Guide [Issue 55] The Mid Ranker's Handbook: All About Crystals

Zenyth · June 18, 2016

Previous articles in the series:
- The Mid Ranker's Handbook: Gameplay

The mid ranks, a broad-ranging term, include all the ranks starting from the Warrant Officers right up to Colonel. These ranks are brimming with learning experiences, but simultaneously, acquiring a decent garage and finding a play-style for oneself is of paramount importance. All of this, while coping with a mixed bag of skill levels, equipment modifications and fierce competition on the battlefield. "The Mid-Ranker's Handbook" will cater for the needs of such mid rankers. Preparing tankers for the challenging upper rungs and helping them glide through the mid-ranks will be this series' raison d'être. This edition will focus primarily on the nitty-gritty of gaining, saving and spending crystals.

Crystals.. they are the thing that every tanker yearns for everyday. They could probably make a plausible reason for greed. The desperate struggles for gold boxes that you witness everyday can put that into words. In spite of this, the most coveted item in Tanki is still the most wasted one. What? Why? How? Read on for the full scoop.

The Problem

How often have you seen it? It's a common scene, I highly doubt that you wouldn't have. Imagine it. Imagine a helpless average Joe. He just ranked up and added another diamond to his glimmering First Lieutenant insignia. The crystals he got from the rank-up are a rare let-off from the usual drought. He is forced to use his Firebird M1, which he micro-upgraded but gave up midway, along with his weak Hornet M1. (For the record, we've all seen countless instances of people using M0s at this level, although those cases can be labeled as intentional foul play. Nevertheless, using M0s beyond the Sergeant levels is as obsolete as gripe water.) His financial woes had extended further after he bought a 100-supply kit to stay competitive.

He enters a Polygon CP, and races to the lone point. Despite mustering up courage, his attempt turns half-hearted, owing to the unquestionably overpowering equipment he faces in the middle. He keeps getting slaughtered. Just look at the stark contrast, which is frighteningly real. Unfortunately, difficulty in coping with the said contrast is also the reason of hundreds of accounts getting abandoned at this stage.

If you mess up your financials in the M1 ranks, you ultimately suffer in the M2 ranks. Battling suddenly becomes a tough ask and you find it difficult to get your M2s on time. This cycle is unremitting. Most new players are accustomed to "collecting" every M0 item available in the garage owing to their cheap prices, however it is often neglected that this to give impetus to finding the best combination that would suit you. As a result, players end up attempting to collect a multitude of M1s too, which obviously proves to be a impedance to the player when he/she realizes that it was a big mistake. The reasons contributing to this are varied. Let me enumerate a few of them that I've observed -

A Second Lieutenant, Polygon CP regular buying Dictator M1 to quell his thirst for gold boxes
Similarly, a parkour enthusiast, who bought Hammer M1 to be a better Jumper, at the cost of his savings for an M2
A similar guy, who just can't give up his penchant for "testing" out all the stuff

All such incidents could eventually make you cash-strapped when it comes to buying the M2s, and such a condition should be avoided. Get only what you need for your regular battles first and once you find a considerable footing, then maybe you could aim for the equipment you need for the "mini-games", parkour and other activities.

Remember, this game is not about building a full garage, but a potent one. There are achievements dedicated to collecting all the M0, M1, M2 turrets and hulls, but those should definitely not be your goals, at least primary.

The Solutions

Planning Ahead

"Tanki Online is an online game, meant to be enjoyed", is what you'd say.

However, a certain level of planning in turn will certainly help you enjoy the game even more by taking you one step ahead of your competitors. All that's needed is saving crystals and controlling your urge to splurge (I couldn't resist the rhyme). That includes abstaining from mouth-watering opportunities of buying a new modification when you have enough in your wallet or have a personal discount. Just don't buy it if you don't really need it.

The first step is finding your style of play, and sticking to it. Now, if you have played Tanki for quite a while, you must have secured your play-style and conceived strategies with it already. If you haven't, then buck up, it's the most important thing you could do right now. In any case, experimenting is key. Try out your favorite combos in different maps, scenarios and positions. Assess them and decide, if they will be the ones to accompany you for the coming ranks.

[Rank 30]Flexoo's Shopaholic Tip: Test stuff beforehand! Even a thorough well of knowledge is sometimes not sufficient enough without further testing. Probably the oldest, easiest and most widespread way to test equipment is running an alternate account.(~~Mult~~) Alternate account allows you to examine equipment you would not normally purchase on your main account. Advantages lies mostly in availability, since everyone can create one or even several accounts for this particular aim. On the other hand, building your alternate account takes some time, and also runs a risk that the testing on low-ranked level of the gameplay will not reveal all the information needed.

Far superior testing precision is offered by test drives. Test drives randomly appear when player joins the battle, offering you the option to test equipment available on your rank for free. The major flaws emerge from the incredible rareness of this feature. Not only are test drives rare, but also time-limited, and constrained to single battle in which you are not allowed to change the tested equipment (otherwise it’s inevitably canceled).

Moving to the last and most controversial way of testing. Quoting Cedric’s colleague, Amanda; “Test servers are made for the purpose of testing new updates and features, they are not meant to be used as playground for testing equipment!” Shoot me, cut my fingers off for typing this sort of stuff and bury my body while spraying holy water over this heretic’s grave, but I tend to disagree with latter part of the quote. Albeit, I must nod in agreement that tankers used to ignore the main purpose of testing updates whenever they happily get into the test servers, I feel some from the bunch have been successful with performing both activities at the same time. Of course, there would be no point in carrying the game on, if we could use test servers for casual gameplay, thus the access to it is greatly restricted for updates testing purposes only.

Who doesn't mess around in the test server? :lol:

Anyway, back on topic. In general, there should be an approximate range of ranks among which you should get all the equipment of a certain modification. This makes for a structured advance from the mid-ranks to the higher ranks. For example,

M1 Turrets and Hulls: till Warrant Officer 3

M2 Turrets and Hulls: till Lieutenant Colonel

Whether it's M1s or M2s, both of these are essentially interim equipment. It's the M3s that matter in the end. So, why spend a lot on something that isn't going to be with you, long-term? The update which allowed us to buy an M3 without buying the earlier modifications further strengthens this stand. Over-spending on M1s, which typically last you only up to the Lieutenant ranks is not prudent. Buying two or three M1 turrets, with forethought is. Normally, one early-unlocking M1 turret and one late-unlocking one can take you past the M1 ranks with relative ease. Of course, you can bypass all of this and buy a product kit instead.

One early-unlocking M2

+

One late-unlocking M2

Similarly, don't try to accumulate more than 2-3 M2 combinations. In fact, if you stick to a single combo, say a versatile one like Viking-Smoky, you can even forgo the trouble of acquiring more M2s and aim straight for your M3s. You could adopt an approach similar to the M1s, buying one early-unlocking M2 and then a better late-unlocking one afterwards.

In short, being thrifty in the mid-ranks will work wonders for you later on. Buy less, save more.

Race Against 'Experience'

You've heard about a race against time. To save your crystals more efficiently, you should get acquainted with this race against the experience points; or the crystal to experience ratio if you prefer a more pragmatic point of view.

There are a couple of ways to calculate this ratio, but there is no real need to delve in the horrors of mathematics for this purpose. You only need to roughly compare the experience points you've gained in a certain time-frame, be it a single day or even the whole week, to the crystals you've gained at the same time. The screenshot below shows a decent example of the ratio between score and reward.

As you can see above, the ratio between the reward and the score is slightly higher than one (1.134). That's a sufficiently good ratio for a mid-ranker. By consistently maintaining this ratio close to one, you can make sure that you're gaining enough crystals per experience point. (As you advance to the higher ranks the adequate crystals to experience ratio may vary.)

Alternatively, you could use the ratings page to keep your ratio in check, if you don't prefer doing that right off the bat after every battle.

This is another decent example of the crystal to experience ratio, expressed by taking the whole week's crystal and experience gain into account. Here, you can also view your last week's ratio under the "Previously" column. Now, although last week's matters are water under the bridge, if your previous ratio was not up to the mark, you can act accordingly and make up for the deficit.

However, maintaining your crystal to experience ratio doesn't solely qualify for a saving habit. Despite being a key factor is saving crystals, a good ratio merely indicates whether you are earning the correct amount of crystals for the amount of experience you gain simultaneously. To conclude this topic, I'll mention the ways by which you can have a good ratio -

Playing high-fund battles (also includes Fire-Wasp battles)
Winning battles
Having one of the highest scores in your team
Completing missions regularly

All in all, your aim should be to stay abreast with the experience you earn by earning a similar amount of crystals. But to do that, you must enter and win the right battles, isn't it?

Choosing Your Battles

To save, you must gain first, and citing the aforementioned requirement, join and win the right battles. First and foremost, and probably a common suggestion — join battles where you are the highest rank who can join. It gives you a massive advantage, both in terms of equipment and experience. You have a better chance of ending up at the top of the scoreboard and hence win more crystals than the rest. In general, you may want to the go one server back once you log in to Tanki. For example, a first Lieutenant () is likely to find himself on the server EN3 once he logs in, but battles most suitable for him in terms of what we discussed before, are likely to be found often on the EN4 server.

Secondly, you should be frequenting the high-fund battles, as I said before. Polygon CP is the pick of the bunch and undeniably one of the most common battles found, spearheading the widespread popularity of single-CPs. CTF mode generally has comparatively higher funds irrespective of map, but medium maps (Noise, Rio) are usually a better choice. Battles with a narrow gap in the team scores are more conducive to a better fund.

This Serpuhov CTF that I stumbled across had a promising, narrow scoreline, and with two thirds of the battle yet to finish, I could have claimed this to be one juicy battle that I'd have loved to join. But look closely at the highlighted scores of 7 players. Zero. I had kept a close eye on the scores and the soi-disant zero-score "mults" had been there since the start of the 15-minute battle. That would mean that the battle had been an undesirable 6v7 confrontation with these 7 people doing nothing and making their respective teams suffer. Such battles almost never sport a high-enough fund and should be avoided whenever possible.

Besides that, always try to play 60-min battles if you have time. Not only is the fund often higher than four 15-min battles combined, but also you tend to get a bigger share of it if you play for the entire 60 minutes. (Quite a few people build up a score, hence contributing to the fund, but leave abruptly in the middle of long battles. This means that you have a significantly upper hand in terms of score, as compared to the people who replace them; hence giving you a bigger portion of the fund at the end.)

Fire-Wasp (FW) Battles

Fire-Wasp is an "unofficial format" battle, held mostly on smaller maps like Arena, Island or Ping Pong. If you have a bunch of friends, then regular FW battles can serve as a steady source of crystals. They're best done with a PRO Pass, however.

Utilizing Sales

Be it Tanki's Birthday or the Tanker's Day, Tanki celebrations are always associated with discounts on various garage items. Percentages have been swaying from a lowly 25% to an irresistible 50% (or even more if you're really lucky!). Saving your crystals with future sales in mind is helpful. (Specially to avoid the horrifying moments after you realize you bought your Firebird M2 a week before a sale.)

Let me cite an example from 2015's year-end sale. It had different discount percentages for different equipment; for example, Freeze and Shaft had a 50% discount while Isida received a 30%. Perhaps blinded by the finger-licking 50% discount, a few people relying on a low budget bought the likes of Freeze and Shaft, decidedly without thinking about their actual value or their playing style. Naturally, these players realized that the sale was perhaps a gesture to popularize the less-popular items, and they had been "coaxed" into buying them just because they were the most-discounted.

What I want to clarify is that a sale doesn't mean you just have to buy some thing or the other. If you don't have the budget for a turret you dream of, then skip the sale. Don't buy something just for the sake of the sale. Similarly, don't end up buying too much at a sale. Remember what I said before, M1s and M2s are interim equipment! You could be better off by saving some for M3s at a future sale.

[Rank 30]Flexoo's Shopaholic Tip: Most real life specialists would normally advise you to be attentive when it comes to sales. Sweet dopamine released in shopping mood may play games on your mind and cause over-shopping. The thing is, sales play huge role in shopping, especially for the less wealthy population....

Sales and celebrations have generally been periodic as history would suggest (although no one can know for sure, what future beholds!). However, one could customarily expect a sale to emerge every three or four months. Taking that into account, you should already be gearing up for a sale in the offing after a month or two!

Personal Discounts?

Personal discounts, however rare, have been cropping up every now and then ever since Tanki launched them last year. There have been a few lucky cases, from personal discounts showing up during sales for a fortunate few to abnormally high percentage discounts that have eluded most of the others. However, these are a few lucky cases, as I said; which are contrary to the popular experience with PDs. Personally, I have had no stroke of luck with PDs, having received quite a few for outdated equipment and the others simply not inviting enough.

If you get a personal discount offering you the equipment you desire with a discount higher than 30%, then you should definitely cash in. Do not, otherwise, if the subject of the discount is not what you wanted hitherto, or the discount is lesser than 30%. Besides that, if the item on discount is "outdated", that is, unlocked more than two or three ranks before your current rank, then you'd better skip.

The graph below approximately shows how Tanki equipment gets devalued as your rank increases. As you can see, it's best to get the equipment as early as possible, preferably in kits.

However, this graph is heavily generalized. The case is different for each modification of a turret, and the "rate of devaluation" is affected by other factors. That brings us to another topic to consider while buying a turret or hull. What am I even talking about? I'll explain simply ahead.

Garage Discounts

Garage discounts were implemented along with test drives and personal discounts and have been quietly providing us with cumulatively increasing discounts as we buy more and more turrets and hulls of a modification. (For more information on how the garage discounts work - click here, and here)

As suggested by my friend @Flexoo, garage discounts can save you even more crystals if you use them wisely. Consider that you have Hornet M2 but you want to buy two more M2 hulls, namely Hunter M2 and Titan M2. Now, once I buy one hull from those two, the next one will be discounted at 10% to me. We could utilize this fact. Titan M2 is priced at 92,900 crystals while Hunter M2 costs 94,100 crystals. If you buy the cheaper hull first, you can later buy the more expensive hull at a discount. Now that's smart!

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Buy or Skip?

I've seen several instances of people asking others whether a particular turret or hull's modification is good enough and similar questions. Sadly, in the lobby chat's clamour, people often get misled. Anyway, answering the question "Buy or Skip" with regards to a turret or hull's modification is a relative concept, so I'll be underlining only the facts that'll help you answer it yourself. Firstly, you should check how the item in question fares in your everyday battles. You could also check the wiki to see the changes in parameters as you move up the modifications. Does the increase in parameters reflect in the price of the item's modification? If not, then you could consider giving it a miss after consulting more sources. The most important parameters include damage, reloading speed, range and impact force.

[Rank 30]Flexoo's Shopaholic Tip: Be it sales, personal discounts, garage promotions or just a single compulsive feeling to idle away your hard-earned crystals; collect intelligence! Goes without saying; this sounds just stupid! Who would buy any equipment while having no knowledge about its features? Overwhelming majority knows at worst the basic information about the object of the purchase. In spite of that, we often catch ourselves buying stuff we have, let’s say, minimal knowledge of. This often happens when we have spare crystals we want to expend while sales are still present. This is not necessarily a blunder. One can easily adapt to differences like range, reload time, speed and such by simple practice. However, the extensive information sources at disposal (e.g. TO Wiki, the Newspapers, Forum topics) provide a fine background to base your shopping decision-making on.

Followed by that, you should check when the item in question unlocks and when does its subsequent modification unlocks. If the gap between the two seems a bit too less, then you could "skip" the current modification and instead head straight for the subsequent modification. For example, you could consider the case of Thunder. Thunder M1 unlocks at Warrant Officer 4 , Thunder M2 at Captain , while Thunder M3 unlocks at Brigadier . The rank gap between M2 and M3 is unusually low, and so is the gap between M1 and M2. The various parameters of Thunder show a lesser increase from M2 and M3 as seen in the wiki, and hence I could safely say that one could "skip" Thunder M2. This is further emphasized by the fact that Thunder M3 is available a few ranks earlier in the Bulldozer and Man-o-war kits.

Another example I could put up would be of Shaft M2. Shaft M2 unlocks at Major, only four ranks before its M3 counterpart. You could easily skip M2 and buy Shaft M3 directly. This is also perhaps the reason why M2 Shaft kits like Cyclops and Chiropractor are deemed less lucrative deals than M3 Shaft kits like Centaur and Sniper. Remember, though, you can't skip a whole modification and keep using M1s until M3s, don't even consider that for a millisecond.

Here, I'd like to define a qualitative term called "skip potential". In the above picture, you can see whether the M2 modification of any turret could perhaps be "skipped" in lieu of saving your crystals for M3s. Although if you aren't so "cash-strapped", you could still not skip and afford a smoother ride.

Is Micro-Upgrading Feasible?

I could actually give a one-line answer to this - in most cases, it isn't. Of course, we are not talking about micro-upgrading M3s here. Micro-upgrading M1s and M2s fully should be out of question, unless you purchase crystals. However, micro-upgrading certain items a bit can be helpful. Earlier, there was another dimension to micro-upgrading as people used to MU the more important attributes like the reloading time, Shaft's scope damage, Firebird's afterburn and so on, but the micro-upgrading system was later improved to be simpler.

I could illustrate a few examples here. Consider Wasp M1. You'd be playing medium to large maps with this hull and these are the same maps where you will find a handful of Railgun M1s who will be eyeing you for an easy one-shot kill. Honestly, getting killed like that repeatedly is quite a nuisance. Railgun M1 has a maximum damage of 115.53 hp while Wasp M1 has a measly 95.4 hp in store. If you micro-upgrade your Wasp M1 by 10-12 steps and equip the Falcon S-A (10% Railgun) module you can assure yourself of surviving the Railgun M1 shots. All this can cost you more than 10,000 crystals, but it is quite worth it if you were looking to drive into the Lieutenant ranks with this speed-specialist.

Quite similarly, you might want to micro-upgrade the likes of Vulcan M2 and Ricochet M2 "a bit" to boost their ability as time passes by. It is to be noted that buying over 10-15 steps in most cases isn't profitable.

Saving for Product Kits

What I'm about to reveal is no magically-conjured trick. It's just another example of planning! Product kits are notoriously expensive and to afford such a high price, you need to choose the right battles and play a lot (don't be the person who just sits back and waits for contests!). This was explained before, but that's not the only thing you should be concerned about. Kits rotate every week now, as opposed to the every-fortnight rotation that existed before Tanki's recent birthday event. Besides that, a new line of kits were rolled out to almost double the amount of kits on offer.

Once you see a certain kit in the garage, you can safely say that it won't appear for another two or three weeks. That leaves you with a time-frame that you can multiply and accordingly, earn crystals.

For example, if I saw the Atlas kit come out today, I have about 15-20 days before it will reappear. My crystals to experience ratio is almost one and I have to get 150,000 crystals more in those 15-20 days. Let's say that I play four hours of Polygon CP everyday and gain about 7500 exp at the same time. This means that I earn about 7500 crystals everyday, and in 20 days, I'll get to the 150,000 mark and hence secure the Atlas kit.

If you adopt a similar systematic approach while aiming for product kits, you'll waste no time.

Paints: Still Worth Buying?

With the advent of the recent paints update, paints were disintegrated into their protection modules and the corresponding purely visual paint elements. As it's being seen how this much-debated update pans out, the question arises, whether paints are still worth buying. The answer to that from me is undoubtedly positive. Although large maps go highly un-played today, camouflage is still used here and there, and has always been useful for deceiving inattentive onlookers with its chameleon-like characteristics. To my delight, many of the camouflage paints in Tanki got a heavily reduced price after this update.

However, I would advise not to buy paints for their looks in the mid ranks, especially if you're running low on crystals. As explained by the developers, the paints are now graded by their "beauty-quotient" and priced accordingly. As you would realize, the looks of your tank mean nothing in the field of gameplay and hence are not a necessity.

PRO Pass and Supplies

The PRO Pass is essentially a gateway to parkour and supply-free battles. However, if you're looking for supply-free battles, they don't get too common until you hit the 20th rank, Major. So, the utility of the PRO Pass is heavily reduced in the mid ranks before Major. The only way you could satisfactorily use it would be with friends, preferably by joining parkour clubs or clans. In my opinion you shouldn't buy a PRO Pass until you get an M2 combination, although 5000 crystals a month doesn't need much effort, it will deliver small monthly blows to your budget if you buy it before your M2s. Of course, if you're in a clan, you should ignore this suggestion and buy it. Besides that, once-in-a-while Massacre "Catch the Repair Kit" battles are also quite enjoyable and so are parkour battles, however disorganized.

Buying supplies in bulk is a strict no-no. Supply kits are the way to go, and you would definitely feel the need for one if you use them generously. Buying supply kits to help sustain your M1s is also not advised. Better get them after getting your M2s. Don't squander your supplies, specially if you don't want to buy supply kits and rely on daily missions. 'Save the Gold' also needs a supply kit or two, although you shouldn't really be indulging in that too much in the mid ranks if you have a light wallet.

Thoughtful and apt use of crystals, is what I wanted to suggest through this article. I hope it did that, and hopefully you found something helpful for your journey through the mid ranks! Have any other ideas about this topic? Share it below, lets spark a discussion!

Edited July 20, 2017 by Hexed

Night-Sisters · July 28, 2016

Mini Contest Results

The Mid Ranker's Handbook in Issue 54 had a mini contest which asked the readers to share their expertise and experiences in the mid ranks by answering three basic questions. We had a fair amount of decent entries to choose from, and here are the results!

In first place, winning 20,000 crystals, is an extensive piece on the fundamentals of Monte Carlo gameplay...

@randomperson123456

How would you describe mid-ranked gameplay?

Exciting, and dangerous! I fell in love with the Monte Carlo map almost immediately- the abundance of clear shots with my railgun excited me greatly, and it gave me joy to see the playing field evened between me and the druggers of the time. At the beginning, the fast-paced action of other railgunners dazzled me to no end (and costed me dearly), and it wasn't until I developed my own tactics that I began pulling better scores in the battles I participate in. Specializing in Monte Carlo had its advantages and disadvantages though- I naturally felt at home whenever I play on Monte Carlo, but felt somewhat frustrated playing in other battles. Sure, the railgunning skills transfer over nicely, but kill-stealing and midrange tankers spelt doom for XP users (Looking at you, Polygon DM). Nonetheless, I love my combo and would love to play until I reach M3, and then some more ;)

How did you approach the gameplay of the mid-ranks to try and be a successful player?

The advice below is long, so please bear with me. I hope you may find it helpful.

At the very beginning (WO3 and a bit before that), I learned how to "charge up" and aim at enemies behind cover, but was still shaky in my abilities. At that time, I would sometimes create an empty Monte Carlo CTF map, where I would dedicate roughly 2-5 minutes just firing at the enemy flag over and over again behind cover. The distance between the two sides here made tanks very hard to hit without prior training, and so I prioritized hitting the enemy over staying behind cover. This would mean that, of the 1.1s for railgun charge-up, I would spend about 0.2s behind cover, and come to a stop outside cover before shooting. (Roughly estimating here.) Better to hit an enemy and possibly take damage than to sit around and never hit anything!

Somewhere in my time here, I learned to hug the rock.

The rock gives life to the XPer and grants it infinite survivability behind its study frame. O great rock from the tanki gods, praise be you and your unbreakableness!

[end praise, resume discussion]

Maybe around the WO5 range, though, I started contributing more to the team. My hits happen more often now, and I could aim reasonably well. I have a mental record for how long it has been since my opponent has fired, and if he is dangerous then I would attempt to charge up to hit his tank before he even leaves cover (and hope to catch him). Although it happened in abundance in the early stages, people have learned by now that jumping off on a Monte Carlo ramp with a defender on the other side is usually a no-no. The enemies are also tougher now, and most carry M1 equipment to battle. The important thing I learned here is, perhaps, to "bait" for the enemy's railgun shot. I would move side-to-side behind cover while I am charging, and if I am lucky with the baiting then I would be rewarded with a beam of harmless energy passing my my tank. Of course, I still get hit once in a while, but that's how we learn and get better, no?

Third Lieutenant was a major jump for me again. I started seeing red-star ranks in battle. Things became even more fast-paced, and M2s also started coming along. I felt like I was at a major disadvantage with the M1 equipment now, so I saved up to buy the Tornado kit later on. I had to accept that players are more experienced now and sometimes my baiting tactic will be foiled by an enemy I didn't see earlier on. To help with this, I would now modify baiting by only leaving a tiny bit of my tank out, and retracting it the moment I see blue or purple appearing from cover. When I'm not baiting, I would ALWAYS move my tank from side-to-side. The bits of my tank that appear from one side to the other will keep the opponents guessing on where I would be next, and by the time they find out it *should* be too late for them. An important tactic learned here would be to think like your opponent! What would he target? Is there an enemy attacker that always go over the ramp when he respawns? You have to anticipate well to survive in Monte Carlo, as every decision you make can mean the difference between winning and losing.

Oh, and here's a little extra tidbit: Shaft dodging and a bit more!

CHARGE UP BEFORE LEAVING COVER. This is the golden rule for it. If you don't press space early enough, your tank will meet the angry end of the lazer beam.
Move from one side of the cover to the other side. This is very important during normal parts of the battle, and even more so when under shaft pressure. If you did it right, the shaft beam will now move from one side (of the rock) to the other, stay on one side perfectly, or stay in the center of the rock. When you see the shaft reacting (or not reacting), make your move. You have roughly 0.1-0.4 seconds as your window of opportunity/attack. Strike him, anywhere is fine but turret is best, and he will fire off blindly. Rinse, repeat.
IF MAP HAS 2 OR MORE SHAFTS TRAINED ON YOU: you're screwed. :ph34r: Just kidding. You'll die once or more perhaps, but try to target the shaft with lower health. Move about lots, and make sure to stay out of their beam. After you respawn, try to go for the left side rock on your base, or on that area opposite to your base's ramp. (see below image) These two locations are slightly better for your survival against shaft. The left rock hides you from the shaft at enemy base, which is the most likely one to be a heavy and have an isida healing it. The other route exposes you to mid and close range tankers, sure, but it stops the shafts from targeting you, and can also allow you a plan of counterattack on their base snipers. The right rock just sucks because a shaft can target you directly from the enemy base.
Remember: a shaft trained on you is one less shaft trained on your team. Have too many loose beams around, and soon a lot of players will leave your team. Target snipers as much as you can, as too many of them will eventually lock down your base.
Here's a sample of prioritizing for me (as reference): enemy flag-bearer > drugging tanker in base > enemy isida > enemy appearing from down below > ramp charger > shaft > normal railgunner = light hulls (easy frags)

Phew! That was quite a mouthful.

Okay, next I came about to Second Lieutenant. I bought the Tornado kit at this stage! M2 Hornet and M2 railgun pair together like a dream. Great speed, great drift, great power, I just loved it! Ranking up still was hard though, but I enjoyed railgunning so much more after getting this kit. As a plus, spark looks great. Anyways, back to the advice/journey! Somewhere along the lines, I learned to dodge by drawing an arc around my rock. (see pic below)

So what does this mean? As long as the opponent is not on top of the ramp, I will always be behind cover while he is exposed. This creates a major advantage for me, as I can bait endlessly and never get hit (theoretically, and only by that one person- mind you, there's plenty of railgunners elsewhere on the field!). I start seeing people target me more often, which is nice because it shows that I'm doing my job right :D Aside from that, I have also picked up firing up when I'm on the move (shots are reloadable, not so much for health), shooting in the mid-field platform (great for enemy field awareness, as you're targeted by everyone but can also shoot at everyone. Done right, and you alone can wipe out and spawn-kill enemies at their doorstep), and filling niche roles when they're missing (support for flag capture, counterattacking area opposite our base ramp, midfield, etc). A tactic I have picked up is to calculate roughly the time needed to move from one place to another, and use that effectively to maneuver between positions when the enemy is reloading. I'll need some examples for that, I suppose. If I follow up on this, I'll add it in for you guys :)

And now here I am! I look forward to what the future rank-ups can teach me on.

And finally, sum up your main advice for mid-ranked players in one sentence!

For all those Monte Carlo lovers out there: embrace that rock, and never let it go!

Random out.

EDIT 2.0: I have made a video for my guide! It is a bit rough without the fancy animations and whatnot (I've never liked those things much anyways), but I think it got to some things I wanted to say but couldn't/didn't. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words, am I right?

Enjoy! I spent way too much time editing for this video than I should have... :D

EDIT 3.0: I forgot to edit sound in my video- so just turn off the audio to enjoy a video without sounds of excessive tapping and such.

EDIT 4.0: Sound is in! Chose two random tracks.

In second place, winning 15,000 crystals, is a concise description of the mid rank situation...

@vansh10

How would you describe mid-ranked gameplay?

The mid ranks is when you decide whether you are going to stick to the game or not, it is a cross road in my opinion. The gameplay at this stage is very random, you might see a complete newbie learning to turn his turret and hull together. On the other hand you might see that a professional is playing on his alternate account and winning the battles. You as a player have to battle through this terrain and emerge a victor, it might be tough but nonetheless it is important. This is the stage where you train yourself for future ranks.
Same as a emerging butterfly from a cocoon has to learn to hold the weight of its wings, else it dies.

How did you approach the gameplay of the mid-ranks to try and be a successful player?

I was always confused and bought lots of m1 weapons, I later realized that this was a waste of crystals. After that I carefully spent every crystal and saving each drug for special days. I would save the premium accounts mission whenever i got one and used that one when I had ample of time free, also in high battle funds I used drugs that i had been saving so as to maximize my earning potential.
Also keep an eye for sales, big sales like 50% on Tanki birthday should be noted and crystals should be saved for these sales, i bought railgun m2, hornet m2 and sandstone paint on this years birthday sale, thus i had a complete set of m2 level items and all for just 124,000 crystals. Now i am saving for firebird m2 as it is necessary for every player to have 1 short range weapon and 1 mid long range weapon so that there is a bit variation in gameplay from time to time. Lastly isida should always be bought as it can get you ample of points from healing others, it is extremely cheap too.

And finally, sum up your main advice for mid-ranked players in one sentence!

Save crystals-Wait for sales-Have 2 types of turret no more-Save premium accounts-Save Drugs-Learn new ways to handle tanks and occasionally go to higher rank battles and learn their game style too.

In third place, winning 10,000 crystals, is another account of mid rank gameplay garnished with a few individual experiences...

@Blackdrakon30

Tips from ~~The Pros~~ Blackdrakon30

Want to hear from ~~the professionals~~ Blackdrakon30? We asked the top ~~eSports players~~ noob of the EN Community the following questions...

How would you describe mid-ranked gameplay?

How did you approach the gameplay of the mid-ranks to try and be a successful player?

And finally, sum up your main advice for mid-ranked players in one sentence!

First of all, I would say the best few words to describe the gameplay are "polarized", "chaotic", and "challenging". The reason is that there is a huge divide between the people with good and those with bad equipment.This causes the battles to often be hugely weighted towards one team compared to the other. Kits become the only way to gain equipment that can match up against most opponents, unless you substitute gear with other qualities. I would say that the key qualities are strategy, adaptability, and power. Obviously power is gained by having good equipment through kits and using supplies. I would say about half the players use this method, and this is what causes the battles to be polarized. Strategy is using rational thought to outmaneuver your opponents, and finally adaptability allows you to modify your playstyle to fit a situation and allows you to be less choosy with kits.

Lets just say that the way I attempted to be successful could have used some improvements. I saved up and won a few contests to get Osaka kit early on, which allowed me to have power for a bit. By this point, I rely on my adaptability (extensive M1 garage and being able to use most combos successfully) and strategy. The adaptability works well, as I can still compete against the higher M2 gear. Sadly, Hunter M1 can't hold up against the increasingly common M3 turrets.

Think things through. First of all, analyze your current situation. What gear do you have? What gear do you want to have? With this information, you can make a plan for buying kits as you rank up. For example, a Master Sergeant might make a plan to get Siberian kit, and then Boar and finally Atlas. This would be an effective plan as it provides time to save up, as well as having equipment that remains current and useful. Once you have a plan, it requires lots of grinding through ranks. It helps to be in a clan or group of people who you can do fun things with, as otherwise you might get discouraged and lose motivation. Last but not least, think during the battles. Eventually your kits will dull in effectiveness, generally immediately before gaining the next kit in your plan. A bit of strategic gameplay can make up for this issue.

Final Warning: DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT fall for Personal Discounts. Unless it is gear you were already planning to buy, DON'T BUY IT. This will deplete your savings, and cause all sorts of issues with your savings plans.

That's all I have to say for now people! I wish you all luck in your midrank adventures, and hope you can make better choices than I did!

Besides these, we found a few entries worthy of a consolation prize worth 5,000 crystals.

's entry

@Lethal_Injection's entry

@leonidus77's entry

Congratulations to the winners, and thanks to all the participants for responding so well! Prizes will be sent by the first of August!

eefschietscheef · July 29, 2016

M1 Turrets and Hulls: till Warrant Officer 3

I used M0 till Warrant Officer 4 lol

I have a good pair of M2s and 44k crystals, should I go for the 800 drugs kit?

Edited July 29, 2016 by eefschietscheef

Zenyth · July 30, 2016

I used M0 till Warrant Officer 4 lol

I have a good pair of M2s and 44k crystals, should I go for the 800 drugs kit?

If you're used to drugging frequently, then you could go for it. :)

Naughtyface2 · July 30, 2016

I was a noob until about my rank now (WO4) xD I only bought an M1 combo until WO3... I didn't even buy them in a kit!

Edited July 30, 2016 by Naughtyface2

Zenyth · July 30, 2016

You need a combination for small maps, or you could buy an early M2 kit instead.

TTK_229 · July 30, 2016

My buying strategy: buy thunder, my it, buy a light, medium, and heavy hull, then close, mid, and long-range modules. No paints. Only corrosion.
#corrosionftw

Edited July 30, 2016 by TTK_229

Zenyth · July 30, 2016

My buying strategy: buy thunder, my it, buy a light, medium, and heavy hull, then close, mid, and long-range modules. No paints. Only corrosion.

#corrosionftw

You wouldn't need a light hull unless you like the unorthodox Thunder-Hornet or parkour with Thunder-Wasp. :P

Zenyth · July 30, 2016

Reporter Zenith, kya mera alt OP hai?

+

TTK_229 · July 30, 2016

You wouldn't need a light hull unless you like the unorthodox Thunder-Hornet or parkour with Thunder-Wasp. :P

I buy hornet so I can cap flags. Not that I ever succeed...

1creepercraft_tanki · August 1, 2016

Idk what combo 2 use tho, im good with rail, pretty good with shaft ok with hammer and smoky...

Zenyth · August 1, 2016

Idk what combo 2 use tho, im good with rail, pretty good with shaft ok with hammer and smoky...

With the M1 stage in mind, you'd want to buy Railgun or Hammer.

Hamish_Fatcat · August 1, 2016

This makes me want to delete my account and do it rght the second time

Dutchy_3000 · August 2, 2016

It' s a very good topic about saving crystals but it didnt very much help me, because i was already saving crystals in this way.

rocketmonkey2015 · August 2, 2016

I read the article and I realized that I have done all the things they said for mid ranks on this account.

Rooky · August 2, 2016

20th line. It should be task not ask

Generally, a well-written guide. I've learned these stuff over a lot of years playing this game. Not anyone knows these tips

Zenyth · August 2, 2016

20th line. It should be task not ask

Generally, a well-written guide. I've learned these stuff over a lot of years playing this game. Not anyone knows these tips

Thanks.

http://prntscr.com/c0nygu

Rooky · August 2, 2016

This makes me want to delete my account and do it rght the second time

Never do that. Keep on playing on your account.

Thanks.

http://prntscr.com/c0nygu

Oh, didn't know it can be used that way. Thank you :)

M4ShermanUSA · August 2, 2016

Well done article!
The only thing I differ a little on is MU'ing. I will MU M1 & M2 equipment some.

Example, an M1 railgun can 1 shot an M1 wasp with 4 MU's if the wasp has no MU's.
Also MU'ing tends to put you higher on the leaderboard in most games if done properly resulting in higher scores overall.
Just don't do it too much.

Zenyth · August 2, 2016

Well done article!

The only thing I differ a little on is MU'ing. I will MU M1 & M2 equipment some.

Example, an M1 railgun can 1 shot an M1 wasp with 4 MU's if the wasp has no MU's.

Also MU'ing tends to put you higher on the leaderboard in most games if done properly resulting in higher scores overall.

Just don't do it too much.

Thanks.

About the MU thing, I agree. As I said in the article, MUing certain items can be worthwhile.

dude10-tanki · August 2, 2016

I have a m1 esida and a m1 viking and I rely heavily on drugs. Should I buy the 100 drugs kit ??

1creepercraft_tanki · August 2, 2016

With the M1 stage in mind, you'd want to buy Railgun or Hammer.

save for the m1? bc rail m1 is WO3

...

Zenyth · August 3, 2016

save for the m1? bc rail m1 is WO3

...

Yup, or buy the Gunslinger kit.

I have a m1 esida and a m1 viking and I rely heavily on drugs. Should I buy the 100 drugs kit ??

Nope, don't. Buy a pair of M2s first.

Zenith, Simoom's price atm? Gonna buy on alt. And is it good decision considering my garage atm? ( Don't say Thunder up, I use m0 here and still rule when I wanna) and also is it acheiveable? I have 26.2k atm.

Fairly achievable. I can't see the garage ATM but I suppose Simoom's price will be around 160k.

BLASTER872 · August 6, 2016

Zen, ik my KD is multish, but look my crystals - experience ratio is closer to 1.5 than it is to 1.

Zenyth · August 6, 2016

Zen, ik my KD is multish, but look my crystals - experience ratio is closer to 1.5 than it is to 1.

That's even better then.. ;)

Challenge	Start Date	End Date
1	15.08	29.08
2	29.08	05.09
3	05.09	12.09
4	12.09	19.09
5	19.09	26.09
6	26.09	3.10
7	3.10	10.10
8	10.10	17.10

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