Multi The World Of Tanks thread

You can't do anything other than hit more and do more damage. The reason xp is lower on arty is because you split it with the spotter. Price paid for sitting at the back in safety. If you ever direct shoot someone that you spot yourself you get more xp. It is not advisable to do this except maybe on city maps and go TD mode in a fast arty like the Hummel can somtimes work on those maps.

As for best place to shoot/aim with arty. It is just behind the target. Not on target. Due to firing arcs on most arty the shell will hit them more often doing this and has more chance of hitting them on top. Less of an issue with high arc loer tier arty, but high tier you should aim just a small amount behind the target.

 

Cellular Peptide: Depends on the target and the artillery you're using, angle of the shot and whether they're stationary or mobile.

Personally I'd only be aiming specifically for the engine deck if the reticule was smaller than the opposing tank or completely circular indicating a vertical shot - very rarely happens but it's very nice when it does! Otherwise you want to be putting the + in the reticule on the highest point of the target to maximise the chance of a hit - often the back of the turret which is also very nice when their ammo rack cooks off. The dot indicates impact point, the + indicates flight path. It's generally pretty accurate when you're at the same level as the target but becomes less so depending on how the great the height difference is. If the target is higher than you the shells land short. Lower and they overshoot but you're more likely to still get a hit. Aim beyond them if they're on top of a hill, slightly in front if you're on top of a hill and directly at them otherwise.

Moving targets I wouldn't recommend trying for until you've played a fair few battles with a particular SPG and know the shell flight times. Know as in you don't even have to think about it rather than count the seconds. I don't calculate the lead on shots with my Hummel, I just make the shot. With my M7 I wouldn't even try as you're lucky to hit a house with that thing. With my SU-5, not yet but it is insanely good for tier 3 arty. Not quite as glorious as the SU-26 but not far off. Fast aim, fast reload and decent range if you keep the 122mm cannon rather than going for the 152mm mortar. The Wespe is also a glorious machine but you have to get used to the very low firing angle. Shots can be tricky but the range on that thing!

Positioning on the back of a hill is good but also restrictive. You then have a minimum as well as maximum range and frequently there's no cover. If I'm out in the open and see a target that needs hitting I'll take the shot and move immediately. From tier 4 upwards you want to be doing this anyway as pretty much everyone playing arty is used to counter battery work. Also remember that slopes and arty don't mix. All tanks are slowed by hills but arty is never very fast to begin with so I tend to avoid them where I can. More often than not I'll hide at the bottom of the hill off the direct path and shoot tanks in the back as they start climbing it - easy targets. The exception is Sand River as you can lurk behind the berms on the right flank and get some beautiful shots off without ever being seen - always a bonus in my book

Getting more XP is an issue. The most I've had so far from one battle was 1,994 XP in my Hummel but that was 3 kills (I think), survived the battle, we capped and it was my first victory of the day - effectively a 400% bonus. Otherwise I'd say that around 200 or so at tier 3 is average, 300 at tier 4 and 400 ish at tier 5. Arty, whatever the nation, is a long old slog compared to the other tank types. Tier 3 to 4 is around 43k XP, tier 4 to 5 is 115k XP or more. The up side is that you'll definitely have a 100% crew and money isn't an issue. The down side is that you may be so familiar with your SPG that you don't want to change it (I still miss my little SU-26 ) You'll still get nice XP for a single hit from tier 5 upwards though as you'll frequently be damaging tier 8+ heavies and can one shot many tier 5 or 6 TDs.

As far as going TD mode is concerned, I wouldn't try it unless I was driving one of the US SPGs as they are very quick compared to the others. However, it's a risky proposition as you simply don't have the same turn rate as a TD so frequently get toasted before you get a shot off, completely ignoring the fact that while you have a BFG it just happens to be mounted on a shopping trolley with wonky wheels. Ensk has some nice arty spots, as does Ruinberg (just not the bushes next to the house at the North end of the map - too commonly used and you'll get nailed by speculative fire) and Siegfried Line. Himmelsdorf is still a stone cold bitch for arty. Try to resist the temptation to go up the hill unless you want out of the battle fast. Personally I usually get best results from the train yard on that one. Otherwise I'd save direct fire for when you absolutely have to. Many a TD or medium has been surprised when they've got to our back line and been nailed by muggins with a single shot. Even then remember that you're artillery so be sneaky. Wait for them to commit themselves going past then shoot them from behind - no point in taking chances now, is there?

One other suggestion I would make to all artillerists - your team mates will go through houses, flatten trees, smash walls and otherwise leave a trail of destruction wherever they go. Don't give in to the temptation. If you want to spot artillery easily, scan their end of the map and shoot at the end of the trail of destruction most leave behind them. Go around the obstacles and if someone mows down a tree near you move away from it.

Sorry for the wall of text, I tend to ramble on a bit when I'm keen on a subject As you may have guessed, I'm rather enjoying artillery and find it more rewarding for me than any of the other trees. I also spend a fair amount of time at work analysing data and tend to carry on with that approach outside of work. Oops?

 

That is a very helpful guide there, Grimloon. Just one question:

In regards to counter-battery work, there used to be tracers most gunfire so that artillery could see where people were shooting from, which was especially useful for tracking down the enemy artillery. I think that's been removed now, so other than getting up-close and personal with them, how does counter-battery work now?

 

What makes me rage the most when playing SPG is when you've predicted a shot and your target get detracked stopping dead, whilst your shot flies over their head!

 

Currently counter battery is limited to hitting very commonly used sights with the aid of the destruction of item such as tree to tell the player whether its likely someone is present at the location. Or of course waiting for them to be spotted.

 

Haven't played WoT for a bit, but i'll ad my thoughts to what grimloon said about SPGs [note: i'm not as experienced as some of the people on here]

As grimloon said contrary to what some think a most SPGs' guns can't cover the entire map and certain maps neuter the effectiveness of SPGs [Ruinberg, i'm looking at you] somewhat.

see above. if they're in a built up area on say Ensk or Ruinberg chances are an SPG is going to have a hard time hitting them.

nothing bugs me more than someone in a light tank tearing across the map, leaving radio range, stumbling across a bunch of the enemy, dying and the whining about no arty support.

If you can't see it, we can't see it... but if you can't see us, we can't see what you see...

this one is more for the enemy, most of my SPG kills have come from some bozo not having the smarts to GTFO after a near miss... if you've been hit [or near missed] by arty, if you can still move, don't just wait around for them [me] to try again... and no... moving forward a few feet doesn't count...

Yes, don't whine you've got no arty support when you've either left us undefended or let a tank through, even the quickest turning SPGs will have rings run round it by most tanks...

I'm not the best shot in any tank, but there's no point raging at me because i'm not one-hitting every tank in range, arty is very hit and miss. I've gone whole games without hitting anything for many of the reasons above...

 

If my experience of SPG's is anything to go by (400 battles in the Hummel during beta and just now got a fully upgraded SU-14), then it just gets more frustrating as it goes on. The SU-5 and lower are pretty accurate with a good rate of fire, the SU-8 isn't too accurate, but it fairly reliably lands the shell to the near side of the reticle so you can account for that. The 203mm on the SU-14 does whatever it damn well feels like, and when I'm shooting AP, even a near miss doesn't count. The reason I shoot AP is that it's not a premium round for that gun, and a good hit will one-shot a JagdTiger/Lowe/IS-3/T-32/Tiger2 and do >80% damage to an IS-4 in a single hit. At around 45 seconds per shot though its a terrible feeling to miss when platoonmates are counting on you for support.

 

The tracers have been removed from arty. Although they still show where unspotted vehicles are for everything else.

Counter battery is generally not something I tend to bother with, with 14 shots I want to fire at things I have at least a 90% chance of hitting.

RedFlame has a few good points which made me laugh:

So true. I'm amazed the times people just sit still after taking a hit. I mean ok I might have gotten lucky and taken even the engine or the tracks in which case... goodnight. But really its hard to mistake an arty hit even in a fire fight with other tanks because you can see the ark as it comes towards you. And all I have to do is not move the mouse and watch the reticule close down on you again while I reload....

One thing I've never known is how to Ping a target? I've had the misfortune to hit one of my own tanks but for future reference.... How?

 

No ~ they only show when the enemy is spotted. It is a major flaw in this game now, and one of the reasons why arty is so easy mode these days and why TD are more powerful than they used to be.

Counter arty in particular was a huge part of the game and is badly needed to be back. Especially so in high tier and clan wars.

 

Target priority and very occasional speculative fire on the overly used lurk spots. This I learnt the hard way by overusing such spots myself. Hold right mouse if you see arty on the map and track your aim to them (your aim point stays the same, only the view moves). If they aren't moving line up the shot, if they are wait to see if they knock anything down and which bush the trail of destruction ends at, then shoot. That's what I generally do and I reckon about 1 in 5 times I'll bag one. That does depend on having shells spare though so I generally save it for city maps as often that'll be the most good I can do.

I hate the "shower them in dirt" shot more but know exactly what you mean

*bows down* Do you need an apprentice?

I freely admit to being a newbie, I can only ever post my own thoughts and opinions on playing an SPG but I'd definitely agree with you there. Ammo goes down as tier goes up and I find myself weighing up whether or not it is worth taking the shot or not more than I used to. A touch frustrating.

I don't think I have the balls to go all out AP, I near miss often enough that having splash damage to fall back on is rather comforting. I'm gutted enough already at a total miss and that's been the case from tier 3 onwards, I reckon I'll keep playing with HE.

Just out of curiosity, why did you go for the USSR SPG tree after using the German tree in beta? Personally, I prefer the German SPGs over the others as I find them stupidly accurate (for an SPG) with very respectable damage and immense range.

Press T with the cursor over the target. I'm seeing it a lot more often now, even just with my tier 3 SPGs and most people are getting the message that it means "Incoming!" and GTFO

Fortunately, I've only had one occasion (so far) where I slammed a shell in to my team mate's engine deck (and set him on fire which reduced him to 3% health and immobilised the tank. Oops?) but in my defence I had a flank shot on a Jagdpanzer which was completely oblivious to my presence. Unfortunately, so was my team mate and I hadn't pinged the target so he didn't know that there was incoming when he started the Rambo run.

I'm generally confident enough of my aim that I shoot at a furball without hitting a team mate but sometimes they throw me a curve ball so get a bit of splash. I can now type "****! Sorry!" very fast

 

Wait for the next one.
I got really excited to see I was nearly at my M12 only to be totally crushed by the fact that I had misread 112,250 as 12,250 experience.
DOH! only 100+k to go.

My crew will be old men before I get it.

 

I have a lot of battles in arty but it is a secondary occupation. I have the 261 (T8 russian) but prefer the 212 (T7 russian).

In general I would say the german T8 is the best all rounder. The american T8 does massive splash damage but some maps it is not so good on. The russian T8 is specialist. IF tracers come back it will be immense.

Some of my tanks since live (I won't bother going into Beta details as well) are :-

IS7, Maus, T54, Object 704, 212 and 261. I have elited the ENTIRE russian tree a while back.

I'm working on both US and German trees now.

By the way, if anyone is serious on playing this game and wants to join a great clan (FHA) with prospect of serious clan wars....let me know.

However we won't take just anyone and you need to be both good and commited....

 

Lol thanks. I carry 4 HE shells for backup, but the sheer damage available from AP rounds has tempted me. I chose the USSR SPG tree for the endgame - the 261 is the most accurate of the T8s which is what I want - If I was stopping at T5 I'd have chosen USA, or Germany for T6/7.

Put into context, the 261 has a deviation of 0.37, even the mighty accurate SU-26 has a best accuracy of 0.43, while a Gpanther has 0.38


Random screenshot whoring . Needless to say our defense won that round.

 

If you saw that line up and had an AP shell loaded I'd kick myself.

 

I was one of the 704s in that round, not arty , that being said though, all of those TDs can be penetrated from the front by t8/9/10 tanks.

 

just started playing this Friday, ace game, i am really enjoying it.
i just got my fist spg, its an american t57 iirc, its a bit different using this than my favourite russian BT-2
quick question, while waiting for the level to load, and you can see the lists of players, what are the little grey shields with numbers in them mean?

 

People in platoons

 

Methinks I may have to put a touch more time in to my SU-5 but it's so hard to do when the German tree is so much fun where I am right now. I dropped my SU-5 back down to the 122 as the range is so annoying if I use the 152. I shall persist though as it sounds as though I may have a treat in store.

I can't see the US tree being that much fun though, accuracy seems to be sacrificed for refire rate and damage doesn't impress me much (at least to tier 4 and I hate the M7 Priest with a passion - pathetic, poxy, useless hunk of iron )

@DraigUK: If you need an extra artillerist in a month or two then please drop me a line. I have much more learning to do at the moment but I rather miss clan play, it's been a while.

 

Started playing this over the weekend, the Wench is finding it problematic due to how addicted I have become!

 

i can agree totally with this

anyone any tips on the best order in which to get new tanks and what model numbers?
TIA