Review [Issue 55] Combo Of The Month (Wasp/Smoky): In Theory

[Shedinja 1,488]

 

In Action | In Theory

 

 

Howdy, folks. It's been a while since one of these collabs was brought to the table; it's about due time for this to be brought back from the dead after its rather abysmal lifespan of two issues. In case you're curious about this series, you can read through the effort @Kevred and I gave in the past with Hornet/Twins here and here. Also, feel free to take a peek at Kev's solo Dictator/Hammer article here. (Rest in peace, buddy.) This time around, @Night-Sisters and I will dig into the subject of Wasp/Smoky, a more or less popular choice between tankers.

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My First Thoughts

 

I remember once meeting a player back in my Warrant Officer days on my first account that was insanely good with this combo. I never did see him again after that Desert TDM, but I'm sure he's long since been an 'issimo at this point. He didn't use a single supply, but he still managed to rack up about a 2.15 D/L. (This really meant something in a realm where smart cooldowns were only a figment of the imaginative developer's mind and kits were more or less extremely overpowered. I promise you, there were at least two people in the match wearing Digital.)

 

A lot has changed since back then, though. Smoky has taken a beating over the course of older updates, leaving it hard-pressed to grant anything special to players compared to the other weapon choices. However, it still has a chance to bring some unique elements to the table when paired up with the fastest hull in the game, possibly creating distinct features that other combinations might not be capable of replicating.

 

 

Composition

 

Wasp, as previously mentioned, is second to none when it comes to raw speed. With the soul of an RC car, the tiniest hull of the bunch excels at concise turning and maneuvering at high velocities, but it oddly has a hard time with forward acceleration, only reaching 13 m/s^2. That's tied with Hunter's acceleration rate, and these are only outdone by Mammoth's horrendous 12 m/s^2. (Mammoth's top speed isn't really doing it any favors here, either.) However, this is still enough to get it out of a tricky situation quick with a passable reverse acceleration stat and its naturally high speed and low weight. What keeps this hull from outperforming Hornet is its low power, acceleration, unbalanced turret placement (with any recoil weapon, accidents are bound to happen), and lightweight frame that makes it prone to doing somersaults at random. Of course, the obvious fault among these is Wasp's severe lack of health, which can be a true thorn in its side when being pinned in one place for too long or being caught off guard.

 

A staple turret of Tanki Online; everyone owns it, and almost everyone has used it. While Smoky has the same function as your typical pea-shooter, the one unique feature of this gun is its infamous critical hit, which strikes after a various number of shots landed (based on a percentage in conjunction with a hidden charge gauge) and deals a great deal more damage than a normal shot, approximately 100 hp at its 'M4' stage. This is rather impressive in comparison to the typical 44 - 56 hp chipped away (basically doling the same damage as two shots at once), but only occurs every few shots. This is classified as an IC weapon due to its moderate damage per shot in relation to its consistent shooting rate. (definitions for IC and others here.)

 

What do you get when you mix a well-rounded turret with an liberally-opinionated hull? Well, in the acting world, you'd get another daytime television sitcom, but in Tanki Online, one of the swiftest and most popularized combinations is born.

 

 

The Combo Itself

 

With Wasp's impressive speed and dime-turning capabilities working in tandem with Smoky's sensitivity and relatively rapid fire rate (as is customary for IC-type weapons), it has the ability to check literally everywhere around itself within two seconds and be able to counter any nearby DPS-based weapons immediately with a well placed shot in that same two seconds. As bold of a statement as that is (especially knowing that Thunders and Railguns are only gaining popularity, not declining), it can only react as well as the player can under such circumstances.

 

However, let's not forget that this is the In Theory section, reigned in only by simple numbers and logic. I'll leave the judgement of how possible playing like so actually is to Night. I'm out of practice, anyways; I'd probably get crushed after letting my skills with M3 equipment rust for so long.

 

If you didn't see the lovely collection of hyperlinks up above, get some glasses and stop hurting your eyes here's another link to Night-Sister's "In Action" segment. If you're more of a visual learner, you might like that one a bit more. This section is based on quantitative statements involving logic and mathematical application to determine how well a combo will do in given situations. It's like Mythbusters, except without any of the cool lab stuff and more math. I tried bugging Cedric to have him talk to someone about getting a life-sized tank model, but he never sent a reply to my email. Hopes are still high on a response soon.

 

Anyways, specs. That's what you're here for.

 

For simplicity's sake, unless stated otherwise, I'm going to base most of my conclusions from a stock M3 model of Wasp/Smoky. Since most players reading this will either have experience using or fighting against one of these, it should make my descriptions somewhat easier to relate to.

 

In a nutshell, Wasp/Smoky is a recipe for turbulence, effective immediately. Everything you would have to do in controlling this thing would have to be quick and concise, with Smoky's turret rotation taking just under three seconds to make a full revolution and Wasp moving at 12.21 meters per second (27.311 miles per hour, 43.956 kilometers per hour). After a certain point, ducking between buildings and constantly checking your surroundings by turning your turret without end (you're forced to, you have barely enough health to survive a Railgun shot), you're likely going to grow weary of the spinning screen fast. However, if you're not easily motion sick, chances are you'll be the busiest player on the field anyways thanks to the unsurprising number of people that wish to transform your Wasp into their easy experience points.

 

However, the turbulence is fortunately a two edged blade in that it can discombobulate enemies with ease when it makes full use of its high speed and satisfactory impact force. With some dexterity on the keyboard and a good memory of the map you're playing, you can whirl about opponents with ease and peck at them until they finally succumb to their wounds and their dizziness.

 

 

The Game Styles

 

Under theoretical logic, Wasp/Smoky should be able to fare somewhat well under a decent variety of circumstances, but it's far from perfect. While confounding your less nimble opponents with your own speed and catching advancing Railguns and Thunders off guard may help in many circumstances, there are still quite a few scenarios in which this combination may fall too short.

 

 

Single Point matches for a Wasp are in short a nightmare. In this survival-of-the-fattest combat style, 150 hp means next to nothing; two well aimed Thunder shots can end a Wasp's life without inconveniencing itself much at all. Since plasma-weapons slapped onto Vikings and Dictators also like to roam the edges of the point's center in the hopes of finding stray scraps (like Wasp/Smoky, for example) that try to fight from a distance and obliterate them, there isn't a lot of safe ground to work with.

 

While it's recommended to use Wasp's speed to your advantage and leave your pursuers from the center and outlying edges in the dust, most maps that support single point CP mode aren't typically all that large. Misery loves your company here; it always finds ways to meet up in the form of those aforementioned Vikings and Dictators, and they don't let up easily. There isn't a whole lot you can do besides send fleeting shots their way and pray that your hull doesn't give out. Heading back into to the center point to lose the fellow is ensuring a new death on your counter, be it by the old pursuer or the fifty Titan/Firebirds you just attracted the full attention of.

 

You're not going to be the star member of the team with this combination. Wasp simply has too much stacked against in in single-point CPs. However, there are two things you can do to attempt a support role from the sidelines:

 

• Find a good medium ranged module that protects from the plasmic weapons, shell weapons like Smoky and Thunder, or a mixture of the two and a close ranged defense, too, just in case you need to stray near the main fight to shake an angry Ricochet off your tail. (The Grizzly family is a great collection to choose from, suiting Polygon matches fairly well.) Make sure you attract some of these drifters from the points to your direction, if you can.

• When they begin firing at your retreating figure (dogmatic grandstanding is not an option, you're a bug), see if you can land a few crafty shots on the sides of their hulls. Not only will they slowly get whittled down, but if you land the shots right, you might just evade damage and effectively slow them down by jamming their corner into a wall without them expecting it. Just don't accidentally back into someone bigger than you (i.e. everyone), and you should manage just fine.

        

 

Multi-Point CPs are a bit more forgiving on the terms that there's more places to run and more places to hide. These details make for an excellent breeding ground for Wasps and Hornets. Couple that with Smoky's range, and you have the ability to hold fast on the point against the other quick hulls if the player has a good aim, passable dodging techniques, and a bit of luck with critical hits.

 

Another note of interest: Smoky is an IC weapon, managing a high number of shots per minute (0 ≤ x ≤ 41; in other words, it can fire a maximum of 41 times per minute), but dealing rather low damage per shot unless it's a critical hit. Since these are a bit of a rarity, and you don't have much health to spare, it's not always wise to stand in the open and hope that the angry Hornet/Freeze charging headlong at you explodes into a ball of electricity.

 

A preferential stance to take would be one behind the cover of a building or some other useful polygon. For your best interest, have the turret side closest to the edge of the building. This is where the beauty of Wasp's design comes into play: while its forward acceleration isn't the best, it can reverse accelerate like a pro, allowing the tank to pop out from a wall just enough to reveal the weapon's barrel, let off a round, then jerk itself right back into its spot instantly. If someone's closing directly on top of you, this return practice is also a method of escape, since you already have momentum on your side to drive in the opposite direction of your assailant.

 

While the variation between single point CPs and multi point CPs cannot be stressed enough in terms of strategy, it's still important to know that both of them require you to stand perfectly still on a point for a certain amount of time in order for you to be an effective teammate. A Wasp's lifestyle does not reflect doing anything of the sort; it detests the idea of being a sitting duck, since its low armor rating makes it a choice pick for high-DPS weapons that can finish it from a range. If there's no cover around a point, try and steer clear of it. I'm sure the Shafts aren't just intent on letting you undo their partner's hard work.

       

A Deathmatch, depending on its size, fauna and flora, may suit a Wasp/Smoky well, so long as it's prepared for many types of opponents. In order to minimize the chances of running into something that may be detrimental to this combination (i.e. high DPS weapons, close quarters with CDR-toting monsters, or minimal places to hide), remember to take the Laws of Map Relativity to heart. (I still own coining rights to these.)

• LAW I: In relation to the size of the map, the hull durability increases and decreases inversely.
• LAW II: In relation to the size of the map, the range of the turrets increases and decreases congruently.
• LAW III: In relation to the size of the map, the density of weapons with a high CDR (cumulative damage rate) increases and decreases congruently. 

So, according to Law I, the smaller the map is, the more continents-with-treads are likely to be hanging around. A midsized map would serve Smoky's range and Wasp's dodging capabilities well, since many maps of that area average have excellent foxhole spots like the one depicted above.

 

Law II essentially says that on mid-sized maps, mid-ranged weapon count should be at a healthy number. Since Smoky is somewhat efficient at throwing off Hammers and other Smokies, this law only solidifies the combo's use in the maps. However, one has to be mindful of the number of Twins and Ricochets here as well.

 

The final nail in the coffin, Law III, states that the number of CDR weapons here will be utterly average. Essentially, Smoky boasts the ability to thrive without ailment in maps where other weapons can't take advantage of their unique range requirements. Firebird does far better under claustrophobic conditions, whereas Shafts that love to feast on Wasps tend to have less room to work with than they'd prefer. Smoky, taking the middle ground on just about everything stat-wise, feels right at home in a medium arena.

 

Maps like Cologne, Sepurhov, Barda, and Polygon would all be perfect options spare one crippling fact: while a good Wasp/Smoky can defend itself somewhat from the likes of Thunders, Hammers, other Smokies, and the occasional brave Railgun, it's not invincible, certainly not with a hull with half the armor rating of a Dictator of the same modification. You have to constantly be on the move, and always looking over your shoulder. When you're looking over your shoulder, you have to be looking in front of you, too. Essentially, if you're not good with the 'Q' and 'E' keys when using this combo, you're screwed.

 

 

 

Team Deathmatch functions on the same grounds as Deathmatch, except this time you don't have to constantly be looking over your shoulder. With only one front to fight on, Wasp/Smoky becomes a bit more deadly than it was in Deathmatch, and it even gains a spot on long range maps due to an interesting factor: it's distracting. Take this combo to a Highway map (or a map similar), and chances are the Shafts and experienced Railguns there will start drooling a bit at the thought of such an easy kill.

 

Ducking behind one of those rock outcroppings and performing the foxhole guard use in multi-point CPs won't do a lot of damage to them (it's Smoky, after all; it does moderate damage at best at a desirable range, the damage done by launching bullets at them from hundreds of meters away is downright pathetic), but it'll sure get their attention. Once you're aware that one or two of them are on to you, just sit behind whatever outcropping you found and wait. If someone tries to get to you through the lower ramps, let them come up and proceed to knock off their aim and run like you just ding-dong-ditched someone's house. Try and have a repair kit crate or double armor crate on standby, so you can survive any attack they launch at you (in tandem with a good module, that is; Eagle D-A is a great example of an affordable, long ranged paint).

 

Your teammates, assuming they're useful at all, will either take out one of the Shafts or Railguns on the other side or help you with the fella trying to sneak up on you from below, giving you an opportunity to either return to your spot or proceed to step two: actively advancing onto their base. See, in a typical 15 minute Highway TDM, it takes about ten seconds for each side to fully prepare their defenses. You can use that time to get to your initial spot as close as you can to the front lines. The goal is to be distracting enough for other players to finish what you started with their heavy ranged weaponry. Take note that the closer you get, the more damage you can dole, letting you become progressively more dangerous the longer the match takes. Assuming you take no deaths in the first two minutes, you can even begin an invasion for the niche/naïve Freeze or Firebird ally to follow behind.

 

 

 

Capture The Flag is a healthy environment for a Wasp for really obvious reasons, and Smoky only augments the hull's abilities. Unmatched speed and incredibly balanced firing rates can make breakaway flag captures a breeze. Under theoretical circumstances, the only combination that I think is capable of faring better as a banner-swiping-machine is a Hornet/Freeze, since it has the potential to slow any defense attempting to halt its progress and the desired torque stages to give heavier hulls enough of a push to slide them off of the flag's spawn point.

 

While Smoky doesn't have the ability to literally stop time around itself, it can still pack a real punch up close. 37.4 - 47.5 damage every second an a half is nothing to scoff at when it comes to pecking off pursuers that dare attempt to give chase. You have the potential to tear half a team apart when they decide to use Speed Boosts instead of Double Armors in an effort to give chase. (Just make sure you're wearing a Speed Boost, too. Double Power is optional, but recommended for best effect.) The best part about it is that while Freezes and Ricochets can't touch you after a certain point, Railguns and Shafts even have a hard time hitting this combo if the player is skilled enough thanks to its dexterity on the field, its modest recoil at distances that can send desperate shots astray, and Wasp's small stature making it a difficult target.

 

If you can get your teammates to play support and cover you with Railgun or Thunder, making it to the flag will be child's play, too. Whereas getting into from the base for the flag is typically the hardest part for a Wasp/Smoky, with enough ally manipulation and good timing, you can sneak right in undetected. Remember the back alleys in Sepurhov and Barda for sly entrances, too. Red Alert has all sorts of paths to take, but bring proper module protection depending on which size stage you enter. Anything from the Kodiak, Eagle and Griffon families are excellent choices.

 

 

 

Catching Gold Boxes

 

Aye, the fabled answer to catching golds without a Dictator or Viking. Wasp/Smoky has opportunities to take nabs at the legendary boxes, but only if you apply a Double Armor supply, a Speed Boost, and (if needed ) a Repair Kit in that order. Otherwise, you will not survive. Remember, you are a bug, and if anyone sees you as a threat to their 1k, they will crush you. Having a mine on standby wouldn't hurt you much, if you can afford to discard the Speed Boost.

 

If you have a ramp to work with to reach the gold, make sure you don't let anyone else have it, and give yourself a runway -- with the second lowest acceleration speed, you're going to need it. If you can, lay a mine at the edge of the ramp's upper exit and ride it out on someone else. Smoky is invaluable for getting yourself on top of a Viking quickly, which can quickly escalate to you being catapulted into the crystal package due to a combination of your mine and their own desperate efforts to grab the box.

 

If you're on flat terrain, just keep bullying the Vikings once it starts actually falling. Never instigate a fight that you don't plan to finish before the box begins its descent. Using the repair kit earlier than you need to can cost a lot more than 150 crystals if you don't plan carefully. If someone is following you and they won't leave you alone, use your absurd speed levels to evade their attention for long enough to try and return to the pile. Maybe a ramp that one of the fat tanks stole earlier just found an opening for you.

 

 

Playing Parkour

 

Essentially a quicker-firing but less potent version of Wasp/Thunder. If you want real height, leave this thing behind and go for the previously mentioned Thunder or Hammer. I've never been one for parkour, but even I know this is an inferior tool to scale buildings with.

 

 

Shed's Rating

 

While this combination has the potential to be excellent in most situations spare single-point CPs, you need to become an absolute expert with the combination in order to perform much of anything with success. It requires lots of training towards reaction time, ambidextrous control between the driving, camera and turret controls, and general awareness. It's not something anyone can just pick up and be proficient with right off the bat, but it has the potential to be deadly under the right circumstances. I'd say this combo deserves a 7/10.

 

 

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Edited July 20, 2017 by Hexed

[Yisroel.Rabin 16,224]

You're back :D

 

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 action).

Edited July 30, 2016 by Yisroel.Rabin

[Lethal_Injection 586]

Great article. Wasp/Smoky is definitely one of my favorite combos, at the M2 level anyways.

[Zenyth 6,494]

The factual approach is interesting. :D

[falcosenna1 8,320]

Awesome article. I love trolling around with Wasp Smoky from time to time. :D

[Rebellious.Isida 4]

Awesome stuff dude, inspired me to try this hull "Although My K/D Ratio is gonna hurt for awhile :P , this is some great advice :)

[ToBaPuLIL-uHcTpyKToP 136]

And the developers are saying wasp is waaay better than hornet :( i hate getting my wasp 1 shot in xp bp battles by other m3 rails... Wasp is anyways sopposed to be better than hornet because its price is much larger than hornet m3. If i could trade my m3 wasp with hirbet and get my extra crystals i spent on wasp back, i would definantly do so because xp bp games are not sopposed to be based on chance, they are sopposed to be based on pure skill

[ValdezHawk 12]

Nice. I was wondering how to use my newfound m1 smoky and m1 wasp. XD.

[dude10-tanki 2]

If smokey is so good then why did they give it to you for free

[Shedinja 1,488]

If smokey is so good then why did they give it to you for free

Well, think about it, you have to jump directly into the game with some weapon and hull, right? Smoky just happens to be the most 'typical' tank weapon, fitting the profile of real-life tanks better than any of the others. The same could be said for Hunter; its stats lie at the middle ground in comparison to the other hulls.

[Gordiel_Belizar 4]

If smokey is so good then why did they give it to you for free

the whole game is... as a matter of fact... free :ph34r:

[clockwatch 96]

exceptional writing, I really enjoyed reading it, as well as getting some nice tips on using the combp i always enjoyed, but nvr was any good with(:

[basenji7 1,199]

Well, think about it, you have to jump directly into the game with some weapon and hull, right? Smoky just happens to be the most 'typical' tank weapon, fitting the profile of real-life tanks better than any of the others. The same could be said for Hunter; its stats lie at the middle ground in comparison to the other hulls.

Also Smoky/Hunter is really really bad at M0. Smoky does practically no damage and Hunter is abysmally slow. 

[DESTROYER_13 1,019]

Next time if you can, please make a long article. We need more of those.  ^_^

[Bob_P 0]

Good article but there are a couple points that should be brought out. i am an older player (49) and play for entertainment. It is a fun combo in DM if you are on the right map. Wave, Bobrusik, Pama, skyscrapers, madness and many others if you have the skill. Getting blown up a bunch teaches you what not to do. Smokey wasp is my main combo. i want to get to the top rank with it. More important i think is it doesnt intimidate lesser ranks so much. Sure some but they get kills too. People want a fair battle when playing for sport. Players will stick around a battle if they aren't pounded into the dirt instantly. Finally, flying smokey wasp on madness reminds me of skydiving. i have made 100 skydives. Have fun! on an after thought hammer opponets will ruin your wasp expirence. Bye.

Edited August 20, 2016 by Bob_P