Review [Issue 35] Changes to the Balance: Assorted Tips

[Thekillerpenguin 1,731]

Changes to the Balance: Assorted Tips

 

It's safe to say that a lot of updates to the game have occurred recently. A lot of our favorite turrets and hulls have been tweaked, and as such a lot of us have had to relearn the ropes of combat. This is a collection of tips and tricks that I've picked up or noticed that might come in handy for players both new and old.

 

Let's get started on the turrets first:

 

Firebird's overall damage profile remains similar to before, but more of the damage has been shifted to the afterburn. This means that you can do quite a bit of damage over time with even a brief burst of flame, but at the same time you're not going to do as much damage in a straight up confrontation. Most of you fervent pyromaniacs out there won't have to adjust your strategies, but here are a few tips just in case:

• Hit and run attacks are now a bit more viable. If you're using a light hull, you can torch a opponent like a creme brulee (that is to say, torched briefly) and then run away. The afterburn should be able to take them out.
• Direct attacks are a little less viable. Viking-Firebirds are a common sight on maps like Noise, where they can storm bases, burn everything, and then get out, but the reduced base damage means that it will take longer to destroy an opponent if you burn then continuously. Be prepared to take cover if you run low.

 

Freeze has been changed in quite a few ways. Its damage has been increased, but it has less energy. This means that it can deal more damage in a shorter period of time, which sounds nice on paper. Unfortunately, the decrease in energy has reportedly been quite significant, and a lot of players are now complaining of Freeze being too weak. While I don't have a Freeze of my own and a time machine to test these changes, Freeze still seems to be plenty deadly. Try it out for yourself- if the changes aren't to your liking, consider giving feedback on the thread of the update.

 

The freezing mechanic has also been tweaked. The hull constriction has been reduced, but the turret turning speed constriction has been heavily increased, along with the duration. This means that you'll be able to move more while frozen, but you'll be worse off offensively because it's much harder to turn your turret. This makes Freeze more of an offensive weapon- it can't slow down flag carriers as much, but frozen targets can be easier prey if you have room to maneuver.

• Heavy hulls will be easier to fight- they still can't turn around very much while frozen. The turret constriction effect also makes it a lot easier to fight Vulcans and Shafts, since their rotation speed while frozen is atrocious.
• Because the movement constriction has been nerfed, try to impede the progress if enemy flag carriers through other methods in case they escape your icy grip. Place mines in places where they would want to escape or ram them to make their steering harder.
• The increased damage makes it easier to destroy light hulls, but you might run out of energy when fighting more robust opponents, so always have an escape plan.

Isida has also seen some drastic changes. Its lock-on radius has been narrowed significantly while the range has been increased. The recharge speed has been increased slightly. Combined with its ability to latch onto enemy hulls, it's basically not a lock-on weapon anymore. Enemies with Freeze or a weapon with impact force can break your connection to your target if you're not careful. On the other hand, the increased range makes it easier to hunt down escaping enemies. If you ask me, Isida feels very different, and it will definitely take some getting used to, but once you get do get accustomed to it, the increased range and recharge speed can come in handy.

• A lot of players forget that the range has been increased, and only attack once you get very close to them. The range increase is really significant (it's pretty close to Firebird's range now), so make sure you take advantage of it whenever possible. It will give you an edge.
• Be careful with turning your turret. Keep it focused on your target, since it's a lot easier to lose lock-on now.

Twins has been reworked a bit. It will now deal more damage at close range but less at medium range. The projectile speed has increased too. This makes Twins more of a close range weapon- it can now compete with Ricochet very favorably when you're not very far from your opponent, but it will lose a lot of its strength with distance.

• Remember to get close to your opponents for maximum damage. Just be careful if your target is using a close range weapon, since you will probably lose the resulting gunfight if you have about the same amount of health as them.
• You don't have to lead your shots quite as much since the projectiles travel faster.

Hammer has been nerfed. It reloads more slowly and the shots have a wider spread. It's still a very deadly weapon in the right hands, but you'll need to put more effort into making it effective.

• Get closer to your targets to ensure that as many pellets as possible hit. The wider cone makes Hammer less powerful at longer distances.
• You won't be able to fight very effectively at medium range, so stay away from Thunders, Smokies, Ricochets, Vulcans, and Twins unless you can close the gap quickly.
• Remember to have an escape plan ready when you're running low on ammo. The longer reload increases the time in which you're vulnerable.

Ricochet doesn't have as drastic changes as the other turrets, but they are still noticeable. The projectile speed, projectile radius, and impact force have been increased, while the reloading time has been decreased.

• You don't have to lead your targets quite as much, and there's more room for error since the projectiles are bigger.
• The increased impact force makes it easier to disorientate Railguns and Shafts.
• The reduced reloading time lets you get back into battle more quickly, so you can play more offensively.

In the V-LOGs, Vulcan is only mentioned as having the burning damaged increased, but in reality, nearly all of the stats have been reduced. It can fire for longer before overheating, but it's significantly less effective overall.

• It will take more fire to destroy opponents than before, so you should try to be as accurate as possible when fighting- a few missed bullets can mean the difference between life and death.
• The increased burning damage means that overheating will kill you more quickly if you don't stop to cool down. Consider using a Firebird protection paint.
• The reduced impact force at M3 and up means that it's not as easy to flip airborne targets.
• It will take noticeably longer for the barrels to spin up, so remember to press the spacebar in advance.
• Vulcan will now deal 25% of its base damage at long range instead of the 50% it used to do. Since its long range damage has literally been cut in half, get close to your opponents (but not too close).

Smoky has had its normal damage and impact force strengthened at the cost of critical damage. This makes it more consistent than before.

• It's easier to defend yourself in between critical hits thanks to the stronger base damage. For instance, a M3 Smoky can now destroy a M3 Hornet in 4 normal shots.
• Critical hits are less powerful than before, so be sure to land as many normal hits as possible on your opponent to make up for the lost damage. They'll still take out a big chunk of health.
• The impact force was reduced heavily a while back. The increase here isn't enough to restore it to the old levels, but it can help when fighting targets. It's still pretty heavy, so practice messing up the aim of your enemies.

Thunder has been changed very noticeably. It deals significantly more damage and impact force, but its rate of fire has been reduced by quite a bit. The splash damage has been reworked too- it has a larger blast radius but reduced damage.

• The increased damage makes destroying targets easier, and it makes the number of hits you'll need to destroy a target more consistent.
• It's much easier to steal kills with Thunder now. In DMs, you can wait for two enemies to damage each other and then shoot the weaker one. The increased damage gives you some leeway with the timing, and you can get a quick kill (or two) with little effort.
• The increased reload time makes it harder to engage multiple enemies.
• The reduction in splash damage makes multi-kills more rare, but the increase in blast radius somewhat counteracts that. Thunder's still great for crowd control, however, so it's an excellent choice for Polygon CTFs.

Railgun has been changed in only one aspect: it now reloads more quickly.

• You can now afford to fight more offensively since you won't be caught reloading as often. Railgun's still not an assault weapon, but you can spend more time behind enemy lines.
• The decreased reload time can help you deal with multiple enemies while defending.

Shaft's arcade shots have received a significant increase in damage, but its reloading speed has been reduced.

• Fighting with arcade shots has become much more viable. They can destroy Wasps and Hornets in about 3 shots, making self defense much easier. You won't be able to compete with most turrets on equal ground, so don't attack too offensively unless you really know what you're doing.
• The longer reload time generally reduces the number of opponents you can destroy in a given time frame with scope shots.
• Mouse controls can be very good for Shaft. You can hold down the right mouse button in scope mode to freeze your crosshairs (and laser sight) in place while looking around by moving the mouse. This makes hiding your laser sight a lot easier- point it at a nearby object (or at the ground in front of you), hold down the right mouse button to look around, and once you see a target, release the right mouse button, wait for your crosshairs to snap into place, and release the left mouse button to fire. If you do this correctly, your opponent won't know what hit them until it's too late. Excellent in conjunction with camouflage.

 

Let's talk about the hulls now. Hulls haven't changed a lot, so I'll go over them briefly.

• Wasp now has more weight and acceleration. This means that it's more resistant to impact force and it won't take as long to reach full speed. You won't flip quite as often from enemy fire, and the increased acceleration can help if you need to get (or get out of) somewhere as quickly as possible. Playing offensively is easier because of these changes.
• Hornet is now heavier, which means that it's more resistant to impact force. It will also drift somewhat less. You can fight Smokies, Hammers, and Railguns somewhat more easily now.
• Hunter has had its weight swapped with Viking's. Its turning speed has also been increased. This means that it acts a little more like a light hull now- highly maneuverable, but slightly unstable and affected noticeably by impact force. Be more wary of Railguns, Smokies, and Hammers.
• Viking now has Hunter's weight, so it's even more stable. Other than that, nothing else has changed.
• Dictator has had its turning speed increased, making it easier to handle in tight spaces and more resistant to Freeze's hull constriction effect. Since it's typically not used in tight spaces in the first place, you won't notice much of a difference, but it's nice to have.
• Titan has had its weight and maneuverability increased, making it easier to drive and even more resistant to impact force. It can also push better. It's easier to handle in close quarters too. You won't have to adjust your tactics much.
• Mammoth is now far more maneuverable, so it's easier to drive. Besides that, it's unchanged.

That's about it for the update in turret and hull parameters. If you have any strategies or tips of your own, feel free to post here. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time!

---

Edited July 30, 2017 by Hexed

[seriol_killer 7]

First again, nice guide as always :)

[Quarks 2,255]

I don't care what anyone says, rail is great for attacking. I use it, and I do well in battles

[liverpoolaum 811]

nice

[Darren4Turbo 4,913]

Nice Guide  ^_^ 

[rebar619 41]

Love the guide.  I hate the new balance.  My M2 Rico with M2 Hornet is darn near useless now.  I am a very offensive player and the balance has caused my rig to have no chance against bigger hulls.  I either need to get a turret with more damage or a hull with more protection.  The game gets particularly less fun when going against a dictator that pumps a health kit during my attack.

I invested my crystals specifically into this setup and with one swift change TO make it totally suck.  Thanks guys.  I really appreciate it. (insert sarcasm)

[rebar619 41]

BTW, one other observation.  I am not buying that Rico has a bump on impact force.  When going against a railgun I shoot the opponent's side to knock them off target and 90% of the time I still get shot = destroyed.

It doesn't make the game that much fun when you can get good with a kit you have invested in and the developers will just nerf it.  Bad form Tanki.

[r_qw1212qw1 14]

IMHO, everything that was done in the last half year in TO for Isida is wrong. Everything was done in order to make ppl that took isida for close range combat to fall in frustration now. For me and my Isida this "rebalance" is another big mistake in Isida "rebalancing" mistakes row that was done in the last half year.

More on this in my posts here:
http://en.tankiforum.com/index.php?showtopic=258576&do=findComment&comment=4603964
http://en.tankiforum.com/index.php?showtopic=258576&do=findComment&comment=4606742
http://en.tankiforum.com/index.php?showtopic=258576&page=2&do=findComment&comment=4626975
http://en.tankiforum.com/index.php?showtopic=258576&page=2&do=findComment&comment=4628431
http://en.tankiforum.com/index.php?showtopic=258576&page=3&do=findComment&comment=4639067

[C8o 2]

 

Changes to the Balance: Assorted Tips

 

 Isida feels very different, and it will definitely take some getting used to, but once you get do get accustomed to it, the increased range and recharge speed can come in handy.

 

 

Guess what, I tried hard to get used to it, but I could not. I quit playing this game alltogether because of that. And now you're trying so hard to justify your most stupid update ever. Stop thinking we are stupid players.

 

 

 

Be careful with turning your turret. Keep it focused on your target, since it's a lot easier to lose lock-on now.

 

 

 

Pardon me? It's a lot easier to lose lock-on now?

 

You don't say !

 

Tanki online, shuffle your new Isida somewhere and stop saying: "Yes we know, this and that .. but look at the new advantages."

 

THERE ARE NO ADVANTAGES ANYMORE !

[ajitvik 231]

can someone tell me that if we decrease the reload time of hammer.does the time between the 3 shots also decreases or the time it takes to load the three shots decreases?

[Thekillerpenguin 1,731]

can someone tell me that if we decrease the reload time of hammer.does the time between the 3 shots also decreases or the time it takes to load the three shots decreases?

The time between the shots hasn't changed. Only the time it takes to load the shots has been increased.

[sumanthsu 25]

isida is now the noobest turret and vulcan and hammer still remain OP.

[snipin4days 1]

y the reload on the thunder has longer reload u made my fav weapon worse but still nice update

[Raytank7 1,037]

You guys killed Vulcan and along with it a significant portion of the fun factor for me. If I had invested in an M2 I would have left Tanki in disgust. The overheat, impact damage, turret turning speed, and barrel rotation maybe. The damage? No! Vulcan is now effectively a close range weapon. That kills it because other turrets are far more effective at close range.

Edited June 12, 2015 by Raytank7

[periotico 5]

I really appreciate you giving the info about vulcan. I was real frustrated because I didn't seem to do as well w/ vulcan as I usually do. Now, I know why. Also thank you for giving that article about freeze. At first I that the decrease to freeze's energy was a problem for me, but then I learned to be over come this difficulty and I have actually become more skilled w/ freeze because of this update. Thank you

[periotico 5]

Love the guide.  I hate the new balance.  My M2 Rico with M2 Hornet is darn near useless now.  I am a very offensive player and the balance has caused my rig to have no chance against bigger hulls.  I either need to get a turret with more damage or a hull with more protection.  The game gets particularly less fun when going against a dictator that pumps a health kit during my attack.

I invested my crystals specifically into this setup and with one swift change TO make it totally suck.  Thanks guys.  I really appreciate it. (insert sarcasm)

All you should do really is get a good paint. Pay more attention to which turrets you encounter in battle than check out the shop's prices for the paint or paints you need. find the best that suits you

[sha77777_super 877]

Nice article penguin :) 

[Scorpenstein 159]

A very useful and informative article

 

Many thanks

 

 

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