I wonder if my tank, Hornet m2 modified to m3 specs, with Winter paint, would last a single arcade mode shot at least hehe. Edit: Looks like if I just fully upgrade my paint, I'll just survive a fully powered shot, but I'll be taken down to 1 hp :/

I've been enjoying taking down Railgunners more than Shafters as of late. My favourite was when I took out a flag carrying Railgunner from close behind, saved the flag and successfully took down 2 other Railgunners trying to get shots at me at point blank range. All it needed was to keep my turret pointed to one side, go round in circles with the enemy, predict their next shot, which they normally will make immediately after reload, and change the direction in which I'm going (say clockwise to anticlockwise). For those thinking Shaft is too easy to use, try learning to predict an enemy's next shot. Camping isn't all we do

I like your suggestions. I think in the end, if at least the second or third were implemented, Shaft would have a better reputation because the less skilled players would find it harder to use and probably more Railgun players who think they use the "turret which requires the most skill" would turn around and realise Shaft's power

I think TO has pushed the self-destruct button by accident too many times now. I really like TO, but the fact that they're more inclined towards the buyers at the moment is really changing things. They've destroyed some of the balance in the game in the attempt to balance it. Not to mention some issues haven't been fixed, like Shaft's unpredictable and endless rotation or pointing up or down in scope mode has still not been fixed since the time mouse controls were introduced. Anti-cheat system still has quite a way to go and the good players are concerned about their work disappearing once the new TO comes out. The new rewards system was probably a way to attract more people back to play the game, it looks like, but it's made things worse by hurting their economy, and I doubt the rewards will go back to their old state as well. Their "experiment" on seeing whether the current system would benefit more is more of a permanent update, I must say. Basically, TO is playing a game of chess where they seem to be deliberately losing. I love playing TO, although I've stopped playing too often recently, but I don't like the fact that they're messing around with us now. If they can just be a little honest about the situation, that would help us understand better.

You like short range battles and going fast, right? Go for freeze. Or if you want a medium range turret in case you want to change your mind in battle, Smoky or Twins would be good

Well, maybe he doesnt have enough crystals. Go for isida if you want to get points helping fellow tankers as well. Go for Hornet if you need a good deal of speed, which can help you in attacking too

Go for Loam, since there's no better alternative. It is good to have a paint that protects well against one turret and somewhat against another, rather than well with one turret and nothing at all for the other I had this problem when I wanted a painted that would protect me from Rail and Shaft. I ended up getting Dirty, since it fitted my need better than any other paint, and I also love getting into firefights with enemy Shafts, being a Shafter; enemy Rails are second priority to me unless they pose a threat in team battles. I've now purchased Winter and it's really effective for my needs. Hope that helps:)

Deleted. Replied to very old comment by accident. Sorry

Haha, nice one there! By the way, I just played around 4 games at Sandbox with a Shaft. Upgrading arcade mode damage to the fullest has really benefitted me, plus most of my targets were Hornets. Won all 5 games and I never expected to have the highest score in one or two games, in spite of a lot of Railguns around and me being slightly clumsy here and there from not playing in a while.

Well, after having problems with the standalone I went 2 versions back, and yes, I was aware of those vulnerabilities. And I'm still getting the same result. This problem is occurring on everything that requires Flash and is slowing my computer really badly when I got a tab that requires Flash. Even after shutting the browser the CPU is being maxed out, and it takes a while for it to go back to normal. And I'm trying to get this problem over with since 2 days. I formatted my laptop less than a month back and I've been too careful to let a possible virus slip in. Hope others using it a few days back didn't mess things up:(

The latest version of Flash (18.0.0.209) seems to be giving me problems. When I get into a match everything runs smooth till not even a minute later, the game starts crashing. Is anyone else facing this as well? And is there an alternative to using Flash for TO? Thanks

I agree about the "better shafters" idea. Well, if I were you would add them as well, but I suppose opinions from other people in this forum would help, if they would be kind enough to

Add both good and bad, but carefully choose the ones where you didn't perform well. If you find them worth a discussion, put them up:) I see these samples at my rank and higher as well. But there are some wise guys who use Lead at around your rank and mine as well. Still, even Lead or Dirty won't get most of my victims much chance of survival given that I got an MU'd M2 Shaft. Now with the new update, even fewer of my victims will survive one shot. As for me, the only way an enemy Shaft can take me out in one shot is with double power. Winter paint has proved to be a major help for me:)

I think they also increased the damage dealing aspect of shaft. My sniping mode damage is almost equivalent to that of the previous M3. Surprising. They must've done that to make up for the problems we've encountered before? Shaft just got a lot more dangerous

^What he says^

Vulcan has an effective upto a certain point, after which it doesn't seem to work well enough, as I once noticed an enemy playing at Monte Carlo. Thunder deals a good amount of damage and it's later versions are worth buying. I find it a very frustrating turret to fight against sometimes. Just stay clear of its splash damage

I'm just realising, it's been quite a while since the update and I still haven't tried out mouse controls. All you guys saying that using the mouse is really good makes me want to try it out anytime this week, since I'm in no mood to play today, and I keep forgetting:/

As long as you contribute towards the success of your team, yes it's a game changer and you have better chances of winning and being in the top 5 (depends on your role and the situation too). Blindly going for kills will not make a difference to the end outcome, which will be win or lose.

Defender or attacker, I use Shaft on Hornet. I find Hornet useful in defense when I'm in a wrong position due to respawning or something that may have led me to a bad position. At these times I have no choice but to chase the flag carrier and that's when Hornet is very useful. Wasp may not be a good choice for this because it's a bit weaker and gets flipped over easily from recoil but I know there are people who will prove me wrong. Still, good work on the article. People should hopefully get an idea that Shafters aren't unskilled players. It's just that they see the wrong people using the turret.

Facing an M2/M3 firebird was initially scary when I was Captain/Major. I'd be finished in about a second facing that turret. However as I climb the ranks, Firebird is diminishing in it's damage. I think that's the case with all Firebirds - initially they're a nuisance, later on they get weaker at higher ranks(keeping in mind whther they're M1, M2, M3)

You could be right, Shaft doesn't seem like a sniper weapon anymore. It's like a slow reload cross between a Rico and Thunder with that increase in arcade mode damage. I'm beginning to incline myself more to the fact that the laser sight is a very bad feature for Shaft too. I'm not talking about getting noticed, but it's bad for Shafter skill in the sense that you're always able to know where an enemy Shafter is once you see his laser. You don't make more effort than that, and that's it. Before the laser, a Shaft in hiding behind foliage or a structure was harder to track by another Shaft, and to be able to tell where a Shaft is without the laser is a good sense of skill. Now that the laser has been introduced, this skill has become history. What balances that bad part is the fact that we got to hide our laser and be more agile with the turret, but I miss the old Shaft for this reason. Yes, it was more of a sniper weapon before. As long as we talk about what we experienced in that victory, something of use to Shafters, I suppose it would be okay right? By the way, I just realised today in a game, 2 Isidas healing a non stop shooting Dictator Vulcan is a serious combo in a team. Made the Vulcan look invincible in several cases. Turned a lot of tanks topsy turvy and off aim (including me), and not even a series of consecutive Railgun and Shaft shots from our team could stop them (Sadly that Dictator Vulcan was just going for kills - a noob, yes - and not really contributing much, otherwise it would be serious trouble for us. Nevertheless, we won the game comfortably without the enemy capturing a single flag).

Agreed!

+1 for the passing English exam part Today I was playing a one sided battle at Serpuhov. The previous two matches were also won by my side. I got bored because we were winning and the game felt so dull(and some teammates were drugging heavily despite knowing they will win, which was sort of disgusting). So I decided to just blindly run into the enemy base from the middle for some random reason and I run into a Shaft with a Viking hull, and I decide to play around. This guy is truly an example of nooby shafters making a joke out of us! I went round him and took my arcade shots at him while I could, but this nutcase only turns his hull to try and get me, but not his turret. Forget that, he doesn't even consider maneuvering about till I completely go around him. Only after I took a whole round he realised he had to move his tank somehow. Shocking that at his rank, he still has not learnt to turn his damn turret! He never got a chance at me because of his reliance on only his hull for turning around. Was real funny teasing him, but a double powered Isida saved him from me in the end. If not for that Isida, I would have played around till he was finished. Hilarious end to my day!:D

Steaks? Do you mean kill streaks? Yeah, some of them are there who will shoot at me because they find me a bug because I frustrate shafters on the other end. Those guys are the noobs, but for a Shafter who eliminates other gold takers, that may be called skill, but its also very frustrating. To be honest, I don't recall ever shooting anyone for the gold, even if it's a rival. Others do when the gold gets closer to the ground, while I focus on getting on top. I just keep my fingers off the space bar:P May you give Mammoths the worst nightmares, my child. You are a true Hunter!

With a Shaft??:O