World of Tanks IV: We're on Fire!

[GloatingSwine]

As an example of how far we went with that.

On a less extreme note, a number of British tank models in WoT have wing mirrors, which amuses me no end.

Does anybody know if WG has ever made a statement on the Churchill AVRE? They introduced the TOG II*, so having unique tanks isn't out of the question.

The problem with the AVRE variants is the armament.

The choices are either a 290mm mortar or a 165mm demolition gun that only fires HESH.

So you'd have a vehicle which had the hull and mobility of a Churchill and firepower close to the FV215b 183.

How the hell do you even try and balance that?

Centurion AVRE is a more likely candidate because there were versions of that fitted with the L7 105mm.

They probably won't cut anything. The client's a fair old size on the hard drive but it looks like it compresses pretty well, so download isn't too much of a problem. (I scratch downloaded the latest test build and it was just under 8GB, whereas it's 21GB installed).

Plus it's nowhere near the biggest F2P client I've seen. TERA is a 60GB download.

[otakuryoga]

The problem with the AVRE variants is the armament.

The choices are either a 290mm mortar or a 165mm demolition gun that only fires HESH.

So you'd have a vehicle which had the hull and mobility of a Churchill and firepower close to the FV215b 183.

How the hell do you even try and balance that?

Centurion AVRE is a more likely candidate because there were versions of that fitted with the L7 105mm.

They probably won't cut anything. The client's a fair old size on the hard drive but it looks like it compresses pretty well, so download isn't too much of a problem. (I scratch downloaded the latest test build and it was just under 8GB, whereas it's 21GB installed).

Plus it's nowhere near the biggest F2P client I've seen. TERA is a 60GB download.

so give us the mortar version as an arty piece
a jumbo Bishop if you please..i LOVE me my Bishop

[Grif]

The problem with the AVRE variants is the armament.

The choices are either a 290mm mortar or a 165mm demolition gun that only fires HESH.

So you'd have a vehicle which had the hull and mobility of a Churchill and firepower close to the FV215b 183.

How the hell do you even try and balance that?

Probably with accuracy on par with the T92, or even worse.

[GloatingSwine]

so give us the mortar version as an arty piece
a jumbo Bishop if you please..i LOVE me my Bishop

With historically accurate range.

80 metres.

[Calen]

With historically accurate range.

80 metres.

It sounds great in theory but the MM would have a field day with that.
A 80 meter range would be good on what 3-4 maps? I can play arty on city maps, but an AVRE on some of those open maps would be an exercise in futility IMO.

[Leon]

Used the x5 weekend to finally Unlock the 128mm on my JP2 and unlocked the AT-15 aswell as buy some gear for assorted things that needed it including pre buying gear for a Ferdinand that i plan to get for Historical battles along with a refill on Consumables.

[darksolitaire]

Say what you will on the 5*experience, I got my Chi-To thanks to it. I also bought T95, but I didn't manage to play more then two games with it. It's one thing to understand how slow it is, experiencing it first hand is quite the other. First game in El-Halluf I soaked up ~12k of damage, but I was permatracked in the end and my team got rolled before I got chance to properly participate. Next I was on Ruinberg and Foolishly went to the city, only to be lead up by the enemy while friendlies didn't manage to hold anything long enough for me to get a shot in.

[KillianHawkeye]

So......... the World of Tanks Xbox 360 Edition just released the 1.1 patch. The biggest part is that crews are now fully functional, although I'm still not really sure how they work. It seems as though you need to fill the crew XP gauge, and then you can start getting skills or perks or whatever. Does anybody have any advice on which perks are worth it and which ones not to bother with?

[Brother Oni]

So......... the World of Tanks Xbox 360 Edition just released the 1.1 patch. The biggest part is that crews are now fully functional, although I'm still not really sure how they work. It seems as though you need to fill the crew XP gauge, and then you can start getting skills or perks or whatever. Does anybody have any advice on which perks are worth it and which ones not to bother with?

Crew members have to max out their role competency before they start on getting skills or perks. The Commander adds 10% of his competency to his crew, so a maxed out crew will have 110% in their role. This competency translated directly to their job, so a tank with a 110% gunner will aim faster, a 110% driver will turn/accelerate faster and have a slightly higer top speed, etc.

Their role also dictates what skills/perks they have available outside of a general pool (Repair, Camouflage, etc). Note that in tanks with smaller crews, a single crew member may serve multiple roles, so have multiple skill/perk options while in that tank - transferring them to a different tank with less combined roles will deactivate any skills/perks outside of their new crew position.

Skills start working immediately, with increasing ability as the percentage gets higher. Perks only work once they hit 100%, so it's a good tactic to train a skill then retrain it to a perk once you've hit 100% (there is a loss in experience on retraining which can be mitigated with credits or negated entirely with gold, so you often train past the required point to offset this loss).

Finally there are some skills which work optimally when everybody has it (e.g. Repair, Camouflage) or only work when everybody has it (Brothers in Arms, which is a perk as well so it'll take a while before you see any real improvement).

As for which skills/perks are best, it depends on your playstyle and which tank you're driving. I find that highly mobile tanks like Off Road Driving, Camouflage works well for passive scouting tanks and you can never go wrong with Repair on anything that's likely to take a beating.
Sixth Sense is highly recommended on your commander (depending on the 360 implementation of it), although Mentor is a good thing to train up inbetween.

I'm sure the more experienced players have other suggestions.

[Grif]

The new patch is hitting the Asia server tomorrow.

Can't wait for historical battles. I really want to take my T-34-85 out for a spin.

[darksolitaire]

As for which skills/perks are best, it depends on your playstyle and which tank you're driving. I find that highly mobile tanks like Off Road Driving, Camouflage works well for passive scouting tanks and you can never go wrong with Repair on anything that's likely to take a beating.
Sixth Sense is highly recommended on your commander (depending on the 360 implementation of it), although Mentor is a good thing to train up inbetween.

I'm sure the more experienced players have other suggestions.

Camo skill was always staple for tank destroyers, but in the current meta it's also the go to skill for mediums. No-one wants to be seen, never.

Edit: Pz 4 Ausf D Ace Tankers are easy to get for now.

Defeat
Battle: Prokhorovka
Vehicle: Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. D
Experience received: 879
Credits received: 19*362
Battle achievements: Top Gun, High Caliber, Sharpshooter, Mastery Badge: "Ace Tanker"

This thing is most fun I've had in some time. I constantly forget it's not the tier 5 Pz 4. It has 21 ponies per 1 ton, meaning it accelerates quickly, and 103 penetration is enough against most enemies. Now, if I could only find one and kill it

[AdmiralCheez]

I don't suppose there's a way to stop getting in battles with tanks two tiers higher than you, is there? I'm getting pretty tired of not being able to penetrate anyone's armor, while they can all one-shot me.

Also, any idea if the new HD models in the next update will add interiors to the tank? It's not really that critical, but I find it a little strange to look inside a destroyed tank and find it's just an empty, hollow shell. It'd be kinda neat to see smashed engine pieces, or damaged crew controls.

[Grif]

I don't suppose there's a way to stop getting in battles with tanks two tiers higher than you, is there? I'm getting pretty tired of not being able to penetrate anyone's armor, while they can all one-shot me.

Also, any idea if the new HD models in the next update will add interiors to the tank? It's not really that critical, but I find it a little strange to look inside a destroyed tank and find it's just an empty, hollow shell. It'd be kinda neat to see smashed engine pieces, or damaged crew controls.

Sadly no. Although some people claim to have found success by looking at the wait screen and exiting if there's too many tanks of higher tier than you.

[AdmiralCheez]

I might have to try that some time. It just seems like a poor design choice to match that wide of a tier gap. One tier difference I can handle, but two just makes me into cannon fodder. The point is to gain experience to get to higher tiers, but I can't gain experience from being one-shot the instant someone sees me. I also can't gain experience from damage, since I can't penetrate their armor. And of course, sitting around doing nothing, just trying to survive the battle also gains no experience.

I know it sounds like a lot of complaining, but aside from a few frustrating things, I really do enjoy this game.

[Grif]

I might have to try that some time. It just seems like a poor design choice to match that wide of a tier gap. One tier difference I can handle, but two just makes me into cannon fodder. The point is to gain experience to get to higher tiers, but I can't gain experience from being one-shot the instant someone sees me. I also can't gain experience from damage, since I can't penetrate their armor. And of course, sitting around doing nothing, just trying to survive the battle also gains no experience.

I know it sounds like a lot of complaining, but aside from a few frustrating things, I really do enjoy this game.

It used to be much, much worse, with a +-4 tier spread.

Just think on that for a second.

(Yes, your T-28 could have met an IS-3)

[Leon]

Oh the Huge manatee of a 2 tier spread... I advise you to not drive a t4 or t5 light then.

Every tank in a game is useful regardless of whether it can pen a target or not.

[AdmiralCheez]

Just think on that for a second.

I... what? ...

How did that even work? Er, well, I guess it didn't, seen as they apparently changed it.
Now that I know that, my complaint just seems silly, now.

[Grif]

I... what? ...

How did that even work? Er, well, I guess it didn't, seen as they apparently changed it.
Now that I know that, my complaint just seems silly, now.

It "worked" for over two years. They only saw fit to change it about a year ago.

In any case, being bottom tier now isn't so bad. In theory, even bottom-tier tanks can damage higher tiers given the chance, usually either by flanking or using premium rounds. Not all tanks are made equal however, and some function better as a bottom-tier than others. Eg, KV-1 is a beast when top tier, and mediocre if it gets shunted into a tier VII game. By contrast, tanks like T49, Hellcat and T29 function well even when relegated to the bottom.

[Brother Oni]

I... what? ...

How did that even work? Er, well, I guess it didn't, seen as they apparently changed it.
Now that I know that, my complaint just seems silly, now.

As Leon suggested, you should stay away from scout tanks then as they still have the expanded match making. I've had the bowel loosening terror of being a T-50 (tier 4) in a tier 9 game.

[GloatingSwine]

"scout" matchmaking is being tightened as well soon, probably in 9.1

Will mean that most scout tanks will only get +3 not +4 matchmaking.

When you're bottom tier just remember, the sides and back of just about anything you meet will still let you do damage. (some people use that T-28's 57mm gun on the A-43 two tiers higher, it can damage tier 8 tanks if you shoot the right bits. Hell i've used that gun in tier 10 matches on the 59-16, sides and rears.)

[AdmiralCheez]

I guess I still have to work on my strategies then. I try to flank whenever I can, but that usually ends with me getting flanked in turn by enemy TD's. I'm thinking I should also hang back for a bit, and go with a second attack wave, rather than trying to get to the action right away. At the very least, that should prevent me from being among the first to die, and the surviving enemies should be lower on health at that point.

[GloatingSwine]

T-28 is made of finest Soviet cardboard, so you should definitely try not to be the first into the fray.

Also, tank destroyers are predictable beasties, get in the habit of looking at your minimap regularly and recognise the positions they like to lurk in. If you haven't seen them cleaned out of those positions they're probably still there.

[Jimorian]

Wow, that was weird. Just had a game in Swamp in my T1 Heavy, and we were winning fairly well, with 7 tanks left to their 5, with most of them damaged. Then I died (4 kill game up to then), our SU-76 on their cap got killed soon after, and when I started spectating, 4 of our remaining 5 players were completely immobile for the rest of the game, but still showing connected. So the enemy mops them up for an easy victory.

[Grif]

Wow, that was weird. Just had a game in Swamp in my T1 Heavy, and we were winning fairly well, with 7 tanks left to their 5, with most of them damaged. Then I died (4 kill game up to then), our SU-76 on their cap got killed soon after, and when I started spectating, 4 of our remaining 5 players were completely immobile for the rest of the game, but still showing connected. So the enemy mops them up for an easy victory.

There has been reports of CTDs with the newest patch, so that might explain why people seemed to idle. (Game doesn't check once they at least connected into the game.)

[Eldariel]

9.0 has lead to midgame crashes for me. Especially frustrating when I'm just circling a KV-1 dead with my Ke-Ho and the game decides you don't deserve your ace tanker... Reconnecting doesn't work though of course I'd be long dead by the time I got back anyways.

[AdmiralCheez]

I had a crash yesterday, but miraculously, when I reconnected, I was put back in the game and still alive. At the end of the match, I found out I had apparently been firing while offline, and hit a few teammates. I felt kinda about that, but it was beyond my control. I couldn't even find who I shot or apologize for it.

[Jimorian]

There has been reports of CTDs with the newest patch, so that might explain why people seemed to idle. (Game doesn't check once they at least connected into the game.)

It happened sometime in mid-game, because they had all achieved good positions throughout the map and had significant damage stats on the end page. So some kind of mass crash/disconnect. Our M37 was desperately calling for help and wondering what was going on until I told him that everybody else was frozen. If there have been a lot of crashes with the new patch, then that would explain it if something in that match triggered everybody at once.

Edit: Just happened again with 2 of our top tier tanks crashing out of a sure win, so it ended up a draw.

[AMX]

Looks like I actually have a chance to finish the T2 Light mission

Well, except for the platoon part.
I don't *do* platoons

Oh well.

[Yana]

Looks like I actually have a chance to finish the T2 Light mission

Well, except for the platoon part.
I don't *do* platoons

Oh well.

It's your loss that you don't.

I'm not kidding. I've only been as successful in this game because of the people I platoon with. People who tell me when I'm being a suicidal moron and can get me to redeploy if I go into tunnel vision. The way the playerbase has gotten over the past year, I'd go so far as to say that the game is almost unplayable (if you want to maintain some semblance of sanity at least) without at least one other person that you can trust to watch your back or at least make a difference in the battle as opposed to a brain-dead mouthbreather who is only useful as cover for your foes in the cap circle.

[Brother Oni]

...if you want to maintain some semblance of sanity at least...

Too late...