5261

So the big 7.2 patch is hitting 30 March. Crew skill changes are interesting:

http://worldoftanks.com/news/1045-72-preview-crew-skills/

I am thinking of skilling my guys:

American Heavies (T-29)
Commander: Brothers in Arms (bonus to other crew), followed by Mentor (extra XP)
Driver: Off road driving
Gunner: Deadeye (+crit chance)
Loader (x2): Nothing compelling here - probably going to go brothers in arms
Radio: Situational awareness (extra view range) or Signal Boosting (extra radio range)

Tank destroyers of all sorts (Slugger, Jagdpanther, Su-85 / Su-100 and probably Wolverine again to unlock hellcat)
Commander: Recon (extra view)
Driver: Nothing compelling here - probably going to go brothers in arms
Loader: Nothing compelling here - probably going to go brothers in arms
Gunner: Deadeye (+crit chance) or Designated Target (target stays visible longer)
Radio (Su series doesnt have): Situational awareness (extra view range)

Fast Mediums (Easy 8 Sherman, T34-85, VK3002DB, French Lights, later on KV-1S, T-20 and T-43)
Commander: Sixth Sense (know if you are spotted) -> Mentor
Driver: If you can mount vert stabliser then Smooth Ride (accuracy while shooting), otherwise Offroad driving or Clutch braking
Loader: Safe Stowage if ammo rackign a problem, otherwise brothers in arms
Radio: Boost signal range
Gunner: Snap Shot (+ accuracy after rotating turret, bonus with Vert stab) or Deadeye (+crit)

(french lights dont necessarily have all these crew spots)

Sniper Boxes (Tiger, VK3601H, Pz IV)
Commander: Recon (extra view)
Driver: Brothers in Arms
gunner: Deadeye (+crit chance) or Designated Target (target stays visible longer)
Radio: Situational awareness (extra view range)
Loader: Nothing compelling here - probably going to go brothers in arms

Russian Heavies / Brawlers (IS)
Commander: Brothers in Arms (bonus to other crew), followed by Mentor (extra XP)
Driver: Off road driving
Gunner: Deadeye (+crit chance)
Loader: Nothing compelling here - probably going to go brothers in arms
Radio: Situational awareness (extra view range) or Signal Boosting (extra radio range)

Also, yes I have too many tanks - 17 in the garage currently!

5262

Unless they are getting rid of the original skills, it seems to me that Repair is still critical for most tanks and especially for mediums or lights. I would say Repair is probably a better / more important skill than almost every new skill on the list.

Camo is a bit harder to evaluate since the effect of Repair is very obvious whereas I’m not altogether sure how much of a difference Camo actually makes.

This new system does seem to screw tanks with small crew sizes, something that they previously took pains not to do (by averaging Repair, Camo, and Firefighting numbers rather than simply adding them together).

5263

I thought about Repair, but I usually have a small repair kit so it doesnt seem as necessary

5264

Meanwhile, any thoughts on the Tier 7 mediums at all?

I’ve now unlocked a T-20, KV-13 and T-43. Probably can only buy one in the near term, i think I will lean towards the T-20.

(I already have a VK3002DB, which is a bit ho hum so far - really underpowered to get moving. Might get better with final engine unlock)

5265

T-20 is a fun tank. Not very hard but it hits good (with the 90mm), is quick and fires true. I had a great time with it.

T43 and KV-13 are dogs imo. KV-13 had a niche, being fast and tough and mounting a 122 HE thrower to fuck up arty. Perhaps when HE gets unnerfed it’ll rock again. T-43 is just a dog. The meh bottom line to compare other tier 7 mediums to.

Have you considered the AMX 13-90? that thing fucking PWNz0rs.

5266

Brothers in Arms needs to be at 100% for your entire crew for the bonus to be applied. It also disappears if any crew is knocked out. Probably going to take it as first skill for most tanks myself

5267

I’d say T-20 as well.

The entire Russian med line is not what it used to be. T-43 wasn’t all that great to begin with and after all the patches and changes to other tier 7’s, T-43 and KV-13 are probably the worst tier 7’s meds.

T-43 is an ok tank, it just doesn’t have anything special going for it at all.

BTW, the same applies to T-44 and T-54 nowadays. Oh how low the mighty Russian med line fell after all the nerfs! :)

5268

Armor absorption (blocking) of HE shell damage reduced by 20%.

Should cheer up a few people.

5269

Yep, but only just unlocked AMX 13-75. Thanks for other advice, might be T-20 and an AMX 13-75

5270

Are the new crew skills in addition to the repair/camo/firefighting for everyone or do they replace them entirely?

5271

Wow, that is a good pickup, thanks. Only worth taking first though if you have enough xp for a second skill.

Looking closer, the whole thing seems designed to suck up respecs (ie. gold). You level up with a “skill” that has effect at less than 100%, then when over 100%, respec into a “perk” (which has no benefit at less than 100%)

5272

In addition to IIRC.

5273

What’s the KV-1S like? Looks like it packs the 2nd best IS gun at a tier lower, with similar mobility/lack-of-armour to the IS (which I like)

5274

I loved playing the KV-1S but my record showed I was apparently terrible with it. It really does play like a mini-IS.

5275

We’ll see how things develop, but I currently agree with you. I may be willing to lower my repair somewhat by having one or two crew members take different skills, but I think that a high-tier heavy tanks needs a solid average percentage of the repair skill to be viable.

How much does gold retraining of secondary skills cost? I can see myself putting “Mentor” on most of my tanks that I plan to play frequently; spread over enough games the benefits in crew specializations will eventually cancel out the hit in not taking an immediately helpful skill.

I disagree. Or, rather, I see what you’re saying, but feel that smaller crews have many benefits that you are not tanking into account. Smaller crews are cheaper to create, “Accelerate crew training” greatly benefits smaller crews, and (as far as I understand) the cammo and repair skills do not gain any benefit from larger tank crews. I think the new perks will help “balance” crew sizes across tanks.

5276

It’s basically $1 per crew member for full gold retraining. Silver 90% reimbursement is 20,000 credits.

Huh, have not heard anything about Accelerate Crew Training for smaller crews. Keep in mind though with a small crew chances of catastrophic results from dead crew members are higher – one shot could kill someone that normally has two responsibilites. In fact, way back in the lower tiers I had a tank with only two crew members that I managed to get all the crew members dead on. It was rather bizarre as it didn’t treat me as if I was dead – so no option to go into post-mortem mode and move around – but I couldn’t move or shoot, because there was no crew left.

5277

So I re-speced and picked up Sixth Sense (can tell when an enemy tank sees you). Definitely very useful and does feel rather like a cheat.

On my main tank (Pershing) I ended up taking Brother on Arms on everyone, then I added:

Commander: Sixth Sense, Mentoring (increases XP for all other crew members)
Gunner: Deadeye (increases chance of critical hit), Snapshot (improves accuracy on turret rotation)
Driver: Repair, Smooth Driving (improves accuracy when on the move)
Radio: Repair, Signal Boost (improves signal range)
Loader: Repair, Camoflauge

All my third skills are around 45% now. I might turn some of them into perks when they hit 100%.

5278

I’m liking the M103; despite howls from the beta test, it seems really a great improvement on the wretched T34. The new not-so-improved T34, while a slow-firing premium, at Tier 8 at least is matched better than it was at 9 and – mirabile dieu-- actually makes money for the first time in recorded history. I don’t have a T110E5 but they seem tough to go up against in my IS-7, which is more than I’d say for the old T30. I’ve run into the TD T30 once or twice but can’t say much about it–seems about the same.

I do like the skills, at first glance, though I pretty much stuck with all repair or or all cammo for the first tier.

5279

the premium hotchkiss tank, pre-nerf, was really hard for stuff it’s own tier to kill. I had many times where that tank had crew members die from HE fire when the tank was over half HP.

5280

It seems that any self respecting TD driver has to pick up Sixth Sense. I know I will.