World of Tanks IV: We're on Fire!

[GloatingSwine]

Welcome.

Note that the style of play changes drastically once you reach tier 4/5. And tier 4 can be incredibly awful if you're new to the game. (Pz 38 nA in particular, gets shafted, because it is "classified" as a scout tank even though it's unsuited to that role. A remnant of the old system and utterly outdated, since tier 4/5 lights are outclassed by mediums on higher tiers anyway.)

Just a heads up because Grif didn't actually explain that, "scout" classification means its matchmaking goes up to tier 8 not tier 6.

Generally light tanks above tier 4 get this expanded matchmaking range, on the German tree that's the Pz.38nA and the Luchs (and its children).

That out of the way, does anyone know a good guide to the various maps in the game? The ones I've found all seem to be either out of date, or focus too much on little tricks and tips rather than the broad strokes like where to go and what to do when you get there.

Probably the most useful guide, where not to go

[AMX]

Todays highlights:
-finally getting the Ace badge on the AMX M4
-losing on Highway despite playing the north side... for the first time since the patch. So far my results have been even more lopsided than before they "balanced" it.
-50 gold for nothing (OK, finding the code before it got posted everywhere... that's something, I suppose)

[GloatingSwine]

Got ace in the VK3001H today after about 6 games in it ever. Which was nice.

Only really have it to train repairs/sixth for a future Tiger P crew

[AgentPaper]

Any tips on where to go from the Marder II? I'm leaning towards the Hetzer, mostly because it seems to lead to better tanks, but the wiki doesn't seem to have much info on the tanks that the Marder 38T leads to, so maybe those are actually better?

Edit: Also, with the weekend sale, I'm looking to put some money into the game. Mostly I want to get a few more garage slots in preparation for future tank purchases, but I was also thinking of upgrading to premium as well. Any suggestions on how to get the most bang for my buck? Is premium worth it? Should I buy premium with gold or as part of one of the packs?

[Gnoman]

The Hetzer line is primarily well-armored, easily concealed vehicles with a fairly nice punch.

The 38t line is mostly very fragile, hard to hide tanks. That happen to have some of the most overpowered guns in the game. The tier V in the line has a gun only marginally worse than the top gun on the Tiger II, and it only gets crazier from there. However, they are ludicrously fragile, and have no camo.

I suggest you go Hetzer for now, as the other line is not very friendly to newer players, while the Hetzer line helps you to learn a number of important game mechanics as well as being a good TD primer.

Edit: There will be other sales. Don't put any money into the game until you have at least tier V tanks naturally. so you actually know what's worth spending money on to you.

[Janwin]

However, they are ludicrously fragile, and have no camo.

Barring a few select tanks in the tree. The Nashorn has very good camo, and the Rhm-B. has better camo than even a Hellcat. The WT auf PzIV also is quite good camo-wise.

[Gnoman]

Wasn't trying to go too in-depth and confuse the newbie. Besides which, I was mostly going from my own play experience, and since I've never had trouble seeing any of them (haven't bought my Nashorn yet, so my play experience with the line is limited), I believed that they shared the poor camo of the flakbus.

[Grif]

Edit: There will be other sales. Don't put any money into the game until you have at least tier V tanks naturally. so you actually know what's worth spending money on to you.

Aye. Nothing worse than burning money on a premium that you'd absolutely hate to drive down the line. For better or for worse, they'll be in your garage permanently.

[AgentPaper]

Aye. Nothing worse than burning money on a premium that you'd absolutely hate to drive down the line. For better or for worse, they'll be in your garage permanently.

Oh I definitely won't be buying any tanks. I just bought a bit of gold (1250 I think) and used it to get 7 days premium, 3 more garage slots, and a bit more free experience so I can continue to avoid driving stock tanks.

I was just wondering if it was worthwhile to buy the packages that come with gold and premium time, or just to buy gold and use that to buy premium. After comparing the prices a bit, it looks like it is in fact much better to just buy gold and use that to buy premium time, by a rather large margin, so I did that.

Anyways, just picked up the Durchbruchswagen 2, and should pick up the Luchs soon, and soon after that I should have enough XP and monies to grab the Hetzer as well. Trying to play the field a bit to try out a lot of different tanks, though all in the german line to hopefully at least share some parts.

[Grif]

Oh I definitely won't be buying any tanks. I just bought a bit of gold (1250 I think) and used it to get 7 days premium, 3 more garage slots, and a bit more free experience so I can continue to avoid driving stock tanks.

I was just wondering if it was worthwhile to buy the packages that come with gold and premium time, or just to buy gold and use that to buy premium. After comparing the prices a bit, it looks like it is in fact much better to just buy gold and use that to buy premium time, by a rather large margin, so I did that.

Anyways, just picked up the Durchbruchswagen 2, and should pick up the Luchs soon, and soon after that I should have enough XP and monies to grab the Hetzer as well. Trying to play the field a bit to try out a lot of different tanks, though all in the german line to hopefully at least share some parts.

D.W.2 isn't a true heavy tank, truth be told. (KV-1 would be the classical example of a true heavy tank.)

But yes, you definitely should try out all the lines and see what suits you. Bear in mind tanks of different nationality can play very differently even though they're in the same class.

[AgentPaper]

D.W.2 isn't a true heavy tank, truth be told. (KV-1 would be the classical example of a true heavy tank.)

What did the D.W. 2 say to the other D.W. 2?

"Oh hey look, a tank I have a chance of beating!"

Yeah, I've been fairly...underwhelmed by the D.W. 2 so far. Supposedly the tanks it leads to are better, but looking over the tanks I'm starting to question my choice of investing in the German line of tanks at all. It seems like the vast majority of them are simply terrible at what they're supposedly meant to do, and not much good at anything else, either.

I'm thinking I might try starting a line down the American tech tree, towards the Sherman at least to start, to see if I like their tanks better. If I do, I'll probably end up selling most of my German tanks, or at least the low-tier ones I don't need anymore/aren't fun to play (like the Pz. G).

[Grif]

What did the D.W. 2 say to the other D.W. 2?

"Oh hey look, a tank I have a chance of beating!"

Yeah, I've been fairly...underwhelmed by the D.W. 2 so far. Supposedly the tanks it leads to are better, but looking over the tanks I'm starting to question my choice of investing in the German line of tanks at all. It seems like the vast majority of them are simply terrible at what they're supposedly meant to do, and not much good at anything else, either.

I'm thinking I might try starting a line down the American tech tree, towards the Sherman at least to start, to see if I like their tanks better. If I do, I'll probably end up selling most of my German tanks, or at least the low-tier ones I don't need anymore/aren't fun to play (like the Pz. G).

The German tree requires... a certain finesse to them. They're certainly not what I'll recommend for one who just started out. Try the Russian tree. They're the most newb friendly and forgiving overall.

[GloatingSwine]

Fortunately the reason everyone starts with the German tanks is actually valid now, since they buffed the Tiger a few patches ago and it's actually really good now. I would say at least stick with that line of heavy tanks, the Tiger is good and the E75/E100 are excellent.


But yeah, the D.W.2 is comedy rubbish just like the only other tier 4 heavy (and like the B1 it gets restricted matchmaking, only sees Tier 4 and 5 games).


American tanks are quite good, many of them rely on using the terrain to maximise their strengths though, learning to take up hull down positions where the enemy can only see your turret is key to their effective use.

[Saambell]

Been playing since fall 2013. Name is MajorCactus on the NA East server.
only on tier 4 right now. 3 goals in mind at the moment. M4, T-34, Pz4.
of course this means i have 2 big headaches. M3(8501exp(So close to M4)) and 38na(almost 2000(got all the upgrades i wanted)) .
BUT! today i just had the best games in them i have had since i got them. for 3 games in a row i survived until the end in my M3. and in the 38na i finally got a match that was max t6, a proper tier for my little shell magnet.
i know i am a bad driver, i still can't remember which key to press to turn the way i want when in reverse. i can barely lead my shots on a moving target. i do have the general layout of most of the maps ive played on at least somewhere in my mind so i am not completely lost in the maps.

my win ratio is probably down in the hole. but all i really care is: I'm Driving a Tank! WOOO! and winning does feel good.

[KillianHawkeye]

You know you play this game too much when you start feeling like your car is more like a very small tank.

[Calen]

You know you play to much when you start thinking about proper hull angle or tank weak spots in other games. (Trying to tread a tank in Battlefield 4 doesn't really work)

[Leon]

T28 Prototype.
Is it worthwhile to get and suffer through the T25/2?

Tier 8 seems to be a sweet spot for TDs ~ I have a Jp2 and my ISU-152 and was wondering about the t28 for some turreted change. Eventually will be getting a Borsig but that's a ways off yet as I have yet to start on the Stur Emil

[Grif]

T28 Prototype.
Is it worthwhile to get and suffer through the T25/2?

Tier 8 seems to be a sweet spot for TDs ~ I have a Jp2 and my ISU-152 and was wondering about the t28 for some turreted change. Eventually will be getting a Borsig but that's a ways off yet as I have yet to start on the Stur Emil

That depends. The T28 Proto has a good gun, and decent armour for its tier, but for a max top speed of 15km/h. (Think TOG II) The lack of mobility really hurts its potential. And even then, tier 9 and 10 guns would have no trouble ripping through your frontal armour.

It's a fun TD, capable of working as a heavy in a pinch, but it's not going to carry games.

[GloatingSwine]

Spoiler

Show

Spoilered for the chronically timid in the audience.

Bat Chat stronk tenk, most fun tenk EU.

Also check out that cheeky arty at the end. Sneaky, but not sneaky enough mon ami!

[SanguisAevum]

Nice game.

I was close to tenk-suicide over the last couple if days. Posting multiple 3k-5k damage games but not rnough to carry super retard teams.

One despicable game on himmledorf saw my lone E100 hold tank ally vs 6 of the enemy tanks (killing 4 of them in the process) but the 14 other team members not only failed to take advantage of this, but managed to lose the hill and the train yard against the meagre enemy forces present there.

Frustrating is not the right word.

[GloatingSwine]

Today's ****lord moment was also on Himmelsdorf, pushed the other team off the hill, was going down the 0 line chasing a Patton, stopped at the corner when a Tiger 2 behind me just carried on into me and kept pushing, pushed me out into the south alley right in front of a Jagdpanzer E100.

Ruined what could have been another blinder of a game.

Also had a game in the 3002M where we were 12-4 down in four minutes. Which was nice.

[Leon]

Word of the Day is Boom.

Top damage and Top Exp in my ISU-152 during a T10 match (4624 Damage / 1168 Exp) on my x2. It being a BL-10 2 of my 9 shots went AWOL. Earned High Caliber Award and equaled my current mastery level (1st Class)

Had a IS-3 say "nice gold" and he was sent a after battle message of "look at the Pen on a BL-10 AP shell and ask your self why would i shoot APCR at the side of a IS-3"

Also completed 2 Missions for a extra 100000 credits which was good

[AgentPaper]

Working up the American line, just at the M2 Medium so far, and man this feels SO much more like a tank compared to the German ones I've reached so far. Just a solid all-around tank with a good gun.

[otakuryoga]

Working up the American line, just at the M2 Medium so far, and man this feels SO much more like a tank compared to the German ones I've reached so far. Just a solid all-around tank with a good gun.

with a few exceptions *cough m3Lee cough*
you just described the entire US tank line

[AgentPaper]

with a few exceptions *cough m3Lee cough*
you just described the entire US tank line

Yeah, I just bought my M3, hoping to get through it quick and into the M4, which should make up for it. Just need a few more 75% crew members and I'll be able to start working on it.

Edit: Is the german light tank line worthwhile? I'm debating selling of my Luchs and focusing on just the Hetzer and the DW2 line, the former of which I already like, and the latter of which I'm told gets much better (anything has to be better than the DW2, though).

[MCerberus]

on the 360, the light lines end at tier 5, so all I know is that the Leopard scout is an IMMENSE disappointment.

Speaking of ending at tier 5, there's only half of the Brit medium line in. It ends at the Crusader. AND I HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE IT. There are simply no words. It's like a Ram 2 that just gets one shot by everything that uses HE.

[Gnoman]

Yeah, I just bought my M3, hoping to get through it quick and into the M4, which should make up for it. Just need a few more 75% crew members and I'll be able to start working on it.

Edit: Is the german light tank line worthwhile? I'm debating selling of my Luchs and focusing on just the Hetzer and the DW2 line, the former of which I already like, and the latter of which I'm told gets much better (anything has to be better than the DW2, though).

The German lights are pure scouts, with guns that are completely unsuited to the tiers they face. If you want to scout, they're quite good at that, but they're useless for the sort of slashing/circling attacks you see from the better American scouts, or the nasty ambushes from tanks like the ELC AMX. They also run parallel to the second German medium line, so you can get to the (Tier X) Leopard without touching them.

[Grif]

Yeah, I just bought my M3, hoping to get through it quick and into the M4, which should make up for it. Just need a few more 75% crew members and I'll be able to start working on it.

Edit: Is the german light tank line worthwhile? I'm debating selling of my Luchs and focusing on just the Hetzer and the DW2 line, the former of which I already like, and the latter of which I'm told gets much better (anything has to be better than the DW2, though).

Yeah, you can safely skip the Luchs line for now.

On that note, if you're feeling adventurous, try the Flakbox line as well. (Marder 38T, Pz Sfl IVc, Nashorn.) Great gun on a carriage made of cardboard.

[GloatingSwine]

The German lights are pure scouts, with guns that are completely unsuited to the tiers they face. If you want to scout, they're quite good at that, but they're useless for the sort of slashing/circling attacks you see from the better American scouts, or the nasty ambushes from tanks like the ELC AMX. They also run parallel to the second German medium line, so you can get to the (Tier X) Leopard without touching them.

Sadly they're unsuited to scouting as well, with relatively poor camo ratings, and in the case of the tier 7 awfulpanther absolute garbage camo.

The only light lines worth pursuing for the sake of playing light tanks at the moment are really the French and Chinese, and the T71, but the US light line is being restructured at some point.

[Gnoman]

I had some pretty decent passive-scouting games in my Luchs before I decided that I really don't like being a scout. They're certainly better than "scouts" like the A-20 or Pz 38 NA, both of which are pretty nice tanks in their own tier, but are absolutely useless with scout MM.