Initial Observations After A Long Break

[dirtd0g 1,181]

So, I haven't played much in a long time... Still not really playing much, but have logged hours in weeks rather than minutes in years. Here are my musings and questions after a few games.

Nothing has really changed. I have no idea what, if any, major mechanic augmentations or map modifications have taken place... But consistent victory and above-average success with pubbies is still achieved through, in order of importance and they are all so close as to basically be tied: 1a) Situational Awareness; this includes from recognizing ideal initial deployment based on map and team composition to realizing you're about to get shot in the ass;  1b) Reactivity and Response; after being AWARE, knowing how and when and where to respond is key; 1c) Mechanic Abuse; this includes understanding vision, spotting, and even the individual strengths of the chosen vehicle.

Everything else is really general. Map knowledge and innate skill and practice... Seriously, I was under the impression that the game had undergone some serious and important decisions.

Currently I still rock in tanks I like and suit my favorite play-style. I win and rack up damage when calm, focused, and patient while derping out spectacularly when on tilt or just mindlessly chasing a x3 or something.   

What happened while I was away? What are all of these new tanks? What are the "biggest" and "most important" mechanic tweaks I should know about?

Are there a lot more auto-loaders, or is it just me?

Any of these new vehicles a good fit for someone like me? Do you not know who I am? Does anyone remember anything? Am I as infamous as Garbad yet? Where are my guys at? I loved my guys and abandoned them, the self-righteous little shits that they were.

Seriously, I like mobile platforms with good vision and DPM preferably with the body and health pool to leverage for a late-game carry. I also like to yolo-derp in paper thin rockets for spots while creating chaos and then withdraw to farm pretend penis points from beyond their view.

What is good in tournaments and organized competitive play? Clan Wars still a thing? Strongholds still hilarious? Are jimmies still occasionally rustled? Any shitty little clans jumping into water that should be over their head and wrecking some face above their weight? Any big clans basically dominating everything? Have I missed the opportunity to earn any sweet envy-inducing stuff!?

And, back to a more potentially helpful note, new maps ain't shit. Same rules apply to all; if it's confined and contested you better have the body to deal, if it's open and bushy you better have the view and speed to utilize, and be prepared to function outside of your vehicles "role" if you want to pull a victory from the jaws of defeat... Or just play fucking mediums already... Maybe mobile heavies... Sometimes a light carries with good early scouting followed by choice mid-game fire support and then some late-game survival for potential heroic-looking mop-up when really it was nothing because the 5 enemies you were left alone to handle are all 1-shot heavies that wouldn't spot you firing in the open from 300m away.

Wrapping it up, I guess... Game feels the same as it did over a year-ish ago. Felt like changes while I was playing heavily had more recognizable impact. Is that familiarity and being more tuned in or is it possible that when we become invested and focused on something and hear a change has taken place we look for it seeing it where it may not be? I am surprised by how easily I came back and felt up to par with my "normal" superior play. I still have to try and focus and get into the right "place" to consistently hit that 3k damage mark and win over 60% of the time, as I always did... But I guess I was expecting a more arduous period of adjustment?

Arty is still horrible, but after tens of thousands of games of rocking and rolling and choosing cover wisely, doesn't suck any more than it did before.

Arty still sucks, though.        

[nemlengyel 848]

43 minutes ago, dirtd0g said:

Wrapping it up, I guess... Game feels the same as it did over a year-ish ago.  

yup. game still sucks.

thanks for the write up though man, it's great ^.^

[An_Arty_Player_Hits_You 473]

2 hours ago, dirtd0g said:

 

What happened while I was away? What are all of these new tanks? What are the "biggest" and "most important" mechanic tweaks I should know about?

Are there a lot more auto-loaders, or is it just me?

 Where are my guys at? I loved my guys and abandoned them, the self-righteous little shits that they were.

 

They released the swed lines, one of them is a autoloading semi mobile heavy tank with a good turret and trash gun handling, the other is a very gimicky but powerful td that someone else should write about... idk maybe @Joyrider216 can tell you his woes about it =3

 

also, we still have the discord dirtdog.... so..... yeh

[Joyrider216 1,028]

51 minutes ago, An_Arty_Player_Hits_You said:

They released the swed lines, one of them is a autoloading semi mobile heavy tank with a good turret and trash gun handling, the other is a very gimicky but powerful td that someone else should write about... idk maybe @Joyrider216 can tell you his woes about it =3

After some AMX 50B games and kran games, I can tell you that most certainly 50B>Kran. The bad prem pen, long intra, and slow mobility kinda kills it on maps that arent westfield. That being said, the Kran hulldown is godlike and easy to leverage. Inferior but still with a niche. The whole line leading to the Kran is decent, no real turds.

The STRV 103B has no equal in terms of skill ceiling, it is my first T10 TD and im doing 3.5k-4.8k dpg depending on how not tilted I am, but it is 100% worth grinding out. The T7 TD is absolute cancer, but other than that, every tank in the line leading up to the 103B is decent.

 

[dirtd0g 1,181]

51 minutes ago, Joyrider216 said:

After some AMX 50B games and kran games, I can tell you that most certainly 50B>Kran. The bad prem pen, long intra, and slow mobility kinda kills it on maps that arent westfield. That being said, the Kran hulldown is godlike and easy to leverage. Inferior but still with a niche

Slow autoloader with bad pen and bad reload that can hulldown? Why Westfield? Intra too long to try and utilize the strong turret in cramped areas and urban rubble?

Also, an addition, with more to probably come... New map knowledge is a bit more important than I thought in terms of squeezing more damage, kills, and wins out in terms of micro positioning and I have found a few games I can get hit in areas that I remember being safe in. Overall, however, my initial conclusion remains the same; general deployment and map control is still the same old thing.

New tank knowledge is also less important than I thought. Tough tanks have the same weak spots as the other tough tanks... For the most part. 

  

[Flaksmith 934]

4 hours ago, dirtd0g said:

I loved my guys and abandoned them

*sniff

[Joyrider216 1,028]

57 minutes ago, dirtd0g said:

Slow autoloader with bad pen and bad reload that can hulldown? Why Westfield? Intra too long to try and utilize the strong turret in cramped areas and urban rubble?

Because its a HT, it auto spawns on the north, and those hills are god tier. You are correct about rubble since it is a small vehicle, I was just using some hyperbole  

[Archaic_One 1,853]

I referred somebody to your M7 review the other day.  Its good to see you back.

[monjardin 1,014]

You'd like the tier 9 & 10 Czech tanks. I think you left right before they came out. They're fast, with decent gun handling and an absurdly quick burst (e.g. 1,280 damage in 4.5 seconds at tier 10).

[_Assad 3,538]

The game is still shit

[Zepherex 3,641]

1 hour ago, _Assad said:

The game is still shit

I agree

[Errants 425]

Oh, gods, look at that AWFUL player coming in a shitting up the halls of our halcyon forum!

[_Juris 216]

Welcome back - always nice to see former Mafia folks around, there are surprisingly not many left from the olden days of yore.  And no, not much has changed in terms of the meta.  As far as mechanics, the only change of note is the improved spotting "speed," so tanks can't run across openings without being spotted due to the frequency of checks.

Strongholds can either be entertaining or total cancer, depending on the number of tryhards/camping shitters you run into.  Clan Wars is deader than it has ever been - thanks WG!  Basically nobody fights anymore - I still think switching to the current 6/8/10 Clan Wars map setup was the worst decision ever in terms of player/clan participation in end-game content, but i've kind of already beaten that horse to death, buried it, dug it up again, and beat it some more, so...

As for tank lines you should get/would probably enjoy, I see that you haven't done the Czech mediums.  I think, based on your criteria, that you would very much enjoy them.  They're decent-ish up to tier 6, kinda bad at tier 7, pretty ugly at tier 8, and then ludicrously fun and good at tiers 9 and 10.  Give them a shot.  Can't speak for ze Svedes as i've not tried them yet.

[snowdude21325 62]

Hey Dirt, it's good to see you back. Much has happened to the clan since you left. We had another fall through, and have formed a new clan, 5LINE. If you want any more information, let me know. You can check us out on TS at ts.o7mort.com:6465. We have lots of newer guys, but all of the old guard would love to see you back.

[dirtd0g 1,181]

On 1/16/2017 at 9:36 AM, Archaic_One said:

I referred somebody to your M7 review the other day.  Its good to see you back.

I'm vacationing here... I think.

Dear god, stop me before it becomes what it was!

On 1/16/2017 at 10:21 AM, monjardin said:

You'd like the tier 9 & 10 Czech tanks. I think you left right before they came out. They're fast, with decent gun handling and an absurdly quick burst (e.g. 1,280 damage in 4.5 seconds at tier 10).

Mmmm... Burst with mobility. You know me.

22 hours ago, Errants said:

Oh, gods, look at that AWFUL player coming in a shitting up the halls of our halcyon forum!

Please, I could still smell all of the shit I left behind before logging in.

 

 

[neziho 179]

Nice to see you back dude. Still remember how you picked me up when AWFUL was still going strong.

[Flaksmith 934]

Anyone remember dirt's channel in ts with a tanking theme for each day of the week? Fuck it fridays were great

[Guthixnut 22]

On 1/16/2017 at 0:51 AM, dirtd0g said:

Any of these new vehicles a good fit for someone like me? Do you not know who I am? Does anyone remember anything? Am I as infamous as Garbad yet? Where are my guys at? I loved my guys and abandoned them, the self-righteous little shits that they were.

Holy shit you're alive!

On 1/17/2017 at 11:04 AM, dirtd0g said:

Please, I could still smell all of the shit I left behind before logging in.

It was dumber than the LIMBO/JIMBO split

[SaintLaurentius 532]

On 18.1.2017 at 4:38 PM, Flaksmith said:

Anyone remember dirt's channel in ts with a tanking theme for each day of the week? Fuck it fridays were great

Statpad thursdays? I sure do, not like I ever took part in them but thought they were a great idea...

[Flaksmith 934]

2 hours ago, SaintLaurentius said:

Statpad thursdays? I sure do, not like I ever took part in them but thought they were a great idea...

Thought it was statpad saturdays?

[Strigonx 442]

You missed 1 year of AIDS matchmaking due to everyone and their grandmother being given Tier 8 rentals for 10 months