War Thunder - F2P Combat Flight MMO

[monkeydelmagico]

That affects AI gunners too? I thought that was just for the sights on the main weapons.

I figured that was what the setting was for..... so your gunners limit their shots. I will have to do some more research to verify.

 

[Ruptga]

I'm pretty sure gun targeting distance does not affect the turret AI. Mine is set for 400m, which is ~1200 feet, and I caught one of my gunners taking shots at a plane 3000ft behind me.

 

[ZaneNBK]

I'm pretty sure gun targeting distance does not affect the turret AI. Mine is set for 400m, which is ~1200 feet, and I caught one of my gunners taking shots at a plane 3000ft behind me.

My understanding is that gun targeting distance has no effect at all in arcade mode.

 

[Genx87]

It used to not matter. They put convergence in a few patches back.

 

[Ruptga]

Yeah I noticed a big difference when I changed my targeting settings. I use 400m and vertical targeting, so much easier to hit distant targets than with the default 300m and no vertical targeting.

 

[ZaneNBK]

It used to not matter. They put convergence in a few patches back.

Ah, haven't played in at least 6 months.

 

[Ruptga]

Ah, haven't played in at least 6 months.

Did you get tired of it, or burned out?

 

[ZaneNBK]

Did you get tired of it, or burned out?

Just got more interested in other games. I'm sure I'll go back to WT in a while. Think I got one country up to 13 or 14 and the others around 7-8 before I stopped playing.

My TrackIR still sits on top of my monitor... judging me.

 

[gorobei]

how do you get more experienced gunners?, mine suck.

also, i saw a lagg3 take out a tank with gunfire, is it only because the lagg has a cannon?

 

[ZaneNBK]

how do you get more experienced gunners?, mine suck.

also, i saw a lagg3 take out a tank with gunfire, is it only because the lagg has a cannon?

The middle crew/XP tab lets you upgrade your gunners but they pretty much always suck unless that's changed recently. Yes, planes with cannons can take out tanks, though the ammo type used probably makes a difference as well.

You're much better off taking control of your gunners and letting your plane fly itself if someone is on your tail. They will occasionally get a kill but it's pretty rare in my experience.

 

[Ruptga]

Base AI gunners are really terrible, no doubt. They don't get to be any good until you get accuracy/precision up to 40/40 at least. And even then they may not do anything substantial if the turret is just one 7mm. But, all my gunners are at least that high and they will reliably get hits in while leaving me free to dodge cannon fire.

If you spend about $10 for 3k gold you will have more than enough to upgrade all your crews by 1500 exp, just do it. That will allow you to noticeably increase each crew's most important skills, and should level the crew enough to unlock expert qualification for some silver. Expert gives big buffs to sight, visibility, reload, repair, and gunner targeting, and it is absolutely worth it.

 

[KMFJD]

how do you get more experienced gunners?, mine suck.

also, i saw a lagg3 take out a tank with gunfire, is it only because the lagg has a cannon?

Cannons can take out medium tanks and i think heavy tanks but they have to be targeted from behind were the Armour is weakest.

 

[gorobei]

finally got to torpedo a ship with my h6k4, never quite sure if/when i hit. only sunk a destroyer.

im getting to the point where i cant do much because the rest of my team has no concept of covering other players backs. i keep saving friendlys from the fighter on their tail, only to have them run away leaving me to get double or triple teamed.

 

[Genx87]

Is that in arcade? Arcade dont expect much help.

 

[Ruptga]

Arcade is a real crapshoot, but you can still count on the enemy being just as stupid as your own team (most of the time, anyway).

When I start, I turn 30-45 degrees to one side or another and start climbing with WEP on, I pitch up until my speed is stable at about 150mph. This means I am well above the opening furball, and am in a position to hunt high level bombers. At this stage I am also on the lookout for high value targets, which is mostly any bastard that brought a one-shot trollcannon to the match. KI45s and P39s are always the first things I kill when I can help it, A20s and Beaufighters are also high on my list. If I see one of my HVTs I fly more or less direcly over him, then roll 180 and lay on the elevators. If my target is fast like an A20, this means I'm moving quickly enough to actually keep up with him and do some damage. If my target is something else it means I will probably be approaching from above and just behind him and he won't have a clue I'm coming. I take careful aim, open up at about 1400ft, keep the guns on him until I'm about to ram, then keep diving behind his tail, and pull up without turning. I use my speed and WEP to quickly climb to 3-5k feet while taking stock of my new surroundings, then normally turn around and do it again. Normally my first target is dead, but sometimes they're just crippled. In any case they can't do anything to me because I'm out of guns range by the time they know where I am.

Starting about 5 minutes into the match you can tell who has a clue just by the scoreboards. Look at the top 3-5 names on your side and try to stick with them; look at the top 3-5 names on their side and ambush them whenever possible. Scoreboard hotkey is N, overall map hotkey is M, both are vital to situational awareness. Another handy hotkey is U, which tracks the last bomb/torp you dropped, it is very handy for adjusting your aim against moving targets. And don't forget your number pad, or someone like me will latch onto your ass and you won't have a clue until things start going black.

 

[Ruptga]

So, WT is now a ps4 launch title. I hope it works well for them, my gamepad flying experience was seriously awful, though. Not that it will affect me much, I won't be rushing to get a new console, and they are planning for cross-platform matches but I'm sure that will also be a while in coming.

On the other hand, maybe I'll take a break until they've made a few more releases. I'm getting really fed up with it all. Tiers 2-3 were fun, but the matches are all the same after a while, plus I felt a little guilty about the seal clubbing. Tiers 4-5 are hit and miss, and tiers 6+ are all about 37mm trollcannons and grinding for even moar cannons.

 

[KMFJD]

I thought this was a pretty good guide, just starting out only a few planes so far

http://ramjbwtacademy.blogspot.com.es/

 

[monkeydelmagico]

Base AI gunners are really terrible, no doubt. They don't get to be any good until you get accuracy/precision up to 40/40 at least. And even then they may not do anything substantial if the turret is just one 7mm. But, all my gunners are at least that high and they will reliably get hits in while leaving me free to dodge cannon fire.

If you spend about $10 for 3k gold you will have more than enough to upgrade all your crews by 1500 exp, just do it. That will allow you to noticeably increase each crew's most important skills, and should level the crew enough to unlock expert qualification for some silver. Expert gives big buffs to sight, visibility, reload, repair, and gunner targeting, and it is absolutely worth it.

So is it better to just spend the xp on experienced gunners or spread the xp around to the other skills?

 

[gorobei]

So is it better to just spend the xp on experienced gunners or spread the xp around to the other skills?

depends on what you are trying to do. it takes a lot of points to get another gunner, if you are running a boat bomber with 4-5 gun turrets it will be a lot of grinding. if you are in a med bomber with 1 main turret it wont really matter as much. spending on reduced reload time can help you get more kills/destructions so you arent spending all your time avoiding the enemy waiting for your bombs to reload.

 

[Ruptga]

^^ It really does depend on what you're trying to do, and what you're flying.

I have an SB2M with all 3 gunners and 50/50 in precision and accuracy, plus of course the whole crew is elite. With two rear gunners its fields of fire are pretty good, but there is still just 1x7mm on each turret, so the end result is a lot of hits but not a ton of kills. It does go a long way to dissuade persistent fighters, though.

I also have a Beaufort and an A20 with 10/50 and 17/50, respectively, and both are elite. They actually get a lot more kills than the SB2M for two reasons. First, their main defensive armament is both 2x12mm and they both have good fields of fire. Second, those are both fast diving planes that I mostly fly in a straight line. Gunners are FAR more accurate when you don't wiggle the plane, and since I'm doing well over 250mph (about 400 in the A20) the enemy is doing all they can to keep up with me, which means they aren't dodging much.

If your idea of bombing involves an H6K or PBY, I would put everything into reload speed and maintenance, with the scraps going into pilot and gunner vitality. It takes a ludicrous amount of xp to get all the gunners in one of those, and since they're so bad at dodging fire you're better off just taking the guns. Careful manual aiming will always be more accurate than even 50/50 aced gunners, the main reason to invest in gunners is so you can ignore that and focus on dodging or aiming at the next target. That isn't such a concern when you literally can't dodge, and you have a long time between targets because you're flying at 140mph.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

good info thanks guys. I haven't had a chance to try any of it out because the servers have been down all weekend.

 

[gorobei]

ugg, the armor beta challenges are just getting ridiculous. ive done 6 now and still no invite.

the matchmaking is becoming a joke, i like flying the reserve planes when grinding for kills but im being matched against laggs spitfires and beaufighters when all i have are peashooters.

 

[Ruptga]

Yeah, my bfighter has been seeing a lot more peashooters lately. My t3s haven't been seeing t7s though, try going up a bracket.

 

[Possessed Freak]

ugg, the armor beta challenges are just getting ridiculous. ive done 6 now and still no invite.

the matchmaking is becoming a joke, i like flying the reserve planes when grinding for kills but im being matched against laggs spitfires and beaufighters when all i have are peashooters.

Make sure you ONLY have reserve planes queued up. A single 1 can mess things up.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

ugg, the armor beta challenges are just getting ridiculous. ive done 6 now and still no invite.

the matchmaking is becoming a joke, i like flying the reserve planes when grinding for kills but im being matched against laggs spitfires and beaufighters when all i have are peashooters.

Geez, 6 completed with no invite is silly. I did a couple and figured maybe I'd get an invite but that is clearly delusional thinking.

I've had the best luck farming in the lvl 2-3 with russian planes. YMMV