Guide [Issue 7] Ranks of Tanki Online

[SakuraVisions 120]

Foreword

This article was written two weeks before the recent rebalance. In the rebalance, there were several changes to the rank system. These changes included the three new ranks that you will see described in a section below, the ability to buy experience at any rank, and the distribution of unlocks of equipment. While I won't go into detail about it, the way ranks work in Tanki has changed completely in the recent rebalance. A tankman must work his whole career and every rank only unlock one or two pieces of equipment or an upgrade, and a paint or two. Buyers can get to high ranks very fast, and technically one could make a new account and be the final rank with all M3 and all paints within a matter of minutes due to this radical addition. The rank chart needs to be compromised with the three new ranks: Field Marshal, Commander, and Generalissimo (requiring 1,122,000, 1,255,000, and 1,400,000 experience, respectively). Tanki is a rapidly adapting game which is always seeing new changes and opportunities, the rebalance being one of them. While this article may be outdated, it still contains valuable information and insight, and I still believe it to be well worth the read. Enjoy!
-SV

~~~

Ranks. Everyone has one. No, not the kind of rank you have when you come into your house smelling like you rolled around in garlic for two hours, nor the kind for plants when they grow too rapidly. I’m talking about Tanki Online here (It’s the Tanki newspaper, right?). Whether you are reading this as a fresh recruit or a veteran marshal, you are still identified and classified based on your rank. As a marshal myself, I have been pretty much everywhere on this scale known as the ranks of Tanki Online. Without further ado, let’s jump right into the concept of rank, and we’ll see what limitations and privileges they bring. Firstly, the table of ranks:



As you can see, the table is separated into four distinct categories. Before we dive into each of those, let’s define how to achieve rank: To “level”, or “rank” up, you need to meet the certain experience point quota defined at the top of the game whenever you play. On the far left hand side it will show your rank icon, then to the right of that is the bar, filled with the percentage of completion from your last rank-up to your next. Some other useful details of that bar include your Tanki username (or callsign), exact experience point amount and what is needed to rank up, your rating and your ranking. The difference between rating and ranking is unknown to some but for now I’ll leave it with the basics - the gray number is your rating calculated on factors such as total experience, earned crystals, and kill-death ratio, while the green number is your ranking, the position of which you compare with the rest of the Tanki community, which includes all three sections, the English, Russian and German communities. Okay, that’s enough on the matter. On to the ranks and their limitations.

Firstly, before I start, let me say that rank is not a measure of skill in any way. Don’t get me wrong, rank means longer play time and is somewhat of an influence on actual experience with the game rather than experience points, but it is definitely not an exact measure of someone’s skill. I know plenty of extremely skilled players that just don’t have the time to rank up, and many of my fellow staff members ever so gratefully spend their time working to make the English community a better place, rather than the occasional play time. With that out of the way, time to continue. The four sections as divided into on the table.

Recruit-Sergeant Major

Ah, the start of any and every tankman’s career! It is these ranks that the basics are learned, the first challenges are accepted and completed and the first chance you get to meet the wonderful and dedicated community of the game. As for unlocks, the game starts you out nearly broke on crystals, although various tasks can be completed to earn a crystal or five here and there. The first few ranks form the glorious period where everyone is stuck using Smoky and Wasp M0 with the snazzy, sleek and ever-so-in-fashion green paint. Moving up, we get a taste of the pyrotechnic Firebird, tank-melting Twins, and the two tanks Hunter and Titan. Almost everyone buys a Railgun at the staff sergeant rank, but few end up getting Isida two ranks later (perhaps for the discouraging tripled price), although Isida is one of the best weapons at progressing career and earning experience. Dictator is unlocked inbetween, a lean and mean (did I say lean? Sorry, on the contrary!), reliable yet top heavy hull.

As the first era for the newbie tankman draws to a close, we get a whiff of the first Tier 2 equipment, Hornet. This period is also that of which for unlocking almost every map to be played in the game, the only unique exceptions being Subway and Esplanade at Warrant Officer I, Highland (I and II) at Warrant Officer II, and of course the smaller maps good for Firebird that were moved up to Third Lieutenant during the effort to reduce hackers and stop power leveling. It’s worth noting that a few months ago Tanki introduced the ability to buy your way up to the rank of Master Sergeant, and I’ll cover this briefly later. Finally, all supplies are unlocked in this first phase, ending with mines at Sergeant Major.

Warrant Officer Ranks (I, II, III, IV, V)

Yes, the only reason I listed out the five ranks like that is because I love Roman numerals. How did you guess? In game they are numbered 1-5. Anyway, the Warrant Officer ranks, or more commonly abbreviated WO, which is what I will refer to them as for short. After finally achieving the 57,000 experience needed to reach WO1, the rookie tankman is ready for the next phase in his career. While these ranks don’t cover that much experience compared to the latter two, this section of a tank’s life is it’s primary phase of development. It’s where someone chooses their Tier 2 weapon and hull, where they meet even more new people, unlock even more goodies, and have a lot more fun upgrading and developing, playing and conquering in the game. Starting with the first Tier 2 weapon Thunder, at WO1. From there, each Tier 2 weapon is unlocked in consecutive order one rank after, continuing Freeze and WO2, Ricochet at WO3, and finally Shaft at WO4. The final two tanks Viking and Mammoth are lumped into WO1 and WO2. All new equipment follows the same guidelines at these ranks, M1, M2 and M3 are all unlocked one ranks after another. For example, Freeze M3 is unlocked at WO5 and Thunder at WO4. Ricochet and Shaft carry on into the Lieutenant ranks for their full upgrades. This may seem like extremely quick progression, but for the average tankman that does not buy crystals with real money, it’s hard to upgrade the expensive Tier 2 weaponry. It’s considered pretty respectable to have an M2-M2 set by the end of the Warrant ranks. For paints, the final set (Emerald, Zeus, Inferno, Jade, with the highest specific protection for any gun in the game) is unlocked at WO5. This phase is generally a big jumble within battles of upgraded Tier 1, mildly upgraded Tier 1.5 (Railgun and Isida), and base or low level Tier 2. This mix is generally well balanced.

With this being the main phase of development and with the “buy experience” option disabled in the garage, some players might get impatient grinding for experience to get that next upgrade when they have plenty of crystals. What I would recommend for these players is the Score Multiplier Pass. For every kill you get 13 experience rather than 10, and while it may not seem much, it really adds up over time. A common misconception is that the pass only helps in deathmatch battle, however this is false. The pass helps just as much in team games, gives extra experience for flag returns, flag captures, assists in team deathmatch and more. The disclaimer is that the extra points just don’t show on the scoreboard, which prevents earning any extra crystals from it, which is completely fair. Don’t mistake the difference between the in game score that contributes to battle fund winnings and the experience points that add to your rank.

Third Lieutenant-Colonel

And now we have journeyed on to the third section in the career. At 192,000 experience needed for the rank of Third Lieutenant. This phase is that where clans and teamwork start to come into play. At the time this was written, you are allowed to join a clan at the Third Lieutenant rank and create one at Major. However, it’s currently subject to change, and by the time this is published it’s possible the rank requirements may be lowered significantly. For now, almost every tankman active in the community below this rank strives to reach Third Lieutenant to join a clan. Or for those future leaders, their sights lie a bit further: the 390,000 experience needed for major. Generally by this rank people still actively playing are starting to get more involved in the community, doing things like entering contests, fighting in clan wars and championships, becoming involved in cybersport activities and being more active on the forum.

At this point, everything in the garage has been unlocked except for M3 Ricochet, M2 and M3 Shaft, and those will be available within a short time period. The bottom line is, a tankman’s garage is completely available from the rank of Second Lieutenant. Every map is finally unlocked finishing with the smaller maps at Third Lieutenant, such maps like Hill, Combe, Island, Ping-Pong. So, what is there to do after Second Lieutenant? Well, I’ll give you a decent list. Most obviously work your way up to the tankman’s dream of Marshal. Get better equipment, starting at Tier 2 M3 if you haven’t already, then work your way up trying out and upgrading more and more weapons and tanks. Buy protection paints: don’t let that annoying Shaft or Rico kill you that easy again. I’ll guarantee that unless you spend a lot of money on this game you can always be busy working towards a new upgrade or paint purchase. Also, vary your gameplay. Play with friends, try new things. If you haven’t, buy the no supplies pass and try out no supplies games, they provide a real challenge. Perhaps this is a bit much for a Lieutenant or Colonel at once, so let me move on. Just remember that this set of ranks is a time of new horizons and expansion, and also a great transition into the final sprint to the finish line.

Brigadier-Marshal

Really this could be split into two categories of Brigadier through General, and the lone triumphant rank of Marshal, so I will talk about them separately. Up to bat are the “General” ranks, and Marshal is on deck for the time being. I can see why players call the four ranks before Marshal “General” ranks - three of them have the word general in them- but really there is nothing general about them. In fact, they’re special. These ranks are the proving grounds, the last mile, the real test for any tankman to show that they are worthy of Tanki’s most elevated and honored rank after much playtime.

Firstly, getting to the rank of Brigadier is no easy task in itself. The four ranks of Brigadier through General make up just under 2/5 of the journey to Marshal - that’s crazy when you take into account that there are twenty-six ranks before reaching Marshal. At this point it’s a great amount of grinding to the finish, starting all the way from 606,000 needed for Brigadier to the whopping 1,000,000 (one million!) experience points necessary for Marshal rank. These last few ranks can take someone a few weeks, months or maybe even a year, all dependent on how much that person plays. I knew someone that made it to Marshal from Brigadier in a month and a few days. As we’ve already defined this stage as the last phase before Marshal, what else is it about? The answer is generally (no pun intended) more involvement in the community.

As better equipment blooms and skills are honed, players start judging each other based on their abilities in the game. Are they wanted in their strong, well-developed clan? Can they work as a team and win battles? Also at this rank players will meet even more people, socialization is all an ongoing process. As I stated before there are loads of options to expand your limits as a player of Tanki. Contests, Cybersport, Forums, the list goes on and on. Step out of the comfort zone and interact with passionate players like you when you need a break. Play the game when you feel like it, and remember it’s for entertainment and fun, not just grinding. Eventually it is all worth it in the end though, because for the experience point after the 999,999th...

At long last! The rank of marshal! With the road until the end finally winding back around to its completion, the fabulous, spectacular and above all well-deserved message appears in the center of the screen reading “Congratulations!” as the final destroyed tank decays in midair for a split second (but I suppose you could heal, return a flag, or capture a flag or control point, though those would seem a bit awkward perhaps). With further appreciation and encouraging remarks from friends and acquaintances alike, any new Marshal has the right to be proud of themselves. With the odyssey over, for now, let’s see what’s in store for the new top dog.

To go along with the obvious fame and seniority, Tanki has stated they are actively working to generate new content for those that have hit the rank ceiling- the control points and new graphics update being one of the additions. Also, it was written in the plans to add three new ranks into the game above Marshal. These ranks were called Field Marshal, Commander, and Generalissimo, in that order of achievement. It was rumored the final of these would be obtained at a whopping two million experience points! It’s still up in the air whether these ranks will be added anytime soon, perhaps so perhaps not, perhaps they have totally been scrapped, but in any case it’s good to know the past to prepare for the unknown future, and it’s good to keep updated on the present to plan for the known future. I don’t think that’s a quote, I made it up. It sounds like it could be though!

Conclusion

Anyway, if you are reading this as a higher, experienced player, I hope this was an opportunity for reflection, perhaps even evoking some good old memories. I know I felt some while looking back. If you’re reading this and have a long way to go, I wish you the best of luck. The road gets easier with support, activities, interaction and friendships. One day we may see your name uplifted with a shining ringed yellow star - or maybe something more.

Thanks for reading,

ShadowVisions

Edited July 31, 2017 by Hexed

[WhiteKnight170 2]

A tad out of date I'de say...

[SakuraVisions 120]

Did you even read the foreword?

[WhiteKnight170 2]

No, it was written by you, all I read was the topic title...

[AnuBoi 19]

It is really too bad that now ranks can simply be bought now :c it removes the prestige of the rank. Even though I myself am guilty of buying my rank, I still wish that feature wasnt there.

Edited December 22, 2012 by AnuBoi

[chriswu 25]

That's a very insightful, very true, remark. There's no inherent honor in having a certain rank, now that they can be bought for regular crystals.

[MizARee 30]

Good job visi. Enjoyed reading this and wishing I had something like this when I first started. Keep up the great work.

[Raphael2 3,263]

Everything perfect. Thanks.

[FOG-LIGHT 42]

well.. I red..

This topic supose to be like update with this whole rebalace mess, but ..

there's nothing new, no info to be exited about!

[curtcommanderking 1]

Hey, here the is the masters? THERE ARE THREE New ranks oh later i will post the pictures of new ranks.Field Marshal ,field captain ? hahaha oh,my picture is in New ranks that is a topic by whitemark

[splitterpoint 10,986]

I saw myself in that warrant officer story when I was about the same rank. ^_^

[r_Battleships0 0]

Work of perfection Shadowvisions. Keep it up.

[Hunter952 0]

Its not gray its grey... Lolz

[r_killertank780 0]

Hey, here the is the masters? THERE ARE THREE New ranks oh later i will post the pictures of new ranks.Field Marshal ,field captain ? hahaha oh,my picture is in New ranks that is a topic by whitemark

What did u read foreword

[canucks1 11]

Can someone please post a pic of the new ranks

[JamesM10 14]

Can someone please post a pic of the new ranks

 

New Ranks in Russian and English. Hope this is useful.

Edited February 20, 2013 by JamesM10

[M1A1Crosby 0]

That's a very insightful, very true, remark. There's no inherent honor in having a certain rank, now that they can be bought for regular crystals.

they stopped that

[M1A1Crosby 0]

Hey, here the is the masters? THERE ARE THREE New ranks oh later i will post the pictures of new ranks.Field Marshal ,field captain ? hahaha oh,my picture is in New ranks that is a topic by whitemark

You mean Field Marshal, Commander, and Generalissimo.

[ricochet_m3_guy 5]

out of date i would say the firel marsahal commander and gemisslo is not there

[SpreadLoveNotHate 374]

Please read the foreward.

[I.Devastation 2,053]

Wow, really old topic but it would be a good help to newbies if they all could read this when they started

[LostEnd98 0]

<object width="468" height="120"><param name="movie" value="http://tankionline.com/tankiref.swf"></param><param name="flashvars" value="hash=NAChr3P0g3K6L5QQK595vpZ33FYbmgEbYc5Jyxj01M15PLpGFT4NdKFqh5yMeife&server=tankionline.com" /><embed src="http://tankionline.com/tankiref.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="468" height="120" flashvars="hash=NAChr3P0g3K6L5QQK595vpZ33FYbmgEbYc5Jyxj01M15PLpGFT4NdKFqh5yMeife&server=tankionline.com"></embed></object>

[awsomeness12344 0]

u can buy a rank??

[gregdeit 0]

Tankionline cant buy rank.

[Ashugar 2]

Tankionline cant buy rank.

in the old u can ! not now