Part 1: http://ftr.wot-news.com/2014/12/15/artillery-guide-by-tyraforce-part-1/
Part 2: http://ftr.wot-news.com/2014/12/20/artillery-guide-by-tyraforce-part-2/
Welcome to the third part of the artillery guide. Today the big topic will be aiming, which might make some of you reconsider the way you click those damn tanks. Before we start, big thanks to those 50+ people who started sending me encouraging messages when the FTR comments got locked. Some even sent gold, which took me totally by surprise and made my Christmas a lot merrier.
Sadly, some disturbed players couldn’t handle the guide again. No point mentioning the usual cancer wishes but one guy deserves a special mention. The “special” player award goes to Xensation, commander of IDEAL for 2 days of truly “original” trolling at our own TS.
COMMUNICATION
Arti drivers should be the most “talkative” players on the team but few really are. Talking to your team sure influences your win rate and many players are happy to work with arty when they realize you are ready to cooperate. Having an ally pull and track an enemy in the middle of your aiming circle is one of the most satisfying moments of playing arty. Due to your long reload and minimal movement you can use the chat and shortcuts more often than others. You also have the best tactical overview thanks to arty view and can see the HP situation anywhere on the map. That said, while you cannot expect your team to always listen or work with you, it is still worth doing no matter how many times you get frustrated.
Here is what you can do:
1) Always mark your target (“T” by default) about 5sec before you fire. An experienced player will see the marker and stay away from the target. A great player will track the target as he will likely get more xp than if he shot it himself. Sometimes, players can’t penetrate the tank they are facing but they can still track it. If they see your marker they often will. Once again, do NOT expect your teammates not to kill the marked tank and “save” it for you.
2) If you can kill or seriously damage a tank which is trading with a friendly tank, mark the target and follow with the “reloading” button to show how soon you can hit the target. Experienced players will stay in cover and let you hit it conserving their HP. They attack when the shell lands and often shoot a disabled and disoriented opponent (if there is anything left to shoot).
3) In case 2 tanks are dueling in close proximity, mark the target about 10s before you are ready to fire to give your ally time to get safe and then mark it again after another 5sec. If they don’t get safe you’ll have to make a tough decision based on your experience, accuracy and shell travel time. In general, I’d advice taking a risky shot ONLY if your ally is going to die anyway OR he is much less valuable than your target AND in both cases only when you have a decent chance of killing the enemy tank. Under and only under these conditions, I consider killing an ally fully acceptable. Make sure you evaluate the chances of your allies correctly. A good 1HP medium player can dance around a tomato for 10 minutes without being hit or rammed once so be sure you take their skill into account (XVM ftw again).
4) Click the map and press “Help” or “reloading – loaded” to mark what tanks you need spotted but only do so if there is somebody who can actually do it and there is nothing else you can shoot.
5) Later in the game when a new target gets spotted use “negative” to say you don’t have a shot or “reloading” when you need some time. Also, press reloading when you miss a shot. The last tanks are usually the best players who will listen and adjust their play based on the info you provide.
6) Click your ally location and press “affirmative” to let the player know you are ready to cover him. The player will usually try to spot and will let you do your job knowing he doesn’t have to take risks while aiming his shots. This is very useful when you have 2 tanks on opposite sides of an obstacle. An experienced player will push the enemy out of the cover and allow you to take a shot when he knows you are loaded and aimed.
7) Based on your general experience, you can also provide other info for your team. Most players don’t have the time or skill to count enemy tanks. Messages like “5 enemies left, 10 right. Push left.” Can decide the battle but don’t expect the team to always listen and be sure you have the necessary experience first.
RMB, X and M
To my huge surprise few arty players use these three keys effectively and some pretty good players don’t use them at all.
In arty mode RMB is used to look around the map while still aiming at the original spot. This is very useful when reloading to check whether you can hit certain tanks and to search the map for artillery tracers, fallen trees or just to assess the situation. Another thing you should know about is that you can actually press SHIFT while holding RMB. This will keep you aimed at the same location while you can check what’s going on around you, your current barrel elevation (which also tells you the angle of impact), and whether or not you can be spotted from certain locations. Before you release the RMB, you need to move the cursor back where you were aiming if you want to remain fully aimed.
The X key will prevent your hull from moving when you mouse outside your gun arc. Given the long aim time of most arties it is mostly not the best idea to follow tanks that leave your firing sector if there are other targets in it. I personally only use the A and D keys to move my hull and press X right after I do so to make sure I don’t have to aim twice.
If you use a big mini-map, disabling it with the “M” key for a few seconds in arty mode is quite helpful when looking at big areas of engagement like Mount Malinovka.
BLIND SHOTS
A high blind shot hit rate is what makes an arty driver a great arty driver. In public games many players will initially go to a bush of their choice and camp it hard till somebody comes in range. The good news is, an arty shell can get there before they fire their first shot. Give the campers time to get to position and aim behind the bush (about 20m with standard arc). Different bushes have different probabilities of being occupied and also different occupant skill levels. Try avoiding the tomato bushes located mostly within 100m of the enemy base. A few maps have bushes with 75+% hit probability, which don’t get too much blindfire and are considered “safe”. Find them and nuke them. If you take a lot of blind shots during a battle, take a screenshot of your dmg log at the end and compare it with the battle results. Check if you hit, what you hit and consider whether it was worth the shot in order to improve your blind shots in the upcoming battles.
PREAIMING AND TIMING
In general, you can’t kill good arty-aware players unless you are preaimed or get extremely lucky. On maps like Mines and Karelia you can be sure to get some shots on mediums lumbering up the medium hill at a certain game time. You should know when you have to stop moving and start aiming your first shots. The same goes for most maps but the probability and efficiency might be lower.
In combat, most tanks move in position, aim, fire and reverse. The better the player, the faster the process. Their aiming takes them about 2s (knowing the approximate aiming time helps), which is roughly the usual shell travel time. Therefore, you should fire when the tanks stops and in case of good tier 10 players even before it stops. The tick is knowing where the tank will stop. To predict the spot, generally consider where it stopped last time or where you would stop considering what tank he wants to shoot. A lot of tanks will use the same firing position multiple times if they don’t get penetrated there. I suggest “clicking” about 1 second before I expect the target to stop so that he gets hit during the aiming process. This will often track the target in a partly exposed position and secure the kill.
AIMING aka THE IMPORTANT STUFF
There are two general ways of aiming at a stationary target (mods aside) – pointing at a part of the target and pointing behind the target. Most players just click on the tanks whenever they can, which is really a bad idea if you are an experienced arty player and not an average one.
By aiming at the tank itself, you usually aim at the turret as it is usually very hard to aim at the hull in the middle of the tank, which is what you really want to hit. You can accidentally fire right after the tanks has disappeared, which often causes you to target the ground under the tank. Lastly, by aiming at the tank itself you don’t practice the other method, which you actually need in all the other cases.
To demonstrate, let’s look at a moving target (see another of my “beautiful” drawings).
Even if you estimate the target position correctly, I’m guessing quite a few of you would aim for the tomato area. Well, not a bad choice if you intend to track the target. If you want to kill it, however, consider the purple area which has a decent chance of hitting the engine deck. Now, this is a hard shot for sure and you’ll be busy leading you shell (left/right) so it really helps if you can set the range (up/down) without much thinking. The correct range depends on the tank height and shell arc so you really can use some experience here. This is why you IMHO should use this “behind the tank” aiming method at all times if you aspire to become a true scumbag master. To simplify: Whenever you are aiming directly at a tank (spotted, unspotted, future location) quit the game, grab your TOG and suffer through a game while making promises you’ll never do that again.
Now, look at the two pictures below. They both show my Bat arti shooting the same Tiger II and were taken 6 seconds apart.
The blue cross indicates where each shot was aimed. The first one was aimed at the engine deck but hit the tracks instead (blue line) causing damage many would be happy with (wrong). The second shot is aimed behind the tank, far enough to avoid the tracks and penetrated the side armor destroying the tank (right). I chose to aim at the middle of the tank as I would have hit the turret if the shot had been too high and tracks if it had been low. Also, it doesn’t matter if the tank moves or disappears – most shots will hit the side and pen no matter what. This, in my opinion, is how you eliminate most of the arty RNG ending up with decent damage in most games.
DIRECT FIRE – ENDGAME
First, let’s talk about the endgame. In most city fights it is hard to get decent shots when there are few (mostly smart) enemies left and they stick to the arti-safe areas. In such situations you should go get them like a TD would. The important thing is you have to arrive before all your allies are dead. A lot of people go too late and thus have no impact on the game. You will almost always have the element of surprise on your side so use it. Few arties arrive in time so players generally don’t expect them to go in TD mode. Aim as much as possible and even take a hit if you can afford it. Note that while other allies are alive, enemies will not use HE against you and sometimes they won’t even notice you. In certain situations it is better not to fire but to take a hit or even die so that your low HP ally can finish the enemy. Make sure to explain what you’re doing and check that you’re not teaming up with a tomato. Here is a nice example of how you can distract the enemy when your friend is going for a rather unconventional kill (yup, he managed to land right on top).
When alone, your best chance is finding a bush and using camo net + crew camo + stationary bonus + bush bonus to fire the first shot. If possible try avoiding the usual arty locations and move to a location, from which you can spot the arty locations. Also, some SPGs are able to side scrape. You can’t depend on it but it won me a few 1vs1s and even a Kolobanov’s medal.
DIRECT FIRE – SCOUTS AND OTHER PESKY INTRUDERS
Last but not least, you’ll have to deal with those pesky scouts and other intruders. Not being in the usual arty spots on certain maps helps. If you see a lot of tomato scouts you can expect an early suicide rush so get behind solid cover and save the shell for the first to come around the corner. Experienced scouts tend to come later and there is not much you can do about them if they find you. Staying close to your team helps but is not always viable.
When you know somebody is coming, consider using camo or a one-way corner position. Also consider loading AP (if there is time) if it can pen and kill the target in cases when HE would be a gamble. This will often surprises heavy tanks, which often approach head on and don’t expect to be hit for a ton of damage.
If camo fails and there is nowhere to hide. Try to get as close as possible to the enemy and take hits if you can afford it. Many arty drivers “conserve HP” by taking a chancy shot but then die after missing it. Use your HP to buy you aiming/movement time and maximize your chance to hit.
When you are the last player on your team some players will hug you to prevent a win. Loading AP in these situations is generally a good idea but will get you reported for cheating. Another thing you should know about is a technique used by VERY experienced players when they put their long barrel in front of your barrel and cause you to shoot the barrel. This usually kills the arty with little damage to the other tank due to difference in armor and distance from the explosion.
DIRECT FIRE – ELEVATED POSITIONS
Certain maps allow you to get to elevated positions from where you can snipe enemies below you using direct fire in arti view. This means you will have very good accuracy as well as shell travel time and will penetrate most your HE shells. The key here is knowing when these locations are safe and when you will get spotted. El Halluf D0 hill is a great spot to practice this but certainly not the only one.
MODS AKA THE FLAME SECTION
XVM is a must. The WoT skill range is really wide so picking the right target is crucial. Now before all the unicums start raging, I’d like to add that an arty-aware unicum is really hard to hit and you’ll waste a few shots just to get a minor splash, which is hardly worth it. Some of the good players, however, tend to exploit a single position and thus make excellent targets.
I’d suggest one of the mods that allows you to zoom out a lot to better assess the situation. A good arty player doesn’t focus only on enemy HP but also knows the HP of his allies fighting those enemies. A low HP ally tends to pull enemies out of cover and is worth protecting etc.
Safe shot prevents you from shooting dead tanks and will save you from a long reload time to time especially when there is another arty player who doesn’t mark his targets.
Now the new Battle Assistant, which provides an alternative view upon pressing “G”, is a tricky one. I don’t find it very useful when fighting mobile vehicles, which is what I do most of the time. I only use it for stationary targets and for some tricky shots around cover, which I’d say is 1 in every 10 shots. I would recommend this to people who have trouble mastering the aiming technique described above or just don’t play arty much. Experienced players are able to imagine this view without actually seeing it and take advantage of the better battlefield overview the standard view provides. In other words, I’d rather know that another tank turned his back towards me than to see what I can already imagine.
As for the different aiming circle modifications, I find it more a matter of personal preference. Some also estimate the shell travel time for you but you can judge this by the distance so I don’t find it very useful.
THE END
Even though I tried to cover every aspect of SPG gameplay, I still get a lot of questions in game chat the guide didn’t cover. I’ll consider writing more in the future but I need a little break after these 15+ pages.
Please remember that all the stuff above is not necessarily the best way of playing arty. There might be better strategies I am not aware of and you might even discover them yourself. There is really very little info on playing arty so keep your eyes open and always strive to improve.
Anyway, take care for now and I’ll see you on the battlefield (from above).
-Tyra
Special thanks to Mr.KV2 for the usual stuff.
Thanks to Dex for proofreading.
First…Nice guide, thanks :)
When God was deciding who is going to be stupid,you were FIRST to pop up!!!
Welp, let’s see how much rage this one starts. Personally, I enjoy these posts, I find them an interesting read. I am glad that Arty is getting some love recently, they need it.
SS, has there been any word on weather anything is to be done about balance specifically between the 53/55 and the 212A? The 212 literally has no redeeming quality in comparison, it even has a longer aim time in addition to being larger, slower, and having that 8 degree gun arc.
Nothing that I know of. As far as I can tell, artillery vehicles are sort of “pariah” now – untouchables, when it comes to buffs (or nerfs).
That’s kind of what I was thinking…welp, I guess that I can at least enjoy the fact that I have two tier ten U.S. arty in my garage.
I seem to recall from one of your “Insider” posts one of the Devs saying that playing the 212 “could make onions cry”. That person was right.
( ° ͜ʖ͡°)╭∩╮Hey SS, Heres another arty “GUIDE” for you ( ° ͜ʖ͡°)╭∩╮
212A is the Gun Carriage of T9. It has the best shell arc. Better than all the T10s apart from the GC.
While that is technically true, it is still considerably flatter than the CGC in trajectory. Shell arc is essentially determined by maximum range, because the closer to max range you aim, the steeper the trajectory, and shorter range SPGs are likely to be shooting closer to max range. The CGC is ~1007 m and the B-4 (the 203 mm gun for Soviet SPGs like the 212A) is ~1263 m. M53/55′s 203 mm gun is ~1290 m.
53/55 is one of the best tanks+arty tier by tier in game.
is probably the best arty tier by tier in game, is very OP, like the kv1s was, can do close to most tier 10 artyes, in some maps 53/55 is better than some tier 10 for sure.
You can’t balance every arty with the most OP. You have to balance the OP with the normals…
WOW, comments HAVE NOT been locked yet?! I would like to say that I, also, have enjoyed these articles and thank the author for his (or her) time and effort. I’m mostly a HT and TD driver but I do play arty occasionally and anything that makes me better at raining the steel on you lesser mortals is a good thing! :D
Thanks!
Last printscreen FTW
Well, the Ape picture is great
So this is why we have more and more arties… great…
GJ, Tyra~
As much as everyone hates arty, when you are a lowtier medium and all of your tomatoes top tiers heavies already dead, leaving you against enemy heavy armor, seeing friendly arties shells flying toward enemy is a Godsend.
So yeah, hopefully this mean we got more competent arties player.
No, i am not artillery player.
Ever seen light tank players bitch about Arty? Other than curing friendly arty not shooting spotted targets, of course.
It is mostly people who are their primary targets – Heavies, TDs and campers, – who have a problem with them.
Even so, I have gotten mad when Arty decided that I in my tier 7 med am I a bigger thread then a tier 8 Heavy, but that is just road rage and I try to avoid, both the rage and the shells.
>Even so, I have gotten mad when Arty decided that I in my tier 7 med am I a bigger thread then a tier 8 Heavy, but that is just road rage and I try to avoid, both the rage and the shells.
Yeah, i know that feeling.
In other hand it kinda satisfying if somewhat annoyed when my HT managed to dance between arty shell and survive.
For a light tank own arty is often the more annoying one. Try circling a helpless lonely heavy and get hit by your own arty. Or have him “steal” the very low hp targets when he could do 10 times more damage to the other tank nearby.
And of course sometimes you feel own arty don’t do anything even though you constantly keep enemies spotted. Though this is often only in the head of the light tank driver – arty may be focused in other sector of the map (after all they are playing their own game, not serving you) or simple don’t even have a shot at your targets. There are some streamers who constantly whine about enemy arty shooting them and own arty “not doing anything” – oh the double standards :)
Most light and medium players are much the same, the arty haters are mostly those driving havies and tds that cry, plus the unicorns who get frustrated at 4 tomato arties staying on them for the entire game.
Now I’m gonna play arty even more, just to spite those butthurt haters. :D
I love how people with no actual arguments love to call their opponents “butthurt” or “haters”. And guess what, you did both.
Just because someone actually can comprehend game mechanics and therefore realizes that artillery is cancer of this game, doesn’t make him “hater”, “butthurted” or “troll”, no matter how much you wish that, just so you can dismiss him with your pathetic ad personams.
Just because someone thinks he is the one actually being able to comprehend the game doesn’t make him right.
Especially when a lot of others can live and play perfectly well without being bothered by what he claims. In fact it actually supports the claim that he is just a butthurt whiner (or TD-/Camperfag), no matter how much he wishes to dismiss the others with his pathetic claim to superior intelligence.
So… your say that those criticizing the terrible design that is arty are just butthurt whiners inferior to those abusing said terrible design without addressing the criticism itself. Just like every arty-supporter ever.
GJ Tyra — Thanks:)
this is the third article, and i can’t understand why can’t you start it with disabled comments.
Agree.
Just deactivate comments and all is good, as simple as that, SS.
but nowadays the style here: put a provocative article, don’t allow any negative comment, just positive, and if anybody won’t agree, just ban it.
Lol, banned dont just “not agree”, if for you wish cancer and insult someone is the only way to disagree, you have a serious problem.
really?
and why does it only “congrat, nice work” comments?
Because that’s what Tyra did. No matter what you think of arty, it isn’t Tyras fault it is the way it is in the game, he’s just trying to be helpful, to make the game better for everyone (except campers).
1) It is all very basic stuff.
2) Campers won’t be affected by arty. Everyone else will.
Very basic stuff for who? There are players who turn their turrets to deal with the enemy who is coming from behind, instead of turning around when there is no threat coming from the front… you would think that’s basic stuff too.
It’s actually not basic, Tyra deals with a good bunch of misconceptions and bad habits.
“Mount gun rammer and gun laying drive.”
“Aim in front of a moving enemy.”
“At the start of the battle aim at positions enemies are likely to be at.”
Yeah, this stuff is basic and should be obvious to everyone. The fact that so many claim to have learned a lot from this guide says much about them.
You said the keyphrase here: “should be”.
A lot of things in the world would be better if people would know/act what/how they should.
Thanks for all the Information – very helpful.
What would help me a lot would be a Guide for some “complicated” Maps that are usually very hard for arti (Ruinberg, Himmelsdorf whatever…) maybe just a colored picture like a heatmap or so….
I’ll probably do it but need a break now.
Well Himmelsdorf isn’t so hard for arty, just go primarily to the arty safe (yea, go with arty to arty safe position) and snipe the hills. If that fails, try the death corridor. After that TD mode. Fairly simple.
For goddamn Ruinberg I can’t help you. I hate that map on undescribable level. I hope they remove it, and every iteration of it. I hate it with tanks, and hate it with arty.
HI !
Lot’s of thanks to you 2 : Tyra for the hard and educationnal work, and Silentstalker for publishing it !!! Great job !
well let’s hope these guides are read by the IDIOTS infesting the arty class gameplay and maaaybe hope for better work
cause the communication part is unkhown for a large number of the so called ”arty” players
yesterday i was in a tier 6 the vk 3601h i was spoting an is3 and a 112 shouting to arty for help buuuut arty decided it would be better aiming at targets that are camping behind cover sooo yeah epic player there
let’s hope they get some brains and actually work with these guides
This sucks, I had to learn all of this by myself at the game lunch and I sucked real hard for the first 5k to 10k of my all battles and now we have such well written guides on how to perform well regarding all tank categories (in this case arty)
Great guide. GJ
btw you still suck at arty… HARD… ;)
good guide GJ Tyra…
lol SebioC I didn’t say I was pro now… but at least I can play all the other tank classes better than you ;)
And 1.9k avg dmg in GW E-100 (the only tier X I have) isn’t that bad (u only have 2.2)
Unica are not pro players if they can’t evade arty. Hell, I’m at 2k recent WN8 and I successfully evade arty most of the time while 4k players spend more time raging about arty than learning to play against them. Woras, Medjed, Xen and similar bigmouths – learn to adapt or get rekt.
that’s why you have only 2k… bcs you acept to hide instead of fight.
Well that was a true Statement lol
2k recent… UUU! Mass killer! WoT Rambo! Serb’s First Student! Teach me, master.
Are you retarded?
You are a blue recent with max deep green overall (or you would not be only blue recent). You get shot at basically never. A blue is enough to keep arty guns away from you. You don’t successfully evade arty – you don’t get shot at you moron. You know what is the difference between all those 4k players and you? They actually win games, and do twice as much damage as you do, despite being shot at by arty more than twenty times as much between their stats and their tags. You are a padded blue shit despite not being focused, so what does that say about you?
Bigmouth fag – at least learn to play yourself before telling others how it’s done.
yeee f0kin w0t m8
Unica are a joke – a clan which cheats and stages battles every chance it gets in the campaigns which WG run for clanwars…. they’re the clownshoes of all unicum teams
UNICA did it once this campaign and once the campaign before. They actually get banned the first time they did it, but the last campaign it was legit, ask your trusted WG Support, they will tell ya.
When he said unica he was refering to unicums, not a clan you stupid fuck
Why the fuck do you reply to me? Look at the fucking post i replied to…dumbass.
i dont understand this…can anyone help?
“When you are the last player on your team some players will hug you to prevent a win. Loading AP in these situations is generally a good idea but will get you reported for cheating. Another thing you should know about is a technique used by VERY experienced players when they put their long barrel in front of your barrel and cause you to shoot the barrel. This usually kills the arty with little damage to the other tank due to difference in armor and distance from the explosion.”
“Hug” means “close distance”, “stick his gun”, because then if arty fires HE, the splash will kill itself, and the other tanks if not killed will then win.
yeah but why do they say “loading AP is cheating”?
Cuz some don’t even know arty can load AP and they are surprised when it’s only them who dies.
Be more specific. As for AP, most arties get 250-370 AP pen so it’s useful at close range. As for blocking shells with the gun, it’s pretty self-explainatory. The HE shell explodes inside the artys gun, killing him and leaving you almost undamaged
This is also how you kill FV183 gold: put your gun in his gun :D
@Tyra
As a side note, you may be doing a disservice to the players who thanked you for the guide by displaying their names here (i.e. opening them to similar abuse), unless, of course, they specifically allowed you to do that.
And you may be doing a disservice to the players by telling the trolls what to do. Trolls are not very smart you know :-)
Touché.
After 3 guides I learned nothing.
I was interested in see new Pro things that I never realised for arty, but no.
Arty is very easy to play.
The only Pro thing arty can do is counter arty, everything else can be resumed to “WASD to move, shift to aim and click to shoot.”
Okay, or you are already really good, or I suggest you don’t try arty :P
True. I was expecting some never before seen angle form the POV of a “Pro arty” player and I didn’t get any new info :/
I guess the skill ceiling is as low as I already thought it was.
I did not promise a pro guide and this is the best I could do. As you see in the comments there are many here who learned a thing or two.
Don’t get me wrong. Its nice of you to write the guide and all.
I rarely play arty though as I find it very boring.
I rarely play soccer as I find it very boring.
Your point?
Thanks for the guide!
Since something arty related happened to me recently I’ll post this here.
Either the description of “For Counter-Battery Fire” is wrong or the achievement is bugged: http://i.imgur.com/XnspTFZ.jpg
Screenshot from TS3 where everyone can use whatever nickname he wants? And you post that on FTR? Amazing. You don’t even need Photoshop to fake that, lol. I will send you a screenshot of Ectar using nazi insults, please post it here, too.
/facepalm
Dude, why would he make up exactly your nickname when you didn’t say anything against this guide?
Why didn’t he make up Woras’s nickname when he was very loud about not liking arty?-no offence Woras, you da man ;)
No point in trying to crawl your way out of it… you are known for lying Xen..
I am loud about arty, too, and there are plenty more reasons as to why someone would hate me.
More reasons, but usually with good reason why, if you ask me…
and since i agree with xen now, and am i IDEAL i am a sheep and mad as well…
but where is the part about focusing purple players only in your arty? no matter what useless tanks they drive?
Hey, that’s the fault of players who scream for XVM being OK..
Not my problem :) No XVM, no focusing on purple players… Your own fault for being mad about stats :D
>implying i am mad
>implying people win if they try to focus unicums
>implying thats makes you win
>thats why you remain yellow unless you club on t2
nice face btw. i recommend making your FB profile private if you wan to use it as an account to comment on FTR
Why? Will someone get mad, fly to my country and kick the shit out of me? I have nothing to hide from….Trust me, I had worse things happen to me ;)
lol, show some spine
For a short while you were my hero until I read this comment. :/
I am not denying I did it. I am just saying SS is very naive posting TS3 screenshots here. Also, Tyra cherrypicked my shit nicely. Should I post the shit he said to me?
Hey, aren’t good players always saying “if you get insults, don’t lower yourself to your level…”?
Sorry but homophobic insults are NEVER ok, same as death threats…
So no use trying to pull yourself out of the shit you made.
PS: since you aren’t denying it, it means you did say it… so why lie about saying it was faked just 10 minutes ago? You’re a really funny guy :D
I did not say it was faked, I said TS3 screenshots are completely unrealiable. Also, he cherrypicked a lot.
PS:
Where did I use homophobic insults exactly?
Learn to read much? You did not say it was faked?
I’m quoting you from your reply to me:” You don’t even need Photoshop to fake that, lol. ”
How about the “faggot” in every reply, anal rape…
So you don’t even know what being a homophob means? Wow, under which rock did you live all this time? :O
SS, can you believe this guy? :D
I also said “love you”, which indicates I have homosexual tendencies myself. How exactly can I be homophobic if I am homosexual myself.
Hehe, say whatever you want, at this point, it is just to make yourself feel better and nothing more :)
It would be fun if SS made a special topic about certain players, like a special New Year’s HoS :D
Safirius, are you trying to say you don’t believe me?
Your disbelief is oppressing me. I am a transkinny translesbian truthkin. I feel raped whenever I even think of lies.
Check your privilege or I call the cops.
Just lol :)
Now you laugh at the oppression I have to face every single day of my unprivileged life? You cishets just can’t understand. I will post about you on my tumblr page now.
Don’t…
Trust me, you do NOT want to go down that path..
You have no idea about what you are talking about, I know about it, I live it every single day… do NOT go down that path…
So, now you’re telling me what I must not do?
You privileged white cishets are all the same! You think you can oppress everyone else left and right, but you are in no position at all to tell me what not to do just because I am different, okay?
You will regret that you have triggered me! My fellow Tumblrians will raid your FB page and show you where you can shove your privilege!
Oh and, I am not the commander of IDEAL, get your facts right.
Wow, so the forum badge is lying? :O Ehr ma gawd
It does not update automatically. And there’s no “Mascot” title on the forums
It hasn’t updated in a long time then… or you are just happy with the title and fooling people :) I don’t even care if you are a commander or not… you have lost all your credibility IMO.
Who is saying anything about a “mascot”? I was just reffering to your avatar, nothing else…
Lost my credibility? Because of cherrypicked and possibly fake TS3 screenshots? All of my keks.
Reading these two is less fun than playing skycancer!
Being an unprivileged trigender transskiny translesbian otherkin is not about fun. Check your privilege!
Xen’s identity had been confirmed several times before I decided to post it.
He was using his TS ID with the diplomat tag, which he had been using for some time and several F15 clan members recognized his voice. So unless somebody stole poor Xen’s TS account AND managed to impersonate his voice and attitude…yup, it was Xensation and he does not even deny it.
Yes, I did pick the juicy parts. The whole extent of trolling would not fit in but if anyone’s interested, PM me in game and I’ll send you all of the stuff.
As for IDEAL commander: http://eu.wargaming.net/clans/500010805/
Yes, they say he is “retired” and the clan is now looking for nice people but he still IS the commander. I have no beef with IDEAL, I was just shocked such an angry kid can lead a top clan.
Thanks Tyra. The guide was really interesting to read(not sure how helpful because I play arty not that much) but interesting non-theless…
If you ask me, Xensation’s ego is just too large for his own good.. You could send all the pics to SS, maybe he can make a special HoS Xensation edition :D hehe
I’m not an angry kid. I just like to troll special snowflakes who are too easily offended like you
Xensation, EmperorSafirius
If only stupidity could fly, both of you would fly like a pair of eagles!
What makes you think I am stupid?
Xensation relax, you are a fictional internet anonymous name, nobody knows who you are, same goes for TyraFag.
so by shaming your Alias he returned the favor of you shaming his Alias :) but it still does not change the fact that Arty Players special and they don’t give a shit about WoT or Wining or anything, they are little Sadists that like to torture other player and ruin the Fun.
Wow, what a ridiculous nolifer this guy must be if he can spend the better part of two days trolling some other guys teamspeak.
And then he even tries to deny it here and AFTER that, in a desperate attempt to not completely lose his face, half-admits it cuz anyone knows that he indeed must have been it anyway.
Well, sorry but it failed. You are exposed as the pathetic joke of a person you truly are.
Lol. I was on F15′s TS3 server anyway, chatting with other people. I dropped a line or two to tyra every now and then and sent a few empty pokes his way, just to make the tears flow and have a good laugh.
PS: Learn to read. I never denied it.
Never argue with a ginger, their touch is poisonous and they have no soul.
I like to find many of my tricks to be here :) though I never had a guide, I think this is useful for those curious about arty. Though in the picture with the predicted hit areas I’d say there certainly are situations you want to aim directly in the tomato area, since aiming behind makes the shell reach the predicted spot in a higher coordinate it is bad for example shooting an IS-3 that is low as hell, many of my shots have passed above them, I have also one shotted many scouts by aiming the tomato area since they are quite certain penentration anyway. You’d be suprised how many scouts compliment me for one shotting them on the move like that.
These are just general guidelines. I would still aim behind low tanks such as an E25 but not as far as shown in the picture. You have to adjust to the target.
As for kills while aiming in the tomato area. It can happen, it’s just that the other areas have highrer probability of it happening.
“fighting mobile vehicles, which is what I do most of the time”
Arty prevents camping, hurr durr.
As much as you talk about “arty-aware” players being safe, it is clear from your guide that the only thing keeping a player from dying to arty instantly is camping hard.
Aside from that, I’ll repeat what I said earlier: this guide is just basic stuff anyone should realize on their own in 10 battles or less. Which speaks volumes about arty players…
inb4 the mad artytards
“fighting mobile vehicles, which is what I do most of the time”
Have you ever thought why they are moving? I assure you they move much less when there is no arty. I just had a game on Mines where a yellow T28 players carried with 6k damage while camping 1 spot at the camping balcony. He was happy to draw it and there is not much you can do about him when in a heavy.
If you can’t beat camping T28 then you’re shitty player.
“Have you ever thought why they are moving?”
Perhaps they understand that battle between tanks is almost always decided by their positioning. Too bad that arty forces everyone into handful of positions which offer at least some degree of cover and leaving them equals to suicide.
As it is, camping hard is the only defence against arty.
And since we’re apparently using anecdotal evidence now…
Few days ago on Fisherman’s Bay half of enemy team camped in the north-west corner. If there was no arty it would be easy to come close, spot, surround and destroy them. Whenever someone tried it their arty nuked them. Arty was the cause of campers almost winning.
Arty does NOTHING against campers, as they either don’t get spotted or are in cover.
arty free mode = all problems solved
Trust me saxsan, when there is a battle without arties, and you have an IS7, T110E3, Maus and some other heavy tank camped and you cant get pass them, you would wish for an arty to scare them :)
CGC in the battle, I’m scared AND i know camp is useless x)
Flanking so hard.
I had lot of such games after 8.6. Never wanted arty to help me. Campers are dead meat anyway. l2p
oh jiblegs…you so fuuny
talkinjibberish
Author of this guide should make another one about how to aim in heavy without stopping and how to dodge in T95.
Also next up, how to bounce shots in an LT and how to sidehug enemies in a casemate TD.
Nah, how about goldspamming guide? I could do that.
May i know, what if you aim behind the tank, and overshoot the shell instead ?
Because i tend to overshoot like this ? :\
Then you aimed too far or got screwed by RNG. You have to take the tank size into account. So it would be just behind E25 and quite far behind Maus to hit the turret.
Nice guide. Thanks. I learned a lot.
Thanks, I am glad it was of some help.
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Awesome guides Tyraforce! :)
A lot of the points you mentioned about communication can be sped up with a config I wrote for Locastans Radial Menu Mod. It has the normal radial options when not aiming at anything, a custom usefull-for-every-tank menu when pressing ALT, and a host of custom made useful options when playing arty and aiming at an ally or enemy.
Being autistic I enjoy getting the most out of everything, but I am pretty bad at communicating large amounts of details to others, so my thread at the mods forums didn’t get much love.
I suggest you take a look at it, it can make a lot of difference in helping your team be aware of what you’re doing!
You can find it at: http://forum.worldoftanks.eu/index.php?/topic/403341-
When I first started using it a couple of players commented “finally someone with useful macro’s!” :).
edit: Also, my apology if I was talking too much when I sent you messages ingame. I tend to talk too much, and my heart was pounding just from the “Ok, I’m contacting someone I don’t know” part. :/
Thanks a lot for the input. I seems mentioning arty will never get you much love :-)
I will add the mod in when the guides goes to the forum.
You’re welcome :).
Either the arty part or the part where I say it’s a polite and useful radial mod. People don’t like polite stuff I guess.
LOL @ all the cry-hards in this post – “wah wah my vagina is full of sand and i don’t like arty”
Don’t like the game? Don’t play. Arty ain’t gettin’ removed, so either like it or lump it… but whatever you do, for the love of god, stfu about arty being imba. It’s the only leveling tool for the matchmaker…
“Don’t criticize terrible design, it’s supposed to be terrible!”
It’s actually good design from a game designers viewpoint. I’m not saying it’s perfect; it can be tweaked a bit, but the basic concept is sound.
There is a YouTube series called “Extra Credits” that talks about game design. A number of their vids are applicable to WOT but the closest is probably the one titled “Balancing for Skill”.
The basic premise is that it is an important part of a successful game to have a mechanism whereby a noob can (occasionally) kill a unicum. The example they used was an under slung grenade launcher in Call of Duty but it applies to Arty in WoT as well. The reason is to reduce the dominance of skill on win rate. The reason for that is to encourage noob players to stick with the game and play more. The reason for that is to give better players, and especially whales somebody to shoot at.
Look at it this way: if RNG was reduced or eliminated and arty was removed, skill would become the dominant aspect of the game. The only way to win would be by becoming better however, that could take hundreds of hours of practice and study. Considering Wargaming’s target market is casual players, it would be marketing death. Skill based MM would be necessary to help alleviate the situation but that has well known problems of its own.
So to recap, WoT needs ways to keep unicums in check. Arty is one of these ways. This is why unicums tend to hate arty. The fact that most haters of arty tend to be blue or better is, from Wargaming’s point of view, evidence that they are doing something right.
Good for keeping the terribads playing the game, sure. Many comments here serve as evidence of that.
Fucking terrible from gameplay perspective. The worst piece of design I’ve ever seen.
Well, purple players make up maybe 1% of the player base? While orange and red make up maybe 70%? If you were Wargaming, which group would you cater to?
The group that brings money.
But that changes exactly nothing about my point.
Arty is a good thing to have in the game, let’s face it, it kind of adds dynamicism to the general gameplay, as you always have to fear a big-caliber shell falling from the skies.
Right now, it is badly executed in the game though, having to cope with RNG way too much, so it’s a pain to play it. For both the giver and the receiver of the shell. More accuracy and less damage (and faster aimtime MAYBE) would indeed be the right thing to do.
Possibility of randomly dying and not being able to do anything about it is NOT A GOOD THING.
Arty is HARD yo…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tREmiSLPC94
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_qfVjqsU2Q
“By aiming at the tank itself, you usually aim at the turret as it is usually very hard to aim at the hull in the middle of the tank, which is what you really want to hit. ”
this is actually bullshit. tyraforce should learn the details of wargaming’s artillery mode height choice algorithm. in case you aim at the turret, the game WILL actually choose the trajectory hitting exactly the middle of the tank.
I am not aware of this and my testing does not support your claim. May I ask where you found this info?
Btw, even if true, aiming behind the tank is still supperior but it’s interesting.
I’m anti-artillery, but this childish slur of hate in the comments of these reviews need to end. If you can’t express your opinion politely, then don’t express it at all.
>ITT SS is ass-ruptured
I knew this was going to be posted.
3 guides on how to click with arty… Let me correct this one, another flamebait guide with mindless blabber on how to click with arty.
Guys, just use common sense and you can do damage, these guides are just typed up for ultra-noobs who have no clue how to use a mouse and keyboard at the same time, sry if this sounds harsh.
Once upon a time there was a great Tank Game called WoT, it has many type of vehicles and Maps, ammo and what not, it attracted lot of players from around the world and was very popular, players will slowly grind and enjoy and some of them even got to play the “End Content” those tier 10 tanks, but lo and behold the surprise that befallen them. all their tanks got smacked from the sky with no warning, all their planing and focus was of no help against those Sky Monsters, they quickly learned that playing a Tank in that level means that those Monsters will destroy it regardless of skill or merit, it was a devastating revelation and a lot of players decided to quite playing end-content tiers or just leave the game altogether.
The players warned their greedy monster players that they will eat and eat the herd will grow thin and go to other pastures, but they were greedy, they invented lot of smart arguments, they blamed the victims, their blindness was complete and so it was that WoT once a great and mighty game slowly contracted and was reduced in numbers until the Creators who sat aloft on their mountain of gold suddenly woke up from their dream and try to change the game to return the Balance but alas it was too late as other ventures more entertaining and vast became accessible and the spell of WoT was completely broken, the fields barren of players and all was left was dust.
This is actually a valid fear. One WG is keeping track of. However the increasing player base shows that the fear is currently unfounded. WG is all about tracking stats. That’s why the great arty nerf happened in the first place. In all likely hood, WG would take action long before the events you describe come to pass. I do agree that arty is particularly hard on good players (targeted by XVM) and top tiers, but I think that’s why WG introduced Team Battles and Stronghold modes. These are places for good players to go.
I found this image better describing what you’re saying…
Anyway, great guide, good to see most of the haters left :)
Thumbs up from me!
http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/2978/arty101.jpg
Oh look, another one dismissing criticism as the work of haters with no attempt to address the criticism.
Just the other day there was young and restless ep no 1k and something on tv. When i saw i instantly thought about tyra and his click the purple tutorial extended over too many pages. And dont say this is not the essence of it. Click the purple is what you preach in every single part of this tutorial. The other advices are just common sense that the skycancer is too oblivion to see.
So “click the purple” is not common sense?
Btw, the “who to target” scention has over a page. Read it agian and you will realize that there are 3 things to consider. Chance to hit is one of them, so if the purple guy plays it right, I would not recommend clicking him.
Simply put, “click the stupid purples”. There are many who pad WN8 by camping in whatever tank they are driving and those are very easy to hit. And they cry so much you woudn’t believe.
“pad WN8 by camping”
What.
“camping [...] are very easy to hit”
Double what.
Seriously, you’re not even trying.
Well, there are CERTAIN unicums who will camp the Redshire hill in a heavy and snipe whatever their team spots. Heavy line lost? No problem, more targets to snipe. Game lost? No problem, I have done my 4k dmg to keep my unicum stats.
Once spotted they make easy targets as their skill is not that high and they are not used to moving while being spotted.
So please explain how exactly you playing arty prevents them doing that.
Awesome job on all the three guides. They were a good read. :)
“2 days of truly “original” trolling at our own TS.”
Like.. a FTR TS? oor.. what kinda ts? is it public, if yes where can I find the IP?
F15 TS, I’m not connected to FTR in any way.
oh okay. and the TS is probably not public or anything huh?
no it is not.
When you question someone’s opinion, you are questioning what they believe.
(a bit like questioning their religion, it will never end well.)
Personally, i think the mistake WG made was the introduction of Tier 9 and 10 artillery.
They are powerful enough to damage tier 11 and 12 vehicles, which unfortunately don’t exist in the game (yet).
Artillery guns are usually as powerful as a Tank Destroyer that’s 2 tiers higher (e.g. a tier 4 SPG has a gun with a similar damage capability as that of a tier 6 TD. Tier 6 SPG gun roughly equal to tier 8 TD, etc.)
If it were possible, i’d suggest a cap of tier 8 SPG and a cap of 2 SPG per team.
I can somewhat understand the hate.
The costs involved in high tier games make things like premium accounts almost mandatory.
Meaning people pretty much have to invest more than just time in order to “remain competitive”.
In fact, anything higher than tier 5-6 and losses start to get expensive.
Add the performance pressure from clan requirements (like stats) into the equation and you get people that are much more serious than others and, consequently, much more intolerant than the “play-for-fun”-casual gamers that are mainly found in random matches, who are happy just playing the game.
One other thing.
You can’t complain about the number of “tomatoes” who appear to prioritise targets based on their colour.
If you know they are doing it, it’s because they have XVM installed too and are using it the same way you do.
Let’s not be hypocritical, eh?
the arty that is at tier 10 now was at tier 8 before. and they were nerfed severely. there was no introduction of more powerful arty
There have been a LOT more arties in the last few weeks. I suspect these articles, and the Battle Assistant mode are to “blame.” I agree … “G” mode doesn’t give me anything I can’t figure out for myself, and has some movement glitches. BUT, a couple of less experienced arty players I platoon with feel it has dramatically improved their games. And, from a player’s point of view, it’s a more satisfying viewpoint. It’s just more fun to see the tanks that way.
As to complainers, I have a few thoughts. Good players have to “stick their necks out” in order to do the damage, and certain tanks just can’t dodge in time (Maus, KV4 etc.), so they are more susceptible to getting splattered. Between having to take the risks, and arty players with XVM concentrating on them, they can get a bit of a persecution complex.
I agree that it’s always harder to hit an excellent player. The move between shots, they bob and weave, they don’t just sit there. They pre-aim, pop out and get back into cover, fast. They know the safer spots. Most of the time, it’s a waste of time trying to kill them, unless they’re in really slow tanks.
Lastly, I think server reticule is an absolute must. I’ve seen it take from 1/2 second to 3! seconds to fully compress after the player reticule has settled. Also, it’s VITAL when using direct fire against fast-moving opponents. If you just barely get the aiming circle onto the target, chances are the real aim point isn’t there yet.
I just (re)watched “Extra Credits Design Club – The Blue Shell – Why Mario Kart’s Most Hated Item Exists?” ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFfga8-3SZI ) on youtube and it reminded me of the arty in wot – arty is the blue shell to unicums. Does it make the game better overall?
Arty is the blue shell although the comparison isn’t exact; the blue shell is dynamically granted during a game while Arty must be chosen before a game. But the effect is similar. Arty keeps the top players on their toes and not complacent because at any moment a 203mm equalizer could arrive to ruin their day.
I recommend other vids in the series. Specifically “Balancing for Skill” and “Counter play”. “Perfect Imbalance” is also good.
Let me give you a (non screaming) unicum’s point of view about artillery:
Let me start out by saying this; Artillery is here to stay. WG has repeatedly stated they aren’t removing it, so there is ABSOLUTELY no use in continuing to cry about it. Additionally, all these personal attacks on Tyras/SS/whoever plays arty are honestly pathetic. Keep in mind this is a video game, and frankly I’m getting sick and tired of the pointed, vicious verbal attacks I’m seeing here, on forums, and in game. Grow the fuck up.
Now on to the main point: I would like to inform you all what artillery in this game is like for unicums, and how it affects our play. Tyras, you stated above that an arty-aware unicum is a very difficult target to hit. Depending on the map and tank in question, I would agree. I also agree with you stating that trying to knock out said unicum does indeed improve your team’s chances of winning. It’s a piss-poor way to go about balancing out skill between players, as it relies on a little effort counteracting a lot of effort, but it’s the WoT world we live in.
The main issue I see here is a lack of clarification about WHY we unicums hate arty. It’s not the issue of massive dmg/possibility of one shot. I can probably count on both hands the amount of times I’ve been one-banged by a clicker. What most of the player base doesn’t seem to understand (and probably doesn’t experience) is the FREQUENCY of the clicking WE experience. The average player can’t really comprehend how aggravating this is, game after game being deliberately targeted because of what colour you are, by players against which your only defense is to run and hide. It’s a compounding frustration that builds up the longer we play, until eventually we explode in chat rage at the latest arty player to splash us for half our health while we are just trying to play the game. Don’t you guys see how frustrating this can be? To be actively hunted game after game because of stats? The purpose of this game is FUN (as you all keep telling us unicums after we sperg out), can’t you see that this kind of gameplay mechanic is literally robbing us of enjoying ourselves?
I don’t like getting pissed off at artillery and those who play it; it doesn’t help improve my state of mind, my tank is still a smoking wreck. I know raging isn’t going to make artillery disappear. I just ask that you take what I said into consideration before launching into tirades against unicums being butthurt. I’m not making an excuse for some of the vehement insults I’ve seen posted by purples, I want you all to understand where the rage is coming from.
A simple solution would be to remove the stats. Or allow the players to only see their own stats. Or give the players the opportunity to hide their stats in their profile privacy settings.
Even simpler would be to ban XVM.
Hey ser_g,
I agree with about everything you said. With over 2k WN8 I’m the top target in most of my games and it’s imho not much different from having 3k. Arty represent only 10% of my games so I DO KNOW what you’re talking about. Also I do not promote arty and I don’t think it’s the best thing WG ever invented.
Now, I still believe that arty WN8 targeting (while certainly not fair) improves the game for everybody. I had several games in my T29 where I ended up killing 8-10 enemies and I knew I would be able to do it as there was no arty and all the top tanks were tomatos. You just go cover to cover, abuse the turret and the fact the tomatos don’t know where to shoot. Arty makes such games much harder, which I find more enjoyable and it certainly gives the other team a chance.
I used to play chess and when there were only much inferior players at the training the instructor would have me play against two of them at the same time or shorten my turn time. At first I found it very unfair and raged when I lost but in time I realized it’s more fun than raping a guy who has no chance over and over. In wot I’m looking for fair games and hate raping tomato clans in strongholds and lower tiers.
It’s not that I find XVM targeting unfair (I understand why ppl do it), its the constant repetition of “target all guns upon yonder unicum!” that wears away at my sanity. I agree with Adam, if XVM went away, we’d have less color-coded clicking, which imo would make artillery players focus more on tank type, which is what wins games (i.e. not chasing the unicum 13 90 zipping around and instead shooting the 1200 WN8 T110E3 juggernauting your team to pieces on a flank).
Thanks for your input. It’s a POV I hadn’t considered before. Although even as a Yellow, I’m used to being targeted as well because I tend to play slow heavies and TDs.
Thanks Tyra! I enjoy playing arty, and i hope this will help me approve my play. Thanks again
I sure approve :-]
As for improve, come join me for a few platoon games…
“Dont shoot unicums if you want to at least do some dmg with the arty and help ur team.”
This should be on the guide.
Almost everytime i see enemy arty is focusing me, i know its a free victory for my team, because enemy kurwa XVM arty player wont help their team for shit because he is wasting all his shots on me and will miss them all.
Focus unicums and ur winrate will continue approaching 0%.
It kinda is there but it really depends on the unicum in question. Some ofthe unicum campers don’t know how to avoid arty and some get greedy.
Hey, we aren’t all campers. It’s the aggressive one’s who know, sooner or later, one of you clickers are gonna get lucky, no matter how much we duck, dive dodge and…dodge. Goes back to what I said about little effort counteracting a lot of effort. Unicum tries every trick in the book to avoid getting hit, arty player points, clicks, hits. I’ve played my fair share of arty to know that happens more often than some care to admit.
I know most are not campers but there are many WN8 padders that just do anything to get that dmg/battle up and those make easy targets.
I do not advocate WN8 hunt and personaly don’t take chancy shots at arty-aware players whatever their wn8.
What I find more annoying are suiciders who waste a full HP tank to finish that purple scout.
I agree with you but I believe that WG is planning on that to happen. They don’t want skill to become the only determinant of victory in the game. They want a large helping of luck, be it in the form of MM, RNG or arty, to keep the game unpredictable. Remember, their target market is casual players, not unicums.
hi guys, i found this good info about GUN ARCS with DIAGRAMS/GRAPHS, and i think it could be helpfull…check it out:
http://forum.worldoftanks.eu/index.php?/topic/270860-post-086-shell-trajectories-of-high-tier-arty/
Posted by Xensation, apparently before the lobotomy. :) (joke)
Glad that comments haven’t been locked yet. Even as a somewhat experienced arty player, (yes you arty haters… your bitter tears taste so sweet to me) I still really appreciate this guide. Even though I already have a M53/M55, I still learned a couple of things here. Like I said, glad that the comments aren’t locked yet so I could thank you guys for the guide. :)
Best one so far. Nice work.
as ever.. SUPERB guide!! Thankyou.
Tyra, thank you for this great guide. It is really useful.
To all these arty haters I have 2 things to ask and 1 thing to say:
1. Image how many camping will be if there is no arty. Even unicum players would camp more. Ask yourself how do u play with arty and how much your playstyle is diffrent when there is no arty.
2. U say that arties are “clickers”. I just want to know how do u shoot? By clicking (click=shot) or using your supreme intellectual powers?
3. Destroying arty haters is maybe the most satisfing thing you could expirience by playing arty! Thank you, arty haters, thank you for playing tanks and thank you for your hate! Cant wait to see you on the ground and will do anything I can to send you to garage as soon as possible!
1. There would be less camping. As it is now the only defence against arty is camping. It’s removal would allow much more free movement on the map. Good players would utilize that to their advantage. And this actually happens in battles with no arty! Almost no camping!
2. All other classes have to actually move around the map, utilizing their knowledge of maps and tanks in the battle. Arty clicks once or twice a minute, and that is all it does.
3. This point just illustrates that you are a dick getting his entertainment from abusing broken design because you are incapable of actually playing the game properly. Instead of addressing the issues I’ve raised countless of times you call me a hater.
1. a better defence against arty is… …(drumroll)… …movement.
static, campy games happen with or without arty. the huge view ranges in higher tier games makes any movement risky. you get spotted, you get shot at.
2. no they don’t. it’s a player choice, not a tank characteristic. if you want to camp in a heavy, you can. if you want to go TD-mode in your arty and shotgun the enemy, you can.
and some heavies were designed to be “campers” – i prefer the term “snipers”, myself – such as the Tiger 1.
3. whether arty is, as you say, a broken design is spectacularly irrelevant.
you are confusing opinion with fact.
your turn.
1. When almost everyone camps the only available targets are those who are moving. Which leads to arty doing nothing to campers and punishing movement.
2. Camping tanks/TDs are not very effective unless enemies drive like lemmings in front of them.
3. It’s not irrelevant, it’s the entire point. It’s the class that requires the least effort to play by far, offers the highest firepower, can hit its target across the entire map regardless of nearly all obstacles, allows no counter-play AND all of that while being in nigh absolute safety.
How can you justify this not being broken?
Anything that shoots you when you cannot see it allows no counter-play, either.
(like a “camping” TD in a bush)
But because YOU don’t think it’s a valid tactic, because YOU seem to think that all tanks should fight toe-to-toe, you see anyone that prefers to engage a target from range as a coward.
YOU may thrive on the adrenaline of brawling and see ranged attacks as interfering with your style of play.
That’s a shame, because that’s exactly what they are designed to do, force you into doing things you don’t want to do, disrupting your ability to fight effectively.
If an arty/TD/anything else makes you uncomfortable, it’s doing it’s job.
Nothing on the enemy team is ever going to be there for your benefit.
But just because YOU think arty is “unfair” or “broken” it doesn’t mean that everybody should.
“Anything that shoots you when you cannot see it allows no counter-play, either.
(like a “camping” TD in a bush)”
Except said TD is far more limited by range and line of sight, meaning there actually are safe positions and ways to attack it.
Good job dismissing everything I said with absolutely no counter-argument.
Minor point. Arty allows counter play in a number of ways. Counterbattery fire, killing scouts, scouting the arty, timing reloads etc are only some of the ways. However, most methods require teamwork. This is a positive feature that arty promotes.
“Arty allows counter play in a number of ways.”
Ok, let’s see.
“Counterbattery fire”
Only another arty can do that and nobody does it anyway.
“killing scouts”
If by “scouts” you mean “the whole enemy team”.
“scouting the arty”
Only after you get through the whole enemy team.
“timing reloads”
Nearly impossible when there are two or more arties.
Yeah, so many obvious ways that you fail to present a single valid one.
“However, most methods require teamwork. This is a positive feature that arty promotes.”
I don’t see how or why.
Most of the arty hate is from “good” players, isn’t it?
Players who are quite ready to sacrifice any idea of teamwork in their hunt for better stats.
All of the counter play is possible, you are just unprepared to do any of them because you want to brawl to improve your WN8, W/R or whatever other stat you wish to pad.
Some people like being in a purely support role, trying to keep you alive by wearing down/killing the enemy, removing obstacles from your path (or at least making the enemy uncomfortable enough to think about leaving that spot) and generally trying to help the team win.
Your problem seems to be that it’s only enemy arty that really upsets you. Allied arty is just never there when you want it to be either, so you dismiss all of it as a class.
You hate it because it forces you to play more cautiously than you want to. It “spoils your fun”.
Newsflash: All the enemy tanks are out to get you, any one of which – be they “tomato” or “unicum” – is trying to spoil your fun.
You see arty as some sort of problem because it’s doing what it’s supposed to, making you think more about what you’re doing and slowing your progress.
Plus, it’s bloody difficult to keep the old stats up if you play arty, miss frequently and rely on your team to protect you.
Artillery is a “glass cannon”. It might have a huge gun but it can’t defend itself. All you have to do is get close enough and it’s an easy kill.
Getting close is the hard part.
Why not consider the presence of arty in a game as a “hard mode” rather than arty-free being “easy mode” (for good players).
Or is that just too challenging for you?
1) Would there? You don’t realize how many people would drive E3s and such, park them in key spots and stay there like it’s tier 1 Malinovka? There is a huge difference between palying a game without arty now and removing it completely. Right now, most people assume there would be arty when picking tanks and most don’t realize it when there is none. Heavies will fight on top of Malinovka no matter how many arties there are. Just imagine a team camping southern Swamp base with 2 E3 at F1 and some hulldown IS7 at D1. Righ now nobody camps at D1 so you can cross the river easily and push towards F1. I assure you that spot would be occupied at all times and Swamp would get from a campy map to a locked map.
2) Really? How about the TDs who never leave base and “carry” the game with amazing dmg. Think of Swamp, Mines and South Coast basecamps. Shooting stuff from a bush in base takes much less skill than playing arty. Also, good arty drivers relocate. I think I drive more km in my arty than some heavies.
Here is 14k dmg game with the guy not even leaving base: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUb2AIWb0WE
“All other classes have to actually move around the map utilizing their knowledge of maps…” Ya, sure.
3) I do not troll my targets but if somebody starts the game with “fuck you arty” it gets him higher on my to-kill list.
1) E3s are very easy to outmaneuver.
“Heavies will fight on top of Malinovka no matter how many arties there are.”
Because it’s a very important position that allows you to control a significant part of the map. What else are they supposed to do? Camp whole battle in base or forest?
“Just imagine a team camping southern Swamp base with 2 E3 at F1 and some hulldown IS7 at D1.”
Very easy to surround and destroy them. If there was arty, it would massacre the attacking forces, likely without the campers even getting spotted.
“Righ now nobody camps at D1 so you can cross the river easily and push towards F1″
And if you get spotted trying this, arty kills you.
2) “Shooting stuff from a bush in base takes much less skill than playing arty.”
No. While both are “press shift -> click on red tanks”, non-arty is far more limited by drawing range and line of sight. Also: if they camp in bushes/cover behind everyone else, even if there is arty they are safe from it.
“I think I drive more km in my arty than some heavies.”
I don’t believe that. And even if it is true, it just means you’re doing it very wrong.
“Here is 14k dmg game with the guy not even leaving base”
Camping far behind everyone else in arty-safe position. Arty would have very little effect on him.
“Ya, sure.”
If they want to be successful, then yes.
-”Malinovka hill = very important position” = LOL (not any more, dude)
-”E3s are very easy to outmaneuver.” Yes but not when you need to cross a killzone
to get to them.
-”Very easy to surround and destroy them.” Feel free to get a few QSF guys together in a training room and I’ll gladly show you what I mean.
-Nobody camps D1 cuz it’s open to arty. If you do so, scouts will spot you and it’s over.
-”While both are “press shift -> click on red tanks”, non-arty is far more limited by drawing range and line of sight.” Exactly, yet those guys still camp base and get damage impossible for arty to get. Hitting stuff in a camping TD is far easier due to accuracy and short shell travel time.
“I don’t believe that (you drive more km than some heavies). And even if it is true, it just means you’re doing it very wrong.” Says a guy with a smurf account with 0 games in SPGs played? Well thanks for the advice.
“”Malinovka hill = very important position” = LOL (not any more, dude)”
Explain. As I said, it gives control over a significant potion of the map. The field is usually just a shooting range, tanks in the village are extremely vulnerable to tanks on the hill, camping in the forest is bad because of nearly no cover.
“”E3s are very easy to outmaneuver.” Yes but not when you need to cross a killzone to get to them.”
Outmaneuver =/= charge them frontally. If they focus on one access route then they are open from another side, if they don’t then they’ll fall one by one.
“Nobody camps D1 cuz it’s open to arty. If you do so, scouts will spot you and it’s over.”
Instead they camp in arty-safe position.
“Exactly, yet those guys still camp base and get damage impossible for arty to get. Hitting stuff in a camping TD is far easier due to accuracy and short shell travel time.”
Only if enemies drive like lemmings in front of you.
“Says a guy with a smurf account with 0 games in SPGs played?”
So you’ve checked my stats. Have you noticed this: “Account created: 12.04.2011″? This date was the game launch. This is my main account. I’ve had few hundreds of arty games in beta and many more on test servers.
Good job ignoring all the other points I made, btw.
The hill of Malinovka is indeed almost useless now. Nobody goes to the field in tier 10 games and sniping from the hill is very rare as you need to expose your lower plate and the bushes are not great. There is perfect cover on both sides of the hill where you can go hulldown and shoot anything coming down while remaining unspoted. Ask roasted or kovson or whoever’s FC now. I’m sure they’ll be happy to explain Malinovka to you.
You can sure outmaneuver E3s but not when they lock the map, which is well possible without arty.
“Instead they camp in arty-safe position.” Exactly. Which allows you to take D1 and root out the F1 campers.
“Only if enemies drive like lemmings in front of you.” So you want to tell me hitting a moving enemy is easier in arty than in a TD? They stop in front of you as they don’t see you – same as arty.
I’m sure SPG experience from beta is very helpful nowadays, lol. I mean, why would you tell sb. how to drive or not to drive arty when you don’t even play it. Should I believe you have 10k games in 4 years, less than 100CWs but you have vast SPG experience from the test server? Get real pls.
So the way to win on Malinovka is camping in the forest? No. And answer this: if they indeed camp in the forest and destroy anything that comes at them while remaining unspotted, what can arty do against them?
E3s can’t lock the map. Just no.
Except the attackers get killed by arty…
Camping TD is effective only in that specific situation. Arty is effective always because it can lob shells across the whole map.
The design and gameplay of arty didn’t change at all, so my observations are entirely relevant. And I’m not telling you how to play arty (it’s nothing more than pressing two buttons after all), but if with heavy tanks you’re moving less than with arty, you’re a camper of ridiculous proportions, making your anti-camping statements that more ironic.
Also, I wonder if you realize the irony of your anti-camping and pro-arty rhetoric, when ARTY IS THE ULTIMATE LEVEL OF CAMPING.
Arty is the ultimate camping as well as the ultimate anti-camping tool at the same time. It makes perfect sence.
Seriously, what you claim here is Chris-chan level of stupid.
I don’t expect somebody who considers the Malinovka hill to be important to undersand the game machanics. I did try to explain it. Some people get it, some don’t. You’ll have to live with it.
You say the hill isn’t important but camping beneath it is… Yeah, I’m not the one who doesn’t get it.
And in all these posts you still haven’t answered this question: if players camp and are in cover or not spotted, what can arty do against them? My answer: nothing, instead their arty will just kill any attackers. What is your answer?
“You say the hill isn’t important but camping beneath it is.”
Yup, that’s what I say and what any experienced player will say. I’m not saying the hill is completely useless but the advantage of holding it is insignificant now.
“If players camp and are in cover or not spotted, what can arty do against them?”
Arty can splash them or relocate and shoot around cover. If they are not spotted, scouts can light them up – that’s what they are for. The problem of no arty is that some tanks wouldn’t care if they are spotted or have cover so the amount of camping locations would increase as would camping tanks and the overall amount of camping.
“Except the attackers get killed by arty…”
Not really as most arties don’t have a shot in that area and few are smart enough to relocate.
“E3s can’t lock the map. Just no.” Play some more Clanwars against yellow clans on Mountain Pass or get those QSF guys together and send me a training room invite. Most maps are easy to lock when there is no arty so I’ll even let you pick.
“Arty is effective always because it can lob shells across the whole map.” Play some arty before you make such ridiculous statements. City maps aside, when enemies know how to avoid arty you generally have a very bad game even on open maps.
“The design and gameplay of arty didn’t change at all (since 2011)”. Man, I don’t even know what to say here. Are you on drugs? Amnesia? The way arty got nerfed and rebalanced is way beyond any other WOT change. The accuracy changed, the amount of people driving arty changed, the maps changed, the individual SPGs changed, the mods changed, the way people play maps changed.
“If with heavy tanks you’re moving less than with arty, you’re a camper of ridiculous proportions”
…or a good arty player.
“it’s nothing more than pressing two buttons after all”
More wise words from the “0 games played” arty expert. Thank you for the enlightment.
“making your anti-camping statements that more ironic.” What statements? Camping and SPGs are both parts of the game and keep it balanced. I’m not saying one is bad and one is good. Too much camping is as bad as too much arty.
“Yup, that’s what I say and what any experienced player will say.”
I’ve have never seen any good player say that camping wins battles. Usually it’s the 45% scrubs who think that.
“scouts can light them up – that’s what they are for.”
They get killed by arty. Now what?
“Arty can splash them or relocate and shoot around cover”
“Not really as most arties don’t have a shot in that area and few are smart enough to relocate.”
Congratulations! You have managed to completely invalidate your previous point!
“Play some more Clanwars against yellow clans on Mountain Pass or get those QSF guys together and send me a training room invite. Most maps are easy to lock when there is no arty so I’ll even let you pick.”
Why the fuck do you even drag CW or my clan into this? Stop moving the goalpost!
“Play some arty before you make such ridiculous statements. City maps aside, when enemies know how to avoid arty you generally have a very bad game even on open maps.”
That is the entire point of arty in this game! As I said, I played arty. This was my experience and you have not given a single reason for me to think otherwise. And even from your own posts it is clear the only way to defend oneself against arty is camping…
“The way arty got nerfed and rebalanced is way beyond any other WOT change”
Getting battle tier lowered by 2, keeping their guns, lowered rate of fire, increased accuracy… THAT’S NOT A FUCKING NERF!
“The accuracy changed”
Buffed.
“the amount of people driving arty changed”
Dropped sharply for a while (because whining arty scrubs can’t recognize a buff even when it hit them in the face), after few months back to previous levels.
“the maps changed”
Mostly adding cover against arty to prevent everyone from dying instantly…
“the individual SPGs changed”
Little bit of changed numbers here and there, no change in the design itself.
“the mods changed”
Assault and Encounter? You can disable them. Even if you don’t the gameplay for arty stays the same and the normal battles are still there.
“the way people play maps changed”
Yeah, some of the added cover opened more positions where they don’t die to arty instantly.
NOTHING changed about their design!
“…or a good arty player.”
Not only is this a contradiction, it still stays horribly stupid.
“More wise words from the “0 games played” arty expert. Thank you for the enlightment.”
As I said, I played arty. And really, your so-called “guide” very much confirms that.
” What statements?”
As you said, with a heavy tank you move less than with arty. Which means you camp. And yet you say arty prevents camping. Obviously it doesn’t when you camp so much.
Honestly, I don’t like the hill on Malinovka. A lot of times I went up there, because it’s a tempting position, but going up there is like putting a ginormous “Shoot me!” sign on your tank. Everybody and their mothers will spot you, if there is arty in the game, you will be dodging a rain of shells, and if you accidentally go too far out, the TDs in the top right corner of the map will tear you apart.
I much prefer going along the tracks from the left side, then advance into the village if possible, or hang out a bit at the base of the hill (when spawned south), there are some good positions there. But I’m just an orange tomato, so my word is just my word. You both are waaaay better players than I am, no sarcasm intended.
I never, ever had problems with arty, sometimes it’s infuriating that you go with 200 km/h and they one-shot you, but this is life. I do know that they aren’t focusing on me since I’m on the bottom of the rainbow. I also know that it’s most probably very annoying that you get clicked on 10 times as much because of your color, but to that I always said: ban XVM, problem solved.
Not for nothing, Emu, but you really are cherrypicking and taking words out of context… just a few examples:
“I’ve have never seen any good player say that camping wins battles.”
Tyra didn’t say that either. He reacted to your comment which was:
“You say the hill isn’t important but camping beneath it is.””
That doesn’t mean that the pros say “camping wins battles”. It means, on that exact map, it is a better option to get into a good position under the mountain, than get yourself outlined on top of it.
“Congratulations! You have managed to completely invalidate your previous point!”
Congratulations! You managed to take out two completely different sentences relating to two completely different spots on the same map and put them against each other.
“Why the fuck do you even drag CW or my clan into this? Stop moving the goalpost!”
Maybe because he is actually offering you to show you what he means, instead of just raging and (s)word-fighting about it over the internet. I’d say he’s being very correct and I’d definitely take him up on his offer. You know, “a picture is worth a thousand words” and all that jazz.
“As you said, with a heavy tank you move less than with arty.”
He said that, and he also said: “Also, good arty drivers relocate. I think I drive more km in my arty than some heavies.”
Which means, bad arty drivers just stay in one spot and click every 30 seconds, good ones move with their teams, relocate after each (or at least a couple) shots, move when they can’t get a good shot on a tank behind cover, get in TD mode when needed, etc. I don’t know which part of this is hard to comprehend. You say that arty doesn’t move, but that’s obviously the bad tomato player, so I don’t understand why can’t you accept that people who want to be effective, move. In every tank.
I really don’t have patience for this, Emu. Arguing with a person who thinks arties didn’t get nerfed over the years is pointless as much as it is funny.
Just for the record, I never said that camping wins games, I did not promote camping or arty or whatever else. I also do not camp in my heavies. I just reposition in my arty A LOT. Is it so hard to understand? You pretend to check the logics of my arguments while lacking basic understanding of my premises.
So please, keep padding your low tiers, stay away from tier 10, where you suck really hard and for god’s sake don’t pretend to know something about arty untill you get at least your first tier 10 SPG.
Adam, nearly all of your post qualifies as moving the goalpost. The exception is this bit: “I think I drive more km in my arty than some heavies.”, where I admit I might have misunderstood it as “I think I drive more km in my arty than some of my heavies” instead of “I think I drive more km in my arty than some other players in heavies”. I apologize if that’s the case.
“Arguing with a person who thinks arties didn’t get nerfed over the years is pointless as much as it is funny.”
I explained why they were not. You outright refuse to give explanation why I’m wrong…
“You pretend to check the logics of my arguments while lacking basic understanding of my premises.”
I look at your arguments, think about them, and if I come to conclusion that they are wrong I explain why I think that. Contrary to that, you didn’t give a single explanation why you think I’m wrong.
” I did not promote [...] arty”
This whole “guide” proves you wrong.
“keep padding your low tiers”
Tiers 7 and 8 are “low” now?
“tier 10, where you suck really hard”
Trust me, I am aware of that. You know what kills me most there? Arty. Because I refuse to camp for 15 minutes.
“and for god’s sake don’t pretend to know something about arty untill you get at least your first tier 10 SPG.”
This qualifies as both refusing to explain anything AND moving the goalpost. Good job!
Really, this is my fault. I shouldn’t have expected a reasonable discussion from someone who thinks arty is a good thing, not even when he writes a guide about it. ESPECIALLY when he writes a guide about it.
I’m not moving anything, Emu.
Bottom line is, Tyra offered multiple times to show you the things you guys are arguing about here on training maps. You should just take that offer and go with it. You’ll either learn something that might change your viewpoint a bit, or you surprise Tyra and he’ll be forced to change his viewpoint a bit. That would be the end of the discussion.
He also suggested you ask people in your own clan, which isn’t really that hard to do. Results would be the same as above.
I was in QSF and I know the people who actually play CW (unlike you) know how the Malinovka hill changed. Ask Roasted. i remember him commanding Malinovka a few times. Btw, Adam summed it up nicely, thx.
I explained why I think it’s an important position and asked you to explain why you think it isn’t. You didn’t give any valid argument.
That sums it up nicely.
Ok, here we go. Mount Malinovka.
To be able to snipe from the hill you need control of the whole hill. To get that control, you have to engage a heavy force with very little arty cover, which makes it pretty anoying for good players. Now, what can you snipe? You can shoot stuff in the village where no decent players ever goes. you can shoot the church area and the similar area on the other side. However, you will be engaging hulldown targets in thick bushes and trees while having very limited cover yourself. It is doable IF somebody is spotting for you but the sniping is not really great. Now, most teams who win the hill tend to go down the hill, where they are on an open ramp with little cover and get decimated by TDs camping in the trees.
I love the hill on Tundra, which actually gives you amazing sniping opportunities but after the changes to Malinovka, I don’t think the hill is worth the efffort.
That’s all you’ll get from me Emu. Take care.
Thank you very much, that’s what I wanted.
Although it again opens the issue of attackers getting clobbered by arty while the campers are safe…
It’s a good guide. I read these in case there is something new I don’t know yet. There hasn’t been. Some minor points I disagree on, but most is solid.
I have written guides for my clans before, and I cover topics not covered here. I won’t share the info with the general public though. I have no wish to make strangers better SPG players. :p
Surprised you got a Kolobanov’s on an arty. I thought I was the only one (mine was a gimmick on my S-51 though). Must have been the GW panther sidescraping, yeah? It also reloads pretty quickly. ;)
I don’t understand the sentences, “When you are the last player on your team some players will hug you to prevent a win. Loading AP in these situations is generally a good idea but will get you reported for cheating.”
That paragraph is conceptually muddled. Are you saying they hug you as opposed to shooting? Is it supposed to be odd that they want to prevent a win? If you’re tossing in some levity or humor with the “cheating” comment, it’s out of the blue and reads awkwardly. :(
I use communication a LOT late game. Only tonight (30-12-2014) I noticed people actually paying attention. I helped pull out a win in my M12 on airfield with 6 kills only because the team was finally communicating. I figure that you’re responsible, so I thank you for that.
I just wish that I could change the “Negative” to say “No Shot”. I tried a mod for chat commands before, but it was a pain in the ass so I ditched it.
I’ll make one last point. Unicums are difficult targets to hit. Tomatoes are easy.
Did you all get that? Once again: Some players are “arty aware” and harder to hit than others.
So if you get hit by arty a lot, it’s because you’re… well, I’ll let you figure out which type of player you are. XD