[Issue 42] Tanki Reviews: Hunter/Ricochet

[Fen-Harel 1,176]

 

There are 11 turrets and 7 hulls in Tanki. That makes for 77 different combinations you can make without even looking at the paint choices. Add maps into the equation and you have a practically inexhaustible source of fun. If you still think it's not enough, Tanki developers are always there to bring out fresh updates with new stuff! So, here I'll take a look at some of the combinations, maps, updates and other cool stuff that happens to arise in the game. I'll start with a review on a tank combination, where I'll show you its effectiveness, style, difficulty and overall feel. This month I'm checking out Hunter-Ricochet. Let's get right on it!

 

Statistics and price

 

Hunter

The hull all tankers began their first journey and at the same time one of the most versatile hulls in the game. Hunter is a medium hull that balances out health and speed, but takes a drop in acceleration in power as a result of it. When we compare Hunter with other hulls, we see that Hunter has 1.08 speed more and only 6.8 health points less than Viking. It also just manages to beat Dictator in maneuverability by having 1.9 points more. All this doesn't come without a price, since it does lack a bit of stability and that all important acceleration. In addition it unlocks quite late and will take 214k crystals out of your wallet at M3.

 

Ricochet

This weapon is pretty much a counterpart to Twins. Ricochet's shots pack more punch than Twins' but don't have quite the fire rate and have to reload after 12 shots. Even so, those 12 shots dish out 366 damage on average without double power - just enough to destroy a Titan M3. The basic rule with weapons is that the stronger the hit, the more valuable it is, the more accurate you have to be in order to avoid wasting it. However, with Ricochet's special ability even a complete miss may rebound to become a direct hit. The special ability that gave Ricochet its name is the bouncing shots that reflect off any surface. Learning how to use it properly will allow you to hit targets that you can't even see and, more importantly, targets that can't see you. It does unlock pretty late so unless you get it in some product kit you're stuck waiting until Commander to get your hands on this piece. On top of all that you'll have to spend 252k crystals that you hopefully have laying around your garage.

 

Tactics and strategy

With this combination you're well suited for the midfield position, but by using nitro you can easily move to both an offensive and defensive position pretty quickly. Although, with Ricochet's medium range, you'll want to move around a bit to get closer to your opponents. With a weapon such as Ricochet positioning is of utmost importance. If you position yourself in the right place, you'll have a wide angle of targets to hit. Try and get into places where you can get your opponents clustered in, such as houses, tunnels or maybe even ramps. Then use that bounce to kill them while you're at a safe distance. Knowing where to shoot and how the plasma balls will reflect will come in pretty handy at this point. The more you play the more beneficial opportunities you'll find and it'll be easier for you to take people out without breaking a sweat.

 

Billboards are incredibly useful to change the direction of your shot if you can aim accurately enough. Many other opportunities like this exist around all maps as well - be creative!

 

You can also try and go for a more defensive gameplay style - let your opponents come into a vulnerable position. For example, you can wait behind a fence while an enemy approaches you. You can optionally activate a double power if you want. Then shoot at a nearby wall to kill the approaching tank without even being in his direct field of vision. A similar technique can be applied to tunnels. Use it to push back potential attackers, or even catch up to those speedy Wasps. Your bullets are still faster than them after all.

 

Fences like this give you perfect cover and provide you with a great angle to shoot tankers approaching you from behind. Keep an eye out for them, they just might save your tank!

 

Since you're likely going to play midfield, I'd suggest you be on standby to help your teammates out. If you're attacking, be sure to have a Wasp or Hornet with you. This way you'll have that all important speed to get away with the enemy flag. There are two ways you can go about this, either let the light hulls take the flag away, then back them up or try and deal as much damage as possible, then pass the flag off to the faster tank. Naturally, you'll want to employ the ricocheting shots to wound the enemy base, reload and afterwards charge in. However, due to Hunter's low power, you might have a tougher time pushing defenders off the enemy flag, which can waste you valuable time.

 

Yea, all the supplies in the world won't help you if it takes you 5 minutes to touch the flag. Hunter really isn't suited for pushing other tanks, so don't even bother. Just time your charge and attack when the enemy base doesn't have a heavy tank sitting on the flag.

 

This combination isn't too bad in Deathmatches, too. Only problem is the abundant amount of Clay, Nano, Needle and Hive paints in some games. Still, in my opinion it's not as frequent as Railgun or Thunder protection, so it's a pretty decent bet for a DM. You should use Ricochet to get rid of those pesky Railgun campers around the map. Since they're likely to have a lot of cover around them it won't matter if they run - your shots will just bounce off right into them. This means that even if they try to block your way with a landmine, you still have a chance to kill them. Another thing to watch out for is your reload bar, once you use up all your shots, standing in an open spot can be dangerous. Try and switch between offensive and defensive gameplay based on how much health and ammo you have. If you're low, take cover and try to kill steal by using ricocheting shots from building walls, at least until you're ready to head back into action again with rested and replenished.

 

Once you get to a camper and hit him with your ricocheting plasma balls, he won't be able to run away or hit you. That means he'll have no choice but to approach you, which just increases your damage output.

 

When your flag gets taken you need to make a quick decision. You can either try and take the enemy flag, or intercept the player who took your team's flag. There are a few key pointers you should look out for to make this decision. You shouldn't try and take the enemy flag if, say, a Titan with Twins is standing on top of it, it just won't work due to the previously mentioned problem with Hunter. On the other hand sometimes you're just too far away to catch that nimble Wasp running away with your flag. This is why positioning on the map is incredibly important for medium hulls. You want to be in a place where you can have all your options open for you. However, having reliable teammates can really negate these problems greatly, allowing you to experience the full potential of this combination, since you won't have to constantly worry too much about where you are.

 

Gameplay

This combination is fairly powerful, but I've found it quite difficult to use. A lot of times I would try and do some amazing ricocheting shots, only to fail and damage myself instead of my enemy. Still, when I do land a hit, it's incredibly satisfying. Whenever you destroy someone practically out of your camera view, that's when you see what this combination is all about. I also think the best way to demonstrate this combination is to actually show it to you. So here's a short example of how Rico/Hunter gameplay looks like:

 

 

Conclusion

It's time for my closing remarks and final opinions on this tank. I've found that Hunter is surprisingly quick when it comes to turning, at least on nitro. With a decent protection paint it also provides you with enough health points to survive pretty much any encounter if you're careful enough. Its handling is similar to Hornet, which is my favorite hull, so bonus points for that. As for Ricochet, it's a really powerful and fun weapon. Its ability does set it apart from Twins a lot. You just have to love those moments when you miss someone, but the shot reflects back from three different angles and ends up hitting the mark. Then you just sit there pretending that you actually planned all that ahead. Anyway, with all that said, I'm definitely gonna use this combo from time to time, simply because it's different than the normal straightforward weapons.

 

That's it for this tank review. Hopefully I've given you enough facts and examples for you to decide whether or not you want to buy this tank. If this is your playing style, make sure you obtain this combo as soon as you can. Or maybe you have both of these items in your garage, but haven't used them at the same time yet. Try it out, experiment - it's one of the many factors that make this game enjoyable. Of course, make sure you leave your comments on the review below! Tell us if you've ever used this combination and what's your favorite thing to do with it. Spark up that discussion and stay tuned for the next installment of the series. Good luck in your battles!

Edited October 16, 2015 by hogree

[Mr.Cashier 1,622]

Nice Article! But Acc to me Ricochet is more Popular and Beast with Viking.Its seems as if both are made for each other :D

[Hex 11,520]

Nice article, superbly written!

IMHO, Ricochet is best with Viking, ^^

[tommybau 1,033]

Nice Article! But Acc to me Ricochet is more Popular and Beast with Viking.Its seems as if both are made for each other :D

if MU's are on, Rico-Viking for life. if they are off, Rico-Hunter is exponentially better.

 

Nice article, really well made and full of useful info.

[lukey0 27,543]

Very informative article. I also like the way you highlighted the key points in white. ;)

[QueenSeraphina 407]

How useful would this combo be in Polygon CP compared to Viking-Rico? Also I have a nub question: How do you make sure you always have plasma charge to fire? (Since they are being used up really fast.)

Edited October 17, 2015 by QueenSeraphina

[tommybau 1,033]

How useful would this combo be in Polygon CP compared to Viking-Rico? Also I have a nub question: How do you make sure you always have plasma charge to fire? (Since they are being used up really fast.)

in polygon CP speed is not really an issue, so i would go with viking, unless the game is a pro-battle with mu's turned off. Regarding ricochet, yes. you should avoid wasting too many shots because of the reload factor. if you are working with ricochets, send no more than a shot or two to test the bounces, and unload your clip only if you are sure to hit something. If you remain with your clip empity your dps goes down drastically, making you an easy prey for every gun out here.

[Cor7y 13,862]

Let's hunt all the Hunters and convert them into Vikings

[momy950666 960]

^+

awsome guide

[doduobird 315]

Nice guide :D

You should do Smoky Titan next 

[Guest]

Nice.

[Amateur 829]

Nice Article! You are inspiring me to buy this combo.

[Lightning78 285]

[..] I've found that Hunter is surprisingly quick when it comes to turning, at least on nitro.

Indeed it is. Hunter is only second to Wasp in turning speed, it turns faster than Hornet (except for m0): 140 deg/sec vs 130 deg/sec at m4. Very nimble tank..

[Bydo 20,126]

you are so wrong..Ricochet's shots pack more punch than Twins'

 

that`s not true twins is more op then rico ..i can`t even take out a twin in battle they win every time and also they can knock you off balance better then rail most of the time ..and yea i know more then normal players about rico and  i have use it from day one on  all 7 / now 5 accounts   and enjoy playing with it but i`m now looking at new or alternative turrets cause i`m loosing in battles more then before//  fire bird is way more stronger

Edited October 20, 2015 by frozen_heart

[fightermalikio20115 374]

great article

[BlueDragon_tamki 3,204]

Cool

[m6ttetu 288]

Nice Article! You are inspiring me to buy this combo.

[S.P.A.R.T.4.N 1,495]

this article is probably one of the best i've seen.You described pretty much everything there is about ricochet/hunter and even shown us gameplay of it.

But only thing that is missing out is that you maybe should've added that ricochet has advantages/disadvantages on any hull beside hunter and viking since when used with them,you become hell of a versatile beast.
I barely ever used hunter,and i suggest to use viking with ricochet rather than with hunter mainly because:
-more stability
-more hitpoints(well i know it's not much more but still can help you survive enough to get a healthpack or just hide)
-better manuverability(my opinion)

when i used ricochet/hunter especially after vulcan and hammer came out i was very struggling since they just disarm my aim..but with viking there's less to worry about.Anyways not gonna critize anymore lol

Great article! :)
 

[assolik 134]

This was AMAZING!!!! I've finally found what combination I can spend my crystals on for the rest of my Tanki career!!! It's perfect for me! Plus just in time for the Irons Day Sale! I'll buy M1 Ricochet! Thanks a million man this is what I love!!! Plz more Fen-Harel!!! :D