Playing Poorly? Here's Some Things to Check

[sonofchrysalis3 3,719]

Every tanker has his bad days.  Sometimes wan69 doesn’t lead the fight at Cross DM, occasionally Snow-Tiger-Girl botches a ramp jump at Aleksandrovsk, and, once in a blue moon, WMI doesn’t catch the Gold Box (although the odds of him NOT catching it are equal to me making a hole-in-one at Canterlot Links while being eaten by a mutant banana that’s standing on an alligator).

 

But there are those among us, maybe even you, dearest reader, who simply never seem to have a good day.  Your shots never find the target, someone flips you over as soon as you pick up the flag, and you even swear that you can hear the Gold Box laughing at your pitiful attempts to grab it.  I’ve been there, and I know how depressing it is.  Some things you can’t help, like your opponents’ superior tactics and knowledge of the map.  But there are a few performance-killing mistakes you might be making, such as:

 

1.)    Not rotating your turret.

 

I was playing a Duality DM yesterday, and I found a guy I could destroy without difficulty.  He was three ranks higher than me and had some pretty expensive M2 equipment, but he was making a beginner’s mistake: he wouldn’t turn his turret to shoot me when I came up next to him.  All I had to do was pin him to a wall and pump my Ricochet into him; easy kill.  The guy eventually left, tired of me following him around and destroying him.

 

Any non-unicorn pony can press those turret control buttons, so I know you people can!  It’s easy.

 

2.)    Chatting incessantly and pointlessly.

 

My good buddy ziggi_the_best, no longer on Tanki (*sob* I miss her so much), told me about a Polygon CP she played where some tanker was constantly using the chat box, fussing at sometanki who destroyed him, arguing about various things, and complaining about how badly his day on Tanki was turning out.  “I’m pretty sure he could’ve played better,” ziggi said, “if he would’ve shut up and actually played.”

 

Chatterbox tankers are an enemy’s favorite type of target.  You can’t control your tank when you are using the chat box, so you offer no resistance when they rumble up to you and shoot you point-blank.  In fact, devious players in Deathmatches will often chat something like “Which is the best turret?” then drive around butchering the tankers who stop to respond.

 

Yes, I do it too, all the time.  Your point is?

 

3.)    Not using your supply kits.

 

Honestly, why don’t you use them?  They are an essential part of the game.  Don’t worry about the chat chumps who bust their keyboards to tell you that you’re a “revolting drugger noob”.  They use them just as much as you do, and if they really wanted to fight without supplies, they could just shell out the 5000 crystals for a pro pass so they could make a supply-less battle.  Don’t feel guilty for using the perfectly legal power-ups Tanki offers.

 

4.)    Playing CTF and CP like they’re DMs.

 

In Deathmatch mode, players earn a point for every tank they destroy.  Deathmatch is quite fun, but it doesn’t give you nearly as many points (or as many crystals) as a good team match does.  Capturing a flag or point is the most lucrative in-game act a tanker can perform, next to nabbing that Gold Bil.

 

In spite of this, many players (usually the ones on my team; :angry: ) will stumble around the map trying to shoot opponents rather than capture anything.  Their position on the leaderboard is invariably very low, whether they make one kill or a hundred, and the opposing team gets a gigantic portion of the battle fund.  You want to play DM?  Then join a DM or a TDM battle and leave the CTFs and CPs to us professional stuff-capturers.

 

5.)    Using inferior equipment.

 

So you’re a Lieutenant, eh?  Goody for you!  May I ask why you’re still using an M0 tank kit?

 

This is flank-obvious.  You are not going to beat an M3 Mammoth + M3 Twin if you are using a little M0 Wasp and Smoky kit.  Don’t rank up a lot without buying better equipment, because there will come a day when you can’t spawn without being obliterated.  Rainbow Dash abandoned her first two Tanki accounts because she ranked up to warrant officers in both but didn’t spend her crystals wisely.  When the time came to buy an M1, she had barely enough to buy a repair kit.  She tried but failed to buy crystals through the silly little host site she was using (Miniclip.com), so her first two months and first two accounts on Tanki were totally wasted.

 

* * * * * * * *

 

Bad days will happen, and it’s easy to get discouraged and maybe even feel like giving up, like my old lost friend ziggi_the_best did.  Just remember that your Gold Box will drop someday soon.

 

But keep an eye out for WMI.  He’s a sneaky one.

Edited March 8, 2016 by sonofchrysalis3

[GoldRock 6,165]

Great read, as usual. Not only d'you cover a wide variety of relevant points, but you do so in a humorous and eloquent way. Good stuff, keep it up! 

[I3loodShot 3,119]

gr8 m8 i r8 this 8/8

[falcosenna1 8,320]

Have you already applied for reporter? Think about it. :p

[Truthteller 4,204]

Nice m8 :)

[EpicNerd7 9]

could you give me some advice, I'm trying to save up for a M1 ricochet (witch I can get starting next rank) but I didn't start until I became a sergeant major. I need 23,100 for it and now I have 7488 right now, but i'm already a little less than 5000 xp away from ranking up .i'm trying to gold box hunt and it is somewhat working but I realize it won't cut it.

could you give me some advice on how I can get max crystals but get minimum xp?

[sahl_super 157]

could you give me some advice, I'm trying to save up for a M1 ricochet (witch I can get starting next rank) but I didn't start until I became a sergeant major. I need 23,100 for it and now I have 7488 right now, but i'm already a little less than 5000 xp away from ranking up .i'm trying to gold box hunt and it is somewhat working but I realize it won't cut it.

could you give me some advice on how I can get max crystals but get minimum xp?

lol

[sahl_super 157]

Nice !  tips i play weel better ! now

[deadmanrising 715]

Is a maxed hunter m2 good at my rank?

 

** Please answer **

[CTaen 214]

You should be a reporter :)

[sonofchrysalis3 3,719]

@epicnerd7 -->

 

The very best way you can get enough crystals in time is to buy them.  I realize, not everytanki has a way to pay for crystals.  Younger tankers rarely have a bank account or credit card, so they often have to make do with the crystals they get in-game.

I myself don't have a way to pay, as the common pony's internet access is not yet fully developed.  Only Celestia, Luna, Twilight Sparkle, and the other international monarchs have access to online payment methods, so I asked Luna if she could buy me some crystals (I compensated her, of course!)  Tada, my payment handicap was no longer an issue.  Now I have over 500,000 crystals.  I love Luna so much, for more reasons than one  ^_^.

 

NOTE: DO NOT request that fellow tankers purchase and give you crystals.  Begging crystals on the chat box, forum, or any other intertanker communications network will result in a ban, as will attempting to transfer crystals from tanker to tanker.

 

Another way to bridge the gap between your crystal wallet and the price of the turret is to wait for it to go on sale.  Tanki celebrates each holiday with a selection of discounts; patient tankers can get the equipment they need for half price.

 

But, if all else fails, the best two in-game, no-purchase-necessary ways to gain crystals are to

 

A) Catch the gold box.  S.C.Y.T.H.E wrote an excellent article in the monthly newsletter on goldhunting, and I wrote an article on the easiest golds to catch.

 

B.)  Play CTF or CP.  The leader of the winning team gets a nice battlefund dividend.  Play enough battles, lead enough fights, and eventually, you'll have enough to buy that Ricochet.

 

But still, buying crystals is your best option.  They're really cheap, and the Double Crystals Card makes them even cheaper.

Edited July 1, 2015 by sonofchrysalis3

[sonofchrysalis3 3,719]

@deadmanrising -->

 

The equipment is as good as the tanker using it.  I can't stand the Hunter hull.  I love Mammoth and Hornet, because I can use them to their fullest potential.  My good buddy Benjamin178 uses Wasp like a pro.  I can't use Wasp without flipping over.  It's all about the player.

 

If you're wondering whether the strength of the hull is enough to hold off enemy fire, I can't say.  I would have to see you play and how you perform to know that.

[Meowmix56 174]

4.)    Playing CTF and CP like they’re DMs.

 

From the bias perspective of someone who often gets yelled at for maintaining too high a k/d ratio rather than going for the flag I am not entirely sure I agree with this one.  There is a fine line here.  Certainly running flags is much more lucrative for an individual player, but would you rather improve your score or help your team win?  Making a solo suicide run for the flag, even with drugs, is often a futile effort against a well balanced defense.  Someone being able to hang in mid field and maintain fire on enemy defenses can turn the tide of battle.  Meanwhile controlling the center means your team has access to more supply drops, and opponents going for your flag take damage and often have to pop their medkit before they even approach your defenders.  Take madness as an example.  One shaft on the ramp hitting people as they jump down helps to hold the bottom more than 3 people vying for points from the flag.

[dilsharox 2,395]

nice

[RampagingVenom 554]

I agree with it all especially the chatting in battle part ;)

it really serves no purpose wasting time arguing with someone if you get insulted or having a jolly friendly chit chat with others that`s pointless &

will get you killed many times i suggest try it & see ones chatting & other times non chat & your see how better your become not just sitting there with the enemy blowing you clean out of the water.

it`s best to carry on in battle & focus on the task in hand

[IVIr.Blue 865]

Nice man. I think you should check out this topic ' REPORTERS'  

i'm sure you've got enough skills to be one 

[TriNitroToIuene 4,765]

Seconded, thirded or fourthed (whatever) :P

[Penguin40 1,714]

Nice job, another masterpiece from you. But I don't make these mistakes often, luckily.  B)

 

1- I rotate my turret all the time.

 

2- I hardly ever use the cat. (Yeah, deliberate joke in writing "chat")

 

3- I usually play "non-format XP/BPs". So it's part of the etiquette to not use supplies. By non-format XP/BPs, I mean XP/BPs for lower ranks that don't have the format activated.

 

4- I treat CTFs and CPs like CTFs and CPs. In CTFs, when I can't take the flag, I focus on defense or weakening the enemy defense. And in CPs, when I'm not attacking the point, I often snipe those who attack our point. 

 

5- Okay, that's slightly a problem. I have Rail/Wasp M1, and almost every other M1. (Yeah, I bought all of them without thinking :ph34r: ) However, I mostly play XP/BPs now, so that's not really a problem. Still, even at this rank, my combo is amazing. 

 

Still, this is a masterpiece, like all the articles from you. You should apply for reporter.  :)

[sonofchrysalis3 3,719]

@Meowmix56 -->

 

The biggest problem with this "I'll just hang back and let everyone else get the flag" mentality is that when you do that, everytanki else will do it too.  It is easier to sit in your recliner, with a cup of coffee and a bowl of prunes, and pick off enemies without having to budge.  That's why every tanker who ever plays at Highways CTF plays as a Shaft who camps next to their own flag.  That's also why I always win at Highways, because I use my Hornet+Isida kit to capture that flag.  Who's going to stop me?  No one can follow me, because they all thought they'd just hang in mid field and maintain fire on enemy defenses.

 

Notice I said "they ALL thought".  You are correct when you say that one tanker providing fire support can help turn the tide of battle.  But it is simply an unwritten rule of nature that everytanki will then try to be a sniper.

 

Who's going to turn the tide of battle when no one will leave their base and try?

[TriNitroToIuene 4,765]

^Nice, but tell us why you keep avoiding questions suggesting that you apply for reporter

[bravo30 136]

^Nice, but tell us why you keep avoiding questions suggesting that you apply for reporter

Because he doesn't want to be, as reporters need to compensate somethings for their job, in other words, they can't express their potential to the fullest. Just my opinion. There may be other reasons like no fixed free time, no skype etc.

[GoldRock 6,165]

Because he doesn't want to be, as reporters need to compensate somethings for their job, in other words, they can't express their potential to the fullest. Just my opinion. There may be other reasons like no fixed free time, no skype etc.

This entire post consists of misinformation, pretty much.

[TriNitroToIuene 4,765]

This entire post consists of misinformation, pretty much.

Yep, because we cannot assume that he doesn't want to become a reporter because he hasn't replied yet.

Maybe he's shy?

[Ambitious 2,084]

Nice and useful guide!

[sonofchrysalis3 3,719]

I have been avoiding the question because I'm teasing you.  Yet another one of Luna's influences, I suppose.  :P