So, World of Tanks, I play it, here's some criticism.

[Chef_Hathaway]

Well they made it premium so it had to get better . You don't have to grind for it's good gun either.

The T1 is great for tier 5 though. Most of the time I had it I did exceptionally well, as it gets decent matches and it's guns can penetrate pretty much anything it runs into other than the odd tier 8 match you might get. The M6 on the other hand gets in shit games most of the time, due to it being tier 6, and only has a the normal american 90mm. It's okay, probably the most average heavy tank in game.

T29 is hands down the best tier 7 tank I have played. The T32 is good too, the second turret with even more armor than the T29's coupled with it's good hull armor make it a formidable tank.

Can't say much about the 103 or 110, haven't played since the a bit after the french tanks launched. I've heard they're good though.

 

[Average Manatee]

Started playing this recently. Holy fuck does this game try to make you spend money. I was in the top 95% for every vehicle on the path to the T-28 and I was regularly taking out Tier 5 tanks in my T-46 (my best match saw me killing 2 KVs and a Churchill on my own). Now I'm facing tier 6 tanks in most matches and my starting guns are far worse than my T-46's were. They literally can't hit shit beyond 50 metres, and if they do hit they do 0 damage even to my own tier of tanks unless I'm flanking. The disadvantage for not paying for maxed crew members is also ridiculous. Hopping into my T2 arty Bison I'm matched up against T5 tanks every match and my reloader takes about half the match to reload my gun after every shot. On the off chance I make a direct to the top of a tank hit (max accuracy means I still miss 50% of the time), it takes about ~20% of the health off those fuckers I'm up against. What the fuck?

Really, really loved the game earlier. Haven't had the great simulation feeling since MW. But at some point they just try to stack more and more odds against you to make you pay for shit. I think I'll just go back to my trusty T-46 and forget about the tank advancement crap.

 

[Gregz]

Started playing this recently. Holy fuck does this game try to make you spend money. I was in the top 95% for every vehicle on the path to the T-28 and I was regularly taking out Tier 5 tanks in my T-46 (my best match saw me killing 2 KVs and a Churchill on my own). Now I'm facing tier 6 tanks in most matches and my starting guns are far worse than my T-46's were. They literally can't hit shit beyond 50 metres, and if they do hit they do 0 damage even to my own tier of tanks unless I'm flanking. The disadvantage for not paying for maxed crew members is also ridiculous. Hopping into my T2 arty Bison I'm matched up against T5 tanks every match and my reloader takes about half the match to reload my gun after every shot. On the off chance I make a direct to the top of a tank hit (max accuracy means I still miss 50% of the time), it takes about ~20% of the health off those fuckers I'm up against. What the fuck?

Really, really loved the game earlier. Haven't had the great simulation feeling since MW. But at some point they just try to stack more and more odds against you to make you pay for shit. I think I'll just go back to my trusty T-46 and forget about the tank advancement crap.

I'm in this exact situation now, trying to grind my T-28 to a KV because I'm flat broke. I just don't think this game is for me, I like FPS multi-play and I like treadmill-type RPGs, but this hyrbrid just doesn't work. The joy of upgrading my tank is quickly squashed as I just get matched with better tanks that continue to beat my ass. I'm sure it gets easier with practice as you accumulate skill, but I'm experiencing more frustration than fun, about to trade up and try something else. (the game not my tank)

 

[Average Manatee]

Shit man, 15k xp for a KV when I make 350-400 a round with my GOOD tank (T-28 makes something like 150). I'll sooner experiment with sodomy than submit to such a rape of my free time. Grind MMOs are fucking sad. I can't imagine even the most dedicated of players making it beyond tier 6 without flat out buying the XP. I'm sure I'm completely underestimating how little of a life some people have though...


Does the game place you in matches based on your performance in previous matches? I'm wondering if playing really well in the T-46 is getting me set in the higher brackets, because my T-28 has been in the lowest tier of tanks for 15/15 of my last matches.

Also the experience system as a whole sucks. Basically the best method is zerging to end matches quickly rather than actually working to win them. Which leads to half of each team playing completely mindlessly because you earn far more XP from matches that end in 5 mins than matches that end in 15 mins even if you lose every single one of them. I'm sure the guy who runs straight into enemies, spots half of their team for 5s, gets one shot off and dies 30s into the match makes 5x as much XP/min across his tanks as I do even in my most exceptional matches.

 

[JohnTheRevelator]

Almost all tanks are pain till you upgrade them, that's why you save free xp (xp you can spend on any tank) just for that. Though yeah, it's this way probably since they want you to spend money on premium.

Does the game place you in matches based on your performance in previous matches? I'm wondering if playing really well in the T-46 is getting me set in the higher brackets, because my T-28 has been in the lowest tier of tanks for 15/15 of my last matches.

Also the experience system as a whole sucks. Basically the best method is zerging to end matches quickly rather than actually working to win them. Which leads to half of each team playing completely mindlessly because you earn far more XP from matches that end in 5 mins than matches that end in 15 mins even if you lose every single one of them. I'm sure the guy who runs straight into enemies, spots half of their team for 5s, gets one shot off and dies 30s into the match makes 5x as much XP/min across his tanks as I do even in my most exceptional matches.

Afaik matchmaking doesn't take that into account. It's more or less random.

Basically that's worst method to earn XP and credits. You won't earn shit if you're just gonna suicide into enemy team. Damage = xp and credits (if you scout you also get piece of pie for damage dealt but if he's gonna die after 2 seconds he won't earn much). It kinda works on low tiers because what you get just for playing match still turns you profit. Though as you may have noticed we're talking about peanuts here.

Piece of advice. Do what I do - get first win of the day for extra XP and that's it, there is no need to grind out everything in one sitting. If it stops begin fun then by all means stop playing.

 

[Average Manatee]

I'm going by the WoT wiki which says that the first one to spot a tank on the enemy team gets an xp bonus. Not sure how accurate it is or how much it is, but I can't imagine that I see people doing it in almost every match to get almost nothing. In any case, zerging as a team is a lot better tactic for getting XP than careful play. Doing half as much damage in a short 2 min match as you do in 10 still puts you way, way ahead. I suppose its good as an incentive to not have both teams camp the entire match though.

I'm not the kind of person that can just play one match a day for an extended period of time, sadly. ADHD attention span drops completely after a week or so. There really needs to be some kind of freeplay mode you could set up with friends that allowed you to use any tank/equipment combination.

 

[JohnTheRevelator]

I don't know exact values and stuff since I never cared enough to look into it but from my (limited when it comes to scouting) experience scouting xp isn't big deal (most probably because it's all you're gonna get before enemy team shoots you to pieces), also you need to have fastest tank in your team to be first, otherwise you get nothing. As I said idiotic rush commonly known as suicide scouting works only on low tiers since repair costs are still low enough to turn you profit (doesn't mean it's efficient, well if you play like 5+ low tier tanks then sure, otherwise no), if you'll try something like this in higher tiers you'll be losing credits every match (as fizzelopeguss said tier 7 is wake up call for many players, they can't get away with doing stupid shit anymore). It's not a game for people with ADHD, you have to be patient, both in-game and when it comes to unlocking stuff (since it takes so long, I've been playing for almost year and I'm still pretty far from getting my first tier X, but that's fine, I don't really need tier X tank for anything, it's more of a long term goal). If you absolutely need to have everything from get go, well you spend money or find another game.

 

[Ulminati]

Well. I reinstalled since I'm kinda burned out on LoL and this serves my quick fix needs. Anyone play on EU? I'd be up for running some platoons with steam/vent voice or without.
My tanks are
StuG III (fully upgraded, camo net, binoculars, loading rack, crew with camoulfage training, my pride and joy)
JgdPz IV (fully upgraded, slowly grinding towards JagdPanther)
PzKpfv IV (fully upgraded with Giant Penis Kannon, grinding towards VK3601(H))
PzKpfv III (fully upgraded, will probably sell soon though)
PzKpfv III/IV (solely grinding towards VK3001(H) then onwards toward PzV Panther/Panther II)

 

[Gregz]

I would but I'm not EU. I'm running tier 4/5 atm.

KV1
T49
Priest
PzKpfv III
M4

I'm trying to save up for a KV-1S, but I'm concerned that at tier-6 you start to lose money.

Can any veterans speak on this?

The game seems designed so that tier 6 or higher you really need premium/gold in order to stay competitive. I just don't want to drop 900k only to find out my T6 tank is barely breaking even. If that's the case I'll max out my T5s and play casual as I am now.

 

[Zdzisiu]

Well, it depends on how well you play. I'm an average player and can earn some credits even in Tier VIII KT so I would say that Tier VI is easy to earn an ok amount of credits, in my VK36 I can get 5000-10000 credits after repair and ammo.

But remember that every tank sucks with the stock equipement and you will lose more credits at first because your gun is not that great, you are not mobile enough ect, and you will simply lack experience with that tank to know what it can and cannot do.

The key to earning credits is making your shots count, don't shot a target when you have near 0 chance to penetrate, dont shot around like a retard ect and everything should be ok.

Btw, around 6 it is wise to start using additional modules on your tanks, like rammer, GLD, vent ect. They may not seem like much but they can give you the edge you will need.
And I would also put them on your Tier V moneymaker because you will use them a lot so I prefer to have them as good as it gets.

 

[Gregz]

Good advice, and glad to hear about the tier 6s, but buying those modules for 500k a piece...especially when you can't unmount them...it would take me months to save up that much.

I bought the binocs and the camo net, saving up for the toolbox. But the air vents etc. are 500k that I can't unmount...real drag...how much do they sell for I wonder when selling the vehicle?

Right now I'm making about 4-12k/game on my KV1 and T49 so credits are steady but tanks are 1mil and modules 500k a piece, not to mention every upgrade costing 50k+

 

[Zdzisiu]

Yeah, modules are pricey thats why I buy them when there is a 50% off sale on them.

You can unmount modules, it costs 10 gold and thats why I keep some gold from promotional codes.

The complex modules sell for half their price when selling the vehicle they are on. I just tested it.

 

[Gregz]

Yeah, modules are pricey thats why I buy them when there is a 50% off sale on them.

You can unmount modules, it costs 10 gold and thats why I keep some gold from promotional codes.

The complex modules sell for half their price when selling the vehicle they are on. I just tested it.

Is there a site that lists when these events are scheduled?

I googled this but there are no specifics: http://worldoftanks.com/game/guide/en/events/events-calendar

 

[Zdzisiu]

I check the news on the main page http://worldoftanks.com/ for US and http://worldoftanks.eu/ for EU once a day and when you start the game launcher there are also news there.

Also, general rule is that specials are announced at Thursday and last from Friday to Sunday. And when there are some major military anniversaries Wargaming also starts some specials.

As for the Calendar, it only lists the names of special and their dates, the details are announced when it is time for that particular special.

 

[Gregz]

Great, thanks for the info.

 

[Ulminati]

One thing I always do is save up all my free experience until I got enough regular experience to buy the tank I want without using any free. that means if there are upgrades that are realy must-haves (typically a bigger gun) on the tank I just got, I can get them immediately with the free xp.

 

[Gregz]

Yeah, I've been saving all my free XP for about 3 weeks now. I don't plan on spending any if I can help it.

I did have another question, was hoping for some advice.

I've finally stumbled upon a play style that I really enjoy and seem to excel at, sniping with the KV-1 and the 57mm (26ROF, 0.34 accuracy). The gun is so fast, and so accurate that I can find a nice cozy spot and plink away. I'm getting 3-6 kills a game this way on T3-T5 matches.

So my question is, what's a good upgrade tree for this type of play style?

I was planning on going with the KV-1S, but I've been reading about how inaccurate their guns are and I'm afraid I'll burn 1mil on a tank that can't shoot at range. I don't want a German TD because I love having a turret, and while my T49 is great, I'm not sure the next upgrade(M18 Hellcat) is what I want because paper armor is really unforgiving.

So, is there a T6-T8 line that I can snipe with in the same way I am now with the KV-1 and 57mm?

 

[Ulminati]

Basically all the russian tanks are facerollingly easy to play. KV-1 in paticular is the n00btube of WoT.
If you favour long-distance sniping you should consider switching to the Tank Destroyer trees though. Equal/better gun, better turning rate, low profile (easy to hull down) and good base camo rating means you can snipe from across the map with a spotter and never be seen yourself.

German TDs in general are pretty good, although you will see your shots bounce a lot on russian tanks (which in general are all placed about 1 tier lower than they ought to be) unless you invest in gold ammo or learn where their weak spots are. The real standouts in the german TD tree are the Marder II (can penetrate the front armor of just about anything it meets with the upgraded gun, deals a lot of damage), Stug III (fully upgraded it's realy snappy and a joy to drive. Packs enough punch to scare the beejezuz out of nearly all light/medium tanks, SPGs and tier I-IV TDs. Very good spotter with a camo net) and the JagdPanther. The JagtPanzer IV is painful to grind through though. It really needs a 100% skill crew and a few gold shots in reserve for large tanks to play to its full potential. The gun is hugely accurate but shots often bounce because it's a tier VI TD that meets IS-3's and Tiger II's.

If you just want to plink away at peoples front armor and still score 3-6 kills per match, the russian heavies are the way to go though. They're the Awesum buttan of WoT.

 

[Gregz]

Basically all the russian tanks are facerollingly easy to play. KV-1 in paticular is the n00btube of WoT.
...
If you just want to plink away at peoples front armor and still score 3-6 kills per match, the russian heavies are the way to go though. They're the Awesum buttan of WoT.

Being as I'm still a noob at WoT, non-premium, and recovering from previous butthurt, an iWin tank is very welcome. If I was to stay with the KV-line, and wanted to maintain the same style of play...should I go KV-2, KV-IS, or T-150? I can see all the stats on paper and guess, but if I'm wrong or miscalculate I'm out 1mil.

Do any of the german TDs have turrets? Also, does locking hull take time or have any drawbacks?

 

[Ulminati]

http://forum.worldoftanks.com/index.php?/forum/36-game-guides-and-tutorials/ is a good place to start. They also have dedicated forums for tanks/tds/spgs for all 4 nations.
Far as I recall, the faceroll-to-win order is KV1->KV-1S->IS1->IS3

 

[Ion Prothon II]

Sniping is the best thing KV-1 can do in battles with higher tiers. The second best thing is to get killed, so your fucking big wreckage will block some strategic way or will serve as a cover for teammates.

KV1S works rather well as TD. It's also fast and has good maneuverability... when fully upgraded. Accuracy is satisfying after gunner get this 80% or so. Due to its shitty armor, playing TD is propably the only sensible way. 122mm lolcannon is a deadly weapon, but expensive as fuck- 1K for 1 shell. This tank is painful to grind XP and it's definitely not a money maker.
TLDR: if you want to snipe, don't go this way any further.

M18 Hellcat is one of the best TDs in WoT, at least at this tier. It's the first enjoyable tank (maybe except Stug3) I played in this game.
This tank is riddiculously fast and has access to relatively powerful guns. With 90mm you can hurt almost everything < 6 tier and cause some damage to 7-8 tier. Armor is not so bad and it can withstand some damage. But the armor doesn't really matter. Survivability depends on speed, and this thing is fast. You're either camping from distance or using shoot & retreat method anyway. With this shit you can also go for arties with scouts / meds or even destroy some low- tier heavy in close combat, driving around him.

I was however very dissapointed with JagdPzIV and T25/2 (I even managed to fully upgrade JagdPz).

 

[Gregz]

http://forum.worldoftanks.com/index.php?/forum/36-game-guides-and-tutorials/ is a good place to start. They also have dedicated forums for tanks/tds/spgs for all 4 nations.
Far as I recall, the faceroll-to-win order is KV1->KV-1S->IS1->IS3

That was what I was originally intending to do, my only fear is I'll have to do the 'shoot and hide behind a rock for 20 seconds while the gun reloads' rinse-repeat thing, not really looking forward to that. I will check out the forums see if anyone is sniping with the higher KVs.

Sniping is the best thing KV-1 can do in battles with higher tiers. The second best thing is to get killed, so your fucking big wreckage will block some strategic way or will serve as a cover for teammates.

KV1S works rather well as TD. It's also fast and has good maneuverability... when fully upgraded. Accuracy is satisfying after gunner get this 80% or so. Due to its shitty armor, playing TD is propably the only sensible way. 122mm lolcannon is a deadly weapon, but expensive as fuck- 1K for 1 shell. This tank is painful to grind XP and it's definitely not a money maker.
TLDR: if you want to snipe, don't go this way any further.

1k a shell?

M18 Hellcat is one of the best TDs in WoT, at least at this tier. It's the first enjoyable tank (maybe except Stug3) I played in this game.
This tank is riddiculously fast and has access to relatively powerful guns. With 90mm you can hurt almost everything < 6 tier and cause some damage to 7-8 tier. Armor is not so bad and it can withstand some damage. But the armor doesn't really matter. Survivability depends on speed, and this thing is fast. You're either camping from distance or using shoot & retreat method anyway. With this shit you can also go for arties with scouts / meds or even destroy some low- tier heavy in close combat, driving around him.

I was however very dissapointed with JagdPzIV and T25/2 (I even managed to fully upgrade JagdPz).

Hmm, I have 1mil burning a hole in my pocket...KV-1S or M18 Hellcat...difficult decision.

I haven't seen many post 7.3 TD threads praising the M18. Everyone talks about the German line for the most part, have you been playing much since 7.3?

 

[Zdzisiu]

1k a shell is typical around tier 7 and higher. Its a reason why making sure your shots damage the enemy starts to get really important.

As for the choice between KV-1S or M18, I would go with KV-1S because I think it is a better all around tank and M18 needs a certain playstyle and is quite unforgivable.

 

[Ulminati]

So I was discussing WoT with some BROs. Well, I say "discussing" when in reality I was mostly just whining about how UP german tanks are. In my defense, I'm currently trying to grind JagdPz IV -> JagdPanther. The JgPz IV has won just about every "which tank is the shittiest for its tier" poll on the WoT forums since closed beta. This is because the JgPz IV in paticular suffers from the main drawback of german tanks -- their abysmal armor penetration.

The JagdIV is a tier 6 tank that still starts out with the same PaK 39/L48 you run around with as a Tier IV hetzer. you then have to upgrade tracks and engine before ou can actualyl mount a worthwhile gun on it and not move like a SPG. Even once you're past the painful grind and sporting a 8,8 cm PaK 36 L/56, you're still only sporting 132mm of armor penetration point blank anf faving Tier 7-8 heavies with 120mm frontal armor. This means that about half the enemy team you'll only ever be able to do appreciable damage to if you somehow get behind them (in a TD) or at nearly point blank, at which point they'll oneshot you with your pitiful 80mm hull armor/600hp tank. (For instance, the russian TrollGun™ aka 122 mm D-2-5T has 175mm armor penetration and does 390 points of damage -- enough to one-shot you from full health, against your frontal armor, in a hull-down position).

So anyway, I was about how painful JagdIV was when someone pointed out I should totally give gold ammo a shot. I was initially dismissive (pay2win, no thx) until I realized I had 200 gold lying about from a coupon code I got god-knows-when. I checked my gun stats and realized the APCR shells would bump my armor penetration from 132mm->171mm.

Long story short: I spent my free gold on gold ammo and killed a Tiger II, a KV3 an IS-1 and took about half the health of an IS-3 in the same match. Got ~3.5k xp and an Ace Tanker badge.

I need ~50k xp and 1 million credits to afford a JagdPanther + JgPz-V-Ketten Ausf. A + 10,5 cm K 18 L/52 for that sweet, sweet 320hp/200ap doomkannon that'll scare the bejeezuz out of mediums and damage anything up to and including the Maus.

I guess the main problem is that the PaK36 was historically designed for APCR and used almost exclusively with this type of ammunition during the war until german resources began running low. At this point the germans built a better cannon for their tanks instead since the PaK/KwK 36 is really subpar with standard AP/HE ammo. So yeah, unless you're running gold shots, the JagdIV is vastly inferior to its historical counterpart.

 

[Ion Prothon II]

Hmm, I have 1mil burning a hole in my pocket...KV-1S or M18 Hellcat...difficult decision.

I haven't seen many post 7.3 TD threads praising the M18. Everyone talks about the German line for the most part, have you been playing much since 7.3?

If it's all about M18 or KV1S and you want to play like TD, then go Hellcat. At least you will be able to make some money. As stated before, KV1S is NOT a money maker, and is hard to play as heavy. This tank was like light version of KV3, and update 7.3 made it an equivalent of laughable USA T1 HT / M6.

7.3 changed nothing significant in gameplay, I guess they've already fucked up mechanics enough in previous updates.

With M18 I got so far like 300 battles with survivability 40% and hit ratio 62%. With Stug3 and KV1S survivability was at 30% with the same hit ratio. And I tend to play aggresively (arty- hunting, flanking) instead of camping in bushes (when low tier battle, when a lot of tanks can be efficiently damaged, etc).

1k a shell is typical around tier 7 and higher. Its a reason why making sure your shots damage the enemy starts to get really important.

As for the choice between KV-1S or M18, I would go with KV-1S because I think it is a better all around tank and M18 needs a certain playstyle and is quite unforgivable.

Why? I think M18 is more "forgiving" than slower, but heavier armored M36. When you're spotted in tank like TD or SPG, it doesn;t matter how armor you have. You got few seconds to move or take cover, before enemy start shooting. M18 allows you to do it fast. Random bullet won't make instakill - except direct hit from artillery like GwPanther or Hummel, golden bullets, or *really* big guns (eg. lolcannon of KV3) in back or sides.