Hey Tankers!
While v1.12.1 has provided new players with a reprieve from seal-clubbing and a space to learn the complex mechanics of World of Tanks in relative comfort, quality gameplay in higher tiers is often elusive where large swathes of players continue to regularly play beyond their means. This brings frustrating consequences for both the player and their team-mates. Here are a few tips to avoid becoming one of them...
The Tech Tree Paradox
Games like World of Tanks provide players with expanding capabilities and tangible progress through technology trees. With +2 matchmaking, tankers in the mid-tiers will regularly encounter vastly superior machines. This will compel them to climb through more tiers in order to compete with the seemingly unbeatable "nemesis tanks" that they meet. The tragic irony is that a faster climb makes players less competitive, as the machines they subsequently face at higher tiers and the players that drive them bear relative capabilities far in excess of their "nemesis tanks" of the low-mid tiers.
The consequence of the Tech Tree Paradox is that World of Tanks finds many players at higher-tiers who had been motivated by the destination rather than the journey, and had been moving too quickly to pick up the nuances of the game. While the tech tree comprises 5 classes of tanks, there are 11 documented role specialisations thus not all tanks of a class will play identically. But reaching the top tiers requires the expenditure of significant Credits and XP, and many players might feel a misplaced entitlement at having earned a position in the higher tiers.
Check Yourself Komrade And Better Learn Your Appropriate Tier
I've recently discovered a new "game" and a renewed focus on my contribution to the battle, that breeds self-esteem and positivity in the face of crushing winrates rather than rage and destruction of peripheral devices. The game is called "Check Yourself Komrade And Better Learn Your Appropriate Tier" or CYKABLYAT for short. The rules of CYKABLYAT are simple and are as follows: - If you place Bottom-5 by EXP, drop a tier - If you place Top-5 by EXP, climb a tier* - If you place neither Top-5 nor Bottom-5, hold your tier - ANZ Server Special Rule: If you time out in queue, drop a tier
With even the best players losing games >35% of the time, this takes winrate out of the equation and asks the direct question: Did you provide a positive influence on that battle?
I don't care if you're a 100K-game legend from Sydney or a Tibetan 9 year-old relying on a pedal-power generator keep the lights and the PC you're playing on running (noting the PC is probably older than you are). CYKABLYAT will help you find your place.
Realities of Winrates
I'm going to talk winrates now, so I must put my cards on the table and duly inform that my recent winrate is a comfortably above-average 51.1% for an average tier 7.8 with 1569WN8 (at the time of publishing). It's basically 3.6 Roetgen...
It sounds simple, but players with lower winrates tend to lose more battles. Those low-winrate players using XVM or other stat-mods might also report that they are more often matched on teams more likely to lose. This isn't a conspiracy, rather it's because they account for at least a 7% (1/15) weighting of the teams prospects.
Low winrates accrued over thousands of battles suggest a fundamental deficiency in a players contribution to a positive match outcome. RNG and good/bad teams can only influence this so far. The trigger for "Unicum" status is a >60% winrate, which means even the best players are unable to tip the scales 35-40% of the time. Conversely, you would probably need to be a career griefer/troll to attract a <40% winrate (although I confess I have a Hall of Shame of 16 tanks with a <40% winrate over 347 battles combined, including 26% over 72 battles in FV4005 Stage II ).
The inference of sustained low winrates is that a player is consistently trying to punch above their weight and above their level of comprehension of World of Tanks.
Improving Your Winrate
Once CYKABLYAT helps you find your groove, developing players can turn to strategies to help their winrate organically improve. These solutions might sound simple, but there are so many players who could easily squeeze a few more percentage points on their winrates by following these basics:
1. Get Help
There are SO many resources around for World of Tanks players to get to learn their tanks better. Gaming time is precious, but taking 10mins to watch a YouTube video explaining basic game mechanics instead of crashing and burning in another feckless Random Battle is a sensible investment of your time. In addition to the workings of Community Contributors like myself, here's a great place to start:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGZ37wrxkWKHLWyHI0yygVEYHiJhXN7G5
2. Join a Social Clan
Interacting socially with other players who share the same tags is a great way to absorb wisdom and is often a shame-free way to ask questions about how to improve your game or play a particular tank. As a noob, hearing keywords like "sidescraping" motivated me to investigate its relevance, whereupon I discovered it wasn't just a description of what happens when you stuff up a reverse parallel-park
3. Join a Social Media group
If joining a clan sounds like too much of a commitment, there are many World of Tanks support groups on social media, however be advised that your experience may vary during online play ;)
4. Use Paint, Crew, Equipment and Consumables
I waited until way too embarrassingly long in my World of Tanks career to do simple things like painting my tank, assigning skills to crews or strapping on equipment. So many games became tragedies as losing a track became a death sentence and losing a gun, ammo rack or crew member permanently crippled fighting ability. I don't know why I didn't use consumables more. Perhaps a long sad history of playing RPG's where potions or temporary buffs would just pile up disused because I didn't think I needed them? In any case, Item #2 assisted in setting me straight!
5. Platoon with a Compatible Tank
In World of Tanks, flanks are won or lost by the players with more collective DPM and HP pushing in unison and systematically taking out the defenders one-by-one. You can replicate this on the small-scale by inviting two of your friends to join your platoon and assert your will on the battlefield. You could do this as a three-tank element using vehicles of similar battlefield role, or operate in separate supporting roles with a deadly spotter-sniper-artilleryman combination that ensures no enemy tank can run or hide.
6. Stop Playing Support Tanks
"Support Tank" is a term that generally describes a tank with niche capabilities but relies on its team-mates to reach its true potential. This might be as an SPG who needs its team-mates to identify targets, a Light Tank who needs its team-mates to shoot what they see, or a Medium/Heavy Tank or Tank Destroyer that's all gun and no armour and thus relies on opportunity rather than brute force in order to inflict damage. These tanks often have a sharper learning curve and often rely on the actions your team-mates to play effectively. Players with flagging winrates should defer playing such tanks until their map awareness and battlefield awareness develops such that they know where to deploy and how to respond to the movements of enemies and team-mates alike.
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