World of Tanks

[Strigon 13]

Last night I had an... interesting match in the Panther. Dunno what was going on the enemy team when I owned them so hard.

Also, those freaking invisitankers. They increased with the newest patch.

[Gravitas Free Zone]

Originally Posted by Tempester

I really hope the good lights like the RU251 and LTTB don't get nerfed. Rather, all underperforming lights should be buffed to meet or surpass the standards set by them. Light tanks need to have some advantages over their medium counterparts to compensate for their crippling lack of alpha, penetration, armor and HP.

WG, applying logic in some uniquely Slavic way:

Storm about future LT buff: “We will add viewrange. Or, to be more specific, we will nerf it on other tanks.”

[Tempester]

Originally Posted by Endless Knackwurst

WG, applying logic in some uniquely Slavic way:

That's a great idea, actually. It only needs to be supplemented by more light-friendly areas in maps.

Oh, and the T67 (tier 5 TD previously known as the T49) got a view range buff from 350m to 370m in exchange for an open top top turret. As if that deadly monster of all things needed a buff...

[Gravitas Free Zone]

Originally Posted by Tempester

That's a great idea, actually. It only needs to be supplemented by more light-friendly areas in maps.

That's just it... they say this on one hand, then make maps really hostile to passive scouting or even having useful cover for movement. Though that was more of a reaction to them power-creeping TDs too far and happening to break scouting along the way.

Putting the Pz38nA crew into the SpPz251 feels rather familiar in the "OMGDON'TGETSHOT" way, but at least the 251 can (a) haul ass and (b) shoot back. It's just a little loooooooong.

Oh, and the T67 (tier 5 TD previously known as the T49) got a view range buff from 350m to 370m in exchange for an open top top turret. As if that deadly monster of all things needed a buff...

This change actually made sense, that the open-topped turret would give a better view range than the enclosed sardine canthat used to be the final turret.

I thought they were going to nerf the T40's view range from 400 to 380 meters at some point? Because it hasn't happened yet, and I'm still horribly abusing people with it. I finally ditched the T18 for being totally opposed to my usual playstyle, and despite being afraid to damage my T40's WR with the T18's not-full-camo not-yet-Sixth-Sensed crew, it's still blowing the hell out of whatever I aim it at. (With the long gun; I can't stand miniderps anymore.)

Though... I'm tempted to try the stubby 122mm on the Tier 5 KV-1S, because it can actually maneuver a bit. Right now I'm using the 85mm, which is slightly better there versus the 85mm on the KV-1.

The premium tank XP buffs across the board are definitely noticeable; I'm trying to get the Teru Bozu crew back up to 100% and ran them through the Tetrarch, LTP, and Valentine II for a few games, and it felt weird to get 1000+ XP pretty consistently (with premium) down in Tier 2.

[VDZ]

Originally Posted by Endless Knackwurst

That's just it... they say this on one hand, then make maps really hostile to passive scouting or even having useful cover for movement. Though that was more of a reaction to them power-creeping TDs too far and happening to break scouting along the way.

As a scout, I don't mind the lack of cover nearly as much as the lack of view range...especially on maps with lack of cover. There's nothing worse than finding out there's a TD right in front of you by being insta-killed by it (or else at least not seeing it until you can't prevent driving straight into it).

Speaking of scouts, with the new patch there's a lot of scouts going around right now. I actually managed to get some decent matches in the 12t (well, decent for the 12t) because I wasn't constantly the only light in matches where half the players were tier 9.

[Gravitas Free Zone]

Well, that's one benchmark out of the way:

Images

Lil' Teru Teru Bozu

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During the fight I did something momentously stupid and drove a figure-eight around the Tiger and Tiger II to keep them distracted while the T32 and T20 (and myself) shot at them. The Tiger II resolutely ignored me, the Tiger ended up spinning around out of position. It worked out in the end.

Mind you, this is on the 1-row road in the NW corner. The figure-eight was done close enough to scrape paint.

Ended up getting killed while trying to finish off the Bulldog, once again because of the stupid gun depression—I started following it up a rise and ended up having the gun pointed uselessly into the air—maximum depression missed the M41's cupola by less than a foot. I can say "I'll keep that in mind," but with only about three degrees of gun depression on something that moves fast, it doesn't take much of a bump to screw things up.

Edited to add:

This was the first game I played in the LTTB since then.

Images

Raised the bar.

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I have to say that all the new ribbons make every halfway-decent game into some kind of Soviet-style awards party.

[VDZ]

Well, I hope you guys played the Tank Rally when it was first made available, because it's now turned into the Gold Rally. Playing without shooting gold non-stop makes almost every tactic non-viable and the only way to win is by
1) having the luck to play against enemies that are really bad (so you can outrun them so hard they can't shoot at you at cap); or
2) having a very skilled and well-coordinated team capable of both racing very quickly and blocking the enemy well.

Even if unlike me you're not the kind to refuse to shoot gold, gold invalidates various tactics, among which notably the standard racing to the finish - the several second advantage by just getting to cap faster is negated really quick when the enemy can 100% pen you from any distance (unlike non-gold matches, in which case if you get to cap first and take cover, then dodge when they get to you, you can even win on your own by simply being faster and dodging properly as they can't reset). With gold, barring severe incompetence or blocking strategies (which pretty much no-one is capable of if you're playing with randoms) it always ends up with a simple battle at the cap until one team is dead, regardless of what happens during the race.

I'm glad I played it a lot before goldspam became the norm.

[Chevalier]

Originally Posted by VDZ

Well, I hope you guys played the Tank Rally when it was first made available, because it's now turned into the Gold Rally. Playing without shooting gold non-stop makes almost every tactic non-viable and the only way to win is by
1) having the luck to play against enemies that are really bad (so you can outrun them so hard they can't shoot at you at cap); or
2) having a very skilled and well-coordinated team capable of both racing very quickly and blocking the enemy well.

Even if unlike me you're not the kind to refuse to shoot gold, gold invalidates various tactics, among which notably the standard racing to the finish - the several second advantage by just getting to cap faster is negated really quick when the enemy can 100% pen you from any distance (unlike non-gold matches, in which case if you get to cap first and take cover, then dodge when they get to you, you can even win on your own by simply being faster and dodging properly as they can't reset). With gold, barring severe incompetence or blocking strategies (which pretty much no-one is capable of if you're playing with randoms) it always ends up with a simple battle at the cap until one team is dead, regardless of what happens during the race.

I'm glad I played it a lot before goldspam became the norm.

^^ I think you almost described my platoon that time lol.

[Gravitas Free Zone]

I played a few games. It only really got interesting when I focused on getting behind the opposition, switching sides on the track, and beating on individual tanks to knock them out early. Didn't really need to load premium ammo for that, though.

As such, the game mode is not actually that much fun. The track is glitchy, most notably in the NE corner, where one pipe barrier can get you permanently stuck—or launched out of the map.

So I'm going to stick to grinding out the T95, where I can realistically say that while I can help a team out if they're not complete idiots, the overall swing of the game is largely out of my hands.

[Tempester]

Originally Posted by Endless Knackwurst

So I'm going to stick to grinding out the T95, where I can realistically say that while I can help a team out if they're not complete idiots, the overall swing of the game is largely out of my hands.

That's the one tank that's best platooned every chance you get, preferably with fast tanks.

[VDZ]

Originally Posted by Endless Knackwurst

It only really got interesting when I focused on getting behind the opposition, switching sides on the track, and beating on individual tanks to knock them out early. Didn't really need to load premium ammo for that, though.

You do. If you're not shooting gold and your enemy isn't grossly incompetent, they'll be shooting back with gold. If they're shooting non-gold, you have the advantage by being behind them, meaning you pen more often than them (since you're hitting their back and they're hitting your front). With gold, however, all bets are off; they'll pen you from the front every time they shoot (if their shot is not blocked by scenery; see incompetence) and you'll likely face fire from multiple tanks (since again, with gold range becomes meaningless, any distance will pen on contact), meaning even if you do shoot gold you'll be dealt more damage than you are dealing damage.

If neither side is shooting gold, it does become a skill issue and it can both win you the game or be remedied by skill (switching lanes to escape, blocking you so the person behind them catches up, or simply outrunning you).

[Tempester]

Tired of grinding a crew for sixth sense every time you get a pretty new tank? Fear no more!

- crew skills/perks will be reworked in order to make all of them attractive, so players don’t have such an easy choice
- sixth sense will be removed as a perk and everyone will get it automatically, it will be tied to the radioman (or crewman with radioman’s role)

Source

[Gravitas Free Zone]

Ah, giving Sixth Sense to the crewmember that dies the most and is healed the least. And in the glorious way that this game bends reality, having a guy inside the hull with terrible vision and a WWII-era radio being able to magically sense that the tank is being targeted. (Among all the other magical things that they do in this game.)

Or... maybe the operators are all Yuri clones.

The other issue of course, that crew training is really what people grind for in WoT, since it takes a lot of time focusing on one crew to get them to really high levels of skill, potentially even longer than going from Tier 1 to Tier 10. So they better account for what we've already done when they get around to doing this in 2099 or whenever.

[VDZ]

Originally Posted by Tempester

- sixth sense will be removed as a perk and everyone will get it automatically, it will be tied to the radioman (or crewman with radioman’s role)

This is very interesting for multiple reasons. Always having sixth sense is of course always nice, but it definitely has some strategic implications if everybody has sixth sense. I wonder if it'll become possible to intimidate everyone with a 'useless' tank in the current matchup by spotting them, as they can only see that they've been spotted, not who is actually capable of firing at them.

[Chevalier]

I aced the M3 Lee within 20 games of it today lol

[VDZ]

Originally Posted by Chevalier

I aced the M3 Lee within 20 games of it today lol

I aced the T57 (tier 2 arty) in my third game or so. Have gotten more Ace Tanker badges with it since, apparently everybody sucks with the T57.

Made the misclick of the century today, buying the Pz.Sfl. IVc instead of the Pz.Sfl. IVb. I was so, so confused when I was suddenly a tier 5 and I didn't have a top-down view when pressing shift.

[Strigon 13]

Spoiler for Stupid Win:

There's no way that the enemy team could have been this mentally retarded. I mean I just went to the mid and started to shot while in a very vulnerable position. The only one who did damage to me (or at least tried) was the BDR, the rest just stood there receiving hits like no tomorrow.

Don't want to upload the replay because it was.... lame.

[Gravitas Free Zone]

After intensely grinding the T95 for a week, the biggest problem I'm having with the grind itself is that I usually end up outliving everyone else on my team, meaning that each game actually slows down the grind because I can't just throw my hands up in frustration and go to another tank if/when something goes horribly wrong on the other flank. (Well, I could, but there's that huge penalty for quitting now.)

The alternative to this, trying to lead an attack if the tiering will support it, isn't all that great given people having either good aim and/or premium ammunition. So mostly I try to trundle along somewhere within two minutes' drive of the most favorable avenue for myself/whatever the hell stupid plan my side is trying to do and what happens, happens.

[Pen3]

Yeah that penalty of leaving early really kills it for me because i leave my games often. When the deployment is horrible because of all the reds on our team i will leave after a few minutes. I leave about 30% of my games on solo and when i plat with Zhao_zilong,we leave about 25% of our games early. It is just a total waste of time and lately we don't have much time to play tonks.

[Chevalier]

Okay, I just got fully upgraded M4 today. Should I use the 75mm or 100mm(howitzer)?