World of Tanks Newbie Tips

World of Tanks Newbie Tips by KingAlphyn

Okay, my objective here is to create a handy reference for any new players to the game. Time and again, I see players who might have done better, hamstrung by poor garage management choices and bizarre opinions which prevent them from using tools and techniques that would help them to advance. Therefore, I am starting up a tutorial account, to illustrate each point in turn, so that new (or experienced) players may manage their out-of-battle decisions better. It is worth noting that all of what follows is my own opinion, built up over 24,000 battles. Not everyone will agree with all of it, or with my particular philosophies, but I think that the advice is good.

STARTING OUT, BEFORE YOU PLAY

*Use an invite code if at all possible
You can only use an invite code at the moment that you make your account. For some people it is useful to make an account, derp around with it for 50-100 games, and then begin over again with an invite code, now that they’ve gotten used to the controls and such. An invite code might have 1000 or 2000 gold on it, or perhaps something like 500 gold plus a low-tier premium vehicle. They come in all shapes and sizes. You are not allowed to beg for invite codes on the world of tanks forums, but if you’re resourceful on google or Reddit or something, you may be able to dig one up that’ll work for you, since people post them all the time when they get one but already have an account. I’ve been told that they’re dirt-cheap on ebay. For the purposes of this tutorial, I won’t be using one, so that I can demonstrate the principles that I wish to convey, from a “bare bones” account.

*Do the tutorial
Ignore everything that the tutorial tries to teach you, it’s not very well put together and does not even remotely simulate how the battles are going to be. Just blaze through it as fast as you possibly can. You want the 300xp, because that xp is going to prevent you from ever having to drive a completely stock tier-1 vehicle. Back in my day, we had no such option. Your first game HAD to be in a completely-stock Tier-1, you lucky new-newbs. Upon finishing, you’ll be able to watch the video tutorial. This is less useless, and does contain some worthwhile information if you have never played before.

*Change your password
A number of months back, WG had a security breach, and as a result, offered 300 gold to anyone who changed their password. As of this posting, this feature is still active. It works only once. So whether you’re new or not, if you haven’t done this, do it. A couple of clicks, and you instantly get 300 gold.

*Do use a reputable modpack
The earlier you start using mods, the better. Mods CANNOT change anything that the server does, since the game itself is run server-side, which means that everything a mod does is client-side and cannot affect the outcome of the game. However, the sorts of things mods CAN do include alerting you more quickly to tank fires, indicating more accurately how soon you will reload, indicating more accurately where enemy fire is coming from, making the tech tree more intuitive, making transferring crews between vehicles easier, making over-target information more useful, adding information to the mini-map, making your garage and tank-skins more aestheticly pleasing or historically accurate, removing effects that bog down your machine’s performance, and so on and so forth. It is my belief that using mods effectively improves a player’s win rate by a small margin, simply by enabling them to process more information and react to the situations more effectively.

Modpacks are available at http://forum.worldof…ks-mods-addons/ . Anfield’s modpack comes well-recommended, and there are hundreds of aesthetic variants that you might try, if you are so inclined.

So here’s how things look now:http://fc05.devianta…jay-d6op5wp.jpg
I haven’t played a single game yet, but have 300 gold, 300xp, and 6000 credits. 
This brings me to my next points:

*Do not spend gold outside of sales if you can help it
WG puts almost everything on sale on a rotating basis. Things you cannot buy without gold: Premium time, garage slots, barracks extensions, premium tanks, 100% crew transfers, 100% crew skill retraining, permanent camouflage, free-XP conversion. Goods that are not on this list can and should be bought with credits (including premium ammo and premium consumables). Never never never use the “exchange gold” button to turn gold into credits. The conversion rate is atrocious. You are FAR better off just using the gold to buy premium, and playing a few rounds in some tanks. The ONLY thing that never goes on sale that you can purchase with gold is freeXP conversion. For all other premium goods: be patient and buy on sale. Your gold goes literally twice as far when you do this.

*Do visit www.worldoftanks.com on a regular basis
Every Thursday, the details of the weekend sale will go up on the website. This will tell you what’s on sale, and what tanks are earning extra credits. It will tell you what the current missions are, which have valuable rewards. The website will tell you what patches are coming up, and what is happening in them. Pay attention to these patch notes, because tanks are often moved or split. I obtained both the IS-4 and the Batchat as tier-9s, back when I couldn’t afford 10s. I have obtained half a dozen tanks and garage slots simply by owning the tank that was going to be split in the next patch. I’ve obtained even more tanks and garage slots and credits by watching the website for WG’s special occasion codes. Additionally, information about creative contests and scavenger hunts gets posted here. I’ve earned 16,000 gold from scavenger hunts, 28,000 gold from creative contests, 2,000 gold from Rampage’s tank companies, and probably 15,000 gold or so from performance-based contests. Altogether, that’s more than enough to pay for two full years of premium. And some of these weren’t even very hard. Seriously, take 10 seconds each time you play to check worldoftanks.com for the announcements, there are plenty of rewards to be had by doing so.

*Do fix your settings
After adding the modpack, there are some settings that you want. http://fc08.devianta…jay-d6or4zh.png
Turn on inverse reversion to make the tank behave more like real world tracked machinery controls. This way, if you’re holding down the A-key, and alternating W and S, you’ll keep turning in the same direction, rather than stopping your turn each time you want to change vehicle direction. Get used to this early. Leave battle recording on. This sends replay files to your replays folder, which are very handy, especially if you have to prove that someone was doing something you don’t like. Each battle recording is approximately 1MB, so don’t worry about this slowing your performance. Most people also prefer to disable Assault mode. Lastly, enable serverside reticle. This gives a crosshair which is the true direction that the server thinks that you’re pointing, lag and all. Use this, always. You will be far more accurate for it. Later on, you’ll want to remap some controls to suit your tastes. Personally, I moved the 6-key to the spacebar, so that my fire extinguisher is always right under my thumb, and I’m not reaching for the 6 key in the middle of an intense fight. Saves me a lot of hit points.

OKAY, LET’S PLAY
I’m not going to cover tactics here. There are many guides for that, http://forum.worldof…tion-of-guides/ is an excellent place to start.

One of the questions I’m asked the most is “What line should I go up?” This isn’t surprising, because the trees have had several years to get quite large and complex, with dozens of lines of vehicles. When I first started playing, I immediately got stuck in the M3Lee, the Pz38nA, and the A-20. Those were the three vehicles I was trying to grind through on a stock account. Anyone that knows the game knows just how badly I suffered to get through those three.

Pro tips: All artillery have recently been nerfed into the ground. Low-tier artillery suffered the worst of this, so avoid artillery until you have a good jumping-on point. UK, France, and China are more challenging to play and have more turds in the Tier-4-6 region. Don’t start on these until you’ve got the hang of things. The American line that goes up the Stuarts towards the 57 Heavy is both expensive and difficult to run. Stay away until you have very solid in-game finances. The German scout line that runs up to the Aufkl Panther is difficult and expensive. Stay away until you’re more experienced. Tier 4 scouts (Distinct from Lights, this includes the M5A1, the M5 Stuart, T50, A20, Luchs, and Pz38nA) have very bad matchmaking. Do not grind these until you have good crews to put in them.

Okay, so that’s a lot of things to avoid. What ARE the good lines for beginners? 
I think that these are the good lines for new players to start with:
MS-1 -> T-26    -> T-46        -> T-28         -> KV-1           -> T150 or KV-1S
MS-1 -> T-60    -> T-70        -> T-80         -> T-34           -> T-34-85 or A-43
L.Tr. -> PzJagI  -> Marder II -> Hetzer      -> StugIII         -> JgPzIV
L.Tr. -> PzII      -> Pz IIG      -> VK2001D   -> PzIII/IV        -> VK3001D
L.Tr. -> PzII      -> Pz IIIA     -> DW2         -> 3001H         -> 3002M or 3601H
T1     -> T18     -> T82         -> T40          -> Wolverine   -> Jackson or Hellcat
T1     -> T18     -> T82         -> M8A1       -> T49             -> Hellcat

Japanese, either branch up to Chi-To
Some people will disagree with me, but it is my belief that these are the 8 clearest paths into decent Tier 6 tanks that avoid the worst of the awful tanks until you’re ready for them with good crews and more experience and perhaps a reserve of free XP. For the purposes of this demonstration account, I’m going to go up the KV-1 line, because I adore every vehicle on it, and it leads later to excellent tanks like the KV-4 and IS-3.

*Use FreeXP on parts, never on vehicles
We want to have more fun in tanks, and that means winning more. To win more, we must avoid bringing stock tanks as much as possible. Every time you buy a vehicle with freeXP, you are condemning yourself to drive a stock tank at some point in the future (or present). STOCK TANKS SUCK. No matter how much freeXP you have, you will need it for parts at some time in the future. A brand new Tier 8 or Tier 9 eats through 100,000 xp like nothing, and if you burned off all your XP to buy the vehicle rather than the parts, then you’re stuck driving it stock for 50-100 games. Your win rate and credit uptake will suffer for this. So unless you are the sort of person who will pay money (gold) to buy freeXP and skip over a vehicle, SAVE YOUR FREEXP FOR PARTS ONLY. This helps so much.

My tutorial account finds that the 300xp that we gained through the tutorial is exactly sufficient to purchase all of the parts that we want for the MS-1. Mission accomplished, now I don’t have to drive this thing stock, even on my very first battle.

*The best gun isn’t always the top gun or the biggest gun
Quite often the opposite is true. Or sometimes you have many choices which are good in different ways. Let’s take the MS-1 from my tutorial account.http://fc05.devianta…jay-d6or0ne.png
Now, we can see that there are two autoloaders (aka “machine guns”), the 20mm and the 23mm. These guns tend to suffer from high dispersion, so they’re only effective at very close range. We see that the 20mm has the highest alpha in a clip, while the 23mm has the highest dpm. Meanwhile the 45mm and 37mm are far more accurate,and have much higher penetration. This means that of their respective Damage Per Minute coefficients, more of the damage will actually hit and penetrate, particularly against targets with any appreciable armour or at any range. The 37 fires faster and weighs less, so my tank will be more maneuverable if I take it. Accuracy and aim time are the same. The damage per minute on the 45 is higher, so for the moment, I’m going to mount the 45, so that I can fight at long range and deal lots of damage (I later switched to mounting the 20mm, which sucks against heavy armour, but is hilarious for unloading crazy damage into unarmoured targets). But there are 4 legit gun choices here. The B-3 is better than the Hotchkiss in every way, so I’ve ruled that one out. On some tanks, the choice is clear, one gun is head and shoulders above the rest, but on some tanks, you have to look at the numbers, and consider what your tank’s role is in order to make the best choice of gun. More rarely (and most notably on the M4A3E2 and VK3601), the top turret may not be the best turret, depending on who you ask. Know your choices, do the comparisons.

*Never take a 50% crew into battle
Never never never EVER go into a battle with a 50% crew. You can get away with having a sub-par radio operator borrowed from another tank once you’re at the higher tiers, but that’s about it. A 50% commander means your view range is 3/4 of what it ought to be. A 50% loader means waiting 1.33 times as long for shells to reload. A 50% driver means turning slower, accelerating slower. A 50% gunner means shots straying wide and bouncing, and your turret turning slower. All of this means killing less and losing more. Now, since this demo account only has 300 gold, because I’m simulating a cheap newbie who hasn’t decided whether or not he likes the game enough to put money or effort into attaining gold, I must instead play enough games in my Tier 1 vehicles to reach 70,000 credits. Don’t be afraid of playing Tier 1. It never loses money, even if you suck hardcore.

By alternating between my MS-1 (playing a few different guns on it to experiment a little and learn more about my choices from the previous point) and my T1 cunningham, I rapidly get to 70,000 credits. Now it’s time to invest in a Tier 2. Most new players buy it the first chance they get, and play it stock with a 50% crew, and lose a lot. But we’re going to be smarter than that so that we can play better and win more.

.

Some people transfer the MS-1 crew into the T-26, and eat the loss of the skills so that they can have an 80% crew for free. This is a waste of a 100% crew that cannot be easily replaced without gold, who we would prefer to stay in the MS-1 and continue valiantly fighting to make our credit pile bigger.

With 70,000 credits, we have successfully avoided bringing a 50% crew to our first Tier 2 fights. Now to de-stock this tank a little bit. With that 300 gold that WG started me off with, I’m going to convert some extra research to augment my freeXP, which, at 5% per battle, has not built up sufficiently to de-stock my Tier-2 tank. In fact, over time I’m going to use up all of the 300 gold that way, to avoid playing stock tanks as much as possible.

*Invest in your crews
Crew XP is a valuable, but somewhat hidden asset. The key is to ensure that as little of it escapes as possible, while also ensuring that what you do have is being well-used. So rather than let extra research build up on tanks, we will turn on crew acceleration as soon as each tank reaches elite status. A large reserve of XP on a tank after all available research is complete is completely useless unless you intend to convert it with gold. So, with all of this in mind, I’m going to sell away my Tier 1s, except for the T1 Cunningham and MS-1, which are currently my breadwinners. Tier 1 tanks cost 0 gold to sell, and 0 gold to buy, so it costs literally nothing to simply buy the tank back later and put the crews right back into them again. If I want to use the 100% crews in the Tier 1s later, I can do so without penalty. They are patient, they will wait for me. DO NOT “DISMISS” your 100% Tier-1 crews!

Accelerated crew training works like this: If your tank earns 500 XP for a match and has a 4-man crew, then really, you are earning 2,500 XP. That’s 500 for each crewman, deposited right into his XP pool, and 500 for the tank, which is the number next to the research button. With Accelerated Crew Training on, the 500 that would normally be dumped into the tank’s reserves to sit there and collect dust until you unlock it with gold, instead goes to the crewman with the least XP, marked with a gold highlight, as seen here:

So a large crew is a two-edged sword. On the one hand, if you have 6 men in your tank, you are training up 6 men for later use. The 500xp from the previous example is being multiplied 7 ways (one for each man, one for the tank). Each crewman will be the special birthday-cake extra-XP man 1/6 of the time, resulting in a cumulative average bonus of 83xp each. On a 2-man crew, by contrast, your 500xp is being multiplied only 3 times, resulting in only 1500 total XP between the tank and crew, but the two crew have the bonus half of the time, resulting in an average 50% boost to their individual XP uptake. In summary: Large crews train more men, small crews train fewer men faster.

Crew training over time is the reason that you should endeavor to do your x2 battles for each tank as often as possible. A single x2 battle in each tank goes a long way to building up strong crews. You will often hear about people that have 100+ tanks in their garages. I think these guys are crazy, because spreading battles out amongst that many crews prevents them from ever becoming really deadly. You can have 100 crews at 1 additional skill each, or a dozen crews at 3 additional skills each. In the former case, you’re going into all your battles with 1 skill, in the latter case, you’re going into ALL your battles with 3 skills behind you, which is very very nice, and helps you to WIN MORE. For this reason, I deliberately limit the number of garage slots available to me, and keep all of my crews in active tanks. DO NOT dismiss crew-men with extra skills on them. I have, and I’ve regretted it sorely.

One more point for this wall of text: if you send a crew to a new tank with credit retraining, they do not lose their secondary skills. So even while they take a hit down to 90%, 80% camouflage bonus is still 80% effective all the while. Therefore, we’re gonna let the little numbers circled below build up for awhile before these men get to go to a new tank. We’re not making fast progress, but we are building a solid foundation for a very profitable garage that sends out good tanks with good crews in them, and wins more. You want to win more, right? Of course you do.

Extensive additional information about the mechanics of crew-training can be found at http://wiki.worldoftanks.com/Crew

*Platoon platoon platoon
Think for a moment about how stupid the average person is. Then realize that half of them are even stupider than that. By platooning, you replace one or two of the morons on your team with reliable brosephs who will watch your back, who will force-concentrate with you, and who will pool knowledge on various topics. This slows down the pace of your games, since you have to wait for your platoon-mates to die before you hop into your next battle, rather than just hopping from one to the next each time you explode, but you will win more. If you win more, your profit margin is higher, and you can advance faster. It is important that you have voice-comms with your platoon-mates, ideally via a 3rd-party system like Skype, Raidcall, Teamspeak, Ventrilo, or whatevs. Only use the in-game comms as a last resort, because they suck. It is well-known that platooning can increase your win ratio by as much as 10-15%, if done effectively. A good platoon is a HUGE boost for your team. I think it’s more fun that way, personally. Platoon as often as possible, even if that means asking around in-game or in -*shudder*- the General Chat channel. If you absolutely must use in-game comms, it’s worth noting that in the Settings Volume tab, “Microphone Sensitivity” is actually Microphone Volume. Begin your platoon by ensuring that your volume levels are good for each other. The next two points pertain to making good platoons.

*Know the Matchmaker Chart
In order to platoon effectively, there is one last thing you need to know: The Matchmaker Chart. Since the whole platoon will be pulled into battles based on the HIGHEST upper limit and the HIGHEST lower limit, you need to know what those limits are. Detailed explanation is to be found at http://wiki.worldoft…ics#Matchmaking . Ideally, you want your vehicles to have the exact same matchmaking.

8.11 version (Russian) HERE

Light blue represents light tanks, orange represents mediums, purple are heavies, red are SPGs, and green are TDs.

So for example, reading the Tier 8 TD column across, we can see that we can get into 6-7-8 battles (column 8) all the way up to 8-9-10 (column 10).

Edit: Someone told me that this section is very difficult to understand, so I’ve put together this handy reference chart

GOOD PLATOONS:
KV-1 + M4 + Excelsior
T-20 + KV-3 + SU-122-44
KV-4 + AMX50-100 + T28 prototype
Pz1 + Pz1 + T7 combat car (All three get the same preferential matchmaking)

OKAY PLATOONS:
T44 + Type59 + Type59 (44 may pull the 59s one tier higher than they’d normally see)
T-28 + T40 + T14 (T14 will prevent the others from seeing Tier 4 battles)
T-50 + KV-1S + T-150 (T50 will not see Tier 4 or 5 battles in this platoon)
Pz1 + Pz1 + L.Traktor (Pz1s prevent Ltrak from seeing Tier 1 battles)

DO NOT DO THIS PLATOONS:
Locust + T46 + T50 (Locust and T46 are meant to go to Tier 5 max. T50 will bring them into a Tier 8 battle. BAD)
MS1 + NC31 + T2L (T2 will pull the T1s up to a Tier 4 battle)
L.Traktor + L.Traktor + Maus (You are depriving your team of two useful tanks. If you do this, you will be hated. some consider it as bad as teamkilling.)
Valentine LL + B2 740f + AMX40 (The premiums are meant to only see Tier 4 battles. AMX will drag them up into Tier 6, where they will suck.)

Do not make bad platoons. If you do, you will lose more. You may even be regularly teamkilled for extreme examples of bad platoon construction.

In addition to the utility of the matchmaker chart for platoons, it is also important for cross-evaluating tanks. For example, by consulting this chart, one sees that the Crusader, a Tier-5 Light tank, should NOT be considered by the same metrics as the Chaffee, which is ALSO a Tier-5 light tank. The differences in their capabilities should be taken in the context of the crusader seeing a maximum of Tier 7, while the Chaffee sees a MINIMUM of Tier 7. This is especially pertinent while evaluating Premiums, since many of them have preferential matchmaking. For example, when comparing the T-127 to the Locust, it’s worth noting that the Locust will fight in Tier 5, while the 127 will not.

*Keep at least one vehicle in each Tier
Many people sell off all their low-tier vehicles as they move up the tech trees. I suggest that you not do this. Keep one good tier-1 vehicle that you really like. Keep one good tier two, and a tier three, and so on. This will prevent many of the common complaints that I hear from other people, and that I never suffer myself by following this rule. Things like: “I had to sell and buy a bunch of tanks and spend a whole bunch of gold just so I could participate in this low-tier event.” or “Sorry guys, I can’t participate in Junior companies because I don’t have a Tier Four.” or worst of all is when you get THAT GUY in platoons that’s all eager to platoon with you, and as everyone is switching it up to get their daily x2 battles, THAT GUY whines about “Guys, I only have tiers 7, 9, and 10.” THAT GUY sucks, and will not be platooned with as often as someone who has tanks in every tier that he’s reached.

*Prioritize x2 Battles
Or on Special Weekends, x3 or x5 battles. Getting that double-XP for the win is very handy, even if you don’t need the XP for that particular vehicle’s research. This is more XP for your crew, more XP to unlock parts, or whatever else you’re using it for. Steadily doing all the multiplicative battles each day has huge effects over the long term. Once I had a large enough garage, getting all of my “doublers” was enough to keep all of my tank lines advancing quite steadily, pushing all of them patiently and efficiently rather than grinding the cuss out of a single line.

In short, it is better to play 10 different tanks 1 time per day, than the same tank 10 times in one day, so that over time, the XP-per-battle is as high as possible, and the most crews and tank lines have been advanced simultaneously.

*Buy equipment efficiently
Tank equipment is essential to a good garage that wins more. I cannot tell you exactly what equipment to buy, because there are many theories about which 3 pieces are optimal. Personally, I’m partial to ammo rammers and crew ventilation. However, early on, there are a few tips for how to purchase efficiently. More information is here: http://wiki.worldoftanks.com/Equipment

• DO put equipment onto tanks that you will keep indefinitely. The improvement in performance will pay off in the long run.
• If you do not intend to spend gold on demounting equipment, then there are two ways to effectively buy equipment. The first is to wait for an equipment sale and stock up on binoculars, camouflage nets, and repair kits, all of which can be freely transferred from one vehicle to the next. The other method is to wait for an equipment sale and purchase whatever you want. Half-price equipment, which is later sold at half-price along with the vehicle has cost you an overall sum of zero credits, and improved that vehicle all the way along, at a cost of zero gold. It is like a free rental, really. If you have the credits to spare, buy extra equipment of types that are used on a wide variety of vehicles. this ties up credits, but prevents the expenditure of gold.
• If you must pay full price for your equipment, AND do not want to spend 10 gold to demount that equipment, then we willstart with ventilation on the low-tier vehicles. Ventilation on light vehicles is only 50,000 credits, and gives a 5% crew bonus to all skills. The end result is a 2.5% buff to all stats. 2.5% more horsepower, 2.5% faster reload, faster aim, longer view range, and so on. Gaining small edges like this is important for winning more, and improving profitability. Being able to see further, for example, makes you more likely to be able to spot your own targets, and not have to share your damage earnings with a spotter, since credit for damage dealt is 100% if you spotted it yourself, but only 50% if someone else is lighting the target, with the other 50% divided amongst the spotter(s).
• http://wiki.worldoft…ce_and_Credits​

TLDR version: Rather than rushing up into more Tier 3s and 4s, HowToTonk has decided to purchase a set of vents for the T-46 and the T-18, since these are vehicles that I wish to keep. I do not put vents on my T-26, because I intend to sell it soon. Why that one? Why keep the T18 as my tier-2 instead of the T-26? Simple:

*Keep the tanks that you like to play
I see people dump their favourite tanks all the time, just so that they can continue up one line or another. Do not do this. If you hate a tank, by all means sell it. But if you enjoy a tank lots, then keep it. The next one won’t go bad, it’ll be there when you’re ready for it. On my main account (KingAlphyn), I still haven’t bought the T32, and I unlocked it a year ago. Why? Because I love the T-29, and I like my American heavy crew right where they are. As new tank lines come out, I try them, and if I love anything new more than what I had previously, then the new vehicle becomes my permanent vehicle for that tier. My love of the T-46 surpassed my love of the Locust. My love of the Cruiser IV surpassed that of the T-46, and so on. So my preferred Tier 3 evolves over time, but I always have my favourite vehicle in that tier ready to go.

Speaking of, let’s see how HowToTonk is doing so far.

Overall the account is off to an excellent start. The win numbers and experience uptake are great. I haven’t had to play ANY stock tanks, or spend ANY money.

We can see that the T-26 is having a rough time, compared to the T-18. And that my cunningham is outperforming my MS-1. For now, I will keep both Tier-1s, because I need their 100% crews churning out credits for me, but I could give up on the T-26 if I’m not enjoying it, or I could stick with it a little longer and see if I can make it work. Since I have no pressure for garage slots right now, there is no pressing need to sell the 26, but we’ll run out of garage slots soon enough.

*Decide Whether or Not a Clan is for You

People ask when is the right time to get into a clan. The answer for that is “Depends on what you want from a clan.” If you just want people to platoon with and hang out around, then you can start hunting for a social clan almost immediately. Some clans out there like Reddit and Armed expand indefinitely and will take virtually anyone, but the large environments can be somewhat daunting. There are lots of social clans out there, and many of them are very friendly and active.

What you want in a social clan is the following:

• A Teamspeak, Ventrilo, or Raidcall server. Voice comms are the lifeblood of any clan, be it serious or social. Be sure to equip yourself with a mic, even if it’s just a crappy $10 headset, this will make your platooning experience much better. For some folks, this is not logistically plausible, because they’re deaf or have little children around all the time or they play at work or something. In this case, you’re better off building a friends list than joining a clan.
• An active leader or leadership core. Having officers to coordinate activities, settle disputes, maintain the voip server, etc is important. Any clan whose officers wander off will inevitably stagnate into a list of a few dozen names of people that are never around anymore.
• An atmosphere that you have fun in. There are lots of clans out there filled with bad vibes. You are not obligated to stay with a particular clan that you joined if you don’t like the environment that they offer. Plenty of fish in the sea, after all.
• Attendance on the aforementioned voip. If a clan is inactive and nobody ever bothers to show up on the voip, then it probably won’t be very useful to you.

If you have under 2,000 games played, a social clan is a great place to start. Once you’re in the 2,000 to 5,000 range, you can start looking into company and introductory clan wars clans. These are not mutually exclusive with social clans, and you’re looking for all of the same qualities, but these clans take shots at clanwars even with incomplete teams, and organize larger activities like tournament and company battles.

Once you’ve played enough that you have at least one tier-10 vehicle, you can start hunting around for a Clan Wars focused clan. These will generally have more strict attendance requirements (ie 2 nights a week) because the game limits clans to 100 members, and they must make efficient use of each member. There are as many philosophies about what makes a good clan out there as there are clans, so it’s really up to you to decide what it is that you want. Avoid applying to clans that are well above your skill bracket, because some can be nasty about rejecting you. Most clans publish their expected skill requirements on either their WoT clan page, or else in their page in the recruitment thread.