Not long ago, Tanki Online went through a radical change when the paint separation update influenced the way protection paints work. Surprisingly, paints alone were not the only thing affected. Enthusiastic format players must have immediately noticed a missing protection for the BP combination. Why did TO intervene in standardized BP? What has changed - and more importantly, how do players cope with this change? I will try to answer all those concerns and more in this article. Pre and Post Update Before we swoop down on giving advices and dealing with the changes to the BP format, it's rather rational to first clarify what has changed and how it has swayed the gameplay in format battles. Those of you who are familiar with past BP will certainly remember the annoying obligation of equipping 10% or 20% Railgun protection paint depending on the modification, which assured that the enemy wouldn't be able to one-shot you in combat. It was deemed this would balance XP and BP confrontations - however, it turned out Wasp's properties made it a dominating hull. A simple comparison indicates that Wasp has advantage in Speed, Height, Length, Acceleration and Maneuverability over Hornet, while only slightly lacking in Stability and Protection (which was largely irrelevant in the past, since destroying Wasp and Hornet usually required the same number of shots). It's completely understandable that XP and BP, two so similar yet so different combinations, required intervention to create more equal opportunities in format battles. This problem was solved and changes were implemented with the release of paint separation update. Since new modules did not offer exactly 10% or 20% Railgun protections (like Forester, Emerald or Fracture did before), tankers raised the question as to how lower modifications of Wasp and Hornet and Wasp M3 would work in future format battles. Later, it turned out that every protection paint was disabled upon entering the format battle. Developers swiftly transformed the system and implemented new, balanced, automatically-equipping protections which fulfil new criteria of Format battling. This reform changed the way protection works, and influenced the shaky balance between XP and BP by reducing or removing protection in BP. Principal Change to BP This change is related to obvious decrease or total elimination of protections of Wasp in XP/BP battles. In other words, Wasp is now much more exposed to Railgun shots, with a chance of being destroyed in just one hit. This picture illustrates the range of Railgun's damage output and Wasp's HP (protection). My pitiful investments in micro-upgrades distort the perception a bit; however, you can still notice that the vulnerable Wasp M3 can actually be one-shotted at rare occasions. I also did a little math to demonstrate the odds, and here's the result. If we consider Railgun's and Wasp's stats without micro-upgrades; M3 Wasp (HP): 149.56 M3 Railgun's damage range: 108.91 - 164.85 And then we round the values half up; M3 Wasp (HP): 149.56 ≈ 150 M3 Railgun's damage range: 108.91 - 164,85 ≈ 109 - 165 Theoretically, we can calculate the average chance of one-shot hits; Case: if x < 149 then Wasp can't be destroyed in one hit. if x > 149 then Wasp can be destroyed in one hit. Limits are set by Railgun's damage range - min 109 and max 165 Calculation: (165 - 149) 16 y = __________ y = ____ y = 0.2856 (165 - 109) 56 If we convert it to a percentage value, then the theoretical chance that Railgun will destroy Wasp in one shot is approximately 28.6%. What to take into account OHKOs OHKO (short for 'One Hit Knock Out') is the most annoying thing that occasionally occurs in BP nowadays. As I implied before, it's directly connected to removed protection, which makes BP player a slightly easier target and partially balances the differences and advantages in mixed XP/BP battles. In contrast with my theoretical calculation, chances that you will be a one-hit goner are usually somewhere around 10% to 20% which is caused by Railgun's damage value calculations. This may not seem like a huge problem as you will most likely survive one Railgun shot in most of confrontations, but be sure those OHKOs come in the most unexpected and essential moments - so never take the chances lightly! Prioritized target A huge side-effect of this update immediately rose to the surface in mixed XP/BP battles. Although the chance to one-hit Wasp is not very high, Wasp became the preferred target. Since Hornet can't be destroyed in one shot no matter the situation, tankers started to pick on more fragile Wasps. Therefore, it's absolutely necessary for a BP player to be aware of a map's environment, surroundings and the placement of your opponents. It's also advised to train and develop dodging skills early, as you will most likely be exposed to heavy fire and pursuing as BP gains the status of easier prey. Other handicaps These handicaps also spring from lack of protection and are interlinked with the insecurity of taking a hit. Such an example where such handicaps apply can be the pursuance of battle objectives (like capturing flag) or gold box situations. Players using XP can risk taking at least one hit as before, but BP now requires more strategic thinking in these situations as every strike can be fatal for Wasps. Dealing with changes If you are new to this dynamic format, these tips may serve your turn. The simple aim is to minimize or completely avoid enemy fire - as every shot can potentially be lethal - while effectively fulfilling the battle objectives. Dodging the fatal blow with an evasive maneuver. Increase your Evasion Evading a shot does require a lot of training, and even after that it's far from easy to utilize this prowess in battle. In principal, you dodge enemy fire by a sudden change of movement, direction or speed. This can be done by 'hitting the brakes'; though on the contrary, this can also be done using rapid acceleration. This may deceive your opponent, who assumes a different movement pattern. Another useful tactic to use is peekaboo. The trick lies in luring the attacker to shooting on seemingly exposed part of the tank followed by quick return of fire and moving to cover. The basics to perfecting your evasion rests in constant moving. Utilize the Ambient Walls, houses and other notorious obstacles well-known to every player provide a great ally for BP players. Using surroundings to one's own advantage is a normal custom that tankers naturally develop as they progress through their careers. It can be considered as hiding from enemy fire, or sometimes as simple camping on strategical post, but even a tactic so genuinely simple must be trained to squeeze the maximum out of it. A BP player can't just mindlessly advance towards his aim - he must analyze the path and evaluate when to move away from safety of walls, and how to use every other map component on his round to fulfilling the battle goals (flag capturing, point capturing or other objects). Master your Shooting It may look like a primitive destroy-or-be-destroyed animal instinct, but there's much more to the art of shooting that you should definitely know. Format XP/BP battles aren't just about inflicting pain upon fellows from the insect kingdom. Especially now, when the risk of OHKO is present, it's important to learn when and how to efficiently shoot. You should definitely try few tricks on your own, namely the shooting of tank's edges or the already mentioned peekaboo tactic. Also put some thinking into who to shoot first. Don't hurry into pressing the spacebar. Eliminate those approaching you first, attack those who have already been damaged and always try to inflict damage first as you may not be given another chance. If you ain't a newcomer and you already possess this knowledge, all that's left to say is: practice, practice and practice, because there's always room to become even better. What about Battle Modes? For the last part of this guide. I listed things that you, the BP player, should be aware of. BP's protection update brought a few changes that made every battle mode slightly different. Deathmatch (DM) The only non-team based mode is probably the hardest one to play, simply because there's no team that would help you out. You will mostly run into mixed XP/BP battles when playing DMs - thus, be aware that you will always be a prioritized target. It now often happens that players absolutely ignore XP counterparts in battle, and fully concentrate on shooting at BP targets with the illusion of an easy chance of OHKOs. Ergo, it's rather rational to get to cover as soon as you spawn, either by finding a good camping place, or by driving to less occupied areas like corners from where you can deal with enemies. Team Deathmatch (TDM) Very similar to DM, team modes are after all easier to play. Everything mentioned before about DMs also applies here. In TDMs, it's good to find a cozy sniping spot near or in the base from where you can utilize BP's nimbleness. Capture the Flag (CTF) When it comes to CTF, two most critical processes are delivery and holding of the flag. Since BP is predisposed to being destroyed in one shot at times, you should aim to dodge every single shot when making your escape with the flag. Even at full HP you can't risk being hit. If you don't play a pure BP, always let XP players hold the flag. As they can always take at least one hit, they are better predisposed to holding the enemy flag. Control Points (CP) Since capturing a point usually takes a few seconds and exposes player to enemy fire, it's necessary to shorten the time spent at the point. This can be done by capturing the point in group of at least 2 tankers. If you are alone, take the best toehold that ensures you both good coverage and a possible escape route if needed. These changes may be overlooked and considered trivial by many players, but they have a significant impact on BP gameplay. But despite these changes, BP remains a deadly combination that should not be taken lightly with or without extra protection. Definitely stick to this combination, it's agile and powerful. I hope you found this article both helpful and interesting. See ya next time, tankers!

Hiya tankers! Summer time draws to the close, but I trust you all had a splendid holiday with family & friends. Speaking of holidays, I am positive many of you made a travel plan that included all the admirable natural, cultural or historical monuments and other tourist attractions you wanted to visit. If you did so, this experience may come in handy in this particular contest. Your job is to make a one day travel itinerary (i.e. a detailed journey plan with a couple of places to visit) composed of fictional tourist attractions resembling a certain part in Tanki Online map. To explain it further, you will select one of the Tanki's map (see the map list below) and turn it into fictional tourist resort/town. Once you choose your desired map, you will create fictional tourist attractions from map's components (buildings, plazas, towers, mountains, skybox, etc.) present in that specific map. These attractions will create the travel path of your itinerary. Compulsory Components: Your itineraries must contain the following components; - Itinerary Title - simple identification of the itinerary you chose (e.g. Travel itinerary - Serpuhov, Trip to Edinburgh, Tour around Rio, Natural wonders of Bobruisk, etc.) - Description of the resort/map - why should tourists visit your resort/map, what makes the fictional resort/map special, history of the resort/map, interesting things, etc. (Note that everything must be fiction!) - Tourist attractions - practically anything that draws attention of tourists (hotels, restaurants, museums, castles beaches, sport facilities, festivals, etc.) - the only limitation is your imagination and creativity. Tourist attraction requirements: - you have to pick out and describe at least 5 tourist attractions. - they must resemble a certain map area (e.g. if you pick a museum, the map you chose before must contain a building representing it) - it must be TO-related - fictional attractions must be somehow linked to any TO aspect (e.g. you can't create a museum of automobiles since they do not exist in TO universe, but you can create a museum of ancient hull designs, etc.) - Tourist attraction's screenshot - this is simply a screenshot from the map you chose which displays the tourist attraction (if you are making a museum than the screenshot will contain a building present in the map) - you can slightly edit your screenshot to better portray the attraction (e.g you can add logos, names, etc.) useful link for newcomers; How to make a screenshot/ How to upload a picture / How to post a picture on forum! - Timeline - basically timing estimation for every tourist attractions, how much time is at disposal for visitation. These are just compulsory components. If you won't include them, your chance of winning may decrease. If you have own ideas that would suit your itinerary, you are free to use them. You will stand out and get extra credits for creativity. Example: Check out the example to forge a picture of how your itinerary should look. Rules: - The word limit is set as follows; minimum: 650 words, maximum: 1000 words. Slightly less or over is acceptable (+/- 100 words). - Plagiarism is strictly prohibited. You can take inspiration from available travel itineraries, but any sort of copying won't be tolerated and will result into disqualification. - For the sake of readability of this contest topic, your entries must be put in spoilers. (How to make spoiler - click here!) Map list: For this contest, you must choose one of the maps listed in spoiler. Itineraries based on different maps than those in spoiler below will not be considered! Prize Pool: Creating an outstanding travel itinerary is indeed no easy task, but hopefully these prizes will motivate you to do your best; The 1st place winner will obtain the main prize - 40,000 crystals. The 2nd place winner will receive 30,000 crystals. The 3rd place winner will receive 20,000 crystals. Consolation prizes of 10,000 crystals may be awarded to other good entries. You can post your itineraries till 30th September 2016, 23:59 UTC+0. Good luck with your planning. May the best and most creative tanker win!

First battle in Island after months, was lucky enough to grab the gold and thus finish the gold mission; Caught one in Noise as well;

As a matter of fact, Raphael wrote articles in English as well (probably wrote more in English, actually).

Noise CTF

Desert DM XP/BP.

Back in business.

^ Congratulations. Got one after some time.

^ Fixed :).

Location: Maps Chernobyl, Magistral, Ping Pong and Valley - I think in Subsection 'Facts' these maps contain few errors.

As I said earlier, you entered an incorrect answer for 3rd picture. Evidence: Right answers can be found on the first page.

Sorry, the contest is over, you can no longer participate.

No, they were not, but since you answered wrong, you were not considered.

Tanki Online hinted at the possibility of a brand new supply in the game with not-so-realistic test boxes shown in early V-logs. A couple months later, we witnessed the addition of the 'Gold box' supply striking the everyday battlefields and enlarging the rather small supply family. With this information in mind, let's get straight down to business and dissect the new supply. Basics The Gold box supply is a new Garage component that you can find under the Garage sub-section 'Supplies' (as the name itself implies). When you'll check it out, the missing crystal purchase button will probably be the first thing that will come to your attention. As said earlier in the V-logs, the Gold box supply won't be purchasable with in-game currency (crystals) like rest of supply family. This regulation sets the limit for purchasing the supply. It's basically a preventive element to retain the special status of a gold box. Another important thing that needs to be cleared up right away is the value. Gold box as a supply will always hold the standard 1,000 crystal value. It means this supply won't be affected by increases and changes to normal gold boxes dropped by the wheel of fortune. Consider it another limitation restraining excessive gold rains and crystal harvesting in battles. Additionally, you can adjust an option to reveal the owner of the supply drop. If you mark this option, whenever you use the gold supply the notification will say 'Your_Name has dropped the gold box'. If you turn it off a standard 'Gold box will be dropped soon' notification will appear. The ability to disguise this supply comes in handy when you are constantly bombarded with bothering messages and appeals. Obtaining the Gold Box Supply For the time being, there are only two ways to get yourself the Gold box supply; Purchasing with real money The Gold box supply can be bought in newly- established section. Once you click on it, you will open the tab and recognize familiar crystal and premium account offers. Down below, you will also find new Gold box supply offers. At the moment, you can purchase just one or buy a package of 5 or 10 with minuscule bulk discount. When it comes to a price, one Gold box supply will cost you 1 Euro/Dollar. When we compare prices, crystal and premium account purchases appear to be a better buy. For one invested Euro/Dollar you can get approximately 2 000 crystals or a day of premium. Naturally, new supply is not meant to be a source of crystal income, it's more of a fun element livening up the gameplay. Since gold boxes represent a game feature that should remain special, a higher price for the Gold box supply seems reasonable. Daily missions You will occasionally get Gold box supplies as rewards from daily missions. For now, daily missions stay the only free way to acquire this supply. These missions unlock at Warrant Officer 1 and can be classified as rare (personally, I would compare the rareness level to the 'Collect the Gold box' mission), usually offering one, two or three Gold box supplies as a reward depending on the mission's difficulty. Moreover, super missions awarding this supply were added as well. The 99 999 exp. mission awards you 67 Gold box supplies, while the harder one of the two, the 9 999 kills mission adds 83 Gold box supplies to your garage upon completion. Both missions are available for Generalissimos only. Functionality Before we advance to further examination, take a look at a video that will acquaint you with the functionality of the Gold Box supply in battles. https://youtu.be/orzIvcsq1jw Video credits: and @Pizzarrific I hope this clip shed some light on the functionality, but I will further elaborate on the matter. The Gold box supply activates by pressing the 6 key as shown in the video. Interestingly enough, it doesn't affect, nor is affected by the cooldowns of other supplies. In contrast with other supplies, the interval between use of the same supply in the Gold box supply's case only five seconds. Upon activation, the Gold box supply does not differ at all from the standard Gold box. More precisely, it mimics the functionality of classic 1k crystal container - it drops after 30 seconds from the activation, it appears on the same gold box drop locations and the drop spot is marked with same gold-colored squarish emblem. I also can't omit the insignificant curiosity I had about a certain aspect when this supply was added. If you noticed, once you run out of certain type of supply, the icon remains on its rightful place showing 0. But, if you do not own any Gold box supplies, the icon won't be present on your battle screen. I am just guessing here, but the developers probably decided to save some screen space - and unless it was intentional, perhaps they failed to notice when they eventually implemented the changes. Strategic Use The appearance of orange-tinted notification is usually accompanied by eager tracking of drop spot that distracts players from the basic aim of battle. Herein lies the opportunity of using the Gold box supply for strategic purposes. The probability that a decisive majority of team players will abandon their posts when a gold box is about to drop reaches sky-high numbers. If used right, it can be utilized for both defensive and offensive purposes. However, I won't lie to you. Utilizing this potential effectively is just as hard as persuading @Night-Sisters of Blue paint's ugliness. (Don't even try the later part of previous sentence, YOU ARE DESTINED TO FAIL!). Before you use the Gold box supply as a strategic lure, evaluate your economic return from this investment. Bear in mind the battle fund value. If the fund doesn't go well over 3,000 - 4,000 crystals (this fund borderline should be even higher if it will be distributed among a large number of players), your 1,000 crystal investment won't be repaid by the battle reward. The second thing you should evaluate is battle situation. When your team is losing by 15 flags, one or two extra flags captured while others hunt for the gold box won't change the outcome and will most likely cost you more than you gain. Lastly, be aware of time constraints. You have just 30 seconds till the gold box is delivered, so think about how you'll advance with just half minute at your disposal. Once you assess all the chances, you can proceed to activation of the Gold box supply for either offensive or defensive purpose. In both cases, the idea is to sidetrack your opponent. Picture above projects the potential of the Gold box supply as strategic component of decisive importance. In this model scenario, the gold box drop spot is situated under the ramp pathway. Since a gold box naturally draws tankers' attention away, it is more than likely that most of the Blue team will have their backs to the Blue flag, standing near the yellow square. Thus, a Red team attacker can creep into enemy base via the route marked with green arrows, take the flag and return to the base to deliver it. This is an example of offensive application. But the Gold box supply can be used for defense as well. It runs on similar principle as offensive application, but the difference lies in fact you are trying to distract the opposing team from attacking your flag. This distraction tactic can also apply to other battle modes like CP and DM, but I'm inclined towards the opinion that highest likelihood of profit lies in the CTF mode. Naturally, the risk that the gold box drop spot will appear at an unfavorable place or the fact that tankers might give priority to the battle objective must be taken into count. Save the Gold and Other Events We covered the fiscally convenient use of the Gold box supply, but it appears tankers like to press the 6 button mostly for fun in organized events and sometimes even in normal battles. Perhaps the most affected Tanki trend is 'Save the Gold'. Save the Gold events, commonly known as STG, caught on in recent years and became a well-established pseudo-mode where a team of defenders protects the the gold box while other players try to take it. So, what has changed with introduction of the Gold box supply in STG? If you are familiar with these events, you must know the only way to make a gold box drop before was to beg admin play till fortune took mercy on you. With a chance of only 0.01%, it sometimes took hours for a gold box to drop, which extremely prolonged the whole event. Furthermore, mining the drop location (standard defensive maneuver in STG) posed a problem, as covering all the map drop locations generated a huge consumption of mines. Things have changed with the Gold box supply in the game. You can drop the gold box at the very start and create a mine field only around the strategically important places near the drop spot. However, STG is not the sole positively affected thing. Doors flew open to other possibilities and we can already witness new utilization in the form of gold box giveaways or mass gold box rains for friends. I can even imagine contests with gold boxes as reward, and I am confident we'll be seeing other ideas as time goes by. Status Symbol We in the Newspaper have fought the 'admin-pls-gold' rumor for many years now. This sentence always aroused discussions, but was never based in fact. I must confess I thought this will never change... but the reality is, that mini-gods can now run around the servers and drop the Gold boxes instead of certain retired administrators. It even appears we can expect a decrease in usage of the infamous phrase that will very likely be replaced with appeals containing names of renowned Gold box supply users. The best marker of prominent Gold box supply users is the Ratings page, which shows how much of each supply has been used by a player and also contains the controversial Gold hunter rating. With the Gold box supply in the game, this rating definitely lost the purpose of presenting the 'best' Gold hunter - as some tankers can simply join battles of their choosing, use Gold box supplies and climb the way up the ladder. That's all I have for now. The Gold box supply has definitely stirred up the dynamics of Tanki Online gameplay, and I find that really interesting. However, I also want to know your view. Do you like it? Do you view it positively or negatively? Be sure to leave your thoughts by posting below. I hope you enjoyed reading... peace out!

No god, but at least one goddess!

My first experience with someone dropping the gold box. I was lucky to grab it.

:rolleyes:

No one around ^_^

oh, nesledujem moc TO na Fb, maximalne sem-tam kliknem na officialnu stranku TO.

Contest is over. Tankers, once again you showed an excellent knowledge of map environment. After almost 30 entries sent in, we found 5 tankers that answered right and thus will receive one of the prizes. The winners are as follows - In the 1st place, winning 22 000 crystals is In the 2nd place, winning 17 000 crystals is @benjiblob In the 3rd place, winning 12 000 crystals is @JustWatchMe In the 4th place, winning 8 000 crystals is @Penguin40 In the 5th place, winning 5 000 crystals is @Darren4Turbo Congratulations to all the winners. For those of you interested, here are the right answers: - Picture No.1 - Speed Boost, that drops in the map Molotov. - Picture No.2 - Double Damage, that drops in the map DeathTrack. - Picture No.3 - Double Damage, that drops in the map Gravity. - Picture No.4 - Repair kit, that drops in the map Magistral. With that being said, topic is open for discussion.

He's AR Newspaper reporter candidate, previously known as Criminal1996.

Hello Tankers! The Newspaper Distribution contest is over, we reviewed your pictures and came to decision. The number of entries was rather disappointing, but we found some really good ones that deserve the label 'prize-worthy'. So, without further delay, let me present the lucky winners. In the first place, winning 30 000 crystals is - @LaserShark In the second place, winning 20 000 crystals is - @missingknight In the third place, winning 15 000 crystals is - @yoshi-1 5 000 consolation prize goes to - @eefschietscheef - entry @gameonln - entry Congratulations to all the winners, you will receive the crystal prizes on Monday.

Ja by som aj privítal nejaké tie photoshooty na oživenie skupiny. Raz za čas dať stretko so SK&CZ hráčmi, pofotiť dať nejakú tú GG, aby bolo v starobe na čo spomínať (lol xD).

Contest is closed. Results will be released in Issue 55. Best of luck to all participants.

If you want to enter, you still have around 20 minutes.