World of Tanks

[Tempester]

Originally Posted by Achiuakuna

Is a big boost to view range really better than smaller boosts to all aspects for all cases and all tanks though? If a tank's base view range is terrible to begin with, what is 10% more going to do?

Originally Posted by Endless Knackwurst

It's situational. Tempester had a link to a post about this a few pages back, which includes a critique of the actual benefit provided by vents, which in many cases isn't that much.

I'll spoonfeed save everyone the trouble of looking and just post the link again.

[Gravitas Free Zone]

Here's the fun part.

Vents was a piece that many players used to use and have only now started to switch away from, with droves migrating away post 8.6. Here's a little bit of math- Vents improves crew skill by 5%, which with the commander bonus, kicks over to 6% on your other crew members. This translates to a 2.2% increase in actual tangible performance. An equipment piece such as GLD or Optics, however, provides its 10% bonus directly to the stat in question, and is thus a much larger increase- but to only that one stat. Players used to argue (and some continue to do so) that Vents have a role to play on many tanks due to the bonuses it offers all around, for example to driving, gun handling, etc.



However, it is in my opinion easier to leverage a 10% increase in a single stat into actual advantages in combat than it is to leverage the jack of all trades performance that vents provide. 10% view range on tanks with 400m, like most top tiers, is huge; spotting a moving tank at 440m allows you to get off the first shot, perhaps without even being spotted; this phenomena is aggrandized by fast medium tanks, on which the use of Optics and camo can be leveraged for easy vision control.

[LeoXiao]

I bought some optics during the sale and will try them on the Japanese tanks, since my feeling is that they're going to be super reliant on having the best soft stats. If results are good I will probably consider using them on other vehicles.

[Achiuakuna]

Originally Posted by Endless Knackwurst

Here's the fun part.

Yeah I get that, but the focus seems to be mainly on end tiers where your view range is more or less 400m where 10% increase is a huge deal. In mid tiers you do come across tanks with prohibitively low view ranges specialized in other things. I still think(like you said earlier) one should assess each tank differently instead of taking what tier-10-only unicums said out of context and blindly apply it to all tanks (including arty...) like a lot of people.

Originally Posted by Tempester

I'll spoonfeed

Honestly don't see the necessity for that, but to each its own.

[Myssa Rei]

Anything with 350 view range (generally tier 5 meds and TDs) or more benefit from optics. Below that, like on heavies, which usually go up close and personal anyway, its use is limited.

I mount optics on both the Sherman and the Pz4 for example, and I get a lot of mileage, even when they're equipped with the derp. ESPECIALLY if they're equipped with the derp, because if I hit them before they spot me, well, that's a whole lot of damage done quickly.

[Achiuakuna]

Originally Posted by Myssa Rei

Anything with 350 view range (generally tier 5 meds and TDs) or more benefit from optics. Below that, like on heavies, which usually go up close and personal anyway, its use is limited.

Yeah. Like brawler heavies with bad aim time. I'd rather double up on vert stab and GLD in addition to rammer instead. And if it's below tier 8 where I can't mount the vert stab, I'd just put on a toolbox for the third slot. More useful for brawling and getting out of trouble.

EDIT: Psychological use of vents: I like to use cheap vents (the ones not for heavies that you can just toss) on my new tanks with bad crew so that I don't start off with 75%. It gives me a less plebeian feel.

[LeoXiao]

Achi, do you use optics on your Chi-nu-kai?

[Myssa Rei]

I stuck one on mine. The Chi-Nu Kai is relatively blind for a medium, but since I move around on it a lot, I figured that it's better than binocs.

[LeoXiao]

Originally Posted by Myssa Rei

I stuck one on mine. The Chi-Nu Kai is relatively blind for a medium, but since I move around on it a lot, I figured that it's better than binocs.

Do you do a lot of sniping with it, or is it more of a brawler?

[Myssa Rei]

Originally Posted by LeoXiao

Do you do a lot of sniping with it, or is it more of a brawler?

Snipe when you can, but it seems to work best as a mid-range fighter. It doesn't have the armor OR the mobility to prosper in a brawl against heavies or other mediums.

I have more than a few replays on the Chi-nu Kai. Hold on...

Just a few of the better games I've had on it...

[LeoXiao]

Cool, I'll intersperse those with my work.

[Gravitas Free Zone]

I didn't realize until just now what of mine was in the lead for this award.

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[Achiuakuna]

... I don't think I survived for more than 4 battles in total throughout my entire nA grind.

[Pen3]

I accidentally got into a tier10 battle on the Chi-Ri and ended somewhat good... I had a 704 charge me and i somehow killed him before game ended. I am at 81k exp right now and drawing close to the STA-1 for tomorrow.

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Yahh it is done!

Researched:STA-1 researched.
Undistributed experience spent: 111,000
Free Experience spent: 0

[Pen3]

Originally Posted by Endless Knackwurst

I didn't realize until just now what of mine was in the lead for this award.

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I didn't even realize that award existed and just had to look mine up. Now i am curious what Dai has for her banzai tactics.

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[Irenicus]

Is the Japanese line worth grinding for?

[Pen3]

The Chi-Ri is really good that i am keeping and leveling a new crew for it.

[Gravitas Free Zone]

My PzSflV made it to six consecutive games without taking any damage (then it got blown up in a game that managed to combine inconvenient lag spikes with a team that lemminged off in one direction, leaving me to cover an entire main approach).

The part that actually bothers me about this statistic is that the PzSflV only avoids damage by being too slow, unstealthy, and vulnerable to be operated close to the front. The last time I saw a PzSflV get too close to the front line, I one-shot it with my SU-152.

Anyway, I'm within a few games' grinding of unlocking the RBWT. I have the RBWT now. My impulse to free XP the goddamn suspension is held back by the thought that 100K for the enhanced suspension module as a temporary measure over a bonus XP weekend shouldn't be that bad.

So my only remaining active tank grind is the SU-152 to ISU-152, then it'll just be a matter of working up the XP for the very large final cannons on all these tier 8 TDs. And waiting for the ennui to set in.

[Irenicus]

I remember how hard playing tier 1 solo can be as I played 18 games on the slow, unweildy Renault Otsu (good final gun though).

There's far too many matches where carryhard just isn't going to be enough. On the plus side, I earned Ace Mastery on a lost Campinovka battle where I did 600 damage, facilitated 300+ more, and earned Patrol Duty + some other medal through a slow plod from bush to bush on the scout ridge while abusing my net/binocs.

Average xp on the tank is around 400 after this session. Ridiculous.

[Myssa Rei]

Got everything updated and... can't get in. The ping count on East seems to be hovering at THREE HUNDRED EIGHTY, something I've never seen before. The client seems to then get stuck on "synchronizing personal file". Hmm. Lets see if a proxy changes things.