Make WoT Great Again

World of Tanks is a fantastic game, with overall great mechanics and a perfect design to combat cheating in any kind of professional scene. However, a professional scene has been hard to come by, due to the game's demographics and how the pro games are formatted compared to the game played by an everyday person. The game definitely needs a spark to draw more players back into the game, as well as creating a sort of "end game" content for experienced players that have unlocked many of the trees.

The Esports side of the game has at least been handed off to a competitive company (ESL) and employs professional casters that creates a very good viewing experience (although there can be some kinks, it is overall good). This side of World of Tanks is very important because a trhiving competitive scene generally drives a game to become better and attracts a large number of new players. This is especially important on NA because of our impressive Esports scene in other games, such as CS:GO. They need to create an option in the game, in order to expand the game modes, to include a ranked matchmaker that includes a 7v7 format that has a certain season that you can generate points and therefore earn rewards, ingame or otherwise. This would function much like the Faceit.com system, but would encourage people who are less proactive about playing against better players, and would create a new type of competitive play as well as a good feeder to get into Gold/Silver League.

World of Tanks also needs a way for the developers to make more money, as to focus on creating real content, instead of just pointless premium tanks that have no place in the game anyway. They need to introduce an ingame economy, based upon real money or Gold, that revolves around buying and selling tank skin modifications. This needs to occur after WoT mod support is finally gone as they are adding more choice of interface each patch. These skins could come as random drops to players, and would bring back people into the community if these skins are interesting or aesthetically pleasing in any way. This would bring a constant revenue to WG through a taxation system if real money is used, or just having them be worth Gold, forcing players to spend money on the game. These skins could not give any bonus to gameplay, but be purely cosmetic, much like skins in CS:GO or mounts in World of Warcraft (premium mounts exist).

Finally, World of Tanks needs to introduce more tanks into the game, after they release the Swedish Line. There are plenty of candidates, such as the Polish, Chinese/Japanese Tank Destroyers, other Swedish lines as outlined by SP15, other Czechoslovakian lines, outlined by Silent Stalker, bringing in armored cars (as hinted at by convoy mode) or vehicles specifically with hydraulic/pneumatic suspension, etc. This brings about 5+ full lines that are easily implemented along with numerous extra routes to go in already existing lines such as the E 10 tank from Germany being a counterpart/upgrade to the Hetzer. This would certainly draw more people back into the game and create more revenue for WG and therefore create time for development and balance.

World of Tanks could use some work, but Wargaming needs to follow steps to bring in a playerbase so that they can actually use their revenue to perfect their game. These are just ideas remember, tweak them in any way you want, but these seem to have worked in the past/in other games.


-Spirtwalker

Apologies for Inactivity

I have not been able to get blogging and streaming much at all for the past weeks. This has mostly been due to spending time with family away from my house. Service should pick up again soon, expect more posts within the next few days.

-Spirtwalker

Joined a Clan and Will Stream

I just joined a clan with some friends called CARTL. I will be calling games frequently which will allow me to do something new, which I will mention later. We plan to start with running Tier 8 Clan Wars but hopefully move to tier 10 quickly. If you would like to play a few games with my new group of guys, feel free to apply by messaging an officer (such as myself). So far, it has been going well, and I am happy I left OTTER in search of a more vibrant clan. I would also love to use this opportunity to improve on my own calling, and spread my knowledge to the general clan population. My plan is to start streaming, and especially Skirmishes and Clan Wars. All in all, the clan seems very good, and will allow me to get some wins with people I like to play with.

I will begin some test streams today and tomorrow, and I will announce my first big stream on the blog.

Twitch Page: https://www.twitch.tv/spirtwalker21

-Spirtwalker

Just an Update and Clan Talk

I have finally left OTTER to look for a more fun clan that I can hang out with a few friends and play some competitive games. Today, I was approached by a clan called T_K_O, which houses some great people (it seems) which I got from talking to them for about 10 min. I would highly recommend them for any player looking for a growing clan that is moving to Tier 8 Clan Wars. I probably rubbed them the wrong way because I was very salty this morning (#justblunicumproblems). I will definitely be trying to help these types of clans out with this blog by going over strategies and clan things. I really hope they can succeed, and they are really doing things the right way as far as recruiting and building.

-Spirtwalker

UPDATE: Starting a Clan/My Game

I know you have all noticed the lack of posts over the past 2 weeks or so. I have been working a ton, starting in my new job. I am finally starting to get back into blogging (as I have been tanking) and will now update you on some things:

My Game:
I joined a Silver League Team! Also, I have lately been trying to get better at playing specific tanks, and what better way to show this by 3-marking tanks that I love, so now I have 3 marked 4 Tier 10s: T57, E5, BatChat, and M48 Patton. I also 3-marked T8s: T54 Light, RU 251, T49, WZ-132, T32, IS-3, and M41 90mm. Now enough bragging, on to what you are really here for:

Clan:
My eventual goal will be to create my own clan or take over a clan, and then make it my own by becoming the Commander. I have been the Executive Officer in 3 different clans in the past, and I really want to run things by myself, without trying to only influence a commander that may not listen to me anyways. My goal would be to hit the ground running, playing Tier 8 Clan Wars and maybe get up to tier 10. I'm thinking that I will do this after league is over, and after the coming campaign, so expect this to come in September. Feel free to reach out to me if you are going to be interested in joining/helping me run things (as there would be caller/officer positions open) and you can pm me ingame or through the forums.Stay tuned to the blog so that I can bounce some clan policies/ideas off of you guys.


-Spirtwalker

Wargaming Schedule: Clan Wars and Development

Wargaming has been actually doing a bit lately as far as their game development. I would like to start this off by saying that this is mostly unconfirmed speculation, and I am also inferring that 9.16 will have the global rebalance, and be in early September/late August.


Global Map Freeze in late August (currently the 21)

Gold League Will Tentatively Start on the 4th of August

Next Mini-Campaign- after freeze, late August/early September, likely lasting a few weeks. The tank that will be given out will probably be the Object 257 TD, learn more at tanks.gg

Gold League will run until sometime in September, probably until the end of the Campaign as they usually link campaigns and Gold League during the same timeframe. This campaign could also come earlier, as they have overlapped a season with a campaign in the past. One other tank they could give out is the Chieftain (PLEASE WG), but I have heard that it will be a tier 10 tank. Don't take too much away from the statistics currently, as it will likely be distributed after (or right when) the Global Reblance goes live.


-Spirtwalker

Sandbox: Week 4

Sorry, been busy, so trying to get these articles out as fast as possible:

The Sandbox Server has received some minor balance changes, including a nerf to some autoloaders, some dispersion bonuses to assault vehicles, as well as a large DPM buff to the FV215B and E3.
I really don't want to cover these changes very heavily, just go to the Armored Patrol article if you want specifics. All they really did was to make the other SPGs on par with the ConqGC. They are really just nitpicking for changes now, to get them all perfect. It seems that they are done with major stuff, maybe even about ready to introduce lower tier tanks (not tens) into the sandbox server. I also have some "insider" information for all of you Clan Wars people coming up!

-Spirtwalker

State of NA WoT

North American World of Tanks has been decreasing in popularity since the overall boom of newer members sometime around 2013, and this was in part due to popular Youtube channels (such as Jingles/Quickybaby/SideStrafe), and also due to advertising the growing game. Now, the game is receiving very few newer players in the NA circuit.

There are many possible reasons to this, and there are probably many, here are some of my own thoughts:


Content:
Wargaming's last big content patch, which included a brand new line (WT line), 4 new premium tanks, Team Battles, and a new map: Northwest (which has been removed for some time now). The follow-up patch to this was in December, introducing the Japanese Medium tank branch.  After this patch, some new tanks have been released, but not in the same "line after line" format that previous patches had done. There have been 2 new lines since then, the Czechoslovakians and the Japanese Heavies. The amount of content has obviously reached a somewhat stagnant point for Wargaming, partly due to the lack of tanks to actually fill their game with, which could have actually been solved by introducing higher tier tanks (above tier 10), and therefore having many modern tanks to choose from. There are issues with this, such as a lack of real classes, as MBTs were very dominant, and lights would need to be replaced by AFVs, which would create some mess, but could be solved in time. This is besides the point, as they elected to not do this. Many of the later patches have been bug fixes and some minor balance. Wargaming as a company was also just starting to launch World of Warplanes and was developing World of Warships, requiring some of their resources. They have definitely been slacking on the content side of things, and their blind-less additions of content did not take into account the overall balance of the game, meaning that if they ever stopped introducing more lines, many players would be less than interested to keep playing, which is what they did. This started the downfall of the game, as many overpowered tanks were destroying the others at unprecedented rates. This lack of balance and content cause players to start to leave the game, as they were not overly invested in the game. As I mentioned before, there have been introduced maps, both of the ones mentioned were actually removed from the game.

Service:
Wargaming NA has become the neglected child of this company (now becoming SEA), and its playerbase has had little to say about the overall balance of the game and how it applies to the gameplay in NA vs the other regions. This has created strife within the community, and anger towards the company.

Competition: WoT is forced to compete with games like Overwatch, CS:GO, and LoL now in terms of competitive team play, and it used to compete massively (and still does) with other MMOs such as World of Warcraft. This competition leaves WG behind in the sense of balance and attention to detail, which effects other servers less, as some games are less prevalent there (WOW being one of those). Now that all of these games are becoming bigger and better, WoT is no longer as innovative graphics and balance wise, making it fall behind in player base, and causing it to begin to die.


-Spirtwalker

Calling: Ideologies and Examples

Calling in WoT is much more hectic than it is in 5-man games such as CS:GO, which has a certain limit to what can be done within matches. WoT is very creative in what can happen, and many things can work, abstract and mainstream.

Calling can be broken down into two ideologies: dynamic and static. Dynamic calling is basically seen by running defaults (very basic, similar to saying "we will take control of this general area"), then adapting to what your enemy does. One way to really do this, is to take extensive map control to portions your opponent is willing to give up. This allows large rotations to happen, and traps to be set. Dynamic calling can also be seen in a more basic way, as sending out scouts, then taking control of the map, then attacking the enemy. Static calling can be seen as giving a very strict strategy to counter an opponents, given at the beginning of a battle. This is good on certain maps that have especially important/strong parts that are necessary to win a battle. This will often consist of specialized tanks such as AMX 13 90s or artillery. Tanks that aren't normally used are good to counter opponents when you can expect what they are going to do. This tactic is really strong when you are competing on the global map, and allies have told you what your opponent does on a specific map. This is also great to surprise a clan with a unique strategy.



Dynamic Calling:

This example shows how the team of 6 heavies and 4 lights are generally spread to face the enemy. See how one side of the map is directly controlled, the entire "green" half. It also gives three alleyways where tanks can advance, the center, west, and east. More tanks are pushed toward the east, allowing the other lights opportunity to flank the enemy when the time is right. Remember it is important that every tank is covered by another at all times. No tanks should be alone. Even the tank in the middle in this example is easily covered by the lights on the west and on the east.


Static Calling:

This example shows how the 5 lights and 5 heavies can rush a specific part of the map and play off of each other. The heavies can shoot enemy light tanks and our lights can defend themselves due to their high number. The south is the most important position on this map, requiring a set composition of tanks, at least two auto-loader light tanks. This provides burst damage to fend off a rush in rapid time. This setup does not allow really any rotation until the "mid game", which I will be covering in my next strategy article/guide article.


Comment or PM me any map you want explained/strategy example of!

-Spirtwalker

Tier 8 Clan Wars: Tanks and Basics

Tier 8 Clan Wars is the first level of competitive play that is really fun and diverse. Tier 6 is dominated by a few tanks and basically two strategies, heavies on city maps and lights/mediums on more open locations. Tier 8 brings about a more dynamic setup with more health to play around with. It no longer is based upon whoever shoots first, wins. I want to give you all a guide to help understand the basics about how tanks should be played and what tanks should be used. Keep in mind that I am only really going to go over tanks that are usable on all maps, not including TDs, Mediums,  or artillery because these tanks are specific but here is a list of some good ones: JP2, Charioteer, Ferdinand, FCM 50t, AMX 50 100, OBJ 416, Pershing, M40/43, and Lorr. 155 51.

The AMX 50 100 is not included in my overall "top tanks" due to its inability to stay within the fight and only really being successful in certain situations and on certain maps. Also, artillery is only really helpful on open maps. The Pershing can be useful as a faster T32, and the 416 is a useful tank destroyer medium. The Ferdinand is a helpful as a heavy support in certain situations and the JP2/Charioteer are the best snipers of the tier. Finally, the FCM is a good fast heavy to destroy light tanks due to its high health and troll armor. On to the tanks:

Lights:

All lights are useful at this tier, except for the T49.

RU 251/M41 90- These tanks are both excellent for DPM as well as penetration (on HEAT and HE) at long distance. They have depression but lack armor, so they are best suited for mid range combat and support roles. It is important to bring these tanks in a lineup that also includes T54 Lightweights to allow them to take the hits for the German lights. They are basically best for the more open maps, or on maps where you need better DPM lights to support heavies.

T-54 Lightweight- This is currently considered the best light tank for the tier due to its armor and similar gun to equal tier lights. While it struggles with sniping, it is adept at brawling and carries APCR (does not have as much pen as WZ however) which allows it to fight spaced armor and tracks well. Its turret is fantastic, and it can tank some shots with some luck. This should be the bulk of your  fast tank lineup as it is the most versatile light tank, but any team should be at least half heavies.

AMX 13 90- This tank has the most specific role, mostly to do burst damage and then retreat into cover. It is mostly useful on maps where there will be a large light tank brawl such as Westfield or Swamp. It cannot tank damage or snipe, but can support in close quarters. It is also worthwhile to now that the APCR ammunition has great penetration. This machine does have a long reload so it makes it less useful in most lineups, but helpful on some maps. It also probably does better in pairs, rather than as a solo support tank.

WZ-132- This is a tank that sort of combines the T-54 Light and the RU 251 as it is fit for sniping and has a lack of depression. This is a really quick tank that is best used as a backup tank for when your others are locked out due to deaths in clan wars. It does have HE resistant armor, unlike its German counterpart, but is inferior to the lightweight in brawling and to the RU for sniping.

Heavies:

Only the IS-3 and T32 are really viable for this class.

IS-3- This is the pinnacle Russian heavy with excellent side armor, good turret, and good mobility. It can reverse side-scrape as well as tank shots while hull down. It does have a small weak-point but it is hard to hit on a regular basis. The speed allows it to traverse the larger maps quickly and flank enemies or engage them in unique positions. It is the best city tank of the tier and only second when fighting on ridge-lines, to the T32.

T32- This is the true ridge-line warrior of the tier with a near impenetrable turret and decent gun, it can rip apart its enemies quickly, albeit with less alpha damage then an IS-3. It could be compared to the T34, but is much faster and has better DPM. It also has decent hull armor which can pull off some ricochets when angled properly. This is really only suited for ridge engagements due to its depression.

These are my thoughts on some of the individual tanks and their uses for Tier 8 Clan Wars, I will post later about strategy on maps!

-Spirtwalker

Schedule

Figured it was about time I establish a schedule of articles so you guys can know the rough topics of the upcoming things I write about.

Monday: Maps, Tactics, Esports, and Clan Wars

Tuesdays: About me, status of the blog, my tanks/progress, and guides

Wednesdays: Overall state of the game

Thursdays: Sandbox Talk

Friday: Balance

Weekends: Whatever



Hope I can really start posting regularly!

-Spirtwalker

Arty vs. Arty: Sandbox Thoughts

As you all probably know, it is possible to find enemy arty in your own arty by looking for their tracer shells. It is also possible to shoot at those locations, making the splash damage changes very interesting on sandbox.

The splash damage and penetration changes allow artillery to splash tanks nearby to the shell hit for around 500 if those tanks have light armor. This is especially true in tanks such as T92 and Conq GC. This means that it is very possible to counter enemy artillery, just by hitting near them. It isn't actually possible for most of these artillery to move that quickly after firing (aside from BatChat 155 58). This will prove to be an interesting counter to the artillery players within WoT.


-Spirtwalker

Thoughts on Overall State of Sandbox Week 3

The Sandbox Server (at the moment) is actually somewhat competitively viable. Lets start with artillery:

Artillery now has an "assistance" bonus towards tanks that are damaged when stunned. This is similar to tracking damage and spotting damage, yet unique to artillery. This makes artillery a rewarding class to play again, as the number of tanks effected, the greater amounts of reward. This also addresses other problems such as XVM focus in some respects. If a target is isolated, they will less likely be hunted down quickly as it is more helpful to destroy large clusters of enemies that are pushing down a flank. Artillery also has large splash which can hit tanks around buildings and other cover, which forces people to make aggressive plays, instead of sitting still. The splash damage seems to be mitigated by armor, but not distance from where the shot landed to as large a degree. The increase in penetration also allows SPGs to deal some damage, usually around 300-400 per shot.

Tank Destroyers, Cavalry, Assault Tanks, and Light tanks are also still performing their roles as planned, so I won't really touch on them.

Juggernauts/Heavies were still a bit too strong, and I still feel more of them need nerfs, especially the Type 5, in a similar respect to the Maus and IS-4. These tanks need the bonus for tanking however, otherwise they will be terrible experience/WN8 earners. These tanks need to solely be the armor or shields on the battlefield, not the damage dealers.

Fire Support Vehicles were improved/nerfed in different ways promoting a more sniper-based game, with them not being the damage dealers they were. They are now support only, and don't rule the game as they once did. They are now able to be countered at close range from Cavalry vehicles and Heavies.

All vehicles have different counters and strong positions that did not exist before in the ways they do now. Heavies are strictly armor, fire support and artillery strictly support, assault tanks and cavalry do damage and tank damage (close range), and light tanks can spot.


-Spirtwalker

Sandbox Server: Week #3

The sandbox server was changed yet again, in the search of balance on the top tiers. They basically looked at the superheavy tanks and nerfed some of them, as well as buffing the overall effectiveness of artillery. Fire support vehicles were also changed to make them less of a dominating sniper force, by lowering their overall DPM. And on to my more specific comments:


SPGs: Artillery were buffed a massive amount due to their increase in penetration, as well as improvements in how splash damage works and the "stun" effects. Also, the T92 recieved an overall increase by a slight gain of damage and reload speed decrease. The BatChat artillery also recieved some damage buffs and a reduction of one shell from its magazine, down to three. The reload is also scaled down to meet these changes. It has also become more mobile, making it the only really fast arty at tier ten.

Juggernauts/Heavies: The Maus has become the true heavy, with no more DPM or gun statistics, just armor. This hopefully signifies an introduction of the experience gained from effective usage of armor, in order to still make tanks such as these worth playing. Also, the IS-4 had a slight DPM nerf, making it the worst along with the Maus. The JPZ E 100 was also nerfed in its penetration to force it to only fight close quarters, despite its fantastic accuracy. This is an interesting change, probably stemming from its great armor. We may be looking at an E 100 and Type 5 nerf soon. The E4 received its APCR nerf and the E3 got a shell capacity buff.

Grille 15: The only tank destroyer change, the penetration was increased to help with sniping, and to bring it up to par with its competitors.

Fire Support Vehicles: Mediums in this category were given large buffs to their aim time and accuracy, but also substantial nerfs to their DPM, except the Centurion AX, which remained the same. We can probably expect a nerf coming its way... The STB-1 was also excluded, only to be met with a harsh accuracy nerf, now similar to "Cavalry" mediums. The BatChat also recieved an accuracy buff as well as a reload decrease to meet the current four shell magazine. There are also rumors of Patton mobility buffs, which I can't truly confirm, but I can say that it played to what the alleged buffs were.

Some Other Things:

Maps- The current maps for Karelia and Steppes are called Karelian Glades and Flat Steppes. The became much more flat in areas, especially the taking out of the northern hills on Karelia, and the flatter parts of the West on Steppes. This is interesting because it could promote more sniping opportunities for TDs, artillery hits due to lack of prominent terrain features, movement of heavies due to a lack of hilly terrain, or the ability for light tanks to light up targets.

BatChat Guns- The guns (90 mm and 100 mm from 13 90 and Lorr. 40t) have been dropped from 6 shells to 4 shells which may point to a change among the tier 8 and tier 9 tanks from the french lines.

I will release another article about my opinions themselves.

-Spirtwalker

The Road to Unicum

This article will contain my insight into how I became a better player in the game of WoT. I really started to improve when I started to join clans, and played more often. Honestly, this is true for anything that you want to get good at; you play with players better than you, in a more competitive environment, and you practice more. But I did do some things that I would recommend others to do in order to improve.

One of the things I had done previous to really getting into the game was play a ton of light tanks, I had ground out ever light tank line up to tier eight, and I understood the basic mechanics of how to play them. When I got into a clan, I decided that I needed to pick up some top tier vehicles. And here is my first point, play one tank, or tanks that are similar (i.e. fast mediums with no armor). This will train your brain to think correctly about your positioning in a battle, and not force you to change your style every game. I started grinding out lines such as the T57 Heavy and the Patton, which taught me how to improve in higher tier combat.

This brings me to my next point, playing against higher tiered opponents teaches how to play against more skilled players. The higher tiers are filled with better players than the lower tiers, just based on experience alone. Most people at high tiers have at least 4-6k battles, some much higher. This throws you into a pool of players that can show you new spots on maps, force you to shoot more accurately, and generally force you to make less mistakes.

On the topic of positioning, watching videos on YouTube or streams will provide you with places that higher tier players go towards on maps. It can show you how to play a class that you are unfamiliar with. This gameplay is consistent, unlike your own, meaning you can learn something from most of their games.

Another way to force yourself to learn is to play high-skill tanks. This can include light tanks and faster, less forgiving mediums such as the Leopard or BatChat. The tanks force you to make less mistakes on the battlefield, while providing you the tools to have great games. The only problem with this is: you tend to have a smaller effect on your overall winrate due to a lack of armor, and therefore an ability to carry games with lucky bounces.

Clans are a great part of the game. I recommend that players join one if they are looking for any kind of fun game due to their competitiveness over the random battle mode. Team Battles can also be seen as good, but require tier eight tanks, and tier sixes are easier to research for clan wars. I have an article posted about good tier sixes, http://spiritwotanalysis.blogspot.com/2016/04/tier-6-tanks-for-clan-wars.html  and http://spiritwotanalysis.blogspot.com/2016/04/tier-6-tanks-for-clan-wars-part-2.html. If you have the tanks, and stats to match, this is what I would recommend:

Recent WN8                                                           Some Clans

1000-1500           Tier 6 Clans     JAWS, EMPRR/EMPER, HIPPO/H1PPO, ROHAN

2000-2500           Tier 8 Clans     FUSION, GROOT, -SWAG, RDDT3

3000+                  Tier 10 Clans   OTTER, MO, CLAWS, _FAM_, R-7


These are pretty rough estimates, and more like guarantees that you will be accepted. If you are placed somewhere in the middle, choose the tier of play you are most comfortable with. Tier 6 is also much more casual, and takes much less skill and practice.


Message me in game if you have questions or leave a comment! Also if you have any WoT related topics you want me to discuss tell me about it!

-Spirtwalker

Sandbox: Tier 9 Tank Thoughts

I have been thinking a lot lately how Wargaming will implement the overall rebalance at Tier IX. There are my opinions/thoughts:

Keep in mind I won't really talk about artillery, as it is heavily changed, and is therefore hard to predict how the final implementation of artillery will be (they probably still haven't finished the Tier X balance). Also, they will probably keep the same class-based characteristics as the Tier 10 vehicles (i.e. Heavies have long reloads and big guns).

Heavy Tanks/Juggernauts: T95, T30, E 75, VK 45.02B, ST-1, Type 4, Jagtiger

Assault Tanks: M103, Conqueror, Foch?, WZ-111 1-4, T-10

Cavalry: E 50, OBJ. 430 II, T-54, WZ-120

Fire Support Vehicles: T54E1, M46, Cent 7/1, AMX 50 120, Lorr/Batchat, AMX 30, Type 61, Skoda T50

Tank Destroyers: WT IV, SU 122 54, OBJ 704, Tortoise, Conway, Foch?

These will likely be the classes for the current tier nine tanks, but there are some tanks that probably should be considerably weaker than they currently are:

WT IV: This tank has fantastic camouflage rating and decent mobility with arguably the best gun of the tier. This tank will hopefully be remodeled in the style of the Grille 15, an accuracy/aim time buff, with nerfs to the reload time and overall mobility.

T-54/430 II: These tanks have excellent guns that are good for sniping and brawling. Also, HEAT rounds can compensate for a lack of penetration. The overall rebalance already addresses the problems with HEAT ammo, but these tanks also need nerfs to accuracy and view range, to prevent them from dominating all parts of the battle.

Tier 9 tanks are decidedly well balanced, but here are some more tanks that might need some buffs to their characteristics:

T95: This tank made my list due to its inability to traverse the battlefield, unlike the E3. It would be fantastic if Wargaming would improve the top speed limit to allow some movement from one place to another. This tank will have improved armor due to the decline of overpowered HEFAT rounds, therefore buffing it in another way.

Foch: This is currently one of the worst/least played tier nine tanks due to its overall average-ness and inflexibility. What they should do is make the French TDs as a strong assault tank class with very good DPM and low accuracy. This would bring some interesting new play styles into the game, as there currently isn't a fantastic tank like this, on the live server (other than maybe the 263).

I hope this shed some light on what the upcoming changes will be about, or show you what tanks need some love/need some nerfs.


-Spirtwalker

The Best Tanks of the Sandbox Server: Week 2

There are definitely tanks on the Sandbox Server that stand out. They are just good by themselves, or they match up well against the other tanks being displayed. I must stress again how important it is for Wargaming to include an experience coefficient for arty to the number/time stunned on tanks that they hit. This could make arty a profitable class to play, instead of the current, usually bottom end of the experience spectrum. Now, on the the tanks:

AMX Foch 155 (with a 120 mm gun)
This tank is sort of a remake of the old TD with four rounds and a two second time in between shots. Also, this tank has the one of the highest DPM of the tier 10s (around 3.5k fully maxed out). This creates a strong brawler with a quick reload that can dish out a ton of punishment in a short period. This tank also has decent mobility, unlike many of the Tank Destroyers on the server, as it has decent traverse and acceleration/top speed values. This tank makes a powerful addition to the Assault Tanks Class, with its armored tank destroyer chassis, and (old) T57-like gun.

Maus
This tank has all of the armor of the live server, but the lack of gold round abuse on sandbox. This tank is slow, but has very strong armor when angled against tanks without overpowered heat rounds making this one of the most powerful heavies on the Sandbox Server. Also, the gun received buffs which make it one of the fastest firing tanks in the Heavy Tank Class. It can also snipe with its decent accuracy  which allows it to fulfill multiple roles. The Maus has become one of the most powerful city warriors on the Sandbox Server.

T110E4
This tank now has competitive DPM (better than E 100) as well as some armor, especially with the global penetration nerfs. This tank also has good gun statistics compared with other tanks of the Juggernaut Class. The 2400 health also allows this tank to trade much like an E 100, but also out pace in in speed and penetration. This tank also has strangely good gold rounds, as it seems they only nerfed HEAT, not APCR. This tank is a good entry as a competitor to the E 100, sacrificing armor for gun handling and mobility.

Leopard 1
The Leopard 1 is actually better, with respect to DPM, than many of the other fire support tanks. Also, the gun handling on this machine is simply fantastic, sacrificing armor to gain everything else. This tank will make the perfect blend between long-range sniper and mid-range support tank. Also, scouting will be possible with its decent view range, albeit relatively large size. This tank is a perfect example of how the Fire Support Class should work.

E 50 M
This tank is a fantastic brawler with its decent DPM (similar to Russian mediums), and good gun handling. This tank is a good city fighter with its boxy shape and angled hull. It also has some depression allowing for a flexible and quick entry for the Cavalry Class. It also happens to be a ramming machine.

121
This is a tank that is very similar to the Russian tanks, giving up accuracy for alpha damage and the ability to be the best brawler in the Cavalry Class. It is the top tank to have in a close range fight that also has some excellent speed characteristics.

To Address Scouts
I must say that scouts are all excellent, but are not very effective when up against tanks at Tier 10. They do have insane mobility and view range which leaves even the BatChat in the dust.


Here are some interesting graphics:

HP of the classes

Updated DPM

9.15.1: Thoughts

So Wargaming NA has released the Common Test notes on 9.15.1 and I will be discussing how this will effect the game in its next few patches. This Patch will mostly include bug fixes and HD-models, some supertest tanks, and the rebalancing of the ISU-130 (I won't discuss this as nobody owns this tank).

This patch seems to be coming at an odd time for Wargaming, as it will probably get released soon, probably 3 weeks from now. The HD-models don't actually concern the overall Global Rebalance, but we don't see the buffs/nerfs that we normally would see in a patch that is common tested. This could mean that 9.16 will come at the end of the summer and include the Global Reblance.

The supertest vehicles of note were the T95/Chieftan and the Object 257 which may become Clan Wars reward tanks. Also, the Swedish Tier 6 premium tank was implemented and we may see that in the game during the summer months.

One final thing to note is the sale of Personal Reserves for gold? Pay to win maybe? You be the judge...


-Spirtwalker

Sandbox Server: Week 2

There is an NDA for the Sandbox, and I can't tell you anything about the happenings on the server itself (like no hard stats) but I can give you opinions. (I know, loopholes for days) So here is what I think about Sandbox 2.0 (or week 2). I'm pretty sure that this is mostly about direct video, so I may hint around some statistics in this post (i.e. M48>AMX 30B)

Arty
My initial impressions came from a blog post from Rita's Status Report Blog (Check her out btw for leaks) describes a change to the artillery "stun" effect which basically crippled everybody last iteration. I thinks this does not meet the issue that artillery is not rewarding at all, as there is little damage and the same overall reloads. I think this will meet everybody's needs in the sense of less "troll" mechanics, and still a place for artillery.

Death Star and Death Barn
The FV215B 183 and the FV 4005 Stage II received some heavy gun nerfs to balance their HE and HESH rounds against the current importance of armor. These rounds were doing guaranteed damage in a way that does not suit the game as a whole, as well as allowing them sometimes get lucky and one-shot tanks. There is also a clear difference between the two, the Death Barn tends to be more snipey/less heavy than the Death Star.

The Classes

Juggernauts/Heavy Tanks- E 100, Maus, JPZE 100, Death Star, E3, E4, IS-4, Type 5 Heavy

Assault Tanks- E5, 113, FV215B, IS-7, 263, AMX 50 Foch

Cavalry/Brawling Mediums- 140, 430, 62A, E 50M, 121

Fire Support Tanks- Leo 1, Patton, T57, 30 B, Batchat, Centurion AX, TVP, STB-1

Tank-Destroyers- 268, Grille 15, Death Barn (also keep in mind that the 263, JPZE 100 and E3 have TD-like gun statistics)

Scouts- RU 251, T54 Light, T49

Artillery- G.W. E 100, T92, 261, Conq GC, Bat 155



Juggernauts have high health pools and the largest guns. They are not good for sniping and have poor mobility and soft statistics for their guns. Their DPM is okay due to their higher alpha damage but bad rate of fire.

Assault Tanks are sort of fast and mobile, with mid range guns and decent armor. Their guns have decent statistics and have okay DPM- a bridge between Cavalry and Juggernauts.

Cavalry (great name for this WG)- Fast tanks with good armor and great DPM. They have good aim time but bad accuracy so are only good at close range engagements. They have similar amounts of penetration as heavy tanks.

Fire Support Tanks are mid to long range sniper/support tanks that have good aim time and the best DPM in the game. They also have excellent top speed and better view range than Cavalry. Their gun handling and accuracy are also stellar but they don't have much armor.

Scouts- Have great view range and mobility characteristics. They are the fastest tanks in the game.

Artillery- They are support tanks that do low damage and provide assistance to allies by "debuffing" enemy tanks and tracking them.


Connectors
Keep in mind that there are many tanks that are sort of "in between" the average for their own class. They resemble a mix between two different sets of characteristics. (i.e. the JPZE 100 is a cross between an E 100 and a Grille 15, it has an accurate gun and also has a large health pool with armor, but no mobility.



Conclusion
I think that Wargaming is heading in the right direction and the change that buffed the medium tanks to their old top speeds was straight out of one of my posts :). This might prove that Wargaming is looking to the community for input? Either way, these changes support more dynamic gameplay and specific classes as well as tanks that bridge the gap to make each tank feel unique and not left out of the competition.


-Spirtwalker

Initial Sandbox Mechanics: Thoughts

Warning: Long Post

So I have seen streams and leaked data about the new WoT Sandbox Server and I have formed some opinions about their ideas.

I must start this off by saying that I understand what they are trying to do (and also that this can all change). They want to increase the value of view range and increase the importance of light tanks. I also understand how they want to decrease the usage of premium rounds which decrease the importance of armor. They also decreased the traverse of most tanks in order to slow down the game in order to improve the ability of medium tanks to flank. So here are my points:


Speeds and Traverse

They decreased the overall top speed and traverse of all tanks (not lights). This has slowed down the game a bit, but not to the extent of many people, for example, Quickybaby.  I would say that he blew  the problems way out of proportion. The game did not take that big of a hit speed wise. It is now fast in a different way, there is a lot more time to plan your maneuvers. I however, don't see how Wargaming sees this in the game because I pretty much thought that the old versions of the game were fine in this respect. I also see how they wanted to distinguish the lights from the medium, especially at higher tiers. I however, don't feel that they needed to nerf the top speeds, but maybe just mess around with the ground resistances or soft statistics.


Armor and Shell Penetration

The armor in WoT is arguably losing value as more and more HEAT is being thrown around the battle. I see how they nerfed the HEAT shells in the game to reduce the usage of shells with excess amounts of penetration. They actually did pretty well with this, as they also nerfed the APCR penetration over a distance compared to AP. The issue I take with this is how they nerfed accuracy as well as AP ammunition. They wanted to "decrease the cost of making mistakes" but all they managed to do was to promote a game that consists of juggernaut heavies taking hundreds of hits at long range with arty barely able to do any damage. This creates a game that promotes low level players to play heavier tanks and more experienced players to play mediums that are, in some ways, unable to kill the heavies (and stronger TDs). This will eventually promote a game that includes mostly strong heavies and large TDs, but will include about 1/4 mediums and faster tanks. This does not currently represent the number of mediums that are re-searchable, compared to heavies and TDs. This could prove to create a completely different game, with many skilled players preferring the previous metas of WoT, even if it is medium tank dominance.

View Range and Light Tanks

The overall idea of nerfing the view range globally is a good one, and promotes more active plays and aggressive peeks. However, giving light tanks more view range does not help the game as the real problem lies in the map pool. Most maps only contain a good area for mediums to brawl (mediums with armor keep in mind) and heavies to fight on ridges and in cities. TDs are also very good for holding alleys and giving long-range fire support. Even if lights have fantastic view range, there is little they can actually do because of the lack of accuracy on tanks, as well as the lack of artillery damage.


Artillery

Artillery was heavily nerfed on this server. It was given a sort of "debuff" that hurt tanks which I can say is extremely annoying and does not promote dynamic plays at all. Their damage has also dropped off a lot, which makes them less rewarding. What I think they need to do is get rid of the "debuff", and boost artillery rate of fire by 10-33%. This will allow arty to hit tanks for amounts of damage that add up, as well as not instantly one shot everything. Many people call for the addition of "smoke rounds" or "illumination rounds" which would not be used much in the majority of game modes (i.e. random battles).


Too Many Variables

Wargaming is trying to test a Global Rebalance which will improve the state of the game. In order to do this, they need to evaluate and access each change to the global client before the make it, and make each change one at a time. What they are basically doing is mixing 10 different chemicals just to see what happens, instead of trying to access what each chemical will do, and test them individually in order to find an appropriate product.

My Thoughts on Fixing the Server

• Keep AP the way it is, and don't nerf snipers
• Armor is fine without premium rounds and artillery that can one-shot heavies
• View Range is only important on maps that aren't close quarter fights anyways, buffing light tanks won't solve the problem unless maps are fixed
• Test one thing at a time
• Mistakes should be punished
• Tanks do not need drastic speed nerfs, only small ones to seperate mediums from lights and heavies from mediums (TDs are actually quite good on the live server)

Thanks for reading this far if you did!

-Spirtwalker