Guide [Issue 59] Pro's Advice #3: Knocking Off the Enemy's Aim

[Shedinja 1,488]

 

 

Pro's Advice #1: Swinging your Hull

Pro's Advice #2: Controlling your Hull in Format Battles

 

Once again, the series returns with another breakdown of collective tidbits, with Arakelyan back in the game and revealing the critical but often overlooked aspect of a weapon's impact force; more specifically, utilizing said impact force to send an opponent's aim astray.

 

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jewXUVtzjm8&index=3&list=PLoGHE_kS3ppNjijtBsuSuGJGYvc-5Ye5R

 

 

The Basics

 

Ultimately, impact force in Tanki Online is the result of a shell or projectile coming into contact with another player's tank. Depending on the variety of projectile launched, the impact force can involuntarily shift a tank in the direction the projectile was moving. "Every action has an equal and opposite reaction." That's just basic Newtonian physics for you. If you're a clever player, you've already figured out how to use this equal and opposite reaction to help prevent players with high DPS (damage per shot) weaponry from effectively targeting you and your team.

 

In order to effectively use impact force as a deterrent, we must first understand where it's most effectively used in a given situation. On a flat surface with a wide range of space (i.e. Berlin, Dusseldorf, most segments of Monte Carlo), the most effective technique to evade a shot would be to fire at the corners of their war machine. Since auto-aim can sometimes counteract the rise of the tank when taking a shot through the lengthwise portion of its body, it would be best to eliminate the factor entirely and cause them to unleash a shot in a direction away from you. However, when a tank's side is exposed at you as they're preparing a shot, try and hit their turret dead-center, making sure to swing your hull upwards if you can. (Hull swinging is explained in detail in Pro's Advice #1, listed in the roster above.)

 

When fighting an enemy from a lower altitude than where they stand, it might become more applicable to use your impact force to throw their aim upwards as well. Most auto-aim ranges can't reach a player when the distance from the player is less than or equal to double the altitude difference when staying still, and this inaccessibility range is still usually only halved when the higher player swings their hull downwards. (You can check the individual downward auto-aim statistics in the Tanki Online Wiki under each turret's statistics page.) Their problem is only heightened when they're being buffeted from below by a Twins or Ricochet, weapons that both can keep a suppressing stream of bullets pushing the underside of the hull or the turret upwards.

 

 

Conversely, this same tactic does not work as well for a player that uses their impact force to throw off another tank's aim from above, as the force is directed through the tank and into the ground beneath them. The ground, being an immovable object, will act as a buffer for the tank and greatly reduce the effectiveness of the shift, which means they're more likely to punch holes in you. However, strangely enough, a weapon with high, concentrated impact force, such as Shaft or Railgun, can actually cause the tank to bounce slightly from the ground, and, if they fire a turret with decent recoil, could wind up on their side or even go full circle and flip themselves over.

 

It's evident that DPS-class weapons are far more threatened by the idea of missing than CDR-class (cumulative damage rate) weapons, or weapons that deal small bits of damage at a rapid rate (i.e. Firebird, Freeze, Isida, Twins, Vulcan). If a DPS-class weapon misses their shot, they're losing an opportunity to deal that much more damage to a potential target. Railgun is probably the most susceptible to this problem, since even Shaft has arcade mode to fall back on if they miss their shot, and both Thunder and Hammer reload quicker.

 

Despite what Arakelyan says, in some cases, impact force versus a CDR based weapon is not as useless as it seems. Granted, it'll be easy for a player with one of those weapons to readjust their aim, but if you're skilled at driving in reverse and shooting, you can potentially outspeed a player of the same hull by using your impact force to knock them off course. Granted, it's a trivial distance most times, only a meter or two gained in the best of situations, but it can occasionally be enough to avoid maximum damage from Firebird and even dodge Isida entirely. Freeze, if it catches you, will slow you down to the point where escape is impossible, and Vulcan's aim cannot be placed elsewhere by anyone but the user. (Again, though, it's still effective for messing with their driving, which means there's a chance you could force them to get hung up on a wall or some other obtrusive polygon to escape.)

 

 

What's Changed Since

 

The same change in weight and auto-aim has also affected the impact force of each turret, most of them losing much ground that was required to flip an opponent. Most flips occur when a player fires immediately after being broadsided by a projectile with lots of power behind it, no longer capable of upending a vehicle on their own accord.

 

All of these tactics have stayed in effect after the updates, though. Smoky's alteration has made it the ultimate anti-DPS weapon, seconded only to Hammer with a full clip. A quick and consistent reload under two seconds, a concentrated point of contact, and enough impact force to shift a Titan of the same modification a respectable number of degrees are an effective counter to a match full of Railguns, Thunders and Shafts.

 

Admittedly, not far too much has changed since the production of Arakelyan's video to negate the information therein.

 

 

In A Nutshell

 

• Target the corners of the hull when you can, as to decrease the likelihood of being struck yourself.
• When fighting from below, stay within double the distance of the altitude difference between you and your target. 
• When running from a CDR weapon-user, use your impact force to force their vehicle into a wall.

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Have any extra suggestions as to how to maximize the usefulness of impact force? Feel free to leave a post explaining how below! Next month, we won't be straying too far from the subject of DPS weaponry, so if you're interested, keep your eyes peeled for Issue 60.

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Edited July 20, 2017 by Hexed

[Tofu 6,773]

Good Article!

Next Time, could you make something for Dodging or aiming?

[rich678 1]

Good Article!

Next Time, could you make something for Dodging or aiming?

Yeah, I'd also like to read an article about Dodging or aiming (Especially while driving). 

[Freezanator 26]

OMG SEMYON'S VOICE

[bc200214_777 582]

Nice article :D