World of Tanks Mark 2

[Skywalker_T-65]

Ghetto EDIT: I think I'm in love with Top-Tier Arty...though I see why others hate it. This is my second match with arty EVER (just monkeying around with high-tier stuff at this point) and it went rather well:

Victory!
Battle: Redshire Saturday, November 24, 2012 3:01:17 PM
Vehicle: GW Typ E
Experience received: 1,202 (x2 for the first victory each day)
Credits received: 21,823
Battle Achievements: Mastery Badge: "3rd Class"

Only one kill, but a couple damages to add to that.

[The Vortex Empire]

Ghetto EDIT: I think I'm in love with Top-Tier Arty...though I see why others hate it. This is my second match with arty EVER (just monkeying around with high-tier stuff at this point) and it went rather well:

Victory!
Battle: Redshire Saturday, November 24, 2012 3:01:17 PM
Vehicle: GW Typ E
Experience received: 1,202 (x2 for the first victory each day)
Credits received: 21,823
Battle Achievements: Mastery Badge: "3rd Class"

Only one kill, but a couple damages to add to that.

Try the T92 with premium HE. Fucking 15 METER blast radius.

[Highlord Laan]

Ghetto EDIT: I think I'm in love with Top-Tier Arty...though I see why others hate it. This is my second match with arty EVER (just monkeying around with high-tier stuff at this point) and it went rather well:

Victory!
Battle: Redshire Saturday, November 24, 2012 3:01:17 PM
Vehicle: GW Typ E
Experience received: 1,202 (x2 for the first victory each day)
Credits received: 21,823
Battle Achievements: Mastery Badge: "3rd Class"

Only one kill, but a couple damages to add to that.

Try the T92 with premium HE. Fucking 15 METER blast radius.

It and it's ilk are TOTALLY not the reason high tier matches are always crawling camp fests until someone gets frustrated. Nope. Not at all.

[xthetenth]

Because people aren't capable of camping when it's "just" a lineup of guns sufficient to vaporize their tank. Nope. Not at all.

[Vendetta]

Yeah, at high tiers the damage numbers being chucked around by heavies and TDs charging around unwise unless you're really fast and agile and can run them down between shots.

[montypython]

So I just tried WOT for the very first time, managed to make a kill with a Leichtraktor, but Tier I battles plain suck with the non-existent armour, dieing more often than not in most battles...

[Esquire]

The trick is to let other people make fatal mistakes - they're just as frail as you are, after all.

[PeZook]

Word. It took me a long time to realize that in certain situations, staying patient is actually the best solution.

[The Vortex Empire]

Bouncing shots is nice, but the real trick is to not get hit in the first place.

[Vanas]

Oh, and actually surviving a battle? Don't worry. My survival rate's about 30% as it is.

[Imperial528]

So I just tried WOT for the very first time, managed to make a kill with a Leichtraktor, but Tier I battles plain suck with the non-existent armour, dieing more often than not in most battles...

Well, you should get used to it. Because of the nature of the game, unless everyone on the team gets 1 kill, there will be games where you kill nothing. However, damage is what gets you experience and credits.

Additionally, many matches you won't survive. Generally, most victories I've seen have had 1/2 to 2/3 or even 3/4 of the team dead by the end. Survival rate for most players will reflect that (Mine hovers between 30-50%). The key to survival is cover and killing them before they kill you, however sometimes you can't help but go down fighting due to a number of factors, like being heavily damaged, or being ambushed, surrounded, out gunned, etc. So long as you do well and help your team, don't feel bad if you die.

[Skywalker_T-65]

Victory!
Battle: Malinovka Sunday, November 25, 2012 4:11:47 PM
Vehicle: GW Typ E
Experience received: 1,778 (x2 for the first victory each day)
Credits received: 33,289
Battle Achievements: Mastery Badge: "1st Class"

Yep, I'm in love


Though MY GOD is it annoying to be on the receiving end when using my IS-4 or WZ-111...


EDIT: Also, that was four kills and a couple damages.

[Vendetta]

So I just tried WOT for the very first time, managed to make a kill with a Leichtraktor, but Tier I battles plain suck with the non-existent armour, dieing more often than not in most battles...

The most important thing is not to be caught in the open. Learn to hide in bushes and behind rocks and buildings, expose the minimum amount of tank possible, and if you're outnumbered hide.

Also, if you spawn on the village side of Malinovka, there's a point to the right of the southern (leftmost) building where you can park a loltraktor right up against the wooden barricades and shoot over them, it's also far enough out that you'll frequently get credit for spotting enemies as well because they'll hit your view range first.

That's where I used to park up when I trolled tier 1 for ages (best match was 10 kills in a Loltraktor)

[Simon_Jester]

...What did you do to get ten kills?

[Vendetta]

Shot everyone.

I played around 270 matches in the Ltraktor, that meant I had a 100% crew who were, by the time I got bored of it, also at about 75% camouflage skill, as well as vents, optics, and gun laying drive (the million credit loltraktor).

I got 18 top gun medals in it and 9 confederates.

[montypython]

So I just tried WOT for the very first time, managed to make a kill with a Leichtraktor, but Tier I battles plain suck with the non-existent armour, dieing more often than not in most battles...

Well, you should get used to it. Because of the nature of the game, unless everyone on the team gets 1 kill, there will be games where you kill nothing. However, damage is what gets you experience and credits.

Additionally, many matches you won't survive. Generally, most victories I've seen have had 1/2 to 2/3 or even 3/4 of the team dead by the end. Survival rate for most players will reflect that (Mine hovers between 30-50%). The key to survival is cover and killing them before they kill you, however sometimes you can't help but go down fighting due to a number of factors, like being heavily damaged, or being ambushed, surrounded, out gunned, etc. So long as you do well and help your team, don't feel bad if you die.

It's not necessarily making a kill (although that's always nice to have) insomuch as wanting to make it out of a battle more or less in one piece that I'd like to get better at. I've been making use of cover as much as possible, although Vendetta's point about the wooden barricades was a good observation I just noticed in my last battle, particularly as the opposition could start shooting at me before I was able to spot them.

Shot everyone.

I played around 270 matches in the Ltraktor, that meant I had a 100% crew who were, by the time I got bored of it, also at about 75% camouflage skill, as well as vents, optics, and gun laying drive (the million credit loltraktor).

I got 18 top gun medals in it and 9 confederates.

I'll definitely be working on improving crew skill for certain.

[Grandmaster Jogurt]

Surviving can be nice but your top goals should be, in order, A: have fun, and B: win. I've had the team lose too many matches that were easily winnable because at key moments, tanks were hiding away from danger rather than contributing to an attack or even defending the base from a single capper.

[Skywalker_T-65]

^This, but especially the first part. If you're playing JUST to win and have a great survival rating, you are kind of missing the point of a game. I have a solidly average win rate, though a HORRID (like, 12% or so horrid) survival rating, but I always manage to have fun, even in horridly out-tiered matches.

So in other words...have fun first and foremost, though getting a FLAWLESS VICTORY is always nice

[Darth Wong]

In real-life, I can understand being more protective of one's own life. But this is a mere game, so silly war-like slogans are perfectly reasonable.

In other words, it is better to die in glory than live in cowardice.

Besides, anyone who's ever driven a T-44 knows that in some tanks, dying in glory is sort of your job. This is especially true when no one else will scout, or an entire advance is being held up by one or two enemies who are dug into a good position. A reckless flanking maneuver at that moment can break the logjam, as the enemy turns their turrets to track you and your allies can now fire at their vulnerable turret sides.

[Imperial528]

It is also important to never underestimate the value of shock on an enemy that thinks they have it in the bag. For example, I have had many a time in my M6 where we are at a choke point, such as the hill on himmelsdorf, or the valley on that map with the huge mountain in the middle, where both sides will peek out to fire at the other, and retreat right back.

Now, being a heavy, I usually spend a bit more loiter time as their shells ping off of me. As anyone who knows the T1 HT and M6 is aware of, the sides are paper, so choke points and front-forward are your friends. In a situation where the enemy is crowded behind rocks or buildings so that we can't get a clear shot when we peek over, the last tank expected to charge would be the M6 and T1, since that will expose your sides to all kinds of hell.

I do it all the time and do well, because they are so shocked when they realize I'm still going forward, most of them shoot at me immediately, harmlessly hitting my front plate or missing because they didn't take the time to aim. Then I blast one of them as my allies come in to take them out as they all reload. Usually this results in a successful push that can make a beeline towards their base with little damage to our side, though sometimes I die, it's still very worth it.

[Darth Wong]

It is also important to never underestimate the value of shock on an enemy that thinks they have it in the bag. For example, I have had many a time in my M6 where we are at a choke point, such as the hill on himmelsdorf, or the valley on that map with the huge mountain in the middle, where both sides will peek out to fire at the other, and retreat right back.

Now, being a heavy, I usually spend a bit more loiter time as their shells ping off of me. As anyone who knows the T1 HT and M6 is aware of, the sides are paper, so choke points and front-forward are your friends. In a situation where the enemy is crowded behind rocks or buildings so that we can't get a clear shot when we peek over, the last tank expected to charge would be the M6 and T1, since that will expose your sides to all kinds of hell.

I do it all the time and do well, because they are so shocked when they realize I'm still going forward, most of them shoot at me immediately, harmlessly hitting my front plate or missing because they didn't take the time to aim. Then I blast one of them as my allies come in to take them out as they all reload. Usually this results in a successful push that can make a beeline towards their base with little damage to our side, though sometimes I die, it's still very worth it.

Yeah, it's often amazing what a bit of individual recklessness can do. Of course, sometimes you get a team of pussies who just sit there and watch, and don't take advantage of your charge to exploit enemy confusion.

[Skywalker_T-65]

Had that happen to me more times than I can count. Quite annoying when I'm sitting there playing bullet shell sponge in my VK or KV while they camp and go 'but they'll kill mmmmeeeeee!!!' when I tell them to move and help. Oi...

[FSTargetDrone]

Taking careful aim can't be stressed enough. If you have to wait a moment or 2 for the aiming circle to stabilize, particularly for a long range shot, just wait. A shot that sails half a meter over the top of the target's turret may as well miss by a kilometer. Plus, a hurried shot that misses will just give you away. Of course, there are factors outside of your control, depending on the skill of your crew during that particular battle--for instance last night in my stationary M3, I took careful aim at the center mass of some enemy artillery and the first 2 shots missed close, but missed just the same. Happily, his shots missed too, but my third connected and he went up in smoke.

Also, very important: know your tanks. For example, when facing a T20, you will know that his reload time is several seconds. Let's say he fires at you while you are behind some partial cover but misses or strikes your cover. As soon as he's fired you can "safely" emerge from cover and take your shot because you know he can't respond right away.

[Darth Wong]

Taking careful aim can't be stressed enough. If you have to wait a moment or 2 for the aiming circle to stabilize, particularly for a long range shot, just wait. A shot that sails half a meter over the top of the target's turret may as well miss by a kilometer. Plus, a hurried shot that misses will just give you away. Of course, there are factors outside of your control, depending on the skill of your crew during that particular battle--for instance last night in my stationary M3, I took careful aim at the center mass of some enemy artillery and the first 2 shots missed close, but missed just the same. Happily, his shots missed too, but my third connected and he went up in smoke.

Also, very important: know your tanks. For example, when facing a T20, you will know that his reload time is several seconds. Let's say he fires at you while you are behind some partial cover but misses or strikes your cover. As soon as he's fired you can "safely" emerge from cover and take your shot because you know he can't respond right away.

It's funny when you can take advantage of peoples' expectations, though. I sometimes platoon with my son and we both drive KV-2s with the 152mm derp gun. He will break cover and fire, then withdraw to cover. The enemy, having taken a shot on the chin, advances to hit the KV-2 while it reloads ... only to find a second KV-2, loaded and waiting to finish him off. It's hilarious when it works.

[xthetenth]

Had that happen to me more times than I can count. Quite annoying when I'm sitting there playing bullet shell sponge in my VK or KV while they camp and go 'but they'll kill mmmmeeeeee!!!' when I tell them to move and help. Oi...

That may be the most frustrating thing about pubbing for experienced competitive players.

A tank goes into a choke point and reveals an enemy with equal or fewer numbers clustered behind it.

Bad player: They killed that guy so fast! It's a deathtrap!

Good player: They've got 15 seconds for us to alpha out one of their tanks but those jackasses next to us won't push with us.