Some thoughts about Tank Hulls and Team Points

[Para_CW 19]

When I look at how tank hulls are used in battle, I realize that there are clear favorites and some are almost never used.  It's an indication to me that some hulls need to be tweaked to make them more interesting and valuable to play.

 

I use Ricochet with a Viking hull.  The bulk of the Viking makes it hard to drive and easy to flip on ramps without some practice, and too slow to react well to hornets and especially wasps, but the additional armor means that you almost always win one on one battles with them if they're not drugged and they don't have a lot of room.

 

While I enjoy this hull, there are maps that aren't a viable option.  Vikings, Dictators, Titans and Mammoths are utterly useless on larger maps except for sniping from a distance.  Their ability to take damage is more than offset by the damage they will take if they get out in the open.  They're too slow and vulnerable to being attacked from the side and behind and unable to escape or retaliate fast enough.

 

I can use this hull on the Rio map though because everything is so close, and it's quite lethal.  Also, without room to maneuver, the wasps and hornets don't have one of their primary advantages over my hull.

 

It says something about game play that most people use Wasps or Hornets as main battle tanks.  Speed is everything.

 

I've never seen anyone afraid to face these big slow moving tanks.  They're very vulnerable.

 

Part of the problem is that big tanks need fast moving turrets.   They can't turn around easily and can become trapped by obstacles.  The other problem is that the armor isn't quite enough to offset the loss in speed.

 

The mammoth in particular would need about 500 points of armor to be useful as a battle tank.

 

And the way team points are allocated, heavy tanks will almost always lose out because they aren't intended to be capturing the flag themselves.  The point system doesn't reward what big tanks should be doing: taking damage and defending. 

[MarineMan2 1,164]

Well, I do understand and appreciate your point here, though allow me to counter. A good 'ol Mammoth camper, can assist the team by picking off enemies from a distance, and additionally, may gain more points for killing the flag carrier in a Capture the Flag mode. The medium hulls are the middle fieldsmen, and usually hold a closer range, but don't launch any solo-flight attacks. The light hulls make good in-and-out players, or alternately, may remain defensive as a healer with Isida. Though a full combination of heavy, medium, and light hulls can lead to an ultimate team!

[Promissory 569]

500 hp? Calm down, hulls are pretty balanced.

[Para_CW 19]

Well, I do understand and appreciate your point here, though allow me to counter. A good 'ol Mammoth camper, can assist the team by picking off enemies from a distance, and additionally, may gain more points for killing the flag carrier in a Capture the Flag mode. The medium hulls are the middle fieldsmen, and usually hold a closer range, but don't launch any solo-flight attacks. The light hulls make good in-and-out players, or alternately, may remain defensive as a healer with Isida. Though a full combination of heavy, medium, and light hulls can lead to an ultimate team!

That is indeed what I envision.  I've just never seen it in action.  No one is stupid enough to use a mammoth hull.  First they pick you off from a distance and then rush your flag while you're slowly getting back.   You can do that with a couple of wasps with rail guns.  Typically a team loaded with light tanks has the advantage because they can put a lot of bodies into the action very quickly and take out the larger tanks.  The light tank players are not afraid to engage the heavier tanks in one on one battles, which should tell you something about the vulnerability of heavy hulls.

 

This advantage of light tanks, as I said, is less so on small maps.

[Para_CW 19]

500 hp? Calm down, hulls are pretty balanced.

Great.  Glad to hear it.  Use a mammoth on your next battle and tell me how it goes.

[Promissory 569]

Great.  Glad to hear it.  Use a mammoth on your next battle and tell me how it goes.

Ok, I'll tel, you ^_^

[hhh 0]

Mamoth m3 + upgrade + druge = almost 500 +

[r_DidYouKnowThat0 1,662]

@II1II: Isn't Mammoth M3 at 380 Hp? Add MU's, and a drug. That's probably 800+, right? And that's not even counting a good paint, NOR the health kit. :blink:

 

@Para_CW: Consider this. CTF isn't the only game-mode. If you want to play TDM, or DM, then medium~heavy hulls would also be a very excellent choice. Even if they don't take the flag themselves, they're good as mid-fielders as well. If a light hull is shot down, the flag can still be picked up by one of them, etc. etc.

But I only see that in maps like Serpuhov unless one team is dominating. . .

[Para_CW 19]

I was in a game last night where one druggie wasp sitting on the high ramp in Rio was able to hold off an entire team.  I think that's an example of an overpowered tank.

[greyat 2,972]

^were they simply afraid to go?

Some people have an extreme aversion to get hit by DP'd shots, for some reason...

[Para_CW 19]

^were they simply afraid to go?

Some people have an extreme aversion to get hit by DP'd shots, for some reason...

No.  There were several rushes made.  He was just able to take out at least one tank before they could fire and the second one couldn't do enough damage to kill him before going down.  So it would take several tries to kill him, he'd be right back again and everyone eventually decided it wasn't worth the effort.  Even drugged up myself I couldn't take him on in my viking.  Too powerful.

 

It's stuff like this that has me re-evaluating heavy tank armor.