Premium tank shopping guide: IS-6

The IS-6 is a tier 8 soviet premium tank. This is a formidable tank on the battlefield, with its 390 average damage, 9 second reload gun and its iconic sloped armor is nothing to laugh about, but suffers from its low penetration gun poor aim time and poor accuracy. It can only train 4 crew members sorry you can’t train your IS-7 crew here efficiently.

When playing the IS-6 tank there are somethings you should remember, one this tank has slow aim time , poor accuracy and low penetration, thus making this tank bad for sniping. You should go in up and personal brawl with enemy tanks this negates its weaker aspect aim for weak spots and the leading rollers of tracks to disable enemy tanks and ensuring a penetration and damage.

Do not be over confident in this tank always watch your flanks, angle your armor, and never show your sides. In brawls I usually use the side scrapping tactic to bounce off shots then return fire while enemy tanks are reloading.You can also hulldown, but the turret armor of the IS6 isn’t that great, plus the hatch can easy be penetrated even from a distance.

Always bring premium ammo for emergencies you’ll never know when you have to kill that pesky E-75(never try to shoot the E-75 and VK on its front lower glacis, better go the the sides or rear for a higher chance of penetration) Credit earning for this tank, on a good game 80-100k and on bad games 40-60k.Match making on this tank is tier 8 ad tier 9.

Overall this is a good ad solid tank but its price is too high and lacks the capability to train Tier 10 crews efficiently. Its matchmaking makes this tank a good choice.But if your on a budget and just needs a premium tank for credit grinds go for the KV-5 or better yet the Super Pershing.

Pros:

• Thin armor but incredible slope on all sides
• Mobile for a heavy tank
• High credit earning
• Solid turret
• High Alpha

Cons:

• Low penetration
• Low ammo capacity
• Expensive ammo
• Prone to gun damage
• Can only train 4 crew members( cant train IS7 crew here)
• Slow aim time
• Poor accuracy

Premium tank shopping guide: 8.8 cm PaK 43 Jagdtiger

PROS

• Amazing ROF (4.5sec reload)
• Fast aim time
• Accurate gun
• Good penetration
• Tier 9 chassis on a tier 8 tank
• Highest Credit potential
• Good armor

CONS:
• Slow Traverse speed (traverses like a brick in concrete)
• Low camouflage rating
• Burns like a boss even from frontal shots
• Slow
• Arty magnet

The JigTiger 8.8 is a tier 8 German Tank destroyer aka The Shredder. This tank excels in long rage engagements and support role. When playing this tank, asses the situation first ask yourself where are the best sniping spots? Can I get there in time? Where is the main force going? Do they need support? Do I defend a flank? Once you decided on your course of action your pretty much committed to that plan of action.

Snipe and support NEVER EVER BRAWL! Have front line tanks light up incoming tank and make short work on those tanks using your high ROF, don’t be shy to track tanks for arty or allies and once the tank is tracked by the JigTiger88 it is nearly impossible to get away, with the 4.5 second reload, you will permanently track the target. Avoid staying on a flank alone this tank is easily flanked due to its low traverse speed. Hide your lower glacis using rubble or terrain or even the wreckage of other tanks.

Credit income on this tank on a good game is around 80-110k on a bad game 60-80k. The JT88 is a fearsome tank on the battlefield but takes a skilled tanker to use it to its full potential. Highly recommended for German TD commanders.

That’s all for now commanders.. Feel free to share your knowledge on these tanks, don’t hesitate to pm me in forums/in game for any questions. I hope this guide helps you decide on what premium tank you’ll add to your garage.

World of Tanks basics: “The Crew”

Good day! Today we will be tackling the basics of crew skills and perks. I have seen countless of players, veterans and newbies struggling which perk or skill should i take and I keep hearing different interpretation of 1 skills/perk from different people. Now lets begin with the basics. Every tank in World of Tanks needs a crew to operate your steel monstrosity. Crew member has a Major Qualification, this is the role that they fullfil in the tank. Namely the: Commander, Gunner, Driver and Loader. Depending on the tank, some crew members has more than 1 major qualification(i.e The Russian IS4 Heavy Tank, the commander is also the radioman.) and some tanks has more than 1 crew member with a specific Major Qualification (i.e  the Pz.Kpfw. B2 740 (f) which has two radioman or the E100 which has 2 Loaders) Just like any vehicle in World of Tanks, the crew gains experience points every battle. Crew members accumulate experience  which increases their skill level and proficiency of their major qualification, which is represented as percentage. How the proficiency of crew members contribute to the overall combat effectiveness/performance of your tank. Commander:

• View Range.
• 11% bonus to all crew major qualifications.

Gunner:

• Aim Time
• Accuracy
• Turret Traverse

Diver:

• Maneuver in specific terrain
• Traverse speed
• Acceleration

Radio Operator:

• Radio Range

Loader:

• Reload time

If a crew member is knocked out, corresponding performance is reduced. Once a crew member reaches 100% proficiency, they are now able to learn “crew skills“. Crew skills can be used to further increase the performance of the tank.Some Crew skills/perks only available to certain kinds of crew.    Skills and Perks work differently. A skill take effect as soon as you start training your crew with it. While a perk only takes effect once it has reached 100%.

“The Effective Training Level of the Common Skills, (Repairs, Firefighting, and Camouflage) are averaged across all crew members. If more than one crew member in a vehicles have the same Common Skills, then the average of their Training Levels is used to determine their joint performance in the Common Skills. For example, for a vehicle with a crew of 4 and two of them are trained in Repairs, one to a level of 60% and one to a level of 100%, then the Effective Training Level for the Repairs Skill for the vehicle is (100+60+0+0)/4=40% and this value will apply in battle mechanics and vehicle perforance calculations.”

The crew skill and perks description in game is fairly accurate but lacks detail. Here is the list of skills per crew and in the words of WarGaming itself (cannot paraphrase the skills and perks, it will only lead to confusion):









Hope you’ve digested at least 70% of those skills and perks descriptions. Now for the “Recommended” crew skills and perks per tank class. The following are based from my (IGN: _Robin and my sister _Lust) personal experience  with over 34,000 battles, Pro gaming expirience and practically owning all tanks in game,except  for arty ( I have no future with SPGs) and the JPzE100 line (but Im working on it :P). The crew skills of Medium,Heavy and Tank Destroyers are almost identical, except in medium tanks you focus a bit more on vision and camouflage, earlier than the Heavy Tank. And as for the Tank Destroyers, it all depends on what you do with your TDs, I personally use them like a turretless Medium tank(except for the slow ones), so I prefer repairs over camouflage. But if you’re a classic TD player, camo skill is the way to go. First skills/perks:

• Sixth sense is a mandatory skill for any tank.
• REPAIRS on ALL crew members. I cannot stress how important this skill is. Take for example you got detracted its 5 seconds with full repair skills vs 12 seconds without repair (depends on the tank but this is the average repair time).

Second skill/perks:

• Repair on commander.
• Camouflage(Medium Tanks) for the rest of the crew
• What I do with my Heavies is, when my 2nd skill (doesn’t matter what) reaches 50% I drop all the skills and retrain my crew using just 10,000 credits with FULL Brothers in arms, giving me an instant 100% on perk.Then set the second skill Commander: Sixth sense. The rest: Repairs

Third skills/perk and beyond:

• Commander: you can train him with camouflage to complete the set(Medium Tanks)/Recon
• Commander: Repairs (Heavy Tank)/Jack of all trades
• Loader: Safe stowage/adrenaline rush/Intuition
• Driver: Clutch braking/smooth ride/off road driving —Controlled impact on E50M,Amx 50B and similar tanks are a must if you have the urge to ram other tanks!—
• Gunner: Snapshot/Deadeye/Armorer
• Radio Operator: Signal boosting/Signal boosting

For Light Tanks: 1st skill/perk:

• Commander: Sixth sense
• Camouflage for the rest of the crew.

2nd skill/perk

• Commander: Camouflage
• Gunner: Designated target
• Driver: Off-road driving
• Loader: Safe Stowage
• Radio Operator: Situational awareness(but in most light tanks the commander is also the radio operator)

3rd skills/perks and beyond.

• Commander: Recon
• Gunner: snap shot/deadeye
• Driver: smooth ride/clutch breaking
• Loader: Adrenaline rush/intuition
• Radio Operator: call for vengance/signal boosting/relaying (but in most light tanks the commander is also the radio operator)

Source of photos of skill descriptions: http://wiki.wargaming.net/en/index.php?title=Crew&oldid=221646.

Using KV-5 in Team Battles

The KV-5, a Soviet Tier 8 Premium Heavy Tank. One of the best credit earning tanks in the game but it is viable tank in 7/54 Team Battles? Yes.

This tank best deployed in city maps like as Kharkov and Himmelsdorf. Its armor layout, huge hit points and good damage per minute makes the KV-5 a viable choice. And due to its large profile the KV-5 can properly shield you from harm.

The 107mm ZiS-6 with 300 average damage and shoot 7 rounds per minute is great but you need to use the APCR rounds since its normal rounds has a abbysmal 167mm of penetration. With such a high rate of fire the KV5 is well suited for firing at an enemy’s tracks. You can expend the enemy’s repair kit and then perma-track them without them being able angle their hull or run away so you or your teammates can easily destroy them.

In a situation where both sides have the same number of tanks before a confrontation usually whoever shoots first wins. The KV-5s extra hitpoints are really important as it can take a shot from enemy tanks giving you the chance to attack.

The KV-5 is slow to accelerate and turning in it can be so frustrating. Although slower than the other tier 8 heavies it has a higher top speed for its size, so when you can, keep up your momentum. Moving at full speed the KV-5 is difficult to penetrate and if you are lucky maybe you can deliver painful ram damage against the enemy.

Your most prominent weak spot is the Radiomans turret, a massive weak spot that 90% of players will aim at. Most tanks can pen this so it is important to hide this from the enemy whenever you can.

Its turret turns slowly so remember to think and predict where the enemy will be. When you’re being flanked, you need only turn your turret whilst angling the rear of your tank at 30-45 degrees to them, which will be hard to penetrate. If find yourself surrounded then continue to attack what’s in front of you and leave the flanker to your teammates. The last thing you want to do is turn your turret sideways to give all of your enemies an easy shot at the flat surfaces.

Your movements should be deliberate, not only when picking a flank to push, but when engaging opponents on that flank. Constantly moving diagonally from your opponent. Angle your turret between shots against enemies in front of you to maximize your turrets armor. This creates a situation where your enemy is wasting precious time aiming while you’re creating a rift in the difference your HP and your opponent’s. But be mindful of your team’s firing angles so you do not block their shots.

Premium tank shopping guide 2: The USA T26E4 Super Pershing

T26E4 Super Pershing

PROS:

• Spaced armor on front hull and turret.
• Damage sponge ( can even negate damage from Tier10 guns, not that you’ll ever see them in pubs.)
• Cheap!!! Only 7,200 gold
• OK rate of fire
• Hard to hit weak spots from a distance
• Matchmaking of Tier 8-9

CONS:

• Low top speed and poor acceleration
• Low penetration gun
• Unarmored sides
• Poor hull and turret traverse speed
• Easily penned once in close quarters

Suggested Equipment:

• Gun Rammer
• Enhanced Gunlaying Drives
• Vents/Optics/Toolbox

In patch 8.7 the T26E4 or the “SP” is a trolltastic tank! then was nerfed during 8.8 and now in the latest update 9.8 the tank was buffed again but not to the former glory it once had, but it is close enough. It has a preferred matchmaking of tier 8-9 which mean you dont need to worry about the Tier 10 tanks ( just don’t platoon with other non preferential matchmaking tanks).The SP has spaced armor on the front hull and front turret which makes this baby a hard nut to crack even tier 10 gun would have a hard time penetrating this tank frontally.Gun is MEH…but if your familiar/mastered the weak spots of each tank you won’t have much problem.

This is a medium tank on paper, but when you  jump into this tank you’ll soon realize that this tank plays like a heavy, so choose a flank to push or defend at the start of the game, because once you go on that area your pretty much committed to that. Try to keep your distance when engaging enemies so they’ll have a hard time hitting your weakspots don’t be too confident with your spaced armor keep hidden and move to cover to cover.You can also lead a charge with the SP. Bring at least 10 premium rounds just in case. Always remember to keep your spaced armor pointed at the treat and never give them a chance to shoot at your paper thin sides and rear.

Hide your weakspots, specially the coil springs (yes, its a coil spring. Many say its a smoke launcher, binocs, and presiscop to mentions a few but its actually a coil spring, required to balance the extra weight of the long gun.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M26_Pershing#/media/File:M26_Super_Pershing.jpg) on top of the gun mount, by moving forward and backwards to throw off their aim. Also need to hide the machine gun port on the hull.
These are the weak spots on the T26E4:

Credit earnings for this tank is same as any other tank, you just have to deal a lot of damage to gain good credits. on decent games i earn around 50k-80k, bad games 30k-50k.

I would recommend this tank to players on a budget this is truly bang for the buck at only 7,200 gold.In addition this will train you in finding, memorizing and shooting the weakspots of tanks.

Premium tank shopping guide 1: The T34 Heavy Tank

I’ve noticed on several world of tanks facebook groups and people asking me which is the best premium tank, which one makes the most creds, fun to play, and most of all that would give them the bang for their buck. So I am going to introduce these tanks one at a time.

This is purely based on my opinion and experience on these tanks.

Things to consider when purchasing a premium tank:

• Your budget.
• Must be more than just a Credit grinder (crew skill training)
• Match Making ( the maximum and minimum battle tiers of tanks)
• Fun factor.
• Your play style.

First up, we have the USA T34 Heavy tank.

PROS:

• Best Penetration for a tier 8 premium tank.
• Turret is as tough as diamonds.
• Excellent gun depression and elevation High Alpha (high roll 400+-500)
• Good speed for a heavy tank

CONS:

• Long aim time.
• Long reload (around 13 seconds)
• Paper thin hull for the heavy tank
• Slow turret and hull traverse
• Commanders hatch easily penetrated (If you can hit it)
• Matchmaking Tier 8-9-10

Suggested Equipment:

• Gun Rammer – Helps with the long reload time.
• Enhanced Gun Laying Drives – Faster-ish aim time.
• Vertical Stabilizer – Helps with the aim time as well ——-OR——-
• Improved Ventilation -adds 5% to role and non-role specific skills training level percentages for all crew members. Which mean, faster reload, aim time, better view and signal range and better handling of the tank.

The USA T34 is a force to be reckoned with in the battlefield in the hands of a skilled commander with its high alpha,penetration and turret made of impenetrium. Once this tank assumes a hull down position it can hold a flank with little or no problem except for artillery.

If you are not familiar with the gameplay of the USA heavy line I do not recommend this tank.Matchmaking on this tank is OK but your gonna see tier 10’s but fret not with its 120mm Gun T53A1 gun with 248 pen and 400 average damage will hurt even the higher tier 9 and 10 tanks(I never use premium ammo on this tank, can pen a maus with no problem).

The game play of the T34 heavy tank is quite different from other heavy tanks, you cannot lead a spearhead towards the enemy positions, but instead your role is to distract, deal damage and hold a key position for as long as possible, while taking advantage of its amazing turret and gun depression. If an enemy tank manages to get up close and personal with you face hug it so that the enemy tank only sees your turret( in most cases) then when enemy tank shoots either back up and take a shot on the hull or keep hugging him and shoot its commanders hatch.On a tier 10 battle support your tier 10 tanks stay on fortified position to increase your suitability do not stay in the open.

As for credit earning on a decent game 50k-80k, on a bad game 30-50k. But on this tank I earned my highest credit income on the game a whooping 191,000 credits.

Overall this tank is awesome but I do not recommend this to players not familiar with the play style of the USA heavy line. Other than that its well worth the  12,000 gold.

Why is the T-54 Lightweight the current meta?

The T-54 Lightweight is a Tier VIII Russian Light Tank, and is the little brother of the T-54 Medium Tank. It is a quick and nimble tank, and although it is less agile than its Tier VIII Light Tank counterparts, it has an effective gun and good turret armor. This is one of the few light tanks which, when played correctly,  will bounce most  shots from enemy vehicles of the same tier.

When it was introduced in  Patch 9.3, the T-54 Lightweight was nowhere near the effectiveness of the RU 251 and AMX 13 90 in the Wargaming League. The T-54 Lightweight is pretty much a very good tank, except it doesn’t have a long view range for a light tank, so it  doesn’t do a good job in passive scouting. The vehicle is quick enough for active scouting, but it doesn’t accelerate as fast as the other light tanks of the same tier. Furthermore, the T-54 Lightweight has a relatively poor gun depression.

So what changed so that it become so popular to players in WGL Grand Finals 2015 and the current meta in the league?

Patch 9.6 improved the characteristics of T-54 Lightweight. They increased the HP from 1200 to 1250, not much but it helps. They greatly improved its terrain passability, which means better acceleration. Reload and aiming time was reduced, and the gun dispersion of its already effective gun was also lessened. The 100 mm APCR from the 100mm D-10t mod 1945 gun can penetrate 235 mm of armor, with an average damage of 250 per shot. Seven shots per minute can produce almost 2,000 damage per minute. Adding a Gun Rammer and Enhanced Gun-Laying Drive again will reduce the reload time and aim time.

After those buffs, the T-54 Lightweight became a must have vehicle for experienced players with aggressive playstyle. It now has the ability to change positions on the map quickly, get involved in the battle, move fast, outmaneuver the enemy, and inflict heavy damage. If handled properly in groups, the T-54 Lightweight will reward you with a win.

World of Tanks basics “Hull-Down”

Good day! Today we will be discussing the importance of hull-down, how its preformed and some tricks that may help. First off, lets discuss what is “hull-down”. Hull-down is simply hiding your tank’s hull behind a crest, pile of debris or earth and even the wreckage of other tanks.

Now you may ask, why do this in the first place? Most tanks has sturdier  turrets as compared to their hulls and you simply become a smaller target bu hiding your hull.Lets take for example the American T32 Heavy Tank, which has a frontal hull armor of 127mm as compared to its turret 298mm armor.Can all tank perform a hull-down? Yes, but some tanks are better suited for this maneuver than others. Now lets go back to the American T32 Heavy Tank as mentioned earlier, it has an amazing gun depression and turret armor.
Utilizing a window to cover the soft hull, only exposing the hard turret.


Using some debris as cover.

Using the crest of a hill

Using the crest from a top of the hill

Now here is the USSR IS3 heavy tank. While it does not have the gun depression of the T32 heavy tank, it does have an amazing turret. It cannot effectively hull-down on a crest, but can on piles of debris or using the wreckage of other tanks.

The IS3 using a window to hide the hull

Debris

Now lets take a look at the French AMX 50 100 heavy tank. Its big, has a small turret, but lacks the armor and gun depression. Clearly this cannot be used for hull-down.right? No, you can still hull-down in this tank, but do not expect ricochets, but expect the enemy to aim longer at you,  because you are now a smaller target than opposed not being hull-downed and thus making himself exposed longer.

No turret armor, but at least you’re a smaller target.

Here are some photos of ideal hull-down positions and how to properly  perform them. One way to know if you have a good hull-down is by switching to sniper mode and check the level of the crest. I should look like this:

Now lets recap.

1. All tanks can perform a hull-down no exceptions! But there are some tanks that excel at this maneuver than others(USA tanks).

2. Use Crest of hills, craters, debris, windows and even the wreckage of other tanks.

3. For tanks with softer turrets, do not stay too long peeking, just get a shot in and hide while reloading then pop back out for another shot.

That’s all for now, hope this little guide helped! and hope to see you in the battlefield! o7

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