Just fought in a battle where I was by far the lowest ranking person. I am level 5 and was shot down by a level 63. 1st shot killed all 3 gunners and blew my left wing to hell. About 20 seconds later the 2nd shot cut my tail off in 1 hit. It sounded like aa but I did not see or hear any exploding near me. Only 2 shots and I was down. I was at 14,000 feet up. I Just feel cheated.
It can be a very frustrating game at times. What I've learned from watching Linch's videos, is that you have to constantly scan your plane from all angles. Flying around, super high up, everything is quiet? Well don't let your guard down! At those moments I always seem to get fucked! lol. The other day we were in a historical battle. I think we were flying at about 4000 feet in a somewhat close formation. We didn't see anyone around yet. I mentioned I was breaking off to go after some AI bombers. As soon as we split up, I begin my chase after them. I'm flying in a straight line after them. Out of nowhere, a Japanese plane dives on me and takes me out in one shot. So let's go through all the pieces: Take off from the carrier: 10 seconds. Get up to altitude and form a group: 10 minutes Scan horizon for enemies: another 3-4 minutes Spot enemy AI and chase them: 3-4 minutes Get shot down by Jap plane: 2 seconds So sometimes the reward for all that effort you put in, can be shattered very quickly. That's what makes the game frustrating for me. But it's my fault for not paying attention to my surroundings. The jap plane did all the things I did. Took off. Got up to altitude. Even higher than me. Scanned for enemies. Then shot me down. I didn't have a chance. Even if I had seen him 5 seconds earlier, he had the jump on me. But in your situation it could be much simpler. You could be out gunned merely because some of the higher ranked planes have super powerful guns. Some have cannons, so a single shot to any fighter and it's going down. Also, I don't think AA reaches anywhere near 14K feet. Sorry, I ramble a lot about this game. It can feel wildly unfair at times, if your situational awareness isn't on point. Other days you can be in the fucking zone (the danger zone!) and tear up like 8 planes and 5 ground targets in one fight.
Another thing is what time you play. Since the game isn't that big in America, we have a bad timeframe to play games with players at our levels. Otherwise, we get shit on all the time
Sounds like you got nailed by a cannon. Over-all rank dont mean alot. As in, I'm rank 40 something & have been playing for a few months. But I get shot down all the time by guys much lower rank then me. Sure, someone that's been at the game longer will have certain advantages... such as heightened situational awareness. And that comes from being caught off guard enough enough time that you force yourself to pay more attention. You start to learn what your planes can & cant do, and what the planes you face are capable of. In historical battle especially, once you learn that the guy most likely to take you out is the one above you that you failed to see in time, you start looking for that guy every time out. And if you do see him, and he's diving on you, just turn into his dive, force him to overshoot, then he no longer has that advantage. What the real factor is, in terms of level, is the air plane level. As Kowl said, the less people online at a certain time, the worse the match maker works. When this happens, guys in higher tier planes will get into games with lower guys. When that happens, no matter how aware you are, you're going to be at a disadvantage. But it's still not impossible to do good. Look at Phaedo's vid from last week. he was in a tier 6 or 9 plane (dont remember if it was the p39 or the p63), and he was killing jets (tier 17+). No matter what the odds, situational awareness is key. For most countries, you get your first good plane with cannons at tier 6 or 7. Once you make it that far, in my opinion, the real game begins. Everything up till then is just learning the game mechanics.
