I dont't have it, but from my experience playing with Smoky against players using heavyweight+viking, it definitely helps countering high impact force turrets.

Forgot about this thread, thanks

Battle pass is by far the best value for money in this game, IF you have the time to commit to it. If you are only able to get 10 tiers or so then it probably isn't worth it, and you would be better off buying crystals on a discount weekend/event sales or purchasing a product kit with equipment normally unattainable at your rank for crystals. A tip if you are going to invest any money into this game - buy your tankoins in Russian currency - they are far far cheaper that way and even if your credit card supplier slaps you with a foreign transaction fee, this will almost always be outweighed by the savings you made on purchases over 399 rubles (about $5)

Changing from a hitscan to projectile will almost definitely deteriorate gameplay - having to lead shots with Thunder at range on moving targets is difficult at the best of times and infuriating at the worst. Unless the smoky projectile is almost instantaneous but not quite, no doubts that switched to projectile can be considered a nerf. As for the augment switches, all those are doing is either fixing a problem that wasn't previously there i.e. slow projectile speed, or exacerbating that problem in return for some benefits. It would make sense if Sledgehammer slowed Thunder projectiles down and Subcaliber made them hitscan again, but that isn't the case - they're all projectiles still. I'm sure "realism" is pretty low on the list of TO developers, so that point doesn't need to be addressed. Whilst things may turn out okay, I simply don't see the need for the Smoky firing mechanism to be tampered with - are we seeing complaints about unbalanced smoky hitscan? No, so if it ain't broke why fix it?

This is an interesting discussion but probably not fit for the I&S topic anymore since it's detracted so far away from the initial wasp discussion. Probably better to shift it here:

Context: I have been playing for about 7 years now, seen the game in its ups and downs and wanted to share some thoughts. Was F2P for about 6 years, playing on and off, recently invested about $20 to get my account competitive since I've been playing quite a bit in lockdown, but will not be buying any further after I get this hornet immunity in the current challenge. Will probably stop playing for good if any updates like the Gauss EMP continue to be implemented. Inspired by @DageLV's comments: "If people stopped paying for tanki bs and refused to accept what theyre doing, tanki would be forced to comply, or go bankrupt. Its a very powerful thing consumers have. Decent games sell skins. Tanki sells victories. Thats the big difference." Everything you said in this part of your post is facts, and I think the reason for Tanki releasing all these p2w friendly updates is a result of noticing a decline in paying players and as a result providing the remaining customers with more incentives to keep playing by providing game advantages only accessible through real money - see hull alterations, EMP gauss. This part especially resonates because this is Tanki's business model. The developers are in too deep with the buyer only items that they can't remove them without losing a massive chunk of the payerbase and hence if new updates try to shift the revenue focus towards cosmetics, as with the hornet ultra skin release etc., then this will be nowhere near as appealing to the payerbase compared to buying immunities, OP drones or maxed equipment, since they have already provided opportunities to advantage yourself in battle by paying in the past. I don't think there would be nearly as much backlash about p2w or bad updates if all content released by developers was also available through playing the game free and trading your time for the content instead of your money. This is why those super missions for XT skins were so beloved in the past and also the reason why I don't dislike the drone update as much as other people - drones can be acquired by playing the game and being smart with crystals. Of course the game is harder for free to play individuals, and maxed drones are probably the hardest equipment to attain whilst playing f2p, but why wouldn't you expect it to be - they want you to reimburse them for the fun you're having on their game - but they definitely crossed an uncrossable line with the introduction of payer only items. Now, I don't know how they could fix this without angering the precious payerbase they try so hard to keep in the game. For me, making previously paywalled, game affecting equipment available for purchase with crystals would be the ultimate solution, but looking at the bigger picture this would definitely cause major complaints from buyers who invested their paid for tankoins in the same equipment. That's all I have to say for now, feel free to share other opinions/perspectives on this topic.I want to have some rational discussion and not some people crying about "buyers ruin this game, remove buying and tanki good again" - at least, don't expect any response from me if you do. I'm especially interested in any ideas people might have that could potentially reverse the direction the developers are heading without scaring off the majority of the payerbase since this seems like the ultimate conundrum when it comes to the sustainable future of this game. "Payerbase" is highlighted to ease the distinction between payerbase and playerbase.

Woo I won no way ?? FYI @Person_Random I changed my nickname from DarknessAssasin123 to D.A.R.K.N.E.S.S so could you make sure the prize gets sent to the right nickname? Thanks ?

Assist damage is the key, get one shot onto an enemy, even if your teammate does 99% of the damage you still get the same 5 points. Kill stealing is also relatively easy when the fire rate is so high. Mine just upgraded to Mk7-15 this morning ?

Hornet, you can see from the wiki page for challenges

As much as it depresses me to say, never gonna happen. That thing is probably a such a fat cash cow for the devs it will probably never enter the hands of F2P, not as long as it remains unique in the EMP alteration aspect anyway, and what's the track history of features being removed from the game, especially ones that people blew ridiculous amounts of cash buying? Now that it's in Ultra Containers, if people want it, they can't even buy it upfront, they've gotta blow a boatload of cash on a bunch of RNG that'll probably net you 50% Mines/Speed Boost anyway/. At least that way the devs make their moolah, and only a relatively small proportion of the playerbase has the augment. Must be fun being able to singlehandedly ruin EVERY siege game for the opposing team ever, especially when combined with Hornet OD, but let's not go down that path again.

Whats with this narrative amongst so many players? Do you guys even use smoky? Theres almost never more than 2 smoky modules in every game I play and I almost exclusively use smoky in MM. On the other hand, Gauss will definitely have even fewer protections than that in any mode outside of Siege, so that much is true. They're both good turrets, I'd say Smoky is a bit better at close to medium ranges and Gauss gets better the further out you go. Having two modes can be a massive plus, but critical shots (especially with incendiary rounds) are really nice. Despite me being the biggest smoky fan, I'd say in this current meta Gauss probably edges it by a little bit *prays for smoky buff that will never arrive*

Smoky is my most used turret by far as you can see from my profile, soon gonna have it Mk8, and I've racked up many hours on it through the ranks. Ive gotta say, especially with Incendiary Rounds, this turret can do so much work in almost every map. It's viable at all ranges with the exception of maybe melee but even at that distance the fast fire rate means you can easily take on splash & long range turrets, only turrets I'm scared of on a map are when fires/freezes/isidas manage to get close. Not sure why everyones going on about smoky prots - I only ever see 1 or 2 maximum at the start of a game, but as soon as I climb to the top of the leaderboard a few of them will usually switch midgame which I find hilarious and also a massive sign of respect. As you said it works great with all 3 of your Mk7 hulls, which just so happen to be my Mk7 hulls as well, what a coincidence lol, but if you wanted a bit more stable platform than Viking for a medium hull, Hunter would be a good pickup (although I still prefer Viking for the speed and the crazy OD :P) This update, along with like everyone having 40%+ Grizzly at Legend (including myself which just adds to the point) was the final nail in the coffin that put me off Thunder, which used to be my fav turret since getting it in the old "medium m2" kit with prodigi and emerald paints (oh what I'd give to go back then). Made the switch to smoky after getting the Paladin kit (which used to have protections against Fire, Freeze AND Twins, not just Smoky as it is now #TERRIBLEUPDATE) and never really looked back. I'll still use Thunder every now and again if I need to play Siege for a mission or if I notice the enemy team has a lot of Dolphin modules but not so many Grizzly, but this is like less than 5% of my matches. If they change Smoky to projectile I might just quit tanki lmao as I love this turret so much if they ruin it like they did Thunder its probably gonna be the final goodbye On a separate note, I'm currently sitting on a fairly large pot of crystals accumulated and it'll be enough to get my Smoky, Twins, Viking, Hornet and Titan all upgraded to Mk7-20 from where they are now. After finishing these, which of my current Mk7 turrets would be best to MU up?

Much, much easier to kill. Noticeably lower damage at medium range with the arcade shot, and they don't even try sniping because 90% of them are skilless bandwagoners who wanted to abuse the broken alteration. The reduced fire rate also means youre not melted immediately at close range and can throw them off with my smoky.

As wolverine said, the choice of words is terrible. Probably translated over from russian or something. The simplest way I can explain it is that it now takes longer to fire off the 3 shots consecutively i.e. as fast as possible, and also takes longer for the energy bar to recharge after doing so. You used to be able to fire off all 3 shots in 270ms, now it's 375ms. At least, that's the way I'm reading it, it would make no sense to give it a buff.

the very quick nerf to shaft suggests that they do look at game balance - probably saw a massive spike in shaft/RFM usage - but I think they probably want to keep it more lowkey and away from the casual playerbase, hence they silently put patch notes in the forum without announcement. Don't get me started on hornet, we all know how much of a pain in the ass that thing is but doesn't look like anything's gonna be done about it. I've started using hornet more myself since if the devs arent gonna fix it, might as well abuse it.

where's the buff? Maximum rate of fire got increased (takes longer to fire the 3 shots), and energy reload (after firing) also got increased (takes longer to reload), those are both negatives see above

Hornet Fire Immunity in July Challenge I Probably gonna be seeing armies of vulcan-hornet return for at least a short while after

agreed that hornet is broken... but a maxed out defender drone was equally as broken - it basically gave a mobile titan's dome for 15 seconds pre-nerf. This was definitely needed and it your anger is just because you had the drone pre-nerf and probably put a lot of resources into upgrading it to abuse this power it used to have. I was gonna get this drone anyway and if anything this change makes me want to get it more - I was doing just fine without it and now if it's gonna last the entire duration of my double armor, even better.

This is defo gonna generate tons of revenue for tanki... I wasn't even planning on buying this pass but that hornet immunity is too good to pass up on

Highest reward in CP (after dividing by 2 its 1408)

Nickname changed from DarknessAssasin123 to D.A.R.K.N.E.S.S

@Person_Random where the results at?

I've been using Incendiary for the past month now and I don't know if it's actually better than stock or not. The increased damage from the burning is nice... but there are so many moments where I'll get a critical shot and my opponent will be burning, and I'll finish them off with my next shot. Every time that happens a part of me wonders had I been using stock smoky would I have killed him with the instant burst of damage and not had to suffer that extra damage whilst waiting for my next shot? Also, whenever I get a critical shot on a hornet without double armor, I could leave him to burn but that usually means sustaining more damage, so I have to keep my focus on him and continue shooting until I know he's dead, whereas a regular critical shot would just blast him immediately. Its definitely better at longer ranges or when shooting behind cover and you don't have to worry as much about the enemy shooting back, but the for the supply heavy run-and-gun style I tend to play in MM, I'm not sure if its actually giving me an advantage.

do you mean Mk8? MUing Gauss is probably a good idea, and Twins is probably a medium tier turret in this meta, I usually use it in 30% of my games. Mk8 Firebird+Mk8 Hornet + Incendiary Mix + Defender drone is the bane of my existence. If you decide to MU Fire this will be a deadly combo, especially if the stupid hornet OD stays as is. I'm not the biggest fan of Rail, but a Mk8 Rail with scout seems to shoot as fast as my smoky, so both of these options are very good. Personally, I'd advise you to do Gauss first, then Fire, then Rail before Twins, but it's up to you. Consider MUing a lot of things at the same time, over a longer period of time, without paying for SUs (if you have the patience for it). Allows you to slowly improve your equipment whilst saving a ton of crystals.

This should definitely be removed - no other offensive overdrive charges whilst in activation - imagine if Viking OD charged whilst active, you'd have 30-40% by the time it finished if you got 2-3 kills as I usually do. Every OD takes some element of skill (besides perhaps Dictator or Titan) but like I said, if the developers don't have an issue with the overdrive mechanics themselves i.e. how the overdrive works & functions, then a large part of why Hornet OD is so broken is that relative to its power, it charges far too quickly. The developers recognised this with Viking's OD and that's why it has the slowest charge time of all the hulls - because of it's huge killing potential. Problems arise when they are aware of the killing potential but don't change the charge time or charge mechanics (as mentioned above) to compensate. Must be nice... I recently created an alt and it's been fun owning noobs at First Sergeant ? Noone really knows the true power of hornet down there so the OD is underrated What? This must be a typo because 7.01 secs is ridiculously quick I can't believe hornet OD is even being put in the same sentence as mammoth OD... some things on this forum really blow my mind sometimes