Author Topic: Unperk the Spitfire Mk XIV (Read 7411 times)

Karnak · « **on:** February 11, 2008, 11:03:56 PM »

Here are what I think are the relevant statistics. I listed all the perk fighters because the Spitfire Mk XIV is perked and should be compared in kill/death ratio and usage with its fellow perk fighters. I selected the unperked fighters by picking high usage, powerful fighters that, with the exception of the La-7, tend to draw more experienced and better players to them. I think that using this selection of unperked fighters is fair as the people that tend to fly perk planes tend to be at least moderately experienced and to fly in a more conservative manner. I included both the post-perk Ta152H-1 and pre-perk F4U-1C as a comparison with the Spitfire Mk XIV's current performance.

Late War Tour 96, 1-01-08 to 1-31-08

Perked fighters in order of their kill/death ratios:

Tempest has 6136 Kills of All models and all models have 945 Kills of Tempest. 6.49 to 1 kill/death ratio.

Me 262 has 4103 Kills of All models and all models have 698 Kills of Me 262. 5.88 to 1 kill/death ratio.

Me 163B has 790 Kills of All models and all models have 160 Kills of Me 163B. 4.94 to 1 kill/death ratio.

F4U-1C has 9910 Kills of All models and all models have 3875 Kills of F4U-1C. 2.56 to 1 kill/death ratio.

F4U-4 has 2754 Kills of All models and all models have 1256 Kills of F4U-4. 2.19 to 1 kill/death ratio.

Spitfire Mk XIV has 1454 Kills of All models and all models have 1139 Kills of Spitfire Mk XIV. 1.28 to 1 kill/death ratio.

Unperked fighters with high kill/death ratios and medium to high usage, in order of their kill/death ratios:

Bf 109K-4 has 9344 Kills of All models and all models have 5981 Kills of Bf 109K-4. 1.56 to 1 kill/death ratio.

Typhoon IB has 17053 Kills of All models and all models have 11094 Kills of Typhoon IB. 1.54 to 1 kill/death ratio.

Ta 152H has 2999 Kills of All models and all models have 2042 Kills of Ta 152H. 1.47 to 1 kill/death ratio.

Ki-84-Ia has 9016 Kills of All models and all models have 6224 Kills of Ki-84-Ia. 1.45 to 1 kill/death ratio.

P-38J has 6562 Kills of All models and all models have 4525 Kills of P-38J. 1.45 to 1 kill/death ratio.

Fw 190D-9 has 13943 Kills of All models and all models have 9865 Kills of Fw 190D-9. 1.41 to 1 kill/death ratio.

La-7 has 33201 Kills of All models and all models have 26480 Kills of La-7. 1.25 to 1 kill/death ratio.

F4U-1A has 6568 Kills of All models and all models have 5381 Kills of F4U-1A. 1.22 to 1 kill/death ratio.

Tour 15, 4-01-01 to 4-30-01, the final tour with an unperked F4U-1C:

F4U-1C has 27717 Kills of All models and all models have 20022 Kills of F4U-1C. 1.38 to 1 kill/death ratio.

What do these statistics tell us? One, the Spitfire Mk XIV has, by far, the lowest kill/death ratio of any perked fighter. Two, the Spitfire Mk XIV has the lowest usage of any perked fighter save the Me163, and that is limited to one base per country. Three, unique among perk fighters, the Spitfire Mk XIV has a lower kill/death ratio than many unperked fighters. Four, the perked Spitfire Mk XIV has a lower kill/death ratio than the recently unperked Ta152H-1. Five, the perked Spitfire Mk XIV has a lower kill/death ratio than the unperked F4U-1C did despite the fact that the F4U-1C was at the time, by far, the most popular fighter and was used by more unskilled players than any other fighter.

What do I think an unperked Spitfire Mk XIV would be like? It would probably see higher usage in Spitfires than any of them other than the Spitfire Mk XVI and Spitfire Mk VIII, though the Spitfire Mk IX might also see heavier usage. It would probably have the highest kill/death ratio of any Spitfire. I doubt it would be a popular fighter after the initial "Ooh, it's free!" period had worn off and would instead find a solid place in the second tier of fighters used by more experienced players who can manage the quirks of these fighters. It does not handle like any other Spitfire and would be offputting to most casual Spitfire users.

I think the Spitfire Mk XIV is a good fighter, but nothing worth spending perk points on. As such, it should follow the Ta152H-1's example and be unperked.

Lusche · « **Reply #1 on:** February 11, 2008, 11:24:40 PM »

Agree.

Krusty · « **Reply #2 on:** February 11, 2008, 11:55:39 PM »

You can't use kills/deaths as a justification for REMOVING a perk, because anything perked (even slightly) significantly reduces its use in the MAs.

CHOG goes from 20% to "rare-ish" with a rather small perk price. We KNOW what would happen if it were unperked, but just looking at the kills/deaths you wouldn't be able to see that.

Just sayin'...

Lusche · « **Reply #3 on:** February 12, 2008, 12:03:39 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by Krusty
You can't use kills/deaths as a justification for REMOVING a perk, because anything perked (even slightly) significantly reduces its use in the MAs.
.

Looking at the presented numbers, combined with the experience of unperking the Ta 152, you can.

Karnak · « **Reply #4 on:** February 12, 2008, 12:06:39 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by Krusty
You can't use kills/deaths as a justification for REMOVING a perk, because anything perked (even slightly) significantly reduces its use in the MAs.

CHOG goes from 20% to "rare-ish" with a rather small perk price. We KNOW what would happen if it were unperked, but just looking at the kills/deaths you wouldn't be able to see that.

Just sayin'...

Your comment makes no sense. It is illogical.

The F4U-1C went from ~20% of the MA usage with a higher kill/death ratio to ~3-5% of MA usage, ending with a much higher kill/death ratio and still much higher usage rate when compared to the Spitfire MK XIV. How does it follow that unperking the very low usage, very low (for a perk plane) kill/death ratio Spitfire Mk XIV would see either its kill/death ratio go up or see it baloon to a massive percentage of the LWMA usage? If it follows a reverse of the F4U-1C it would see its kill/death ratio tank and its usage go up somewhere in the five to ten times area.

EDIT:

Perked units can also be expected to have much higher kill/death ratios than unperked units because they are both better than unperked units and are flown more conservatively than unperked units. Yet the Spitfire Mk XIV not only has a lower kill/death ratio than any other perk fighter, being the only one below a 2 to 1 ratio, but also uniquely among perk fighters of having a lower kill/death ratio than many unperked fighters. It barely edges the mass use La-7 in kill/death ratio despite how uncautiously many La-7s are used.

Personally, I think that says something about how capable it is in the AH2 Late War Main Arena.

Squire · « **Reply #5 on:** February 12, 2008, 02:56:08 AM »

Agree, unperk it, the Spit 14 is a quirkier ride anyways, most MA Spit regulars probably would not bother with it, sticking to XVIs, and VIIIs, and leaving the 14 in the hanger.

...P-51D, Dora, 109K-4, Ki-84, are not perked.

Raptor · « **Reply #6 on:** February 12, 2008, 03:05:23 AM »

unperk it, I think the 109k4 is more of a threat anyway

BaDkaRmA158Th · « **Reply #7 on:** February 12, 2008, 05:09:07 AM »

no, and perk the la7 while your at it.

Bruv119 · « **Reply #8 on:** February 12, 2008, 05:39:36 AM »

I think it should be unperked. The 109k4 is just as deadly and has no perk.

It is not an easy mode Spit like the 16 and 8. It does take skill to fly it on the edge.

Personally perks don't matter to me if I wanted to fly it I would. It will give the newer guys a powerful spit to fly rather than say an LA7.

Down low where most fights take place it gets out performed by most things, it comes into its own at higher altitudes and surely we would want to promote these kind of fights.

Bruv
~S~

badhorse · « **Reply #9 on:** February 12, 2008, 07:04:31 AM »

I agreee. It should not be perked.

Nice job on the facts and figures too by the way.

Karnak · « **Reply #10 on:** February 12, 2008, 07:18:37 AM »

I don't think a perk fighter that is hardly used and cannot maintain a kill/death ratio higher than all free fighters should be perked.

Likewise, I don't think a perk fighter that is just over a 2 to 1 kill/death ratio should be very expensive. The F4U-4 should be a budget perk plane. I think the Tempest, Me262, Me163 and F4U-1C are priced where they should be. F4U-4 should be cheaper and Spitfire Mk XIV should be free.

thndregg · « **Reply #11 on:** February 12, 2008, 07:45:38 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by Bruv119
I think it should be unperked. The 109k4 is just as deadly and has no perk.

I can attest to this. I have a film of my Spit14 against a 109K4. The fight lasted for well over 12 minutes. Both he and I started out with B&Z style fighting, and then it turned into a mid-alt stall fight. In a Spit14 that is not easy because of the torque roll the engine/five-blade prop generates. I did manage to ping him once, but the only reason he lost in the end was because he ran out of gas and desperately tried to ditch.

to BW15 in the 109. That was some excellent flying.

I haven't posted the film do to the fact dial-up take ages to upload anything of size.

Xasthur · « **Reply #12 on:** February 12, 2008, 08:07:49 AM »

I agree, set it free.

I see the Spit 14 as one of the lesser threats in the game.

It has such a light perk on it anyway that un-perking it won't make a large difference. The only people who would be prevented from flying the Spit 14 due to lack of perks are also quite likely to be lacking enough skill to be any threat in it at all so I say go for it.

We luftdweebs got the 152, let the brits have their high-alt aircraft too.

It's so Golly-geened ugly that no one will fly the bloody thing anyway!

The cowling buldges are a travesty and that 5 bladed prop is horrific.

All jokes aside..... Removing the perk for the Spit 14 would be a good decision, I believe.

DaftDog · « **Reply #13 on:** February 12, 2008, 08:33:52 AM »

Yeah! Unperk the 14 and put it on the La-7 or S%&#fire 16.

I hatez dweeeb rides.....

5PointOh · « **Reply #14 on:** February 12, 2008, 08:45:10 AM »

What do you fly?