World of Tanks Mark 2

[The Infidel]

I would also note that brawling helps compensate for inadequate penetration. Players in World of Tanks often forget that AP round penetration decreases with range; I see people on the team chat complaining about not penetrating an enemy tank all the time even if they're at extreme range, when they should really know better than to expect reliable penetration.

Tried a bit IS-4 now. Sometimes it work, other times not so much. I'm a big shell magnet, but massive amounts of armor helps. I tried to wiggle my tank a bit. It seems to help a bit, since it prevents enemy to fire accurately at my weak spots. Also think I will replace binocs with coated optics.

I already knew that AP looses penetration with range. I sometimes compensate with either HE or gold ammo if I can't penetrate. I usually have about 10% of my ammo storage to gold ammo and about 10-15% to HE. My record for sniping is more than 600 meters.

[Darth Wong]

I very rarely load gold ammo. It seems to me like if you have gold ammo, it can become a bit of a crutch. I can understand why people might use it in certain situations, but if you use it too much then you become dependent on it, and your tactics may even be different as a result.

[Skywalker_T-65]

Never used it myself, but then again I haven't spent a dime on this game either.

That being said, where I am (just now hit Tier 7) I don't see much need for gold ammo. I'm doing perfectly fine with regular AP/HE ammo.

[Nephtys]

Don't use gold ammo regularly. Not just for the fact that you're firing dimes out of an e-cannon, but that it actually isn't THAT much better sometimes.

A gold round will still usually bounce off strong spots on tanks. For example, gun mantlets on US tanks will still deflect most gold rounds. Likewise, a glancing shot on a track that then bounces off is going to be the same, gold round or not.

---

Also, AP Barely loses damage at range. I think the tested result for most guns is around 5 percent less penetration at 500m compared to 100m. Gold AP ammo loses three times as much pen at range.

I usually hold 4 or 5 gold rounds in case I'm ever in a position where it matters. Like if I'm crucial to the win at the end of a game, and I need every advantage I can get against a well armored enemy. It's a little added insurance, but knowing where to shoot is far more important, and AP teaches that better.

[Darth Wong]

Never used it myself, but then again I haven't spent a dime on this game either.

That being said, where I am (just now hit Tier 7) I don't see much need for gold ammo. I'm doing perfectly fine with regular AP/HE ammo.

Well that's the thing; you can have plenty of great games without gold ammo. It's only frustrating not to have gold ammo if you've become accustomed to having it.

[Vendetta]

I've grinded the german line and played these like crazy this spring to get the IS-4 while it was still tier 9. Thanks to a lot of 5x days and converting a lot of free xp from the german line, I went straight to IS-3 and in 1-2 weeks grinded my way to IS-4. When 7.4 came, IS-4 became tier 10 and I got an IS-8 for free. This way, I got a tier X about 200 000xp cheaper than it usually would have cost me. I have about 20 tanks, most german (whom I got the hard way), so these holliday specials can give me a ton of xp. Then I used my credit card to convert to free xp. I regard WoT as a hobby, so I'm willing to spend a little bit on it. A little gold makes life easier. When I was grinding, I also had an premium account to get those 50% xp and credits extra..

This is possibly related to your issue.

Higher tier matches tend to be higher stakes, because guns get seriously better faster than armour does. That means that there's far less margin for error at higher tiers, when things go wrong at high tiers they tend to go wrong in an immediate and irrevocable fashion.

By skipping the lower tiers where you can get away with mistakes whilst you learn how to play the tanks the way they need to be played to survive and contribute you're skipping the process where you learn not to make those mistakes. If you die straight away it's hard to connect that to a particular error that you made, and hard to learn not to do that in future*, whereas if you get slammed but live you get to correct the errors and figure out what made the pain start and stop.

That's why I'm trying not to skip anything. The only tank I've outright skipped, and the only tank I'm going to skip, is the PzII, and that's because it only has autocannons, and I don't do autocannons.


* This is also why light tanks are hard to learn, because you die straight away if you do something wrong.

[Darth Wong]

Don't use gold ammo regularly. Not just for the fact that you're firing dimes out of an e-cannon, but that it actually isn't THAT much better sometimes.

A gold round will still usually bounce off strong spots on tanks. For example, gun mantlets on US tanks will still deflect most gold rounds. Likewise, a glancing shot on a track that then bounces off is going to be the same, gold round or not.

---

Also, AP Barely loses damage at range. I think the tested result for most guns is around 5 percent less penetration at 500m compared to 100m. Gold AP ammo loses three times as much pen at range.

I usually hold 4 or 5 gold rounds in case I'm ever in a position where it matters. Like if I'm crucial to the win at the end of a game, and I need every advantage I can get against a well armored enemy. It's a little added insurance, but knowing where to shoot is far more important, and AP teaches that better.

According to the wiki article on WoT battle mechanics, the rate of loss of penetration over distance varies with tier. It's very low for tier-10s (an added benefit for high-tier tanks, I suppose), but quite high for lower tiers.

PS. I couldn't help but laugh when I saw that the title of the next chapter is "Double Penetration"

[Skywalker_T-65]

I can't spend money on free XP conversion, so I haven't been able to skip anything. A side-effect of that is that I've learned what my style of play is, and how to play certain tanks very well. Take the VK 3601, my favorite tank...it can play as a sniper or a brawler, which allows variety. Plus it is fast enough, while still having AMAZING (for its tier) armor, that I can get to other flanks quickly while still taking some hits if needed.

Compare to the T-150 which is a slow lumbering beast with a rather bad gun (stock at least). I can't play that tank well since it doesn't fit my style.

As for Light tanks...I've played my Stuart/ELC enough that I'm confident I know how to play lights. Though the ELC is odd in that you can hurt even T8's if you have the 90 equipped, which VERY few lights can say.

EDIT:

While I don't like the T-150, I do LOVE the KV-1 and AMX 40...even though they also fit the 'slow lumbering beast' description. Namely since they have good-ish matchmaking, and have guns that can do damage at their tier really well. Or in the case of the KV's 85...damage to even unlucky T8's.

[Darth Wong]

The T-150 is worthless until you get the 107mm gun. At that point, the tank becomes far more formidable, and feels like a worthy tier-6 successor to the tier-5 KV-1. I still prefer the KV-2, but that's because I just can't get enough of the derp gun.

The KV-1 is a lot of fun because it can take a surprising amount of punishment at its tier. The KV-4 is actually very similar in playing style; it took me a while to get used to it but I've had some very good games, and gotten the ace tanker badge on it. On many occasions, I've held a chokepoint pretty much by myself against as many as five tanks, thus allowing the rest of the team to overwhelm the enemy's other flank. Of course, where the KV-4 falls down is big open spaces, which are generally hostile to any heavy tank. Ideal terrain for a KV-4 is full of obstructions so that enemy artillery won't have clear lines of fire. As a general rule, slow lumbering heavies are really good for holding chokepoints, but that requires patience; you have to let the enemy try to go through the chokepoint. If you get impatient and try to rush out there to engage someone, you often get caught with your pants down.

[Simon_Jester]

I very rarely load gold ammo. It seems to me like if you have gold ammo, it can become a bit of a crutch. I can understand why people might use it in certain situations, but if you use it too much then you become dependent on it, and your tactics may even be different as a result.

I buy a few rounds when on sale, and keep them in the tank "for an emergency."

The main emergency uses are when I meet something too well armored and want to nail it- say, killing a Tiger in a Sherman 105, or an attacking medium in a SPG with a point blank shot.

I actually fire very few rounds of gold, with the sole exception that I bought about 200 rounds of gold ammo for the squeeze-bore 75mm gun on the VK3601 to ease the grind toward the upgraded turret that can hold the long 75 and short 88.

[Vendetta]

I can't think of a situation that I'd call "emergency" enough to actually shoot real money at pretend tanks.

I mean maybe if I in Clan Wars to get a clutch win, where your clan actually has the ability to earn gold from the rewards, but in pub matches? Nah.

[xthetenth]

I fire gold in clan wars matches pretty much exclusively because I get gold back for it. I pretty much rely on being able to get to a good position to get side shots if need be in pubs, getting a clan wars grind on means too many games to huck gold with any regularity. Last time I fired gold in a pub I was getting through some leftover T30 gold when it was a heavy to get the T110E4.

[Darth Wong]

Done without gold rounds

shot_015-cropped.jpg (103.74 KiB) Viewed 2749 times

Of course, to be fair, this was a fully upgraded ISU-152 on Murovanka, and the penetration on the ISU-152's gun is so high that it might as well be shooting gold rounds. But as a general rule, I think it's better to find ways to win without using gold rounds; it forces you to be a little more creative, or more aggressive.

[Zinegata]

In general, I find that learning to aim properly does far more to increase your damage output than using gold ammo.

[Imperial528]

Five kills in one match, god I love arty. For most of the game it was me and one other person who were the only ones with kills.

And all of mine were one-shot, only two against damaged targets.

[xthetenth]

In general, I find that learning to aim properly does far more to increase your damage output than using gold ammo.

Amen.

Done without gold rounds

Should've shot one into the air to get a sniper medal.

Oh, and if anyone's keeping an eye on WoWP, I checked in a little bit ago and it's starting to get good, they fixed the reason I stopped playing most recently and it's really a good bit of fun in my opinion.

[Darth Wong]

Done without gold rounds

Should've shot one into the air to get a sniper medal.

ISU-152 rounds are 1650 credits apiece, so one learns only to take shots that you think will hit something

[The Infidel]

Oh, I guess I was a bit frustrated. I usually don't die right off. I use buildings and such as cover and try to move a bit unpredictable. I can survive for quite long and i do win about 1/3 of the times, it's just that I need to win more. I would like my statistics to show 50% or better. It's a bit difficult to use tactics when most players have their own idea of what it is and stick to that. I do about average in my Tiger II. When I look at my stats and divide into light, mediums and heavies, I see that I do best in low tier battles and I slowly get worse as tier gets higher and tanks heavier. I excel in my T18, BT-2 or SU-26 (I filtered out those tanks I only played when I was a noob), but get worse for higher tiers. I'm around 50% at tier 8, it seems.

You can see my stats here.
Hit ratio is low, because I sometimes give cover fire while playing low tier. When I play high tier, most shells hit. Besides, when I snipe at low tier, like across the death fields of Malinokva, not all shots hit. I make up for that by shooting more.

I very rarely load gold ammo. It seems to me like if you have gold ammo, it can become a bit of a crutch. I can understand why people might use it in certain situations, but if you use it too much then you become dependent on it, and your tactics may even be different as a result.

Oh, I don't use much gold ammo. They're too expensive! I usually have 3-4 shells of premium ammo just in case. I play my wast majority of games without ever shooting a premium shell.

The main emergency uses are when I meet something too well armored and want to nail it- say, killing a Tiger in a Sherman 105, or an attacking medium in a SPG with a point blank shot.

This! I don't always remember the soft spots of each tank, but I'm getting better at it.

[Skywalker_T-65]

I think that I'm the exact opposite of you Infidel. I do better with my higher tier (though 'high' is a relative term when I only have one T7 ) tanks than I do with my lower tier ones.

The VK 3601 is my best tank, and the one with my best stats (don't have them memorized or I would give them), with either my PzIII/IV or KV-1 in second. But if my Tiger is any indication, a large part of the (for me) problem in getting good stats is that higher-tier tanks feel the 'stock pain' a lot harder than lower tier ones. That's just my (limited) experience though.

[Imperial528]

Did this a few hours ago, it made me so happy:



See that dead M37? I got him just by watching the smoke from his gun and blind firing where I figured he'd be. Direct hit, instant kill.

Unfortunately we lost the match, but I didn't really care.

[Simon_Jester]

I can't think of a situation that I'd call "emergency" enough to actually shoot real money at pretend tanks.

It's very simple, Vendetta.

If imagining the look on that Tiger player's face when my Sherman blows through his front armor and fries his tank for 300 points of damage is worth 2.5 cents to me, I fire that 2.5-cent HEAT round.

Usually, it's not. But some days...

Oh, I don't use much gold ammo. They're too expensive! I usually have 3-4 shells of premium ammo just in case. I play my wast majority of games without ever shooting a premium shell.

Seconded.

[The Infidel]

Did this a few hours ago, it made me so happy:

See that dead M37? I got him just by watching the smoke from his gun and blind firing where I figured he'd be. Direct hit, instant kill.

Unfortunately we lost the match, but I didn't really care.

It's nice to do counter artillery by tracers. Have done so myself from time to time. It really give you that nice, warm feeling when you do it, right? Did you know that all tanks have tracers? You can do the same with TD and tanks as well. Best with TD, because they don't move as much as tanks.

Oh, I think I use most gold ammo on my SU-26. Sometimes you need that to get trough that T1 and 4 normal shells have dinged or done 10 damage.

If imagining the look on that Tiger player's face when my Sherman blows through his front armor and fries his tank for 300 points of damage is worth 2.5 cents to me, I fire that 2.5-cent HEAT round.

Usually, it's not. But some days...

Oh, yes... I imagine the look of that "heavy" tank when 3-4 arty shells have done a total of 30 damage and he feels big. Then the next two takes away 200 each and kills him.

[Darth Wong]

Any Tiger driver who thinks his tank can shrug off art hits is grossly incompetent and deserves to be pulverized. Surely, by the time one reaches tier-7, he should be aware of how dangerous arty can be.

[The Vortex Empire]

Any Tiger driver who thinks his tank can shrug off art hits is grossly incompetent and deserves to be pulverized. Surely, by the time one reaches tier-7, he should be aware of how dangerous arty can be.

Especially while driving a tank as poorly-armored as the Tiger. If you're trying to brawl and shrug off hits in that tank, you deserve to get blown away.

[Skywalker_T-65]

I certainly don't play MY Tiger like that. The only reason its so painful for me is the MM putting me with tanks that the stock L/70 constantly pings off of.