Hello everyone,
Russian server is going to have a special mission for the Stronghold mode – if you win and survive (!), you recieve 2000 extra XP for the battle – unlimited times. This mission is valid for the rest of the month from tomorrow.
That’s kinda awesome. Unfortunately, no such mission is planned for EU server according to the leaked missions for this month. It’s not impossible however for such an unplanned mission to appear on EU or US as well, but that would mean one thing – that the mode needs support.
In fact, a question for clan players: what is your take on the Stronghold mode, now that it’s here for a few days?
I personally haven’t even tried it (considering the rules match the company ones), but from what German, Czech, English and Russian feedback I’ve been reading, I noticed that a lot of people actually complain about the mode – specifically, the way it is played. You see, there is no “skill MM”, so very stronk clans get matched against new or “fun” clans. While the base can be accessed and built by everyone, getting steamrolled by a R1SE/FAME/EFE/etc. kill team is probably not the most entertaining thing out there (in CW, this is mitigated by the landing mechanism and the overall complicated nature of the mode, that requires coordination and dedication). This complaint appeared in numerous threads.
So I have to wonder, will the Stronghold mode become very popular like the Team battles did, or will it die out after a while like historical battles? What do you think?
The feedback on GER forums is pretty good. You will allways find people complaining about stron[k]hold being for 1337 clans only – especially if their clan has average 800 WN8.
As far as I can judge the new mode seems to be a pretty good idea to get more players into team based game modes.
WG already announced one feature that will make life easier for less skilled clans: strongholds of level 4 and lower won’t get attacked.
Who knows what they will implement in the future if this remains popular? They might as well split the queue into 2-3 smaller ones, depending on the stronghold level.
That way (with top clans naturally gravitating towards most profitable strongholds) casual clans will have a choice whether they want to:
- grind level 10 stronghold with potentially higher bonuses and face stronger enemies
or
- stay a bit lower, earn less, but play against teams on roughly similar level.
I think it will die.
At level 4 bonuses are laughable (less then 10%) and if you are wn800 clan or if you rarely have enough people in a clan to use 2 teams in champions / 1 team in absolute time to grind the base is way too long in comparison with bonuses offered.
So the mode should work for a while and then it will follow the company mode, surviving for a little bit longer, with a little more attendance, but not enough to float for ever.
I feel like it’s gonna be quite popular. The rewards and incentives for playing it probably outweigh the negative that is being matched against a 1337 team (which shouldn’t happen too often anyways unless you’re unlucky).
Still, I might only have this opinion because I belong to a strong clan on the ASIA server.
stronk klanu huehue :v
:v, you wont see this though /o/
I do believe Stronghold has the potential to become the most populare game mode for clans. There are so much little clan wanting to do teamplay, but they can’t afford it, or the gain are too small. Now not only strong clans have a meaning (Clan Wars everyday), but also smaller one (Teamplay and bonus for all).
But WG have to watch it very very closely. One wrong step and this mode could sink. They need to use players feedback and develop regularly new features to keep clan & players interested in (And quickly the possibility to upgrade buildings to level 10).
I concur with this. WG needs to watch SH closely, but it has nice potential. Felt more fun compared to standard TC’s.
Had my first SH session yesterday and it was a nice experience! Until we began too meet solely high eff (wn8 2000+) clans shooting only gold. Only then it became frustrating, cause my clan has more average players than good and that is a hindrance at tier 8. Being semi stock does the same xD
havent played it myself since im clanless atm, but what I heard from my friends the starting bonuses are barely noticable. Something like 8 percent to free xp at stage two strongholds or something like that. Maybe it gets better if you improve the strongold tier, but how can you do that if you would have to beat good clans. Idk, the bonuses should be higher to motivate more people imho. But maybe i dont have complete info and Im wrong :)
in theory at lvl 10, (max lvl) you will get +50% bonuses. (silver, xp, etc) and that is pretty good
thats just like premium account, right?
well I didnt really dig out info about the mode, but how likely is for an average clan (lets say avg 1500 WN8) to get there? can anybody get on the lvl 10 if they suck long enough or is it just for the few chosen ones like FAME etc?
i think everybody can, you just need to play raids, and sometimes attack someones stronghold
From level 5 onwards you have to defend stuff too, so if you have some seriously bad luck, you can never get upwards.
On the other hand, you can get attacked only once a day while you can do skirmishes as much as you want, so I imagine if your clan is active you will get there someday.
you can be attacked once per day if you have 2 buildings only (but two lev 10 buildings are better then 8 level 7 buildings)
it all depends on how much plunder you can lose from your stronghold being raided.
However I expect that mostly best clans will raid so it will not be too much fun.
If we forget being raided, then everyone can grind to level 10, only much slower.
hmm.. there is no such thing as a fun clan.. if you want a fun clan.. have fun failing in stronghold
Depends on what your definition of “fun” is. For some, winning is fun.
My definition of fun is to drink tomato tears and see how they complaining about us shooting gold, being too good, using hacks, play unfair, etc *trollface*, and this is why i think this mode is awsome. Finaly we can get revenge on the scrubs that makes our day miserable in random battles by making them cry :D
But on the other hand i do admit a skilled mm would be quite useful. But still this mode is a lot of fun for me and for my clan, also useful for improving teamplay, coordonation, tactical thinking, we are very good, but defenetely not a top clan, still we managed to beat 1SBP :D
in my opinion, it’s a very good mode for a clan like mine
we already play companies all the time, so this is just an addition, and it is positive
BTW, we have played around 100 raids and have around 70% WR :)
yay tomato trash crying about being bad again… why dont they just uninstall the game?
Omg… MM is the same as for Tank Company Battle. And before StrongHolds most of clans plays Company and anyway get against ‘fun’ clans.
Would like to try it out with our clan but we unfortunately have too few players “active” at any given time to actually play a few matches. :/
if you cant get together T6 TC you are in wrong clan mate…
Hahahahahah R1SE ahahahahaha, R1SE to steamroll some1? ahahahahahah
U jelly?
Kazna not in the steamroller list, pfhew, we’re awesome.
R1S3 here, lel!
IMHO, the Tier VI battles are filled with fun clans. On tier X’s we met some pros like RED-S or 1PADX and there was a problem :D Tier VIII battles, also naturally tend to be more demanding. When you loose a battle the players get only 1 to 4 “cubes” of the resources (it is exp – dependant so you can make 4000 dmg and still get almost nothing, because battle is lost – like in randoms), and in most cases these lost battles are credit sinks ;) Tier VI battles are occupied by OP-1S, Hellcats, Cromwells and AMX-12t (yep, unlike in companies, you can use scouts of corresponding tier in this mode).
you could have done that even before
hey, we (1PADX) are only experimenting with this mode and we are far from being pros. Just random bunch :D
About t6 – next patch there will be huge rebalance (hellcat and KV-1S nerf among others) so tier 6 may be better – but 7 blind tanks on normal maps doesnt sound really interesting.
WHY here, it’s pretty hard to get a team here, probably because of less XP and credits you are able to get in the mode. They should fix this and only this.
Uberstonk clans are under 1% of players. If more players play this mode, then the less chance to meet the big bad wolf. And its nothing like end of the world. You dont lose land or income or anything. Just normal loss and you go play the next game where you will encounter someone less powerful.
Yeah. My clan are loving it right now.
We are not great so don’t prosper in CW (though we got a landing twice)
This mode however gives us an additional bonus over randoms that got us playing.
We’ve been sticking to tier 6 for now but overall we’ve been (as a clan) winning ~66% of the games. Though it’s been a bit higher for the games I was playing.
There are enough people playing that you don’t come up against Unicum teams each time, and when you do, it’s good to see their tactics.
We haven’t met any “elite” clan. Ofc, we didn’t play any Tier 10s, but still… it’s so saturated ATM that it’s mostly whining, there are many red and red/orange teams at lower levels (most of them playing full KV-1S/Hellcat setup anyway, but still defeatable).
And the bonuses are a bit low for the few first levels, but I imagine the interest will pick up at the higher levels. Even now, you can make some nice silver and XP there and people from the clan appreciated it.
I think it works as intented. Yesterday clan I`m in steamrolled Kazna and R1SE once each (in Tier X battles), so there is no problem to play Sronkholds if you are in top clan. As for others (who whine now) learn to play first (or move to better clan) and then play Stronkholds. And I`m not being arrogant asshole, just saying things as they are. Cheers.
“You see, there is no “skill MM”, so very stronk clans get matched against new or “fun” clans.”
Is it should be. If these new/fun/tomato/potato clans want to compete in this mode, they either need to get good or not play it.
As a member of -G- on the NA server, we can bring a credit farming team of FCMs, Type 59s and IS-6s and still rock a 90%+ win rate which is extremely sad. Not even kidding – more than half of the teams we’ve faced have parked their whole team in or behind their flag circle.
Personally I think this mode is great, and as long as the promise of bonuses are there clans are going to continue to play it to grind industrial resource.
On the NA server I think they will do fine. I started a thread on our CR/D forum where the top clans have been coordinating our efforts. The mediums are up all day the champions off and on but consistently after 6:30 and absolutes after 9:00 have been up every day.
Feedback from my clan: We are playing alot, mode is more popular then retarded tank companies because you actually see some reward from it…
I think it’s good fun. You can still fail your way to the top, so the lower clans should have nothing to complain about. Besides, having the tier 6 and 8 battle tiers means those clans who are still working their way up can participate too, unlike CW where it’s tier X or GTFO. One thing I like about the mode is the unknown maps. If you have a caller who’s good on the fly, you can overcome a good bit of the disadvantages you might have one on one. Battle calling on the fly is a whole different kettle of fish from knowing your map and opponent in advance (As a couple of our callers discovered the first night we tried it out). So if you’re in a “fun” clan, there’s the first thing to work on. Find someone who’s willing to actually work on calling, and can think at a reasonable level and get to it.
The Skill of the clan is mostly detriment by the sort of detachment you play. Most of the Tomato clans play Medium detachments while clans like HAVOK/SIMP play absolute mostly.
That being said, I like stronghold. I finally found a good use for my chaffee since you are allowed to bring T5/6 LTs into a medium detachment which you are not allowed to do in Medium TCs.
On NA Server:
My clan hasn’t had any issues finding members to field at least 1 team, up to 2, every night since the start of this meta. We have seen top clans and not so top clans using Skirmishes so far.
Personally from my stream, http://www.twitch.tv/rscolddawg, viewers’ point of view they enjoy watching the skirmish battles as it shows team work, strategies, and the clan and stronghold system which some of them do not have yet on the XBox 360 version of World Of Tanks. I can’t wait for turrets, minefields, and artillery strikes to be implemented.
Personally i liked the idea , it saved me from random retards . Bonuses are still almost null but as long as i’m having fun with my chaffee against those ties 6′s that cant spot me firing at them at 300m.
Well we’re having a load of fun at Tier 6. It’s a good mode for clans that would struggle to get enough players for a company, but are capable of butting out a decent 7.
However until 9.3 drops I’ll probably just take the Chaffee for this mode. After 9.3, who knows what will work.
type 64. after 9.3, this will be the new, improved chaffee
Alas I have only US tanks and don’t fancy that w/o crew.
I wonder what the T37 might be like.
We had a great stronghold skirmish session with our clan. We are definitely going to participate more strongly on it, even if our skills aren’t very strong yet. Of course we got decimated or annihilated by superior clans more often than we scored victories, but at least we fought back with the best of our abilities (or lack of them).
Okay then, so you’re telling me that clans with siblings/sub-clans would be able to farm XP by having everyone come in their grinding tier 8s and ramming a stock T1 Cunningham to death (saves credits from ammo and almost no repair fee if you’re in a heavy or Panther 2) for the win (or having the T1 drown, stock Tier 1 tank = no repair fees). That’s 2000 XP per person per minute, basically, and the T1 can be an alt for one of the guys driving a tier 8 too.
Wow this is so easy to exploit it’s not funny
Yeah, and the easiest part (so easy you didn’t even mention it) is hacking the servers to make MM match you against your sub-clan playing T1s – and not against one of dozens (if not hundreds) of other teams in queue.
We played a bunch of tier 6 games last night. I think they need to make the following changes:
1) Make base cap take 300 points, instead of 100 points.
AND/OR
2) The reward for base capping should be small – i.e. if you basecap the enemy without doing any damage, you should get 55 resources, while the enemy team gets 45.
Both of these will help incentivize fighting over stealth racing.
@Silentstalker
“the rules match the company ones”
Do they? Companies are limited only by total tier points, with up to 15 tanks.
I haven’t played it yet, but aren’t skirmishes limited by number of tanks, not total tier points?
(Tier 10 being exceptions, of course.)
diference is close to negligible
company rules allowed you to swap 1 tank for few low tier scouts and had different amount of tanks (11 instead of 10 in champion, 10 instead of 7 in medium) but gameplay is still largely similar (compared to CW/tournament/ESL/random)
My post was about rules, not “what are the most common (or viable) tank set ups in TCs and skirmishes” or “does it have similar gameplay”.
So, potatoes are complaining how it’s the playground for 1337 clams? How about you get better at the game, join stronk clam and farm pubbies yourself. Why they fuck would someone reward you for sucking at the game?! Just because it’s f2p game, doesn’t mean WG should give you stuff for free.
deleted (replied in wrong place)
So far my clan is having fun, only occasionally running into a seal clubbing team at Tier VI. When clans can attack other strongholds, I forsee an issue as the strongest clans pummel the weakest. Actually, every clan will try to optimize their stronghold attack strategies, not just the purple players.
It’d be nice if they used the upcoming clan ratings to provide disincentives for clans to gank weaker clans – maybe reduced IR if the ratings are far apart. So if UNICUM clan attacks WN8-900 clan, they get practically nothing for their trouble.
Or: you cannot attack a stronghold lower than x levels than yours. If we just reduce IR incentives, fun in roflstomping clans fresh out of the safe zone of level 4 might still be enough for some.
My clan, AOD is liking it a lot. It has brought a lot more push into team play again and it’s really good!
As far as the MM problem goes, I see it as a challenge. Yes, they’ll probably win, but look at what they do, learn from them. They have nothing special giving them an edge, only experience. (and possibly gold ammo)
The mode itself is great! It encourages to team-based play mode and there is practically no downtime between matches as opponent is found in couple of seconds. At least in T6 most teams play with optimal setups. I am from EFE and yes, we get regular rage about why we play T6. It is because we can’t get too many full t8-10 teams and the game is much more fun at t6 when every shot and mistake counts when KV-1s roars. Though, I don’t know how much more handicap we could give. Tonight we played with 5 TOGs and never lost a match. If you can’t outmaneuver 5 TOGs, perhaps one should stop complaining. ;)
But big +++++ for this mode! Beats team battles (bad opponents, longish waiting times, bad maps) and tank companies (no opponents when I have time to lead a company, no rewards) 100-0.
My clan plays Stronghold pretty much every day, It’s a fun mode, teaches teamwork, tactics and how to even the odds. My clan is fairly strong so when we come up against “blues” and “purples” its pretty much the same as any other. But if your a NEWER clan and come up against them, well then… Best of luck…
I DO think they should adjust it so you don’t get all grapes vs tomatoes. It’ll make it boring for most. Have at least similar skill sets/matches player/Wn8/ect-.
But I think Stronghold should stay. Anything that adds more life into WoT is NEEDED.
Our clan is also pretty weak, but we’re trying to organize our more active players and Stronkhold is better than the other options.
We used to play CW with 8-12 players giving us a 5% rate or so.
Now with Stronkhold, we can play at tier 6 with 7 active players which actually have decent tanks. We also play at tier 8 but less often. Even with a 35% win rate, we’re happy as we get to see some wins and increase coordination in the team. Gradually we’ll be better.
We did win over a top 50 EU clan once, it felt nice.
I’m wondering if we should exceed level 4, but we’ll probably consider it at the right time.
WG made this mode after great amount of consideration, they do not make moves out of blue. This mode is best for clans with moderate amount of ppl, for clans which are better then tomatoe soup but fail to get anywhere further than landing on CW map. This is golden mean for those clans, because they can win some bonus for whole clan (xp, credits etc) unlike normal TC.
Buying proper T6, T8 tanks and pimping them ->> profit for WG
I think that Stronghold will kill Company battles and Team battles ;)
Here on NA, IOC_5 is having fun steam-rolling noobs.
Our two branches of the Dingers really find it a fun mode and gives everyone a better chance to contribute, can ctually rely on teammates and test our FC skills especially as we have a wider map rotation..Going beyond level 4 requires to be fully organised and dedicated members to make it work, which goes against clan ethos. We are truly non-serious about WoT.
We did realise that KV1S & Hellcat heavy teams are beatable 9 times out of 10.
We use a 2 Chaffee, Bert, Hellcat and 3 heavy combo that works very well. And apologies to LATIN we wanted to get you a 3rd time in a row to pwn u guys!
My clan is fairly active in stronghold. 163 skirmishes with 64% win rate, most of our losses coming in tier 10 vs top NA clans. Granted my team is still in the top 100 and have held land and pushed back clans that are in the top 20, we actually enjoy losing to the top clans, because we dont lose anything but credits, and we gain info on how certain clans play the map, strong points to push as a team, and test our clans trust and cooperation. out of the 97 members we have over 60 of us have played at least 1 battle in stronghold battle and we even have 1 guy over 1000 resources for the week. The bonuses are popped regularly during clans most active hours to help with grinds and at 6% bonuses, they add up the more you play. I dont see how anyone could be against this mode aside from the fact that you do play top clans every now and then, but thats the fun in itself. learn from it, use their strategies. get better for playing it.