World of Tanks Avoiding Artillery Guide

World of Tanks Avoiding Artillery Guide by kurgen22

Im not that great of a player, probably below average, but as the saying goes “those that can’t do… teach” I’d like to share a few basic pointers for those new players who ge to teir 2 and 3 and are wondering how they are suddenly being smashed to scrap metal by the “hand of God” aka artillery, and how to avoid it.

First and foremost the best way to learn how to counter artillery is to branch out and play a few games AS artillery. It will open your eyes to how it works and teach you what to avoid.

Sure fire ways to get killed by arty:

Stay on flat terrain (Doesnt matter if its behind a bush) while being observed by enemy vehicles and do not move. The chances are that if you can see the enemy they can see you. If you have fired a shot or an enemy tank has fired at you, all doubts are removed.

Denial. If you are snug as a bug, in what you think of as cover, you see no one around you and get hit by an artillery round, it wasn’t coincedence. You have been spotted. Sticking your head in the sand won’t make the bad guy go away. Once he reloads he will hit you again,,, and guess what? If artillery doesn’t move and fires at the same spot again the chances are that the round will be more accurate and do more damage.

Using predictable firing positions or avenues of approach. You know that perfect little hill with the Bush that looks down the valley in Lakeville? Guess what, 500,000 other players know about it too. There are dozens of places like that throughout all the maps, all well known. If Arty has nothing better to do he can just blind fire at that position. At a minimum he’ll be zeroed in on it and take a shot if you fire and he sees your tracer or someone lights you up. Chances are he will be zeroed in and you will take a lot of damage.

How to Live.

Utilize hard cover, a building or a large rock will protect you from both direct fire and cut down the ability of indirect fire from Artillery, the higher the object the more it interferes. A good portion of the city areas on the map are inaccessable to Arty fire.

Utilize dead space created by terrain. Along the same lines as buildings or Rocks, hills and Ridges provide protection from artillery. A feature than can be just as effective but not quite as obvious are the small dips and dunes along the maps. Railway embankments and River beds provide cover as well.

A general rule of thumb is to keep yourself on the far side of these features from the enemy base, where the likey Artillery positions are.

Movement. When you are advancing plan your route as to go from cover to cover if you can. Drive quickly and zig/zag and do a few changes in speed if possible if possible. Nothing frustrates an arty driver more than a juicy target that we think we have a predictable lead on suddenly changing course and making us shift tracks so our aiming recticle opens back up to the size of yankee stadium. One huge mistake often made is stopping in the open to engage an enemy that pops up. Unless it is at point blank range and you have no choice its best to move on to cover and engage from there. Too many people stop and shoot at an enmey that is hull down or behind cover. He’s already got the drop on you, and spotted you for Artillery. If you stay and try to slug it out with him its a toss up who gets you first,,, him or the artillery.

Have a repair kit. If you are exposed and get tracked or your engine knocked out,taking only 3 seconds to hit the repair keys vice 15-20 to wait for the crew to fix it may save your behind. A first aid kit can heal your driver also, keeping your mobility up.

One last thing, read up as much as you can on spotting mechanics It will save you a lot of grief, make you a better observer for your artillery and help you avoid or at least understand how you are being spotted. The biggest thing to know it that often you get spotted by an enemy who is hull down, using a net, improved optics high teir radio with a 100% camo crew, who you cannot see, but will get you killed without firing a shot.

I’ll close this now. others please feel free to correct any faults they see or add on other tips.