v1.8.0 Concerns about the recent UAV nerf

[AFG]

I understand how overpowered it can really be, but being a UAV operator is a specialized niche role that not many commanders appreciate or have the patience to use. As a commander who depends on the UAV for intelligence gathering and communication with my team, I’m disappointed by the recent UAV nerfs.

The increased fuel consumption is particularly problematic, as it significantly reduces the UAV's effectiveness and makes it much harder to maintain a continuous aerial presence. With it being fully fueled, you are going to lose 50% worth of fuel in a span of just 1 minute due to how much fuel you are burning more quickly. In practice, this severely limits the UAV's loiter time to a mere 3-4 minutes when fully fueled. With half of the fuel, you will only get 1-2 minutes worth of loiter time. Based on my experience, this is inadequate, particularly in game modes like Insurgency, where extended loiter time is crucial for locating caches, FOBs, and hideouts. Furthermore, in AAS, where prolonged surveillance is essential for tracking enemy assets, the UAV's reduced loiter time severely hinders its effectiveness.

In my opinion, the recent changes have rendered the UAV almost useless as a reconnaissance tool. On top of that, the added 5 minute delay seems unnecessary, and I also played and remember a while back to v1.7.1.0 where UAV did not start with fuel anymore, and throughout those years there were no issues, and now all of a sudden a 5 minute delay is added, which is more of an inconvenience and annoyance.

[[R-DEV]Mats391]

Thank you for your feedback.
The goal of this change is to actually reduce the ability for commander to find and observe everything, but we might have went too far. Instead of the commander finding things on its own, it is intended that he reacts to intel from the team. For example a squad asking commander to search a certain area for FOBs instead of flying around map and finding every FOB.
As for the additional delay at start this is intended to give teams a bit more time at start of round to set up before they can get spotted by UAV and followed up by mortars hitting them.

All these changes are just a first step in balancing the UAV. We have more changes planned that might replace some of these changes. Those changes sadly did not make the cut for this patch.

[AFG]

I support the idea of maintaining a balance in the commander role as originally intended. The way I see the commander role is that it has two aspects, one is being on the field and the second aspect is operating a UAV drone from a command post. In most games you will encounter these two types of commanders.

A UAV operator can gather intel more effectively than a field commander, especially in large-scale maps of 4km or 2km with heavy assets scattered around. FOBs can be easily spotted from an aerial perspective, making everything easily locatable. In contrast, being a field commander, this task would be tedious and risky, as they could often be killed in the process of locating FOBs or assets.

This is a dilemma. Limiting and changing the fundamental aspects of the commander role, especially the reconnaissance tool, seems to favor the field commander. However, I don't want the commander's role to shift in that direction. Operating a UAV requires considerable experience and personal judgment to make accurate decisions.

[M4_UA]

UAV is usleless for now, 3 minutes of loitering at max fuel is nothing.

[Crylink]

3 minutes of top view thermal vision above an objective can be a deciding factor whether a FOB reinforcing a flag on AAS will be neutralized.

[Grump/Gump.45]

So many aspects to this. I feel like the hearing sounds from the battlefield change for the UAV should have been done alone first, as this aided in assets/vehicles being found. Slowly decrease its capability like with the field of view, remove the battlefield sounds.

Some map layouts, like all INS maps, BLUFOR has UAV and the INS don't. Same for Russia Vs Militia on some maps, where the militia spyplane is inferior to begin with and sometimes not available.

The UAV is one of the most immersive assets. Sitting there feeling like your computer screen is the UAV screen. Was it 10 minutes of loiter time?

It should be 10 minutes on, 10 minutes off. Which the loiter time already naturally decreases everytime you want to move location, also experienced commander will know when its time to start up UAV, when to wait for their assets to spawn.

It is on the squad leaders to do their best to keep FOBs hidden from the sky, this means under trees, using angles of buildings, garages, putting FOB on the side of cover their main is on. Anything to delay it being found. Putting FOBs outside of the expected search areas of interest.

Meaning instead of 200-600 meters from a flag or on the flag, place FOB 1000 meters from a flag. More time to travel upon respawn, which takes enemy more time to get it it, takes longer for them to notice it.

Putting emplacements visible on a FOBs 200 meter build radius edge to mask its true location if the FOB is well hidden. Could do 2 FOBs 200-400 meters from each other and use the overlap of asset placement radius to mask FOB location further.

Just like when people put roadblocks only on the cache, emplacements mark locations of important things if you let it.

If the cache building gets roadblocks to keep it defended, keep the enemy out, then other buildings in view should get the same treatment. This way cache location doesn't stand out to the UAV from the sky or infantry from the ground.

If you defend the building without the cache as hard as the cache, with several buildings getting identical roadblock treatment, mutual support with each building defending the other, they won't know which building is the cache and won't be able to search.

UAV is dreaded for a reason.

But lets be honest, this NERF was made with AFG in mind. You put your full brain power into it and they thought it was overpowered. Maybe if you kept some of those FOB locations to yourself or pretended it took you longer to find them.

Maybe if you just let the enemy have their furthest FOBs at least. A fight has to happen, its a video game, IDK why everyone is so obsessed with taking out every single FOB without assessing its position and value, weighing out pros and cons of keeping the FOB there.

Like you can condition the enemy to build FOBs further back by showing them the closer ones get removed faster if they don't have that common sense.

Sort of like how with me and the HMGs, now they start without ammo and holding less ammo. I used to throw them down and they would be ready to start spitting.

[DrDoomPK]

In agreement with AFG here. UAV has become useless now. Needs some change quick. Maybe customized fuel burn for different sizes of maps would work to make it less effective than it was in gaza or in a 2km map but retaining its usability in a 4km map.

[LFI]

I agree with AFG.
A sudden 3x nerf is too much, especially for a feature that was not even being used all too often on Deployment servers as it was already. A huge disincentive to play the Commander role at all.

It also affected maps in uneven way:
- foggy maps like Dovre and Wanda, where you need more time to identify enemy assets and emplacements.
- maps where one side gets 5 helicopters while the other side only has the nerfed UAV

[LFI]

I also didn't like the change of hotkeys for commander UAV zoom. It was good as it was, everybody was used to it, it was using the common asset hotkey for Zoom. (additionally, people that see UAV getting nerfed might also get to think that it has no zoom at all - a popular misconception now)
Right now, no other assets use RMB for zoom at all, making UAV an odd one out!

As for the thermal button, while it is indeed used in assets that way (in which case we should use asset-like zoom on UAV as well), people are already used to pressing 2, which is also a much more simpler action motorically - you only use one hand and not 2, and only 1 key press instead of 2. It is a huge difference actually.