No. While I love Rico, it's M2 usefulness ebbs between Brigadier and Lt. General due to the appearance of M3 weapons and hulls. EN1-EN3 are swarming with M3 kit buyers righ now. Rico M2 just doesn't do enough damage per shot, even with MU, to counter M3 equipment. The recent turret and hull rebalance made this worse. Everything was balanced within its current mod level, meaning Mx of any item was effective and balanced with Mx of any other item. But they forgot that weapons unlock at different ranks. Now those who have Mx < My are doomed because the latter higher mod equipment always dominates. Players whose equipment has higher unlock ranks must now slog through extremely difficult uphill battles or switch equipment in order to be competitive. A further issue is the range of ranks during which M2 equipment is useful. It's much too narrow... First Lieutenant to Colonel. There should be more M2 ranks, specifically Brigadier feels too early to unlock ANY M3 equipment, even kits. Yes, I bought Jackhammer, which makes this sound like hypocrisy, but I maintain that there are plenty of ranks left including the almighty Gismo for M3 enjoyment. Let Brigadier and maybe even Lt. General players enjoy their M2.

Nitros... I can't use those things fast enough. 400+ and growing...

I think refrigerator unlocks at a higher rank, but I wouldn't recommend freeze anyway.

I got good missions last night. Pleasantly surprised.

I know of three Viking M3 kits available at Brigadier. 1- Jackhammer with Hammer and Tiger 2- Raiden with Thunder and Emerald 3- Medic with Isida and Cherry I bought Jackhammer and am pleased with it. I can't recommend Raiden... Thunder needs drugs to really take a battle, and Emerald isn't the paint you need at that rank. I've seen enough Medics to know that it's the kit to buy. Sucks the life out of enemies before most turrets can deliver a killing blow. On drugs, those kits aren't just on top of the leaderboard, they have kill counts two or three TIMES as high as the second place tank. Crazy powerful.

With the new buying system I will be straight out buying Thunder M3 as soon as I have the crys.

Bought loam... Yes the paint I earlier described as loathsome. Needed the fire protection. I now have: Tiger from the kit, great hammer protection Loam, for fire prot Sandstone for Rail and Thunder Prot Dragon for Rico prot Forrester - Rail prot replaced by Sandstone Metallic - Thunder prot replaced by Sandstone

Firebird does more than okay against Rico, esp at close range. Dragon... Noob paint also deters your attack. And M2 Rico is outgunned by the M3 turrets which unlock starting at Brigadier.

I have a couple of questions. Why don't you earn crystals? It seems like half the point of a multiplier pass would be to increase crystal accumulation. Does the pass ONLY impact experience? What does that mean for battle funds and leader boards... I don't think I have ever seen a top scorer NOT get top crystals??? What is meant by "the pass does not give an advantage in team battles"? Are we restricted to team battles in order to multiply experience? Maybe related to the above... How do the mechanics of the pass work? Is the increase awarded after battle funds are distributed or as play happens during battles? This information will help me decide whether to buy a pass.

Yeah, the crystal reward is at most 30%... I almost never get one one out of three, and the free change dispenses a crystal mission only about half the time. I feel like battle funds have also been reduced but can't prove it. Either way I feel pretty crystal starved right now, which I don't like but can't whine about too much since I am not a buyer. I have decided to slow down my pace of play. I've been putting hours every day into this game in order to get to Brigadier so I can start buying M3 equipment. I need a break and this seems like a great time to take one.

Bought Loam on the paint sale. Just managed to scratch up the crystals for it on 40% thanks to a high yield from winning a 60 minute Polygon TDM match. Whew! Now I am broke, but I managed to squeeze something from this sale.

I will try to buy Loam... I really need the fire protection. I am several thousand crys short, but should be able to earn the difference in two days. I bought M0 Thunder and Firebird last night for peanuts. I can't afford to upgrade them to M3 since I already dropped crystals on Jackhammer. I'm surprised that the sale is not 50% but I am not enraged by it. Like I said my crystal stash is already spent. I would have thought this sale would be structured in such a way to encourage players to dump crystals into their garage, which in my opinion would have indicated a 60% sale... Better than last year but not significantly so. Anyway, I'm pretty confident that many players have been crystal hoarding since the June sale, and the initially generous daily missions added to these stockpiles. In my opinion, a slightly better sale would have players emptying their supply into the game. Assuming there is a concern with players having received too many crystals. If the concern is revenue, I understand the 40% approach, but I think the timing is off given that most players already have that mountain of crystals. Better to drain that supply with a good sale and then make future freebies harder to come by. It's all about perception. Tanki' last three moves have been heavily and widely panned in the forums. 1-Nerf of Daily Missions - once with a notice, and recently again with no explanation. 2-Score Caps. Well-intentioned change communicated AFTER the change was made with no opportunity to test. Caps themselves were not well thought through. 3-Tanker's Day Sale. Loads of folks unhappy with the less than last year approach to percentages and offerings. Good thing Tanki is not playing baseball, because this looks like three strikes. Tanki needs a win now, even if only a PR one.

I bought Jackhammer kit, mainly to get M3 Viking at Brigadier. The M3 Hammer and Tiger paint were bonuses. I like Hammer, but I have played with Ricochet my entire tanki career. Thus, I have no idea what I'm doing with this M3 Hammer. Players have noticed. Since Saturday, I've been told that I suck with Hammer and pretty regularly called a noob. I don't mind... After all they're right. I hadn't considered the results of putting an M3 turret in my inexperienced hands. I also think there is some jealousy... Most of these players are on M2 equipment, while I'm stumbling around with non-MUd M3. For instance last night I was in a 1-1 with a firebird who threatened me with "gonna get my M2 on" when I joined. When I ignored him, he switched to hammer. When that didn't work, he asked me to take my paint off. When I didnt, he drugged like crazy. I lost the battle... Remember I suck with Hammer, only having played it for five days. But I only lost by one kill, AND I still won my mission because I was the 'first' on my 'team' :) EDIT: Lots of folks on this thread commenting about how overpowered hammer is. It's not. One on one with comparable hulls it loses always to Isida and Firebird. Two on one, it loses always due to it's clip reload. Hammer has the advantage only when it: A-catches an enemy from behind and can empty two shots before the enemy can turn around. B-goes 1-1 against hornet or poor wasps. C-drugs (yeah, that's awesome) D-goes against medium hulls using Thunder, Smoky, or another Hammer. Freeze is a maybe. E-kill steals... Very good turret for this You have got to pay attention to your clip though. I've been toasted a bunch of times by going into an engagement with only one shot left :( Edit 2:- Hammer seems to be making a comeback at Brigadier and ranks higher, probably due to Jackhammer kit, but I am seeing more M2s, which I can't explain. Some battles have had up to four Hammers, which is when I put on the Tiger paint I received in the kit. But that's rare. Usually there is only one other Hammer, and I trade out my paint for Sandstone (bought at 50% in June) or Loam (bought at 40% this month's Tanker's Day sale) depending on whether I'm dealing with Rail, Thunder, or Fire. I also keep Dragon around for the occasional Rico infestation.

When I recorded it a month or so ago, it was over 400k crystals.

Made Brigadier today.

Brigadier rank up just now!

Nice take from Skylark

What does this mean? You are not allowed to use that image extension on this community.

I loathe Loam. But I respect it. Good fire and Rico protection means those tanks survive the over populous Firebird... And my Rico. When I see Loam on a Hunter or another Viking, I know I'm in for a slugfest. When I see Loam on a Titan or Mammoth, I head off in a different direction.

I make every effort to complete my daily missions. Even small numbers of crystals and supplies are better than nothing. I remember when missions were first introduced. I told people to enjoy them while they lasted. I was right. They were nerfed. Now they are nerfed again. The free change is the only redeeming feature... I can still swap out and generally I do get a better one. I'll still do just about any mission for free crystals. But I will think twice about playing on a map I don't like for a reward of 2 speed boosts. :(

Mission?

Seymon, I believe the underlying issue is the large number of games unbalanced by one side leaving en masse. A simple solution is to directly address the reason why this happens... The inequity in battle funds. Fix THIS perhaps by removing the inequity. Both teams earn the same crystals from their kills and caps... The winner team then gets a modest win bonus... Say 10%. Enough to motivate play for win mentality but not significant enough to drive away a losing team.

I used to see a lot of Rico-Hornets up to the high WO ranks. By the Major-Colonel ranks, these noobs are gone. Rico rocks on Viking (my choice). I also see it a lot on Dictator and Hunter. Finally, careful attention must be paid to rank unlocks. M2 Rico starts to fizzle out around Brigadier when enemies start to use M3 weapons and hulls, mostly enabled by kits.