Let's Discuss "Battle modes"

[Pride.In.Blood 629]

DM

n Deathmatch mode, unlike in team battle modes, everything depends on you. The battle fund grows a lot faster than in CTFs and TDMs, as you don’t need to go to a certain position to find enemies; they are everywhere. On most maps, you can open fire right from your spawn point. Deathmatch is the simplest and most reliable battle mode when it comes to earning crystals. The battle can be limited by either time or number of kills (frags). Each frag gives exactly 10 points.

Deathmatch is the only battle mode where you are allowed to form alliances with other players. In other battle modes, doing so may result in a punishment of a fine of up to 10% of your Garage.

 

Movement skills, a good aim, a sharp eye... all key traits of a great player. But, an even better player will be able to adapt to specific situations at hand: to know what role to play, where to be and who to aim at. In this series, a topic which has not been touched very often, I will be writing about the best way to play in particular game modes, starting with Deathmatch.

Please note that I will be writing from a 'selfish' perspective, to maximise your personal crystal and experience points income. Although Tanki can very much be a team game, and in many cases it may be moral and beneficial to help your teammates, ultimately you are playing for your own sake. You are aiming to win a team game and maximise your share of the loot, even at the expense of your teammates. Sometimes it may not be beneficial to heal your ally over attacking an enemy and restoring your own health.
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Scoring

 

In Deathmatches, the aim of the game is to secure kills. You get a single kill point for actually killing an enemy, regardless of the damage you did before. The crystal fund is divided among the players in an exponential way. That is, destroying twice as many tanks as another player will earn you more than twice the crystals he/she will get.

It isn't the damage that actually counts, but actually securing that last hit. What can we gain from this?

• Shooting at the heaviest tanks on the field isn't a good idea. Why shoot at a Mammoth when you can shoot at the fragile Wasps and hornets? Just statistically, it is more likely that you will get a kill from shooting a weaker tank.
• Freshly spawned tanks will have full health. Why waste your shots at it, when you can be shooting an already weakened tank?
• Especially with high damage weapons, such as Thunder or Railgun, you can often predict how many shots you need to finish off an enemy. So, often it is useful to bide your time and wait for an enemy tank to take a couple of hits before firing. For example, as a Railgun user, you might want to wait for an enemy Hornet to take a Thunder/Smoky hit, or a couple of Ricochet plasma balls, before firing your shot to secure the kill. This will be examined in detail a bit later.

The distribution of the fund also raises another key point. You want to prevent any one tank from securing too many kills - you want all enemies to have a similar, low score, rather than one tank to have a very high score. This would reduce your share of the fund. Thus, when choosing who to shoot at, you might want to hit the tanks higher up on the leaderboard. Weakening them should improve your crystal reward.

When to Shoot

 

As aforementioned, the timing of your shot is important, since you want to be the one who fires the finishing shot. It is therefore extremely useful to know how many shots it takes to finish of an enemy, with both the weapon that you have and the other weapons.

For example, there are two Viking/Thunder tanks shooting it out against each other, and you are a third Viking/Thunder overlooking them. Shooting straight away wouldn't gain you anything, since you wouldn't get the kill! Since Thunder does 80 damage per shot, and Viking has 300 HP, you want to fire the fourth shot, as this would be the finishing shot. Waiting for them to fire of three each before shooting your shot would secure you not just one but probably two kills. While waiting, your shots can also be used against other tanks.

Of course, this is a very simplified example, and in a game there could be five or more tanks each shooting each other. Plus, it is difficult to judge damage and health due to MUs, paints and supplies. The better you know your weapon's damage and the more aware you are of the battle situation, the more likely you will be able to time your shot right to secure the kill.

Where to be

 

This depends very much on what kind of tank you are using. Clearly, camping with a Hornet/Freeze or aggressive play in the open with a Viking/Shaft isn't the best idea.

Who to Aim

 

From the scoring mechanics, we have already established that your chances of securing kills are better when shooting at weaker tanks, as well as tanks that have been out for a long time. But there are other cases where you may not want to shoot at a particular someone.

Allies can certainly help you on the field. Having an ally increases your security, both in the sense that there is one less enemy to worry about, but also because it means that together you can protect each other's back. But, you don't want to ally with everyone of course, and there may be a particular tank you want to befriend:

• Firstly, you must assess the benefit you can gain - how much of a risk does that particular tank pose to you? Does that tank have a weapon that my paint doesn't protect against? How good is that player?
• Secondly, don't forget that in return for the enemy not shooting you, you cannot shoot either. So how much do you lose out by not being able to shoot that tank? Does he have a light hull that I can destroy very quickly? Does he have a paint that protects against the weapon I'm using?
• Lastly, you must also evaluate how much that tank can gain from the alliance. Don't forget, you don't want one particular ally to rule the field. He might gain more than you from the truce!

As a last pointer, making too many allies may leave you with too few options to shoot at. So, don't make too many!

Hope you enjoyed reading the first in this series, as the [Comparison] series comes to a close. All feedback and opinions are welcome below!

     

 

TDM

It’s really easy to play TDM mode. Battle mechanics are very similar to Deathmatch mode. The only difference is that here, players work in teams. The goal is to destroy more tanks than the opposing team. TDM games are limited by either number of kills or time.

Every team member is responsible for the result, as the battle’s final score depends on how well and how carefully they play. A team gets 1 point for every destroyed tank, whilst individual players get 10 XP points. In the case of self-destruction, the opposing team doesn’t get any points, which is also an important factor in this game mode.

The first thing you need to keep in mind is keeping your D/L ratio above 1. If every player in a team destroys more tanks than the number of times he gets killed, then victory is guaranteed. But in real life, you always have one or more players in the team with a D/L ratio much lower than 1.

Also, unlike in Deathmatch mode, players’ spawn points are located at their bases. To start fighting, you need to go to the centre of a map, or even to the opposing team’s base. As a result, the amount of frags is a lot lower than that in a classical DM.

Usually, the most effective players in TDMs are campers, using long-range guns such as Railgun and Shaft.

 

 

 

CTF

Players are divided into 2 teams. The goal is to capture the enemy’s flag, and to prevent the opposing team from capturing yours. If you take the flag and then get killed, you lose it. However, your teammates can retake it and continue. If the flag is touched by an enemy’s tank, it automatically returns to their base. The same applies to your team’s flag. To capture the flag, you need to pick up the enemy’s flag and bring it to your flag. For the capture to be successful, your flag needs to be at your base. Victory goes to the team who has captured the most flags by the end of the game, or who reaches the target amount of captures specified in the battle settings. The amount of crystals you get is based on how many flags you have captured, and the number of enemy tanks you have destroyed.

A CTF battle is limited by time, or by a set number of captured flags. It is the most popular mode in Tanki Online.

This mode is not as profitable as Deathmatch mode when it comes to earning crystals (here, a lot depends on teamwork), but due to the bonus XP on offer for capturing and returning flags, the battle fund grows as fast as that in DM battles.

The recipe for success in CTF battles is simple. Instead of simply destroying enemy tanks, pay more attention to flags. Thus, by capturing and returning flags, and by destroying those who try to take yours, you will not only be extremely useful for your team, but will also score a lot more points than by just destroying enemy machines.

 

CP

Teams fight for control over certain points on the map. A team gets points for every second they control a point. The more points captured, the more points the team gets. The winner is the team with the most points. Team spawn points are close to their bases. The only exception is the Madness map, where there are additional spawn points in certain areas.

In order to successfully capture an enemy point, it is necessary to create at least a small numerical advantage over the opposing team at that point.

When the battle starts, you need to capture as many neutral points as possible. On large maps with 5-7 points, it’s enough to send one player to capture the closest points. At the same time, other players should start capturing the next point.

The successful capture of a third neutral point on a 5-point map gives the team a significant advantage, both strategically and psychologically. Usually, there is an odd number of points in a map, so in order to win, it’s enough to capture one point more than the other team.

Then, together with your team-mates, you should try to drive the enemy out of the remaining points, and to lock them inside their own base.

It should be noted that in the CP mode, each member of a team plays a very important role. Usually, a team with fewer players, or with players who are unable to work together, rapidly begins to lose.

 

 

What are your Thoughts about these modes...?      

  Thanks To    For this topic!

Edited November 29, 2014 by Pride.In.Blood

[Pride.In.Blood 629]

I Like CP and mostly play in Island and Arena.. :D

[r_I.Destroyer0 2]

Me CTF

[Maf 32,316]

CTF seems to be the popular gamemode in most online games. Its concept is similar to football (using teamwork to get an object across a playing area and avoid opponents), which is why people like it. It's my favourite too...

[Pathfinder 1,690]

I'm not so great at capping flags, better at the simple shooting and aiming :p So TDM and CP are my favourites

[Legendary.Killer 69]

DM <3

[Pride.ln.Blood 1,065]

CTF

[K.i.l.l.e.r.T.a.n.k 43]

I Like DM , I Rule with my thunder and mammoth! 

[65740192 27]

CTF - I like the team work and as mentioned above - ctf is like football. 

[Promissory 569]

DM is love, DM is life.

[trombone_ftw 734]

If CTF wasn't plagued by noobs, mults, and druggers, than it would surely be my favorite.

[secetspy 8]

I love Cp , use rico and mammoth m2  :P 

[devil231 12]

CTF :wub:

[blarster 2]

TDM :P

[kayitsiz 621]

DM because no mult, sabotaur etc.., and you get crystal with your score.

[DonutsForLife 292]

DM because no mult, sabotaur etc.., and you get crystal with your score.

[greyat 2,972]

Until recently, CPs (I had quit CTFs due to the ridiculously large amount of druggers), as their funds seem to grow faster (more players dying).

But CTFs have regained their appeal... I like their need for teamwork.

[jazz20 1,181]

Hopefully all battle modes will be equally used unlike a few months ago

[Baby_Sam 614]

In DM, how do you make an alliance? If you go into a game innocently and it has a few friends, you get roasted. How is that fair anyway?

 

The problem with CTF, is that team mates may compete to capture the flag, so you are killing tanks and defending the flag and others take all the credit, or most of it.

 

Because of that, TDM is better. It is all about destroying enemy tanks. There is no rivalry in the team itself.

 

I am not sure how CP is scored to know whether the tank that captures the point takes most of the credit while you are out defending it.

 

Thanks for the tutorial though.

[MrsTankBuster2 141]

I mostly used to play DM, but find it a little boring after a while.

 

TDM is okay, but hard to find the right game.

 

I don't think I'm suited to playing CTF.

 

Recently though, I dipped my toe into CP. Oh what joy! The most fun I've had since joining Tanki! Such a pity that there are so few games and even fewer choices of map used. Why is it not that popular I wonder?

 

I started using my lower rank alt account again as CP seems to be more popular at beginner levels, with a much wider variety of maps played.

 

I don't take much notice of the crystals or XP points it generates, I just really enjoy playing CP mode.