If you just wait a few more days for the next newspaper issue, I'm doing an article on choosing a paint, and an article with analysis on all of the top tier paints. Look out for that :)

Dissected: Top Tier Paints After writing my more general guide to how to choose a paint, I thought I would extend this further to analyse in-depth the top tier paints in the game, and give my personal thoughts on their effectiveness, and usefulness. By top tier paints, I mean paints that unlock at the rank of Brigadier and above. My personal opinion on the lower paints is to avoid them in general, though opinion vary. Once you buy a top tier paint it is unlikely you'll be using the cheaper ones in the future! Anyway, let's get into the paints... I will go through each and every one of the 21 top tier paints, and put them each in a band: green, yellow or red. If green, I believe this paint to be almost essential in a top level garage. If yellow, I believe this paint can be useful to have, but would not invest heavily into microupgrading it, and would not buy it unless I had the crystals to spare. If red, it is a reasonable paint, but I would avoid it altogether until your garage is complete enough as it is. Bear in mind that these are just my personal opinions - it is inevitable that we will disagree on some aspects. But discussion is a healthy thing, so I welcome all feedback below the article. For detailed statistics and microupgrades, click here. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ There are two main classes of paints, and this is indicated in their descriptions also. There are the specialist paints - paints that protect from a group of weapons that are similar in range and thus usability in particular situations. And there are the non-specialist paints - paints that protect from more of a diverse range of weapons that allow the user to, quoting from Raccoon's desciption, "help you in any situation". It's logical that if one paint tries to do it all, and perform great in every possible situation, then it is likely to be outclassed by the specialist paints in their respective niches. Thus, personally I believe that if you have the crystals to purchase a range of paints, it's better to invest in the more specialist paints, rather than non-specialist paints, but I will have a look at them regardless. Non-specialist Paints Graffiti is a newly introduced paint, with a distinctive look that might attract some. However, let's have a look at its protections. A 50% Vulcan protection is certainly welcome to any combination, considering Vulcan is a weapon that can be used relatively effectively anywhere. However, I don't see how the combination of Twins and Shaft protection can possibly marry together well. Shaft is one of the weapon protections that you will find less useful - it is not nearly as common as some of the other turrets. But when will you find both Twins and Shaft a serious threat? Shaft thrives on large maps, and Twins really does not belong there, with its limited range and projectile speed. I find it extremely difficult to think of a single situation where this paint thrives. Overall, I think the quality of this paint is poor, and I would place this paint in the red band. Picasso has been around for a long time, and is a nice looking paint with four different protections. Thunder, Railgun and Shaft are all devastating weapons at longer range, however Freeze is a limited range weapon. True, Freeze can be annoying, but let's just think about the alternative options out there. If you are wanting to use this paint at long ranges, since it protects against Thunder, Railgun and Shaft, why not use Prodigi? It has similar, if not better, long range protective capabilities. If you are wanting to use this weapon at medium ranges, perhaps Clay is a better pick, having a huge Ricochet protection, which in my opinion will help you more times than not compared to the Freeze/Shaft combination. Furthermore, for an all-round multipurpose paint that Picasso is, Shaft is a dubious weapon to have protections from - being the scarcely seen weapon that it is these days. I think this paint is a reasonable paint, however it wouldn't be on my list of future purchases until I own most of the garage, and so I would place it in the yellow band. This paint will "help you in any situation", and truly possesses versatility, protecting from the short-ranged Isida to the Railgun. It's true this paint is diverse, but it does indeed have very useful protections, unlike some of the other paints mentioned (yes, Shaft). Isida and Railgun are very versatile weapons, and can be found on a huge range of maps, and the same goes for Vulcan and Hammer. On small, large, flat and layered maps, these weapons can all be very much usable. So, personally I rate this paint. Purely because it protects from weapons that are worth protecting against. I would still favour more specialist paints, but there are worse paints than Raccoon, and so I would place it in the yellow band. Jade is not that common, and probably for good reason. Shaft is not that large of a threat, and at longer ranges, I can only see Prodigi outperforming this paint - Railgun protection is probably more useful than the Smoky and small amount of Hammer protection this paint brings. If this paint can be outclassed by Prodigi at long ranges, where does it thrive? I suppose if you are playing against a team of Shafts... but how often does that happen? In my opinion, it is far more worthwhile to pump crystals to microupgrade Prodigi's Shaft protection than buy this paint, and I can't see this paint being amazing in many situations. So, I would place it in the red band. Tiger is an interesting paint, and honestly I'm not sure what to make of it exactly. Hammer protection makes this paint quite a strong shorter ranged paint. Smoky and Railgun are definitely useful protections to own a bit of, but it's not substantial enough to give the user real stability at longer ranges anyway, with the likes of Thunder still out there also. I'm not 100% sure where the niche of this paint lies. Shorter ranges... You have better specialist paints. And the same goes for the longer ranges. But overall Tiger is a reasonable paint with some good protections, so I would place it in the yellow band. Needle is relatively common, having previously been in the Light M3 kit, and also being a common clan paint. However, is it actually that useful a paint in the normal game? My personal opinion is to avoid this paint completely, and this is because it is, for me, dominated by the cheaper Savanna. Savanna too protects from Smoky and Ricochet, both very annoying medium-range weapons, but the key difference is the Railgun protection instead of Shaft. In my opinion, Railgun protection is far more useful than Shaft protection, since Railgun is so much more of a versatile and common weapon. Honestly, I believe you'll get more for your money buying Savanna and giving it some MUs compared to investing into this paint, so I would place this paint in the red band. Speaking of Savanna, let's have a look at the more specialised paints. Specialist Paints For me, there are three distinct range categories: short, medium and long. Let's begin with medium, since we are on the topic of Savanna. Medium Rangers Savanna, as mentioned above, protects against Smoky, Ricochet and Railgun. Not substantial amounts, being a cheaper paint unlocked at Brigadier, but these three weapons can both be nightmares at medium range. This paint can be a useful asset for medium-range fights, and it has a good combination of protections. A good garage must have some kind of protection against Smoky, and for me Savanna is the one to have. I would place this paint in the green band. The new Cherry paint is also a very reasonable investment: Vulcan, Twins and Thunder, all being very strong currently, means Cherry is a very useful paint to own, but I still would avoid it, simply because Africa is a better paint: Africa is the most expensive paint in the game, and is newly introduced, protecting from four different paints including Hammer and Vulcan, which are very strong right now. Combined with Thunder and Twins protection, this makes Africa a very good medium-range paint. Africa has essentially the same protections as Cherry, but with Hammer protection. So, if in the future if plan to get Africa, Cherry might be worth avoiding. Vulcan protection is very nice to have in a garage, and I think Africa is the way to go. It has a great total protection, and protects against a useful combination of turrets of similar ranges. I would place Africa in the green band, and Cherry in the red band simply because Africa outcompetes it completely. Although classified in the decription as a close-medium ranged paint, personally I think the combination of protections merits Nano being a borderline medium-ranged paint: A nice looking and distinguishable paint, and protecting against four fairly strong turrets (Firebird, Smoky, Ricochet, Hammer), I think Nano is not a bad investment for a shorter-ranged medium paint. All four of these paints are very versatile, and can be used on a huge variety of maps and modes. Nano is almost a non-specialist paint for me, even though the turrets it protects against are of similar ranges. Interestingly, it does not share very similar protections with many other turrets at all. I think Nano is a very good paint, and I would almost place it in the green band. But, I still don't see it as a necessity for a complete garage, so I would place it in the yellow band. Vulcan, Freeze, Ricochet. Hive protects well against all three of these annoying and versatile turrets, that you will find on a very wide variety of maps and modes. However, its total protection isn't anything special, and in many cases I believe something like Nano or Africa will probably be better for the situation, and so I would place Hive in the yellow band. It's a nice paint to have, but not essential. Leaning towards the longer ranged end of paints is Emerald: A very attractive paint, and with a very useful Thunder protection. However, I wonder about its usability. I feel that Clay should be stronger than this paint, with a few MUs. And is MUs are off, perhaps Africa might be a more versatile choice, though you can never complain about 42% Thunder protection. I think it's a nice asset to have, but I wouldn't spend anything microupgrading it in favour of other paints like Clay. Let's not forget that if microupgrades are off, Thunder is weakened dramatically. I would place this paint in the yellow band. Ricochet, Thunder and Railgun. The three turrets that can dominate longer medium range battles. Clay offers substantial protections against them all, and when microupgraded halves the damage of all three. Perfect for a combination like Thunder-Viking, as it gives self-protection also. At medium-long range, I honestly think this paint is an essential. The protections it carries are so useful, and I would definitely place this paint in the green band. Long Rangers The only real true long-ranged paint is Prodigi, protecting against the three longest ranged weapons in the game that are Thunder, Railgun and Shaft: At long ranges, there really is no match for Prodigi. If you like large maps like Serpuhov, Lost Temple... Prodigi is a garage essential in my opinion, and I would place this paint in the green band. On the other end of the range spectrum, the short-ranged paints, there is a surprisingly wide variety to pick from. Short Rangers The cheapest of the bunch, I don't see the need for this paint in favour of Rock. Rock outclasses this paint, especially when microupgraded, and provides a far more useful combination of protections in my opinion. Any crystals that would be spent buying this paint, I would prefer to spend investing into microupgrades for Rock. Thus, I don't see this paint as a garage essential at all. When micrupgrades are off, perhaps it is more useful, but in that case, neither Freeze nor Isida are nearly as potent without microupgrades. Personally, there are worse paints to invest in, but I would still place this paint in the red band. Twins is a more devastating weapon at shorter ranges, and I can easily see this paint being useful in certain situations, especially small-map CTF, Twins, Isida and Freeze all being powerful turrets in defence and attack. Microupgraded, this paint is immensely useful, and also carries a small Hammer protection as a bonus. For me, it is in the green band. In a similar way, I feel that out of Zeus and Inferno, only one is really needed, especially if you choose to microupgrade. I would favour Zeus, although Twins can be more of a threat than Smoky at short ranges. I feel owning one diminishes the need for the other massively. However, are either of them really necessary? Let's briefly compare both of these paints to Lumberjack. Is Isida protection more useful than Smoky/Twins protection? Personally, I think that in more cases than not, the Isida protection might be more useful. Furthermore, the nice Vulcan protection bonus is always welcome. Thus, I would place both of these paints in the yellow band. And if I got one, I wouldn't invest in the other. I'd rather spend those crystals on microupgrading the purchased paint. Taiga is also a nice short-ranged paint, protecting against four weapons that are strong at close-ranged combat. A very, very nice paint in my opinion, especially in the more dynamic TDMs where Freeze is not nearly as potent. But, not a garage essential by any means, and so I would place this paint in the yellow band. Also good paint in my opinion, is Mars, giving reasonable protections against similar weapons. Again, I can see this paint being useful, but is by no means a garage essential, and so I would place it too in the yellow band. Lumberjack is the king of short-ranged paints, protecting against the three shortest-ranged weapons in the game. If I had to pick one short-ranged paint, this would be my practical pick for sure. On small map games, Lumberjack effectively neutralises the worst the enemy could bring, and if the enemies are forced to change into something else, they'll be at a disadvantage in the battle. I think this paint merits being in the green band. Overall: Green band paints: Lumberjack, Rock, Africa, Savanna, Clay, Prodigi Yellow band paints: Inferno, Zeus, Mars, Taiga, Hive, Nano, Tiger, Raccoon, Emerald, Picasso Red band paints: Irbis, Graffiti, Cherry, Needle, Jade So, owning those six green band paints in my opinion would provide you are pretty comprehensive garage. Further microupgrading allows you to have a paint handy against any weapon. Of course, this is not a definitive set of paints - it's just what I personally would buy. The following table can help you to select your own combination of paints. Interestingly, if we draw out a table for the more specialised paints, as well as the turrets ordered using their range, we can roughly see how the ranges of the specialised paints are distributed. X marks a significant protection. When choosing paints with a budget, my advice is to select specialised paints that cover a wide range. Thanks for reading! Discussion is welcome below.

Viking for me, especially at m2 it is a better hull. Dictator m3 unlocks very late also

At base m3, hunter is better in my opinion. At m4 its balanced, so I guess if you don't olay PRO too much with MUs off, just MU your viking. Viking m4 is a great hull

Why get digital if you can get prodigi? Savanna is a good paint. More useful than needle in my opinion - Railgun over Shaft more than makes up the lower overall protection

Add me on Skype :) ideally yes, but it's not a requirement and it's all just for fun!

Rock from me too. MU it and you have one of the best shirt range paints in the game. Freeze Isida twins all common CTF/short range turrets

Oo Isida increased range again! More micro upgrading to do then! Anyone know the max range?

IMHO, without a heavier hull, getting amazing paints won't get you as much benefit, even though Rock MUed is an amazing paint. Either MU your Isida, Thunder, Hornet or maybe get a heavier hull!

Well, the first steps are the most important ones :) tbh if you wanted the most our of your crystals you'd MU a wide range of items to a similar degree.... I just like the feeling of having "full MU" if you know what I mean :p

Yes, thunder needs MUs :) Well, I'm making do with Emerald for now. Soon to have Clay full MU ^_^

Nah not worth it.

Maybe range is reset or something every bounce?

Can be :) biased maybe but I prefer Isida!

Rock is, in my opinion anyway one of the best paints in the game. Don't rate needle as much, the shaft protection isn't as useful, as say railgun in savanna. Freeze is decent, I prefer my Isida though

Good luck!

@GoldRock The city of Dusseldorf had always been a pretty busy place. Winding mazes of buildings upon buildings, uniform rows of brick houses and factories sliced by the thin alleyways which criss-crossed between. As she trudged towards the large and bustling central square, she glanced at the charred marks which were still strewn across the once grand facade of the government headquarters. It wasn't often that any army personnel were summoned to such a place - in fact, it wasn't often that anyone was summoned to a place normally reserved for the shady diplomats and leaders who exercised an iron grip of control over the city. But then again, she wasn't just any ordinary tanker. No One. That's the name she was given not long into recruit training, and that's what they called her ever since. During a particularly gruelling training out in Forest, she'd somehow managed to single-handedly evade half a dozen defenders, grab the enemy flag undetected and silently re-materialise back in her own base; all within the first 30 seconds of the round, Even her own squadron had been caught unawares, largely because they'd still been arguing over who should get to attack in the first place. Some slightly jealous bright spark amongst them came up with the name afterwards, on account of the fact that her absence hadn't been noticed - the name stuck, and that suited her just fine. Not that she would've stayed to talk to them anyway. When they weren't trying to get their heads around basic tactics in training, they seemed to spend too much time for her liking gossiping about the latest paints or boasting about their rather mediocre duelling skills. In other words, they were conformists - and that just wasn't her style. As she reached the entrance, she wondered why HQ would take any interest in her; because her fellow recruits certainly didn't. Was it to do with that Forest training? That was one of her more stunning moves, but she doubted they were really interested in how well a relatively unknown recruit was performing. Maybe she wasn't fitting in with her squadron well enough? Fear and dread flooded through her as she realised what the consequences might be if those higher up thought she was 'rebelling' in any way. After all, don't ask questions and don't expect answers; a key lesson she'd soon learnt upon signing up for the military, and it was much easier to follow as part of a group. As it turned out, she was correct on both counts. The General was an experienced fighter in his time, with more than enough scars torn into his hull to show for it. Nevertheless, he still struck an imposing if somewhat battle-worn figure as he greeted her at the entrance. "Wh... why are you here? What's all this about?" The General responded in a reassured tone. "Quiet. Follow me. And don't ask questions." Typical. It looked like she'd have to wait a while before she received any sort of explanation, she thought as she was led down a marble corridor, the damage of shells fired in the not-so-distant past now all too visible in the contours of the cracked stone walls. Rumour had it that the headquarters hadn't always been the safe and secure place the population had been led to believe it was. She followed the General towards a room situated off to one side, and entered as a sleek black-coated hull hastily turned their way. This was clearly one of the politicians. "Do they know she's here?" He sounded pretty frantic, in stark contrast with the calm impression the leaders usually gave in their few public appearances. The General shook his head in response, and she was about to open her mouth to ask who 'they' were when she remembered she wasn't supposed to be asking questions. "Well then, let's get started... Surely your head must be buzzing with questions right now? You must be pretty confused about why you're here." The politician spoke may have spoken less frantically this time, but what he'd said stunned her. Surely she'd heard him wrong? That's not what she was expecting to hear, at least. He saw the shocked expression on her face. "Oh, sorry, allow me to introduce myself. I guess you could call me a rebel."

Hehe in time for the 70% :lol:

At base m3 there's no doubt hunter is probably the way to go. You should have a look at m4 stats, it's fairly balanced :) viking unlocks earlier as road pointed out - partly the reason why I went for viking over hunter... You're right, it unlocks late. Maybe pick up a different m3 until you can buy it! Good luck with it!

Maybe a couple can't hurt but leave it clean imo :) Yeah, it's awesome. Double powers are addicting, I can one/two hit most things on the field, and rack up insane K/Ds To be honest all of them are great weapons. Just pick which you like the most, find the most fun to play with, etc. That's probably the best choice for you!

Thunder and Viking both need MUs, and you can soon get paints that will outclass Emerald. So, I would probably get thunder and Viking, and spend the rest giving them MUs Over that sort of range, it changes, with the unlock ranks etc. I went down with Viking M4, and it's a very, very good hull. Though Hunter is great too!

Freeze, Isida, hammer, rico, thunder gg

Thunder/Isida Viking with Clay/Rock :)

About a year ago I was pretty much in the same boat :) I saw religion as just a people's way of trying to explain things that couldn't be explained, and yeah I was pretty sceptical about a lot of the things that supposedly happened. I'm only relatively new Christian, but I think this is a good chance for me, you and everyone else to learn more. I want to try and answer your question on the fact that the bible is full of stories that were made up: Just food for thought: The Bible is the most unique work ever recorded by humanity. It’s a collection of 66 books, written by 40 or more different men over a period of 2,000 years—yet it remains one book with unity and consistency throughout. Each book, letter, poem, and prophecy fits perfectly into place and brings unity to the entire work. God used a wide variety of broken, imperfect people to communicate his redemptive story. The people who wrote the books that were collected as the Bible went through a process of recording, transmitting, and even translating the divine text—and as you look at it, you see that it is all so normal and human. Authors even recorded parts that might be embarrassing (history of Jesus’ lineage, women at Jesus’ empty tomb, acts of disobedience and sin by prominent people, and so on). A striking piece of evidence of divine inspiration is found in the fact that many elements of modern science were acknowledged in the Bible long before scientists confirmed them experimentally. Here are some examples: • Roundness of the earth (Isaiah 40:22) • Almost infinite extent of the sidereal universe (Isaiah 55:9) • Law of conservation of mass and energy (2 Peter 3:7) • Hydrologic cycle (Ecclesiastes 1:7) • Vast number of stars (Jeremiah 33:22) • Law of increasing entropy (Psalm 102:25-27) • Paramount importance of blood in life processes (Leviticus 17:11) • Atmospheric circulation (Ecclesiastes 1:6) • Gravitational field (Job 26:7) These are not stated in technical language that non-scientists cannot understand. They are plainly written so that any person can experience the vast complexity of God in simple, everyday ways. Some of the things in the bible can seem pretty ridiculous, like as you say people rising from the dead. But even you acknowledge the limits of human understanding, so how can you say they are definitely false? The issue isn't proof, it's evidence :P

Well done to every one who entered! Lot's of correct answers. The first three for each question are listed below. @GoldRock 20,000 crystals @I.WalkAlone 15,000 crystals @warnado22 10,000 crystals Question 1: There are a few ways to do this, but here is one solution. Point to the middle tank, and ask "Is the left tank a Viking?". If he answers yes, choose the left tank. If he answers no, choose the right tank. If the middle tank is a Viking, you know he is answering truthfully, so you can find the location of the other Viking using his information. If the middle tank is the Dictator, you know either of the other two tanks is a Viking, so you can still be sure you are picking a Viking. @GoldRock 20,000 crystals @I.WalkAlone 15,000 crystals @HUGHIY 10,000 crystals Question 2: All 20 white tanks leave on the 20th night. If there was only 1 white tank on the island, that white tank would not be able to see any other white tanks. And so, knowing that there is at least 1 white tank on the island, he therefore can deduce his colour - he must be that white tank. However, since the white tanks can see other white tanks, no one leaves on the first night. Thus all tanks know that there are at least two on the island... On the second night, this means that all the tanks know there are at least two white tanks on the island. Again, any white tank would be able to deduce his own colour now if he could only see one other white tank. This continues until the 20th night, when all white tanks know that at least 20 white tanks are on the island, and each of them can only see 19 other white tanks. At this point, all of them know they are white, so they all leave the island on the 20th night.