Review [Issue 55] Combo of the Month (Wasp/Smoky): In Action

[Night-Sisters 2,139]

 

In Action | In Theory

 

Well folks, it's been an awfully long time since a Combo of the Month collaboration graced the latest edition of the Newspaper. In fact, the last article in this two-part series was presented back in Issue 37 (you can find them here and here) by @Kevred and @Shedinja. By dragging the title out of the Jaws of Forgotteness (the Newspaper Archive) and continuing it, Shed and I are going to see if we can do this series justice once again, with a comprehensive assessment of Smoky/Wasp in battle situations. 

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

 

My Initial Thoughts

 

I must admit that upon seeing the compact lil' Smoky/Wasp combo, "Awwww, cute!!!" was the knee-jerk reaction. Happily, my more logical side soon took over and my thought process moved on to "Eh, could be good in the right hands, but seems like it'd be rather under-powered in general." 

 

This combo certainly doesn't look ​all that intimidating at first glance... but appearances can be deceiving, so I was more than happy to take this thing out for a spin and see what it could do in action. 

 

 

On the Battlefield

 

 

Smoky/Wasp is not a combo for the faint of heart. It is practically useless as a defensive combo (gets eaten alive) but you can't expect to charge straight into the thick of the fighting with all guns blazing, either. (Again, you'll be smashed into a pulp.)

 

 

Understanding the role of this combo in battle is crucial to using it effectively. Playing for kills - or caring too much about your D/L ratio - is a waste of potential because Smoky/Wasp is a flag-capping machine. Not in a full-out, frontal assault kind of way, mind you, but by using a sneakier approach and some finesse, you can hopefully make away with the enemy flag undamaged time after time.

 

The speed of Wasp coupled with Smoky's ability to knock off an enemy shot means that you don't always have to absorb damage; you can avoid it. In fact, the grounding principle behind effectively using this combo is to stay under the radar. I found that making the flag my ultimate goal (instead of kills) and using every trick in the proverbial book to avoid taking damage before I reached the enemy base worked. And it was surprisingly effective, at that. Thus when in battle you should...

 

- Always, always go for the flag. 

 

 

 

- Take the long way around.

 

 

 

                                                  <--- Suicide.

 

                                                  <--- Better.

 

 

- Time your attacks on the flag wisely. 

 

 

 

- Deflect enemy shots. 

 

 

When you are forced to do battle with enemy tankers, use Smoky's immediate firing rate and the speed of Wasp to conduct lightning-fast hit and run attacks. Dart in and out of cover to pester your opponents to death. This is the only way to tackle the larger hulls, because a head-on assault is death, plain and simple.

 

While playing, it quickly became apparent that though Wasp was good for taking the enemy flag, it was horrible for holding said flag back at base. I tried (and tried hard, I might add) to out-maneuver my enemies, but in the end I was always caught by some monstrosity of a Viking and my weak lil' Wasp was inevitably shredded to bits. Thus I discovered a key tenet of gameplay:

 

Wasp functions best as transportation. It's great for getting the flag from point A to B, but cannot sit back at base and hold it there. 

 

 

The Game Modes

 

Control Point:

'Never stop moving' is the motto of every good Wasp. Thus the fundamental idea behind a CP battle - stop and control the point(s) - isn't compatible with Wasp's basic modus operandi. Smoky doesn't make much of a dent against constantly-drugging Viking/Twins, and when playing I often found myself fluttering anxiously around the Control Point in a critical situation, waiting for the enemy team to capture and hopefully leave. Roving Vulcans proved tremendously difficult to handle and my poor lil' Smoky got it's aim knocked off far more than I would like to admit.

 

Single point CPs are, in my opinion, better than multi point CPs with this combo because you can do decently score-wise, if you concentrate on making kills, while everyone else is intently focused on the point. However, this rather defeats the intrinsic purpose of CP. You will will rarely be an 'impact-player' while hosting this combo and in general, your time could be better spent elsewhere.  

 

Deathmatch:

A nice correlation can be drawn between utilizing Smoky/Wasp in a DM and wrestling two fully-grown grizzly bears in the middle of a blizzard; unless you're Davy Crocket, the end result of both scenarios is likely to be the same.

Far from being able to slip under the radar, Wasp's HP (or lack thereof) makes it an attractive target for every bloodthirsty Railgunner in the map. 

 

 

 

 

                       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Any speed advantage is negated because there is simply nowhere to run in a DM. I found myself hard pressed to survive long enough to make kills with Smoky, as I had to dart in and out of cover if I wanted to stay alive. This, however, led to stolen kills and I ended most of my DM battles with an abysmal K/D ratio. So, despite being a huge fan of Deathmatch, even I am forced to admit that this is definitely not the right gamemode for this combo.  

 

Team Deathmatch:

Upon entering my very first TDM as a Smoky/Wasp, I experienced that glitch. Y'know, the one where you look like you're firing but aren't actually dealing any damage... so you shoot a million times but no enemies die and your K/D ratio implodes. It took me an embarrassing amount of time to realize what was going on, at which point I interrupted a scintillating (cough) conversation with GoldRock to grumble about it. 

 

 

 

 

So as per the request of master-boss-admin-king Goldnug:

 

Guess what guys...

 

Smoky does a lot more damage when actually shooting!!!

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

*Ahem* Anyyyways. I found TDM to be, in general, much easier to tackle than either CP or DM. Smoky is a vicious little killing machine as long as it's not glitching out, and with a team to give you support, Wasp can stay alive just long enough to let you do some actual damage. Drugging profusely is a large help, and I would hazard that it's a waste if you don't spam #4 as much as possible.  

 

Capture The Flag:

And now, for the saving grace of this combo. Smoky/Wasp was practically designed for CTF, and is, to my mind, the only place where you'd ever want to use it. Wasp's speed is finally a huge asset, and allows you to make run after run on the flag. In the picture below, though my K/D isn't all that great, I captured a large percentage of the flags (note the score). I should also point out that @RedBelliedWoodpecker, who happened to be hosting the same combo as myself, was responsible for a good number of the enemy caps, and managed it with a positive K/D. 

 

 

All in all, CTF is where Wasp/Smoky thrives. 

 

 

My Gold Box Story

 

Shed is covering the theory beyond normal battle situations of gold box catching and parkour with this combination, but I thought I'd share this anecdote of my own. Firstly, I must admit that I am absolutely awful when it comes to catching gold boxes. Ask anyone who knows me at all and they will easily confirm that. I can rarely find the drop zone, get myself killed or flipped at the most inconvenient of times. I feel quite content if I am able to set eyes on a falling gold box, let alone get close enough to somehow take it. Pathetic, right? It goes without saying I am not nor will ever be the right person to give you gold hunting advice, which is instead covered in the 'In Theory' article.

 

Thus I'm not even going to attempt to go down that route and instead will relate the story of how, despite all odds, I had the second-most-amazing gold box catch of my Tanki career while testing out this finicky little combo. 

 

Date: 5/29/16

Time: 12:28 PM

Location: Serpuhov

 

It was a dark and stormy November night. It was actually a lovely Sunday afternoon. My parents were out for a bit, so my brother and I decided to get on and play some Tanki. We got on our respective computers and chatted, laughed, and were generally having a good time goofing off in a full Serpuhov when suddenly, it happened. 

 

The gold sirens went off. 

 

"Hey look, gold box," my brother Matt said. 

"Yeah, heh... I'll never get it. Never do." I laughed. Besides, I was using Wasp/Smoky... not conventionally thought to be the best gold-catching combo. I respawned in the right side of the red base and a few taps of the arrow keys directed my wasp up onto the bridge. "Do you see it?" 

My brother seemed fixated on the screen, but he shot me a quick glance. "No. I'll tell ya if I do." 

"Kay."

 

I drove down the ending bridge ramp and swung towards the middle of the map with the hope of somehow setting eyes on the tell-tale pile of tankers that would signify a drop point.

 

"SARAH... gold's on your right!" 

 

I suddenly acquired a severe case of the gold-box jitters, frantically swinging my tank around in what I hoped was the correct direction. "I see it!"  There was a three-Viking-pile-up slightly behind the nearest prop, and above them... one thousand crystals was spiraling gently down. My knee-jerk reaction was to gun my Wasp forward towards the gold, even though I was clearly too far away.

 

'Too late, too late, too late... ARGH, MINE!!!' I noticed the enemy mine - ostensibly laid by one of the Vikings to 'protect' the drop point - half a second too late. It detonated, and my tank careered into the air; flipping, as chance would have it, towards the drop point.

 

 

 

 

 

My Wasp performed a series of acrobatic flips, soaring over the mound of Vikings, and I flew neatly through the gold just before it touched the pileup. 

 

Night-Sisters has taken the gold box 

 

Wasp/Smoky 1.

Vikings 0. 

 

Overall Pros and Cons of Wasp/Smoky

 

► Pro: Plays incredibly well in CTF. 

 

► Con: Falls short in the other game modes.

 

► Con: K/D ratio tends to suffer. 

 

► Con: A good protection paint is a must-have while using this combo. 

 

► Pro: Smoky coupled with Wasp is fun to use, leads to interesting and dynamic gameplay.

► Pro: Easy to destroy any Railguns you encounter.

 

► Con: You'll get destroyed by every Vulcan you meet.

 

► Pro: Has excellent maneuverability and ability to avoid damage. 

 

 

Overall Rating

 

Urgh, this is a hard one for me. The fact of the matter is, I've grown to really enjoy this combo, and it'll probably be my go-to choice for CTF in the future. 

 

That said, it is severely underpowered in CP and DM, and only a bit easier to handle in a TDM. Because this combo has extremely specific applications, I hesitantly rate it a 6/10, overall. However, in the hands of a really skilled player, Smoky/Wasp is a dangerous tool, so I'm also giving it a 9/10 rating for CTF. Pairing Smoky and Wasp is an excellent choice, if you know how and when to use it. I'd suggest purchasing it (and a good protection paint) if you want to totally dominate the CTF scene. 

 

 

...and that's it for now. Hopefully we'll catch you next month, with another Combo of the Month Review. But 'til then, I bid you all a happy adieu. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-... .-.. .- -- . / - .... . / -. ...

Edited July 20, 2017 by Hexed

[Achilleus 156]

Nice article. As usually hate reading them but this was pretty good.

 

 

 

 

P.S Love the picture of GoldSock flipped over (no hard feelings GoldBlock  ;) )

[DESTROYER_13 1,019]

You may have felt good in the battles, but in some of the pictures, you seem to be facing GoldRock. Don't feel as pro now, do you?

[Yisroel.Rabin 16,224]

Pro graphics.

 

Nice article, I like how this series is set up. I also like how now there's another article to go alongside it from a different point of view (In theory).

[VaudeVille 1,428]

I use my wasp/smoky for parkour

 

Edited July 30, 2016 by VaudeVille

[oOo.Aryan.oOo 968]

Nive article + helper paint

[Lethal_Injection 586]

This combo is pretty OP at my rank, because m2 smoky is so strong.

[M4ShermanUSA 926]

Nice combinations of articles! I liked them both!
Question?
Is that the normal playing styles of Goldrock & Greyat using their tanks in unorthodox positions like those in the pictures?
If so; Kudos to them for thinking outside the box!
 

[Night-Sisters 2,139]

Oh, absolutely. They've perfected the art of multing.  B)

[Mr.Ace 1,116]

Tried this in Noise CTF and my D.L 0.01 next time pick a better Combo Like Hammer/Viking

[GoldRock 6,165]

Tried this in Noise CTF and my D.L 0.01 next time pick a better Combo Like Hammer/Viking

I used to play using Wasp/Smoky in Noise CTFs all the time at the late M2 ranks - while your D/L doesn't tend to be super high, it's quite possible to deal a lot of damage and capture flags if you use it right.

[Cyborg 3,189]

Prefer smoky/hornet... Atleast don't get 1 shot by dem railguns..

[bryanchua 33]

Hmm idk about this

[Janus143 1]

Wasp/smoky's benefits would outweigh some risks, but could have low armor so hornet and smoky is better

[asifmehmood 1,576]

Your Graphics same as mine LMAO

[Night-Sisters 2,139]

That's how I always play haha

[Quarks 2,255]

Oh, absolutely. They've perfected the art of multing.  B)

So have you Nighty-Whitey, I've seen you play, and I have been so scared of your multing that I refuse to go onto TO anymore, in fear of your multing prowess.