Tool Hammers WoT Tips Part 2

If you missed the first installment of Tool Hammers World of Tanks Tips you can read it HERE. In this installment Tool will go over some helpful tricks to make you an overall better player.

Welcome to my second installment of Toolhammer9000’s tips, tricks and techniques. This installment I would like to discuss some general tactics that can be applied to all tanks.

Beneficial habits to develop

When facing higher tier, better armed or more heavily armored opponents there are a few things you can do to increase your survivability, profitability and overall enjoyment of the game. To increase enemies bouncing rounds off of your tank and minimize the damage you sustain you should develop these habits.

ANGLE YOUR ARMOR – the single most important thing you can do is angle your armor, in open field combat this means instead of squaring your armor face to face with an opponent turn your tank so that your frontal and side armor are at an approximately 45 degree angle to the enemy. This will increase the effectiveness of the armor plating and give you the best chance to bounce the enemy round.

In addition to the open field method there are ways to angle your armor using the hard cover technique. Hard cover is anything that cannot be destroyed or shot through. To employ this tactic using a building or mountain you must first position your tank nose first into the cover with just the slightest bit of side is exposed to your enemy. This allows your turret to be pointed slightly to the side giving you a shot but not exposing your frontal armor at all. The resulting side that you are exposing to the enemy will be facing the enemy at such a steep angle it will be nearly impossible to penetrate. The only disadvantage to this technique is that you will take rounds to your tracks and turret but only after your aggravated opponent has figured out what you are doing and takes corrective measures. By this time you should already have multiple hits on the enemy.  See provided illustration for clarification.

 

Tank vulnerabilities

Hit zone skins – These are overlays designed by non developer third parties that show the vulnerable sections of each tank. The colors represented are red for engine and transmission, white for ammunition rack, orange for commander, dark blue for driver and teal / pink for lighter armored portions. These add-on have been deemed allowable by the developers and can be downloaded from the internet.  I have personal experience with this add on’s and noticed that my situational awareness increased significantly when I used them, however they become obsolete with each patch.

Knowing where to strike the enemy for maximum effect is a huge advantage, one thing I have learned is that the commander’s hatches and lower hull plate armor on almost every tank is extremely vulnerable. The commander’s hatch is generally located on the very top of the turret and the lower hull plate armor is the section on the front towards the bottom of the tank. The commander’s hatch is round in shape and has prismatic (mirrors) squares all the way around. Two tanks that have very weak hatches are the E-75 and the American T-95 tank destroyer, these tanks are nearly impossible to penetrate from the front but when aiming for these hatches you can have huge success even with a much lower tier tank.

In contrast if you find yourself in a fierce firefight slugging it out with someone who can and is dealing damage you should again angle your armor, continue to move back and forth and traverse your turret slightly to the left and right. This will make your opponent have a higher chance of bouncing rounds or missing intended weak spots.

There is one thing in World of Tanks that will ruin your day faster then any other……. ARTY, mainly heavy arty. A skilled heavy artillery player can mash your tank to bits and leave you sobbing with a huge repair bill. My current tier 7 artillery the M40/M43 has the 203 mm cannon and can potentially deal out 1850 hit points worth of damage (that’s game ending with just one shot) and it’s not even the largest artillery available.

The best defense against artillery is terrain and hard cover. Being aware of your surroundings and the commonly used artillery paths will allow you to stay in the fight longer, making more money and experience points.

The illustration above shows how to tuck against a sand dune or hill to avoid artillery fire, this area of the sand dune or hill is called the “arty shadow” and is usually halfway to three quarters of the way up the hill depending on the angle of the hill. The worst place to sit is at the bottom portion of the hill due to the false sense of security it provides.

 

Goals to look forward to

I would like to briefly discuss some of the superstar vehicles I have had the pleasure of operating and explain why I enjoyed them so much. Who knows you may choose to grind to these tanks and enjoy them as much as I did.

Jagdpanther – This was by far my favorite vehicle to operate. I maintain a 76 percent win percentage including several 6 plus kill matches. My best match was with 8 kills (still unbeaten by any of my vehicles). When fully upgraded this vehicle was incredibly accurate, carries a powerful 105 mm gun and is agile enough to thwart light tank attacks providing a fun powerful tier 7 tank destroyer that is generally matched with lower tier tanks.

E-75 – coming in second place was the E75 which is a tier 9 heavy on the German tree. This brute is a real joy to use with its very heavy and sloped front armor and turret which bounces all but the heaviest rounds fired at it.  When fully upgraded this beast is equipped with a 128 mm main gun. With this setup this heavy can stand toe to toe with anything in the game and usually fare pretty well.

T50-2 – This light tank is a blast to drive, its top speed of 72 kmph and superior crossing traverse make it uber agile and a real thorn in the side of the enemy team. The fully upgraded gun for this tank is relatively powerful and it reloads quickly. I have on several occasions been able to avoid the business end of a heavy tank by staying on the backside of their turret traverse and wreaked havoc by shooting the softer armor on the rear and sides but expect to solo engage heavies over a tier 6 and live to tell about it. The longer you stay alive in this tank the higher your teams chances of winning.

Lowe – Ah my Lowe, I have just shy of 750 battles with this gem. This tank while more lightly armored then its other non premium tier 8 counterparts is a real sniper. The accuracy on the Lowe’s gun is second to none and the penetration will provide damaged components and injured crews for even the most heavily armored opponents. If used correctly this tank can be a very valuable asset to any team.

There are many other vehicles I have operated and enjoyed but these are my favorites overall. Except for a few just absolutely awful tanks most vehicles in the game have strengths and weaknesses making them enjoyable to play.

As always stay tuned for more installments on Keyboard Required.

WoT Battle of The Bulge Special & Intial 7.2 Patch Notes

Standard bonuses for this special as we have seen in the past.

Commanders!

We heard your feedback in December about the lack of a Battle of the Bulge special, and this Monday we’re going to make up for it!

The Battle of the Bulge came to a close on January 25, 1945 and we’re going to honor that date beginning on January 23, 2012.

Starting at 3:30AM PST (11:30 UTC) on January 23, 2012 and ending at 3:00AM PST (11:00 UTC) on January 26, 2012, the following discounts and bonuses will be available.

• x3 experience for the first victory each day on all of your tanks
• 50% off the cost of enlarging the barracks (normally 300, 150 during special)
• 50% off the credit cost of the following vehicles:
  • USA
    • M7 Priest
    • M5 Stuart
    • M4A3E2
    • M10 Wolverine
  • Germany
    • PzKpfw V Panther
    • PzKpfw VI Tiger
    • Jagdpanther
    • Grille
• 50% off the gold cost of the T14 (normally 1500, 750 during special)

Be sure to take advantage of the Battle of the Bulge special while it lasts! The prices of the above-mentioned tanks and features will return to normal on January 26, 2012.

In Other Wot News  Patch 7.2 is slated for release sometime in February 2012. here is a partial list of some of the changes expected in the release. There are some much wanted changes in this patch including the American Heavy tree changes and new crew skills. 

Vehicles: 

Alternate branch of American Tank Destroyers with turrets, starting at T82:

• M8A1 (tier IV)
• T49 (tier V)
• M18 Hellcat (tier VI)
• T25-2 (tier VII)
• T28 Prototype (tier VIII)

Changes in American Heavy Tank branch:

• T30 moved to alternate branch as a tier IX Tank Destroyer
• T30 replaced by Т110E5
• T34 moved to Premium Tanks 
• Т34 replaced by М103

Maps (working titles, subject to change)

• Province
• Live Oaks

New features: 

• In-game novice training;  
• Approx. 20 additional crew skills and qualifications; 
• Remaining rounds indicator for guns with multi-round autoloading mechanisms;  
• Reworked team lists and ‘Tab’ key tables;
• New additional camouflage for each nation;
• Corrected German camouflage patterns;
• Clan emblems; 
• Repairing vehicle module/healing crew member in one click when one module/one crew member is damaged/wounded;
• User-friendly reticle settings.

Tool Hammers WoT Tips

Today I am posting a piece from a good friend of mine who just so happens to also be a big fan of World of Tanks. During his time playing the game he has learned and developed several techniques and recently he sat down to create a series of posts in the hope of sharing some with the rest of WoT's gamers. In this first installment he will talk about the very basics a new player will need to understand the game, but I am sure even veteran players will find something new in here they may use. Stay tuned for future installments from Tool Hammer where he will explore all things tanks.

Tool hammer’s tips, tricks and techniques

Welcome to Toohammer9000’s tips tricks and techniques, in this series of articles I will discuss different ways to improve your overall game play in World of Tanks.

I would like to start by introducing myself and my history playing WoT. Although I do not consider myself an expert in any way, I do believe that I have spent enough time in game to have acquired a certain level of knowledge, which you may find helpful.  The information in this article series is a result of my 6200 plus battles in the various vehicles covering all tiers and types that World of Tanks has to offer. My win percentage is a modest 52 percent with a 31 percent survival rating; this is nothing exceptional however almost all of my battles have been in random matches or “pub” matches as they are sometimes called.

There are many other players within the WoT world who have higher percentages but their stats can sometimes be skewed by matches played in Clan Wars or in platoons. While the vehicle does not make the man I have been successful enough to obtain an IS-7, E-100, Patton, T50-2 and a Ferdinand. Playing through these trees has given me valuable insight into the game that I would like to pass along to the newer player or the player trying to grasp the subtle nuances of the game.

The first installment in my series will be geared toward the newer player just looking to start out in World of Tanks.

Starting out in World of Tanks

When starting off in World of Tanks, you have four different tanks to choose from. Tier one tanks are The Russian MS-1, German Liechtraktor, the American T1 Cunningham and the French Renault ft17. All of these starter tanks are enough to make you want to throw your keyboard in anger, but take a deep breath and put the keyboard down, it gets better, trust me. As you progress and get better components for your tank or higher tier tanks altogether, you will start to enjoy the game more and more.

            The game format is based upon a randomly selected map and includes 2 separate teams of 15 players. The teams consist of a mix of heavy tanks, light or scout tanks, medium tanks, tanks destroyers and self propelled guns or artillery. Each team starts at or near one of two home bases and the objective of the game is to either destroy all enemy vehicles or capture the enemy base by occupying it with one or more tanks until a status bar is full. Capping of the enemy base can be interrupted by damaging the occupying tanks.

            I would like to introduce the newer players to some of the lesser known controls in the game. As in many other computer games the w a s d keys control the movement of the tank hull and the mouse controls the turret traverse, firing of the main gun, auto aim locking system and zoom.

Zoom - there are two choices when zooming in, pressing the shift key will put you into an automatic “sniper mode” which is less the the full effect. For more control you can roll your mouse wheel for zooming in intervals between full third person and completely magnified.

Auto Aim – while a target is lit and your cursor is over the enemy vehicle you can click the right mouse button and obtain an auto lock on said target. Beware while this option is sufficient at lower levels or while you are using a scout tank at high speed, most of the time you will want to manually aim at certain components of the enemy maximizing the damage inflicted.

Additional Reticule – after the match has begun you can choose to use an additional blue sniper style reticule, this can be achieved by pressing the alt and 0 keys simultaneously. This can be useful when trying to be even more precise.

Artillery aiming – to properly aim a self propelled gun or “arty” as they are affectionately known you must first get into a cozy bush and then press the shift key. This will enter you into an overhead view of the battlefield where you can then use the circular shape aiming reticule to air mail little packages of love down upon your enemy.

Shell types – there are 3 shell types offered on most vehicles, Armor Piercing, ACPR and High Explosive. These 3 shell types can be loaded while in battle using keys 1 2 and 3. If you want to change ammunition type during battle you can press the corresponding key once to load that ammo the next round or you can double tap the corresponding key to completely reload that ammunition type.  Armor piercing rounds or AP are general purpose rounds that are designed to cause maximum damage if penetration can be achieved. When AP rounds will not go through enemy armor using HE or high explosive rounds can some times be an effective option. HE rounds are usually able to break components or injure crew members even if they do not penetrate. ACPR rounds are available for purchase for real money, they are generally used for Clan Wars or any other time you need the utmost performance from your ammunition.

Consumables - as you progress in the game you start to make use of all the little gadgets available to you in your garage including consumables. These are the three slots on the lower portion of your garage service screen. In these slots you can equip things like repair kit, fire extinguisher, first aid kit and many other items that will come in handy in the heat of battle. Once in combat you will find these items on the bottom center part of your screen and they can  be accessed by using keys 4 5 6. My personal setup is repair kit #4 fire extinguisher #5 and first aid kit #6, I have chosen these three simply because I use them the most and find them the most beneficial.

It quickly becomes apparent around the tier 3-5 range that the current pace of leveling up 6 or 7 tanks at one time is not sustainable unless you plan on being stuck in this tier for months. The best advice I can offer in regards to leveling tanks is to do some research, talk to other players and look at what is effective in battle. Pick a goal vehicle in each category, familiarize yourself with the respective tech tree and determine the best route to gain that tank. A manageable garage should have 2 to 3 tanks, an artillery piece and a tank destroyer. This allows for a variety of play styles and also focuses your leveling enough to actually move up in the tiers. Doing research prior to selecting your path will prevent you from regretting your decision once you start grinding a tree and determine there are better options.

There will be a harsh realization that even though that next tier tank you have been working so hard to get may appear to be the answer to your struggle, it will not be. This is due to the crap tastic gear that comes with each brand new tank. Your new tank will be slow, it will be outgunned, and it will have crummy view range and a novice crew making it the most fun vehicle you will ever drive – not!

Cry not my fellow tankers, it gets better as you progress through the tank and learn how to derive the best from the tank, upgrade equipment and crew. Some tanks will still be terrible even with the best gear and crew, such is World of Tanks.

 

Let’s discuss some generalizations or “tree characteristics” that appear within the 3 major tech trees (French are excluded because at the time of this article they are brand new and I have no experience with them).

-       German tanks are equipped with guns that have superior accuracy and are generally underpowered. Armor is usually middle of the road. This tree is the stout workhorse style of tank.

-       Russian tanks are generally speaking the most powerful in this game. Critics sometimes speculate that because the game is of Russian origin that this is a bias the developers have, nonetheless pound for pound and tier for tier these tanks are the toughest in the game. The Russian tanks however lack accuracy but make up for this deficiency through speed and agility and high penetrating main guns.

-       American tanks have the heaviest armored turrets and massively powerful guns (tier respective) but weaker hull armoring

Obviously these are some generalizations and if you are an experienced player right now I know you citing exceptions to everything on the list. Again these are just some of my observations of the tech trees as a whole and the strengths and weaknesses designed by the developers.

I look forward to sharing more tips and tricks with all of you through the Keyboard Required blog.

Stay tuned for more installments.

Become a Founder of the Republic

I received an interesting e-mail from BioWare giving me and others the chance to become a founding member of Star Wars: The Old Republic. I have to admit this is a smart move by BioWare to keep their player base around just a little longer if they were thinking of leaving. Also it shows they have the ability to learn from other games as players will like the idea of being able to show they were there from the start.


All you have to do to receive the new in game title and medal is to first have purchased the game and secondly pay for an extension on your subscription, either by a subscription plan or by using a game card. Easy enough and five years from now players won't have to tell people they were there in the beginning, but could show them the proof.

Here is the link to the page with all the information on it or read it below.

As a 'thank you' to everyone who helped make Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ one of the most successful MMO launches in history, we are rewarding early members of The Old Republic with a unique Founder's Medal and "Founder" Title!

To receive the Founder's Medal...

• Purchase Star Wars: The Old Republic and redeem your official Game Product Registration Code at the Code Redemption Center.
• Complete one of the following transactions by March 19th, 2012 (12:01AM EST; Pacific: March 18th, 9:01PM PST; European: 4:01AM GMT, 5:01AM CET):
  • Billed at least once for an active Star Wars: The Old Republic subscription
  • Redeemed a Star Wars: The Old Republic Game Time Code
• Once you become eligible for the title and have surpassed your 30 days of game time included with your official Game Product Registration Code, you will be notified by email.
• Check your in-game mail for a message from "Star Wars: The Old Republic". Your Founder's Medal will be attached to this message.
• Place your Founder's Medal in your Inventory and right-click the medal to unlock your "Founder" title. (TIP: You can choose to show the Founder's title or any other title you've earned in-game by opening your character sheet and selecting a title from the character name drop down. Once applied, the title will show next to your character name on your nameplate.)
• This title is permanently bound to your account and will carry over to any character you make in the future.
  
  (NOTE: It may take up to 7 days for the "Founder" title to be applied).

SWTOR Releases new Flash Point in Patch 1.1

The game has been out less than a month and already BioWare has released a new content patch. "Kaon under siege" appears to involve responding to a planet in distress only to discover it overrun with zombie like creatures. You can check out the video below or read the article here.