World of Tanks

[xthetenth]

I think the Luchs gets scouting matchmaking to a certain degree, and I'd agree that platooning does hurt a bit in low tiers, but it's really mainly tier 3 for some reason. I've been laughing so hard since I've gotten a T-50, I've been running platooned and solo in games that go all the way down to tier 5 in the second best fast scout in the game. I've also noticed that my T-46 got turbofucked with tiering, worse even than my Lee or even the T-50, so it does get better.

Philosopher, note that the Valentine is a premium that gets massively preferential matchmaking so any tier 4 is going to increase its spread significantly, which hurts since premiums tend to rely on their armor a lot more and have a marginal gun.

[Rekkon]

Yup, I try to never run my Valentine except with other Vals. I love that tank to death, but it does *not* fight well above its tier. Pretty much anything T5 will effortlessly stomp it. Alone or with a pure platoon, the Valentine will never get matched against anything higher than T4, which means you are always top tier.

[PhilosopherOfSorts]

The Valentine doesn't do too badly in most cases, and it is my lowest tier tank, so I run it with my friend's lowbies. Two tier 4s or a tier 4 and a tier 3 should not be getting tier 8 matchmaking just because they're platooned, shit like that is my biggest complaint about this game.


On another note, I got Master Gunner, Sniper, Steel Wall, and an Ace Tanker badge with my Matilda last night. Five kills, four damages, and three detections, that was a fun match. Matilda is a mean bitch.

[Skywalker_T-65]

I'm finally getting used to the AMX 40 now. Probably helps that it has been getting semi-decent matches lately. It is growing on me though, that little French turtle of a tank.

Though of course, right as the matchmaking starts working, my ping goes crazy...I was chugging along towards the enemy base, and a Stuart was circling me taking potshots. Naturally none got through the armor, but everytime I got it in my sights the ping would skyrocket up and I would miss the shot...and of course, a Tiger came out of nowhere and one-shotted me...

[Rekkon]

The Valentine doesn't do too badly in most cases, and it is my lowest tier tank, so I run it with my friend's lowbies. Two tier 4s or a tier 4 and a tier 3 should not be getting tier 8 matchmaking just because they're platooned, shit like that is my biggest complaint about this game.

If you are platooning with tanks the game classifies as "scouts" that can happen. In such matches you cannot really damage things; you are only there for the spotting. This is why you cannot judge by tier alone; you need to know how the matchmaker treats your specific vehicle. Platooning with a low-tier scout has the potential to drag you into hell, just like platooning with a low-tier arty.

The Valentine is a wonderful little murder machine, and if you know your stuff there is almost nothing you cannot tackle. Especially when angled, your armor is thick enough to reliably bounce just about everything short of T3+ TDs and some T4 tanks, and it is uniformly thick so you can almost not care about people flanking you. This thing practically prints Steel Wall awards. With a spall liner, I laugh at tier 2 arty. Many times I take a direct hit from them and do not lose a single hit point. The gun has subpar penetration and damage but a wonderful rate of fire and passable accuracy. If you know your enemy's weak points, you can aim for them or track him and flank. I can often win frontal encounteres with Lees and Hetzers by accepting a few hits, crippling their mobility then hugging their sides. Your hit point pool is quite deep for a T4, and while the Valentine's speed limit is low, it is quite maneuverable in close quarters.

[Nephtys]

The game doesn't actually penalize you for platooning. You take the harshest matchmaking weight of your team. So this is why you occasionally see Loktraktors and MS-1s in games against IS-7s and Maus. Someone's being an ass and platooning their Tier 10 with a newbiecar.

The other problem really is that the game pushes new players into the scout role. This is wrong. Scouting takes the greatest discretion and game knowledge of any role, with medium flanker being a narrow 2nd. What the game should be giving new players are TDs and gun-heavy tanks to fill their lowbie games.

[Mr Bean]

The other problem really is that the game pushes new players into the scout role. This is wrong. Scouting takes the greatest discretion and game knowledge of any role, with medium flanker being a narrow 2nd. What the game should be giving new players are TDs and gun-heavy tanks to fill their lowbie games.

Not to mention with some tanks (Hello A-20) you have to choice between a gun that rips apart Tier 4 and below (37mm autocannon) but does dick to everything above and a gun that can penetrate SOME of the high end mediums but does dick to everything above Tier 6 (The 76mm) and hurts you greatly in the Tier 3-5 fights because your firing at arty speeds. Every time I hop in that thing and I have my 37mm on I have to hope and pray I'm getting a Tier 3-4-5 match because if I get a Tier 6+ match the only thing I can do is scout and try and work my way back and kill the arty.

Also on an unrelated note, finally got the Hellcat fully trained up with a 100% crew, let me say I was pissed to find out how much they killed the handling of my beloved Hellcat. It's made of tinfoil and it's only advantage is speed. Fine you have an engine limit of 72 km/h despite the fact I can do 98 km/h in RL at least give me the handling and accelerate a real Hellcat has. No fucking way they ever drove in any of the still running Hellcats that are running around the world. The Hellcat was called the headcracker for a reason, because first time drivers who hit the gas would not expect a tank to handle and behave like a Jeep with far better traction. I've seen and ridden in way back in 2000 a restored WWII Hellcat climbing a 35* slope at 40 km/h and accelerating. In game anything beyond 8* and you start losing speed and fast. This is not my beloved Hellcat.

[Nephtys]

The Hellcat nerf sucks... but that vehicle is amazing. And still amazing. It's unique in the game, by having a combination of high linear speed and acceleration, a fantastic gun, ungodly gun depression, fast rate of fire, and decent camoflage. I've got a 71 percent win ratio in mine after almost a hundred games, and well. It's still amazing.

If it actually handled historically, it'd be a faster, more agile T-50-2, that has a T8 Medium's main cannon. Which is kinda wrong

[Marko Dash]

it would have been better if they'd put it in as a tier 7 and gave it historical performance

[weemadando]

Yeah. And what is up with the matchmaking for Tier V light tanks?

Congratulations, you have armament that can do nothing to anything, armour that will stop nothing and guarantee that you are one-shotted. But you're fast. I suppose that might help. Good luck against those Tier VIII-X everything else!

[xthetenth]

Yeah. And what is up with the matchmaking for Tier V light tanks?

Congratulations, you have armament that can do nothing to anything, armour that will stop nothing and guarantee that you are one-shotted. But you're fast. I suppose that might help. Good luck against those Tier VIII-X everything else!

Oh, it does. Trust me, it does.



The Chaffee and the VK play differently, I'm not nearly as good in my Chaffee as my 50-2, but take that as evidence that that tank can get stuff done. That 64% win rate means I'm doing something worthwhile. That something worthwhile is usually lighting tanks in hilariously exposed positions and letting the arty pound them. One of the best examples of this is Malinovka. At the start do a quick dive into the middle field. You only really have to go about as far as that bush line in the middle. Boom, you just lit half their team for your guys to volley right off the bat. If you're lucky one or two die and your tank's paid off in full. Then, as fast as you can go, get to the top of the hill. You should be able to get there first and plop into a bush with a line of sight on their approach to the hill. That way your guys going up the hill can shoot them as can your arty. None of that happens without the 50-2 and the best thing is it only takes one relatively minimal risk at the start and even less passively lighting the hill approach. Your armor is your agility and your gun is your artillery. If you don't have artillery, either light targets you know your tanks can shoot or hunt down slow targets, especially tank destroyers. That gets funny fast.

I've pulled some serious shenanigans in my T-50 and T-50-2 that definitely really hurt the other team. Stuff like driving in on fisherman's bay where the middle's nice and open, killing their arty right out from under their T95's nose and then keeping it lit while my hummel killed it slowly and driving up behind its less than 100 HP body and finishing it off so their T95 never got to do a thing is definitely worth bringing a T-50 to the match. So's riding the backslope of the long enemy hill in Erlenberg, getting the enemy to pull back from their rush to good deployments to try and kill you, and then circling back when arty's had its fun. Even better when a minute or three later you go in and kill the arty anyway. And if you want to know the other half of why the tier fives get matchmade so high, that Bölter's in my T-50-2 included a T34. The T-50-2 can absolutely devour low tier tanks. The tier 5 lights are at least the equal of a tier 7 medium in combat if you pick your moments (except the AMX 12t, that's garbage and not given the end tier scout matchmaking). The Chaffee has a faster firing, much more accurate gun than the T20's 76mm, better view range, much better hull turning and pivot turning to boot, laser accuracy on the move, better speed, much better acceleration. It has half the hitpoints and no access to a 90mm. It doesn't need the 90 when it can get to tanks' sides trivially and take advantage of the 76' better dpm, and it can scout, which the T20 can't. The T-50-2 is one of the most durable tanks in the game when it's got a full head of steam up. Not sure about the heavy leo, but I've seen a friend's replay where he took the leftover gold ammo from a tournament out for a pub match and after killing two T110s with flank shots and a bunch of other stuff got 3000 xp.

[DrMckay]

finally got my t-34 unlocked, but am struggling with how to play it, none of the early guns are great, it isn't fast enough or well rmored enough for much else. it is fast-ish and can bounce some shells, but I am really not sure what to do with it.

Also, have a really nice KV-1, all the guns unlocked, and I love all of them (except the stock one) for different reasons. Here's the question though, should I go through the T-150 line? or focus on the KV-1S line and try to get the IS tanks? or should I stay with KV 1 for a while longer and unlock both? don't get me wrong, I love the beast, but Tier 5 matchmaking is killing me.

ooh, and I almost have a PZ IV, I Haaaaate the PzNa so much. It should be called the Panzer: Not Applicable. Shite armor, shite gun, and horrible matchmaker.

[weemadando]

AMX-40 is fun. How is that thing a light tank? I've gone toe to toe with Churchills...

And the Hetzer is AMAZING when used properly. I got it hull down in a stream on Mountain Pass and held the entire flank by myself (killed a AMX-40, KV-1 and a B1, while fucking up a Churchill and M3 Lee enough for others to finish them off.

I must have been shot about 8 times before one even got penetration/took hit points. It was glorious.

[PhilosopherOfSorts]

ooh, and I almost have a PZ IV, I Haaaaate the PzNa so much. It should be called the Panzer: Not Applicable. Shite armor, shite gun, and horrible matchmaker.

Hah! That's what I call it. Also the BDR G1B is the "badger," and the Hummel is "hate mail," because it sends out little packages of spite.

[Mr Bean]

AMX-40 is fun. How is that thing a light tank? I've gone toe to toe with Churchills...

And the Hetzer is AMAZING when used properly. I got it hull down in a stream on Mountain Pass and held the entire flank by myself (killed a AMX-40, KV-1 and a B1, while fucking up a Churchill and M3 Lee enough for others to finish them off.

I must have been shot about 8 times before one even got penetration/took hit points. It was glorious.

If you thought the AMX-40 was fun the AMX-38 in a tier even match is even worse. 60mm of armor everywhere except for two small vulnerabilities and a fast firing high damaging run. As long as you stay away from the Tier 3 TD's and the odd T-46 you are invincible to everything. Even better when you run into the various 20mm armed tanks that simply can not touch you. I got one of those matches on the name I forget giant open field with the river to the side and past the river the giant hill. I drove across with the entire team firing at me, I brewed up the only Marder III and literally sat there blowing up tank after tank getting hitting every single tank until my team ruined my fun by joining me and I only ended the match with six kills.

As for the Hezter, is a nice tiny tank but it gets screwed bad when it get's matched up against the Tier /6s and above.

Also what's up with the American artillery line? In one tank my arty can range the entire map, I mount that gun on the next mobile arty and it fires 100 feet at best.

[Skywalker_T-65]

Yeah, it took a while but I'm starting to have more fun with the AMX 40 now myself. As long as the matchmaker cooperates that thing is a little monster. Bouncing shells from same tier heavys is always fun...assuming you reach any.

[xthetenth]

finally got my t-34 unlocked, but am struggling with how to play it, none of the early guns are great, it isn't fast enough or well rmored enough for much else. it is fast-ish and can bounce some shells, but I am really not sure what to do with it.

It's generally best when exploiting flanks, it takes a bit of getting used to and one of the 57mm guns is basically requisite. Once you've got that and the engines, it's all about picking your moments and just trying to only expose yourself when your enemy would be at a disadvantage. Places where you have cover to get in close against most things plays right into your hands.

Also, have a really nice KV-1, all the guns unlocked, and I love all of them (except the stock one) for different reasons. Here's the question though, should I go through the T-150 line? or focus on the KV-1S line and try to get the IS tanks? or should I stay with KV 1 for a while longer and unlock both? don't get me wrong, I love the beast, but Tier 5 matchmaking is killing me.

The T-150 is comparatively slow and well armored, it has a really good gun that fires cheap ammo if my memory serves right (I can't check right now, but that 107 should fire ammo much cheaper than the 1000 credits a shell for the 122 that's basically requisite on the KV-1S.) The KV-1S is a nice tank that leads to my preferred line. The KV-1S tree is real nice, they're mobile heavies that pack a serious punch and I really like them, while the T-150 line is heavily armored but seems to me that like usual the heavy armor doesn't stop enough to be worth losing the speed. That's personal preference and you definitely will bounce stuff in the T-150 tree. The other thing is that if you're thinking you're going to get to tier 9, the ST-I looks like it'll be utter pain on a stick for the initial part of the grind. Having to play a tier 9 with a 175 pen gun is a sign of bad lifestyle choices, and the only good way to get better earlier is to also play through the 1S line enough to get to the IS-3 and unlock the BL-9 there. So if you're planning to keep playing a bunch, I'd recommend both or the KV-1S line, although if you're just going to play a bit the T-150 line isn't bad either.

ooh, and I almost have a PZ IV, I Haaaaate the PzNa so much. It should be called the Panzer: Not Applicable. Shite armor, shite gun, and horrible matchmaker.

The Pz IV is a real nice sniping tank once you get the L/70, and it's solid most of the way once you get a 75mm with a gun which has a length greater than yes.

[Skywalker_T-65]

I just got out of a match in my A-20...with SIX Churchills on my team.

And they weren't a clan or platooning...which makes it all the wierder...

On the plus side, the AMX has been slaughtering people lately, even if the A-20 is giving me headaches since it has the worst matchmaking I've ever seen.

[PhilosopherOfSorts]

I just got out of a match in my A-20...with SIX Churchills on my team.

And they weren't a clan or platooning...which makes it all the wierder...

On the plus side, the AMX has been slaughtering people lately, even if the A-20 is giving me headaches since it has the worst matchmaking I've ever seen.

There's an event going on that's based around the Churchill, they're half-off to buy, and they make double credits, so expect to see a lot of them over the next few days. I made almost 70,000 credits in mine the other day.

[Skywalker_T-65]

70K Credits! I wish I got that much out of my tanks...

[PhilosopherOfSorts]

That wasn't even with premium, the Churchill makes damn good credits when you do well with it, but not that good, they have a 200% credit bonus for the next couple of days.

[Simon_Jester]

Anyone looking at the new French TD and SPG lines?

[Skywalker_T-65]

I've looked at them, but havne't actually tried any of them. They do look interesting though, and I've run into quite a few of them so far (mostly BS'...which is going to lead to a lot of jokes in the WoT forums). I think I might try the SPG line once I finish with the AMX 40.

[Nephtys]

The new game modes are hilariously imbalanced. Seriously, Assault? The Defenders need to either kill all enemy vehicles or hold out for 10 minutes, while the attackers need to kill all enemies, or drive through open deathtraps, up hills, directly into the jaws of entrenched sniper teams. No advantage whatsoever for being the attacker.

[Mr Bean]

The new game modes are hilariously imbalanced. Seriously, Assault? The Defenders need to either kill all enemy vehicles or hold out for 10 minutes, while the attackers need to kill all enemies, or drive through open deathtraps, up hills, directly into the jaws of entrenched sniper teams. No advantage whatsoever for being the attacker.

Even better when my last run tonight put my Sherman on a assault team with four turretless TD's. Again the attackers had the Jagpanzers and the Su-100s while the attackers had the two Hellcats.

Even worse when your a defender as artillery since all the spots tend to be in places you can't easily hit or it's a tank you see yourself.