World of Tanks: Catch All

BlackSheep wrote:
MoonDragon wrote:

someone explain to me though, why on earth am I always joined into a game where I'm among the lowest 4 people?

Sometimes you will get put into games where you'll be the top tank as a Tier2, but most of the time, you should be somewhere in the middle of the pack.

Eh, that may be the way its supposed to work, but my perception is different, it seems like I'm almost always the bottom tier. Being a target dummy that might get a scratch in before being oneshotted gets old fast, such as when you are in a tier V fighting tier VIII and IX. This ended up killing my interest in the game.

That perception is common, you will hear complaints about the 'MM' (matchmaker) both on the forums and in game. The tier spread really needs to be tightened, and yes, I'm familiar with the matchmaking chart.

WHen you're in the garage, on the left hand side of the screen should be the list of crew for the currently selected tank: Commander + (up to the most I've seen) Driver, Gunner, Radio-man, and 2x Loaders. Some tanks use a smaller number of crew each having to pick up multiple roles. You should see "faces" in all the "slots" on that left side. If any are blank (even if they aren't) you can click (or was it right-click?) on any of those slots to either "recruit", "change", or "send to barracks" any of these crew. If his "skill %" is red, it means he hasn't been trained in that tank (you'll worry about that much later, not so important at low tiers)

You'll get messages in matches that "The Gunner's been hit!" and "The Commander is dead.", but they aren't really dead, they're tank crews not doctors .

Hope that helps clear some stuff up. (Or I've made it much, much worse...)

LtWarhound wrote:

Eh, that may be the way its supposed to work, but my perception is different, it seems like I'm almost always the bottom tier. Being a target dummy that might get a scratch in before being oneshotted gets old fast, such as when you are in a tier V fighting tier VIII and IX. This ended up killing my interest in the game.

No kidding. I want to know who these people are who are ending up in the top half of the tier rankings in all these matches I've been playing!

Farscry wrote:
LtWarhound wrote:

Eh, that may be the way its supposed to work, but my perception is different, it seems like I'm almost always the bottom tier. Being a target dummy that might get a scratch in before being oneshotted gets old fast, such as when you are in a tier V fighting tier VIII and IX. This ended up killing my interest in the game.

No kidding. I want to know who these people are who are ending up in the top half of the tier rankings in all these matches I've been playing! :P

As it was pointed out via the link, each tank has an actual tier assigned. So your T1 TD is really more like a T3 light tank, with a chance of being tossed in with T1/T2 newbies, but more often that not, you'll wind up in a T4(Column 4 on that chart), which can include any tank that's in that column.

So, what can you do? Well, the best thing is actually not to move up faster. Sit in your lower tier tanks longer. Upgrade them all the way, and mass up free experience that you can use for any tank. Then, when you can get some decent upgrades for your next tank, look at moving up. Sure, it's not as exciting, given that there's definitely a draw to the bigger tanks, but I know I've had as much or more fun in a kitted out T2 light tank trashing newbies as I have in a T7 heavy.

AnimeJ wrote:
Farscry wrote:
LtWarhound wrote:

Eh, that may be the way its supposed to work, but my perception is different, it seems like I'm almost always the bottom tier. Being a target dummy that might get a scratch in before being oneshotted gets old fast, such as when you are in a tier V fighting tier VIII and IX. This ended up killing my interest in the game.

No kidding. I want to know who these people are who are ending up in the top half of the tier rankings in all these matches I've been playing! :P

As it was pointed out via the link, each tank has an actual tier assigned. So your T1 TD is really more like a T3 light tank, with a chance of being tossed in with T1/T2 newbies, but more often that not, you'll wind up in a T4(Column 4 on that chart), which can include any tank that's in that column.

So, what can you do? Well, the best thing is actually not to move up faster. Sit in your lower tier tanks longer. Upgrade them all the way, and mass up free experience that you can use for any tank. Then, when you can get some decent upgrades for your next tank, look at moving up. Sure, it's not as exciting, given that there's definitely a draw to the bigger tanks, but I know I've had as much or more fun in a kitted out T2 light tank trashing newbies as I have in a T7 heavy.

This is what I did and I enjoyed it immensely -- even to the tune of my Pz35t getting 10 kills in one battle.

The tier 5s really are the suck tier all around. Many of the tanks (a-20, PanzerNa) are all considered scout tanks so they get jumped way up higher than normal. The KV and the heavies seem to have an easier time of it because they're tiered generally appropriately. The only redeeming thing about some of those 5s are the derp guns that give some ability to fight those higher tiers. I had a really hard time until I learned a few things that made it just a little easier for certain maps -- Usually, I found a heavy and pushed with them, sitting behind them and when both sides started playing peekaboo, I would wait for the opponent's gun to fire, turn the corner and zip by. Too many people have issues with playing like a heavy, popping in and out of view firing your gun with a medium or light isn't going to work.

As a light, you should never stop moving and as a medium, its about biding your time and learning to use fire control until you get to the side or rear of bigger tanks. Many of those guns cannot penetrate the fronts of IS, Tigers, KVs and the like, but if you catch them in the rear, you can really get their attention. Knowing where to shoot is super important. The KVs and Tigers have a door on the back of the turret. Shoot that and you will really hurt them. The ISes have freaking gas cannisters mounted externally on the rear and side/rear of the tanks. HItting those (or hitting below the glacis plate on the front in desperation) will usually damage them. For 59s, their really sweet spot is the spot where the turret meets hull. Hitting them there will usually jam a turret, destroy ammo, and kill crew.

If you ever want to group up with me, look me up -- I've got some of you on my friends' list. Just ask for a platoon. We normally have on (RL friends) 3-4 every night and we'd be happy to group up with ya'll and play along.

With regards to the barracks I was complaining about before: I was correct. Barracks and crew are disabled until you complete the tutorial. And since the tutorial goes until you buy a T3 tank, that takes a while.

As far as game levels go... I'm really confused. About 20% of the time, my Hetzer gets put into a game with bunch of level 3s and level 2s. And the rest of the time I'm going up against level 7 and 8 heavies. At least with the 105mm gun I get an occasional chance to actually scratch the paint off of an IS. So I take it as an achievement when I walk out of such matches with a kill. I have to start working on recognizing weak spots on tanks. So far I'm getting better at aiming at side/rear armour rather than head on.

I've been powerleveling through some lower level German tanks now. I've been doing German TDs (up to Hetzer) and Russian light tanks (up to T-43/A-20). But I'm trying to work on German tanks now. I think I want a German medium/heavy tank. And KVs are just so damn ugly (even if they keep killing me like I'm made of paper).

Started playing a couple of days ago, I'm Aetius4. I'm working the Russian medium tanks and French light tanks. The AMX 40 is painful.

I experienced my first "hit him in the weak spot" moment last night. Managed to get behind a KV and shot him in the panel at the back of the turret. Knocked out 50% of his hp and who knows what else (I switched to purely HE rounds in my Hetzer). That was pretty sweet. Now I've learned to look at the tank I'm shooting at, and aim at any sort of a gizmo/gadget/marking on their armour that they may have. If I can't find any, shoot at the gap between the turret and the body.

Help me decide: I am saving up the credits for a Tiger II and have enough so that if I sold my Tiger I I could buy it now. Should I?

My crew is 100% with base experience but only high 80s in special role experience. I am inclined to sell because I usually get about 2k credits net because of how expensive it is when I blow up. Is the Tiger II worth replacing it or should I keep my old one around?

Findaer wrote:

Help me decide: I am saving up the credits for a Tiger II and have enough so that if I sold my Tiger I I could buy it now. Should I?

My crew is 100% with base experience but only high 80s in special role experience. I am inclined to sell because I usually get about 2k credits net because of how expensive it is when I blow up. Is the Tiger II worth replacing it or should I keep my old one around?

I liked both, but I ended up selling the Tiger for the King Tiger (Tiger II) in the end. Now, I hardly miss it though i may buy it back later.

MoonDragon wrote:

I experienced my first "hit him in the weak spot" moment last night. Managed to get behind a KV and shot him in the panel at the back of the turret. Knocked out 50% of his hp and who knows what else (I switched to purely HE rounds in my Hetzer). That was pretty sweet. Now I've learned to look at the tank I'm shooting at, and aim at any sort of a gizmo/gadget/marking on their armour that they may have. If I can't find any, shoot at the gap between the turret and the body.

Tracks are also a really great aim point.

I forgot to mention, my game nick is: moondrgn.

MoonDragon wrote:

I forgot to mention, my game nick is: moondrgn.

Yeah, I found that out when I looked over the 4 or 5 moondragons in game already.

I have a couple of codes I got from a mouse purchase for 2000 gold and a 1 week premium account. They both go to the first non grinder to PM me.

I've gotten a couple of free games from goodjers on steam so I'm paying it forward.

TAKEN!

Starting at 11:30 UTC on May 4, 2012 and lasting until 11:30 UTC on May 7, 2012 the following discounts and bonuses will be active.
- x3 XP for the first victory
- 90% discount on renaming crew members
- Up to a 58% discount on premium ammo
- 50% discount on the following tanks: M8A1, T49, M18 Hellcat, T25/2

The next patch 7.3 (which may go live Monday) will be changing around the Russian tank line, and if you have KV or KV3, you'll get an extra tank in your garage.

Full details: http://worldoftanks.com/en/development

DonD wrote:

The next patch 7.3 (which may go live Monday) will be changing around the Russian tank line, and if you have KV or KV3, you'll get an extra tank in your garage.

Full details: http://worldoftanks.com/en/development

It mentions dropping on the 7th, so that's coming right up. Sincei its an actual posted date, I'm assuming that they're not going to move it.

The date is posted. It's the 8th. 5X xp all week long. Along with other goodies.

Agent 86 wrote:

I have a couple of codes I got from a mouse purchase for 2000 gold and a 1 week premium account. They both go to the first non grinder to PM me.
TAKEN!

So, the premium code worked like a charm, but the gold code is giving me grief? Was there a time limit on the codes?

MoonDragon wrote:
Agent 86 wrote:

I have a couple of codes I got from a mouse purchase for 2000 gold and a 1 week premium account. They both go to the first non grinder to PM me.
TAKEN!

So, the premium code worked like a charm, but the gold code is giving me grief? Was there a time limit on the codes?

I ran into this as well. You have to use the Gold code first then the Premium. The Gold codes only work for creating new accounts. So if you used the Premium code to create the account there is no way to enter the Gold code.

Oh. I attempted to use the code for an existing account. Never had gold or premium on it before. But then the gold code didn't work and I tried premium one. Ended up with 7 days of premium (+1 for the current giveaway they have on the website, +1 for the downtime while they patch :)).

So in other words, I can't use the gold code unless I create a brand new account. Is there a way to trade gold between accounts?

MoonDragon wrote:

Is there a way to trade gold between accounts?

Not sure; if you figure out how let me know, I have a small stack of free gold codes from Pax East.

Seems trading--especially gold--is disabled. From what I gather, it used to be in the game, but they took it out. I'm assuming if they had it, they would have to put an inordinate amount of resources towards security and drek that comes with that sort of thing, and they were just not willing to deal with it.

So, no gold for MoonDragon. If someone wants a gold code for new account, I'll pass it on.

Dang... I tried to grind my German tanks line this weekend, from half way through PzIV to a Tiger. Since they could be had at a half of the price. But no dice. Only made it half way through VK3601H. For shame.

Do you guys grind several countries at once, or do you concentrate on one tree for a time, then switch to a different country? As I mentioned, at the moment I'm grinding through the German tree. I'm still chipping away at the PkIV in order to get upgrades that work for 3601, while all of 3601 xp is getting focused towards obtaining the Tiger. I'm also working on the German TD line. Got it up to level 6 this weekend. Totally in the background, I'm working on the Russian T34 line (probably hoping to switch it over to IS line when I get the cance), and the Arty. I was grinding arty from scratch, rather than switching over from the light/medium tanks line. And damn, does it take a while... I think to go from T4 to T5 takes 40k+ xp.

Personally, I went up the German SPG (Hummel) and TD (JgPzIV) lines, and the Russian mediums (T-43), I kept my T-34-85 so I can work up to the heavies later.

IMO, one tree of one country is generally best. I was focusing on US medium tanks and have a fairly well equipped Easy 8, but I've since refocused on the US turreted TDs.

MoonDragon wrote:

Dang... I tried to grind my German tanks line this weekend, from half way through PzIV to a Tiger. Since they could be had at a half of the price. But no dice. Only made it half way through VK3601H. For shame.

Do you guys grind several countries at once, or do you concentrate on one tree for a time, then switch to a different country? As I mentioned, at the moment I'm grinding through the German tree. I'm still chipping away at the PkIV in order to get upgrades that work for 3601, while all of 3601 xp is getting focused towards obtaining the Tiger. I'm also working on the German TD line. Got it up to level 6 this weekend. Totally in the background, I'm working on the Russian T34 line (probably hoping to switch it over to IS line when I get the cance), and the Arty. I was grinding arty from scratch, rather than switching over from the light/medium tanks line. And damn, does it take a while... I think to go from T4 to T5 takes 40k+ xp.

The fully upgraded VK3601H is pound for pound one of the finest tanks in the game.

I have a smattering of tanks everywhere and I've gone up virtually every line in every direction I could just to try out tanks. Some are more developed than others, but for the most part, I've got the Tiger II, T29, IS4, GWTiger, T25 AT (another of my faves), T43, and a bunch in the 5-6 area in others. I looked at it as more of finding what I really liked to play as opposed to being wedded into something I wasn't. I started on the Russian Medium tank line, but boy is it hard to take generally. You're not even remotely involved in much until you get that 100 mm gun on the t34-85 and even then, it has such a slow reload, that most heavies can track you around, negating that speed and flank advantage.

I think it's best to concentrate on one or two lines when you start playing.

I focused on the German heavy and U.S. medium lines. Once you get up to tier 8 and have a "serious" tank, meaning one that can compete in any battle, at any time, think Tiger 2, IS3 or M26, T-44. Then you should start playing the other lines. At that point you need to figure out which line is your favorite in order to reach max tier in it. The xp requirements to get from tier 8 to tier 10 are considerable, so make sure you like those style of tanks.

That's the point I relaxed and now I play whatever tank I feel like playing on a given night. It's a zen thing, sometimes you just feel like scouting others you want to slug it out on a city street.

P.S. don't let the tier 10 hype get to you. They are good tanks, but after getting my E-100 I found that it isn't as fun to play as I thought it would be. Tier 10 is high pressure and you are EVERYONE's #1 target. Tier 9 seems to be the sweet spot for fun and effectiveness.

The other thing to remember about T10 tanks(reportdedly) is that fighting with them is pretty much negative sum, win or lose. Repairs are wicked expensive and ammo's not exactly cheap either.

I got my Tiger over the last couple of days. Unfortunately the cost of it left me with no money for the "equipment" upgrades. Still, it's very fun when I get put into T5-7 game. Not so fun in a game with 4 T10 tanks. I think yesterday, I had my first real "slugfest" moment. I think it was a KV-3 and me. Facing each other and just repeatedly bouncing our shells off of each other. I think we both bounced like 5 shots. Someone eventually snuk up on me from behind and blew me up. But it was kind of funny. I couldn't hurt him, he couldn't hurt me. Even though the penetration marker showed green, and I was not ricocheting.

When it comes to specialized tanks, for arty, which is better? Russian or German? What about TDs? I could jump from my T34 medium onto T5 TDs in the Russian line. I could also jump onto German arty from the tank line as well. It just seems that the later lines of German TDs are getting worse and worse. The tanks are bigger (and higher, so easier to shoot and spot) but the punch doesn't seem to compare to Russian ones on paper.