Bots

[Jdogmaster 2]

I just came back to Tanki after about 10 years and I’m genuinely enjoying it—there’s a lot that’s changed, but the game still feels fun and familiar.

 

One thing I’ve noticed, though: bots are extremely easy to identify, especially at lower ranks. I understand why bots exist (filling lobbies and keeping queue times short), but right now they feel too repetitive and “fake,” which I think could hurt the new-player experience.

 

A few things make them stand out:

 

• The usernames are often obviously artificial (ex: “Miss Barbara Roberts”) and don’t feel like real player names, we all know grandma isnt playing this lol.

• They tend to run the same exact hull/turret combinations over and over (Twins + Mammoth, Thunder + Viking, Firebird + Wasp, Railgun + Dictator, Isidia + Hopper, and a few others.).

• On a new account, I was seeing these same bots and combos constantly from Rookie onward, which gets repetitive and easy to notice fast.

 

My concern is that new players will recognize the bots quickly and get bored of playing against the same bots over and over before they reach the ranks where more real-player matches become common. (I feel like i definitely would get bored of that as a new player)

 

Suggestions (without removing bots):

 

• Use more convincing/realistic usernames (more variety, fewer “full name” patterns).

• Expand the pool of hull/turret combinations so matches feel less repetitive.

• If possible, slightly improve bot decision-making—especially in Juggernaut mode. Right now bot Juggernauts often rush around and die quickly, and the team with a real-player Juggernaut usually has a big advantage.

 

I hope this feedback is useful—thanks for keeping the game alive, i'm hoping Tanki can get a bigger player base agian!

[Hypersomnia 1,757]

Sorry to disappoint you but after around 2016 the game went down exponentially.

the bots are hated by everyone and devs refuse to give them even a slightest path finding upgrade (it's surprising how you only mentioned kamikadze bot juggernaut but not the constant pushing and blocking of bots) for years now.

and even after you stop getting bots at the end of the game, you'll still be fighting the same 2-4 hyper specific combos and if you dont have access to one of the combos then you might as well quit the game because it'll be playable only in theory. 

 

the game now is just a casino. and the HOUSE ALWAYS WINS. you will not be enjoying the game very soon unless you get extremely lucky or spend a bunch of money and get moderately lucky. 

oh and pro battles are dead so there is no escape.

(they also could not care less about anyone's feedback, you'll see people saying that devs only take feedback that brings them money but even that is not true. the updates and 'celebrations' in this game makes it feel like youre stuck in a time loop because nothing changes. even the smallest details stay identical)

[NikmanGT 4,476]

On 2/24/2026 at 8:21 PM, Jdogmaster said:

 

I hope this feedback is useful—thanks for keeping the game alive, i'm hoping Tanki can get a bigger player base agian!

Thanks for your feedback and welcome back!

[daudiii 28]

On 2/24/2026 at 3:51 PM, Jdogmaster said:

My concern is that new players will recognize the bots quickly and get bored of playing against the same bots over and over before they reach the ranks where more real-player matches become common. (I feel like i definitely would get bored of that as a new player)

unfortunately, tanki doesnt even intend to make bots indistinguishable. that name part is intentional, and thats not the only identifying part of bots. Some other things you might not have noticed:

1) They all have solid color paints (as i said, tanki wants people to know that they are bots, not try hide it)

2) They all have protection module equipped which grants them protection against all turrets rather than using turret specific protections like normal players use. at higher rank (legend), the bots have 50% protections against all turrets. so its annoying even to fight against them. they are not challenge at all, just waste your time by taking long time to kill.

3) killing them gives less xp than killing players.

4) at higher ranks, bots hulls have blaster augment, they explode when destroyed and deal damage to tanks nearby. so if you you short range weapon, its even more annoying.

 

based on these points above, i am pretty sure, tanki intentionally tries to be explicit about who is bot, and then you are punished for playing against them (as it takes more time to destroy them, and it gives you less points to do so, and with short range weapon, it can be kinda infuriating.)

[Jeers4U 711]

On 2/24/2026 at 2:09 PM, daudiii said:

unfortunately, tanki doesnt even intend to make bots indistinguishable.

Can I ask why you believe this to be true?

[Jdogmaster 2]

On 2/24/2026 at 12:09 PM, daudiii said:

unfortunately, tanki doesnt even intend to make bots indistinguishable. that name part is intentional, and thats not the only identifying part of bots. Some other things you might not have noticed:

1) They all have solid color paints (as i said, tanki wants people to know that they are bots, not try hide it)

2) They all have protection module equipped which grants them protection against all turrets rather than using turret specific protections like normal players use. at higher rank (legend), the bots have 50% protections against all turrets. so its annoying even to fight against them. they are not challenge at all, just waste your time by taking long time to kill.

3) killing them gives less xp than killing players.

4) at higher ranks, bots hulls have blaster augment, they explode when destroyed and deal damage to tanks nearby. so if you you short range weapon, its even more annoying.

 

based on these points above, i am pretty sure, tanki intentionally tries to be explicit about who is bot, and then you are punished for playing against them (as it takes more time to destroy them, and it gives you less points to do so, and with short range weapon, it can be kinda infuriating.)

Thanks for the response! That makes sense, do you think it would be better if they tried making them indistinguishable from real people the best they can or in your experience do you think its better for players to be able to recognize which ones are bots and which arn't? 

[daudiii 28]

On 2/24/2026 at 10:03 PM, Jeers4U said:

Can I ask why you believe this to be true?

if you read the 4 points i had written right after the part you quoted me, that makes it clear that not only tanki doesnt try to disguise them, but instead take steps to distinguish them from players.

[daudiii 28]

On 2/24/2026 at 10:31 PM, Jdogmaster said:

Thanks for the response! That makes sense, do you think it would be better if they tried making them indistinguishable from real people the best they can or in your experience do you think its better for players to be able to recognize which ones are bots and which arn't? 

i think it doesnt matter. what matters is their behaviour. and as you highlighted that in your post, i agree with all those points. those points are what need to be improved. i dont care if there are bots in my matches. i care if playing with/against them is frustrating.

Edited 10 hours ago by daudiii

[Jdogmaster 2]

On 2/24/2026 at 8:10 AM, Hypersomnia said:

Sorry to disappoint you but after around 2016 the game went down exponentially.

the bots are hated by everyone and devs refuse to give them even a slightest path finding upgrade (it's surprising how you only mentioned kamikadze bot juggernaut but not the constant pushing and blocking of bots) for years now.

and even after you stop getting bots at the end of the game, you'll still be fighting the same 2-4 hyper specific combos and if you dont have access to one of the combos then you might as well quit the game because it'll be playable only in theory. 

 

the game now is just a casino. and the HOUSE ALWAYS WINS. you will not be enjoying the game very soon unless you get extremely lucky or spend a bunch of money and get moderately lucky. 

oh and pro battles are dead so there is no escape.

(they also could not care less about anyone's feedback, you'll see people saying that devs only take feedback that brings them money but even that is not true. the updates and 'celebrations' in this game makes it feel like youre stuck in a time loop because nothing changes. even the smallest details stay identical)

Thanks for the response! That's a good mention about the constant pushing, blocking and piling up, as that is something that can be very annoying at times with these bots.

[Jeers4U 711]

On 2/24/2026 at 4:43 PM, daudiii said:

if you read the 4 points i had written right after the part you quoted me, that makes it clear that not only tanki doesnt try to disguise them, but instead take steps to distinguish them from players.

So you think that there are no other bots in the game other than the ones with the characteristics you have listed.

Have you come across any developer saying this or any piece of literature here that confirms your theory?

I'm just asking. Because I have not.