Crusader: The New Meta?

[Akame 4,580]

8 hours ago, DestrotankAI9 said:

I definitely don't think any overdrive other than Crusader should scale with double damage - to be honest I think even Crusader should not scale with double damage - it would be much better if it dealt 6000 damage instead of 3000 at Mk8, unaffected by double damage. I definitely don't think it should be affected by drones either - it is quite bad in my opinion that you are somewhat forced to use Booster/Crisis if you want to get the most out of Crusader, and to be honest I think it is potentially overpowered with these drones. Thanks for raising this interesting point - I didn't really think about that too much as I happen to have neither of these drones. It is an interesting idea to have an overdrive which scales with double damage and drones but really this is an inconsistency - I think it should be changed not to do so, just like all the other overdrives to prevent obvious issues. And another thing - it certainly shouldn't scale with Adrenaline.

I think it's being effected by parameters due to it having different values at diff modifications, operating like a turret itself. Also adrenaline probably scales with it since it buffs turret damage as a flat bonus. 

Luckily the status effect times are the same regardless of modifications, but yeah, its one item where you wouldn't want to use unless it's maxed to get the most of it. Not ideal at all for mid ranks and below tbh.

[DestrotankAI9 1,513]

1 hour ago, Akame said:

I think it's being effected by parameters due to it having different values at diff modifications, operating like a turret itself. Also adrenaline probably scales with it since it buffs turret damage as a flat bonus. 

Luckily the status effect times are the same regardless of modifications, but yeah, its one item where you wouldn't want to use unless it's maxed to get the most of it. Not ideal at all for mid ranks and below tbh.

Perhaps that is the way they are thinking of it, indeed. I think however that we can (should) be able to have one without the other - i.e. hull overdrive scaling without dependency on DD/drones. I think it is a bit weird to have a hull which has an overdrive which is only optimal when used with 2 particular high-level drones. Having considered it, I think this should be scrapped as I say and just have it dealing a flat 6000 damage at Mk8 for everyone.

However, maybe this is partly an attempt by Alternativa to try and tempt more people into wanting to buy Ultras to get Crisis? I don't know - I hate to assume bad motives, but with some of the changes in the last year I can't be blamed for it. I wish they would care in general about balance more than short-term $$$, and then if and when the game was both enjoyable and well balanced the $$$ would naturally flow in.

Edited January 25, 2021 by DestrotankAI9

[yellowghetto 3,206]

On 12/23/2020 at 8:21 AM, Viking4s said:

Hello, Tankers, this new year is the harbinger of a new hull on Tanki: Crusader. Lucky players already managed to get it during the early access period, but is it worth the wait?  Will it be a good hull or just a gimmick? Let's find out a little bit more about it with this review.

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Introduction

With the early release of Crusader, Tanki has introduced three new hulls in just five months, expanding the hull range from eight to eleven (including Juggernaut). All these new additions were of the hovering type; instead of using caterpillar tracks for moving, they use a futuristic feature based on anti-gravity, a technology that allows hulls to float above the ground, and move in any direction. But this also provides good stability that prevents them from flipping so they can jump from high cliffs and be sure to land upright. The heavy “hover tank” Ares became the first hull with an anti-gravity feature in August; it was quickly followed by the light-weight Hopper in September, and eventually, the medium hull Crusader came in December to complete the range. As of now, the hull is only obtainable through Ultra Containers during the early access period. After the 15th of January, it will be available in your garage to buy with the good old crystals. 

Let’s review Crusader's stats and Overdrive ability and see its fighting potential in battles.

Hull Specifications

Crusader is a hovering hull with all the characteristics of the medium class hull, similar to them in speed and health points. The hull also combines the characteristics of the hover tank range, with its special manoeuvrability, strafing, and its uncanny stability. The anti-gravity force of the engine keeps the hull in a stable position and compensates for uneven surfaces as well as for the recoil when shooting. To overturn a hover tank in a battle, you need to put high effort into doing so or use lag.  

 

> Hull Name
A Crusader is either a fighter from the medieval Crusades or a person who campaigns vigorously for political, social, or religious change. Therefore, Crusader's name does not stray away from the unspoken rule of giving medium hulls names that belong to a unique category of individuals with fighting abilities or strong military power, such as Viking, Hunter, and Dictator. 

The Polish and the Russian communities used the full name, Krzyżowiec (Crusader) and the Крусейдер (Kruseyder) respectively, while the German community shortened it to Ritter (Knight) instead of Kreuzritter (Crusader) which is a more specific class of warrior: Knight of the Cross. 

Crusader is also the name of an English tank used in World War II mainly to support the North African military campaign.

 

> Hull Design
The hull appears large especially in the middle where it accommodates what looks like the two anti-gravity engines. For reference, Hopper goes only one of them, while the heavy Ares gets four. I was not fond of Ares design, while Hopper is quite beautiful, and expected Crusader to be as good as Viking's aesthetic; unfortunately, it is closer to Hunter's blandness. At the front, we can clearly notice the large built-in cannon - the overdrive that shoots an icicle. This design looks very similar to Ares’ BFG. 

In my humble opinion, Crusader's default skin was not blessed by the goddess of beauty. What I dislike most about it is its wideness in the middle and then the standard complex details of the default skin which is overloaded with tiny details that make it look like an unfinished piece inside a swiss clock watch with a transparent casing. Fortunately, the elite XT Skin does improve the design, but unfortunately, it is only obtainable by opening Ultra Containers during the early access period. 
 

List of skins available per hull (left) - Crusader's Standard and XT skins (right).
 

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[Animated gif in spoiler] CRUSADER XT with Galaxy paint close up view.

When compared with Viking, Crusader is wider and longer; however, the lumps on both sides are actually not tangible objects and you will see them disappearing against walls and buildings (pure Tanki magic), so where a Viking Hull goes, Crusader hull can also fit. 
 

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[Animated gif] Part of the hull disappears in the thickness of the house so the hull hitbox is slimmer than its visible body.
 

> Hull Control
The hovering hulls were introduced by developers as the perfect equipment for mobile gameplay; they were not wrong. With the turret fixed to the hull, the set-up removes the requirement to control the turret aiming as it points where the hull is pointing, giving more leeway for the right hand to manage shooting, supplies selection and overdrive activation.

On computers and laptops, there are two options available to control the hull:

1/ Mouse and keyboard. In that configuration, the hull moves forward, backward, and strafes to the side. The camera, the point of view of the player, follows the hull. With mouse control, you also can control your camera.

2/ keyboard only (mouse controls is disabled). This configuration allows the control of the tank like any other tracked tank, but no strafing is possible. The hull moves independently of the turret and the camera follows the turret. This more conventional control is better for players that do not like strafing and that prefer to use the advantage of turning their turret.

Crusader jumps from high while staffing and always lands on its tracks upright like a cat.

The only time that Crusader do not hover is when dead (obviously) and when struck by the stunning effect of the Hunter and Hopper: the hull will stop hover and while keeping its momentum it will touch ground and slide for some distance. 

 

> Hull Specifications
As Crusader is only available to a few people blessed with luck, I looked in the Tankiwiki to find all the specificationa of the hull, and they confirm that the hull truly belongs to the medium hull class alongside the Viking, the Hunter and the Dictator. The hull sports the same Health Points (HP) range as the medium hulls (from 1500 to 3000) and its top speed range matches the Dictator’s range, the slowest of the lot with 7.30 to 8.5 m/sec.
 

Crusader	Мark 1	Мark 2	Мark 3	Мark 4	Мark 5	Мark 6	Мark 7	Мark 7+
Rank Available From								-
Price of Modification	150	6 000	16 000	29 000	54 000	87 000	130 000	388 000
Protection (HP)	1 500	1 852.94	1 985.29	2 117.65	2 294.12	2 470.59	2 647.06	3 000
Top Speed (m/sec)	7.30	7.58	7.69	7.79	7.94	8.08	8.22	8.50

The fact that two hulls with the same weight have the same speed range suggests that Tanki has planned to cap the top speed range within each hull class weight to keep the three hulls class clearly separated. This is interesting information as it would help us to anticipate some specification of the future hull addition to the game.
 

Crusader	Мark 1	Мark 2	Мark 3	Мark 4	Мark 5	Мark 6	Мark 7	Мark 7+
Hull Weight	1 800	2 223.53	2 382.35	2 541.18	2 752.94	2 964.71	3 176.47	3 600
Hull Power	800	829.00	859.00	882.00	912.00	929.00	953.00	1 000
Hull Acceleration (m/sec²)	9	9.94	10.29	10.65	11.12	11.59	12.06	13
Hull Reverse Acc. (m/sec²)	11	11.94	12.29	12.65	13.12	13.59	14.06	15

Another specification that Crusader shares with the Dictator is its weight range, they are both identical from 1800 to 3600, so they are the heaviest hull of the medium class. However, its power, from 800-1000 units, is close to Viking specs and both have the lowest power range, but the hovertank only improves it by 200 units when fully upgraded which makes it the weakest of the medium class. 

Regarding acceleration and reverse acceleration range, Crusader seats in the middle, but what makes it stand out is that the increase across the marks is the smallest of all. For the deceleration only an increase of 4 meter/sec² versus 8 for the other hulls. For the acceleration only 4 meter/sec², slightly less than Viking (with a variation of 5.3 meter/sec²), both hulls are therefore the slowest to decelerate.

Crusader turning speed start has the highest a low Mark (100deg/sec² versus 75 for Dictator), but then again, this parameter does not improve much with upgrades finishing as the lowest with 120 degree per second versus 150 for Hunter.

The parameter for recoil is not specified in the wiki, but it is powerful and even exacerbates with hover tanks that have no friction with the ground; consequently, upon firing the icicle, the hull will slide effortlessly. Be careful when using the overdrive as the Crusader will quickly move backward over 3 to 5 meters, therefore keep your back foot away from the edge of a bridge or cliff if you do not wish to fall down.

Despite being stable when jumping and hovering over small obstacles, Crusader is very sensitive to impact force from other turrets, which will make you easily miss your shots.

In short, Crusader is not blessed with exceptional specifications: the hull is the heaviest, the weakest in power and barely gets better when upgrading, so even when it starts strong, it finishes either average or weak. I would not select that hull for this specification only. However, what would make you buy it is probably its stability and being of the medium class (difficult to overturn), but what about its overdrive?

 

Overdrive

The Crusader overdrive is a built-in cannon which the second hull equipped with this mechanic (with the first being Ares), but unlike Ares, this one is purely offence-oriented. The projectile fired is made out of a thick layer of ice and shaped like an icicle for better aerodynamics. Upon activation, the overdrive requires three seconds before firing it as it has to manufacture the icicle. The whole process starts with the cryo-generator absorbing the surrounding moisture (large blue light in front of the hull) which is then cooled down and cast into the shape of a sharp icicle; eventually, the projectile is shot at high velocity. When hitting a solid obstacle, the projectile shatters into small ice shards dealing cold splash and armor-piercing splash effect to the opponent in the vicinity of the explosion; tanks will take on damage, partially freeze, and temporarily lose their armor protection.
 

Crusader overdrive full mechanics demonstration.

 

> Overdrive Charging Parameters
The charging of the Crusader overdrive depends on two parameters, the charging by point and the basic charging overtime. 
 

Overdrive Charging per Hull	Wasp	Hornet	Hopper	Ares	Titan	Mammoth
Charge per battle point (%)	0.6	0.5	0.7	0.7	0.5	0.6
Charge per second (%)	1.0	0.9	1.0	0.7	0.8	0.7
Overdrive Charging per Hull	Viking	Hunter	Crusader	Dictator	Juggernaut
Charge per battle point (%)	0.5	0.6	0.6	0.7	0
Charge per second (%)	0.4	0.9	1.0	0.7	2.5

Crusader's Overdrive increase for each point earned by a factor of 0.6. This is the same rate as for Wasp, Hunter, and Mammoth, which is better than Hornet, Viking, and Titan with only a factor of 0.5. When Crusader kills a tank, it will earn ten score points and consequently its overdrive will increase by 6% (0.6 * 10). 

Its overdrive passive charge per second is the highest with the factor of 1. It shares this fast charging parameter with Hopper and Wasp by taking only 100 seconds for a full charge (100 / 1). The longest overdrive charging is for Viking with 250 seconds (100 / 0.4) and the fastest is Juggernaut with 40 seconds (100 / 2.5).

Even if you do not manage to score, points the quick charging will be beneficial; this overdrive is more suited for players that stay in defence or support where they have less opportunity to score and wait the right moment to support once the charge is completed.

 

> Overdrive Effective Range
The effective range of the Overdrive has two components, the first one is the distance that the icicle can travel across, and the second is the splash damage range of the icicle explosion. 

Crusader's cannon range belongs to the long-range category (unlimited) as the icicle travels in a straight line until it reaches a solid obstacle. It would then explode and cause melee range splash damages. (Solid obstacles in the game are enemy and ally hull, supply drop (including gold box), walls, tree trunk, pylon, bridge, ground, icicle…) However, the projectile will not explode if it crosses way with intangible obstacles like turrets, Titan’s dome generator, drones, flags, rugby balls or control points. The vertical auto-aim angle of the Crusader is identical to the close-range turrets (Twins, Ricochet and Hammer) with angle of 11 degree upwards and a 14 degree downwards, which means it is slightly more efficient to shoot from an elevated position.
 

Splash damage performance (%) of Crusader (light green) compared to existing overdrives and turrets.

The splash damage reaches a 10-meter radius from the point of explosion (light green line). The damage percentage profile is similar to splash damage from Terminator rockets (white line) in maximum radius distance and final weak damages (10%), but 30% weaker at 5 meters radius. Compared to Striker's (dark green line) rocket it is also less powerful at 5 meters radius, but then it becomes stronger after 8 meters radius. 
 

The gun range is unlimited like for Ares, but the effective damage range (10m) is third worst after
Ares healing/killing power (6m), and Mammoth AT-field (7.5m).

As a Crusader player, be careful to where you aim your overdrive to as splash damage deals self-damage so make sure that you stay away from the explosion range! Therefore, maintain 10 meters distance from your enemy, ally, or any obstacles that stand in the trajectory of the icicle if you do not want to taste your own medicine. 
 

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Fire the overdrive too close will result on self-damage and eventually death .

 

> Overdrive Damage and Effect
When the powerful icicle explodes, any enemy tank within a 10-meter radius vicinity is not only damaged, but they feel the explosion impact force, the cold effect and lose their armor for three seconds. When a tank is destroyed by the direct effect of the icicle the cause of death will show the red atomic cloud mushroom  which is also used for the overdrives of Wasp and Ares.

Both damage and impact force parameters of the overdrive are upgraded with the hull Mark, and this is a first for an overdrive. This is very strange, the Hull becomes a turret on its own right, if it has a gun, shoots like a turret and can be upgraded like a turret: then it is a turret. Was this Icicle technology first developed as a Turret concept? Viking also has an overdrive mechanics that indirectly follow the Mark level, but it does not behave like an independent turret.
 

Crusader	Мk1	Мk2	Мk3	Мk4	Мk5	Мk6	Мk7	Мk7+
Overdrive damage (HP)	1 500	1 852.94	1 985.29	2 117.65	2 294.12	2 470.59	2 647.06	3 000
Overdrive Impact Force	500	617.65	661.76	705.88	764.71	823.53	882.35	1 000

 

The overdrive health point (HP) damage range from 1500 at Mark 1 to 3000 HP at Mark 7+. To improve the low damage output, an efficient strategy would be to aim at a group of tanks and let the splash damage do its work. Furthermore, Double Damage supply and drones with damage boosting ability (Crisis and Booster) increase the damage output of Crusader's Overdrive, just like they do with turrets! Therefore, the maximum out put at Mark 7+ equipped with a fully upgraded Booster drone can deliver 12600 HP damage for a direct hit (over 60% health point of a Mark 7+ Juggernaut). But the health points damage is also reduced by other protection features that the enemy will gear up: double armor (halves it), Defender drone, passive protection of drones and Titan’s dome. Surprisingly, the universal turret augment Adrenaline also boost the Icicle's damage output, and the boost is related to the turret range. Is it per design or is it a bug? Let's wait and see.

The icicle has a huge impact force  on exposing which also follows the hull parameters upgrades: 500 at Mark 1 to 1000 at Mark 7+. Crusader's Overdrive impact force is superior to the Gauss (in sniping mode) and Magnum's explosion impact force from 300 at Mark 1 to 900 at Mark 7+. It is similar in strength to the BFG explosion; however it is superior with a radius of 10 meters versus 6 meters for Ares. But the icicle explosion is nowhere near the Wasp N2-Bomb or the Juggernaut overdrive blasting power. Use the strong impact force to knock off your enemy's aim. This is an especially useful tactic against enemy Juggernauts. 

When hit negative status effects  Freeze and Armor-piercing will be displayed.

Tanks hit by the Icicle or the resulting splash damage within the 10 meters radius will lose their armor for five seconds while Armour-piercing (AP) status indicator will show-up  (broken purple shield status effect). The AP effect is totally countered by the AP immunity hull augment  but not by Titan's dome. The negative AP effect is not applied when self-damaging.

Additionally the tanks will be frozen for about four seconds (just like with Dictator's overdrive), and the Freeze status indicator will show-up(blue snowflake status effect). Affected tanks will have slowed movement, speed and turret rotation will move to a fraction of their original speed. The freezing effect can be diminished or ignored by equipping a Cold Resistance  or Cold Immunity hull augment  but not by Titan's dome. The negative Freezing effect is not applied when self-damaging.

Last but not least, the top advantage of this overdrive is that its whole mechanics does not have any interaction with other overdrives, which means that once activated the process is not stoppable unless you die of course. This is a great plus for the gameplay and strategy of this hull. However, there are three main issues with this overdrive. The first, as we have seen already, is self-damage, so do not use it in tight spaces or crowded areas. The second is lag, it will make your precise aiming miss your original target, therefore if you are prone to lag, I would not buy Crusader if I were you. And the third and last is the poor stability of hover hulls to small terrain bumps and obstacles, and above all its sensitivity to impact force from other turrets (Thunder, Magnum, Smoky...), which will make your icicle easily miss its intended target. 

Icicle fired to oblivion after impact force from Thunder’s explosive shell.

Now that you have all the details of the mechanics and specification of the hull and its overdrive, it is time to put it to good use in your gameplay. 

 

Gameplay & Strategy
Overall, this hull is meant for the destruction and neutralization of standalone targets at medium and long-range, therefore medium and large maps with clear spaces are all suitable for Crusader overdrive. But as the hull is on the slow side, the medium maps are better matched allowing it to express its full potential. And if you keep your 10 meters distance to avoid self-damage, a small map can also be profitable for this medium hull.
 

Destruction of a cluster of tanks near the control point in Wolfenstein.

The freezing and armor-piercing capability of the overdrive makes Crusader the perfect weapon for crowd control as it quickly wipes clean a strong defence or stuns dead a raid of attackers. Thanks to the splash damage effect, enemies hidden behind protective walls or sniping in a corner of the map are not safe from its wrath. This hull is also perfect for tanking from the middle of the map and for supporting the attacking allies by weakening defenders on the frontline prior to their arrival. 
 

Neutralisation of foes nested on a high and fortified position on a Kungur map. Watch out for the recoil.

The icicle travelling speed, far faster than Ares BFG, is the ideal weapon to attack control points in CP and Siege battle modes where enemies tend to flock in numbers. Furthermore, it's immune to the shield effect of Titan’s dome, a commonly used hull in these modes. For maximum efficiency, aim at a tank in the middle of the group or the wall close by to maximize the splash damage output radius. After the icicle’s explosion finishes off your enemy, whose armor is temporarily deactivated by the AP effect with your turret, the maximum damage will be achieved with splash-damaging turrets such Striker, Magnum or Thunder. All this splash damage business makes the Crusader well suited for a splash damage specialist. 
 

Aim for maximum splash damage: middle of the flock (left) and solid obstacles (right).
Make sure you are 25 meters away from any Hunter or Hopper to avoid ill-timed stunning.

[Animated gif] Three kills by aiming for maximum radius splash damage output on Scope map.

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Leave 10 meters distance to avoid your own splash damage.

However, the warm up delay of the overdrive before firing gives away your position and warns enemies of your imminent deadly strike. As this mechanics is very similar to the Railgun one, skilled Railgun players will be quick to adapt and master it. If you are not familiar with Railgun gameplay, here are some quick tips. When facing enemies, use the terrain and nearby obstacles to hide the activation mechanism and time the firing to aim at the enemy at the last moment. When in open space, pretend to fire in one direction, but then rotate the hull to your true target at the last moment to catch your enemy by surprise. If you use these techniques, you'll find that you'll achieve better results with Crusader's overdrive.
 

Pretending to leave before aiming the overdrive straight to the enemy face.
Within five seconds shoot again to finish wounded enemy without armor protection.

Another possible approach is to flank the enemy,= and attack from the side from a safe and far away position, like the scenario shown above. You have all the time to aim properly and time your attack. Remember that the icicle can be seen from far and despite its speed, enemy players can still avoid it.
 

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On the race map, large avenues are perfect for Crusader to flank and launch attacks from long-range.

The good stability provided by the two anti-gravity generators allows an effortless and smooth jump from cliffs and bridges without any stabilizing techniques needed by regular hulls; therefore, any turret can be used. However, due to the nature of the overdrive (splash damage) and relatively slow speed of the hull, melee range turrets are not the best fit. Saying that you can still use close range and melee range to kill enemies and achieve other battle objectives to charge up the overdrive and then use the overdrive for long range support. In that case, the overdrive becomes a secondary firing mode that extends your damage range firepower that a versatile defender can use temporarily and venture out of the base to accomplish some supporting gameplay.   

 

Ratings & Conclusion
 > Hull novelty - Being the third hovertank, there is not much originality; however, this medium hovertank was definitely a must have to complete the full portfolio giving mobile player one playable hull in each of the three class: Ares a heavy hull and Hopper as a light hull.  
    Ratings: 4/5

> Design creativity - Meh, I clearly do not like the hull design; the base is a lean sport car silhouette to which you welded two large and ugly fans on each side: the result is gross. Maybe 3 or 4 smaller fans would have given a better look to the design. Fortunately, the XT skin looks better but it is not easy to get. It is my own opinion, but some players call it a fried egg hull…
   Ratings: 2/5

 > Overdrive - The overdrive is strong and perfect for offensive gameplay when handled by a skilled player; Railgun and Thunder users would be quick to leverage this asset. The icicle mechanics offers a lot of potential in all battle modes and can be leveraged in any map size if enough room is given, but most optimally in medium size. Beware the self-damage though.
    Ratings: 5/5

> Overall - The hull is quite stable as it cannot be flipped and can jump effortlessly from heights, but it is quite sensitive to impact force like a light hull. This quality is both a strength and a weakness; however, this is the price to pay considering the benefit of being stable, having medium health and carrying a strong long-range overdrive. It could easily be the next meta in the game.
    Ratings: 4/5

Of the three hover tanks, Crusader is the most interesting and I hope you will succumb to it if you haven't already for one of the two others. It is not about its exterior design obviously, but for the trick under its hood: good speed, better than Ares, and for its strategic Overdrive, something that Hopper lacks. For me, Crusader's greatest asset is the overdrive, the broad range of opportunities offered by the overdrive when properly leveraged would benefit both solo and team players. Once fully released, the hull will quickly become the major contender in the medium hull range; Hunter and Viking will be badly upset by the new kid on the block.

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Thanks for reading - I hope you enjoyed. What are your opinions on Crusader? Be sure to let us know by participating in the poll above!

See you later lagger.

VKG4S

Specials thanks for @Akame, @Jay and the Tankiwiki, whose materials (videos and gif) were used to make new animated gifs. And especially @Akame for doing further testing with Crusader hidden abilities.

Dude, your article is a straight banger once again, but I can't help to say that I hate Crusader. Not your fault, but for an overdrive on a hull similar to Dictator that is more single use, lasts a second, I think this is the worst hull.

[EternalGlory 62]

buff overdrive 3 seconds to 0, also overdrive ball must travel arund 2 times faster, even if is charged slowly...  Now is almost trash and unusable. You have it charged and wait for good moment to use it, but you need to use it, because it charge faster and you know you lose if you not use it fast....,  and is just bad and not efficiency. Definitely need improve something with this overdrive.

Edited March 18, 2021 by EternalGlory

[yellowghetto 3,206]

On 12/23/2020 at 8:21 AM, Viking4s said:

Hello, Tankers, this new year is the harbinger of a new hull on Tanki: Crusader. Lucky players already managed to get it during the early access period, but is it worth the wait?  Will it be a good hull or just a gimmick? Let's find out a little bit more about it with this review.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Introduction

With the early release of Crusader, Tanki has introduced three new hulls in just five months, expanding the hull range from eight to eleven (including Juggernaut). All these new additions were of the hovering type; instead of using caterpillar tracks for moving, they use a futuristic feature based on anti-gravity, a technology that allows hulls to float above the ground, and move in any direction. But this also provides good stability that prevents them from flipping so they can jump from high cliffs and be sure to land upright. The heavy “hover tank” Ares became the first hull with an anti-gravity feature in August; it was quickly followed by the light-weight Hopper in September, and eventually, the medium hull Crusader came in December to complete the range. As of now, the hull is only obtainable through Ultra Containers during the early access period. After the 15th of January, it will be available in your garage to buy with the good old crystals. 

Let’s review Crusader's stats and Overdrive ability and see its fighting potential in battles.

Hull Specifications

Crusader is a hovering hull with all the characteristics of the medium class hull, similar to them in speed and health points. The hull also combines the characteristics of the hover tank range, with its special manoeuvrability, strafing, and its uncanny stability. The anti-gravity force of the engine keeps the hull in a stable position and compensates for uneven surfaces as well as for the recoil when shooting. To overturn a hover tank in a battle, you need to put high effort into doing so or use lag.  

 

> Hull Name
A Crusader is either a fighter from the medieval Crusades or a person who campaigns vigorously for political, social, or religious change. Therefore, Crusader's name does not stray away from the unspoken rule of giving medium hulls names that belong to a unique category of individuals with fighting abilities or strong military power, such as Viking, Hunter, and Dictator. 

The Polish and the Russian communities used the full name, Krzyżowiec (Crusader) and the Крусейдер (Kruseyder) respectively, while the German community shortened it to Ritter (Knight) instead of Kreuzritter (Crusader) which is a more specific class of warrior: Knight of the Cross. 

Crusader is also the name of an English tank used in World War II mainly to support the North African military campaign.

 

> Hull Design
The hull appears large especially in the middle where it accommodates what looks like the two anti-gravity engines. For reference, Hopper goes only one of them, while the heavy Ares gets four. I was not fond of Ares design, while Hopper is quite beautiful, and expected Crusader to be as good as Viking's aesthetic; unfortunately, it is closer to Hunter's blandness. At the front, we can clearly notice the large built-in cannon - the overdrive that shoots an icicle. This design looks very similar to Ares’ BFG. 

In my humble opinion, Crusader's default skin was not blessed by the goddess of beauty. What I dislike most about it is its wideness in the middle and then the standard complex details of the default skin which is overloaded with tiny details that make it look like an unfinished piece inside a swiss clock watch with a transparent casing. Fortunately, the elite XT Skin does improve the design, but unfortunately, it is only obtainable by opening Ultra Containers during the early access period. 
 

List of skins available per hull (left) - Crusader's Standard and XT skins (right).
 

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[Animated gif in spoiler] CRUSADER XT with Galaxy paint close up view.

When compared with Viking, Crusader is wider and longer; however, the lumps on both sides are actually not tangible objects and you will see them disappearing against walls and buildings (pure Tanki magic), so where a Viking Hull goes, Crusader hull can also fit. 
 

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[Animated gif] Part of the hull disappears in the thickness of the house so the hull hitbox is slimmer than its visible body.
 

> Hull Control
The hovering hulls were introduced by developers as the perfect equipment for mobile gameplay; they were not wrong. With the turret fixed to the hull, the set-up removes the requirement to control the turret aiming as it points where the hull is pointing, giving more leeway for the right hand to manage shooting, supplies selection and overdrive activation.

On computers and laptops, there are two options available to control the hull:

1/ Mouse and keyboard. In that configuration, the hull moves forward, backward, and strafes to the side. The camera, the point of view of the player, follows the hull. With mouse control, you also can control your camera.

2/ keyboard only (mouse controls is disabled). This configuration allows the control of the tank like any other tracked tank, but no strafing is possible. The hull moves independently of the turret and the camera follows the turret. This more conventional control is better for players that do not like strafing and that prefer to use the advantage of turning their turret.

Crusader jumps from high while staffing and always lands on its tracks upright like a cat.

The only time that Crusader do not hover is when dead (obviously) and when struck by the stunning effect of the Hunter and Hopper: the hull will stop hover and while keeping its momentum it will touch ground and slide for some distance. 

 

> Hull Specifications
As Crusader is only available to a few people blessed with luck, I looked in the Tankiwiki to find all the specificationa of the hull, and they confirm that the hull truly belongs to the medium hull class alongside the Viking, the Hunter and the Dictator. The hull sports the same Health Points (HP) range as the medium hulls (from 1500 to 3000) and its top speed range matches the Dictator’s range, the slowest of the lot with 7.30 to 8.5 m/sec.
 

Crusader	Мark 1	Мark 2	Мark 3	Мark 4	Мark 5	Мark 6	Мark 7	Мark 7+
Rank Available From								-
Price of Modification	150	6 000	16 000	29 000	54 000	87 000	130 000	388 000
Protection (HP)	1 500	1 852.94	1 985.29	2 117.65	2 294.12	2 470.59	2 647.06	3 000
Top Speed (m/sec)	7.30	7.58	7.69	7.79	7.94	8.08	8.22	8.50

The fact that two hulls with the same weight have the same speed range suggests that Tanki has planned to cap the top speed range within each hull class weight to keep the three hulls class clearly separated. This is interesting information as it would help us to anticipate some specification of the future hull addition to the game.
 

Crusader	Мark 1	Мark 2	Мark 3	Мark 4	Мark 5	Мark 6	Мark 7	Мark 7+
Hull Weight	1 800	2 223.53	2 382.35	2 541.18	2 752.94	2 964.71	3 176.47	3 600
Hull Power	800	829.00	859.00	882.00	912.00	929.00	953.00	1 000
Hull Acceleration (m/sec²)	9	9.94	10.29	10.65	11.12	11.59	12.06	13
Hull Reverse Acc. (m/sec²)	11	11.94	12.29	12.65	13.12	13.59	14.06	15

Another specification that Crusader shares with the Dictator is its weight range, they are both identical from 1800 to 3600, so they are the heaviest hull of the medium class. However, its power, from 800-1000 units, is close to Viking specs and both have the lowest power range, but the hovertank only improves it by 200 units when fully upgraded which makes it the weakest of the medium class. 

Regarding acceleration and reverse acceleration range, Crusader seats in the middle, but what makes it stand out is that the increase across the marks is the smallest of all. For the deceleration only an increase of 4 meter/sec² versus 8 for the other hulls. For the acceleration only 4 meter/sec², slightly less than Viking (with a variation of 5.3 meter/sec²), both hulls are therefore the slowest to decelerate.

Crusader turning speed start has the highest a low Mark (100deg/sec² versus 75 for Dictator), but then again, this parameter does not improve much with upgrades finishing as the lowest with 120 degree per second versus 150 for Hunter.

The parameter for recoil is not specified in the wiki, but it is powerful and even exacerbates with hover tanks that have no friction with the ground; consequently, upon firing the icicle, the hull will slide effortlessly. Be careful when using the overdrive as the Crusader will quickly move backward over 3 to 5 meters, therefore keep your back foot away from the edge of a bridge or cliff if you do not wish to fall down.

Despite being stable when jumping and hovering over small obstacles, Crusader is very sensitive to impact force from other turrets, which will make you easily miss your shots.

In short, Crusader is not blessed with exceptional specifications: the hull is the heaviest, the weakest in power and barely gets better when upgrading, so even when it starts strong, it finishes either average or weak. I would not select that hull for this specification only. However, what would make you buy it is probably its stability and being of the medium class (difficult to overturn), but what about its overdrive?

 

Overdrive

The Crusader overdrive is a built-in cannon which the second hull equipped with this mechanic (with the first being Ares), but unlike Ares, this one is purely offence-oriented. The projectile fired is made out of a thick layer of ice and shaped like an icicle for better aerodynamics. Upon activation, the overdrive requires three seconds before firing it as it has to manufacture the icicle. The whole process starts with the cryo-generator absorbing the surrounding moisture (large blue light in front of the hull) which is then cooled down and cast into the shape of a sharp icicle; eventually, the projectile is shot at high velocity. When hitting a solid obstacle, the projectile shatters into small ice shards dealing cold splash and armor-piercing splash effect to the opponent in the vicinity of the explosion; tanks will take on damage, partially freeze, and temporarily lose their armor protection.
 

Crusader overdrive full mechanics demonstration.

 

> Overdrive Charging Parameters
The charging of the Crusader overdrive depends on two parameters, the charging by point and the basic charging overtime. 
 

Overdrive Charging per Hull	Wasp	Hornet	Hopper	Ares	Titan	Mammoth
Charge per battle point (%)	0.6	0.5	0.7	0.7	0.5	0.6
Charge per second (%)	1.0	0.9	1.0	0.7	0.8	0.7
Overdrive Charging per Hull	Viking	Hunter	Crusader	Dictator	Juggernaut
Charge per battle point (%)	0.5	0.6	0.6	0.7	0
Charge per second (%)	0.4	0.9	1.0	0.7	2.5

Crusader's Overdrive increase for each point earned by a factor of 0.6. This is the same rate as for Wasp, Hunter, and Mammoth, which is better than Hornet, Viking, and Titan with only a factor of 0.5. When Crusader kills a tank, it will earn ten score points and consequently its overdrive will increase by 6% (0.6 * 10). 

Its overdrive passive charge per second is the highest with the factor of 1. It shares this fast charging parameter with Hopper and Wasp by taking only 100 seconds for a full charge (100 / 1). The longest overdrive charging is for Viking with 250 seconds (100 / 0.4) and the fastest is Juggernaut with 40 seconds (100 / 2.5).

Even if you do not manage to score, points the quick charging will be beneficial; this overdrive is more suited for players that stay in defence or support where they have less opportunity to score and wait the right moment to support once the charge is completed.

 

> Overdrive Effective Range
The effective range of the Overdrive has two components, the first one is the distance that the icicle can travel across, and the second is the splash damage range of the icicle explosion. 

Crusader's cannon range belongs to the long-range category (unlimited) as the icicle travels in a straight line until it reaches a solid obstacle. It would then explode and cause melee range splash damages. (Solid obstacles in the game are enemy and ally hull, supply drop (including gold box), walls, tree trunk, pylon, bridge, ground, icicle…) However, the projectile will not explode if it crosses way with intangible obstacles like turrets, Titan’s dome generator, drones, flags, rugby balls or control points. The vertical auto-aim angle of the Crusader is identical to the close-range turrets (Twins, Ricochet and Hammer) with angle of 11 degree upwards and a 14 degree downwards, which means it is slightly more efficient to shoot from an elevated position.
 

Splash damage performance (%) of Crusader (light green) compared to existing overdrives and turrets.

The splash damage reaches a 10-meter radius from the point of explosion (light green line). The damage percentage profile is similar to splash damage from Terminator rockets (white line) in maximum radius distance and final weak damages (10%), but 30% weaker at 5 meters radius. Compared to Striker's (dark green line) rocket it is also less powerful at 5 meters radius, but then it becomes stronger after 8 meters radius. 
 

The gun range is unlimited like for Ares, but the effective damage range (10m) is third worst after
Ares healing/killing power (6m), and Mammoth AT-field (7.5m).

As a Crusader player, be careful to where you aim your overdrive to as splash damage deals self-damage so make sure that you stay away from the explosion range! Therefore, maintain 10 meters distance from your enemy, ally, or any obstacles that stand in the trajectory of the icicle if you do not want to taste your own medicine. 
 

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Fire the overdrive too close will result on self-damage and eventually death .

 

> Overdrive Damage and Effect
When the powerful icicle explodes, any enemy tank within a 10-meter radius vicinity is not only damaged, but they feel the explosion impact force, the cold effect and lose their armor for three seconds. When a tank is destroyed by the direct effect of the icicle the cause of death will show the red atomic cloud mushroom  which is also used for the overdrives of Wasp and Ares.

Both damage and impact force parameters of the overdrive are upgraded with the hull Mark, and this is a first for an overdrive. This is very strange, the Hull becomes a turret on its own right, if it has a gun, shoots like a turret and can be upgraded like a turret: then it is a turret. Was this Icicle technology first developed as a Turret concept? Viking also has an overdrive mechanics that indirectly follow the Mark level, but it does not behave like an independent turret.
 

Crusader	Мk1	Мk2	Мk3	Мk4	Мk5	Мk6	Мk7	Мk7+
Overdrive damage (HP)	1 500	1 852.94	1 985.29	2 117.65	2 294.12	2 470.59	2 647.06	3 000
Overdrive Impact Force	500	617.65	661.76	705.88	764.71	823.53	882.35	1 000

 

The overdrive health point (HP) damage range from 1500 at Mark 1 to 3000 HP at Mark 7+. To improve the low damage output, an efficient strategy would be to aim at a group of tanks and let the splash damage do its work. Furthermore, Double Damage supply and drones with damage boosting ability (Crisis and Booster) increase the damage output of Crusader's Overdrive, just like they do with turrets! Therefore, the maximum out put at Mark 7+ equipped with a fully upgraded Booster drone can deliver 12600 HP damage for a direct hit (over 60% health point of a Mark 7+ Juggernaut). But the health points damage is also reduced by other protection features that the enemy will gear up: double armor (halves it), Defender drone, passive protection of drones and Titan’s dome. Surprisingly, the universal turret augment Adrenaline also boost the Icicle's damage output, and the boost is related to the turret range. Is it per design or is it a bug? Let's wait and see.

The icicle has a huge impact force  on exposing which also follows the hull parameters upgrades: 500 at Mark 1 to 1000 at Mark 7+. Crusader's Overdrive impact force is superior to the Gauss (in sniping mode) and Magnum's explosion impact force from 300 at Mark 1 to 900 at Mark 7+. It is similar in strength to the BFG explosion; however it is superior with a radius of 10 meters versus 6 meters for Ares. But the icicle explosion is nowhere near the Wasp N2-Bomb or the Juggernaut overdrive blasting power. Use the strong impact force to knock off your enemy's aim. This is an especially useful tactic against enemy Juggernauts. 

When hit negative status effects  Freeze and Armor-piercing will be displayed.

Tanks hit by the Icicle or the resulting splash damage within the 10 meters radius will lose their armor for five seconds while Armour-piercing (AP) status indicator will show-up  (broken purple shield status effect). The AP effect is totally countered by the AP immunity hull augment  but not by Titan's dome. The negative AP effect is not applied when self-damaging.

Additionally the tanks will be frozen for about four seconds (just like with Dictator's overdrive), and the Freeze status indicator will show-up(blue snowflake status effect). Affected tanks will have slowed movement, speed and turret rotation will move to a fraction of their original speed. The freezing effect can be diminished or ignored by equipping a Cold Resistance  or Cold Immunity hull augment  but not by Titan's dome. The negative Freezing effect is not applied when self-damaging.

Last but not least, the top advantage of this overdrive is that its whole mechanics does not have any interaction with other overdrives, which means that once activated the process is not stoppable unless you die of course. This is a great plus for the gameplay and strategy of this hull. However, there are three main issues with this overdrive. The first, as we have seen already, is self-damage, so do not use it in tight spaces or crowded areas. The second is lag, it will make your precise aiming miss your original target, therefore if you are prone to lag, I would not buy Crusader if I were you. And the third and last is the poor stability of hover hulls to small terrain bumps and obstacles, and above all its sensitivity to impact force from other turrets (Thunder, Magnum, Smoky...), which will make your icicle easily miss its intended target. 

Icicle fired to oblivion after impact force from Thunder’s explosive shell.

Now that you have all the details of the mechanics and specification of the hull and its overdrive, it is time to put it to good use in your gameplay. 

 

Gameplay & Strategy
Overall, this hull is meant for the destruction and neutralization of standalone targets at medium and long-range, therefore medium and large maps with clear spaces are all suitable for Crusader overdrive. But as the hull is on the slow side, the medium maps are better matched allowing it to express its full potential. And if you keep your 10 meters distance to avoid self-damage, a small map can also be profitable for this medium hull.
 

Destruction of a cluster of tanks near the control point in Wolfenstein.

The freezing and armor-piercing capability of the overdrive makes Crusader the perfect weapon for crowd control as it quickly wipes clean a strong defence or stuns dead a raid of attackers. Thanks to the splash damage effect, enemies hidden behind protective walls or sniping in a corner of the map are not safe from its wrath. This hull is also perfect for tanking from the middle of the map and for supporting the attacking allies by weakening defenders on the frontline prior to their arrival. 
 

Neutralisation of foes nested on a high and fortified position on a Kungur map. Watch out for the recoil.

The icicle travelling speed, far faster than Ares BFG, is the ideal weapon to attack control points in CP and Siege battle modes where enemies tend to flock in numbers. Furthermore, it's immune to the shield effect of Titan’s dome, a commonly used hull in these modes. For maximum efficiency, aim at a tank in the middle of the group or the wall close by to maximize the splash damage output radius. After the icicle’s explosion finishes off your enemy, whose armor is temporarily deactivated by the AP effect with your turret, the maximum damage will be achieved with splash-damaging turrets such Striker, Magnum or Thunder. All this splash damage business makes the Crusader well suited for a splash damage specialist. 
 

Aim for maximum splash damage: middle of the flock (left) and solid obstacles (right).
Make sure you are 25 meters away from any Hunter or Hopper to avoid ill-timed stunning.

[Animated gif] Three kills by aiming for maximum radius splash damage output on Scope map.

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Leave 10 meters distance to avoid your own splash damage.

However, the warm up delay of the overdrive before firing gives away your position and warns enemies of your imminent deadly strike. As this mechanics is very similar to the Railgun one, skilled Railgun players will be quick to adapt and master it. If you are not familiar with Railgun gameplay, here are some quick tips. When facing enemies, use the terrain and nearby obstacles to hide the activation mechanism and time the firing to aim at the enemy at the last moment. When in open space, pretend to fire in one direction, but then rotate the hull to your true target at the last moment to catch your enemy by surprise. If you use these techniques, you'll find that you'll achieve better results with Crusader's overdrive.
 

Pretending to leave before aiming the overdrive straight to the enemy face.
Within five seconds shoot again to finish wounded enemy without armor protection.

Another possible approach is to flank the enemy,= and attack from the side from a safe and far away position, like the scenario shown above. You have all the time to aim properly and time your attack. Remember that the icicle can be seen from far and despite its speed, enemy players can still avoid it.
 

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On the race map, large avenues are perfect for Crusader to flank and launch attacks from long-range.

The good stability provided by the two anti-gravity generators allows an effortless and smooth jump from cliffs and bridges without any stabilizing techniques needed by regular hulls; therefore, any turret can be used. However, due to the nature of the overdrive (splash damage) and relatively slow speed of the hull, melee range turrets are not the best fit. Saying that you can still use close range and melee range to kill enemies and achieve other battle objectives to charge up the overdrive and then use the overdrive for long range support. In that case, the overdrive becomes a secondary firing mode that extends your damage range firepower that a versatile defender can use temporarily and venture out of the base to accomplish some supporting gameplay.   

 

Ratings & Conclusion
 > Hull novelty - Being the third hovertank, there is not much originality; however, this medium hovertank was definitely a must have to complete the full portfolio giving mobile player one playable hull in each of the three class: Ares a heavy hull and Hopper as a light hull.  
    Ratings: 4/5

> Design creativity - Meh, I clearly do not like the hull design; the base is a lean sport car silhouette to which you welded two large and ugly fans on each side: the result is gross. Maybe 3 or 4 smaller fans would have given a better look to the design. Fortunately, the XT skin looks better but it is not easy to get. It is my own opinion, but some players call it a fried egg hull…
   Ratings: 2/5

 > Overdrive - The overdrive is strong and perfect for offensive gameplay when handled by a skilled player; Railgun and Thunder users would be quick to leverage this asset. The icicle mechanics offers a lot of potential in all battle modes and can be leveraged in any map size if enough room is given, but most optimally in medium size. Beware the self-damage though.
    Ratings: 5/5

> Overall - The hull is quite stable as it cannot be flipped and can jump effortlessly from heights, but it is quite sensitive to impact force like a light hull. This quality is both a strength and a weakness; however, this is the price to pay considering the benefit of being stable, having medium health and carrying a strong long-range overdrive. It could easily be the next meta in the game.
    Ratings: 4/5

Of the three hover tanks, Crusader is the most interesting and I hope you will succumb to it if you haven't already for one of the two others. It is not about its exterior design obviously, but for the trick under its hood: good speed, better than Ares, and for its strategic Overdrive, something that Hopper lacks. For me, Crusader's greatest asset is the overdrive, the broad range of opportunities offered by the overdrive when properly leveraged would benefit both solo and team players. Once fully released, the hull will quickly become the major contender in the medium hull range; Hunter and Viking will be badly upset by the new kid on the block.

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Thanks for reading - I hope you enjoyed. What are your opinions on Crusader? Be sure to let us know by participating in the poll above!

See you later lagger.

VKG4S

Specials thanks for @Akame, @Jay and the Tankiwiki, whose materials (videos and gif) were used to make new animated gifs. And especially @Akame for doing further testing with Crusader hidden abilities.

I'd just use Viking tbh. Crusader's only advantage is not flipping.

Crusader has more use rates in Battles because they gave HEat Immunity for it recently.

[Akame 4,580]

12 hours ago, yellowghetto said:

I'd just use Viking tbh. Crusader's only advantage is not flipping.

Crusader has more use rates in Battles because they gave HEat Immunity for it recently.

But then again, hovering hulls are more suitable for diverse turret usages and easy manouvres, strafing with crusader does help avoid many shots, especially IB vulcans. Also, it's OD charges as fast as hoppers pretty much, so if your crusader is maxed, thats a good set of damage, if u use booster, you pretty much instakill most players unless titan domes mainly where the ap is very beneficial. 

Especially since many players use mouse nowadays, it is much easier to use mouse controls on hovering hulls than static. Turrets you can use on it, pretty much any, although I would avoid stuff with  small vertical angles. 

[yellowghetto 3,206]

4 hours ago, Akame said:

But then again, hovering hulls are more suitable for diverse turret usages and easy manouvres, strafing with crusader does help avoid many shots, especially IB vulcans. Also, it's OD charges as fast as hoppers pretty much, so if your crusader is maxed, thats a good set of damage, if u use booster, you pretty much instakill most players unless titan domes mainly where the ap is very beneficial. 

Especially since many players use mouse nowadays, it is much easier to use mouse controls on hovering hulls than static. Turrets you can use on it, pretty much any, although I would avoid stuff with  small vertical angles. 

Yeah, I'm not wasting Crystals on maxing Crusader after Hopper

[Akame 4,580]

On 3/19/2021 at 8:39 AM, yellowghetto said:

Yeah, I'm not wasting Crystals on maxing Crusader after Hopper

Yeah it's not needed as much, all a player needs is to have at least 1 maxed hull from each category and you will be fine

[cosmic666 1,055]

On 1/8/2021 at 7:58 PM, Akame said:

Also spectrum modules will reduce damage, so also take that into account.

What a surprise. That's why they use it, because it has more protection than it should have.

Just another legal hack.

Will never be convinced otherwise.