Guide [Issue 77] The Art of Shaft

[Hex 11,520]

1st place winner of the Guide category!

 

 

Shaft... in the hands of a veteran sniper, this turret transforms from a "noob turret" into an omnipotent killing machine. The concept of Shaft is simple: point and shoot. However, the nuances of this turret are infinitely more difficult to grasp. This anti-tank weapon holds so much more potential than any layman could hope to unlock. This in-depth guide will tell you everything you need to become a professional sharpshooter, so jump right in!
 
There are three major sections of Shaft - these are camouflage, short-range, and, of course, sniping itself.
 
 

Camouflage is arguably the most important part of bringing Shaft's potential to the fore. Therefore, to be a successful sniper, you must first choose an effectively camouflaging paint. Tanki's maps consist of three styles - Summer Grass, Summer Desert, and Winter.  I assume it goes without saying that Shaft functions best in medium to large maps. Underneath each spoiler is an image of the paint in action.
 
 
 
The Summer Grass landscape is by far the most commonly appearing style. Compiled below is a list of the best paints to use when sniping in this map style.
 
Forester is almost definitely the most popular paint for seasoned snipers, and a few years ago, it was indeed the most popular paint in the game! This fame is not undeserved, as the paint makes your tank practically invisible within bushes. Forester is typically most effective from a distance, so larger maps such as Lost Temple or Berlin are preferable.
 

 

Forester
 

 
Green might remind you of a time when you were a newbie to the game, but the paint is nonetheless effective. The nondescriptness of the paint functions well in this case, as the entire objective of camouflage is to stay unnoticed. However, Forester is an objectively better paint for camouflage, as Green paint's hue is noticeably darker than that of the bushes. But, if you're hard up for cash, Green will do admirably in a pinch.
 

 

Green

 
Lead and Picasso are both, to an extent, useful. However, Forester simply outperforms both of these, as both aforementioned paints are lighter than the Tanki bushes. Besides that, Lead and Picasso are substantially more expensive than their improved counterparts.
 

 

Lead

 

Picasso

 

 

 

The Summer Desert map variety does not appear as frequently as Summer Grass, but is still quite popular. Below are two of the best paints to use in this landscape.
 
Sandstone is probably one of the most cost-efficient paints in the garage, and it functions quite well from a distance. True to its name, the paint blends decently well with sand, but I would still recommend staying as far away from the enemy base as possible and in bushes. Sandstone is by far the best paint for sniping in Desert maps.
 

 

Sandstone
 

 
Dragon performs quite well in Desert maps, but you will certainly feel your wallet's weight become significantly less, for Dragon comes at the hefty price of 50,000 crystals. 
 

 

Dragon

 

The Winter backdrop does not appear in the Matchmaking system, but if you're a fan of PRO battles, you'll still see the Winter mode quite often. Therefore, I have made a short list below that shows the best camouflaging paints for the Winter landscape.
 
The White paint is, hands down, no contest, the best paint for camouflage in the Winter mode. The paint is purely white, and blends in perfectly with the snowy walls and houses. It's only 50 crystals, so suit up!
 

 

White

 

 
As a side note, Winter and Tundra are decidedly not good paints for camouflage, despite their wintry names. The patterns of black and grey are much too obvious and flashy. 
 

 

Winter

 

Tundra

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next section of mastering Shaft is short-range. Often, as a sniper, you'll be targeted by the other team. While it is possible to simply kill them before they reach you, it is inevitable that at least one attacker will make it through to you and, in most cases, kill you. However, there are three major steps you can take to defend yourself, and thus significantly raise your K/D ratio.

 

The first and foremost idea to grasp is to always be aware of your surroundings. A smart attacker will not attempt to simply drive up to your face and destroy you; they will always take a side route and sneak up on you. There are far too many snipers that I have encountered who only look toward the enemy base and are, time after time, destroyed by a stealthy enemy. This can be easily avoided by merely looking around after every shot. Playing with sound on is also recommended, because tank engines are actually quite loud. Also, keep an eye on your health bar; I've seen quite a few Isidas sneak up on a sniper and destroy them before the unfortunate target even notices the vampire.

 

Secondly, save your Nitros and Double Armours for short-range. A common oddity that I have observed amongst snipers: Shafts using Nitros. Why does a (usually) stationary sniper need a supply that speeds him up? Yes, there's the slight turret movement boost, but the aforementioned boost is quite minimal and unnoticeable. It's simply not worth it to use a Nitro when you could save that supply for, say, returning a flag or escaping from an enemy who is chasing you. The same goes for Double Armours; if an enemy spots you, the chances are next to nil that they won't target you until you die. Even if you do manage to take the offending tank out first, they will still come back to the same target time after time. Again, you could use that Double Armour against an attacker who's trying to stealthily take your team's snipers out. You should also drop mines as soon as possible in strategic places around you or your base. It's purely up to you whether you wish to defend yourself or your base more, but I typically prefer to drop two mines someplace close behind me and one right on the spot where I'm sniping. Then, I drop as many mines as I can near the perimeter of my base.

 

Finally, react calmly and rationally. If you see a short-range turret (e.g. Firebird, Hammer) approaching you, charge up your shot using sniper mode to deal as much damage as possible to the attacker. When you judge that the enemy is just out of range, release your shot and begin backing off, releasing arcade shots as soon as possible. In many cases, you'll be able to take them out, but even if they do destroy your tank, you'll have dealt an enormous amount of damage to them, which will enable your teammates to neutralise any further threat from them. If a medium-range turret (e.g. Smoky, Thunder) is coming your way, the best thing to do is to retreat behind a wall. Most, if not all, medium-range turrets have heavy knockback, so the chances of you hitting them in sniper mode is quite slim. And as for attempting to best them with arcade mode, you should heed the old proverb: "Don't bring a knife to a gunfight". The best chance you have is to hope that they overextend themselves into your base, where your teammates can quickly dispatch of them. 
 
 

 

The last and clearly most important section: sniping. There are four essentials to master in order to make yourself practically indestructible, so read on if you want to become a professional!

 

The first fundamental concept is to be able to recognise sniping spots. Good sniping spots are often littered across the map, so it's not all that difficult to find a few good ones. I would recommend going through each and every map in the current Matchmaking System to try and find effective areas to snipe. Though PRO battle maps are slightly different, it still makes sniping in a "new" map much easier.
 

There are four guidelines you can follow to recognise good sniping spots. A good sniping spot...

• Is near your base so that your teammates can help defend you;
• Is covered by a good amount of walls;
• Has few exit-entry points for ease of mining;
• Has a sight line straight into the center of the enemy base.

​If you always remember these four points, your effectiveness on the battlefield will rise significantly. In the spoiler is an example of an exemplary sniping spot.
 

 

Cover 

This area has only three exit-entry points; the ramp on the right, the ramp straight ahead, and the bridge. The ramp straight ahead is covered by mines and is also my line of fire, so enemies approaching from there are essentially dead already. The entry point from my right comes from the center of my base, so enemies who target me will also have to go through my entire team. I have also laid four mines on that entry point, so even if they decimate my team, it is much more difficult to access me. The bridge is quite long and without cover, so anyone attempting to cross it will probably be taken out before they reach me.

Sight line

The sight line that I have leads straight into their base, so I essentially am locking down the center of their base. Whoever attempts to pass through the center of the base will either die or take an enormous amount of damage.

 

 

 

Secondly, you need to position your tank wisely. Many snipers I encounter often position their tank incorrectly and thus leave a large amount of their tank completely open. Beneath is a spoiler that shows how to position your tank so as to minimise the angle at which the enemy can see you.

 

 

Incorrect 

Positioning yourself like this allows the entire front side of your tank to be targeted by any snipers near the red house past the bridge. Never leave your tank jutting out; it isn't as if you can cover such a wide angle anyhow. 

 

 

 

 Correct 

 

 

If you position yourself as such, your tank can only be seen from where you yourself are looking. You are pretty much completely safe from any snipers unless their extremely well camouflaged. To retreat from this position when recharging, just drive backward to the left (southwest) to move behind the bridge.

 

 

A few years ago, Shaft was completely dominant in every aspect. To nerf its capabilities, the Developers decided to add a laser sight that showed the Shaft's line of sight. This was a significant debuff, but it is still quite easy to deal with. To hide your laser, all you need to do is aim at a wall near you. In this particular position, just aim at the marked wall: 



If you perform this correctly, the enemy will have no idea who hit them or where the shot came from, adding to the element of surprise when their tank simply explodes in front of their faces. When the enemy passes your line of sight, quickly move your crosshair onto them and release. Don't try to get an exact shot, just move as quickly as possible; otherwise, the opportunity for a kill will pass.

 

Finally, be patient. I have seen far too many snipers impatiently release their shot, then watch their quarry escape in front of their eyes. No matter what, you must always keep your eyes on where they should appear. A common way of deceiving your enemy is to "switch your focus" to someplace else simply by exposing your laser a couple feet away from them. When they pop out, simply point, shoot, and watch 'em burn.
 
 
 

 

There are two available Alterations for Shaft.
 

The first of these is "Assault Emitters", which increases your reload time by 20%, but also raises your minimum damage by 25%. This alteration is quite good if you prefer to play the role of a laid back sniper, but if you like playing aggressive, this alteration is not for you.
 

The second alteration for Shaft is "Heavy Capacitors", which lowers your horizontal aiming speed by 30% and doubles the charge-up time, but raises the overall damage by 30%. This is an extremely strong alteration especially if you typically aim for a single spot in the enemy base as opposed to shooting whatever you see. In fact, if you fully charge up a shot, you can destroy a Mammoth in one hit without Double Damage! I heavily recommend buying this alteration if you're a Shaft fanatic.

There are currently 7 hulls available in the garage, but some are just not suitable for sniping. Shaft on a light hull works surprisingly well, allowing you to dart between two or even three sniping spots, keeping the enemy guessing as to where you are. I recommend Wasp over Hornet because the turret positioning is infinitely better, allowing you to expose much less of your tank when sniping. As for medium hulls, Viking is arguably the best and most versatile hull for sniping. Dictator is much too slow and clumsy, especially at M0 and M1 levels. Viking allows the user to keep a low profile, but also has a great turret position. Titan outperforms Mammoth in practically every way, since pushing power isn't exactly what I would describe as "useful" for a sniper. Overall, Viking is the preferred hull for sniping due to its medium speed (good for escaping) and high health.
 

With the recently added Assault and Rugby modes, everyone has quite a lot to think about as to which mode to play in. Shaft functions best in CTF, TDM, ASL, and RGB, while DM and CP are not suitable choices for Shaft. In the aforementioned preferred modes, you have your teammates to cover and protect you. In DM, your long reload simply cannot compete with short-range turrets like Hammer or Freeze, while in CP, a tanker needs to be mobile and aggressive to capture points. 
 

Alright y'all, that's all I've got for you today, so get out there on the battlefield and enjoy your newfound success! Thanks for reading. This was Conq, signing off!
 
 

@C.O.N.Q.U.E.R.O.R

 

[thethiefofvictory 339]

Mmm, Conqueror! Good one, should help me a lot when I buy Shaft. Congrats!

[C.O.N.Q.U.E.R.O.R 3,845]

Some formatting got messed up in the transfer (I noticed that when I read in Preview Message mode and the normal PM mode, the formatting was different?) so don't blame the weird paragraphs on me :P

 

Thanks ^_^

[Chronicle 164]

You sure went all out, well written! 

Sadly, I'd have to MU my shaft protection to max.

[Zak 2,532]

Nice camper bro !  :ph34r:

[GuidoFawkes 2,361]

with heavy capacitors you can destroy a mammoth in 1 hit without double damage!!!


NO YOU CAN'T.

[InfamatiEtObliterati 182]

Yooo, I can't think of anyone more deserving of the first place than you. Congratulations and kudos for this artfully-written guide.

[C.O.N.Q.U.E.R.O.R 3,845]

with heavy capacitors you can destroy a mammoth in 1 hit without double damage!!!

 

 

NO YOU CAN'T.

Ah my bad, my math skills must have deserted me when I wrote that section. It was rather rushed, almost hit the deadline

 

M4 Shaft: 3000

M4 Mammoth: 4000

Heavy Capacitors: +30%

 

Damn close though, besides if you snipe a mammoth, it's probably not fast enough to avoid one more arcade shot

Edited July 7, 2018 by C.O.N.Q.U.E.R.O.R

[GuidoFawkes 2,361]

Ah my bad, my math skills must have deserted me when I wrote that section. It was rather rushed, almost hit the deadline

 

M4 Shaft: 3000

M4 Mammoth: 4000

Heavy Capacitors: +30%

oh it was you who wrote it... i thought it was hexed that's why i was so rude..  :ph34r: 

[C.O.N.Q.U.E.R.O.R 3,845]

oh it was you who wrote it... i thought it was hexed that's why i was so rude..  :ph34r:

The first line, outro, and last nickname should've been enough to set your brain working :P

 

You've gotta admit, it's a hella good article if you have to look that closely to find a mistake :ph34r:

[GuidoFawkes 2,361]

The first line, outro, and last nickname should've been enough to set your brain working :P

 

You've gotta admit, it's a hella good article if you have to look that closely to find a mistake :ph34r:

obviously i didn't look that closely if i didn't even notice it was written by you  :P 

 

and i only just read it 5 minutes ago aaaand yea i couldn't find any more mistakes. although i disagree on a lot of stuff especially about the camouflage paints.. i mean i think you have to also take into account the colour of the background behind you and not just the colour of the bush. those grey parts in the paints you didn't like would help if there was concrete behind you.  

 

also, shaft is most effective at DM :angry: 

 

 

[Cpt.JackHammer 1,473]

The guide was worth a read, good job kumquat!

[Hex 11,520]

i thought it was hexed that's why i was so rude..  :ph34r:

  :blush:

[C.O.N.Q.U.E.R.O.R 3,845]

Good job Conqueror, now conquer the newspaper.

Getting busier and busier, so I think I'll have to stick with the AWS, sadly  :rolleyes: flex is paying me to stay off repo team so i don't make them look bad every month

[Hagh_GT 0]

Nice they're mostly correct and I would like to add that a shaft with titan can best a smoky in medium hull in arcade with assault emitters. Also just point at the nearest wall to hide laser.

[jollyroger-420 21]

The article was good being a rather slow leaner i have a doubt:

How can I snipe poping  from behind walls but not showing half of  my viking?

and isn't it that possible when sniping near the bridge people of your team might push you :unsure: . plus not many people can afford to place so many mines.

 

Truly, on the whole sniping is a team effort a sniper would require the team to do well. And mostly if the sniper does well then so does the team.

 

Happy Sniping (to proud shaft owners like me) :)

and

happy tanking all :)

Edited July 11, 2018 by jollyroger-420

[Nemesis_Pro_TO_2.0 361]

Good job Conqueror, now conquer the newspaper.

dude u still play i never see u in the game...