If you stumble across something called a “bonus code” for World of tanks, you should use it as fast as you can. These codes give you “goodies” inside the game, like Personal reserves, directives or consumables.
They are mostly (always?) limited in time or they can only be used a limited number of players. If you get one, log in to your World of tanks account via a browser, and in the upper right hand corner, select your profile. Then select “Activate Wargaming Code”:
Remember: Be quick!
What is a MOD pack and should I use one? A MOD pack is an add on to the game where you can choose different elements so that you can modify your game experience. (There are some illegal MOD packs out there, but if you use one of them, you are a cheater. Cheaters are people to stupid or lazy to learn the game. Don’t be a cheater.)
You can find MOD packs approved by War Gaming on their MOD portal.
If you are uncertain about which MOD pack to choose, Alains MOD pack is a good one, and it has quite a lot of options. I use Aslain, but since I prefer “less is more”, I have only chosen a few of the options.
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!
On your mini map in the bottom right hand corner of your screen, you can see three different circles. I will explain the meaning of these here, and how you can and should use them. (If you by any chance cannot see the mini map, press the “m” key to turn it on.)
This is a screenshot of a mini map:
World of tanks mini map
As you can see, there are three circles on it:
There are 11 tier VII medium tanks in World of tanks (by patch 9.20):
Note: I have not played hte T-34-1, but I believe this would not have won here, anyway.
There is a lot of variety here, and the play style differs accordingly. Some have punchy guns with good alpha damage, others have pea guns, some have a bit of armor, others have paper thin armor. Some are slow and some are fast and agile. Continue reading
There are five tier V light tanks (by patch 9.19):
All light tanks now get regular matchmaking.
A lot of players are eager to play higher tier tanks. And so am I. But! I don’t like to play higher tier tanks with a bad crew. I am quite obsessed with crew experience, as I have written about here and here.
I have always enjoyed playing tank destroyers, so I have only recently started grinding the Japanese heavy tank line. At the moment I am at tier…… III….., playing the Type 91 Heavy. Which isn’t a heavy tank at all, besides being slow. It has no armor and when I meet tier VI tanks, it is a mixed blessing. But the gun is very good. So when you play it according to it’s weaknesses, being slow and having no armor, you can do quite well.
I have a 64% win rate in the Type 91, and I have a WN8 of 1,906 in it.
My ambition is to ace every tank I play before eventually selling those I will not keep. I aced the Type 91 in my ninth battle in it, while still having a terrible crew. Now I have decided to get sixth sense on it before moving on. That means I have to play a lot more battles in it.
Now, having played 25 battles, I still haven’t got all crew members to 100%. But I quite enjoy playing a bad tank now and then. I guess I still have to play 20 battles or so before getting sixth sense. But playing the tier VI and V heavy tanks with decent crews from the beginning will make those battles so much more enjoyable.
So, what is my message here? Quite simply: Even bad tanks can be fun, and skipping to higher tiers with bad crews in your tank can be much worse than having to put up with the Type 91 Heavy. So be patient. And have fun while you wait…
If you are new to the game, the concept of RNG might be a bit confusing. You see a lot of numbers about your tank, and might think that “Isn’t this it?”
The simple answer is “no”.
RNG stands for “Random Number Generator”, and is implemented in the game to make it less predictable. It means that for certain data about a tank, the number will vary as much as 25%.
Type 4 Chi-To
Let’s take a look at a random tank. I will choose the Japanese Type 4 Chi-To, since I am grinding it at the moment.
Penetration
The penetration of the top gun is 155, according to tanks.gg (which I recommend). But if you check in the game, you can see that the penetration will vary between 116 and 194, which is 155 +/- 25%. The average penetration will over time will be 155, but you can get lucky or unlucky, meaning that the penetration will be higher or lower than that.
Damage
The same variation is to be expected when it comes to damage per shot. The alpha damage of the Chi-To is 130 hp, but due to RNG, you can high roll or low roll, getting from 163 to 97. This is 130 +/- 25%.
Other factors are not affected by RNG, such as reload time and the speed of your tank.
So, how do you use this information? I would suggest you ignore them, at least when you play lower tier tanks. When you play tier IX or X, you can start to play according to RNG. Let’s say your alpha damage is 390, and you see an enemy with 350 hp left, you can be reasonably certain you can kill him/her with one shot. You can take the chance of firing at him even if you expose your tank to him if you are reloaded and he isn’t.
If his remaining health is 485, you actually CAN kill him with one shot, if you high roll. But you can not expect to do so, and should play much more carefully.
Most new players to World of tanks do not know how they perform. They don’t know if they are a good player, a decent player or a bad player. Trust me: Most new players are bad. They don’t know what to do in any given situation. Such knowledge comes with time.
Some players believe that capping is the best way to win. Others do not know how bushes work. Anyway, they do not know how they are doing compared to others.
All players see the “end plate”, or the score from the game. Take a minute to study it. See what made the top players in your team the best players in that particular battle. But being the best player in a bad team does not necessarily mean anything. It is time to look at WN8. Continue reading
I have previously said that the Challenger is the worst tier VII tank destroyer in the game. Now, there is a new “king” in town…
There are ten tier VII tank destroyers in World of tanks (as of patch 9.17):
I have now played all of them, except the AT 7, and I am 100% certain that I can point to the (new) worst one. Some say the T25/2 is a bad TD, but I have still had quite fun in that one. Some point to the Sturer Emil as a bad TD, but the top gun is absolutely magnificent, with 231 penetration and 490 alpha damage. The AMX and the SU-100M1 also get some bad reviews, but they are both good in their own way.
The SU 152 can make you giggle like a child, when you one shot Cromwells and other tier VI tanks.
(The best is the Jagdpanther, of course.)
The Challenger was the previous loser, but now we have the Swedish tanks. After playing the ikv 90 B for more than 60 battles, I hereby conclude: This is a turd of a tank destroyer. It is as reliable as an ice cube in the Sahara desert.
Pros:
Cons:
When you play this, you cannot get spotted. Try that in the maps we have to endure… This tank only works in you can “kemp bush”. The penetration is supposedly 210, but it can easily bounce of the side of a light tank…
I hate every minute in this tank. It feels sluggish, and the gun is inaccurate as hell. It is supposed to have 0.33 of gun “precision”, but it behaves more like it has 0.37 or 0.38. You cannot trust the gun at all. 210 mm of penetration should be enough, but since it fires some sort of APCR ammo, you will struggle to penetrate if the armor on the enemy tank is sloped somewhat or if it is spaced.
Here is what an ACE tanker game looks like:
wotnewbie 