OMG, there is a NEW premium tank I can buy!

Wargaming is a business, so the need to make money. One of the ways they earn their money is by releasing premium tanks you have to pay for (or buy using gold, which is the same thing).

Every now and then, some of them looks exiting, and you want to buy it. I would advice you to consider this before you buy one: Do I already have a premium tank of the same type (light/medium/heavy) from the same nation? If so: Are you going to play it because it seems good or because you need to train / retrain your crew?

If it is to (re-)train your crew you should focus on buying a premium tank of a different type and/or nation than you already have. This might seem obvious, but I have to admit I have spent far to much money on German TDs and Russian medium tanks. (I have six of the latter and five of the former.) Choose where you spend your money wisely!

How to get sixth sense fast?

If you – like me – feel sort of naked when playing without sixth sense, you always pick it as the first skill on the commander. But what if you’re grindning a new (or old?) tank, with a fresh crew and would like to avoid playing without sixth sense? There is one way to do it, but it will cost you a lot of gold.

Take this example, which I am currently facing: I have bought back the M4 Sherman, since I want a standard tank in every tier and in every class (except arty): I want to keep a tier V TD, a tier V heavy, a tier V light tank and a tier V medium. My previous American medium tank crews have been moved up the line, and are currently sitting in the T 20, the M26 Pershing (for a while) and in the T54E1.
I am hesitant to playing the M4 Sherman without sixth sense, since it’s aim time with the derp gun is quite long, but I have no commander with sixth sense to put in the tank…

Here is what I can do if I’m willing to spend the gold:

Two different strategies for increasing the skill level on your crew

When you play low tier battles, from tier I to tier V, the other players tend to have low skilled crews. Some players you will meet are likely to have played only a few battles in their tanks, and they might use crews at 90% base skill, or they have just started grinding their first skill.

But when you enter higher tier battles, tier VIII and above, you will meet players who use crews with three or more skills on their crew. If you use a low skilled crew, you will struggle a lot. Therefore you should take crew training seriously.

To train crew faster, it is advisable to use premium tanks, since they train crews faster than ordinary tanks.

There are two different strategies to training crews and prepare them for higher tier battles.

Strategy A: Boosting single crew members
If you are training a new crew for a specific type of tanks, and you already have one good crew for the same type of tank, you may use a “single crew member boost strategy”.

For example: My Cromwell (British medium) crew are all on their fourth skill, about 35-40%. I am also playing the tier VIII  British medium Centurion I. My crew on that tank is not as good as the Cromwell crew, since they are at their third skill, about 25-30%. What I do, is to use the Cromwell Berlin for boosting the Centurion crew, one by one. The Cromwell Berlin has a crew of five. When playing it, I choose four crew members from the ordinary Cromwell, and one crew member from the Centurion I. Then playing the daily double will boost all the crew, but the crew member with the “lowest” skill will get a double boost. So when I play the Cromwell Berlin once a day (or whatever), the one crew member from the Centurion I will get xp very fast.

The reason for choosing strategy A is obvious: You can grind a single crew members xp and still have a great crew in the tank. The tank will perform very good.

There are some downsides, however:

1. If – in my example – the Cromwell crew has Brothers in arms and the Centurion crew member hasn’t, I will not get a benefit from that perk, since all crew members must have it. Brothers in arms is only effective when all crew members has reached 100%.
2. The skill profile might me suboptimal. Again I will use the Cromwell Berlin example: On a tier VI medium like the Cromwell, camouflage is a bit better than repairs, because of the low hit points on the Cromwell. On a tier VIII, repairs is a bit better. Grinding a tier VIII crew in a tier VI might not be ideal, then. (But I still believe it is a viable strategy.)

Strategy B: Boosting multiple crew members

This is the opposite to to strategy A. Let me use an example from my recent battles: I have both the Ferdinand and the Jagdpanther II. Since I have multiple premium German tank destroyers, I decided to boost both of the crews on the Ferdinand and the Jagdpanther II. Therefore I played a lot of battles, constantly choosing the worst crew members from each tank in one of the premium tanks. I took me quite a while, but now both of these tier VIII tanks have crews on their fourth skill. I chose this way of doing it, since there are a total of 11 crew members on these tanks, and since I didn’t have a better crew in any other German tank destroyer.

The downside is that this takes a lot of time. I do not know how many battles I have played only to boost the crews on these two tanks, but it must be more than 100.

But from now on, I will choose strategy A to boost my Rheinmetall Borsig crew, one by one. I will soon have unlocked the tier IX tank German tank destroyers, and I will be able to put very decent crews in them.

Advanced crew training

When you buy a new tank, and put a crew in it, it performs rather bad. This is because the crew is not fully trained, and because the stock modules on the tank more often than not are rather bad. The gun, the engine, the turret, and so on, make the tank perform badly.

As I have said earlier, you can use free XP to grind a tank before you use it in your first battle. This solves one of the issues, but not the issue with low crew skills. I will now explain how I do this. But first, let’s talk about the commander. As you have seen, the base skill level of a commander reaches 100% before you can unlock a second skill (or perk). On the rest of the crew, however, they will have to reach 110% before you can unlock a second skill (or perk). This is because 10% of the commanders base skill automatically is put on top of the skills of the rest of the crew.

When the commander reaches 100%, the gunner (or any other crew member) get a “bonus” skill from the commander. So the base skill of the gunner is 100% of his own skill and 10% of the commander, giving him a total of 110%. 1/10th of the commanders skill will be assigned to the rest of the crew. If the commander only has 90% base skill, the gunner will get 9% bonus skill from the commander.

As you can see, the commander is clearly the most important crew member. As a consequence, I often pay gold when I move a commander from one tank to another. If you can afford it, I recommend you do it. For the other crew members I pay in game credits, 20.000 “silver” for a 90% skill level when I move them to a different tank of the same type.

If you buy a new tank, 20.000 silver will only give you 75% base skill level on the crew. This is also the situation when you move a crew from a tank of one type to another, for example from a medium tank to a heavy tank.

The method I use to train my 90% crew for a new tank is based on two assumptions:

1. You have another tank of the same type and nation
2. You have a premium tank of the same type and nation

If you take a look at the tech tree, you can see that for many nations there are often two different lines of tanks. Let’s look at the russian tier V tanks:

Russian tier V heavy tanks

If you plan to go along both these lines of tanks, leading to great tanks as the IS-3 tier VIII or the fun beast at the same tier, the KV-4, it is kind of time consuming to first go along one of the lines and then the second line. One way to do this is by putting your T-28 crew into the KV-1, spending gold on the commander and silver on the rest of the crew. When you get into the KV-1, you can choose to unlock all the modules on it with free XP or by playing it. As soon as you have unlocked all modules, you have the option to unlock three different tanks:

KV-1 and it’s succsessors

If choose to unlock the KV-1S first, as I would recommend, you have a heavy tank, but no crew. When you have unlocked the KV-1S by playing the KV-1, your KV-1 crew should all have reached at least 100% base skill. If you then buy the KV-1S with a brand new crew with 75% base skill, you will have these two crews:

KV-1:

• Commander (100% base skill)
• Gunner (110% base skill)
• Driver (110% base skill)
• Radio operator (110% base skill)
• Loader (110% base skill)

KV-1S:

• Commander (75% base skill)
• Gunner (83% base skill)
• Driver (83% base skill)
• Radio operator (83% base skill)
• Loader (83% base skill)

Needless to say, the KV-1S crew will perform very bad. Aim time, reload time, view range, traverse speed and so on will affect your matches in a very bad way.

Enter the premium vehicle! There are at the moment three different premium russian heavy tanks to buy for gold: The Churchill III, the IS-2 (only for a short period) ant the IS-6. (Remember: If you have only played low tier tanks, it may not be a good idea to buy a tier VIII heavy premium tank. You should really have played about 2.000 matches before you try a tier VIII heavy.)

So even if the Churchill III is not a very good tank, it will get the job done: To train a new crew. Let’s say you now have the above crews for the KV-1 and the KV-1S, and you have bought the Churchill III. What to do?

The answer is to be a bit patient. Put the first four crew members from the KV-1 (commander, gunner, driver and radio operator) in the Churchill III, and put the loader from the KV-1S in the last spot. Premium tanks can use any crew from any tank, as long as they are from the same nation and same type. And you can use crew members from different tanks. Check the box “Accelerate crew training“, and go into a battle. Since the KV-1S crew member has the lowest skill level, he will get a double amount of skill points from the battle. In addition to this, a premium tank crew get 50% extra crew XP for a single battle.

If you follow this method, your crew as a whole do not suffer to much from having to “drag around” the KV-1S crew member, and this crew member will quickly reach 110% base skill level. Once you are done with the KV-1S loader, you can start training the radio operator, and then the driver and so on, until your KV-1S crew have reached 100%/110% base skill level.

One way to do this even faster, is to play only the daily double with the Churchill III. This will take more days, but fewer battles.

Accelerate crew training

What is the “Accelerate crew training” option? When you have unlocked all modules on a tank, you get the possibility to tick the box called “Accelerate crew training”. The box is located right above your crew:

Accelerate crew training

This means that all the xp you earn on that specific tank is used to increase the skills on your crew. In addition, the crew member with the lowest skill will get trained twice as fast.

If you do not check this box, you increase the xp in the same way you do while unlocking modules and tanks, and the xp is locked to the tank in question. This means that xp you earn on a tank after you have unlocked everything is somewhat “wasted”. To use that xp you have to convert it to free xp, and to do that, you have to pay gold.

Personally I don’t like do that, so what I try to do, is to guess if my next match in a tank will be the last match necessary to unlock everything. If so, I use free xp to unlock everything, and check the “Accelerate crew training” box. By doing that,  I can save gold and use it on something else. (At the moment I have about 170.000 free xp, so I have enough to use on unlocking modules and tanks like I describe here.)

More about premium tanks

As I recently posted, you should consider using premium tanks both to increase the skills on your crew and to make more in game credits. I found a couple of videoes explaining how to do this. I advice you to watch these three videos to understand how to use premium tanks:

 

What are premium tanks, and should I buy one?

Premium tanks are tanks you can buy for gold or for real money on the World of tanks website. They only have one standard set of modules, so you cannot unlock better modules than the ones they have when you buy it. The generate a lot of in game credits per victory, the increase in crew experience is higher, and you can put a crew from a different tank in it, as I explain below.

In my opinion, they are in some ways worse then their closest “sibling”. Take the Russian heavy tank IS-6 at tier VIII. It is in many ways similar to the one of the other standard Russian heavy tanks at tier VIII, the IS-3.  However, there are several differences:

• The gun on the IS-6 only has far worse penetration, at 175 mm, versus 225 mm on the best gun on the IS-3
• The rate of fire is better, at 5,13 shots per minute, against 4,51 at the IS-3
• The IS-6 has a lower top speed, at 35 kph, versus 38 kph with the IS-3
• The armor is weaker, at least on paper, but in reality the difference is negligible

To make a long story short: The premium tanks have distinct weaknesses and strengths and have to be played accordingly. Take the “Dicker Max” as an example: It is slow, has a long reload time, but the gun depression is great, and the gun is quite good. A very popular premium tank is the german E25. It is very fast and has an excellent camo rating (is difficult to spot behind bushes). The gun has decent penetration and high rate of fire, but it has a low alpha damage (the number of health points the enemy loses per hit).

However: The point of using premium tanks is – besides getting more in game credits per battle – to increase crew skills on the crew from another tank. If you buy the IS-6 and also have the IS-3, both Russian heavy  tanks, you can play a match in the IS-3 and get the “daily double” for the first win of the day. Then you can move the crew to the IS-6 and get the daily double on that tank as well.

You must NEVER put a designated crew in premium tanks. ALWAYS use a crew from one of your non premium tanks of the same type and nationality. You can mix crew from different tanks and put them in your premium tank, as long as they are of the same type and nationality.

Remember that playing in higher tiers is very different from playing in lower tiers. If you are new to the game, and have reached tier 3 or 4, buying a tier VIII heavy like the IS-6 or the German “Löwe”, you have to play in a completely different way than you do in a tier 3 medium tank. If you do not know what “sidescraping” is, for instance, you should probably not buy the IS-6 or the Löwe.

The way I use premium tanks is as I have described above. In addition, I often use premium tanks directly after buying a new tank. I recently bought the SU-152, a standard tier VII  Russian tank destroyer. The crew was moved over from the tier VI SU-100. When you start playing a new tank, it is most often stock, unless one or more of the modules used on it has been unlocked in a different tank. Therefore, the tank is not as good as it “should” be, and performs significantly worse then when all modules are unlocked. I had a couple of matches in it to see what it was like, and decided I needed to increase the basic crew skills from 90% to 100% to decrease loading time, aiming time and so on. So I put the crew in my premium tier V Russian tank destroyer, the SU-85i, and played a number of matches until the crew had reached 100% basic skills. Then I put them back in the SU-152 and started to grind this tank.

Another way of using premium tanks to increase crew skills, is what I did with the Sturer Emil and the Jagdpanther, both tier VII German tank destroyers. Both of these two tanks have a crew of 5 (commander, gunner, radio operator, driver, loader), and this is also the type of crew that fits in the Dicker Max, premium tier VI German tank destroyer.  On days where I wanted to grind one or both of these two tanks, I first played a match in the Dicker Max and got the daily double. I always put the worst crew member, position by position, from both the Emil and the JPanther in my Dicker Max: The worst of the two drivers, the worst of the two gunners, and so on. Soon I had very decent crews in both tanks, long before I had unlocked then next tanks.

When should you buy a new tank?

When should you buy a new tank? This might sound like a stupid question, but it is really not. When grinding (opening modules like tracks, engines and guns) lower tiers from 1 to 3, it is not important. Play a few games, unlock everything and move on. I would recommend that you unlock every module, though. That is because many modules are used on different tanks.

Let’s have a look at the french medium tank D2 (click for larger image):

French medium tank D2

As we see, it is only necessary to unlock the Renault S6Bis engine to unlock the next tank in this line, the B1. However, this will make the grind of later tanks more difficult, because the gun and the radio are used on other tanks:

The french medium tank D2

The radio ER53 is used on several other tanks. It is therefore a good idea to unlock it on the D2. (If you have not allready unlocked it on other tanks, like the UE 57.)

The same goes for the gun:

The french medium tank D2

As we see, the SA37 is also used on the B1. Even though you have to unlock the D2 APX 4 turret to use it, it will make it much easier to play the B1 if you have unlocked the SA37.

Therefore: You should always unlock all modules on a tank before moving to the next. (There are exceptions from this rule, when a module is used only on one tank. These exceptions are very few, though.) You should at least make this a rule from tier 3 or 4 and upwards.

The other thing you should be aware of, is the skills of your crew. As I have described, you have to get to 100% basic (or “base”) skills before you can start to add secondary skills on your crew. If you are patient, and play a few games after you have unlocked all modules and the next tank (or the next tanks), you can start to add secondary skills on the crew you will use on the next tank.

When I started playing World of tanks, I was not aware of this fact, unlocked and started using the next tank with a completely new crew. The old crew was dismissed, because I didn’t want to pay to retrain the crew to a different tank. BIG mistake. So wait a few games, and increase your crews skills before you move on. But remember to check the “Accelerate crew training” box when you do so. Almost all you XP will then be used on crew skills:

Accelerate crew training

Understanding secondary skills

Secondary crew skills

Secondary skills
When your basic crew skills reaches 100%, you can add secondary skills. These are specific skills, adapted to the role of the crew member. For instance, you can choose “Off road driving” for the driver. This will increase the speed of the tank on difficult terrain, by reducing the terrain resistance, by up to 10%. Your tank will then go faster in swamps, and accelerate faster on grass, among others.

Some secondary skills are effective from the moment the skill level is increased (more than 0%). Others do need to achieve 100% before they are effective. These last ones are called “perks”. In the picture you can see all crew members having the camouflage skill. This skill is effective from 1%. But do remember that the effect increases with the skill level. 1% camouflage skill has (almost) no effect.

In addition, the skills that can be chosen for all crew members, will increase their effect when all crew members have them. When five crew members have 78% percent camouflage skills, the average camouflage skill level is exactly that; 78%. If one crew member in a five crew tank has 100% camouflage skill, and the four others have no camouflage skill, the overall tank camouflage “level” is (0% + 0% + 0% + 0% + 100%)/5 = 20%

Which skill is the best?
There is not one single best skill. This depends on the type of tank your crew is assigned to, and the role on the battlefield. This topic will be covered later. But to simplify the overall picture, I will recommend the following:

• A heavy tank needs repairing tracks and damaged modules. When you get shot in the tracks, you do not want to remain standing still to long. The basic skills ensure some repairing skills, but adding repair to a heavy tank crew is wise. The heavy tanks should usually be in front of the field, and they are therefore vulnerable to damages where repair skills can speed up the repairing process. A heavy tank crew needs more skills, but repairs is a place to start.
• On a medium (and on a light) tank crew, there are – in my opinion – three types of skills that are useful: 1) Off-road driving (increase speed and acceleration) and clutch braking (increase the speed the tank can turn), 2) Snap shot (how fast you can aim and shoot after rotating your turret)  3) Sixth sense (you will get a warning signal 3 seconds after you have been spotted). These skills (and perks) are useful because medium tanks have a lot less armour than heavy tanks, so they are vulnerable.
• On a tank destroyer, I will recommend camouflage, snap shot and sixth sense. Most tank destroyers are vulnerable, and remaining unspotted (not discovered by enemy tanks) is vital.

Managing secondary skills
When you right click on one of your crew members, you can see what skills and perks can be assigned to the different members of your crew. Take some time to consider what role your tank will have on the battlefield, and chose your secondary skill accordingly.

When you first secondary skill is at 100%, you can add another secondary skill, but this will take even longer to increase. You will need more than 210.000 XP to go from 0% to 100% on your first secondary skill. To go from 0% to 100% on your second secondary skill, you will need twice that amount of XP, namely more than 420.000 XP.

Dropping skills

If you would like to change the skill of a crew member, you can retrain him. If you do not want to spend gold, you will have to use 20.000 ingame credits to retrain, but you lose 10% of the overall skill level. Be aware: 10% of the total skill level does not equal 10%-points of your secondary skill. If you have two secondary skills, and the second secondary skill is at 10%, the new skill level after retraining will be reduced so that all of your second secondary skill disappears. You will need about 40% on your second secondary skill to not have it disappear. When you right click on one of your crew members, you will see a button called “Drop”. When you click on the button, you will then be able to see the new skill level. Remember that perks have to be at 100% skill level to be effective.

 

Understanding basic skills

Basic skills for a crew

Basic crew skills
When you start playing WOT, and select a tank, you will see the crew of your tank in the upper left hand corner. Depending on your decision when you bought the new tank, the basic skills of your crew will either be 50%, 75% or 100%. If you select a free crew, they will start at 50%. If you pay 20.000 in game credits per crew member, they will start at 75%. If you pay 200 gold per crew member, they will start at 100%.

In the picture to the right, we have a crew of five, all of which have 100% basic skills. (Or “base skills”.) This means that they perform their tasks at a “normal” skilled level.  They have become as skilled as they can get before we ad secondary skills. More about that in a minute.

I strongly recommend that you at least pay the ingame credits to let your crew start at 75%. This will cost you 80.000 ingame credits, but you will soon earn those credits during normal gameplay. Depending on your own skills as a player, and how many games you win, this will usually take between four and ten games. So if you have the ingame credits, spend it on your crew when you buy a new tank.

Increasing basic skills
When your crew start at a 75% basic skill level, this level will increase as you play. Some of the experience (XP) you earn will be used to increase the crew skills. The rest will be used to unlock tank modules and to increase your free XP. The XP you earn from the matches are depending on how well you play. The more damage you do, and the more kills you get, will increase your XP earned for that match. However, the amount of XP you need to increase your crew skills vary. The closer you get to 100% basic skills, the more XP you will need. To increase from 75% to 76%, you will need about 1.590 XP. To increase from 99% to 100%, you will need almost 4.800 XP.