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PeZook wrote:Also, most arty people can't pick targets for shit. Good arty can help a team IMMENSELY if they concentrate on killing tanks that can put out hurt on your team. But no, let's drop a shell on the first tank we see and OH SHIT AN IS I AM NOT READY TO FIRE ARGH *DIES*.

The big trick is learning what the flight time of your shells are so you can properly lead targets and learning where the common artillery spots on most maps are. Just watch for tracers and drop on where their shell came from. The real trick is learning how long it takes your shell to get to a given range, getting that Kentucky windage makes all the difference.

To be honest, the game keeps suggesting the proper way to fight arty is to let light tanks do it while pounding the heavy tanks instead, so a lot of newbies probably take it to heart and don't do counterbattery at all.

PeZook wrote:To be honest, the game keeps suggesting the proper way to fight arty is to let light tanks do it while pounding the heavy tanks instead, so a lot of newbies probably take it to heart and don't do counterbattery at all.

The game suggests a lot of things that are bollocks. Like your top speed being dependent on your weight and max weight. Which is apparently a poorly translated tooltip.

I think the issue in this forum has consistently been "artillery is overpowered", not that "artillery is shitty".

I got a lot of hate for driving arty.

I haven't noticed the much-vaunted overpowered artillery, to be frank.

PeZook wrote:I haven't noticed the much-vaunted overpowered artillery, to be frank.

It got nerfed awhile back. It's much saner now.

The nerf wasn't that bad though.

Zinegata wrote:The nerf wasn't that bad though.

It will be nerfed again. The blast range of all artillery units will be reduced in the next version of WoT. Oh and the gun elevation of several american tanks and the rate of fire of several german tanks will be reduced too.

I fucking love the T-34. Got it yesterday, now got it pimped out with the best engine, best tracks and the absolutely beastly long 57mm. It pretty much butchers and spits out everything on the same tier and seriously hurts stuff even two tiers above. After the absolutely horrible experience I had with working through the A-20, the T-34 makes it all absolutely worth it

Patch day tomorrow. Two new maps, and looks like a good list of changes. They're depressingly vague/obfuscatory regarding the combat mechanic changes, though. They say they're "readjusting" visibility across the board. WTF that actually means, who knows.

Actually, the visibility changes were explained in great detail in a blog post by Overlord.

Thunderfire wrote:

Zinegata wrote:The nerf wasn't that bad though.

It will be nerfed again. The blast range of all artillery units will be reduced in the next version of WoT. Oh and the gun elevation of several american tanks and the rate of fire of several german tanks will be reduced too.

From what I gathered, the American tanks are getting an increase to depression rather than a decrease to elevation. As in, majorly happy thing. I'm pretty glad to see the arty nerf be splash. My American arty hasn't had noticeable splash anyway, so what's the point? Plus, my M7 priest gets even more reload speed. I just hope they don't make the American heavies (especially the T29) any more painfully undergunned.

PeZook wrote:To be honest, the game keeps suggesting the proper way to fight arty is to let light tanks do it while pounding the heavy tanks instead, so a lot of newbies probably take it to heart and don't do counterbattery at all.

Yeah, the game's suggestions should be taken with a boulder of salt. Best way to fight arty is with arty. Send light tanks out and chances are they'll get pasted by TDs, mediums, and heavies before they get anywhere near the artillery.

BroCap wrote:It got nerfed awhile back. It's much saner now.

All they did was slightly widen the aiming circles and tinker with the slash damage. Didn't do a damned thing to actually nerf seriously artillerists. Once you learn a particular arty piece's particulars, like how long shell flight is for a given distance and take time to let your aiming reticle tighten up (enhanced gun laying drives work wonders for that), it's not a problem at all. They can nerf shit all they like,but pricks like me will figure out how to make it work to great effect. Thing is, I'm not really that good at artillery. You should see the stats of this one guy I know that does nothing but artillery. Guy manages a 70%+ hit ratio with them and he tends to drive things like GW Panthers and Tigers.

It's not just artillerist skill. Too many players just don't take enough precautions against artillery. Last night, I had a hilarious match where, as the last surviving tank in my group, I evaded around 7 artillery shots lobbed at me. While driving backwards.

A little random jinking here and there helps a lot to up your survivability.

I think there's a pretty good argument to be had that when your reloading time is measured with a calendar wasting shots on targets that are jinking is an increasingly poor proposition.

Somehow, after unlocking the M5 stuart, I'm one tank away from having unlocked every tier 6 or lower tank outside the German and artillery trees. Considering that I went through the German tree in beta pretty hard, I've driven a truly stupid variety of tanks. I highly recommend this, both because mid tier matches are a lot of fun, and because as you get further along it, you'll realize you have a better idea of what the enemy's likely to do and what you can really get out of your vehicle. Plus, you're more likely to end up in tanks you really like. Sure, take one tank and go big with it right away because the big tanks are their own variety of fun, and proper heavies start at tier 7. But try other stuff. There's a lot of fun things to be had, and you may find yourself enjoying something totally unanticipated. I'm the sort who rather likes all kinds of tanks, but it's funny how some of my favorites (Lee and T-28 spring to mind but the M4A3E8 is there too) have really dedicated hate clubs (yes, a bunch of people feel the 76mm on the E8 is woefully inadequate. Me, I like to collect top guns, and I got jobbed out of my second in that already).

Yeah, but in the example I mentioned I was the only target left for the entire enemy arty park. Jinking and random course changes do help when you know you're getting shot at by arty. I was ultimately killed the old fashioned way - heavy tank shot to the face - but not before I shot off several rounds and damaged the heavy.

I do agree that the "broad" approach is a good idea however. In addition to what's been mentioned, it lets you play with multiple tanks while one of your tanks is KO'd and you'd more or less keep earning a similar amount of money and XP.

I also don't understand the hate for the Easy 8. I think it's a great tank. The key to using it - much like the T-28 with the long 57mm - is to keep your distance from the enemy and snipe like mad.

Its real problem is that it sometimes gets into matches where it can't kill anything, but having a 90mm often doesn't help in these situations either anyway. On the flip side, it tends to totally dominate the field when it's one of the top tanks in the match.

Zinegata wrote: I also don't understand the hate for the Easy 8. I think it's a great tank. The key to using it - much like the T-28 with the long 57mm - is to keep your distance from the enemy and snipe like mad.

The Easy 8 is a fast an agile tank. Why should I throw away this advantage and turn in into a weak sniper? The Easy 8 is a good flanker & a effective member of a wolfpack.

The key to using any tank is to realize there is no golden tactic for any of them

It's all about match composition. In my T-14 I can go from team bruiser to arty defender to oversized medium, depending on what is arrayed against me. The Sherman can be either a sniper dashing from bush to bush, an oversized light tank or even the biggest and baddest mofo on the team.

I find the light/medium/heavy distinctions are a bit artificial and misleading much of the time.

I'm not advocating sitting in one spot and shooting like a TD for the Easy 8. I'm saying that you should keep your distance from the enemy and snipe at them like mad from long range.

The Easy 8 is a pretty fragile tank. It's not gonna survive long by going point-blank against enemy tanks. Instead, keep your distance and use your agility to pop in and out of cover. The 76mm shoots fast and accurately enough that you can lay down a lot of hurt with little to no effective return fire.

Against lighter tanks, then yes, it's fine to go wolfpack.But even then keeping your distance keeps the nasty Mk III with a short 75mm away, or the KV-2 with a grudge.

Zinegata wrote:I also don't understand the hate for the Easy 8. I think it's a great tank. The key to using it - much like the T-28 with the long 57mm - is to keep your distance from the enemy and snipe like mad.

That's what they want the 90mm for. They want the extra penetration because they don't believe in flanking or dps. Apparently all battles are fought at extreme range, popping in and out of cover. I guess psycopaths like me who'll set up a flanking run on stuff like two Tigers and in addition to piling on the damage cause utter mayhem are a rarity. Nothing kills a heavy's damage output like chasing after a fast medium.

Patch 6.4 is out now, torrenting as we speak. 864.5 megs. I've heard speculation that the new maps are huge, so that may be a lot of it. Anyway, on the subject of the next patch, Overlord's blog has some info, and apparently we're getting US TDs and Mediums.

I played 4 matches after the patch and I've already encountered Loewe and KV-5 tanks with my Tier 6 tanks...

The 76mm doesn't really need that much help with penetration. It's accurate enough that a slight angle is enough to get side shots in.

As I've said a few times, my big problem with the Easy Eight is that I got overmatched into Tier 7/8 battles way too often. That can just really be a function of when you play more than anything else.

I only had about half an hour to play earlier, played each of the new maps once, didn't get much of a chance to get more than an initial impression of each.

Well, yeah, tanks way up your tier are always a pain. :/

It can be fun if people cooperate, though and you detrack/lock up people's turrets. The problem is that even a slight tap from one of those massive guns on tier 7-9 heavies can destroy you, so there's not much opportunity to play support.

It would be nice to be able to adjust weaponry for the match you're in...I'd take the howitzer instead of a 76mm for my M4 if I got stuck in one of those absurdly overmatched teams.