this is a short guide on how to counter the 'Fear Factor' in battles and gain a sense of 'fear' yourself!
this is in both WOT and WOT-Blitz (which has no SPG's) so no SPG's will be mentioned in this post
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in Short; what is the 'Fear Factor'?
Fear Factor is the amount of Fear any enemy tank can instil in you (the player) or your fellow teammates in a variety of scenarios (Ex. T49-152 flanks you) and the control it has on the battlefield.
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Types of Fear:
caliber Fear – when you or your teammates are each around mid-low health, or are bottom tiered with weak armour against an entrenched/hidden/not-spotted enemy, with a high caliber or significantly powerful gun. (example: you and your teammate, each at 800, in tanks such as Emil 2 & E-75 against a full HP FV215B 183 that is against a wall, both within proxy spot distance) this enemy gains its 'Fear Factor' from its high caliber high damage gun
> how to counter – the best option is to have the weaker tank, (in this case the E-75) to draw their fire
(example: side scrape) to attempt to get shot, and highlight the enemy if not spotted, or increase
time with both of you alive so that you can rush, flank, and hopefully kill with overwhelming
support.
> what not to do – some tanks arnt built for rushing, nor have strong points that make them
powerful, two PZ-IV's cannot out flank and beat a SU-100Y firing Prammo, in that case, if you know
you have superior vision, try to spot them without entering proxy spotting distance (you can counter
this by getting your teammate to shoot out of spotting distance)
another fault some tanks have is rushing alone, never rush alone against a superior enemy.
mobility Fear – this occurs when you or your teammates are all on reasonable heath and something small, with a decent gun and superb mobility rushes you, and then flanks you from behind increasing the places you have to shoot at, and the safe places you can have armour situated, this also occurs when a flank is left unattended (although unlikely more so) and you or your teammates, spotted while brawling, are fighting something you cant see. another scenario is if a light spots you/teammates and lets powerful TDs farm you. (ex.1: a T-100 LT rushes your team and gets behind you, firing at it exposes your weakpoints to the slowly approaching enemy, but not shooting at it means it will farm you. ex.2: a US light goes through an unattacked flank, gets behind you and shoots 152mm shells into your rear. ex.3: a amx 13 75 spots you and while spotted, an RHM Borsig decides to swing a 15cm shell into you)
> how to counter – to counter Mobility Fear, your team must split in a way that is makes each side
aiding evenly, with TD(s) able to fire on both sides without becoming targeted (ex. when on mines,
half your team (heavies + assault TD's) and your (LTs, Mediums and L-TD's) go another with your
glass cannon (borsig, ISU-152, etc) remaining at spawn to provide fire support. if your entire team
decides to go one one way, to counter this, have some tanks be responsible for defending the rear,
such as your slower tanks, this will allow you to defend your team as you rush and conquer the
enemy.
> what not to do – leaving flanks completely unprotected or leaving the rear unprotected (inc.
Support TDs in the rear) means the enemy team can quickly and easily outflank and outspot you,
leaving your team defenceless. to counter this, sending tanks such as the M48 patton and a 121B
together on a flank, even if it is to die meaninglessly, is far better then letting the enemy stroll
through, as any bit of damage and any warning of the approaching enemy lets you/your teammates
prepare and lets your TD(s) fire at the enemy while occupied. this also allows your team to make the
critical push and defeat the enemy while the LTs and Mediums are occupied
Armour Fear – this is the fear that your tank and its gun is completely useless against the enemy, even on full health if this enemy is backed into a corner with a reasonable gun, it is completely invulnerable against you. (ex.1: you in your IS-5 with APCR fighting a T95 with the 155mm that is ever so slightly using its depression with LPF hidden. ex.2: there is a Kranvagn properly going hull down infront of you, and you are not in the Jg.Pz.E-100 with HEAT)
> how to counter – to properly counter Armour fear, it is best to use mobility against the enemy, as
armour comes with a loss of speed, generally. (ex, in a T110E3, you cannot pen it frontally if they
know how to hide their weakpoints, but if you flank them and catch their rear, you can defeat them.)
if your Tank is not speedy, the best course of action is to stay stationary and draw their fire, only
shoot them/expose yourself when they are reloading, and keep their attention on you, pull out of
cover if something powerful is flanking them (ex. if your facing a Kran in your 50TP and cannot
penetrate, keep the enemy engaged while something like a FV4005 pulls around and deal with its
rear.)
> what not to do – if you see something with superior armour than cannot be destroyed by you, do
not let it pick on your team, and do not rush solo, as in most cases, your weak armour against its
gun will fall quickly. wait for back up against high armoured targets and rush as a team. (ex. but if
you are unlucky and end up in a 1v1 against a T95 in a panther II for example, which cannot pen,
and it caps without you being able to pen with regular rounds, use premium rounds (its their
purpose) and if those dont work, use HE, a target with 1600 health can only take 160 HE dmg 10
times..
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thats all; if you have any comments add them below so others may be helped or hear your opinion, and remember, this is only a guide the majority of the time, see my other Guide on types of vehicles and how to use them properly to web this into your tanking life, and for the more experienced players, you already know this, but add anything i might have missed.
my post on classes:
