throw FAEB everywhere and set the entire enemy ground force on fire. A-10C on Ace 7 is kinda unsatisfying.

[Gonzo850]

Just found out the US has the GBU-43/B MOAB. Very similar.

[Kameraden]

A-10C it's all about fire power.

Pros:
1. High Standard Missile Capacity (It's almost equal to a 2nd to top tier aircraft like the F-35)
2. High SP Weapon Capacity (it is equal to a top tier aircraft like the F-22)
3. Downward firing Gun (ie better for strafing ground targets without crashing into the ground)
4. Very Good Armor (this thing can tank damage like a boss)

Cons:
1. Low Speed (it can get to good speeds just takes a long time to get there)
2. Low Mobility (misleading but it's low speed still allows it to turn tight, just don't expect it to F-22 everything).
3. Low Stability (Haven't noticed this hurting any aircraft in the game currently)

Over all you use the A10C to it's pros, and ignore it's weakness. Don't even bother upgrading this aircraft's performance. Go all out in upgrading it's fire power because make what it's good at doing considerably better I'd say.

I normally load it out with gun upgrades, missile capacity upgrades, missile range/speed upgrades. Do that and this thing will blow up more ground targets than you can ever hope to do with an F-22.

There are just missions that using the A10 is so blissful in. I was going to replace the A-10 and Su34 as my primary Attackers with the F-35 until I realized how bad 8AGMs are. In fact 8AAMs are just as bad, how lockon functions for them you end up wasting a lot of missiles. So aircraft with 4AGM and 4AAM are much nicer personally. Sorry F-22 the Su-57 is better in my opinion for that one fact now.

[K-S43]

Equip the gun mods and the thing doesn't even need mis/sp's, the gun will kill everything for you. Top it off with having twice as many bullets as the others, and it's my top craft in many missions.

[Kameraden]

Originally posted by K-S43:

Equip the gun mods and the thing doesn't even need mis/sp's, the gun will kill everything for you. Top it off with having twice as many bullets as the others, and it's my top craft in many missions.

Why not both? 130 Standard Missiles, 54 4AGM, and powerful guns, increased lockon ranges. Hence why I don't bother wasting upgrade slots for performance on this thing.

[Blink]

I actually found myself playing quite a few missions with the A-10, and it always caused me to step back at how well this thing was at fighting supersonic jets with standard missles. I have a feeling it would not do so well IRL since its supposed to be a close air support platform.

But it is durable and rugged, and for missions with a lot of ground targets it is a good plane to choose.

[raventhehunter]

Originally posted by Kameraden:

A-10C it's all about fire power.

Pros:
1. High Standard Missile Capacity (It's almost equal to a 2nd to top tier aircraft like the F-35)
2. High SP Weapon Capacity (it is equal to a top tier aircraft like the F-22)
3. Downward firing Gun (ie better for strafing ground targets without crashing into the ground)
4. Very Good Armor (this thing can tank damage like a boss)

Cons:
1. Low Speed (it can get to good speeds just takes a long time to get there)
2. Low Mobility (misleading but it's low speed still allows it to turn tight, just don't expect it to F-22 everything).
3. Low Stability (Haven't noticed this hurting any aircraft in the game currently)

Over all you use the A10C to it's pros, and ignore it's weakness. Don't even bother upgrading this aircraft's performance. Go all out in upgrading it's fire power because make what it's good at doing considerably better I'd say.

I normally load it out with gun upgrades, missile capacity upgrades, missile range/speed upgrades. Do that and this thing will blow up more ground targets than you can ever hope to do with an F-22.

There are just missions that using the A10 is so blissful in. I was going to replace the A-10 and Su34 as my primary Attackers with the F-35 until I realized how bad 8AGMs are. In fact 8AAMs are just as bad, how lockon functions for them you end up wasting a lot of missiles. So aircraft with 4AGM and 4AAM are much nicer personally. Sorry F-22 the Su-57 is better in my opinion for that one fact now.

Regarding the first con, the A-10 balances that--somewhat, in my opinion--by also having an incredibly low stall speed; I can't think of any other plane in the game (or the AC series entirely, for that matter) where you can damn near come to a full stop in mid-air before you go nose down. That means you can, if you're lined up right, put a lot of bullets into a target before blowing past it.

[K-S43]

Originally posted by Kameraden:

Originally posted by K-S43:

Equip the gun mods and the thing doesn't even need mis/sp's, the gun will kill everything for you. Top it off with having twice as many bullets as the others, and it's my top craft in many missions.

Why not both? 130 Standard Missiles, 54 4AGM, and powerful guns, increased lockon ranges. Hence why I don't bother wasting upgrade slots for performance on this thing.

Dont get me wrong, I definitely take those to. The multi lock missiles make very short work of the airbase in the Cape Rainy Assault. Between it and the Gun, I can usually knock out the entire base in three or four passes, thanks to the Gun, including the aircraft. A-10 is such a beast, I find I have to force myself to take other Planes in many missions.

[Dfactor]

It's pretty good for SP and MP. There's a bunch of missions you can finish with it, but you wouldn't be able to S rank some,
As for MP
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1650379551

[TheJournier]

Meh I think there are better options.
I find fighters far more useful than attackers.

My go to aircraft for most missions is the F-4e
-with upgrades it carries 32 bombs. In Stonehenge I decimate ground forces and shoot down all bombers.

If you want S rank... just use a late game fighter.
-the A-10 is useful in that if you had no other plane, you could use it.

However ACE 7 doesnt really have too many ground heavy missions and most requires Fast planes, not slow lumbering ones.

[⚡Snake⚡Plissken⚡]

Originally posted by mustix:

In the other AC games, the A10 was always a great plane, so I bought it as soon as I could. But it is useless, maybe because no FOAB bombs...

In this game I find this jet pointless, in AC6 where you run ground missions with tunnels, the plane makes a lot of sense. You can call in your air support whilst you hit ground targets so your ground forces can advance. It all sees very logical.
This game, it feels a little out of place, not really being a star like it was in AC6.
The fly speeds differ a lot too in AC7 which means A10 feels out of place again.
AC6 the fly speeds feels right.

[K-S43]

Originally posted by TheJournier:

Meh I think there are better options.
I find fighters far more useful than attackers.

My go to aircraft for most missions is the F-4e
-with upgrades it carries 32 bombs. In Stonehenge I decimate ground forces and shoot down all bombers.

If you want S rank... just use a late game fighter.
-the A-10 is useful in that if you had no other plane, you could use it.

However ACE 7 doesnt really have too many ground heavy missions and most requires Fast planes, not slow lumbering ones.

I cant disagree more. Just scored S on Long day on Ace using the A-10. Even shotdown all but 2 of the UAV's with it. Its a plane you just have to learn how to dance with, and rewards those who do.

[Hobo Misanthropus]

A-10C requires a lot of work to be good, kind of like the MiG 21bis.

It's biggest failure is of speed, which is what makes it nigh impossible to S rank a lot of missions. And there's a handful of missions you just flat out can't win (Tyler Island and the Missile Silo mission in particular)


However, the A-10C is one of the few craft that reliably NEVER has to rearm in annihilation missions, carrying a whopping 40UGB/AGM and the incredibly powerful and Unique (To only the A-10C and X-02) 30mm Gatling Cannon.

So what does the A-10C need to be viable as a primary aircraft in all but those 2 missions, in which you really need something fast?


Note: All perspectives are from someone who plays exclusively on ACE (And once on Hard to unlock ace) so you may be able to alter this for easier difficulties:

First and Foremost Missile upgrades. Your MSL has to do a lot more work, especially against air targets. MSL Steering and MSL speed are pretty much mandatory.

Gun Spread and Damage are extraordinarily helpful, but only if you are capable of fighting well with the Machine Guns. If you can't master the MG at least against Ground targets, the A-10C is not for you. It takes some practice, the gunsight can be misleading at ranges greater than 500M (AIR) 1000M (Ground) so it's seriously something you just need to practice and learn where your lead and drop compensation points are.

Speed/Accell. This is the A-10C's biggest issue, Light Blisk, Variable Cycle Engine, High Pressure components. You can also use Queen's Custom in Campaign, I prefer Pitch Maneuverability or Automated Fire Extinguishers for Boss fights (Mihaly, ADF-11F/Drone). The A-10C is a very durable aircraft, but also a very exposed aircraft, which is why its defense rating is so low. It can eat a ton of damage, but is simultaneously going to take a lot more damage. However, the plane is practically invincible with Automatic Fire Extinguishers unless you get cataclysmically unlucky with a multiple simultaneous missile hit on you from 50% or less.

The "Defense" stat is a bit misleading. The A-10C has FAR AND AWAY the most "Health" of any plane, able to survive 4 Missile strikes and some change on Ace, despite its low Defense rating on paper. However, in Ace Combat 7, Defense also factors in things like Stealth, an element the game's AI uses to prioritize the player for targeting. An F22 or YF23 seems to have much more defense than an A-10, but can only survive 2 Missile strikes, with some % leftover to eat a couple bullets. However, the Stealth Aircraft are much less likely to be targeted by multiple enemies because of how stealth befuddles the AI

The Result is, when flying the A-10C, you're going to see pretty much every enemy on the map chasing you down, where as in like an F22, enemies outside around 10-15KM do not engage (Except certain bosses/aces)


SPW suggestions:

RKT - Never use it, rockets were one of the best SPW in Previous Ace Combats, now it's one of the worst (Only the Guided Rockets unique to the F-104 are worse)

AGM - Your primary anti surface weapon, this is what you should use most of the time, flexible and you'll almost always have more than you can use in any given mission

UGB - "Hardened" Target killer, use it instead of AGM on missions that have huge clusters of targets, and/or Hardened targets like ships. A single UGB will destroy an entire ship's defenses, and kill Frigates/destroyers outright. Two Bombs will destroy Cruisers, Battlecruisers, Aegis and Carriers. Depending on your mission, you can swap your 8th part for a Bomb upgrade (Spread usually is the best)

[Young Erusean Officer]

As you get better at the game attackers get less and less useful. Eventually only some multiroles stay good.

Fly whatever you think is fun though.