By playing the game you agreed to the EULA and to follow the rules. It was your own fault you were banned for sharing accounts.

Clicking the button simply takes you to the screen where you can buy XP. Should you buy some, it is irreversible.

Put all suggestions on the feedback page.

You were almost positively not first. The comments must be moderated so it is impossible to tell you are first until the aftermath of the approval. Better luck next time.

I have the perfect solution. Make all weapons 1 crystal for M0, 5 for M1, 10 for M2, and 20 for M3. Remove all methods of income through battles, referrals, crystal pickups, etc. The only way you can get crystals is by picking up gold boxes, which now hold only 1 crystal. Excellent!

If you think you have it bad, I'm the one forced to resign in February from the Valley scandal :P

Tanki Online Lobby Chat Where would the Tanki community be without communication? The truth is, nowhere. Communication is an essential aspect of any game- at least, one that wants to have a successful playerbase and a healthy community. The game offers many means of communication: Chat in the game (that comes in two forums), forum, external related sites (like the Tanki Facebook page or Twitter), a separate platform for communication (such as Skype) that players can connect with after catching up through one of the above means, and many, many more options. For this article, I’ll be starting from the ground up with the basics of the basis, the chat residing in the server lobbies and in battle. Basics Chances are that near everyone reading this knows this portion: When you enter a server you start with viewing the battle option screen, which has a nice little gadget on the left side called the lobby chat (it can also be accessed through the garage). To send a message, it’s as easy as clicking the box to chat if you haven’t already highlighted it, typing your wonderful message, and pressing the “enter” or perhaps “return” key on your computer, or even simply pressing the send button to the right of the message. Assuming you’re not banned (more on that later), your nice, fancy message will pop up in the chat for all to see. You can send a message indirectly by just doing the above, or you can directly send it to another user by clicking on their name, or writing their name before your message (with correct capitalization/punctuation/spelling) with a colon and a space before the message you want to send. Generally, people prefer to be addressed individually, it’s common practice and considered more polite in conversations. It also lets others know something is directed at them especially if you’re asking a question. Also in chat, next to the person talking (and the optional recipient) it displays their rank in the game. This is one way of telling the game experience of a player, but don’t let it influence your opinion of them too much, there are plenty of low ranked skilled players, as many as there are inexperienced higher ranked players. However, that’s not all to chat, there’s a lot more to it, but that should be enough to get you started. Get out there and start chatting, there are some loquacious people out there! Battle Links So you found the perfect battle, right? Only problem is, your friend is on the other team, and you can’t join it because autobalance is enabled and more players are needed to fill empty spots. Perhaps you found a great battle for two and need to point out the game to a friend so you two can work together. Maybe, you’re about to have an intense duel with the English rail wasp champion of server seventeen and need to have him be able to join the private battle you created. How can all of these problems be solved? Well, luckily for us, some mastermind developer at Tanki headquarters got a bright idea, and we know it as battle links. First step is getting the link to your battle. There are two ways to do this. Firstly, you can view the battle details of the match you want to join, and hit the “copy link” button (on the far right, below the ranks allowed for the game and above the scores for the blue team in team games or kills in deathmatches) to copy the link or web address for your battle to your computer’s clipboard. Secondly, while highlighting the game you want to join you can look up in the address bar of your browser and copy the link. At this point, you can take your copied link and do a number of things with it. Obviously, you can paste it into the lobby chat to the general public or your friends so they can join, or that one player you’re about to duel. If you’d rather send it privately, a good choice would be an external chat program like Skype or perhaps through forum personal messaging, and from there you can enjoy your game! A battle link posted in the lobby chat will conveniently display a link with the text dictating the name of the battle rather than the address, which is useful and neat. Also, know that not every link posted in the chat will be suitable for your rank, so it’s not always the best way to search for a game by yourself, but it can be a great asset in playing with the Tanki community. Chat Commands In addition to the actual messages of the chat, there are some useful commands useable in the lobby and battle chat. If you have some other gaming experience or perhaps programming, you should know that the forward slash button / initiates a command sequence, which can have other complex things like objects and arguments that I won’t go into since Tanki’s commands are relatively straightforward. Firstly, blocking other players. If someone is really getting on your nerves, being inappropriate and abusive, or breaking the rules (be sure to take a picture for the last two so you can report them to a moderator!), you can use the block command to block them, and from then on you won’t see any further messages from their account. Simply type /block [player name] where the player name inside the brackets is simply the name of the player you want to block, spelled, capitalized, and punctuated correctly (make sure not to actually type out the brackets nor the text “player name”). This command can also be used in the heat of battle. The negative, “undo” function for that is the unblock command, simply performed by typing /unblock [player name] for the desired player that you’ve already blocked to be liberated to message you. Also, a third command that has a larger effect is unblocking everyone on your blocklist. Typing /unblockall will clear your blocklist and allow all players on it to message you freely in the chat. To check your blocklist in the lobby to see who’s on it, if anyone, type /blocklist to view it. The block and unblock commands can be used anywhere in the lobby or game chat, while the unblockall and blocklist commands will only work in the server lobby chat. There is one more command for players that can only be used in battle, and that is the vote command. If a player is breaking the rules, or hacking/cheating in anyway, stop what you’re doing and type /vote [player name] to report them to a moderator for them to come check the supposed illegal activity. The battle name will appear in yellow and go to the top of the battle list regardless of ranks for moderators so they know that there is a complaint. For an administrator (not mod) to be directly notified of an offender, at least 25% of the player in the battle must report the player. Unfortunately, not enough players know of this feature, and it may be advisable to share the good word in game and tell others how to vote an offending malicious player. Should the amount be satisfactory and a mod comes to examine the situation, the player will either be banned or kicked, or nothing will happen if there is no evidence. Either way, in the chat will appear something along the lines of the text “analysis of complaints has been completed”. Before I write the next paragraph let me make it clear (since I always get personal messages asking for the test server code) that I don’t have the test server code, and that nobody does with the exception of Devs and Russian testers. The test servers are occasionally open to the public to play on. There are two useful commands there to get you the contents you need to be able to have your desired amount of experience points for rank and your desired amount of crystals to buy stuff. Also, this is important: It’s a ban-able offense to try and use the following commands on the real Tanki servers. Don’t try it, you’ll regret it, and don’t say I didn’t warn you. These commands are for the test server only. To add unlimited experience points and gain rank on the test server, type /addscore [amount] where the amount is your desired amount of experience points. You need 1,400,000 to be Generalissimo, the final rank which unlocks everything in the garage. To add unlimited crystals type /addcry [amount] again where the amount is your desired number of crystals. A few hundred thousand and you should be set. A cool feature is that you can actually remove score and crystals on the test by using a negative valued amount in the command, which is pretty neat. That’s all for commands, and remember, only use the test commands on the test server, and that some other commands only work in lobby chat or battle chat and not both. Tanki Site Links In addition to the commands I displayed heretofore, there are some other cool little links you can send to help others by using the # key followed by a name. Currently there are ten of them, and there is one that was recently added to the game. #forum takes you to the English community forum, which is a helpful start for a newbie to find information. #rules takes you to the rules page, and is also a link that will commonly appear for bans. #faq takes you directly to the FAQ section of the forum, a center of community knowledge and helpful guides for everyone to read. #ranks takes you to a page displaying all the ranks in the game, and #clans takes you to the Clans & Teams section of the forum, which is useful for recruiting new members who want to see your clan topic to see if they are interested before joining. After those five, #theft is a link to a helpful guide on what to do if your account was hacked (for prevention measures I wrote a helpful article last issue of the newspaper). #updates is a useful link to the patch notes thread, which is typically updated consistently with the game patches and features. #plans leads players to the “in development” page from the main Tanki site, which is currently not updated to everything happening through development of the game, but hopefully will be soon. #feedback takes you to the feedback site for Tanki ideas, suggestions, and thoughts for improvement that you can share with others and the developers of the game. Rather than posting suggestions on the forum, the feedback page is where they are supposed to go. People can support ideas and that is one way bugs are squashed and improvements to the game are made. Finally, #wiki is the newest link and takes you to the Tanki Online official Wiki. Although it’s in Russian, you can use a simple translator to change the page into readable English for you. What are these links useful for? Well, lots of things, depending on the viewpoint and perspective of it. If you’re a moderator, the rules link is very helpful so that those who are banned can read the rules and see what they did wrong. Consultants can use these links to help explain things better or show players what to do in certain situations or how to do something. Regular players can use them all the time to show other users something, for example their new clan in the English section of the game. If someone is begging for common and answered information, shoot them a link to the FAQ section and they’ll thank you for it. Remember, the search bar on the forum is your best friend before asking for help, be independent! Hopefully, players can use these chat links to their advantage as currently there are a lot of players that may not know about them. Bans All users for any game, even Tanki, must inevitably face the consequences of their actions. Consequences can be good. Unfortunately, breaking the rules and being banned is not good, but very bad. Bans come in different shapes and sizes, and for many different reasons. Bans can last for different lengths of time. The different time lengths are five minutes, a hour, a day, a week, a month, and... wait for it... forever. Obviously the longer bans are for more serious offenses and also for more serious offenses. Only admins have permissions to ban players forever, and it’s a pretty rare sight. Typically it is used only for things like insults to administration and severe hacking or scam. I’ve seen it happen before, and it’s definitely not pretty. Chat moderators can ban for up to a month, and consultants can issue five minute bans to keep chat clean. Also lesser, more forgivable breaches of the rules can result in a warning for the offender, which isn’t a ban but is still kept in ban records and player karma. What can someone get banned for? To be honest, a lot of things, but if you’re a good person and behave well, you shouldn’t have to be too worried with rules aside from knowing what you’re not allowed to do. By actually playing the game, you are accepting the terms of the Tanki End User License Agreement (EULA), and if you don’t agree to the terms you can’t play the game. Players must be aware of the rules, but some newbies and even some experienced players still aren’t familiar with all of them, especially the chat ones. Some commonly broken chat rules are flood and spam of battle link. For those, don’t post a message or battle link more than once. Also, don’t post three or more messages in rapid succession (within a second or two of each other) or you might be automatically banned even if what you say is legitimate. The more you get banned for this, the longer the bans will be. If you’re experiencing lag and your messages don’t send, don’t send more or else once the lag ends your messages will flow into the server all at the same second usually resulting in an automatic ban. Also, profanity is strictly prohibited. Younger kids play Tanki too, and it’s important we keep a friendly environment for all to enjoy in the game. For spam reasons you’re forbidden to use too many caps (or for just typing with caps lock on) so be careful you don’t have that enabled. Links to external sites can be ban-able offenses especially if it’s bad stuff. Insult and offensive behavior is obviously against the rules. Cyberbullying is becoming more and more of an issue as the Internet grows and it’s important to stand against that kind of negative action. People can be really hurt by the opinions of others, and it is crucial to be unbiased to inexperienced people and younger players too, because you can’t judge who they are and severely hurt them for it over a silly conversation. If you’re banned for insult you got what you deserved. Moving on, scam is a big issue and it can cause you to lose your account (again, more information on that in my previous article). Don’t trust any fake promises or websites asking for account information. Scam usually results in at least a month ban. Asking for passwords or account information in the chat is also obviously banned, as it’s against the rules to share accounts (also, you’d have to be pretty crazy to share your account with some random stranger that you don’t really know). It’s also against the rules to discuss the work of moderators, and that is only so that a controversial issue doesn’t get out of hand in the chat and people get wrong ideas based on the actions of a moderator. That goes for the forum as well. If you believe a moderator made a mistake or intentionally banned you falsely, send an email to help@tankionline.com with evidence (a picture should generally be enough) and a description of your situation. If that doesn’t work, you’ll just have to wait out the ban and not make the same mistake next time. Remember, a mod didn’t ban you, you banned you through the mistakes you made and the rules you broke. Conclusion Well, that’s all I have on the server chat aspects and related topics. The chat is a great way to make new friends in the game and also to find cool people with to help you in battle, and maybe even get some new knowledge on the game or anything. People can chat about almost any topic and it’s a popular game so there is always sure to be someone to talk to. You might even be able to join a clan or recruit people for your existing one. I hope you enjoyed this article, stay clean everyone, have a great time chatting, and I’ll see you in the battle! Thanks for reading, ShadowVisions

A Shopper’s Guide to the Rebalance Introduction Just last month, the most revolutionary update to ever hit the servers was released. It was known as Update 114, or much more commonly just known as “the rebalance”. This new update not only reworked the internal mechanics of the equipment in the garage, but also added three new ranks, buyable experience and much more. One of the central and long-awaited (for years!) components was the refund of all crystals spent in the garage. While most people have already repurchased their weaponry and various equipment, it is a good idea to know what to aim for to buy next, what to avoid, and tips to succeed in the entirely new environment of the game. It’s worth noting that what is available for different people drastically changed. Weapons, tanks, paints, and maps became much more distributed across the entire rank spectrum. As a result, people couldn’t and can’t simply hope to buy what they had and expect the same or even similar results. What’s good, what’s bad and what’s in style has been completely swapped out. Rather than give an overview of each item, for the sake of time I’ll outline through similar categories. Without further ado, the weapons, post rebalance. Weapons Smoky VS Thunder- Long Range Before the rebalance, Thunder was a dangerous weapon used by many competitive tankers that could hold its own in battle, and Smoky was just a fun weapon people used to duel or to have a bit of fun. Now, it’s a bit of a closer fight. Smoky has been granted a unique ability to rival thunder’s splash effect- the chance of a critical hit every shot, which the probability and damage of dependent on the level of the weapon. I’d like to focus generally on only m3 weapon stats. Looking at the critical chance at m3, you have an eight percent chance of a 190 damage critical, which is equal to about once every twelve shots (at random of course). Thunder, on the other hand, has more damage per second on average even despite Smoky’s new asset. However, Thunder also has it’s disadvantages. Due to its strength, you only have to glance at a battle to see the sheer amount of thunder protection there is in the average battle. Almost all the common paints, which I will get to later, have some form of thunder protection, while Smoky protection is very rare to be found- people don’t take it seriously as a threat. Just observe popular paints like Clay, Picasso, Prodigi, Emerald, Cedar, Rustle. All have one thing in common- a lot of Thunder protection. Smoky doesn’t have to compete with that, giving it a bigger advantage. It’s also worth noting that Smoky turns a bit faster than Thunder and shoots a decent amount quicker, and is easier to use when attempting to make weapons like Railgun miss their targets. The verdict- if you are a comfortable, skilled smoky player, go with that. I’ve had a few friends buy Smoky that were relatively skilled report great success in battle. Smoky is also for you if you enjoy that element of small chance provided by Smoky’s critical hit, but I myself am not a gambler. If you’re more for reliability, or have used Thunder before, Thunder is the way to go. It’s massive damage output is great, even if it is slightly less effective due to the extremely high amount of thunder protection paints. Be sure to target those that don’t bear a Thunder paint, you’ll see they’re picked off quickly. Also remember that thunder doesn’t have to even think about that problem in clan wars with no protection paints allowed, making Thunder a great clan play weapon with almost no setbacks at all. Firebird VS Freeze- Close Range Freeze dominated the shorter maps like Island and Hill pre-rebalance, but now it finally has a weapon to compete against for the title. While Freeze still has more damage per second output during actual contact, Firebird can more than fight back. Like Smoky, Firebird was given a new ability from the rebalance, an effect I personally have always wanted to see in the game. Firebird now has a burn effect that damages tanks even after you stop attacking them, kind of like a lasting poisonous effect. This can really cripple the opponent, especially since even if they kill you, as long as you hit them enough you will still have a great chance of killing them even after you die. Thus you can actually respawn before them and gain a huge advantage, as well as helping your team! Firebird has become a formidable weapon that’s fun to use and effective in team play, although its effect can also work well in deathmatch environments. I know I pushed away Freeze for a second, but let’s go back to it. Freeze’s effect of- well, freezing the opponent also was gifted with some extra force (and annoyance, for the rest of us!). The cold of the freeze breeze cracks down and ices over tanks much quicker and for much longer duration, making a Freeze guarding a flag even more effective than before. For those who get in a position with the flag where they have a Freeze hurting them they can’t hit, nice knowing you. It’s worth checking that Freeze is also a lot cheaper than firebird, and is unlocked several hundred thousand experience points lower than Firebird, so it’s a much quicker and cheaper solution to your close range needs. Freeze is probably a bit easier to use, while Firebird has a few extra factors to add a challenge. The verdict- if you’ve used Freeze before, don’t rush and buy freeze again straight away. Ask yourself if you think the new firebird effect would be fun to use and even watch it some in action. Like Thunder, Freeze protection paints like Picasso and Inferno are much more common than Firebird ones. Freeze remains the ultimate defense weapon as long as it’s supported by its team, with its effect crippling for at least several seconds longer. Firebird is more for those that can switch it up and vary attack and defense- put it on a light tank and capture flags while helping offense, or swap it with a mammoth, defend, and watch your enemies die with your flag even if they manage to kill you. Overall, both can be equally effective in battle, it’s just a matter of taste. For clans I would recommend having at least one player with Freeze with any number of Firebirds. Twins VS Ricochet- Mid Range Again, before rebalance Ricochet was arguably the best weapon in the game for your average battle. Now, you can throw that out the window with all the new competition from other weapons, especially with Rico’s downfall. From the statistics, Ricochet probably looks a good deal better than Twins- higher unlock rank, more damage, fast reload, quicker turning speed, and a lot further distance. However, what the stats don’t say is why there’s not as many Rico’s, or anywhere near as many, than before the rebalance. It’s because of the duration of the charge. Before, Rico could shoot around seventeen or eighteen plasma shots before having to recharge. Now, it’s barely ten or eleven. This means it takes almost a full charge just to kill a Viking, which isn’t even one of the better tanks anymore. Enough on my rant on Rico, let’s take a look at Twins. There is a good reason why Twins is becoming dominant over Rico now. In battle, the constant rate of fire combined with the massive damage output and the additional component of no recharge makes it simply put, a weapon of mass destruction. In deathmatch, it can tear apart multiple enemies at once, and has massive knockback for flipping tanks over. In capture the flag, it’s a terrific distraction for your teammates to run in and grab the flag or capture a crucial control point while you pelt your opponent with green pellets of doom. On top of that, there’s only two paints you have to worry about as Twins, which are Rock and Emerald, with only the latter being relatively common. Anything else you can pretty much decimate in a matter of seconds. Ah, Twins. The verdict- you’ll notice I didn’t directly compare Ricochet and Twins. That’s because you can’t compare the two on the same level, it’s off-balanced, just like one of the next weapons to be covered. Ricochet simply can’t compete head-to-head with Twins unless it’s extremely skilled. You could argue it could win in the situations using its ricochet bouncing off walls effect, which is true, but to be honest the effect doesn’t make up for its new major downfall. Twins is the most expensive weapon in the game when you add M0-M3 prices together, weighing in at about forty-two thousand (42,000) crystals for the whole thing. Wow, that’s expensive, but believe me it’s worth it. If you’re looking for a mid range weapon, Twins is the way to go. Past Ricochet users, good luck if you decide to buy it again, but my advice would be convert to Twins, it’s still pretty similar as it is. Railgun VS Shaft- Unlimited Range This comparison is one that personally hurts me particularly to write. Needless to say, Shaft was and still is my favorite weapon, even if I don’t use it anymore. Let me just say there’s a good reason for that. Looking at Shaft, it used to be able to kill everything in the game except for M3 Mammoth. Now, for a similar price combining M0 through M3, you are basically getting a weapon that is a shadow of its former self. With all M3, the only tanks it can kill in a single shot are Hornet and Wasp. Ridiculous compared to its old self. Regardless, it may still be somewhat effective at the M2 level, where it can kill the M2 tanks of Wasp, Hornet, Hunter, and Dictator. Beyond that I really see no practical use for it in battle however, if you want defensive a Freeze would now be much more effective, and if you want to shoot way down the field Railgun is now your weapon of choice. Moving on to Railgun, this weapon was made competitive with the other strong weapons. It gained some damage proportionate to the increase in tank health, along with a wider range of damage from shot to shot. It can adapt to most environments and is useful in both deathmatch and team games. If you’re well versed in the art of aiming you should fare decently with Railgun even if your forte was formally Shaft or another weapon. Overall, I think the rebalance decreased the effectiveness of the very long ranged weapons and distributed it more towards the closer ranged weapons including Twins. Other than that point, Railgun is really not that much difference from before the rebalance, just gained some necessary damage to compete, perhaps stealing some of the damage it needed from Shaft. The verdict- don’t buy Shaft unless you want to for reasons other than winning games. If you’re naturally a sniper, try out Rail. Personally I didn’t buy Railgun or Shaft, but I have seen a lot of potential for Rail snipers specifically in deathmatches. It would be great to apply its ability to hit multiple targets with some common hit and run tactics and do very well. If you had Rail before and enjoyed it, buy it again if you want the same feel and a more balanced effectiveness. If you had Shaft before, I’d unfortunately recommend trying something else and switching it up a bit. That’s what I forced myself to do. For wars, Railgun would be a good choice as a complimentary weapon. Also, there are not many popular paints with strong protection against Rail or Shaft. Isida- The Lone Healer I couldn’t wait to talk about this amazing weapon. Pre-rebalance, Isida could indeed hold its own in battles, but it was completely a support weapon and typically no more than that unless supplies and a strong tank were involved. Now, it can obliterate any tank head-to-head with a similar body due to its self healing. One aspect that’s new and I feel appropriate for a healing weapon is that it heals stronger (if only a little bit) than it damages the enemy. Its heal is so strong it can heal a tank faster than a Freeze is damaging that same tank. Crazy, right? Have two or three Isidas with you on a flag raid and you’re set for a capture. On the other side of the spectrum, Isida still has massive hurting damage as strong as firebird, with the same fifty percent self heal ratio that will keep you alive long enough to destroy anyone in a one versus one. On that same note, Isida has become a weapon that can now fight in deathmatch along with team modes, even if it has the secondary function with healing. It can tear apart any enemy in its path, especially when supplies are factored into the equations. Since the rebalance I and many others have started dominating deathmatches with this devastating weapon. It just requires some knowledge of steering clear of those you can’t attack and being a leech to those you can. Back to the flip side of things with the increased heal, the 1.5x multiplier for the healing score from Isida has been removed. So, there is a noticeable difference between score in games before and after. However, it was much needed. Before rebalance you could find an Isida atop the scoreboard in nearly every game. The verdict- if you loved Isida before, you’ll love it even more, unless your purpose was for score. Also, Isida is unlocked at very low ranks in comparison with same level counterpart weapons, becoming the first M3 weapon unlock-able in the game. It also costs the least out of all weapons, which is a huge bargain considering the effectiveness of it in all variants of battle. If you hated Isida before, give it a try- you might like the new mechanics or the increased strength giving it qualities of an independent weapon. As far as paints go, the only real threats are Rock and Irbis, which might be a good buy for any tankman, considering the large new threat of Isida. More on that later. In war, Isida is a fantastic team weapon that can fend for itself and also support the team in more ways than you can imagine. Tanks Wasp VS Hornet- The Agile Tanks Much like the Smoky, Wasp was a tank that was previously used in halfhearted cases, or variant battles including famous battles like Wasp and Rail. However, the tide has turned and Wasp has become a formidable opponent in any game, especially Capture the Flag mode due to its lightning fast speed. With a nitro supply, Wasp will be out of sight in a few seconds. Looking at the stats of Wasp, its max speed at M3 is 10.8, .8 more than the previous fastest tank, Hornet M3. Unfortunately, the new speed of Hornet has been decreased a lot- an entire 1.7 speed difference between the two, for compensation of only 16 health. So clearly, Wasp beats out Hornet in the stats if you’re looking for speed. If you wanted slightly less speed for more health, Hornet doesn’t directly fit your needs. However, there are other important factors to consider. Wasp is very light, and extremely fragile. If it catches a little wind (figuratively), it’s in a lot of trouble. Wasp can be flipped so easily that when fighting a powerful knockback weapon on a heavy tank it’s almost a sure defeat with possibility to flip over. Also, if you’re carrying a weapon with high recoil yourself, like Railgun, the force of the shot will be dangerous especially while steering around corners or switching directions. Hornet is much more stable, and at least in my opinion looks better, but it lacks the stats next to Wasp. The verdict- if you’re out for breakneck speeds and don’t care about possible danger, Wasp is the way to go. It’s very fun to use especially with Nitro and you won’t have to worry about anything you can simply outrun. Once caught, however, you’re in big trouble. Hornet, on the other hand, has 16 extra health, which with weapons doing increased damage after rebalance is next to nothing, basically an extra Ricochet shot and usually not even any extra time lived when under attack from a close ranged weapon. Let me just say that between Hornet M2 and Wasp M2, Wasp wins hands down (2 extra speed for 3 less health, you would have to be crazy to turn that down) for an increased price. At M3 Hornet catches up however, still making it somewhat of an option if you prefer reliability and stability over a flat-out drag racer of a tank. Overall though, I would say Wasp has the upper hand in this matchup. Hunter VS Dictator VS Viking- The Balanced Tanks Prior to the massive update, Viking was easily the most used and arguably the most effective tank in the game, and definitely the most balanced. Now, it’s not, and here’s why. Viking was altered so that it is more competitive at the lower levels, but does not improve as much at M3. Dictator, on the contrary, takes a huge leap forward in terms of power and dominance. Hunter can compete now, but it is still trailing a bit. The perfect balance of high health and quick speed of Dictator M3 makes it the ideal tank for almost any situation. However, it does have a big downfall. The shape of Dictator is not always advantageous. The top-heavy nature of it can get in the way in battle, and it is a giant, easy target for any sniper or even any weapon. Looking at the stats, Viking has both less speed and health than Dictator, making it very hard for a Viking to beat a Dictator in a duel. Hunter has an extra .3 speed, but see all the health it loses- it sacrifices nearly 40 health for that minimal speed boost. Neither is a good deal, and you’d have to be either crazy or a complete Viking lover to take Viking over Dictator when you have the rank and crystals to buy the latter, even if you would prefer the low-lying base and stability of the first. In a recent update, Hunter was changed to the default starter tank, which I agree with. It’s better to have a balanced tank for new players to try out for the first time rather than something that is on the far side of the speed/health spectrum. The verdict- I know a lot of people have been getting Hunter, and have been successful. That’s because it’s still a good tank. However, the best buy is definitely Dictator. The great blend health and speed easily outweighs any other issues like swatting away a fly. Don’t buy Viking if you can afford Dictator, and still consider saving for it if you can’t, it’s well worth it. There’s not too many Dictators in battle, despite it being an exceptional tank. Don’t let that fool you- it works well, from personal experience. Also, it works well in clan wars. Even if it is an easy target, you can use that to shield your team! There’s seemingly a good side to everything. Titan VS Mammoth- The Heavy Tanks Since the recent renovation to the game, Titan has improved immensely, while Mammoth has also nearly doubled in health points, and even gained some speed too. Both tanks have become giant fortresses that take a ton of hits to go down. Both have become great distractions for the enemy team, capable of handling several attackers at once for an extended period of time. Both have even been made more agile. Sounds too good to be true, right? To be honest, it is. The health gap between Dictator, the 3rd strongest tank, and Titan, the 2nd strongest is huge, a whopping 81 health points. To be honest, the tank system would be a lot more “rebalanced” at m3 if Viking had health between the two and speed between the two to bridge the gap and transition. It didn’t work out that way, so we have a big gap in health points. To compare Titan and Mammoth to the others, these heavy tanks are definitely just as competitive as Mammoth was before, if not even stronger proportionately to the increased strength and effects of the other weapons and tanks. The verdict- to compare Titan and Mammoth directly, you’re trading 44 health for a relatively small .6 speed increase. To me it’s not worth it, but to some who dread the slowness of Mammoth it may be enough to convince you to give it a try. Titan is also a bit smaller so it’s also a smaller target, and may be effective at capturing flags with supplies on and enabled (though without a Nitro, I wouldn’t recommend trying to capture flags with either of these tanks!). Mammoth is the ultimate defensive tank while Titan has the extra speed more geared for midfield coverage and somewhat offensive gameplay. For clans, take at least one Mammoth on defense and add a Titan or two to the mix too. Overall, it’s best to take a Mammoth even at the slightly raised price and rank required, assuming you can afford it. If not, try your hand at Titan, it’s still a great tank you won’t regret. Paints I’d like to conclude with a much shorter section describing protection paints. This will be more geared towards high ranks with the cash for the expensive luxuries, because I’m talking endgame material, stuff that can compete with even the highest level competitions. Most of it has to do with what’s in style. For the sake of space I won’t include pictures, there’s simply too many, but if you want to follow along and take a look for yourself you can just load up your Tanki garage alongside this article and browse. The rebalanced paints can be sorted into a few different categories, similar to the weapons. Close Ranged Paints -Inferno (40% Freeze, 30% Firebird, 12% Twins for 15,900) -Irbis (42% Isida, 20% Freeze, 16% Ricochet for 14,350) -Zeus (50% Firebird, 25% Freeze, 25% Smoky for 25,000) To begin here let me say that Zeus is not worth the huge price of 25,000 as Firebird is relatively rare in most games, and that Inferno is a much better alternative for Freeze and Firebird protection for a much lower price. Assuming you have all the crystals in the world, you could go with either simply depending on whether you think 25% Smoky will come in more handy then 12% Twins. Judging on the amount of Smoky seen next to Twins, I’d go as far to say the 12% would actually be more effective, considering the popularity increase of Twins. So that choice is yours. Irbis is the must have paint against Isida with the bonus of 20% Freeze and a little less against Ricochet, for a relatively cheap price. Through owning this paint I can tell you while wearing it you will never have a problem with Isida again. What’s really cool is that if you are an Isida yourself hurting another Isida hurting you at the same time and thus self healing, the other opponent will do almost no damage at all. It’s a really good feeling. All three of these paints can compete in maps like Island, Hill, Farm, or even some of the less common ones like Duality and Ping-Pong (fun but underplayed maps, check them out). The verdict- Inferno is a much better buy than Zeus especially for the price. Irbis is great if you feel threatened by Isida a lot. All of these are good for small maps and also flag defense for most maps. The “extra” non-close range protection like Twins and Ricochet can be effective also, so that is a great plus. Overall, Irbis and Inferno are great buys, and look pretty good too. Mid Ranged Paints Urban (20% Isida, 40% Twins, 5% Firebird, 5% Ricochet for 11,500) Rock (30% Isida, 48% Twins, 15% Freeze for 21,000) Clay (50% Ricochet, 30% Railgun, 20% Thunder for 25,000) Like the close ranged, there are three mid-ranged paints that stand out as worthwhile protection against Twins and Ricochet. In this case, Urban is your cheap, nearly half-price solution for great Twins protection. You could literally call Urban a “little Rock”, as it provides slightly less Twins and Isida protection, and low, nearly useless protection against Firebird and Ricochet rather than reasonable protection against more common enemy Freeze. Clay is like Zeus, it’s overpriced considering how rare Ricochets are after they were made more ineffective. However, the 30% Railgun and 20% Thunder may still be effective, however if you want good Railgun and Thunder protection with much better overall protection, Picasso is a very good choice (more on that later). It can still put up a good fight in any mode of play. Twins resistance is a must especially for deathmatch games, so I would recommend for any higher-level tankman that wants decent protection against every prominent weapon to try Rock or at the least Urban. The verdict: Rock is a really awesome and great paint for superb Twins and Isida protection with some added helpful Freeze. Urban is the “discount option” of Rock, cutting back on protection but also nearly halving the price making it still a great buy, and unlocked at a much lower rank. Clay is helpful mid ranged versus Ricochets but overall there are better paints out on the market and it is not worth the price unless you really hate Rico and have many, many crystals. Overall, Rock is the way to go for all your mid ranged needs, with even some added close range! Long Ranged Paints -Savannah (40% Smoky, 20% Railgun, 15% Ricochet for 12,900) -Emerald (42% Thunder, 26% Twins, 10% Railgun for 14,350) -Needle (48% Smoky, 25% Shaft, 20% Ricochet for 21,000) A noticeable pattern is beginning to emerge here. Once again we have a highly priced paint with protection against a rare weapon, a moderately taxing paint with great protection against several good weapons, and a lower priced paint with strong protection against one gun and some other combination of low side protections. It’s nice to see a pattern and be able to work with it. Needle is a lopsided paint, it has great protection against bad weapons. Smoky, Shaft, and Ricochet are weapons you rarely see in battle. Why have protection against it? It does seem a bit silly, especially for the price. The good news is you don’t have to buy it, and it’s out there for those who want it. Every paint is effective in some situation. As for Emerald, this is easily one of the most common paints in the game, and rightfully so. Emerald has amazing protection for the price, it has 42% against a really common weapon, 26% against a really strong weapon, and a nice padding of 10% Railgun that can’t hurt you and will be nice when you meet a Rail in combat. It looks nice too, and everyone’s using it. Honestly you can’t go wrong with Emerald, it’s a great paint after the rebalance. Savannah is the little brother of Needle. It has similar Smoky protection, less Ricochet, and adds some bonus Railgun it might have inherited from Emerald for a cheaper price. Savannah is unlocked at a lower rank making it a decent choice, but again it’s not the best idea to focus on a weapon that is a rarity in battle. The verdict- Emerald, Emerald, Emerald! It is easily the best long ranged paint available, offering great protection for a great price, even cheaper than it was before rebalance! Savannah is there if you want a Smoky and Railgun blend at a cheap price and Needle is always an option if you really hate Shaft and Smoky. Overall, there is good reason why Emerald swarms every battle- it’s extremely effective and a great paint. Unlimited Range Paints -Winter (38% Shaft, 18% Thunder, 5% Firebird, 5% Railgun for 10,250) -Jade (45% Shaft, 25% Smoky, 12% Thunder for 15,900) -Prodigi (46% Railgun, 22% Thunder, 15% Shaft, 5% Firebird for 19,250) The pattern was somewhat broken for this set, as we now have Prodigi, which costs more, with protection against common weapons like Railgun and Thunder rather than rare weapons. I’ll start at the bottom and continue up. Winter is a good paint against Shaft, and has some bonus Thunder which is great, and the added protection that is almost completely useless because 5% towards Firebird or Railgun will do next to nothing to save your life, but I suppose it can’t hurt to have. Moving up the ladder is Jade, which kept its previous 45% Shaft protection from pre-rebalance, and swapped its Rail protection with some Smoky and a little Thunder for a similar price. Not worth it. The 25% Smoky on Jade is not useful due to the rarity of Smoky in battle, even though the weapon has some potential. Something worth noting though is that strong Smoky protection will really save your life on those lucky critical chance, but in my opinion it’s not practical enough to prepare so costly for something you will hardly ever face across the game. To be honest, Shaft protection has lost its usefulness. What’s the point if Shaft can’t one-hit you anyway? A fully charged Shaft shot will barely take out half the health from an m3 Mammoth. Unfortunately, it looks as though the most helpful protection of the first two paints I offered up here is against Thunder. As we’ve seen, there are much better options against Thunder anyway. The verdict- if you really, truly, dearly want an unlimited range protection paint, Prodigi is unfortunately seeming the only option for centered Shaft and Railgun protection. Winter and Jade are simply too Shaft-oriented to affect gameplay, with Shaft not a threat anymore there is little need for protection against it. Prodigi has desired Thunder protection, and while I have no clue why Firebird was randomly thrown in on an exclusively long range paint, I suppose it can’t hurt your cause should you meet one. The Railgun protection will allow to live twice as many hits, so for Rail’s average damage of 139, a m3 Mammoth will, on average, live at least four shots of Rail and very commonly five, which renders Railgun useless against Prodigi on it taking into account the reload time. To compare this category of paints with others, this one has the least options and least to offer. The Best of the Rest -Hohloma (22% Smoky, 20% Freeze, 20% Ricochet for 10,850) -Loam (36% Firebird, 10% Freeze, 10% Ricochet, 10% Thunder for 10,250) -Taiga (30% Isida, 20% Firebird, 20% Ricochet, 15% Twins for 21,000) -Picasso (30% Shaft, 25% Railgun, 20% Thunder, 20% Freeze for 27,600) Before I begin, if I could only have one single paint on Tanki, it would be Picasso. Look at that protection. Even if its forte is Shaft, you have at least 20% (decent) protection against four weapons. So you know when going into battle you will be relatively protected against a little less than half the weapons. Amazing. I through every other paint I didn’t cover before above 10,000 crystals into this category to finish it up nicely, and it worked too, the remainder of the paints are those that don’t really fit in with any other section based on what type of ranged weapon protection. Taiga is also a great paint, almost like the little brother to Picasso. It has decent protection against four weapons, and two of them are common, Isida and Twins. The protection isn’t as good as its successor but it’s a divine choice for anyone that can’t quite afford Picasso but wants a similar lots-of-variety protection. Also, Taiga is complimentary to Picasso. Combined together, you have protection against every weapon except Smoky. You could buy both and be well off. Both Taiga and Picasso are good options. Hohloma has a similar idea running but with only three weapons, and the weapons aren’t common unfortunately, so it’s not the best buy although the paint looks very nice to the eye. Loam is quite the opposite, straying from this protection streak- it offers great Firebird protection and then a little bit against three other guns, two of which are popular. Loam is a bit closer ranged paint but not enough to put in that category, while Hohloma has protection from guns across the spectrum. If you’re a lower rank and have less crystals, Hohloma and Loam are good alternatives to their amazing counterparts Picasso and Taiga. The verdict- these paints are good, at least for their rank class. Hohloma and Loam will perform great at the rank they’re unlocked, but later on an upgrade to paint will likely be required. Picasso is the most expensive paint and with good reason; it’s an amazing protection paint with a lot of variety. If you can’t afford or are not a high enough rank for Picasso, Taiga is a great alternative. To contrast these kinds of unfocused paints with the ranged protection paints, it might be a very good idea to have one of these paints in your garage and another from a ranged category that will fit your needs and work with your weapon. Remember, it’s a good idea to have a paint that protects against yourself, so when you come into a duel with the same weapon you’re using you have a big advantage. Conclusion Finally, the end! That was a long article, and I hoped you learned a lot about the rebalance. My advice was heartfelt and what I hope to be an unbiased, true opinion of the quality and effectiveness of the weapons, tanks, and paints post-rebalance. I also hope you have a better idea of what to expect in battle with the recent changes, and perhaps even a better grasp of the path you want to take in Tanki and what you want to buy. If nothing else, I really hope you enjoyed looking through this article, it was a pleasure to write and feedback is appreciated! Thanks for reading! -ShadowVisions

If you take the average skill level of each weapon after the rebalance and compare it's effectiveness... We have the overused and overpowered (Twins, Thunder, Isida) at the top. We have the common but mediocre weapons (Railgun and Freeze) scattered commonly. We have the uncommon but weapons with potential (Smoky and Firebird) that are rare to find but are strong if used wisely. We have the previous best two weapons that were nerfed into the ground and are near-useless (Ricochet and Shaft) that are becoming extinct in battles. I will most likely be writing a full rebalance shopper's guide on what's good for the next issue of the newspaper, we'll see.

Before I begin, let me cite my sources like any writer should. On the russian version of the "in development" section (not yet updated to the English site), there's some valuable and critical information- currently the game is in a massive transition phase towards something known as the "second platform". As BarKode pointed out, you're too lazy to discuss lags in a topic started just before this, so let me outline this for you straight and simple. Here's the literal translation for you. Translation of the game on the second platform The new engine back end of the project Important technical process, which translates "Tanks Online" to a new level of performance Second platform ensures greater stability of game servers A new level of fast product development, which means that new features can appear in the game more I'd like to highlight that third point- "second platform ensures greater stability of game servers". Don't think this is just an English problem- the Russian community has numerous complaints against such connection issues, and even more complaints than are listed here or anywhere in the English community, of course due to numbers. Yes, perhaps the English speakers of this game have it a little worse, but that is because of the difference in distance to the Tanki servers located in Moscow. On average a member of the Russian community is much, much closer to the servers and will experience less lag. However, it is something they are working on and there's your proof. Next issue at hand. My biased opinion towards this "perfect game". Tanki is a game far from perfect. Can a game really be perfect? My answer is no, you can't please everybody, and a perfect game would have no issues and everyone would enjoy it. Clearly the lag is a big issue but it is being worked on. Again, the game is in a vastly transitional stage, so there are bound to be loose ends here and there. People don't like the rebalance, widespread disapproval is an imperfection. Even so, we will all adapt eventually. We're human, the most adaptive organism in the world, no? My opinion has been formed on what I see. You seem to enjoy calling me a "kid". In all technicality I'm a teenager, and despite my age I've been playing for over two years now through which I have been more than capable of comprehending everything I can take in. I don't know much more than the rest of you. I search for my information, I translate the Russian sources since it's updated more, and I keep updated on new developments. I try my best to know all about the situation so I can be of assistance to as many as possible. Your next point. I'm not getting anything out of this other than trying to prove my stance. I'm not a consultant, nor a moderator, as it is clear I need to clarify and restate for you. I reap no rewards for such arguments I would in most cases generally avoid. I'm trying to lend a hand as a community member of Tanki Online. Yes, I do my research and know about the developments through it. You're a paying customer? Great. Let me thank you personally for supporting this game financially and helping the developers improve this game. Let me remind you that Tanki is a business. They have salaries and need money just like any other company. It's necessary their developments reflect it, and we should be okay with it. There's not much of a choice, unfortunately. Unsatisfied with your commitment? Sorry. They're doing all they can, and thankfully we have a community manager who is making sure they are for the good of the English community especially. Calling myself and other helpers Tanki nazis isn't getting you out of the gaping hole you've dug for yourself. If I may say so, the Holocaust was a terrible event in history and to compare people trying to lend a hand in an issue like this to terrible people killing millions is downright disgraceful and despicable. Onto the final issue of your respect. My highlighted point was not to spotlight your escapade, but to enlighten you in case you had forgotten your past experiences on what respect is. Disrespect was a factor in where you are now, and it will not help you in any case. Finally, if you'd like to further attempt to insult me, you can spare the eyes of the community and hit me up with a PM. I'll be more than happy to answer any further questions. If you'd like to further profile me for my age, feel free. Just remember that it's the fourteen year old using proper English and grammar, and the same one that is forcing you to barely hold onto what ground you have left. Thanks. -ShadowVisions

Suggested and rejected, imagine the chaos and confusion if people could change their name on such a basis.

All discussion about the rebalance and effects should go in the designated discussion topics. The prices are increased because the proportion of equipment effectiveness is also bigger (aka stuff is stronger and more competitive at higher levels).

There is an entire complaints section just for complaints, and to report such rule breaking. If it is a legitimate issue it will be dealt with if you take proper action.

Tanki staff and helpers are not selfish, they dedicate their time and hard work to doing their best for the game. I am not saying that because I am staff, but because I know all of them. Perhaps while you were a member you did it for such rewards you discuss, but neither I nor anyone other helper is selfish enough to do the same. If I recall, insulting a staff member or helper is strictly against the rules, and you're running the borderline. Respect is an expected courtesy on these forums and in the Tanki community. All players deserve respect, especially those that are dedicating their valuable time for the better of this great game. Need I remind you of WHY you no longer hold such a position. On the issue of lags, they are constantly being worked on by the developers. I say this not as a stand-in for anything else, nor for any advantage for myself or anyone else, I'm not even a consultant or mod who's job is to answer such questions. I say this because it is the truth, the staff cares about the community especially those that cannot play and enjoy the game to the fullest. It is not like Tanki is making a profit off these issues. People get upset like yourself. Patience from all players is greatly appreciated. This topic and posts could be locked and deleted for many reasons, starting with downright ignorance and disrespect. Thanks for your time and your constant patience. -ShadowVisions

Clear your cache or try another browser. If that still doesn't work it's probably lag-related issues all of us are getting from the servers. Please be patient, the developers are hard at work for a fix to these connection issues.

Change your password. If it's too late email help@tankionline.com. Take prevention methods against your account being hacked and be smart. My article on Hacking and Scam Prevention, for reference.

General lag and connection issues are problems all of us are having. Please be patient, the Tanki team is hard at work trying to find a fix for these issues with the servers. Thanks.

Try clearing your cache or using another browser. If that doesn't work, you can contact support at help@tankionline.com. If you mean general lag and connection issues, they are being worked on for a fix.

With help@tankionline.com please be patient in waiting for a reply. They get hundreds if not thousands of messages every day and it takes dedicated people and time to go through them. Clarity and simplicity helps especially since the support team is mostly Russian and it would be preferred if they could actually understand your message.

Please kindly do not make new topics about what to buy. The topic for all questions and advice on purchases can be found here.

The developers are hard at work for a fix for lags and similar technical issues. Your patience is much appreciated and hopefully the issues will be fixed soon. Bugs can be reported, you can email help@tankionline.com or contact someone to tell someone who can do something about for you.

Please kindly do not make new topics about what to buy. The topic for all questions and advice on purchases can be found here.

Please kindly do not make new topics about what to buy. The topic for all questions and advice on purchases can be found here.

Patience. Your xp will most likely go back to how much you bought after a while, especially after a server restart. If that time passes and it is still not back, email help@tankionline.com about your problem.