How does one evade artillery

[Googly_Laser 0]

So, I recently bought myself a Conqueror. Awesome tank, although the driver and ammo rack are constantly being knocked out. However, that is not the point of this.

How does one evade artillery? More specifically, how does one evade artillery in a big, slow, weakly armoured tank that does 34 km/h forwards and 12 mm/h backwards? Do I camp at the back of the map sniping the whole time? I try to use evasive maneuvers but let's face when you're as slow as the Conqueror you aren't moving very quickly. I would also like to point out that it's not like I'm making myself and obvious target, I'm usually at the back of the group (because I'm trying to avoid artillery choosing me) one shell will be fired into the E 75's, VK 45.02 B's, IS-8's (you know the tanks that have SOME armour, well the VK has a little more than "some") but after that one shell they won't fire again until they see me at which point they'll open up on me, in fact a Bat Chat 155 58 STOPPED firing at an E 100 and switched to me when I got spotted after he'd put two shells into the E 100.

Is this something I just have to put up with? Should I just go drive medium tanks or heavy tanks with sufficient armour to minimise the damage received from an artillery strike?

This video (while completely crap) shows how much I get focused down by artillery. Yes at some points I wasn't trying my hardest to dodge the artillery, and yes past the first move on the hill I played crap but I was basically scared of the artillery destroying me after that as I'd already had to repair my gun

http://wotreplays.com/site/2091969?secret=2152c558d347bd9ed7b829af0f4d28c5

 

P.S. The stats under my name are completely wrong, I've played almost 8K games, don't know where the numbers are coming from :/

[Ollie Tabooger 614]

The reason why artillery is so hated around here is because it vastly limits gameplay and adds a dimension of needless RNG. That being said, the only good ways to avoid it are to A) camp really far back so that you don't get spotted (please don't do this unless you're good@chaisniping) or B) always hug some form of hard cover in their general directions.

[DeltaVolt 258]

In my experience the best thing you can do is go out there, try to limit your exposure as best as you can, and just do as much damage as you can until they click you. Estimate where you think they'll set up and use hills/other cover to make shots more difficult at you, but don't let it control your game. 

[Googly_Laser 0]

The reason why artillery is so hated around here is because it vastly limits gameplay and adds a dimension of needless RNG. That being said, the only good ways to avoid it are to A) camp really far back so that you don't get spotted (please don't do this unless you're good@chaisniping) or B) always hug some form of hard cover in their general directions.

So really the best thing to do is learn how to snipe on as many maps as I can alongside learning what hard cover can and can't conceal me from artillery? With the accuracy nerfs sniping is a pain in the ass (especially against tier 10 russian mediums) but I can always try.

[KrVa46 73]

The reason why artillery is so hated around here is because it vastly limits gameplay and adds a dimension of needless RNG.

You are wrong.  Arty is in the game because it prevents camping.  I'm sure all of us know how dynamic high tier battles are with 3 arties in the game.

LEL ...

[Googly_Laser 0]

In my experience the best thing you can do is go out there, try to limit your exposure as best as you can, and just do as much damage as you can until they click you. 

Ok, I like that mentality too. 

[Haswell 2,398]

You avoid arty by giving zero fucks about them and burn a path from your spawn straight to them. Then you fuck them very roughly with your HE shells.

[Googly_Laser 0]

You avoid arty by giving zero fucks about them and burn a path from your spawn straight to them. Then you fuck them very roughly with your HE shells.

How do you "burn a path" in a Conqueror ;-)

[CarbonWard 3,529]

An arty dodging Conqueror is an oxymoron, just don't be in a position where you will be lit for a prolonged period without option to back into hard cover.

[Haswell 2,398]

How do you "burn a path" in a Conqueror ;-)

You load APCR and out-DPM everything in front of you, while laughing at shots that bounce off your turret.

[Googly_Laser 0]

An arty dodging Conqueror is an oxymoron, just don't be in a position where you will be lit for a prolonged period without option to back into hard cover.

Yes but there are so many open maps you often don't have a choice (Fiery Salient is a brilliant example). And moving into the solid cover can expose you to direct fire from real tanks

You load APCR and out-DPM everything in front of you, while laughing at shots that bounce off your turret.

Sometimes I wish APCR was standard, same pen but I love the extra velocity. 323 mm of pen is great for E 100's though (even though the turret ring is easily penned anyway at close range).

[waga100 353]

basically keep in mind where arty is and how they'll be shooting you with their ark and don't be in the open and lit for long periods and if you are in the open try to Move unpredictably. You will still be hit. No matter what you do you will be hit, but it helps, you'll be hit less and thats the best that you're going to get. I've sort of developed a thing where arty is in the back of my mind and if i am in the open i think something along the lines of 'shit I'm probably about to get clicked'. Sometimes though you just need to take the risk and not hump a rock and you sometimes will just get lolrngoneshot (hence why arty is so hated)

[Joyrider216 1,028]

You avoid arty by giving zero fucks about them and burn a path from your spawn straight to them. Then you fuck them very roughly with your HE shells.

Be extremely active in your gameplay, don't sit and cower and poke out fearing arty, because that will lead to them hitting you easily. Whatever flank you are on, like haswell is saying, just blaze through it asap and then either support the other flank or go kill arty. Learning from experience arty safe spots is also a good way when you need to drop spot or hulldown to dpm stuff.

[Treeburst 77]

One thing that helps if there are only little arties or 1/2 of them. Nothing really helps if there are 2/3+ big ones.

Don't go back to the well too often. I know I do this, and I know other people do too. You find a spot where you are hull down and have 3 or 4 targets to shoot at, and so you get greedy. You pull back up to the ridge to take just that one more ... BOOM. You are done.

Clickers are unsatisfying and boring as hell to play because they aren't dynamic at all. Essentially they all take ages to aim, and actually hitting what you're aiming at is an RNG crapshoot. Higher tier clickers make up for this with tremendous module damage and not completely inconsequential splash damage even on a miss - but lower tier clickers pretty much have to get lucky and actually hit you. As far as I'm aware clickers follow the same rules as everyone else as far as accuracy goes, so they are going to hit dead center on their aiming circle about 60% of the time. If you have any clickers you can kind of get a feel for what they are seeing in god-mode as they try to line up their clicks.

You can kind of fuck with the low/mid tier arty by acting like you are falling into a pattern - so pull forward, aim for a couple seconds, shoot. Pull back, reload, repeat. Do that a couple times, then pull forward and sit there for a second, and then back up without shooting. Or pull up and shoot real fast without aiming in all the way. Top tier clickers are going to damage you and track you if they hit within a tank-length of you anyway, so I wouldn't recommend trying to bait them like that.

[lazydot 99]

P.S. The stats under my name are completely wrong, I've played almost 8K games, don't know where the numbers are coming from :/

Play less than 3.8k games within 24h and arta will stop focusing you 

[Googly_Laser 0]

Guess it's something I have to deal with as a high tier player, just juke them when I'm exposed, recognise when I'm exposed and try to not be exposed. Guess that's the penalty for enjoying high tiers, bigger artillery. 

I would quickly like to say thankyou to everyone who replied (and those still to come) your tips are welcomed and I have already been making use of them. For example I was playing on Malinokva on the hill (because let's face it, where else is a heavy tank going to go to do consistent damage without being outcompeted by tank destroyers -_-). I noticed that everyone was hiding behind the mill and small building there after they had been taking consistent artillery fire. Realising that I was completely out in the open, exposed to artillery, I pulled back and *BOOM* *BOOM* two artillery shells land exactly where I was completely missing me and doing no damage. Without your tips I would have probably have been reduced to 900 hitpoints (having taken a hit from a KV-4 before) or less and not been able to be as aggressive as I was after this. Thank you all, it makes me happy to see that everyone else here hates artillery as much as I do but that there are ways around them.

P.S. Have I posted this in the correct area of the forum? As you can see this is my first time posting anything on this site (which is very useful <3) and I don't want to insult people by posting stuff in the wrong area

Play less than 3.8k games within 24h and arta will stop focusing you 

Haha, wow that is not right at all. Why is it showing this?

[Constar 64]

best way to avoid death from above is platooning with parple playereres

[kissyboy 25]

basically, you dont get spotted first. imagine you are playing artillery, once you are aiming at a target, you dont bother switching targets, because its hard enough doing damage in arty, and they seem to tunnel vision hardcore( maybe the birdseye view??), so basically let your teamates take the hits for you.  dont camp, but just try to be the second person to an engagement

[Rexxie 10,781]

P.S. Have I posted this in the correct area of the forum? As you can see this is my first time posting anything on this site (which is very useful <3) and I don't want to insult people by posting stuff in the wrong area

Yes, this is the right area

[prolix 355]

Based on my experience driving many heavy tanks and playing my first high-tier arty (M40/43), here are some tips: 

• In a game with 2/3 arty, the moment you realise the area around you is getting focused by 2 or more clickers, you want to poke the ridge from a noticeably different direction. If the scumbag is intent on clicking you, doing so might forces them to re-aim or (in the better case for you) shift their arc directly to cover you. This means they need ages to aim and that itself might be a deterrent to even bother with you in the first place or take a non fully-aimed shot. 
• Calibrate your aggression and be extremely aware of where the various arties are focusing. Clickers love to punish heavies who have the audacity to sit in the open and stop to take shots. So to avoid getting focused, try to be in semi-cover (e.g. poking/sidescraping only a bit from buildings) or always have somewhere to drop-back into safety (e.g. when you are playing a ridge) after you've taken your shot. 
• Kinda related to the first point, but the inconvenience principle applies. Try not to be the first spotted if you know an area's getting pre-aimed. That's just a direct challenge to the clicker who wants to ruin your day. 
• It's obvious to clickers if you are actively trying to juke. Say you're playing a med on the 6 line of Prok. Any decent arty player would focus on, say, a high-percentage shot of heavies clustering at the hill rather than you. So, poke, fire and immediately pull back down the ridge and commence the arty-juking dance. 

[kissyboy 25]

Based on my experience driving many heavy tanks and playing my first high-tier arty (M40/43), here are some tips: 

• In a game with 2/3 arty, the moment you realise the area around you is getting focused by 2 or more clickers, you want to poke the ridge from a noticeably different direction. If the scumbag is intent on clicking you, doing so might forces them to re-aim or (in the better case for you) shift their arc directly to cover you. This means they need ages to aim and that itself might be a deterrent to even bother with you in the first place or take a non fully-aimed shot. 
• Calibrate your aggression and be extremely aware of where the various arties are focusing. Clickers love to punish heavies who have the audacity to sit in the open and stop to take shots. So to avoid getting focused, try to be in semi-cover (e.g. poking/sidescraping only a bit from buildings) or always have somewhere to drop-back into safety (e.g. when you are playing a ridge) after you've taken your shot. 
• Kinda related to the first point, but the inconvenience principle applies. Try not to be the first spotted if you know an area's getting pre-aimed. That's just a direct challenge to the clicker who wants to ruin your day. 
• It's obvious to clickers if you are actively trying to juke. Say you're playing a med on the 6 line of Prok. Any decent arty player would focus on, say, a high-percentage shot of heavies clustering at the hill rather than you. So, poke, fire and immediately pull back down the ridge and commence the arty-juking dance. 

^^this is exactly right

[_EXODUZ_ 124]

Having a hit direction mod kinda helps as well. This way you can see where they're firing from and use that information to position yourself against hard cover.

[Googly_Laser 0]

Having a hit direction mod kinda helps as well. This way you can see where they're firing from and use that information to position yourself against hard cover.

I use the built in game one quite a bit plus I can kinda tell where they are from how I got shot.

[Kittenpaw 29]

Sometimes I just decide to not give a fuck about arty as well. Just yesterday I was playing as a top tier T29 on a Malinkova encounter battle. I decided to go to a great hull down, yet very arty exposed position on the map. Arty hit me 4 times, had dead crews, broken modules etc, but I still survived with 100 HP left, carried my team to a 15 to 12 victory and was only ever hit by arty the entire match. I mean, I did not just sit there like an idiot at the same time. Moving in erratic ways once spotted goes a long way to avoiding direct hits. So do that of course. Also using the slopes to throw off their shell trajectory. 

 

SO I guess my addition to this subject is to sometimes just say: F-it, I want this position, it is crucial to have, fire away at me arty. 

[canadiantrex 2,621]

You don't avoid arty. You verbally abuse and berate them.

Fuck arty.