knutliott

Except that then you find out that most of them are pretty fun to play, too, and so you end up buying a bunch of them so that you have the right vehicle for every map/situation.

I mean, sure, I started out slowly with just the VFM and then the RCR, but I kept buying more and more as interesting alternatives popped up.  Now I have like 10+ each at Tier 6 (for max Tier PvE) and Tier 8 (for Spec Ops), and like 4-5 at Tier 10.  All told I think I have around 50, but a lot of those are low tier that were pretty close to free (and often actually were free).

There's basically no reason to play a progression vehicle once you've progressed past it, unless it is OPAF.  At least Premiums give you extra credits and so are an occasional enticement (at least for me) to play lower tiers.

Note: that's all "the theory" of how they were supposed to work.  Due to OPAF Premiums like the BMPT Model 2017, and the added credit bonus on the Object 640, there's little reason to play anything else in PvE other than grinding for progression.  Any time I'm "caught up" in the current environment, I default to those two until something new comes out.

6 minutes ago, Komitadjie said:

I liked the magachs, myself, they're quite powerful for tier.

Seconded.  Merkavas don't really get good until the Merk 3.Baz, so take the Magach line to get there.

6 hours ago, Komitadjie said:

This doesn't actually answer the question, though - Why would someone pay money, or spend the inordinate amounts of time required to get the battle path premiums, to acquire a tank that is no different or better than one they can get for far less effort?  These have to be marketable or desirable as well, which means they have to have some kind of selling point.  "Here, have this Bradley with a different model" isn't really all that special or desirable.  Rather, it might be for a small handful of collectors, but not the wide base of players you need to make money with a premium tank.  

As Lenticulas said, the pitch for Premium vehicles back in the day was that they were slightly less powerful than a fully-kitted progression vehicle of the same tier, but provided significant extra credits.  You laid out cash for a Premium vehicle for the extra credits it helped you earn.  You might (read: probably would) want several of them so that you could a) get the daily 2x more than once, and b) have different Premiums for different maps.

My first 2 Premium vehicle purchases (at least as far as I remember) were a Tier 6 VFM Mk 5 and a Tier 8 AMX-10RCR.  Neither one of them was ever OP, and in fact they were both pretty meh.  But those sweet, sweet credits kept me playing them.  The AMX is still to this day my most played vehicle, because I used it constantly to earn credits to buy all of the Tier 9s and 10s as I was grinding.  Even the VFM was in my top 5 for the longest time, though I think it's finally been pushed out due to the extra-long grinds of some of the more recent progression vehicles.

I still prefer to play Premium vehicles whenever possible even though I have 800M credits saved up.  For a PvE player, the credit grind is crazy in this game if you're just playing along and not perfectly stacking boosts and insignias.  So even with a fat back account, I still feel the need to earn as much as I can at all times.  Ergo, premiums.

On 7/28/2020 at 5:34 PM, Baron_Georg said:

humm slow on the gun. . . I wonder if subconsciously I'm waiting for the loader's UP or just trying to dial the shot in. 

which bots fire only heat?  never noticed that or considered that before.  I thought I focus on t 15's, Bradleys, termies and remkas  and  other missile vehicles more.  does the replay show something different? if it does I missed it.

For me, the sounds of the reloading are my primary key.  I don't listen to the voices, just the mechanical noises of the reloading process.

As far as bots firing HEAT goes... to be completely honest I don't really know.  I use the "incoming damage" panel religiously, both to figure out what's shooting me AND what they're shooting me with, and then respond accordingly.  Though since ATGMs are mostly HEAT, those do count too.  The Leos are surprisingly resistant to ATGMs (provided you don't just sit there) especially since they're such paper tigers against AP.

Speaking of which... re: don't just sit there... there are two tricks that MBTs can use to great effect while reloading.  One is often referred to as wiggling or dancing, and it means to make small movements back and forth left and right.  You're not turning, really, you're just wiggling the nose of the vehicle back and forth.  This is apparently a common tactic in WOT, and at least in my experience is not nearly as effective as the second trick: bouncing or rocking.  It's the same thing, but instead of left and right, you make subtle movements forward and backward.  This causes the vehicle's suspension to rock (ergo: rocking) and makes it really hard to hit your turret ring or any of the viewports that are common weak spots.

Note that rocking takes some practice.  You can't just spam w-s-w-s-w-s-w-s as fast as you can because that doesn't give the chassis time to react.  There's a rhythm you have to develop, and it's different for different vehicles.  But it's easy to practice because you can see the effect from 3rd person, and once you've got it down it's massively effective even against bots.  It's so effective that you don't even have to always do it - it's often sufficient to see the incoming ATGM, and then start rocking, and that can cause that ATGM to fail to penetrate.

19 hours ago, Quantum_Ranger said:

Because the team is all bunched up, would anyone choose a flanking position from the other side of the rock, towards H3?  Puts eyes on the cap and crossfire on the Bradleys, and establishes point position to take the secondary at E2. Disadvantage is you will take some fire because you are closest to bots at F5/G5, and with Hunters all the bots might be dead by the time you get there.

There isn't line-of-sight from there, or at least not a good one.  The map is cleverly designed, because to get LOS from that flank you have to expose your own flank to fire from the bots that spawn in the north part of F4/south part of E4, and as you said you're also the closest/first target for basically all of the bots that appear in that phase.

That first phase is really a shooting gallery for the players if they just use minimal cooperation.  At least 3 players can set up hull down where the AFV, LT, and MBT players are in this screenshot, and then 2 more can set up where the selected player is (the orange arrow on the "hull down road").  From those positions, all of the players can see the entire runway and just obliterate the bots as they rush forward.  The Hunter AFV in this screenshot looks too far forward to me - all he's done is put himself at risk with no advantage gained.  There's basically no reason to be on the surface level of the runway this early in the match.

4 hours ago, smudlicko said:

the point is theyve banned me only for this sentence and nothing more !

Yeah... no.  "a history of prior infractions on both the official Discord and within the game."

Sounds like that "one sentence" was just the straw that broke the camel's back.

13 hours ago, TeyKey1 said:

• You're playing too cautiously in your MBT. It hinders you from farming assist damage.
• You bounced quite often on the Anders with HEAT. Try to have a look at its weakspots in the LFP.
• You're turning your turret in unnecessary directions (especially on the last cap) when looking around. Lock the turret with the right mouse key while looking around, it can save you some time while shooting at a target without the need to turn the turret halfway around your vehicle. 
• In the last cap you were driving into cover while reloading. This is fine but you returned to your firing position too late which always made you loose some seconds. The bots were not trageting you at all in this situation. Return to your firing position when you have roughly 3s reload left. It gives you enough time to select your target and fully aim in so you can shoot right on time when the gun is loaded.

I'll partially disagree with your first point.  The Leo 2A6 isn't a well-armored vehicle in a Tier 10 match, so he needed to be at least somewhat conservative.  My play style is very similar and I do just fine, so I don't think he needs to dramatically change his style.  That said, I got the feeling that you weren't using your mini-map to keep track of targets.  There were several occasions where you took fire and retreated, but then warily crept forward looking for the tank that shot you even though it had already been destroyed by a teammate.  The battle record and mini-map help a great deal in this regard.

Something that I noticed when he was firing at the Anders is that his reaction times were slow.  There were numerous occasions where he had a green shot that should have done full damage, but didn't pull the trigger and then the Anders turned giving him an orange shot as he fired.  Ammo is free... if the reticle is green pull the trigger!

13 hours ago, TeyKey1 said:

 

Here you use the terrain as a cover, which would be very good if there were much bots rushing this position.

In addition to what TeyKey said, I would add that you're too close to the rock on your left.  If you were farther up the road to your right, this position is a nearly perfect hull-down position for MBTs.  You can sit on the road with only your turret showing and shoot at the incoming enemies.  However, in this particular situation caused by the power of your teammates, getting that hull down position is a bit of a waste of time because you just don't need it with that much firepower on your team.  ASSUMING your teammates stay close and are ready to nuke the enemies as they rush your position at the end of the runway!  If your teammates run off, then you very well may need the hull down position even on a powerful team.

13 hours ago, TeyKey1 said:

 

Here you're playing way too passive. Use your MBT's armor, play agressive. You should be at the position of the hunter with your MBT. In this case the anders and Hunter probably would've stayed in the back to farm the damage while you spot and deflect the damage. It seems like you're always in the last row of your team which you want to avoid. Keep moving and try to not get overtaken by the other players.

I'd say that the others were being too aggressive, and if they want to play that way more power to 'em.  I tend to use either the same spot as Baron Georg, or the spot behind the bush that's behind the friendly Anders.  That second position gives a small amount of lower hull cover, but doesn't have as good of an angle into the target area so it's a trade-off.

That said, you do want to start moving as each area "ends" sooner than you do.  You're the slowest vehicle on your team, so you need to anticipate movement from point to point and get started before everyone else.

That's about all I can see that TeyKey didn't already cover.  The recommendation to shoot drive wheels when presented with the side of an enemy is particularly good.  I don't think you did poorly, really, you were just out-classed damage-wise on that particular team.  It happens.

23 minutes ago, Baron_Georg said:

aiming center of mass is a skill the the US Army drilled into me at Ft. Knox Armor School.  it's a hard habit to break.

I can only imagine!  That kind of intense training never really leaves you.

25 minutes ago, Baron_Georg said:

I was under the impression that the leo was a support tank and better suited to be farther back not the tip of the spear. is that not the case?

It varies.  That's more-or-less correct in that the Leo's armor isn't top-notch, but MBTs also generally have the most health on the team and that also serves as an "armor" of sorts.  You can be a little more aggressive in a Leo especially when facing bots that fire HEAT, because the Leo's armor is generally very good against HEAT rounds.

27 minutes ago, Baron_Georg said:

regarding player deaths, when not running premium time and boosts how many deaths can one tolerate before you don't get any benefit from the match? 

It's hard to say for sure, but it seems to me that they've set it up so that you can easily respawn once and still get a benefit from the match.  I carry (and regularly use) Field Rebuild Kits, and those are more expensive than the 1st respawn yet I still almost always earn positive credits.  It generally requires the use of a Field Rebuild Kit in a loss to not make any credits.

29 minutes ago, Baron_Georg said:

regarding ping 120's is horrible??  what do you play at ping wise?    In my battalion I am frequently going to be out classed by better vehicles since I have only the leo at 9.

I would love to have your ping, mine is usually 160-180 from the West Coast of the US.  120 is plenty good enough for PvE.

15 hours ago, TeyKey1 said:

Now important: On the top right switch from "Match Results" to "Replays". There you should find his replay and be able to run it.

Aha!  This was the key piece of information, thanks!

One problem with these roles is that - realistically - there's very little difference between a TD and an LT.  They're both relatively squishy with MBT-class guns.  Sure, TDs are usually wheeled and LTs are usually tracked, but is that really a sufficient distinguishing characteristic?

I suppose an argument can be made that LTs have sufficient armor to be immune to autocannons while TDs to not, but again I'm not sure that provides sufficient variety for them to have separate roles.  (And no, the existence of Terminators is not a counter-argument.  They're clearly an exception.)

On 7/25/2020 at 8:19 PM, Haswell said:

80% of all your shots fired must hit and deal damage. Trying to do that in an autocannon just takes too much effort, it's easier with the Nork.

On 7/26/2020 at 4:26 AM, Silentstalker said:

Yes. For all these strange terms (eliminate etc) please check the BP FAQ table.

7 hours ago, dfnce said:

PELE deals much of damage with non-penetrating hits.

In stats screen it is visible that penetration damage was around 27k (vs total 37k) which is below 80%.

From what Haswell said, I don't think that penetration damage is relevant.  The FAQ that SS mentioned is actually quite clear on this term (I just hadn't noticed that the FAQ existed).  I suspect that the line for "shots that dealt damage" is meant to be divided by "shots fired" from the stats screen to get "performance."  Which in my above example would have only been 719 / 1197 = 60.07%.

31 minutes ago, Austin5125 said:

No. You can't install same retrofit with different levels. You can however install and get benefit from both stationary vision retrofit and normal vision retrofit, since they are counted as different ones.

The trick to knowing which ones you can double up on and which ones you can't is to look at the icon/image of the retrofit.  If the icon/image is the same, you can't double up.  If they're different, you can use both.

This is why you can use an accuracy refit, an aim time refit, and the level 2 refit that gives you both level 1 accuracy and level 1 aim time.  That 3rd retro has a different image than either of the others, so even though it duplicates both of their level 1 versions you can use it with them.

38 minutes ago, di_duncan said:

I believe you have to paste the replay file into the AW replay folder. Playback of the replay should be done through the game itself. 

I did also try that (assuming you mean the Recordings folder of the installation heirarchy), and then tried to find it in Dossier -> History but it wasn't there.  Is that not the correct place to look for it in-game?

It's also possible that they don't have a mic.  I know it seems strange, but I was kind of shocked at the number of people in my company who needed to have Tech Services order them a microphone in order to participate in Zoom meetings once we switched to working-from-home.

I didn't have a mic when I had a speaker setup.  But when my speakers died I got a headset (lots cheaper), and the headset has a built-in mic, so now I have one.

No, because there's no arrogance in my response.  For whatever crazy reason, I'm still trying to help you despite the fact that you're going to great lengths to reject any help.

I've said nothing about what level anyone needs to operate at.  What I'm trying to point out to you is that if you want help from people, you may need to help them understand your question(s).

How is it arrogant to ask you to ask a specific question?  How is it arrogant to tell you that snide comments and sarcasm are hurting your chances of getting a response?

Silly question... how do I view someone else's replay?  Windows doesn't recognize it if I just double-click on it to open it.

12 hours ago, Baron_Georg said:

must be nice to be able to get anything and everything on the first try with no effort on your part. 

You don't see the problem with this statement?  The snide comments and sarcasm aren't improving your chances of getting any help.  And yes, that is intended to help you.  It wasn't easy.  It took months - if not years - of play.

Do you have a specific question?  If you can set up a specific scenario in your question, that will go a long way toward helping me (or others) remember the answer.

The game's balance is pretty off kilter when it comes to spotting and rewards for spotting.  Realistically the entire mechanism needs to be re-done so that the more "traditional" roles can be filled correctly.

Scouts (read: AFVs) should be the best spotters, and should fill the role as you've described it.  They should be the ones pointing out targets for the rest of the team and making sure tha the team doesn't get flanked.

MBTs shouldn't be spotting everything, but they should have a special mechanic that allows them to spot vehicles that fire at them.  I.e. MBTs should be good at returning fire, but not at spotting everything for the entire team.

MBTs should also get credit for taking fire - if enemies are concentrating on our team's MBT(s), that allows the rest of the team to do their jobs better.  Currently MBTs receive no credit for this function despite it being arguably the 2nd most important function on the team.  (Spotting first, tanking second, damage third.  At least IMO.)

I wasn't going to do the mission chains, but since I just got the Hunter today earlier than I'd expected to, and the Hunter makes doing those mission chains a lot easier, I thought I'd give 'em a try.

I got to Lions 4/10 which requires that I do 20,000 damage (in PvE) while maintaining 80% performance.  But what does "performance" mean?  It's clearly not the same thing as accuracy, because I was over 83% accurate in this mission.  I easily surpassed the damage requirement with 37,000, so I had to have failed at "performance" whatever that means.

On 7/24/2020 at 3:19 PM, Baron_Georg said:

frequent stuttering seems to be another issue that cropped up last night  on both Tsunami and one who's name escapes me at the moment.

I don't know if what I'm seeing now, occasionally, is what you mean by stuttering, but I'm definitely seeing new short video freezes that didn't used to exist.  I'll be playing along just fine, and then suddenly - and very briefly! - the game will freeze up and then resume as if nothing happened.

I've noticed it on Sapphire.  If I start moving immediately and head to the left to the 1st phase sniper perch, the game often hiccups like that about halfway there.

https://armoredwarfare.gamepedia.com/Sapphire

You start next to the 2 round storage tanks mid-left on the screen, facing east.  The sniper perch to which I refer is in the top left as that road crests a hill and then heads off the map.  The hiccup always seems to occur right about the time I pass the 3rd round storage tank, which perhaps not coincidentally is about the time that the first bots are spotted, often by me as I'm moving to the sniper perch.

On 7/24/2020 at 3:15 PM, Baron_Georg said:

knutliott  please don't take this the wrong way, but your attitude is what I'm trying to change.   why do you think I or anyone else is expecting somebody else to do the work?  you are not the first or only one to chastise me for attempting to find out information that eludes me.  example a dozen different spawn points for each map that may or may not be used when I was only considering initial spawn points only as was suggested by someone in the "questions for good players" thread.  you say that you are happy to help and guide people and give them pointers then essentially tell them to go learn it. why do so many players have the attitude of if it was hard for me then it should be hard for you too.    if the information was freely shared perhaps the player base would improve making the game more enjoyable for everyone is one way to look at it.  another would be, how do I know how much I don't know if I don't know what o look for or ask about. 

Because of questions and comments like these:

"If spawn points are so important to getting better at the game why is so little information available.  once again I am inferring that the good players have the information somewhere, somehow (locked away in their brains) and are not willing to part with it, despite my being told they ARE willing to help players that ask get better."

You imply that we're hiding the info (and making you do your own work) despite the fact that we've said we're willing to help.  You are chastising us for not providing you with the info you want, not seeming to recognize (or care) that the info you want is WEEKS of work to produce.

"you are not the first or only one to chastise me for attempting to find out information that eludes me"

I'm not chastising you for attempting to find the information, I'm chastising you for expecting others to provide it for you.  You're expecting others to provide you with an easy reference to learning the game... well, sorry, but it doesn't exist and the developers removed the one reasonably easy way for people to share information and help each other when they disabled the official forums.

"why do so many players have the attitude of if it was hard for me then it should be hard for you too"

Reverse that - why do so many new players have the attitude that someone else should do the hard work for them?

Documenting the information that you're asking for would take weeks of work.  Why do you expect others to do that work for you?  Why won't you take the tips that you've been given and use them to learn?

On 7/20/2020 at 8:09 PM, Baron_Georg said:

that question has been answered but as I feared nobody has the spawn locations readily at hand.  it would be easier to memorize one rotation cycle as opposed to all of the spawn points.   which leads me to another question.  If spawn points are so important to getting better at the game why is so little information available.  once again I am inferring that the good players have the information somewhere, somehow (locked away in their brains) and are not willing to part with it, despite my being told they ARE willing to help players that ask get better.  this seems to reinforce the notion that everyone must walk their own path--a sort of social Darwinism so to speak.

There are... 36 different PvE maps?  And each map can have as many as a dozen different spawn points that may or may not be used in any given battle?

I doubt anyone has gone to the considerable time and effort to write all of that down.  That's weeks of work, or at least it would be for me.  So again, I'm perfectly happy to help guide people and give them pointers, but most of what you're looking for just has to be learned.

Do as everyone else has suggested and watch replays when you get into a match with someone good.  Pay attention to what good players are doing and how the battle is evolving around them.  I still do that all the time, and I'm pretty decent at PvE.  You never stop learning.

Please don't take this the wrong way, but stop expecting someone else to do your learning for you.  In this game you pretty much just have to learn it yourself because the developers don't make it easy to create game guides.  We used to have them back when there was an actual official forum, but AW took that down and killed off a good chunk of the community in the process.  The community is now so far behind that creating guides is just too daunting of a task to start over.

5 minutes ago, Nihtwaco said:

Consumables and even retrofits transfer to a bought or won Vehicle from the rental

That's convenient.  I knew that you could get a full refund by selling off the rental before obtaining the regular vehicle, but didn't realize you could just leave it all installed and it would auto-"upgrade" for you.  Very cool.

Ok, off to play my rental Hunter some more, then.  Having difficulty deciding between AP and PELE... it was a much easier choice on the AS21!

3 hours ago, Katsumoto said:

...and in this round of "What Did They Break?"

- The damage indication you get when you hit a target and shows the amount of damage that was caused by you has changed.  Its now the same color as the rest of your team mates.  This creates confusion.

Yeah, and at the same time they seem to have reverted the fix that they put in so that your damage doesn't aggregate as quickly.  I really miss seeing the stream of damage caused by an autocannon, both my own and my teammates.  And for that matter, the bots' because it warns you that a T-15 or Bradley is around.

Will the crew experience I earn in the rental Hunter carry over to the final assembled Hunter once I get it, or are they considered "separate vehicles" in which case there's little point in playing the rental?

1 hour ago, Nihtwaco said:

Hunter in garage 50 crates

That's roughly the expected outcome.  The Bell curve seems to be centered between 40 and 60 crates, peaking right around 50, or at least it did for the BroSAT in the last BP.

The maximum needed should be 79 crates (plus the 7 "special" crates that you create from those).  Each crate gives at least 1 part, and each special gives at least 3.

19 hours ago, Lt_Don_Shaljian said:

The PELE rounds seem to be favored.  But, at 70 they only do 5 more damage than the AP at 65.
However the AP have almost double the penetration, at 240 compared to 125 for the PELE.  Are the PELE really that much better?

1. PELE can do over 100 to lightly armored targets.

2. PELE doesn't need to pen to do damage, so its penetration value is misleading.

That said, PELE aim points are often very different than AP or HEAT aim points, so you almost have to relearn all of the vehicles to use it most effectively.  But once you do, you'll never go back to AP on a vehicle that has PELE.  It is god-tier ammo.

On 7/15/2020 at 1:16 PM, MK_Regular said:

I predict that the new wheeled bots will behave like police from some of the earlier GTA games:

• They'll charge you down at full speed and try to ram you (completely ignoring the fact that they are very light, have paper armour and terrible accuracy on the move)
• Understeer on every corner they try to make at high speed (and drive into buildings or off of cliffs)
• Only ever moving at max speed and poor obstacle avoidance meaning they will get stuck on small rocks and other obstacles (probably in a position where they don't have enough gun depression or elevation to shoot you)

Remember that bots don't use the same physics as players.  I doubt that they'll skid when they turn, because bots just "get to turn" when they want to.  Just like the "get to aim" when they want to, even if their vehicle doesn't have the depression/elevation that it needs.

I'm happy to hear it, though.  Wheeled vehicles are easy to kill and at least IMO don't have bot-useful abilities that make up for their deficits (no armor, poor acceleration, lack of maneuverability).  They're generally more accurate, but bots already have perfect accuracy so that's not really a bonus for a bot.  And their top speed isn't that useful, either, because it just means they'll out-run their support and get killed faster which is actually good for the players.