World of Tanks - Free to play Panzer MMO

[rajpoot]

Welcome to the club. Are you on the NA server?
I've been meaning to start playing again, but things keep cropping up. I'll probably start again some time this week. Probably get back to grinding my VK.

Edit:
If you're on the NA server and we're on at the same time we can platoon if you want. My nick is diain.

[Kekvit Irae]

Just installed. Two missions in my little kraut starter tankette have resulted in two blown vehicles. My 5 shot total has generated 2 hits, both of which penetrated for a grand total of 74 damage.

That's actually pretty good for the starter tanks.

Just remember that hitting and penetrating are two entirely different things. The game is a lot more complex than you might think, as angles play a major factor into whether something will bounce off the armor or penetrate the hull. A tank with good sloped armor will keep you alive a bit longer than a tank with flat 90 degree armor. When in doubt, aim for the tracks and let your teammates finish off the incapacitated enemy.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Actually having a lot of fun. Will try to remember diain (Moishe?) if I see it. My handle is the same save for an underscore between the two names.

Kek' I actually like the shot mechanics. Reminds me of playing Tobruk years and years ago, always trying for the turret ring hit kill.

[Kekvit Irae]

Kek' I actually like the shot mechanics. Reminds me of playing Tobruk years and years ago, always trying for the turret ring hit kill.

You mean this? Back when I co-owned a gaming store with my family, my dad and a few regulars would play the hell out of it.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

You mean this? Back when I co-owned a gaming store with my family, my dad and a few regulars would play the hell out of it.

Precisely! I think I played pretty much everything in the AH line. My first wargame was Bismarck when I was 6. Tobruk was intense, with you tracking your tank's ammo and rolling for hit chance and location for every shot.


I have moved to a PzJ-1 (5 missions, 4 kills (3 high), 1st two missions EMBARRASSINGLY bad)
The L-Tr totals were (23 missions, 13 kills (3 high), but include drowning my entire tank without a shot fired on mission #20)

[Kekvit Irae]

I have moved to a PzJ-1 (5 missions, 4 kills (3 high), 1st two missions EMBARRASSINGLY bad)
The L-Tr totals were (23 missions, 13 kills (3 high), but include drowning my entire tank without a shot fired on mission #20)

The first outing as a TD can be pretty harrowing if you don't know what to do. Just remember to find a good camping spot and vulch to your heart's content. Since the PzJ-1 is open top, your primary nemesis will be artillery, so shoot and scoot if you see artillery fire coming your way.

The LOLtracktor, unless fully upgraded, is pretty underpowered. Thankfully, fully upgraded and against its peers, it is one of the best tier 1 tanks due to its versatility, but I prefer the US T-1 for its speed and rate of fire. Once you go up against tier 2 tanks, your role as damage dealer switches to active scout. Don't try to engage head-on unless you are guaranteed a kill, or if you are backed up by several other tanks.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

The first outing as a TD can be pretty harrowing if you don't know what to do. Just remember to find a good camping spot and vulch to your heart's content. Since the PzJ-1 is open top, your primary nemesis will be artillery, so shoot and scoot if you see artillery fire coming your way.

The LOLtracktor, unless fully upgraded, is pretty underpowered. Thankfully, fully upgraded and against its peers, it is one of the best tier 1 tanks due to its versatility, but I prefer the US T-1 for its speed and rate of fire. Once you go up against tier 2 tanks, your role as damage dealer switches to active scout. Don't try to engage head-on unless you are guaranteed a kill, or if you are backed up by several other tanks.

Makes sense. By inclination I am a sniper (MAG, Mount & Blade, etc.) so I am finding the Jaeger fun so far. Getting stuck on a hill got me kilt on my first mission and the no turret got me killed without counter-hitting in the second, but it got better. I did kit up the L-Tr for speed, but kept the heavier single shot gun. On tier 1 matches it seems to hold its own very well. At tier two it is so-so. I suspect against tier three (My PZJ-1 faced off with and lost a duel to an SU-76 in the match I got 3 kills in; only 3 I have faced) it would be in a world of hurt. I did a little reading about my most recent tier two nemesis, and apparently I need to shoot low on the hull or right at the gun mount. In tier two matches, the T-18 is apparently a favorite to play juggernaut among the under-experienced.

This is the game I started on.

[Husar]

Cool to see you getting started Seamus!

I haven't played a low-tier battle in a while, the lowest tier tank I play regularly is the Chinese Type 58 and maybe my American M41 artillery.
All those tier 9s are rather time-consuming and I switch a bit between playing them all and just playing the Leopard 1 PT a bit in a row. I find if I just play the Leopard 1 PT a bit for a while I can do quite well with it because I do not have to switch the playstyle all the time.
At some point I will probably start with the Japanese but I might just wait until they get their heavy tanks.

The german TD line is a nice choice, it has some interesting tanks. I wonder what the Ferdinand is like now, I remember some time where a lot of enemies would bounce but later on the 200mm front armor seemed relatively useless. Some of the Waffleträgers look interesting but the E-100 version is just ridiculous with the autoloader IMO, at least until 8.11 which we got today in Europe.

[Kekvit Irae]

I haven't played in quite a while, but my favorite role is artillery. It's always SO satisfying when you get a kill on a tank four tiers higher than you. Sadly, it sucks when you're the only artillery on the field; everyone blames you for a lost game, despite the fact that you can only focus on one area at a time.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Apparently the latest update rolls out for the NA servers later this week. East is on Thursday 13th.

Kek':

I have always thought that a team effort begets team praise or blame. If the artillerist only gets some of the tough targets, it is -- as like as not -- because folks were to busy racing ahead trying for a backshot without stopping to spot. I suppose it is easier to complain when your "bid for glory" goes south than it is to re-examine your tactics.

[Kekvit Irae]

I have always thought that a team effort begets team praise or blame.

Welcome to the internet. K/D ratios mean more to most than actually playing as a team. You'll definitely recognize these types of people by how they go off in random directions at the start of a match without caring who goes with them. They will most often scream obscenities at everyone for "not backing them up."

Don't be like them. Instead, whenever a match starts, take a few moments to look around and see where everyone is going. If you are in a good tank, go with the group with the least amount of tanks, as they will sorely need backup. If you're playing TD, check and see if anyone is protecting the artillery, and hide near them if nobody is around (a dead artillery is a dead team). If you're playing a scout, don't suicide run directly to the enemy artillery; play a passive scout with a good radio by spotting tanks and letting your teammates clean up.

EDIT: Oh, and be sure to check out SideStrafe's youtube channel. He plays WoT extensively, and provides excellent commentary on the various tanks and the tactics needed to win.

[Husar]

Yes, that's some good advice. Of course I do stupid things myself sometimes, like rushing too far ahead or forgetting to check the minimap often. Complainers are always funny.

But ever since the big artillery nerf I haven't seen too many complaints directed at arty players and arty numbers have gone down considerably. As SerB (the head developer) predicted, TDs are seen as the problem now (and to some extent they are, or at least I think some are). Overall the balance is okay now.

This was my first nation vs. nation battle today by the way:



Despite their small advantage in autoloader tanks, we won.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Welcome to the internet. K/D ratios mean more to most than actually playing as a team. You'll definitely recognize these types of people by how they go off in random directions at the start of a match without caring who goes with them. They will most often scream obscenities at everyone for "not backing them up."

Don't be like them. Instead, whenever a match starts, take a few moments to look around and see where everyone is going. If you are in a good tank, go with the group with the least amount of tanks, as they will sorely need backup. If you're playing TD, check and see if anyone is protecting the artillery, and hide near them if nobody is around (a dead artillery is a dead team). If you're playing a scout, don't suicide run directly to the enemy artillery; play a passive scout with a good radio by spotting tanks and letting your teammates clean up.

EDIT: Oh, and be sure to check out SideStrafe's youtube channel. He plays WoT extensively, and provides excellent commentary on the various tanks and the tactics needed to win.

TD jockey here -- I have always loved to snipe. I actually have been trying to find spots that cover the routes to the base and to the artillerist. Preferably two or three lurk spots with 30-70 meters between them. Too many shots from one spot makes open topped AFV's experience "mana from above."

Just took out a Marder II for some frolic. Decided it was better than my PZJ-1 but that it was still the same role so I am being just as sneaky. Do like that Rusky canon with German optics though...3 matches, 3 deaths, 3 kills, and the first time ever on the mining camp. Made me think of copper hills and iron creek quarry in MAG. Forget the map name.

This WoT thing is a blast.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Yes, that's some good advice. Of course I do stupid things myself sometimes, like rushing too far ahead or forgetting to check the minimap often. Complainers are always funny.

But ever since the big artillery nerf I haven't seen too many complaints directed at arty players and arty numbers have gone down considerably. As SerB (the head developer) predicted, TDs are seen as the problem now (and to some extent they are, or at least I think some are). Overall the balance is okay now.

This was my first nation vs. nation battle today by the way:



Despite their small advantage in autoloader tanks, we won.

Yeesh! A Tiger I as a "recon" tank. There is more metal in that one battle than in all my tier 1 matches.....combined.

[Husar]

Yeesh! A Tiger I as a "recon" tank. There is more metal in that one battle than in all my tier 1 matches.....combined.

It's a Tiger II, there are no scouts in that one.
We just had 2 tier 8 tanks and the french had 5, which is most likely because all their autoloader tanks have higher matchmaking values (those are hidden stats) so the game tried to compensate and it worked, given that we won. I also forgot to mention that in three or four national battles yesterday, Germany always won and I was on the German side only once. There's obviously a German bias in this game.*

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

*In case you don't know, there have been accusations that the developers have a russian bias because they're from Belorussia for years.

[Sigurd]

Haven't downloaded the 8.11 yet... planned to start it this morning while going to work, but forgot. Looking forward to the confrontation mode. I have mainly Russkie tanks.

Hus - only good players opt for German tanks, as they are traditionally regarded as more difficult than the American and Soviet tanks (This you already know ).
Perhaps it is time for me to move up the German heavy line (not implying that I am a good player). I've got the E50M and GW Tiger already - but never got the Tiger I (I think I did research it) post beta.

[Husar]

The Leopard Prototype is easy mode, you can just go ahead and be invincible with your 70mm frontal armor, it's even a little sloped.
That's the problem of the french though, they have no armor and their autoloaders are very mediocre by now. The Wflleträger and the American autoloaders both have far lower reload between two shots, I know the T57 heavy has 2 seconds and my AMX 50 120 has 3.33 seconds. If the enemy has cover, the french can often just fire one shot where a Waffleträger or T57 could place two or more. They are still relatively deadly if they can hid behind some strong heavies but the french do not have such a thing, their only armored vehicles are the ridiculous Fochs.

The second french heavy and medium lines might be interesting in this regard but my point was that french tanks also require somewhat skilled players while an E-75 or E-50 is rather forgiving with the relatively thick armor.

[Kekvit Irae]

Just took out a Marder II for some frolic. Decided it was better than my PZJ-1 but that it was still the same role so I am being just as sneaky. Do like that Rusky canon with German optics though...3 matches, 3 deaths, 3 kills, and the first time ever on the mining camp. Made me think of copper hills and iron creek quarry in MAG. Forget the map name.

This WoT thing is a blast.

Just wait until you get the Hetzer next tier. Extremely low profile, big gun, and sloped armor. What more could you want?

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Referencing Husar and Sigurd above:

So you chaps are well past the "how do I handle those malfing t-18s!" stage....

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Just wait until you get the Hetzer next tier. Extremely low profile, big gun, and sloped armor. What more could you want?

How about that long 75 the put on the Panthers with DU ammo? j/k

I am looking forward to the Hetzer and the STG. Looks very fun to me.

[Sigurd]

Never tried anything french than the current french medium line - all the way to the Bat, which incidentally is more or less the only tank used as scout in Clan wars (at least it was when I left that part of the game). I quite like the AMX 13 90 which is THE tank for crazy tankers.

[Sigurd]

Referencing Husar and Sigurd above:

So you chaps are well past the "how do I handle those malfing t-18s!" stage....

I only played one TD line and I chose the american turreted one.. starting with T18, the one shot-kill monster. I don't know if they re-balanced it, but when I played, the only real danger was another T18 (besides arty).
My only tank with over 200 games that has over 60% winrate is the T25/2, which follows the fast moving sniper trend. The next tank - T28 Prototype gives you a nose diver unmatched in any line. Same gun as T25/2 but you are trapped in an immobile tank.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

I only played one TD line and I chose the american turreted one.. starting with T18, the one shot-kill monster. I don't know if they re-balanced it, but when I played, the only real danger was another T18 (besides arty).
My only tank with over 200 games that has over 60% winrate is the T25/2, which follows the fast moving sniper trend. The next tank - T28 Prototype gives you a nose diver unmatched in any line. Same gun as T25/2 but you are trapped in an immobile tank.

The really slow tanks require a ridiculous level of sneakiness. My first mission on a Vickers Medium Mark I with ZERO improvements was a horror story. Hit somebody a couple of times and shifted cover....only to not get there in time and to be circled by 3 fast Tier ones all with clip-fire guns. I think I was hit 35 times in about 15 seconds. My second mission with that one involved me performing as Caspar the unfriendly ghost...knowing I was toast if I was found because I couldn't shift cover fast enough while being spotted to lose the spot.

T-18s, as I understand it, no longer one-shot everything almost every time. They rarely take more than two hits (unless they aim at entirely different portions of the tank) and can still one-shot many of those with weak armor.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Now I will edit in a new post to my accidental duplicate.


I believe that I have now arrived in WoT. As our team lost a match on airfield, one poster noted that it was entirely my fault (named my tank type and I was the only Marder so that was easy).

I hung back, sniped. Made a hit or two at range but no kills. We start losing tanks in droves and we are down to a our 4 their 9 situation. An enemy heavy rolls into our base and moves out to kill the two who counterattack it. I roll over from the other side of the map where I am posted in a lurk in front of the arty tank. I get into a bad lurk behind the base -- no bushes I can get to that aren't already in that tank's likely vision cone -- and get a sabot round in. He rolls onto the base, knowing roughly where I am, I get first shot and punch one into his lower hull. He shrugs off the 30+% damage and blows me away with a single shot directly through the frontal part of my armor. The Arty tank is, of course, reaped shortly thereafter by someone.

My fault. Nobody else contributed to our lack of success.

Internet gaming at its friendliest.

[InsaneApache]

Internet gaming at its friendliest.

Aye there's some berks on WOT and no mistake.

Here's summat for you to ponder on. The camo values are good to know if you want to passive scout.

http://www.wotinfo.net/en/camo-calculator

As you're still fairly new have you tried the Pzr 1C? It's a great tank and guaranteed to give to 15 minutes of fun win or lose.

Are you on the NA server btw? If you get on the EU server perhaps some of us over here could buddy up with you and help mentor you. Oh btw don't forget to train up your crews. It does make a hell of a difference.

[Sigurd]

Now I will edit in a new post to my accidental duplicate.


I believe that I have now arrived in WoT. As our team lost a match on airfield, one poster noted that it was entirely my fault (named my tank type and I was the only Marder so that was easy).

I hung back, sniped. Made a hit or two at range but no kills. We start losing tanks in droves and we are down to a our 4 their 9 situation. An enemy heavy rolls into our base and moves out to kill the two who counterattack it. I roll over from the other side of the map where I am posted in a lurk in front of the arty tank. I get into a bad lurk behind the base -- no bushes I can get to that aren't already in that tank's likely vision cone -- and get a sabot round in. He rolls onto the base, knowing roughly where I am, I get first shot and punch one into his lower hull. He shrugs off the 30+% damage and blows me away with a single shot directly through the frontal part of my armor. The Arty tank is, of course, reaped shortly thereafter by someone.

My fault. Nobody else contributed to our lack of success.

Internet gaming at its friendliest.

General rule is: Don't respond to Griefer/Whiner/Agro players. Unless you're dead. The aim to such responses would be to imitate what comedians do to hecklers.
bad example: "have some cheese with your whine".

If you are still playing, any heckling is just disruptive. Let the dead deal with the dead.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Aye there's some berks on WOT and no mistake.

Here's summat for you to ponder on. The camo values are good to know if you want to passive scout.

http://www.wotinfo.net/en/camo-calculator

As you're still fairly new have you tried the Pzr 1C? It's a great tank and guaranteed to give to 15 minutes of fun win or lose.

Are you on the NA server btw? If you get on the EU server perhaps some of us over here could buddy up with you and help mentor you. Oh btw don't forget to train up your crews. It does make a hell of a difference.

Have not tried the 1c. Have seen them whipping about at 45mph -- tough to track. Looks fun in its way but I have never been a sprint-knifer type. Always a sniper guy.

Crew training. Can see the huge plus. Crews not that far along. How do I intensify or improve experience growth. Some setting I have mis-toggled in barracks or summat? Advice appreciated.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

General rule is: Don't respond to Griefer/Whiner/Agro players. Unless you're dead. The aim to such responses would be to imitate what comedians do to hecklers.
bad example: "have some cheese with your whine".

If you are still playing, any heckling is just disruptive. Let the dead deal with the dead.

The message came out in the last seconds before the battle shut off with, of course, no chance to reply. Quite the Parthian shot.

Sad part is, for all I know, she/he may have been correct. I'd actually respond to: "Marder lost it for us. Marder should have done X!" by carefully considering the advice. My battle count makes it obvious to anyone that I am still learning things.

Never understood the urge to ridicule without teaching. "Hey You. If you aren't instantly as good as I am the second you start, don't play." Seems like a great way to rapidly get yourself into onanism mode because nobody would bother.

Oh well. I have had one or two try to provide useful advice. Those I listen to, even if I don't follow it cause it doesn't fit my style.

[InsaneApache]

Crew training. Can see the huge plus. Crews not that far along. How do I intensify or improve experience growth. Some setting I have mis-toggled in barracks or summat? Advice appreciated.

Personally I go for camo on all crew, as it comes into play from the off. Then when I have 100% camo I go for repairs on the crew and mentor on commander. Then when they are at about 40% I switch crew training (re-training) to BIA. Then re-train crew on camo. I keep doing this until I get 6th sense and all the rest.

Hope that helped.

[rajpoot]

There is no end to the jerks you will find in the game. From arrogant people who live by w/r and efficiency ratings to people to rage at everyone no matter how stupid their own playstyle is. Use ignore and the report feature, specially if someone is being excessively abusive.
In the end what they don't understand is no matter how competitive WoT gets, it is a game, and people play it to enjoy and not to worry about statistics.