Dejin
5601
Now that I’ve figured out how to play it, I’m having a great time with my M18 Hellcat. It’s got a great combination of mobility and an excellent gun. It seems to be treated very kindly by the matchmaker as well, although that might be psychological, since it has a gun one up from it’s tier. But it almost always seems to be in a position where it can do great damage to over half the crowd, and I’ve had quite a few matches where it’s one of the top-tier vehicles (which never ever happens with my Tier IX mediums and I don’t think it happened very often with my Tier VIII mediums either).
I’ve managed to rack up a 59% win rate on it at 200 matches. That’s by far my best win rate on tanks with over 100 matches. Still can’t quite seem to break the 60% rate, although I’m trying hard.
Any suggestions on what crew skills to go with? I’ve got camouflage at 90% on everyone, and I’m planning to swap 100% camo on the commander for Sixth Sense. I’m not quite sure what to put on the rest of the crew. It doesn’t seem to be in positions where it needs repair very often (probably because the 3rd hit usually means I’m dead, so that only gives them 2 opportunities to critically damage modules). It does occasionally get tracked, but not that often.
I’m thinking of going Clutch Breaking, while I try not to get in dog fights, sometimes particularly at the end of the match defending flag, you really do end up in the thick at close range, and ahistorically the turret doesn’t turn fast enough to really keep a bead on enemies. I’ve got Clutch Breaking on my Patton and it does seem to help a bit. The alternative on the driver would be Smooth Ride, but I don’t shoot on the move unless it’s very close range (although I suppose if it made the gun settle faster during peak-and-poke that would be useful).
Radio Operator Signal Boosting seems like the obvious choice.
Gunner maybe Snap Shot? Or maybe stick the gunner and the loader on Repair. None of the Loader perks seem useful for the Hellcat.
I used to play CW but now I play only a couple of matches a week. I’ve grown kind of bored of CW after playing it for a year and my clan is big enough now so they only call me if we have like 3 matches at the same time and not enough people.
It doesn’t matter though, since no one is going to take Jagdpanther or Ferdi into CW. :) Or any TD for that matter, except for T95 and even T95 sees CW action extremely rarely, depending on the map, chosen tactic and people/tanks available.
You probably meant Companies and, no, I don’t play them. I tried them a few times but didn’t like them, which is probably related to me being bored with CW. I like randomness of pug matches, even though it often drives me crazy. :)
I do play with platoons though, probably 30% of my time. More now because, for me lately, WoT is becoming kind of a social game instead of solo. I played it solo for like 2 years, enough is enough. :)
I’ve seen 704s in CW matches fairly often. Paired with, say, an IS-4 buddy, they can be a nasty surprise in a city map. 95s are always tough but they’re so slow they become pure arty bait. I nearly never, ever see JagdTargets though.
On the right maps it can be fun. It is long distance death. I can take the good with the bad as I know I will not always get the ideal map.
Talorc
5605
Unlocked the Tiger II today, first Tier 8 I have unlocked.
I might wait a while before buying it though, as it will be the usual awfulness in stock form I expect. Plus I might get a special on it or at least a special on crew retraining.
I really enjoyed the Tiger - played about 120 odd matches, is my best average Xp tank at around 670xp per match. Kill/death ratio is above 1:1, so that is nice :-)
I have the crew on Brothers in Arms with vents, but will probably change that when switching tot he Tiger II.
I really like the double credit special for Overlord as well. have earned massive cash with the Tiger and T-29 over the last few days!
The Tiger II and its big brother the E-75 are great tanks, but yeah, upgrades are necessary. The long 105 for the Tiger II and the upgraded turret, not to mention the engine/tracks, transform the tank, and it becomes a very solid performer.
schurem
5607
new tanks, FUCK YEA!!
Actually i scored pretty ok with the king tiger from the get go. the long 88 is a really nice gun.
Dejin
5608
The thought of the AMX 12t becoming a Tier VI tank is pretty frightening. At its current Tier V it’s already a piece of junk. It’s going to make it even more painful to go up the French medium tree. (I suppose I shouldn’t complain since I recently unlocked the AMX 13 75.)
Talorc
5609
Is moving the Bat-Chat to Tier X though a tacit admission it is a wee bit overpowered?
It seems like every other game I play in the AMX 12t is a Tier IX game anyway.
Damn it, knew I should have saved that free XP (instead of blowing it on the AMX50-120). Oh well, all the tier 9 mediums are fun to play, so when the tier 10s come it won’t take too long to get to them.
If it were being moved as is, then yes. But it’s getting rebalanced and gets a new, more powerful gun.
I think it’s more a problem of not having anything for the French to put in as tier 10 that would be even remotely within the time frame of the game.
I can’t find any reviews on this. What’s the consensus, worth the asking price?
The game is free. You can buy gold to purchase premium tanks that make more in game money, and to upgrade to premium status for other in game economic benefits, but really other than some consumables that is about all you might want to spend. We have people in our clan in Clan Wars who never buy anything.
schurem
5616
Yes freemium, but a shining example of how to do this without being a blatant moneygrab.
Shining example, hey? maybe I’ll make some time for this.
I wouldn’t say shining example. Having a stock tank be worse than the upgraded one that came before it sucks and the first four tiers of French tanks in each line seem like an attempt to get you to spend gold getting free experience to skip them. It is a good example, though, since most of the rest of the design is fine.
It’s about the best example of a non-coercive freemium game I can think of, really. A portion (5% I think) of all “free” experience earned by elited tanks (or Premium tanks) is spendable without using gold, and all spending gold to convert stored experience does is substitute money for time (though in some cases, as with the French, it might be worth it–I actually ground my way through the French up to the AMX 13 90 and the 50 100 and yeah, it kinda sucks).
Where it gets squirrely I think is in Clan Wars, where if you can’t afford gold ammunition you are at a severe disadvantage; gold consumables are nice as well. Of course, the way the Clan Wars system is designed, the rich stay rich and the poor fight over the scraps, and the rich clans who have held gobs of land for months have untold amounts of gold to hand out to their members. But for casual/semi-serious play, it’s a very economical game.
Dave47
5620
Whether or not you like World of Tanks will have little to do with how it manages its business model, and everything to do with how much you like the underlying game. World of Tanks is a series of team tank battles between two 15 person teams, with a backend of leveling tanks (and their crews) to unlock upgrades and gain access to new tanks. The backend is the addictive “hook” of the freemium model, but the actual game takes place in the arena battles.
The battles are not a particularly realistic portrayal of armored warfare, but they do capture a feeling that is very evocative: the tanks feel heavy and ponderous, but they are very casual-friendly, and follow FPS control conventions. It’s one of my favorite game designs of the last few years, due to how it manages to work as a slower-paced action game that still rewards tactical thought.
It is thus playable by slower-reaction time players, which in turn has allowed me to turn some friends who hate FPSes onto the game. The “freemium” business model is annoying, but I deal with it because the underlying game is the sort of experience that is hard to find in the modern online gaming space.
I recommend that anyone interested in the concept give the game a few hours. The biggest caveat isn’t the annoying business model, it’s the incredibly poor documentation. So feel free to bombard us with questions.
