Guide [Issue 39] The Definitive Guide to: Dictator

[greyat 2,972]

Detested by some, loved by many, Dictator dates all the way back to the origins of Tanki. Being one of the heavier hulls, there are perhaps less techniques associated with Dictator than other, lighter hulls. However, there still are some quirks associated with Dictator, which I’ll be attempting to explain.

 

 

History

 

It was one of two medium hulls released with a beta version of Tanki, on May 8th, 2009, the other being Hunter. In terms of tiers, Dictator, along with Railgun and Isida, formed the ‘middle tier’ - powerful at low ranks, but not as much as ranks progressed. This state of affairs continued until April 23, 2010, when Viking was released. Proving to be stronger than Dictator, many players gravitated towards Viking. All of this didn’t remain as it was, as some weapons and hulls became overused - hence, the rebalance of December 17, 2012. With the introduction of new physics a year later, Dictator’s speed was boosted. From here, Dictator remained much the same - a moderate increase in health here, and a few increases in agility there.

 

 

What to do with Dictator

 

Dictator is infamous for its ability to catch golds, enjoying a significant advantage over hulls such as Viking. Not only is it taller than other hulls, it also has a certain ‘buggy’ tendency to end up on top of a stack of tanks during the rush for gold boxes, which may be attributed to lag.

(credits to @lukey0)

This ‘bug’ occurs the most often when being pushed on all sides - hence, there is a certain technique to it. If you end up stacked up top too early, all the enemies will target you, and you could get shaken off. Too late, and the gold box is already gone. But do remember, gold boxes still take a measure of luck to catch; anyone has a chance at it. Also, hull usage varies by map (Dictator might not be the best for golds in Berlin, for example). To sum it up:

 

In short, use Dictator for golds if you want, but keep in mind that the Viking next to you could end up taking it.

 

Dictator is sometimes called the third heavy hull - and for good reason, too. At maximum microupgrades, it possess 345 HP - only slightly less than stock M3 Titan. However, don’t think that just because of that label, Dictator is only good in traditional heavy hull roles. Not at all - as a medium hull, Dictator can fit into a multitude of roles, only requiring the correct turret to be paired with it. Mount an Isida on it, and you’ve got a flag-capturing attacker, which can also heal ailing teammates along the way. Use Thunder, and you have a high-DPS midfielder. Just about every turret has a role with it.

 

 

Dictator has a rear-mounting turret, so drive backwards when near a wall - then, all you have to do is to barely expose the rear of your hull in order to practice hit-and-run. Driving forwards, almost all of your hull is exposed when shooting.

vs.

The height at which the turret is mounted can lead to interesting applications. On a ramp bordered by a wall, like in Silence

one can snipe with minimal exposure:

The height of the turret also makes the tipping strategy even more effective with Dictator, especially for enemies at a higher altitude. Simply drive forwards while facing backwards, and suddenly come to a stop, which slightly angles your tank, and fire - the auto-aim should take care of the rest.

 

What to avoid with Dictator

 

As with any hull, Dictator also has its disadvantages. For one, the height of the rear mounted turret leads to what I term a ‘blind spot’. If the opponent has a ‘flatter’ hull, such as a Viking, and has managed to approach you, they may be able to use the impact force of their shots to slightly raise the back of your tank. If you’re shooting backwards, then you might be lifted beyond the range of auto-aim for your turret, forcing you to miss. Thus, take out opponents before they can close the distance to you, and if they manage to do so, I’d suggest rotating your turret to the front again.

 

Try to avoid landing on your side (and obviously, flipping). Dictator has the unfortunate distinction of being the only medium hull which cannot take advantage of Railgun’s recoil to right itself. When jumping off a ledge, shoot if you’re using a turret with recoil, or import a light-hull strategy: spin the hull as you fall. It’ll be less effective, but sometimes it’ll save you from landing track-side up.

 

For some reason, I find Dictator to be rather strongly affected by the impact force of enemy shots, even more so than the lighter medium hulls, Viking and Hunter. With enemy Hammers, this may be due to Dictator’s larger profile - it absorbs all of the Hammer’s pellets. As such, avoid shooting just after your opponent - either strike first, or wait for them to progress into the reload stage.

 

Don’t treat Dictator like a heavy hull - it lacks the power of one. While sitting on the flag in an emergency may be possible, don’t replace the job of that Mammoth-Freeze. Whereas said Mammoth could stand up against the power of two pushing Vikings, your Dictator certainly won’t.

 

Conclusion

 

All that being said, don’t rush to purchase Dictator solely for the purpose of gold hunting. It’s a wonderful hull with many other characteristics that redeem it, not just its ability to catch golds. Dictator is a truly quintessential medium hull, able to be adapted into any role its user desires.

 

 

Edited July 29, 2017 by Hexed

[muhammad-raafay 3]

great topic

:)  ;)

[momy950666 960]

nice loved it <3

[Barra 1,445]

Well explained ;)

Edited September 4, 2015 by Barra

[kostas604 106]

I'm planning to buy it m2 in tankers day to pair with my m2 vulcan.

[drazeruzumaki 5,021]

my favorite hull :P

[lukey0 27,543]

Nice article, and its beauty at M3. :wub:

[E.Leclerc 1,887]

Dictator is an awesome hull for parkouring and taking Gold Boxes. :D

[Ruthick 83]

Cool dic

[hatealien 138]

Dictator is a good hull, when i first bought it m2 i regret buying it, but then i started using it more and now i think it wasn't such a bad purchase after all  :rolleyes:

I personally prefer viking, but i still want to buy m3 dictator  :P

[T_A_N_K_E_R_THE_PRO 1]

Wow I loved it :D guys this is my normal account "member=T_A_N_K_E_R_THE_DARK"

 

[T_A_N_K_E_R_THE_PRO 1]

@T_A_N_K_E_R_THE_DARK This is my normal account its banned from chat D=

[Truthteller 4,204]

I am going to buy it nice guide

[ThE-KiNg-Of-LeGeNdS 30]

My hornet m2 has more health than my dictator m0 so... yeah lol

[AN_602 280]

Dictator may be great, but it certainly would win the #1 Ugliest Hull title, no doubt.

[greyat 2,972]

^Mammoth would arguably rival it, if not surpass it, in my opinion.

[Z_I_T1234_D 3]

:)  :D  That is nice story on Dictator's functions

[Shahirah 30]

Thank you :-) I love my Dictator. Reached Third Lieutenant with using this hull only. I feel it's great with Shaft because it is strong and you can get away from an enemy nearby much quicker than heavier hulls. Also use it with Twins, Firebird, Freeze and Thunder :-) Looking forward to upgrade soon.

[fluctuation 12]

good work. keep it up!

[Electrical_Wire 1]

Very interesting piece. Great information! Keep up the good work man. B)  ;)

[klm747klm747 1]

should i buy dictator m2 for christmas sale or not??

[yoshi_micah 0]

 

 

Detested by some, loved by many, Dictator dates all the way back to the origins of Tanki. Being one of the heavier hulls, there are perhaps less techniques associated with Dictator than other, lighter hulls. However, there still are some quirks associated with Dictator, which I’ll be attempting to explain.

 

 

History

 

It was one of two medium hulls released with a beta version of Tanki, on May 8th, 2009, the other being Hunter. In terms of tiers, Dictator, along with Railgun and Isida, formed the ‘middle tier’ - powerful at low ranks, but not as much as ranks progressed. This state of affairs continued until April 23, 2010, when Viking was released. Proving to be stronger than Dictator, many players gravitated towards Viking. All of this didn’t remain as it was, as some weapons and hulls became overused - hence, the rebalance of December 17, 2012. With the introduction of new physics a year later, Dictator’s speed was boosted. From here, Dictator remained much the same - a moderate increase in health here, and a few increases in agility there.

 

 

What to do with Dictator

 

Dictator is infamous for its ability to catch golds, enjoying a significant advantage over hulls such as Viking. Not only is it taller than other hulls, it also has a certain ‘buggy’ tendency to end up on top of a stack of tanks during the rush for gold boxes, which may be attributed to lag.

(credits to @lukey0)

This ‘bug’ occurs the most often when being pushed on all sides - hence, there is a certain technique to it. If you end up stacked up top too early, all the enemies will target you, and you could get shaken off. Too late, and the gold box is already gone. But do remember, gold boxes still take a measure of luck to catch; anyone has a chance at it. Also, hull usage varies by map (Dictator might not be the best for golds in Berlin, for example). To sum it up:

 

In short, use Dictator for golds if you want, but keep in mind that the Viking next to you could end up taking it.

 

Dictator is sometimes called the third heavy hull - and for good reason, too. At maximum microupgrades, it possess 345 HP - only slightly less than stock M3 Titan. However, don’t think that just because of that label, Dictator is only good in traditional heavy hull roles. Not at all - as a medium hull, Dictator can fit into a multitude of roles, only requiring the correct turret to be paired with it. Mount an Isida on it, and you’ve got a flag-capturing attacker, which can also heal ailing teammates along the way. Use Thunder, and you have a high-DPS midfielder. Just about every turret has a role with it.

 

 

Dictator has a rear-mounting turret, so drive backwards when near a wall - then, all you have to do is to barely expose the rear of your hull in order to practice hit-and-run. Driving forwards, almost all of your hull is exposed when shooting.

vs.

The height at which the turret is mounted can lead to interesting applications. On a ramp bordered by a wall, like in Silence

one can snipe with minimal exposure:

The height of the turret also makes the tipping strategy even more effective with Dictator, especially for enemies at a higher altitude. Simply drive forwards while facing backwards, and suddenly come to a stop, which slightly angles your tank, and fire - the auto-aim should take care of the rest.

 

What to avoid with Dictator

 

As with any hull, Dictator also has its disadvantages. For one, the height of the rear mounted turret leads to what I term a ‘blind spot’. If the opponent has a ‘flatter’ hull, such as a Viking, and has managed to approach you, they may be able to use the impact force of their turret to slightly raise the back of your tank. If you’re shooting backwards, then you might be lifted beyond the range of auto-aim for your turret, forcing you to miss. Thus, take out opponents before they can close the distance to you, and if they manage to do so, I’d suggest rotating your turret to the front again.

 

Try to avoid landing on your side (and obviously, flipping). Dictator has the unfortunate distinction of being the only medium hull which cannot take advantage of Railgun’s recoil to right itself. When jumping off a ledge, shoot if you’re using a turret with recoil, or import a light-hull strategy: spin the hull as you fall. It’ll be less effective, but sometimes it’ll save you from landing track-side up.

 

For some reason, I find Dictator to be rather strongly affected by the impact force of enemy turrets, even more so than the lighter medium hulls, Viking and Hunter. With enemy Hammers, this may be due to Dictator’s larger profile - it absorbs all of the Hammer’s pellets. As such, avoid shooting just after your opponent - either strike first, or wait for them to progress into the reload stage.

 

Don’t treat Dictator like a heavy hull - it lacks the power of one. While sitting on the flag in an emergency may be possible, don’t replace the job of that Mammoth-Freeze. Whereas said Mammoth could stand up against the power of two pushing Vikings, your Dictator certainly won’t.

 

Conclusion

 

All that being said, don’t rush to purchase Dictator solely for the purpose of gold hunting. It’s a wonderful hull with many other characteristics that redeem it, not just its ability to catch golds. Dictator is a truly quintessential medium hull, able to be adapted into any role its user desires.

 

 Wait to get dictator cause when you start off its not good cause gold drop chance is extremely low so get it when you are Master sergent

 

 

Edited September 8, 2015 by greyat
Please don't quote excessively large posts.

[Tankimaster711 1]

That viking...  :lol:

Hilarious topic and helpful too. Thx for writing this :D

[sgt_gunner 3]

Nice article, but I would like to offer some feedback, all in good humor. Quotes from your article are in yellow...

 

 

If the opponent has a ‘flatter’ hull, such as a Viking, and has managed to approach you, they may be able to use the impact force of their turret to slightly raise the back of your tank. 

 

How does a person manage to hit another tank with their turret? I think I've done it once or twice by falling upside down from the sky, but as I recall the outcome was not favorable to myself.

 

 

For some reason, I find Dictator to be rather strongly affected by the impact force of enemy turrets, even more so than the lighter medium hulls, Viking and Hunter. 

 

Again, how can I throw my turret at another tank? That could, I suspect, be a pretty awesome hit! If I manage to do so, I would want to get my own turret back pronto since I find that part of the tank to be highly essential.

 

What I find to be most effective in any game is SHOTS FIRED FROM GUNS WHICH, INCIDENTALLY, ARE MOUNTED ON TURRETS.

 

Note: I am not trying to be a butthead here, nor only a comedian. I truly found it difficult to understand these parts of the article, that is until I figured out how you were misusing that particular word. Thank you for your attention.

Edited September 9, 2015 by sgt_gunner

[greyat 2,972]

 

 

 

Nice article, but I would like to offer some feedback, all in good humor. Quotes from your article are in yellow...

 

 

If the opponent has a ‘flatter’ hull, such as a Viking, and has managed to approach you, they may be able to use the impact force of their turret to slightly raise the back of your tank. 

 

How does a person manage to hit another tank with their turret? I think I've done it once or twice by falling upside down from the sky, but as I recall the outcome was not favorable to myself.

 

 

For some reason, I find Dictator to be rather strongly affected by the impact force of enemy turrets, even more so than the lighter medium hulls, Viking and Hunter. 

 

Again, how can I throw my turret at another tank? That could, I suspect, be a pretty awesome hit! If I manage to do so, I would want to get my own turret back pronto since I find that part of the tank to be highly essential.

 

What I find to be most effective in any game is SHOTS FIRED FROM GUNS WHICH, INCIDENTALLY, ARE MOUNTED ON TURRETS.

 

Note: I am not trying to be a butthead here, nor only a comedian. I truly found it difficult to understand these parts of the article, that is until I figured out how you were misusing that particular word. Thank you for your attention.

 

 

 

Thanks for the feedback, I've modified it.