Other [Issue 36] The Generalissimo's Handbook - Month 3

[hogree 4,179]

 
Welcome to The Generalissimo's Handbook - a monthly column in the Tanki Newspaper dedicated to going past the baby-food and providing readers with advanced tips and techniques directed at those who have already reached a high standard in the game. As two Generalissimos ourselves, Fen and I have noticed over time the lack of information provided for those who are already accomplished players, even beyond Generalissimo, and are looking for new things to learn. In light of this, our intention through this new institution is to spur advanced players confident in their ability to improve, learn and ultimately become better players. At the same time, we hope to see less experienced players coming along here and learning some advanced tips to help them in their quest to improve.
 
Before we begin, let's just run through the layout of the article this month. Same as last time - The Tips, The Video, the Question of the Month and a Q&A Session. Any suggestions for new additions to this column - go to the bottom and send in your feedback!
 
~ Gen's Handbook - Month 1 ~
~ Gen's Handbook - Month 2 ~
 
►The Tips◄
Written by hogree
 
I. Invisibility
 
The art of not letting your enemies know where you are can be applied in almost every situation in Tanki and an art that is ignored by far too many players, even at the upper end of the game. Invisibility is a bit of a tongue-in-cheek term because it's obviously impossible to truly not be seen - don't worry, I'm not advertising a hacking system. The art of invisibility is simply not being seen from your opponent's perspective. And there are many ways to implement this vital art which is so often ignored.
 
The first question is: why wouldn't you want to be seen? Well, there are two main options - you want to creep up on your enemies so you can get the fire in first or you want to grab the flag without being noticed. The latter is my particular focus today. We've all been there - it's one of the most satisfying feelings in the world. You are an assault attacker and after millions of attempts of faliure, you just drive into the enemy base ignored until the last second, and you're away. Do remember this attempt for invisibility is most wisely used with Wasp or Hornet as they are fast enough to make a getaway when the flag alert sounds. First thing to do is be careful you do NOT shoot on sight. Take care when you shoot. Your role is to capture a flag, not take potshots at opponents. Remember, when an opponent is shot, he always wants to find who shot him. It's natural instinct. You WILL, and I guarantee it, lose the "invisibility" status if you start shooting at opponents. It is a MUST to be discreet, and that does sometimes you mean you shouldn't shoot at opponents. This can even be true for players in Clan Wars or XP Battles - just because you can kill the opponent doesnt mean they can't warn their team and get backup in. Make sure you're confident you can get away or sure you've been seen when you start shooting.
 
Now, invisibility's art is best come by approaching the enemy base from a different direction to your team-mates. This is known amongst many players as a decoy attack. A fantastic way to enter the opponent's base un-noticed even though it does require teamwork in attacks. One group of players bomb down one area to take the attention of the defence and meanwhile you creep in and make a runner for it with the enemy flag. To perfect this, you need to include the aforementioned tip of making sure you don't take unneccessary shots.
 
Included in this is the reminder that you should always try and remain in cover as much as possible. Especially when equipped with a fast tank, it doesn't take much to go the long route round a map to avoid being shot when you enter the enemy base. And remember to be patient when you're sitting there un-noticed. Wait for the backup from another player to attract the attention from the defence, run in and grab the flag! Best for light-hulls if you're attempting this assault. Another humorous tip I find works is to change equipment so as to imitate one of your opponent's combinations. This gives you the chance that some of the defenders could see you and think it could be one of their own team-mates. Worth trying, you know!
 
There are other ways to increase this art of Invisibility which can gain a team so many flags. Avoid turret turning as much as possible, for one. The less your turret turns, the less sound you will make; thus the less obvious it is for opponents to spot you. Another one was explored by eGuards leader Holyhero_alexxxxx in a recent V-Log when showing a clip of directing Shaft's laser into a wall until the very last moment when you spot an enemy - at that moment you pop out, reveal your laser and obliterate the said enemy. Very smart, especially for Shafts but also something all players can learn from - making sure that we are not easily visible from afar. If you're in a standard battle, never ever use your Double Power before you use your Double Armour and Nitro. Those two are the most important drugs to use by far, and I'd even say Nitro can be the most helpful for these assault attacks, particularly when a Freeze is in defence. A final tip I would recommend to you all is using a discreet paint. At high levels, this could be a paint like Prodigi rather than, say, Inferno. Don't look obvious - for understandable reasons. You want to be invisible; un-noticed.
 
II. Decision Making
 
This little piece on Decision Making will never do justice to a topic that warrants such a huge amount of information. Now I'm not talking about the kind of dilemma when you're waiting for a Gold Box and thinking whether you should shoot the bloke next to you. I'm thinking about those split-second decisions you make about where you should drive when you spawn, who you should aim for, where you should move when you hear your flag being taken. The fact is, one of the most significant things that make pro players the best in the game is quite frankly that they make the right decisions when it matters. Here's a little taster as to how you can hone this area in your game.

 

I think the most important thing to remember in this topic is that you actually realize you have decisions to make. You realise you have a choice. You realise that you have an aim. Your mind actually processes that you have different options. This is VITAL. If you drive and shoot random enemies without any consideration of the bigger picture, you are as good as a sabotaging "mult" and may as well quit. Now since I'm not primarily lecturing to the lower-ranked players, I'll leave that there for you to mull over.

 

Practically, here are some tips which I personally find helpful in regards to this topic (and I speak as someone who is a failure, admittedly). Direct your movements/shots upon the movements of the biggest threats. Always pay the most attention to the people who are the most skilled or the most well-equipped - or of course, if they have the flag. You see them coming, direct your focus onto them and take some shots on them rather than a not-so-important threat. Deal with the people with supplies all the time, deal with the people who have the strongest stuff. Sometimes this is disguised, you see an enemy who is using Freeze-Viking with a Double Armour and Double Power who is being bombarded by your team-mates and you see a Hornet with a Nitro speeding towards your flag. Probably smartest to make sure you hit the Hornet rather than the Viking - since they are not being watched by anyone, they are the biggest threats.

 

With that in mind, what should you do if someone takes your flag? This would be my suggestion - avoid chasing enemies with your flag in their tracks, particularly criminal with short-range weapons. By this I mean hearing the flag alert, and chasing the fellow who took your flag in the exact direction he took. He's going to get away quicker than you, most of the time. The best way to counter offence from opponents is to mount an attack on them and cut them off that way. Normally, when a player has taken your flag, your best shout is to make it as quickly as you can to the opponent's flag-base whether or not that takes you in the path of your own flag.

 

Lastly, a tip with picking your shot. Too many prioritize on killing enemies. They think aim for the weak is the most successful option all the time. Killing enemies is what you want, right?  The more you kill, the better! WRONG. There are many, and I repeat many, occasions when the best shot to take is on a strong player. This can come down to team co-ordination - we all know what it's like in an XP Battles all four in attempt to cut off the flag-carrier take shots at him when all it really needed was one person to take the shot, and in the end, one full-health player simply grabs the flag and takes it back to base with you all helpless with lack of charge. But more often, it comes down to logic. A weak defender is better than a strong just-respawned defender. So you don't want to kill off a defender just so he can return with full health later on - now sometimes, when camping Isidas are around, it might be smart but the idea still stands. Weak enemies are better than strong enemies. Keep the weak weak and get the strong weak and you have the upper hand.

 

Finally, couple of obvious tips to remember. Always focus on the guy with the flag. He is the threat. I did mention the situation in the above paragraph which can be a problem but you should really aim for him on most occasions. And perhaps the most important thing - you as a tank in your team always must consider your options and remember it's not about the kills, it's about the flags.

 
►The Video◄
Created by Fen-Harel
 
Hello, Tankers, welcome to the new Gen's Handbook video! This time I'll show you how to control your hull and make it a challenge for your opponents to do the same. Got any of your own tips? Post them below along with your impressions of the video. If the video was helpful to you, feel free to share it with your friends. Enjoy! Note: You can turn on video subtitles by clicking the CC button if it makes it easier for you to follow the video content.
 

 
►Question of the Month◄
 
Another initiative which began a couple of months back was the Question of the Month directed at a few of the Generalissimos in the English community, and this month we are continuing on with a brand new question. Guys, just so you know, you are free to suggest questions for this too that you would find helpful! This issue, the question was:

"In your mind, what is the best combination to equip in a regular Silence CTF battle?"
 
@7919zola: Given the relatively small size of the map, I'd argue that the 'best combination to equip' would be Freeze-Viking-Africa. Considering that both bases are tremendously close to each other, if a tank were to steal your team's flag, he/she would be just seconds away from capturing it. That being said, freeze provides unrivaled defense and modest offense for your team. With its balanced speed and reasonable health, Viking is easily the best choice... again concluded based off of the surroundings. Simply said, light hulls get wrecked :P far too easily, and heavy hulls are only practical if accompanied by heavy drugging (which should be absent, especially if this is a plain-old, plain-old non-Pro, good ol' fashioned CTF match). Last but not least, the paint Africa... which was purely chosen for its diverse protection against common short to mid range turrets. Of course this is just my opinion, and I am often more biased towards defensive combinations, thanks to my scarred for life experiences with "druggers" in my early days of TO. ;)  
 
@Lankbouv: Hammer/Viking. The reason is simple, mine is m4 and therefore can plough through anything pretty much, whether they are drugging or not.
 
: Silence map changed a lot in these years, in the old tanki I used to play with viking python and freeze, it was very compact combination, but now, everything changed, and you need to use a heavy tank, but fast at the same time, so the perfect tank could be the Titan, and the perfect weapon could be something at medium range, it could be the Twins, good and strong, and the paint should change according of the enemy weapons, but the perfect one, and I like it a lot is Zeus, because sometimes the firebird it's so annoying, and we also have 25% against freeze and smoky, that it's not so bad. 
 
@SpHryfBoss: Simply starting off, Silence is a medium map, so a logical combination to use would be a medium hull (heavy for campers) with a turret you are skilled with. From my experience in Silence CTF battles, I found that the most effective combination consisted of a medium hull such as Viking or Hunter (I prefer Viking), towered along with my Freeze, since I mostly took on attacking. The effectiveness of this combination can be increased by many times if you have an Isida by your side healing you, so I recommend choosing one or the other! If you don't like capturing the flag, I would suggest you using Thunder for simply lowering the enemies' health. The damage from Thunder is already fairly decent, and the splash makes your job easier. As for the paint: I would just tell you to use the one that protects you the best from the enemies!
 
@Maestro.Italiano: Well, for me the answer is obvious, Ricochet and Viking.  Personally, I've been in awe of this combo for a while now and it's not losing my attention yet.  Viking is balanced, powerful, quick, and well armored.  Add the fact that mine sports high micro upgrades in health make it really hard to stop.  It gets into the enemy base, is fast enough to pull away from a Freeze and heavy hull that might be defending or just running from the enemy fire, and armored enough to survive too.  Ricochet is extremely high damage, fast shooting, and just annoying as a whole.  Under fire from a Ricochet means basically no one can shoot you back except for that annoying Vulcan, and of course close range guns.  It's high Damage per second will help you fight your way out of any fight you may be in, and in 1 on 1 situations, your the winning ticket unless you meet that drugging Isida or Firebird <_<.  Silence can seem to be an impenetrable base for either side, it will take the right combo, tactics, and drugs (if they are on) to get a flag out successfully.  Of course, the back up of your team is as critical as your attack.  Good luck on the battle field Tankers and have fun.
 
@trollface.jpg: My ultimate choice for a Silence CTF would be Freeze/Viking, weird eh? In Silence, we can see many tanks cramped up together either defending or attacking, so freezing them all together will be a huge + for us, with Viking's HP and speed we can defend and attack at times. We again have an advantage of Freeze where we can just freeze the opponent and easily snatch the flag and move away. And while defending too, we can freeze the flag holder and by the time he gets out of our base, we will have our teammates to take care as he is not fast enough to escape thanks to the freeze. Another idea is where one of your teammate can take out some light/medium defenders and sacrifice himself and you just freeze the slow moving heavy guy and run away. Freeze is one of those turrets with which you can attack without a Isida behind you, you just need to get the timings right. As far as for defending, as already said, just freeze him up and wait for your teammates to get around, and with Viking you can take bit of damage and still survive to kick freeze other tanks.
 
@unholycloak5: With my current equipment, I would definitely choose Vulcan-Mammoth. I have been using this combination since I have bought this beauty.  Unfortunately, this is not great for offense as a fatty cannot easily get fast enough back to the base to do a capture. On the bright side, this is the best and most effective (for me) combination that may be used for destroying several tanks real quick. Blue or red side, it doesn't matter unless you have one spot or two that can help destroy incoming tanks. However, with its overheating thingy, you will definitely need an isida or two to be able to survive for a period of time or defend well against a Freeze especially. I guess that's all I can say now. This fat tank can definitely eliminate tanks than you expected. :)
 
@Winner_Of_Turkey: Silence is one of the hardest maps in the game. Each side has their own advantages. The only way to win a battle in Silence is choosing right equipment. For example if you choose light hull it will make you easier target. If you choose heavy hull it will make you slower. Medium hulls are most preferred in these kind of maps. It works perfect on both teams. Of course the turret you have chosen matters a lot. Pick your turret by looking at your enemies paint. But I would prefer Freeze, even if they have protective paints. If you want to attack get Viking and Freeze. Choose the best paint against your enemies, with 1 or 2 isida behind you and a little experience will lead you to the victory. 
 
►The Q&A Session◄
 
Thanks for all your questions once again guys! We received a number of questions again and it was a pretty tough job picking 5 out to answer. Appreciate all of your input - the more, the better. Great help to us. Do remember during the month any time a question pops into your mind, this is the place to go!
 
@Lankero: When to enable the Repair Kit to benefit the most from it?
 
The repair kit is the most expensive and arguably the most useful supply in the game. With that said, you don't want to waste it by using it at the wrong times. First make sure you're actually low on health points, this will help take most of the repair kit's effectiveness. Try and take a double armor before using an hp kit, it won't push back the timer any further for it and you'll practically double your health points. However, seeing as the supply heals 400hp and most hulls have below that number, there's still a bit of benefit going to waste. That waste is what you want to minimise. You'll want to use the repair kit once you're low on health points and under heavy fire. That way you'll keep regenerating health while your opponents waste time trying to damage you. This also ensures that you take all 400hp from the repair kit, even if your hull has much less health than that. Another useful moment to use it is to counter freezing and burning effects, but try to save the repair kit if there's an Isida close by - let her heal you instead.
 
MiniRocket: I am slowly learning how to turn my turret and shooting while driving at the same time in a different direction, but I am still having difficulty. Do you have any tips for me to improve this area of my game?
 
Superb question. I know many newer players are in exactly your situation and that is the perfect question to be asking - too many players don't go out of their way to ensure they work into their gameplay an apt use of their turret whilst driving and end up going into the Lieutenant Ranks suffering from the all-too-common disease of turret trouble. I would just give you a couple of tips to improve this area of your game.
 
Firstly, do some private practice by yourself. I'd recommend going to Deathtrack, since it has a route around the map which is quite nasty to manoeuvre and is quite fun too. What I'd say is get your Smoky equipped with either Wasp or Hornet and drive round the map whilst constantly turning your turret. That's one way of getting used to driving your tank without associating it with your turret too closely. Another tip I would recommend is long-distance shots at buildings whilst driving. Set yourself a notable point such as a window in the distance to aim for as you drive which requires your turret to turn, and as you drive, take a shot and see how close you get. This can be multiplied to include spin shots and to make it more difficult, try aiming as you drive round the map so you can combine two techniques - hull control without sight and long-distance aiming whilst moving.
 
Finally, it can just be a mindset issue. Try and split up the turret and the hull in your mind. Remember your hull is the ONLY thing that affects where are you are driving. Once you have this, you will be free in your mind knowing one hand is controlling where you are going and one hand alone. This can free up your hand to be more confident in it's turning. Also, look ahead so you know and get to know maps so you can understand where are you going without having to constantly look ahead.
 
: In XP battles what is the best way to keep yourself composed when you are losing because it seems difficult to get yourself together when you go 1 or 2 flags down (Special reference: Sandbox)?
 
The main problem once you start losing more than one flag in a row is that you get "spawn locked". This means that the enemy team is pretty much camping in your base while shooting you before you even re-spawn. That way you can't do anything to counter them and they'll freely cap flags. Your best bet is to try and "ghost" into your opponents or nearby corpses to dodge their shots and attempt to kill anyone approaching your flag. If your teammates manage to do the same, the spawn lock is broken and the game can continue on the same course.
 
The other problem is morale. This happens numerous times in random battles and in Starladder clan games alike. Once you start losing it seems like there's no point in fighting back, but this is the moment when you need to show that you're not just some average player. Relax for a second, take some time to see what's everyone's doing on the battlefield and look for an opening. If your team can't stay calm, it's vital that you do, instead. Don't panic even if you get spawn killed, use every moment to search for cracks in the opposing team. Then, once you see the opportunity, attack as hard as you can. Even if the attack isn't enough to capture a flag, it'll show your teammates that there's still a chance to takeover the game. That's what raises morale and keeps the team alive, so it's imperative that at least someone knows how to do it.
 
@Legolover3: Which is the most underappreciated map in Tanki Online?
 
Great question. For me, this is one of the things I feel really strongly about actually - the fact you see awful maps like Noise and Camp littered around the servers and other gems are virtually non-existent. There are several under-appreciated maps in the game, for example maps like Rio, Bobruisk, 2042, Courage, Red Alert (my personal favourite) and Fort Knox which really provide fantastic gameplay and indeed, quite stunningly designed. Some of these are indeed appreciated by many but still don't deserve the position on the servers they warrant, in my opinion.
 
However, in my opinion, the most underappreciated map in the game is one of the old-school gems of the game that never receives the praise that it deserves - Subway. The quality of the map-making involved in this map always astounds me but what makes it such a good map is its superb gameplay with the two open areas and placement of the flags directly next to the steep ramps. It particularly thrives in an all-out drug war and suits all weapons which is another of its countless positives. Yet I often feel it is not given the renown of other maps and ignored as one of the most well-designed maps in the game. That's why I feel it's the most under-appreciated of several in Tanki.
 
@Propelar12: How can you get on top of a Dictator easily?
 
Dictators have always been a force to be reckoned with, whatever way you look at it, and as the tallest hulls in the game, are the highest to climb upon. I imagine this question is written in mind of going for Gold Boxes, since they give you a height-boost. I would suggest that there are two main options for this, logically. The first choice is to use Recoil. The best weapon for this by quite a long shot is Railgun - Hammer can also help and other weapons too when using Wasp but Railgun is the best. Simply drive backwards sideways alongside the Dictator, shoot and just as the shot fires, let go of your drive and swivel immediately in the direction of the Dictator - timed well, it always works.
 
The other option which is quite obvious would be jumping from a height onto the Dictator. Simply go above it, and move yourself down onto it. You can do this even in mini-drops, like the middle area of Polygon. Just drive on top of the Dictator. Good places are beside ramps where there is a small drop and you can simply drive your hull on top of your Dictator friend.
 
We will be continuing this Q&A Session, and even those who didn't manage to get their questions answered this time out will be able to take part again. Feel free to quiz us regarding issues that you feel experienced Generalissimos may be able to give light on or even just to see their opinion on certain subjects you want to know more about. Once again, we will pick 5 Questions from those entered on the form below and answer them next issue. So send your questions in!
 
Enter your questions here
 
► Ideas and Suggestions (Again) ◄
 
We are still a new initiative for the community and thus, it's your call as to what we do in the future. Perhaps a neat new section - a short map review or combination summary. ANYTHING. We would appreciate all ideas for this column - we want it to be as beneficial as possible to the community it is for. So below, we would like to request that you post all your ideas and suggestions for the future of the Handbook. Feedback is vital for its improvement. Although we stuck with the same format this time round, we're open to change. So use your voice!
 
Thanks for reading!
Hog & Fen

Edited January 7, 2018 by Hexed

[PenguinNEWexp 11]

Nice one. I'd like to have players giving some tips, and the best few will be shown in a section of the article.

[SpHryfBoss 573]

Good job as usual, Foot Rest and hog!! :)

Edited June 26, 2015 by SpHryfBoss

[BlazingCoder 108]

Pro Tips from Pro Gen's 

[Maestro.Italiano 179]

#ProAdvice

 

 

~Maestro

[Alklines 1,751]

Viking, Viking everywhere

[Quarks 2,255]

Very very useful, one of my favorite columns. 

[tankkipankki 72]

Very useful information especially for litle ranks i wish it would've been same advices when i was litle rank but it doesn't matter anymore anyway very useful and good article :)

[opidude 437]

According to him isidas are girls ._.

[Bem 521]

Very nice, nice pro advice ya go there :D

[Guest]

nice

[The_Real_Dudearoo 4]

Thanks for the great information.  Especially having the video clips to demonstrate.

 

Appreciate guys who take to the time to help out others.

[anuclearbomb 220]

this is amazing... not a single person mentioned railgun(or shaft:(grr) in the silence thing, great article

 

maybe try and use pictures in spoilers instead of videos? or both for those who can't run the video. 

[viratno2 146]

good tips 4 NOT flipping over. i am a frequent wasp/railgun user, and thats obviously a problem i face a lot of times. thanks for the tips.

[Lotus_Flower 46]

nice job guys

[r_GaIaxy2 8,611]

Nice :D

Really interesting :)

[hogree 4,179]

Don't forget to send your questions to be answered in the coming handbook! There haven't been many questions yet this issue - you have until the end of today!

Edited July 29, 2015 by hogree

[Penguin40 1,714]

Don't forget to send your questions to be answered in the coming handbook! There haven't been many questions yet this issue - you have until the end of today!

Sent mine ages ago.  :lol: