Rico has a one meter diameter. It can cleanly miss you and do damage. My younger son calls it radiation damage. Plasma balls are too big. (Applies to twins too.) It is the biggest factor in the weapon that makes it overpowered. It can miss and do damage anyway. The bounce increases the odds of a hit even when firing wildly.

For existing paints, please consider adding vulcan to a few. Dirty and python seem obvious choices, and a couple more higher up. I'll suggest hohloma and irbis.

The paints are excellent. The hammer paints were good. These are better. I was hoping for a few existing paints to have vulcan protection added. Perhaps still. The paints look great! Vortex is an eventual addition to my garage, and it is my favorite visually. After that, it is hard to choose. Blacksmith is a very likely addition. I need some time to contemplate the protection combinations. Good additions at least. Regarding the aesthetics, I can't say enough. Excellent. All of them.

We need some hulls fitted in between others that have special abilities. I've previously suggested a slow, heavy armored hull with only one turret option (high spin, medium-fast fire, low damage, but high knockback for turning incoming opponents), with deployable armor for even more protection, but stationary while armor is deployed. (It would not be able to deploy armor on a CP or CTF base--same restriction as dropping mines.) I've also suggested a light hull, lighter than wasp, similar armor to hornet, armour and speed between hornet and hunter, but with the ability to hop. At M0, it could jump onto the half-ramps a few maps have. At M1, a full level. At speed it could jump onto levels; stationery, it could jump above a sheltering wall and fire (which could get interesting for the tanker and the target). The M2 could clear 1.5 level differences, and M3 could jump two full levels. (Full M3+ could perhaps jump a full 3 levels.) There are other possibilities for special abilities.

It will be a while, maybe a long while, before I buy, but playing against it, it seems to be balanced, and it seems it will have a place in the game. Good addition. That gyro will take some getting used to, and it will need some specialized tactical skills. Same for the spin-up time. I suspect there will be those who master both.

Yes, good update. I'd still like to see the basic version with a wider shot spread, and a choke option for purchase. The choke would show as a different barrel end, and it could be changed in the garage the same as any other equip change. Still, this is good. Overall good addition to the game.

Another tidbit: First, most have figured out the yellow bar indicates when the overheat starts. At any point before the yellow is all gone, let up and push back down on the space bar, and cool down is complete before the bullets start again. It seems once the tank is red, you are gonna die unless you can find (or activate) a repair kit. However, there is no drawback to continuous fire if you are willing to take the self destruct. That is, the gun can fire for a very long time counting the overheat. It makes for a very effective way to stop a runner with the flag. Very effective tactic if repair kits are available.

More time in the test server. Finding battles that seem interested in testing the vulcan is hard, but I managed. Well, I changed my mind, at least some. This gun has its problems. It is variable, which I think is a test server glitch issue. Sometimes it seems to take forever to kill another tank, other times it is surprisingly quick. Again, probably test server glitch, but overall, it seems about right, probably slightly overpowered. The biggest problem is the gyro. Sure, its great to be able to hold your target while rotating the tank in full circles while stationary, but it is a bummer when trying to chase a running hornet. It makes for an effective turret turn speed comparable to an M0 rail. Letting up on the fire and adjusting aim works. There is good speed on the turret turning while the bullets aren't flying, but halting fire and getting it going again can be fatal. It seems the viking will need to be the hull of choice. The heavies are great, but you just cannot fight slow with this turret. The hornet and wasp seem to be able to handle it. I tried the hornet. It works. I saw others successfully using the vulcan on the wasp. It is hilarious watching wasps pinwheel and bounce sometimes. Recoil is really weird. It can noticeably scoot a titan, on the flat, pointing at any angle. It lifts the front of a mammoth, but it has a hard time turning anything bigger than a hornet back up off its side. While firing, one is quite vulnerable to flipping, even on a viking. I'm not sure the reload/cooldown should be so fast. With the M3+, nearly eight seconds of firing heat is eliminated by simply lifting the fire finger and putting it back down. Getting used to that delay is hard, but I'm sure plenty will master it, just like the rail. So, I think it will be a reasonable addition to the game. I'm going to put off buying one. I expect it to have limited utility. As I mentioned with the hammer, though I don't like it much, I think it is a very good addition to the game, suiting certain playing styles well. The vulcan likely will also, but I think the appeal will be less. Is there a difference in knockback on teammates versus opponents? Knockback on opponents is medium. On teammates, it seems trivial.

My son happens to be in an AmSeries Starladder battle at this very moment. I keep hearing him exclaim how his shot was perfectly on the corner, but the opponent's aim was true anyway. For those who didn't notice my earlier comment about him, my son is a significantly better tanker than me, especially with the smoky. This downgrading of the impact force definately, obviously affects game play, and it certainly is not for the better. This update really sucks. Bad.

Well, I cannot say I'm impressed with the vulcan. Perhaps test server glitches messed me up here and there, but sometimes it seemed to kill too fast (as in overpowered), other times it seemed to never kill (as in way underpowered). It would be good if the test server allowed no supplies at all, so as to see just the effects of the weapons. 100M crystals is cool. Let's me fully MU as fast as I can click the buttons (for speedups, or for in-battle instant upgrades). It was nice to see it at full M3+. Still, it seems to have much too much recoil and knockback. Tornado wasps has already been mentioned. I saw a wasp flip itself 1.5 full rotations, landing upside down. Overall, I think I will not consider buying it. I have already put every turret (most not M'd up yet) so far in my garage, EXCEPT that worthless shaft. I might try to get on the test server again, and I may change my mind after seeing the final release in regular battles, but at the moment, it looks like something that will amuse the players that aren't that interested in helping their team win. I'm not sure it will be a good deathmatch weapon either, especially since it seems best suited for the largest hulls. Might be good for CP on the big hulls. We shall see. The play of it, the sound, the look, the overheat, all seem fairly good to quite good, but I am not convinced the weapon will be a good addition to a team in CTF. I don't like the long-delay spin-up, but I got used to it. It is a reasonable characteristic. While the hammer is not one of my favorite turrets, it is a good addition to the game, suiting a particular playing style. I have yet to see what vulcan will add to the game. I expect many players will not like the vulcan, but I expect some will become devoted fans. Like the hammer, I suspect vulcan will have its share of immature users trying to flip teammates.

Elizabeth, you are an admirable tanker, but I seem to never agree with your comments. You have not done the math on the stats. You have not compared costs lately. Please pull open the wiki pages and review the M3 totals. M3+ as well. Smoky is costly. Smoky is the weakest weapon in the game for an unskilled player. Honestly, shafts are only good as targets. Otherwise worthless in most battles. Further, from M2 up, shafts are cheaper than smokey.

Playing rail-hornet in Stadium CTF tonight, I flipped more in 45 minute than I've ever flipped in two hours. If flipping is the problem, it isn't fixed. Stadium has extra opportunities to flip, but I had to SD more times in that one match than I've ever before. I like stadium, and I have played with this equipment before. Skill? Or were my opponents just lucky? I think it is mostly a matter of luck rather than skill. With smoky, sure skill, given the immediate firing, but rail has too much timing involved for high precision pinpoint hits to just clip a tank for flipping. And smoky never had sufficient punch to flip a flat tank. It does well when someone is in the air or is topping a ramp, but I just don't see flipping as a significant problem. It does seem there was concern about the Star Ladder tournament. Nothing else makes sense.

Flipping has never been annoying to me. I figure I should play better. Pushing enemies, though, it is always extremely frustrating when you push them and keep them from being able to target you, UNTIL all the sudden, for no apparent reason, you climb up on them. Then they hit you, and you miss them, especially if it happened just as your rail started glowing. Much bigger problem than flipping is how hard it is to push opponents without climbing onto them or under them. How 'bout a fix for that? Tanks should push each other. It should be hard to get on top of one another by bumping.

OKDad, right? Yes, dad. I'm triple the age of many players. I've only been playing a few months, but my sons have played significantly longer. My elder son is talented with the smoky; his weapon of choice. I've dueled him on one-on-one with mosquito v smoky-hunter. I was averaging one hit on him per four deaths, which gave him an 8 to 1 kill ratio over me. Yes, he is significantly better. His skills exceed mine. I suspect this update would double his effectiveness against me driving a rail-wasp, but I'm betting it will make him reconsider his turret of choice against vikings mounting rail or thunder in most battle scenarios. Smoky will have no chance if he cannot continue to deflect opponents. Smoky was absolutely the premier turret for the skilled player. Otherwise, it is underpowered, as attested by the rarity of its use in the game. This update will almost certainly decrease the diversity of Tanki Online. Further, I see the light format as the lifeblood of the game. It seems suicidal to nerf the only two turrets allowed in that format.

I prefer titan with thunder or twins. I'm at inopportune rank for twins, so it is out until I can upgrade it. Titan and thunder are no-go for clan battles and Starladder, so I've used mostly hornet-rail lately. I don't claim skill yet, but I am generally effective, with >1 D/L (except in Monte Carlo, where I major on flags, which devastates ratio). Playing tonight, I'm not sure I'm going to keep trying to practice for clan/starladder. Rail sure seems ineffective. Did the damage lower too? I'll say it again. This update is sad. Very disruptive. Change turret impact, not weapon knock-back! Give rail and smoky back their kick!

Simple: Rail on rail, when both fire almost simultaneous, whichever was first hits, the other is knocked off. Every time. Less impact, less chance of making your opponent miss. For smoky it is all important. For rail, it significantly affects play. With this huge reduction, it greatly changes tactics.

I play enough that I think I have a reasonable sample. Shafts are plentiful. For all the complaints, LOTS of people use shafts, even in maps for which the shaft is quite poorly suited. By popularity, shafts are still considered effective. Rails are (well, were) the most common. We shall see if rail popularity drops. Smokies, on the other hand, are quite rare. It is common to play an entire match without seeing a smokey because the smoky is UNDER POWERED for players of average skill. If you are good with it, of course, people call you hacker. (I know a couple of excellent smoky users. Yes, they can make the below-average damage of the smoky seem overpowered, primarily because of impact and nailing corners, spinning tanks enough to ensure they don't take damage and outlast opponents with more effective turrets.) So, unless you wish to argue that what people use doesn't matter, smokies are NOT overpowered. Neither are rails, as long as you consider their excruciatingly long reload. Yet, rails are the most common turret. Obviously people believe the advantages outweigh the disadvantages (except against smoky, but smokies are uncommon). Owners of both turrets have been violated. Players specifically bought impact-increases that have now been stolen from them. I cannot see that there was a problem. If the problem described was significant, addressing the problem seems more appropriate than taking away significant aspects of the gameplay of just two of the turrets, one the most popular, the other the most beloved by skilled users. This update truly adversely affects the game satisfaction of a significant cohort of the game. Restore most of the impact of the rail, and restore all of the impact of the smoky. ------------------------------------------------------------------ If flipping really must be considered a problem, address it with modifications to how turrets take impact. I really have never noticed flipping to be a problem, except when hammers are flipping teammates. Rail flips seem rare. Smoky flips ONLY happened when the target was in the air. It takes exceptional skill to consistently hit opponents in the air. It takes even more skill to anticipate when the opponent will be in the air and vulnerable. Isn't it arguable that those suffering from many flips simply were fighting poorly? I know I changed my style to avoid flipping when using hornet, but the change was minimal, and it seemed quite effective. I rarely flipped due only to enemy fire. It usually involved me being in the air, thus vulnerable. Driving a little differently, and perhaps slower, eliminated that vulnerability.

BTW, for all the whining about shafts being so useless now, I sure see a lot of shafts in most all maps. Smokeys, on the other hand, are rare. Doesn't that say something about the whiners? The turret changes in this update are bad.

I have never seen a smokey flip me or anyone on a straight shot. It only happens in motion on inclines or from vertical angle. Changing smokey impact is bad idea.Very bad. I have never seen anyone trying to flip teammates (multing) with rail or smokey. With hammer, it is common. I have sometimes seen mults using rico or shaft, but rail and smokey are not part of the problem. Sad that you take the whiners comments so seriously. I detest being flipped, but it usually only happens when I didn't think fast enough. I can keep from being flipped if I play well. I did not need my gun nurffed nor those of my opponents. Honestly, the rico is the only weapon in this game that is significantly over powered. All the rest have a good balance of pro and con. Now, smokey is probably entirely worthless, and rail just may disappear outside xp/bp.

The poll asking about this update stinks. It is worthless.

Multiple battles seem to be not working. One ended, but nothing stopped. No one could kill anyone. The others I've tried to get into just don't load. And while I can see people joining or leaving the battle, the scores don't change. Something is wrong at the moment. It seems several are experiencing it. Server reset?

The update is good. It helps, but only a little. It seems for EN servers, at least, everyone still goes to server 1 sooner or later. There often are more battles at my rank than there is on the server the system sends me to. This goes for my lower ranked accounts too.

The timer alarm sounded in a match near the beginning. There needs to be an exclusion for the calculation for at least the first 20% of the designated match length. Oddly, the timer went off for the other team. I assume something like: opponents destroy a couple of our tanks, one of ours takes their flag and is destroyed, flag returned, and they have lots of points, we have few or none, but we are 60 seconds into the game. Then, it started going badly for the other team. The competition level stayed high, but we were advancing flags more than 10 to one (about 13 to 1 final score, if I recall). The timer alarm didn't sound later in the battle. I suspect the losing team would have appreciated a quicker end. Another, a battle was going well for my side, we were ahead 7 to 1, and I was expecting the timer, but instead, the other team loaded up, and they took over. Final flag count was 15 to 8, my side losing. I expect the experience scores stayed relatively even, but the flag count got one-sided and inevitable quickly. Regardless of other considerations, the timer alarm calculations need to include factors for the team criteria, be it flags, deaths, or control-time points. The timer doesn't seem to actually be helping as is. We also still have the problem of teams or clans, etc. joining and "stealing" battles. I realize that isn't against the rules, but it is frustrating. The drugging problem isn't solved yet either. Cooldowns made it better, but it can still get bad. We need an overall timer on the supplies. The more supplies are used, the longer the cooldowns for all supplies, and this tally should not reset with respawn. It needs to continue to accumulate with supply use, and decrease after time without supply use.

Hammer does not seem to be overpowered. It does not seem to be a game changer. (Ricochet is another story. It is overpowered.)

Possible additions for Hammer: First, different ammunition loads. I suggest being able to change in the garage between slugs, with very high impact, and medium chance of missing at midrange (since the barrel is short and isn't rifled), or the regular 21-pellet shot loads as is. The slug should have about the same damage as all 21 pellets hitting (a plus-or-minus spread with the about the same midpoint), but more impact. It would imply a player would need to alter tactics depending on his ammunition. I'm not sure of this idea, but here it is anyway; I think explosive slugs, like grenades, are a possibility as well. These would need to travel, like plasma balls, but probably twice as fast, and they would splash like thunder shells. Again, these would be loaded in the garage, not changed on the battle field. Second, for the gun itself, allow the purchase of a choke. Show it as a flash-suppressor-like muzzle on the end of the barrel if it is equipped. It would be changeable only in the garage. It would narrow the spread of the pellets by a percentage, perhaps 30% or 40% smaller cone angle.