4Game

Challenge: World of Tanks is a complex game with a steep learning curve, hundreds of tanks to choose from, and real human opponents who are often more experienced than you. What is the best path for you, and what are you going to enjoy the most? Which premium tanks are worth buying?

Short version: Play only light and medium tanks, and focus on mobility, camouflage mechanics, positioning, scouting, flanking, and bushwork. Check the minimap frequently to understand the situation.

Long version:

• Driving a fast and maneuverable tank is lots of fun. Driving a slow tank that turns poorly is not fun at all. With speed you can get into position early, flank, escape, get back to base to defend, and do end of match cleanup much better than with a slow tank.
• Armor is the least reliable method of surviving a battle:
  • It usually only works in optimal situations: i.e. when you have your angle armored correctly against an opponent of equal or lower tier who is using standard ammo.
  • The sides and back of your ‘heavy’ tank have weak armor anyone can penetrate.
  • There are weak points on the front of your tank that your opponents can penetrate even when you are correctly angled.
  • Higher tier tanks when you are in +1 or +2 matchmaking can usually penetrate you with standard ammo.
  • And the #1 problem: most people will use premium ammo to negate your armor anyway.
• Tanks with armor are penalized in the game with low speed, poor maneuverability, poor gun handling/accuracy, lower DPM, and low camouflage values. As a plus they often have high alpha guns, but it’s not worth it for all the downsides. They are the most easily spotted tanks in the game because of their terrible camo values, and will therefore be prime targets for snipers and artillery.
• Some medium tanks have extra armor but they are penalized the same ways heavies are, so avoid them. Like the T54 Mod 1, for example, which has lower speed and poor shell penetration.
• Tanks with no armor usually have great gun handling which is a pleasure to use, in any matchmaking.
• Drive tanks with a fully traversable turret. Not having a turret sucks. Tank destroyers with turrets are gimped with poor turret traverse and bad dispersion on movement, so don’t play them.
• Fapping in a bush at the back of the map in a tank destroyer, waiting to shoot at enemies that show themselves conveniently, is extremely boring gameplay—the most boring gameplay in the game.
• SPG gameplay is a bit more fun than TDs because you can at least shoot anywhere on the map and actively help your team at all times. But only play SPGs enough to understand how they work and how people playing them think. This will help you to be arty-safe when you are playing your lights and mediums.
• Heavy tank gameplay is better than SPG gameplay, but their gameplay is not that great either. Hull-down ridge peeking in the same location, side-scraping off buildings, and trading shots gets boring quickly. And annoying because you are usually being spanked by arty the whole time. Racing around the map in a light/medium is much more fun.
• In a light or medium you can have a good game even when bottom-tier since your speed, good camo and great tank/gun handling are fun and useful all the time, and you can act as a scout for your team as well. In a tank with armor you are more reliant on favorable match-making and luck to have a good game. Being in a slow bottom-tier heavy with useless armor really sucks.
• Only buy premium tanks that are lights or mediums with their focus on speed and maneuverability, not armor.

You will have the most fun:

• Playing fast and maneuverable lights and mediums that have little to no armor.
• Doing some initial scout work to help your team get shots and weaken the enemy team. This will increase your win ratio, and soften up the enemy team so you can farm them more easily towards the end-game.
• Using the minimap to see opportunities to flank and assassinate enemies, and to get vision on hidden enemy tanks.
• Playing a few favorite tanks. The game has hundreds of tanks. You only need a few to have fun. By skipping all tank lines and premium tanks except lights and mediums you automatically simplify the game, and the grinding of tanks and tank crews.
• Recommended tech-tree lines:

1. Italian mediums
2. American lights
3. French lights/wheelies
4. British mediums
5. German lights
6. Czech mediums
7. German mediums
8. Swedish mediums
9. American mediums
10. Russian mediums/lights (some good tanks here, but their poor gun depression is really annoying sometimes)

• Favorite tanks (there are other good tanks besides these)
  • Leopard PT A
  • Standard B
  • Skoda T 50
  • ELC Even 90 (super fun tank with amazing camo)
  • LT-432
  • EBR 75
  • Progetto 46 (amazing)
  • Bourrasque
  • Panther/M10
  • Cromwell B
  • T-34-85-M
  • Type 64
  • Pz V/IV
  • Pz 38t nA (incredibly fun tank if min/maxed with good crew)
  • Luchs
  • M44 (just to see how artillery plays and for SPG missions)
• Not recommended:
  • Polish tanks (except CS-63, which isn’t worth the grind)
  • Chinese tanks (except Type 64)
  • Japanese tanks (except STB-1, which isn’t worth the grind)
  • British light tanks
  • Premiums: T54 Mod 1, M4A1 Revalorisé, Panther 8,8cm, Panzer 58, STA-2, T-34-3, T26E4 SuperPershing, T92 (slow for a light and low alpha)