World of Tanks Team Play Guide

World of Tanks Team Play Guide by Lady_Athena

How to use your tank effectively, and utilize what is given to you

Alright! So I decided to make this guide out of pure frustration as I’m sure many others have had trying to play. I was going to make this guide on Scouting. Then I realized, even a good scout is worthless if they dont have proper support from Medium and Heavy tanks, and Medium and Heavy tanks are worthless without a proper scout, and or support from SPGs if any are available. Which made me realize, 1 weak link in the team can cause everything to fall apart. This guide will help teach you what to look for. How to be aware of the situation around you. Using your tanks effectively, and how to work as a team.

If all is said and done and you still lose, at least you know its not your fault of having poor judgment or lack of communication.

IMPORTANT: Now before I start, remember.. The situation of a battle can change in an instant. It all depends on the team setup, how many tanks of each kind your team has vs the other, How the map itself is setup Terrain wise, etc. Everything can factor what a “perfect” setup or tactic will be. It also depends on the tank, not all light tanks are the same. some cannot scout very well at all, others are perfect for the job. Using your tank how its supposed to be used can be the difference between a win and loss. AlsoNo Medium tank is the same, or heavy, or SPG,. Some are similar and can be used the same, some not so much. Its up to you to learn what your tank can or cannot do, and its limiations .

There is no such thing as a crappy tank, or an overpowered one. Every tank has a strength and weakness, and its up to you as the commander, to utilize your tanks strength against your enemy’s weakness.

Also remember, Every nations tanks are different as well. German Light tanks need to be played different than Russian Light tanks in most cases, Just like Russian SPGs can do some roles better than U.S. SPGs to a degree. They all have their strengths and weaknesses throughout all the tank classes. The key to truly being a team player and enjoying this game all together is not only finding which type of tank fits your play style, but also which nations tanks in that type fit your play style.

Scouting and light tanks:

Everygame I see at least 1-2 people push forward. suiciding themselves to reveal as many enemy tanks as they can before dieing. Granted this helps the team know where they are currently heading, and it can help in the short term. Long term this does nothing for the team because the mediums and Heavies and SPGs are not in range to take advantage or support the scout.

To be a good scout you want to use your speed to reveal the enemy but stay within firing range of Mediums and Heavys and SPG’s. Dont go out to far unless you know you can get back alive. Use your speed to your advantage, as soon as a few enemy reveal themselves, pull back. You want to stay alive to do it again. Unlike the suicide scout, you can reveal enemy’s again and again, showing where they’ve moved, and are moving too. Finding open alleys or un defended areas that mediums and heavy’s can capitalize on to flank the enemy. Once you reveal a few enemy’s down 1 corridor, pull out, and help another area of the map, or find un defended areas that can be beneficial.

Another role of a light tank is to draw fire. SPGs love to target sitting light tanks as they are easy 1 hit kills. Draw fire from SPGs and hide behind a rock, or use your speed and maneuverability to draw fire from a heavy or medium tank at longer ranges where its hard for them to hit you, once that enemy fires, another medium or heavy on your side can open fire and duck back. Remember, it takes time to reload. Make the other team waste his shot on you.

Additional Tips:
(These tips are in conjunction with what I’ve already posted above, just a bit more in depth on certain tactics)

-Depending on the game, map and team setup, sometimes its better to sit a little ahead of a choke point and just sit. Your more usefull to your team scouting and not shooting, other then; shooting, dieing and spectating for the rest of the game. You dont NEED to do damage as a light tank, your the eyes and ears of your team, thats your job. As long as at the end of the battle you have scout points, you did your job, and as you get better, your scout points and xp and credits will go up, as will your ability to survive even landing a few kills. Remember, you dont get credit for kills, you get credit for HITS – Your turret is strictly for defense purposes and to land critical hits on larger tanks when the opportunity presents itself to allow it to be a sitting duck for your SPGs and heavies. Those few shots you DO get off which end up being criticals I.E. taking off a tread, etc. help your team to destroy the threat in a timely manner, it will also add exp and credits to your final score, as well as a small modifier for scouting it.

-When scouting and you run up against an enemy heavy, run, do not try to duke it out with the heavy. Go into Sniper mode and take out their tread or engine with HE, and retreat, allow your SPGs to do their job and other heavies to get into position to cut it off. If you have no friendly SPGs in range or heavies, Do not shoot, simply move back and scout it as it moves, dipping in and out of cover and behind hills to scout it along its path until a heavy or SPG can get in range to help.

– If its later in the game and you’ve done your job, and there are only a few enemy tanks left, while your team is still going strong; you can feel a little more courageous. At this point if you die you’ve done your job, your team is winning, and there is only 1 heavy left and a few SPGs, Go ahead and try to flank the SPGs and find the hidden remaining heavies. Circle up behind the SPGs and attempt to take them out. Otherwise, keep doing your scouting tactics that have been working up until now, use your speed to your advantage, harassing the artillery at this point is helpful to lay the final blow on the enemy team, the artillery will want to target you because your closer and flanking and are a light tank who they can probably 1-2 hit K.O., this will allow a gap in their long range defense to allow the slower mediums and heavies to move up. If the artillery doesnt fall for the bait, move in and harass it close range and make them wish they did.

How to be a Stealth Scout:

I’ve only recently been messing around with this type of scout. I came up with the idea while my tank was badly damaged, so I tried it a few times in other games from the very start. A stealth scout really shouldnt be seen often, if at all. These types of scouts are the spotters for SPGs etc. and are seen very few times. You may not peg any kills and may have to rely on minimal and only spoting points, but the good you can do for the team will make up for it in a win if done right.

– (unconfirmed) Move slowly. You have different speeds on your tanks, from my tests speeds may help you to be spotted behind cover and from greater distances. If you move slower, you’ll be harder to spot, and become stealthed faster.

– Unlike the other scouts, dont be the first one in, wait until fights are already breaking out then creep your way around the enemy slowly from cover to cover, try to find high ground and sit and spot.

-Do not break things. SPGs while in the birds-eye view can see you knock things over, even if they cannot see you physically, they will see the tree being knocked over, or the wall being crushed. Do not let the enemy know you’ve just been in that location. The less things that are broken around you, the more it’ll seem to them that the area is safe and their guard will be down.

My Tid Bit on Scouting:

Scouting at first for me was not fun at all, and I wondered why anyone would do it. But once you get the hang of it, and put these tactics into your game-play and learn what your tank can do, you’ll have more fun than any other tank. Nothing is more exhilarating than taking fire from an SPG, cruising as fast as you can away while shells are landing all around you and behind you, zigzagging and dodging shots as things are blowing up around you. It can really get the adrenaline going ^.^

(This is what you can do if you follow the scouting guide above and practice. This of course isnt the best I’ve done or seen others do, but it shows that these tactics do work, and will net you kills and scouting points.)

Medium Tanks:

Medium tanks are the wild card of tanks. They can work great for giving close support to scouts, flanking enemy’s the scout reveals, or staying a bit behind the scout and drawing additional fire. They can play the role of a heavy tank, or light tank. Not as well as either, but they can fill both roles if your team is in need of 1 or the other. A good Med tank commander will need to be able to read the tide of battle and watch the mini map closely. they are the direct support for light tanks and scouts and are the first defense for Heavy’s when lights and mediums get close to flank and attempt to out Maneuver them.

Medium tanks can support light tanks in a great way, having more firepower and armor than a light it can help cause damage from a distance while the light dodges the enemy’s attacks, and keeps it pinned down by hitting its treads repeatedly. While on the flip side, they can also do the same for Heavy tanks. If 2 Heavy’s are fighting, you can play the role of a light tank and take out the treads while your heavy does the damage. Your little bit of damage can help win the fight.

The first tier of medium tanks in my experience are more “anti-light, support scout” role. They generally in most cases cannot damage another medium very well, unless you get up behind the other medium tank. Try to play your games according to this.

For example, I hear alot “the pzk III sucks so much, its a horrible grind”. When in all honesty, the pzk III is an anti-light, Anti-scout, make-shift scout, roles. It does these roles with amazing results.

The later end medium tiers before hitting heavy tanks, are generally your Anti-heavy, make-shift heavy, tanks. Able to take and do great deals of damage in most cases with their upgraded guns. Again, try to use this to your advantage, and play with this in mind.

Remember, no tank “sucks” or is under-powered, just learn what it can and cannot do and adjust your play style accordingly.

Heavy Tanks:

Heavy Tanks are the back bone of the team. Your job is truly to go in hard and do the straight out damage to the tanks that the scouts and mediums reveal. Heavy tanks are pushers, Your job is to slowly push forward, taking out the enemy’s the scouts reveal, and pushing forward a little more again. With teamwork between lights and heavy’s you can cause a hole in the enemy’s defense that the medium tanks can take advantage of and rush the enemy base. Your job in most cases will not be to defend, and is never to sit behind the SPG’s. You want to stop them before they get to the SPGs.. I’ve seen far to many of these, and its a pure waste of a good Heavy tank. If you see SPG’s pushing forward, thats a good sign that you should be pushing even harder and forward more. Some SPG’s need to move forward to get in range, there is no reason for you to be behind them for any reason. Watch Friendly SPGs closely, where they are, and how they are firing, what angle, and at what direction will give you a good idea of where the enemy is and how close they are.
Remember, a good SPG commander may shoot at hidden enemy’s when they see one crashing through a wall or building.

Tank Destroyers:

They are direct support of Heavy’s, or the last line of defense for the SPGs and base. They have horrible Defense at the lower tiers but amazing accuracy and damage. Hiding in a strategic location on a hill or behind foliage can easily turn the tide of a fight. Even in the lowest tier Tank Destroyers you can take out Heavy’s, SPG’s, and countless Mediums and Lights by sniping from a distant hill as friendly heavies and mediums go in.

For defending purposes, your great accuracy and distance allows you to land a good 2-4 hits before the enemy tank can get good shots off on you. Remember your standing still while he’s moving, most likely at his highest speed, therefore his accuracy is lower than yours. Aim for his tread, knock him out and allow your SPG and yourself to get direct hits. Use your accuracy to the advantage to attempt to land more critical hits and keep him out of comission.

Also, knowing when to change from offense to defense and vice versa can greatly aid your team, and can change the tide of battle very quickly. Knowing how to balance the two can keep you alive, but also keep your vital heavies alive as well.

Self Proppelled Guns (SPGs):

least understood type of tank. Your are all in all, a glass cannon. Able to do amazing damage at incredible ranges, but not being able to take a hit much at all.

As an SPG your purpose is to be direct support with all your front line tanks, while looking for opportunities to knock out enemy SPGs if any are foolhardy enough to push forward close to your firing range. You should not waste to many shots, Know your SPG. Some are faster reloading, some have higher aim, others can risk moving forward more than others. If you see a tank hiding behind a house and your friendly is having trouble targetting him, knock the house down for your friendly. If anything it will make the enemy back off, and allow your friendly to move forward. Nothing sucks more than making an enemy waste shots on you only to have your only cover get blown away by an enemy SPG and your a sitting duck. Others have argued that you should let the tank handle it or knock the building down, or not to waste shots on buildings. Try to remember, it takes time to reload. While it takes longer for you to reload, you also hit much harder, and though your friendly may reload faster, its also more dangerous for them to reload. Communicate with your friendly to balance out your reloading times. Knocking down that house so they can nail the enemy in a surprise hit and get a few shots off before backing up into cover. If the friendly got a critical or tread hit, the enemy tank is now a sitting duck for your next shot.

Also remember, just because you cant see him, doesnt mean he’s not there anymore. Keep Firing if your SPG can risk it. After awhile you’ll start to get the knack of it and be able to peg Blind Kills (A kill when you cannot see the tank). Sometimes the tank was still moving and I still pegged him and got the kill despite being unable to see him. Try to keep a mental visualization of his speed and what direction he was going, and try to follow through the best you can. You might actually surprise yourself.

Aim for Engine Compartments! Getting a direct hit on an engine compartment is almost always an instant KO. I’ve gotten alot of larger tank players to QQ and cry over a 1 hit KO because they thought they were safe hiding in a bush and not moving. #1 defense against artillery is to keep moving and not be predictable. Also know your Angle of Fire, you may need to compensate depending on what angle and degree your shooting at relative to how your enemy is positioned.

If the game starts being a stand off, or it is right at the start of the game, switch into birds eye view immediately. Look for things being knocked over, such as tree’s, cars, walls, etc. This will give away the position of an enemy tank and you can ping for your team and tell them the direction it was most likely headed. If the game is more quiet and you may even be able to get a few shots off at the tank and watch for it to knock over other things in haste of getting out of your range of fire. Again I’ve pegged quite a few blind kills by simply watching for scouts or other tanks trying to flank my friendlies.

Chat Box Use:

Even if a team uses everything above to perfection, they can still lose because they have NO COMMUNICATION. (Attention to C-6) Ok, Attention for what? Who? How many?

SetyrGirl: 1 Light 3 Heavies
(Attention to C-6)

Much better. Allows your team to know what is coming. If possible give direction of movement, if they were standing still or not to allow your SPG’s to bombard the coverage areas.

If your a scout and you reveal un-defended lane that others can exploit, let them know.

SetyrGirl: Left side of the map along the road is completely clear, Within 1 SPGs fire lane

Lets them know 1 SPG can hit if your revealed but otherwise open for any light, medium or heavy to exploit and flank.

SetyrGirl: 1 SPG here left of tree in bush
(Attention to C-6)

Allows your own SPG’s to know that there is 1 there standing idle, giving 1 of yours the ability to bombard that area with a few shells to either scare the SPG back, or get a blind kill.

With a little communication and team work, and using your tank how its supposed to be used, can make your team literally steamroll the other team into submission.

When trying to tell your team your plan, do not ping the map 12 times creating a blinking line on the map. This is not only un-needed, but is vague, and.. well.. annoying..

SetyrGirl: Take 2 Heavies, and 3 mediums with 2 scouts around the North hill, and circle up behind their base, while the 5 TD’s create a choke point Here, and Here C-5 A-3

The “T” Button

There is a way to say “targetting this tank” with a red arrow above it. Simply put your cursor over the tank and press T. This will show up with a red mark over the tank and auto chat say your targetting this tank.

Why would you need to do this?

I personally use it while playing SPG. Allowing my teammates to know that I am targetting and lining up shots on the tank and not to get to close in case a shell goes astray and pegs them.

It can also be used simply to let another friendly know your targeting. If your targeting a tank with a slow reloading gun, and a friendly pings the tank as targeted, you can move your turret and let the friendly finish it off while you line up your next shot.

Use your tank effectively:

As I mentioned above, use your tanks strength to your enemies weakness. Even a little MS-1 can take out medium Tier 3 tanks if done right. I’ve done it myself. You just need to use your tank effectively. Use its strengths against your enemy’s weakness. just for LOL laughs, I’ll tell you how I took out the M3 with my MS-1. Granted it was already damaged by teammates (this is a team game after all).

I jumped from rock to rock, using my speed and small size of my tank to its advantage, I came right up to the M3, and literally bumped into it slightly (not enough to do damage). I was so small compared to the M3, that his turret literally could not hit me because I was underneath it. I aimed low and took out his treads, then went behind and put 4 more rounds into his engine. causing his tank to catch fire and deal heavy damage. All in All it was an LOL kodak moment, but is just proof that even small tier 1 tanks can take on bigger tanks if done right.

Shooting at angles:

Remember Angles do matter in this game. Even if you have a much harder hitting higher tier tank, if your shooting at a bad angle, and are hitting armor thats angled, your shells may deflect and bounce. Try to hit “chokepoints” on armor, like where the turret meets the body, treads, engine compartments, and other areas that are either flat or not angled as well. Also know the penetration ratio of your shell/gun that you are using. A gun who’s ammo has better penetration will not deflect as often against high tier tanks.

On the counter to this, use your tanks angled armor to your advantage. Make it so your enemy has a higher chance of hitting angled armor on your tank than non angled or treads.

Radios:
(My own knowledge is not perfect on this subject, if you have anything to add please do so)

Not alot of people seem to understand radios, or even what they do. No they are not there just to suck up your exp and silver to get elite! They actually do something . I know crazy right? Radio’s keep you in contact with the rest of your team. Letting you see what they see on the map. If you get to far out of radio range, you become “blind” Your teammates cannot see what you see or enemies, and neither can you for them! Ever wonder why sometimes you go head long into the enemy as a scout only for the arty’s to sit there twiddling their thumbs? This is why. They couldnt see because there was not another person between or close enough to you to link them.

Sight Range and Camoflauge:

I hear alot of complaining about the “ghost tank” bug, or “Invisible tank” bug. But I find 9/10 times its just the person not knowing about sight range, and camouflage.

Sight Range: All turrets have this in their info. This is, quite simply. How far your commander can see while inside it. So say it is 500m. That means if you are on a completely open terrain, flat ground, nothing but 1 inch tall grass. And you have a KV monster tank 499m out in front of your tiny MS-1.. You will see.. If that monster tank moves 501m. You WONT see it. Despite Nothing being in the way. This is usually the case in most “Invisible tank” bugs.

Camouflage: This can be tricky. When hiding behind a bush, hill, etc. You gain camo, or, you become invisible. Only when an enemy tank comes within a certain distance, depending on your camo, will you become revealed. Shooting, moving the turret, or moving in general can knock you out of camouflage as well, though not always, depending on the range the enemy is from you. Normally, the bigger the tank, the more camo penalty they get for moving.

Here’s the trick though.. Hiding behind multiple bushes, you may not become revealed, and you will stay hidden from the enemy. Aha, Theres where most of the others start complaining about invisible tanks if not for sight range.

Also note: Light Tanks recieve 0 camo penalty for moving. Since they are the scouts, and primary purpose is to do just that.. move around and scout.

How silver experience is awarded + Killsteals

1) You gain silver and experience by how much damage you do.
2) You gain silver and experience by scouting
3) You gain a small boost of silver and experience if another person kills the tank you scouted
4) You gain a small boost of silver and experience if you landed the finishing blow.
7) Having Capture points for the enemy Flag
8) Having destroyed or damaged an enemy tank that had capture points for your flag
6) If your team Wins the match all players are awarded a bonus
7) If your alive at the end AND your team won the match you get another small bonus

Note: You do NOT get extra silver and experience boost for killing all the tanks of the opposing team.

As you can see, There is no such thing as kill stealing in all essence, Since, if you take a tank down by 90% health and someone else pegs the kill, your still getting much more silver and experience than him.

You my argue “but I took him down by 90%, I want the shiny 1 kill on my stats”. My response would be, this is a team game. You got more silver and experience than him by far, and thats what should matter, and above all, if your team wins or not, landing you the Win bonus on top of that. What would you like more?

An extra 5,000 silver and 500 exp for doing 90% damage?

or

a +1 to your kill score with only 500 silver and 50 exp for doing only 10% damage?

Misc. Tips
(some of these points were taken from another thread by Lert which I feel should be mentioned and are important misc. Tips that fit for anyone regardless of the job in-game. I’ve taken his points and expanded on them.)

– Be careful while following friendlies. Sometimes they may stop suddenly to either change direction or take a shot, and you dont want to take damage or give them damage by slamming into them on accident.

-While fighting down tight corridors, try to keep a little distance between you and a friendly, try to let them have an area where they can back up if need be. You don’t want to be the reason your ally dies because you blocked his only escape route from incoming fire.

-Keep a balanced Defense. Everyone cant rush to the left or right. Try to keep a nice balance on all flanks. Right, Mid, Left, and keep those precious SPGs safe. You also don’t want to leave holes in your defense so enemy lights can rush your flag.

-Please remember that venomous sarcasm doesn’t help any situation. Instead of going “Good job, noob-ass suckteam, you left the right flank undefended, you lost us the match, nice going noobtards” try “I could use some help defending right flank please.” which is far, Far more likely to actually work. You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.

– Remember, we are all human, we make mistakes. Not everyone has grown up reading the “Military tactics book 101 for dummies”.

-And above all else, be respectful and courteous, accidents happen! If you accidentally TK or damage a friendly apologize and move on, Likewise if they do it to you and apologize, take the apology for what it is, and move on.

If you see someone doing something and you know a better way, be polite, do not spam “Your such a stupid noob.” Tell them what they are doing wrong politely, and let them learn. There is no reason or excuse to be impolite, mean, and down right rude right off the bat.-