World of Tanks

[Myssa Rei]

Originally Posted by RWBladewing

In all seriousness though, I do actually believe that my recent WN8 being light blue represents a massive flaw in that system.

One of the accepted weakness of the WN8 measure is how it puts a lot of weight on a few things: damage and winrate, as well as the tier level and "accepted" skill limits of the tanks being played. Indeed, people soon discovered that all it took to break the equation was play high tiers (7s to Xs) for a few games... then change to a low-tier yet high damaging tank like the ELC AMX or (prior to the nerf) the Hellcat. 10k+ WN easy.

Plus you might be playing tanks with low "ceilings" (mostly tanks that are unpopular). Why? Unpopular tanks tend to jack WN ratings due to their lower sample numbers compared to, say, the T-54, which is the darling of unica. So it's actually easier to get a high-WN game from playing well in something like, say, the AMX-40 (not really liked and only played regularly by people who love punishment), than the T29 (played a lot).

[RWBladewing]

Originally Posted by Myssa Rei

Plus you might be playing tanks with low "ceilings" (mostly tanks that are unpopular). Why? Unpopular tanks tend to jack WN ratings due to their lower sample numbers compared to, say, the T-54, which is the darling of unica. So it's actually easier to get a high-WN game from playing well in something like, say, the AMX-40 (not really liked and only played regularly by people who love punishment), than the T29 (played a lot).

Eh... Lately I've been playing the T29, IS-3, IS-6, and Tiger I pretty much exclusively so I don't think this is likely the case haha. Somehow my WN8 even jumped up pretty significantly with the revision a couple days ago, despite the expected damage for 3 of those 4 only going down by 5 points of damage max and the expected damage of the Tiger actually going up by over 100. It's probably still left over from my time spamming the KV-220 which continues to have a shockingly low expected damage despite its crazy ability to carry top tier games.

[Gravitas Free Zone]

Looking at my charts on Noobmeter (which have a slight but noticeable statistical variance from WoTLabs), around 10000 games ago my win rate started to slide down, but my average damage and XP went up; that roughly also corresponds to the point when I began to seriously grind away at my Tier 10s from Tier 8.

The expected damages are a little weird sometimes; I can think of a number of examples of bad games in the AMX 50 120 where I shot off one to one-and-a-half clips worth of damage and then got obliterated (like I said, I'm not comfortable in the thing, 53.66% WR with it is an illusion (and decreasing)), but even that was enough to pull in a very high single-game WN8 because there are apparently a lot of even suckier players (back to the whole issue with popularity and ceilings).

Also, talk me out of getting the Sherman Jumbo again when it goes on sale during the US phase of the March of Nations discounts. A very long time ago, I blew through it to get the T29 (and fortunately I already had the 90mm from the T20, so I wasn't one of those poor helpless fools out there driving a T29 with the 76mm gun), and managed to hold up a 61% WR in 77 games with it... but that was before the HEAT nerf and accuracy buff.

There's no real reason for me to get the Jumbo again, I'm just curious. I suppose that if I really wanted to throw my time away I'd get the M3 Lee again, but it seems like getting the Grant when the other British TD line opens up would be a better choice.

And... time for a WG money grab, the E-25 is going away in a month. I don't think the E-25 is OP, which has no relation to my having a bad WR in the thing, I know what I do wrong, which is what a lot of other people do wrong, not hiding/relocating/not getting shot at. There are plenty of bad players with E-25s to more than balance out the few good ones and skilled platoons. Add to that the maps becoming much less sniper-friendly and it's just... not that OP.

[RWBladewing]

Originally Posted by Endless Knackwurst

Also, talk me out of getting the Sherman Jumbo again when it goes on sale during the US phase of the March of Nations discounts.

Tier 8 games with the 76 mm gun or a derp that hits for sub-100 damage if any.
Everyone firing gold so the armor is useless unless top tier and sometimes even then.
Too sluggish to be an effective flanker or scout.

I would seriously rather play the Lee than the Jumbo. Even if it gets 1-shotted by half the tanks in a +2 tier game it can still put out some decent damage, something I was never able to do with the Jumbo.

[Gravitas Free Zone]

Not my game (Clan Wars, Conqueror Gun Carriage), but...

YOUR TEARS ARE DELICIOUS.

[Rokumonsen]

Looks like I'm improving a bit. My average kill is now 1 per game.

Oh, and my T-26 is now elite. And it really fits my playstyle. Now going for the T-46 Elite.

[Strigon 13]

Originally Posted by Zero-2

Looks like I'm improving a bit. My average kill is now 1 per game.

Oh, and my T-26 is now elite. And it really fits my playstyle. Now going for the T-46 Elite.

I just hope you could retain your sanity the moment you get the T-28. It's not as bad as in the past, but still is suffering.

[Rokumonsen]

I'm trying my luck with the German line for the meantime. I'm doing good, so far.

[Ascaloth]

So, it turns out that by selling some of the Coated Optics I've been hoarding (equipment sale coming soon, s'all good), I can score one more Tier X before the end of the sale. Currently, I have 3 unlocked, and I'm not likely to finish the grind for any other before then.

So, which one should I go for?

Maus: I'm not planning to play it much (if at all). So, it's mainly for bragging rights, having a 'notorious' tank in my garage, and acquiring the other 'original' Tier X HT after the IS-7. However, I'm still in the midst of training a halfway passable crew for it.

E-100: Probably the most CW-capable of my choices, plus I have the best-trained crew of the three choices. However, I would have to convert more free EXP for the gold gun, plus spend an additional fortune on gold ammo in the first place... so, yeah. Not sure about something I probably won't be playing much compared to my other tanks.

FV4202: I have a passable crew for it, but I don't really care for this tank that much. However, it does mean I can automatically get the Action X Centurion down the line, and that I don't mind collecting.

In addition,

FV215b: Currently grinding the Conqueror, and I'm about 70k EXP off the mark. With the exp bonuses coming up, it's 50-50 I can accrue enough by the end of the sale. Like the FV4202, I don't care much for it... but also, I can automatically get the Chieftain down the line. Now that, I'll love to have.

Once 9.5 hits, I'll also be grinding towards the Firefly.

So, yeah. Which one is the best idea?

[Pen3]

I have been playing my STB-1 a lot lately, about 75% of the time. Starting to get decent in the thing and it takes lots of practice.
I actually ran out of AP this game and wasted lots of money shooting gold on WT100, Arty, ISU152 and T54E1....
http://wotreplays.com/site/1434395#s...ver-pen3-stb-1

[Rokumonsen]

Just another noob question: should I get a skill/perk first before jumping tanks?

[Myssa Rei]

Originally Posted by Zero-2

Just another noob question: should I get a skill/perk first before jumping tanks?

It's advisable to have your first skill/perk at 100% by tier 5, and absolutely have Sixth sense before tier 6. Your crew has to more or less have 100% (skill), and maybe 50% in their second skill by that point too.

Don't rush through the tiers. Master your tank (get a feel, 52%+), and get a feel for the tier in general, before moving up.

[VDZ]

Originally Posted by Zero-2

Just another noob question: should I get a skill/perk first before jumping tanks?

No, not in the low tiers. Be aware that skills also need to be trained to 100% as with general crew competency, and it takes longer to train a skill/perk than to get crew to 100%. (Also notable is that to raise crew competency or skills/perks by 1% takes increasingly more experience as it gets higher; the first 50% is done easily, while the latter 50% takes far longer. The last 10% in particular is suffering. Also, perks don't do anything until 100%.) For each skill beyond the first, you need even more experience.

For reference, I've played 1449 battles in my BT-2 and I'm still learning my third skill.

[RWBladewing]

Originally Posted by Myssa Rei

It's advisable to have your first skill/perk at 100% by tier 5, and absolutely have Sixth sense before tier 6. Your crew has to more or less have 100% (skill), and maybe 50% in their second skill by that point too.

Don't rush through the tiers. Master your tank (get a feel, 52%+), and get a feel for the tier in general, before moving up.

I agree with wanting to have Sixth Sense before tier 6 but 100% in a skill by tier 5 is too harsh. Tiers 3 and 4 have terrible matchmaking and many terrible tanks, and those tiers are so full of yolo'ing and general randomness that you don't really learn a whole lot from them. Playing the hundreds of battles required to grind a skill in tanks that have to face guaranteed 1-shot derp cannons in nearly all of them totally sucks. Tier 5 was where I learned the game and I'd recommend that to anyone else too.

[Ascaloth]

Take note of the three main Skills in particular; Repair, Camouflage, and Firefighting. The effectiveness of all three is averaged out over the entire crew, meaning each and every single one of them must have the same Skill at 100%, for you to get the maximum benefit out of them.

When training Skills, the go-to setup is usually Mentor on the Commander (to speed up crew EXP gain), and Repair on the rest (since it's almost always useful whatever the vehicle, or the level of the Repair Skill).

Also, I see nobody cares to respond to me anymore.

[Tempester]

Originally Posted by Pen3

I have been playing my STB-1 a lot lately, about 75% of the time. Starting to get decent in the thing and it takes lots of practice.

Look at this scrub. Look at him and laugh.

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I don't know if it's just really bad luck with teams or if I just plain suck at this tank.

Originally Posted by Ascaloth

Take note of the three main Skills in particular; Repair, Camouflage, and Firefighting. The effectiveness of all three is averaged out over the entire crew, meaning each and every single one of them must have the same Skill at 100%, for you to get the maximum benefit out of them.

Unless you're in a tank that catches fire all the time, or in a tank in which you prefer to replace a fire extinguisher with food for an improved crew, firefighting isn't a good choice for a starting skill or even a second skill.

It's a good idea to put an automatic fire extinguisher on nearly every single tank you have. Yes, that includes those throwaway low tier tanks that you might be grinding. The amount of automatic fire extinguishers I've gotten for free from missions far outnumbers the number of times my tanks have caught fire. Not only do they keep you from receiving additional damage from fires, but they reduce the chance of your tank catching on fire.

Originally Posted by Ascaloth

When training Skills, the go-to setup is usually Mentor on the Commander (to speed up crew EXP gain), and Repair on the rest (since it's almost always useful whatever the vehicle, or the level of the Repair Skill).

Sixth sense is an obligatory first skill for the commander on every tank. Every single tank. Mentor can be a second or third skill, but even then recon or situation awareness can be more beneficial depending on the tank. High view-range mediums and lights can easily make back the tiny amount of XP that could have been gained by the mentor skill by simply spotting enemies more and winning more battles as a result.

[Ascaloth]

Originally Posted by Tempester

Sixth sense is an obligatory first skill for the commander on every tank. Every single tank. Mentor can be a second or third skill, but even then recon or situation awareness can be more beneficial depending on the tank. High view-range mediums and lights can easily make back the tiny amount of XP that could have been gained by the mentor skill by simply spotting enemies more and winning more battles as a result.

Sixth Sense is a Perk. It does jack shit until it reaches 100%.

For grinding the first set of skills on a relatively fresh crew, Mentor is useful from the get-go, even if it's just squeezing just that tiny drop more of crew EXP out of the other crew. Goes double if "Accelerate Crew Training" is selectable; the Commander himself might not benefit from Mentor, but being more likely to fall behind his crew in terms of total crew EXP also means he benefits from the double crew EXP growth that much often. That means it's useful for getting the Commander to that 100% faster, so you can put Sixth Sense on him sooner.

Otherwise, once the crew has completed its first set of Skills, even after re-skilling... yeah, agreed. Sixth Sense is a must-have.

Things might change soon though, if WG talking about moving it to the Radioman is any indication.

[Tempester]

Originally Posted by Ascaloth

Sixth Sense is a Perk. It does jack shit until it reaches 100%.

That's true. In the end it depends on whether you're willing to spend the 100 or 200 gold to drop your commander's skills to switch to sixth sense upon unlocking your first skill or just choose sixth sense from the start and wait it out until you've unlocked your first skill.

[Pen3]

Originally Posted by Tempester

Look at this scrub. Look at him and laugh.

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I don't know if it's just really bad luck with teams or if I just plain suck at this tank

Look at my T-54 lol

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[Gravitas Free Zone]

Originally Posted by Ascaloth

Also, I see nobody cares to respond to me anymore.

Get the E-100. You'll get to brush up on your angling skills and your aim (because HEAT does not solve everything and it's too expensive to waste), but it's probably the most straightforward vehicle on your list in terms of driving it.

(It's also the only vehicle on your list that I actually presently own.)