World of Tanks

You guys are making me want to start giving this game a shot. I've been kind of burning myself out on iRacing lately.

I went to the site and it says it's free to play, but is that "free?" IE, it's free to start, but if I want to move up the ranks I'll be constantly buying upgrades and the like?

yup really free... I know people who've never spent a dime... you do lvl up 50% quicker if you pay for premium time (and make a bit more in game money as well)... premium tanks just cost less to repair and make more money in general plus has some crew bonus advantages but completely unnecessary to play... it's once you get to the top tiers that it becomes difficult to come out even on funds so running a premium account makes it easier to break even and premium tanks make it easier to grind credits... but some people just keep their tier5 tanks forever and when they need credits they go play them... granted if you're still playing by the time you hit tier10 you'll likely have seen the advantages of prem tanks or account and spent a little money lol... also... when playing you'll hear the term "gold rounds"... back in the day you used to have to use gold for premium ammo... no longer the case and anyone can spam it as long as they have the credits to do so... the only things you can't use in game currency for is removing permanet equipment, buying garage slots (but they seem to give out a few of these every year though missions) and training crews up to 100% (which is huge... at min spend the silver for a 75% crew training)

also this isn't like most games where the end game is the point (getting a tier10 tank in this case)... i've got almost 10k battles and still don't have one... the only reason to get one is if you plan on playing in clan wars at some point, some people never move beyond tier8, some beyond tier6, and even some who never move beyond tier2 or 3 and just seal club... although they recently changed the match making setup so once you hit a certain amount of battles you'll no longer see the full noob players...

in short... download it and give it a shot... if you don't like it just dump it from the computer.

Yep, totally free. I haven't invested a dime...yet.

I think tier 4/5 may be the sweet spot for me. When I used my M4A3E2 in Patch 9.7 I loved it. I could trade shots with enemy tanks. With patch 9.8 I have had better luck running the M4. Even with the 136 mm (edit: 152 mm) thick turret I keep getting one and two shotted. The 63 mm turret is only installed when I want to use the M1A2 76 mm gun and sit back and snipe. Toe to toe cqb with that setup is dicey at best.

I'm actually considering selling the jumbo and grinding the M4 to the M4A3E8.

Never played the jumbo myself but Tue ez8 was great

The Jumbo was fun with 9.7, I felt like I could play with the big boys but after 9.8 and being one-shotted 4 times in a row, less than 1 minute into each battle, I rage sold it and went back to the good old M4.

See, I'm having the opposite luck with the 9.8 Jumbo. Gun seems to have better pen, seems to be doing slightly more damage and I haven't really noticed any change in the armor. It still gets "up tiered" by match maker to a ridiculous extent, but that's the nature of the beast. In top or mid tier matchups yesterday, I went 3 for 3 in getting the bonus 10 gold with it. When it gets low tiered, I just play it like a light. A really slow, ponderous light.

BTW - In reply to Z31 - I've spent exactly $10.00 so far, and that was just to buy garage slots. I'm sort of a "tank hoarder". There's no reason you would ever have to spend money on this game. The flip side is the game designers are very good at setting things up so it is tempting to spend money. Basically, if you spend cash your ratio of being the windshield vs. the bug gets slightly better and you can advance through the game quicker. The hook is you see/play against cool stuff (and, often, get killed by said cool stuff) and spending money is the quick/easy way to get it.

kazoospec wrote: BTW - In reply to Z31 - I've spent exactly $10.00 so far, and that was just to buy garage slots. I'm sort of a "tank hoarder". There's no reason you would ever have to spend money on this game. The flip side is the game designers are very good at setting things up so it is tempting to spend money. Basically, if you spend cash your ratio of being the windshield vs. the bug gets slightly better and you can advance through the game quicker. The hook is you see/play against cool stuff (and, often, get killed by said cool stuff) and spending money is the quick/easy way to get it.

the matchmaking doesn't change based on having prem or not, you'll get the same MM if you hae prem or otherwise... however... many of the premium tanks do get special MM where they only see +1 tier instead of +2 tier... but the pen of the guns also tends to be much worse than the similar same tier tank.

but like he said it is easy to see some of the interesting premium tanks and want one... they make it easy to train up crews and earn extra credit/$$$

I've spent more than I want to admit but it's still less than a year of call of duty with DLC... I also won a $150 or so package not long ago in a big tourney... 30k gold, 90 days of premium and a premium tank... I've also won a bit of gold from smaller tourneys every few weeks.

Since improving with the M4 I've won 350 gold, 10 at a time.:)

I have yet to participate in a tournament. So far I have upgraded coil springs and the medium caliber gun rammer, any suggestions fo the 3rd equipment slot?

I was considering periscope optics to boost my viewing range to 425 meters or thereabouts. Handy for long range shots with the 76.

I like the coated optics better than the periscope. The coated optics are always "available" and don't take time to load up every time you move the tank, especially on a "mobile" tank. IIRC, the coated optic doesn't add quite as much max range, but it seems more useful to me. I only use the periscope on TD's for the most part. As for other additions, I also like the gun laying drives. Its makes the gun "zero in" faster, which is especially helpful for "snap shots".

optics and 'nocs are both good but it depends on the tank... optics give 10% and nocs 25% boost... the key is as kazoospec mentioned how they worked... the 10% boost works all the time the nocs you have to stay still for about 4 seconds for them to activate (camo net works the same way)

base view range (100% crew, fully upgraded turret etc etc) is 370m so wth nocs activated you'd have 460m view range... with optics 407m (note that the 460m is over the max view range @ 445m and anything over that just "cuts in" to the enemies camo rating... while that extra view range can be nice (and I do have a few scout tanks that have that range or better) in something like the m4 you should be moving a lot (if only peeking over hills) where the nocs wouldn't give you the advantage.

in general I like to look at the wiki to see what they suggest for parts... also wotlabs (where the best players hang out). for the m4 it suggests... vents, rammer and GLD (gun laying drive)... if i recall I swapped the vents for optics sometimes... but keep in mind that the GLD is expensive... and that removing these costs 10 gold... those upgraded springs you're using aren't very effective at much, I do use them on a few lower tier VERY VERY VERY fast tanks that tend to go airborn as they do help the tank from getting tracked... but the only other time I use them is only temporary when a tank requires track upgrades to mount the upgrade turret/gun... the sooner I can a good gun on a tank the quicker it'll start making more xp for me.

also note... some tanks if I don't see as a keeper and I don't have the credits to blow I'll use the removable stuff, that is where things like the camo net, tool box and nocs get used

I noticed a drastic reduction in damage when I take off down a rocky slope since installing the coil springs. This happens every once in a while when I get in over my head, or see an enemy heavy approaching with bad intentions. The headless chicken routine. :)

I just got the BT2

Wow that thing flies!!! I have a tank that will jump rocks!!!

I always use camo net, gun rammer, and wet ammo rack.

And I club seals in Tiers 4-8 with my fleet of soviets. (kv1, kv1s, t-150, IS, t-34-85, kv3, and the wu tang clan of tanks, the kv2)

Flight Service wrote: I just got the BT2 Wow that thing flies!!! I have a tank that will jump rocks!!!

Snag yourself one of these bad boys if you really feel the need for speed:

http://wiki.wargaming.net/en/Tank:PzI_ausf_C

In reply to Flight Service:

Here you go:

http://forum.wotlabs.net/index.php?/topic/1207-world-of-codes/page-19

I used the first code from post #362 and it worked. 7 days of premium, 500 gold and an elite T2 light.

The elite/premium T2 will yield more $ and xp, especially during the 7 days of premium account, but I don't dig it. IMHO, the spray and pray gun sucks and you can't change it.

I'd run it for 7 days, figuring out which nation and line you want to stick to, then sell it and proceed. Of course I'm a bit of an oddball and dig the Sherms. :)

rules of the game... NEVER sell a premium/gift tank... even if they suck... if they give you one down the road you'll get a free garage slot and the value in gold... plus it helps out training up crews quickly.

Just had another awesome battle at Lakeville. I went up the center this time and spotted/sniped for a while then, as the rest of my team advanced through the city, pushed forward to the enemy's base.

I wound up doing about 1,200 damage to 9 enemy tanks and killing 3 of them. It was a tier 6 game and I was in my Sherman with the 76.

Finally got myself a Hellcat and upgraded my M44.

It was a good day.

FWIW - codes appear to be expired.

In reply to kazoospec:

Bummer. Sorry.

It was worth a try. I've already had and sold the T2 . . . never really liked the spam gun either. I was mainly after the garage slot, gold and premium time.