Originally Posted by xTYBALTx

I literally could not disagree more.

Using AA against infantry does not in any way preclude its use against air power. Example: I am driving the AA gun as part of an armor column which is assaulting a flag. I am in the back, where AA should be. The armor column gets wiped out, as happens very frequently while assaulting a flag, and I am left all alone in my AA vehicle. What now? Well, I can still see little people running around near the CP, so I shoot at them while waiting for my squad's armor column to respawn at a nearby CP and make a second attempt on the flag. I see an enemy helo spotted over to my right, glance over, but it's out of range. Back to gunning down those little dots running around by the CP. Every dot I kill is -1 ticket for the opposing team assuming he's not revived. It's positive suppression while I wait for my armor column to reform and meet me. Someone spotted that chopper again, and it's coming near me this time - I look over, see him before he enters weapon range, and start firing just at the right moment. He's smoking pretty good by the time he figures out where he's getting hit from and runs back to base for repairs.

Oops, I see the tank spawned at that CP. I focus fire on it, hoping to deter or kill anyone wanting to hop in, but they make it in anyways (must have approached from behind it!). I immediately break contact and pull back, knowing that I am an easy kill for that tank. I meet up with the armor column and we prepare for another push.

So I've killed perhaps a half dozen or more infantry on the flag with no intention of capping it myself, used zero degree direct fire from an AA gun on a flag, succesfully damaged an enemy helicopter (damaging is more effective than outright killing, in my opinion, as the chopper must go back to base, repair, and fly back, all of which taken together takes more time than respawning and flying back). If any other enemy aircraft had flown near me, they, too, would've been suppressed.

I simply can not understand why anyone here would want to micromanage my game to such an extent that this use of AA becomes unacceptable. It is extremely lethal, but so is everything in this game. Play around with any of the tank's HEAP rounds against infantry and I think you'll be surprised. The blast is massive. It makes the AA's spash damage look weak in comparison. That's the way POE2 is, and I embrace it.

Finally, if you're getting killed over and over again while trying to spawn in, please take the initiative to concede the flag and spawn somewhere else. Both teams in POE2 have UCB's, the UCB's have domes of death, and if anyone infringes on your dome you'd best believe they will be kicked in short order. Take advantage of your safe haven and don't complain about being dominated on the field of battle by weapon systems which your team has in equal number.

This in my eyes could be a valid tactic, but I'd separate this use from occassionally seeing people simply light up a CP with the AA's massive splash damage for very extended periods of time, which I view more as spawn camping than anything else. The notion to 'simply spawn somewhere else' can also conflict with orders to defend that CP.

It's certainly a pet peeve of mine, but I've had very limited experience in POE2 (due to RL conflicts) in which what I perceived as abused AA almost exclusively on infantry played a large role decimating my squads in the few games I've played.