So I started playing this a couple of days ago, in game name Merakys. It's a fairly fun diversion but IMO has some serious flaws right now even if you don't count the major bugs like warping issues.
The biggest gripe really that I have is the total lack of documentation. Even simple stuff, like when you start a standard battle, is there a way to pick the maps you're interested in? I hate taking out a an AT-1 and getting dropped in an urban map for example. Equipment info is so sparse it seems to mainly just be "higher on the list = better" - like gun stats, penetration vs damage, etc. How do they really fit into the game mechanics? Is there a way to see something like the accuracy of a gun?
Crew members in particular I have no idea about... Do they have totally different skills for each tank type? Is there any point in keeping like a primary crew that you move around to whatever tank you're playing?
No choice on maps.
Equipment information is basic because it only needs to be basic. Simply you want the top Suspension, Engine and Radio. These improve turning speed, acceleration and communication range (information sharing) respectively.
When it comes to guns, they have a damage and penetration value. With Armour Piercing shells, they will only do damage if they have a high enough penetration value to penetrate the tanks armour... ie. firing from a gun with 100mm penetration (plus or minus 30% as the 100mm figure given is an average) giving a 70mm-130mm penetration rate, against a 200mm thick piece of armour will bounce off all day (ricochet!, that one didn't go through! crew responses should be noted).
With high explosive (HE) then if they penetrate, they will do huge amounts of damage. If they don't penetrate (and 99% of the time they won't) then they will typically do low damage values but ultimately do much more than you could if you had AP shells like in the above example.
With guns you must balance out the reload rate with the damage and the penetration. Judge what tier you are in and what tier you are likely to come up against. If you consider the AT-1 you mentioned earlier, it's a tier 2 Tank Destroyer (TD) they trade off mobility for a more powerful gun and should have enough penetration power with HE rounds to blow a hole in the side of any Tier 2 tank (comparing the armour values and the armour penetration values plus trial and error). Against Tier 3's you might be best off with AP ammo, however there are very few Tier 3 tanks in your typical Tier 2 match so I would not consider taking AP ammo with me in that case.
Important gun note: The lower the accuracy figure, the better.
Regarding turrets you will find that in most occasions when you have a choice of a turret upgrade, they are worth getting. Usually a higher armour value, faster turning speed and the ability to fit some of the bigger guns for that tank come from a turret upgrade. This is most notably not the case when it comes to the KV tank where the turret traverse is painfully slow but armour values and the fitting of superior guns are still positive points.
Crew are extremely important and are undoubtedly the most important part of your tank. You can tell what role they fulfill within your tank by observing the symbols below the % proficiency of each member. Some tanks have only 3 crew going up to 6 at maximum I have observed. Binoculars denote view range. How far you can see out of your tank.
- Target reticule denotes accuracy. The higher the skill, the smaller the 'spray' and faster the 'spray' circle will decrease.
- Headphones denote the radio. The radio allows you to automatically communicate with all of the other tanks. This uncovers enemies that they can see but you may not be able to see.
- A line of shells denotes your reloading speed. The better this is, the faster you reload.
- The steering wheel denotes driving skill. The better this is, the better your tank handles.
When you can afford it (probably tier 5 plus), training your crew to 75% with 20,000 credits is worthwhile. Transferring crew carries a penalty on a sliding scale which is more severe if changing your crew between class of tank.
I have had my German Tank Destroyer crew since my Marder II, transferring them into the next tank in the ladder. Currently my crew are in the JagdPanzerIV, a Tier 6 TD, with 86% proficiency.
Hope this helps. Think I might compile all of my advice in this thread into a guide... would go great on my blog.
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