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The path to becoming an Unicum begins here. Tip of the day offers detailed guides to many over-looked gameplay mechanics to allow you to excel in combat. Let's begin, shall we? One of the first things that you are taught when beginning World of Tanks, during the tutorial, is how to use auto-aim. Yet shortly after completing the tutorial, many players abandon auto-aim entirely. Even WarGaming's tips during battle loading say that most skilled players do not use Auto-aim... this is true... to an extent. However, auto-aim offers many tactical advantages that you would never other-wise be able to accomplish. There are several situations when auto-aim is an absolute life (tank) saver. What, when and how are all described below. 1. Driving a mobile tank. Having mobility is often times a key advantage on the battlefield. Whether you're a scout or simply a fast medium, or even TD (M41 Bulldog, Obj. 140, T67, etc.), there are times when you simply cannot afford to take your eyes off of the road; or rather, you're put into a situation where you're circling an enemy tank. In the first scenario, you may have spotted an enemy tank which you can easily penetrate but is at a distance, and you are currently spotted and engaging in evasive maneuvers. If the terrain is bumpy or is filled with obstacles, turning your turret towards the enemy tank (let's imagine it's a Nashorn) to shoot takes your eyes off of the road which consequentially may result in you colliding with a rock, building, or perhaps simply falling off of a cliff. This could make you lose a track, lose HP, or simply come to a complete stop. All of these can be devastating, and are very real possibilities; thus turning your camera in the direction of the Nashorn for extended periods of time may very well be suicidal. If the Nashorn is entirely exposed and especially if you have very clear shots at him, simply hover your mouse over him and right click. This takes a fraction of a second - as long as you have the space to drive forwards without bumping into anything for at least a couple of seconds, you'll be able to safely and efficiently shoot at him. The second case is when you are circling an enemy tank. Let's say you're an M41 Walker Bulldog circling an IS heavy tank. Manually aiming each shot can be difficult, and requires you to point your camera directly at the IS - which reduces your Field of View. Since the IS doesn't have much armor (100/90/90) compared to your penetration power (175/210), penetrating isn't really a concern... however hitting the target and avoiding shooting his hull roof at a bad angle, turret, tracks, etc. can prove to be a challenge. Enabling auto-aim whilst circling the IS will allow you to hit each of your shots and penetrate reliably. When facing a tank such as an IS-3 or IS-7 though, or when you have a shot loaded when your gun is at a bad angle, time your shots. Don't shoot without thinking - when circling an IS-7 don't bother shooting his frontal hull or even his sides if you need to make every shot count. Wait until you're at his rear end, and then shoot. There's no obligation to shoot the moment you're reloaded. Often times circling a target whilst auto-aiming at him allows you to not only hit more shots, but also allows you to move your camera freely around without messing up your aim. What this means is that you will be able to see incoming enemies ahead of time, circle the IS (or whichever tank you're circling) more efficiently, and ultimately leave the brawl with more HP left and more damage dealt. In addition, efficient circling means often times you will be far ahead of the enemy's gun - their gun is pointed in the opposite direction that you are in. This allows you take more time shooting at certain weakspots (rear), temporarily disable auto-aim to hit a cuploa perhaps, or simply get away. One thing to keep in mind about auto-aim: The moment you traverse your hull significantly in the opposite direction, your gun will be off-center; it will need half a second (more or less, depending on your turret traverse speed) to snap back onto the center of the target. When circling an un-armored target: Shoot all you wish, auto-aim will do the trick. When circling an armored target: Don't shoot until your gun is pointing at an area of the enemy tank which you can penetrate (whether that be the sides or rear). 2. When being circled by an enemy tank. Following the previous scenario, let's say that you're the IS that's being circled by the Bulldog. The Bulldog is an extremely fast but also un-armored target. Due to its speed, it's difficult to hit by manually aiming. However, it is very easy to penetrate. Right click on the Bulldog, and traverse your hull in the Bulldog's direction. Auto-aim will automatically try to keep your gun pointing at the Bulldog, thus traversing your turret. At this point you are free to point your camera wherever you wish - as soon as the gun is centered on the Bulldog, you may take a shot without worries of missing. Keep in mind that this only works at close range. Auto-aim points at the center of a target - it does not lead the enemy. This means that if you have a derp gun, or if you are shooting a shell with a low velocity, you will need to get closer to the target, or time your shot when the Bulldog is traveling in such a manner that his trajectory is in relation with your gun's line of sight - meaning he's traveling more in a parallel manner to your gun; not perpendicular. This also applies to shooting at targets at long range. If they're traveling in a parallel line to your gun, you can hit them without leading. (This applies to both, manual and auto-aim.) 3. Coming in for a drive-by shooting. Let's say you're in a Luchs about to come up to unload your clip into an M4 Sherman. Manually aiming will result in misses and bounces, or will require you to slow down which may result in... undesired... consequences. If you auto-aim at the Sherman as soon as your camera allows you to, when you round the corner or approach him, you will be able to unload your clip without misses or bounces. This is very effective for any tank that needs do a drive-by - whether it be a T49, Luchs, ELC AMX, or even a Maus driving by a T95. Please keep in mind that if you are rounding a corner, or approaching at an extremely close range your gun / turret will be off-center at first. Make sure that your aiming circle is on the enemy before shooting. This won't take long at all if you have a fast-turning turret... and if you have a slow turret, approach the target at a slight distance, and as you're driving by turn your hull in the target's direction for a moment to help your gun snap onto the mark, shoot, and turn your hull back where you want it to be pointing. (Good for a T67, Hellcat, etc.) 4. Brawling with an un-armored target. If you're engaging an un-armored tank at close range, if the tank is moving manual aim may be difficult in some scenarios. (My T110E5 shooting at a wiggling & randomly moving BatChat, etc.) Auto-aim will prevent misses in this case. Just make sure that the target has negligible armor and that your gun & aiming circle are pointing at the enemy tank) 5. Arty. This should not be used often. Artillery are very inaccurate in general, which makes auto-aiming difficult. However, there are two scenarios in which auto-aim can be very beneficial; or even save your tank. The first case is when you need to move your camera, but want to shoot at a tank which you are pre-aimed at. If the target is stationary and you are fully aimed (or still aiming), you can enable auto-aim to free your camera. You will then be able to move your camera around (or even enter / exit arty mode), and still take a shot at the enemy once you're aimed. This is very useful when you're aiming at a stationary target whilst there is a scout approaching you. Obviously you need to watch the scout's location to make sure that when you shoot you won't be spotted, or so you can move when it becomes necessary. Auto-aim will allow you to keep your gun aimed at the target, but still exit arty mode and carefully watch the scout driving near-by you. When the scout is 15m away from a bush blocking his line of sight to your entire arty, you are safe to shoot. The second scenario is when a scout tank (or any tank really) is coming at your arty. As they are approaching you, the closer they get to your artillery the more difficult it will be to keep your aiming reticle and gun centered on the target. Auto-aim will prevent this from becoming an issue and significantly increase your chances of hitting the target... however, artillery have very slow shell velocities, such as is true with howitzers. Thus the target will have to be moving in a straight line towards you, or at very close range in order for you to hit whilst auto-aiming... otherwise you will have to manually aim slightly ahead of the target. 6. Poking over hills. If your target is fully exposed and you need to crest a hill to fire at him, autoaim, crest and start pulling back and fire. You can get shots off extremely quickly and with very little exposure once you master this technique. It can similarly be used in a peekaboo fight for minimum exposure. (Credits to ballinbadger for this part.) Some very important things to remember about auto-aim: It does not lead the target. The tank you are shooting at either has to be stationary, moving in a straight line parallel to your gun's trajectory, or at very close range. It aims at the center of the target relative to your current location. This means that it does not aim at weak-spots. Shoot only when the gun is pointing at a penetrable part of the target (don't shoot at an IS-7's front - wait until you're at his sides or rear). Traversing your hull significantly, or with a slow-turning turret, will make your gun off-center. Give your turret / gun / aiming reticle the time it needs to snap back onto the target before shooting (whether that be a quarter of a second or two seconds). Auto-aim is enabled and disabled with the right mouse button. You can change this in Settings. You can enter and exit Sniper mode / Arty mode without affecting auto-aim. You can also turn your camera freely without affecting your aim when in auto-aim. Don't use this when you need to take the time to aim, or when sniping at moving targets. Please, only use auto-aim when it is appropriate. You remain centered on the enemy target as long as you are in auto-aim whilst the enemy is spotted. If you disable auto-aim, or the enemy is destroyed and / or disappears, normal gun handling returns. I hope this helps! Good luck on the battlefield, tankers.

I finally did it... I've gotten my recent WN8 above 3,000. I intend to keep it climbing, but for now - I'm going to jot down a few key things which I have learned that really stand out. Maintain a healthy situational awareness: Don't let yourself tunnel vision... no matter what you do, no matter how you're fighting or who you're fighting, you always want to watch your surroundings. Not only will you be able to detect enemy vehicles trying to flank you before they get the opportunity, but you will also be more likely do dodge artillery, and avoid finding yourself in a crossfire. I've seen too many allies and enemies focus upon one vehicle in the battle, only for their enemy to take advantage of this and absolutely wreck them. Don't be afraid to pull back from a flank: If your gun is desperately needed in a flank, put it in there and use it. However, there are times when it becomes increasingly obvious that the flank you are at will be quickly overrun, or flanked and destroyed from behind. If your flank is disintegrating, don't be afraid to turn your tank around and put on your "Nope" shoes. However, if you feel as though you need to pull back, don't hesitate. The more time you spend at a failing flank, the more likely you are to be shot up during your grand escape. When I feel as though it's time to begin pulling back, if I don't begin moving immediately, all too often I'll be destroyed while I'm trying to escape. If you find that you have hesitated for too long and escape is now impossible, just stick with your allies and try to do as much as you possibly can... the enemies which overrun you are the same enemies that the rest of your allies will be fighting, so at least try to cripple them. If your gun is not shooting your tracks should be rolling: If you are not contributing to the battle, your allies are effectively down a tank. There are very few times when you should be cowering behind a corner while your allies are fighting... usually this is only the case for non-scout autoloading tanks. However, unless you have an empty autoloader or a very long reload, you should be in the battle. Yes, you should wait for the right opportunity to make your moves, but don't hesitate for extended periods of time. The longer you're not doing anything, the more likely your allies are to lose. XVM Win Chance is not to be used to judge a battle before it starts. Remember - it's a chance (i.e. prediction of the likelihood of a victory or loss). If your chance to win is low (let's say 33%), you will still win 1 out of every 3 battles with similar predictions - however, if you give up and don't even try in the battle, you are only reducing your chance to win; and often times significantly. Also, keep in mind that recent posts on the Forums and FTR including data from thousands of battles has indicated that in general, XVM Win Chance gives an inaccurate prediction - If you were to average the XVM Predictions for 1,000 battles (let's say you end up with the number 55%), you would find that (assuming you don't give up) will win anywhere from 1%-5% more battles than it predicts (the greater the gap between your recent WN8 and overall, the greater the percentage of additional victories). Even though 1%-5% doesn't seem like much, keep in mind that is 10-50 more victories than XVM predicted... if you give up when you see a low Win Chance, you are more than likely to turn some of those would-be victories into losses. Don't let XVM Win Chance ruin your mood - it's a prediction of probability, and an inaccurate one at that. Every battle always has a chance to be won. Giving up or getting upset about the prediction only reduces the likelihood that you will win. If the entire team lemming trains... follow the train: Sadly, there are times when the entire team goes off in one direction, or rather simply sits at base. If your team does this, don't go off on your own to a doomed flank. The only result will be that you get yourself killed to no avail. When your team lemmings, follow the lemming train and make it a success. Once you've won your lemming flank, either push to the enemy base, or fall back to your own... just work with what you have and make the lemming train work. Never trust allies: As much as I hate to say it, you just can't trust your allies. Unless you got confirmation from an ally that they will do exactly what you have told them to do, don't expect an ally to do anything, no matter how simple or easy it is. Sadly, most players in pub battles are a lot worse than you would hope. Do not do anything that relies heavily on your team. Always leave yourself an escape route and a Plan B. Also, communicate. Talk with your allies... if you want them to move up, or support you, let them know. Saying "Attack!" or "Help!" won't work... type out a text message and try to get confirmation from your allies that they will follow it... and if you get no response, assume they're doing their own thing. If you're going to say something, make it positive: If you're going to type in the chat, keep it positive. Negative text only reduces your team's chance to win by taking the focus of your allies away from the game, as well as breaking their mood and focus. If you want an ally to do something, be specific: Earlier today, there was a JagTiger 8,8cm. facing a Chaffee who's behind a rock. The JgTig8,8cm can one-shot the Chaffee, and the two tanks are 300m away from eachother. The Chaffee isn't even directly behind the rock... he's a distance aways from it. I told my JgTig to move his tank and kill the Chaffee... sadly, he drove straight up to the rock and let the Chaffee circle him... all what the JgTig needed to do was turn his tank to the left, and move about 30m or so to the left... driving up to the rock was not only unnecessary, but suicidal. Obviously, that was my fault. I presumed that the JgTig would figure out that he simply needed to change his line of sight.. instead, he charged the Chaffee (plunging his tank into shallow water, thus reducing his speed). The way my comment came out was unproductive, and had very negative consequences. I needed to specify to the JgTig that he needs to move 30m to the left so he'll have shots at the enemy Chaffee. Have fun: If you lose, or if you have a bad battle, bad RNG or something of the sort, try not to get frustrated. Frustration only reduces your focus, and will only make you do worse, thus become even more frustrated... the cycle then repeats as a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you did well, even if you lost or missed a critical shot, keep your cool. Take note of what you did wrong and what you could have done better, but don't get frustrated. Instead of focusing on the negatives of a battle, focus on its positives. Criticize yourself: Watch your own replays, or think about how you did and what you did after a battle ends. Try to find your mistakes and realize what you did wrong. If you discovered something new which works out very well, take note of that as well. Learn from mistakes, and emphasize your strengths. Don't be afraid to ask for help. I may have 3,000 recent WN8, but there are still some things which I have no idea how to do - I'm clueless when it comes to setting up my artillerly, I have no idea how to brawl in the city in Windstorm, I just can't stop drifting in my MT-25 when trying to circle a tank, and despite putting on Camo, Emblems and Inscriptions onto everyone of my tanks prior to taking them out to battle, I did not realize that I could translate the inscriptions in foreign languages to English by simply highlighting them. Everyone has there strengths and weaknesses. I can't play slow tanks very well - I try to avoid any tank which is not fast (or at least fast for its class). There are some parts of maps which I have never once taken my tank to fight, even though I see allies go there all the time. There are maps which I've mastered one side of the map, and haven't learned any of the other side... obviously that's bad. I perform a lot better on maps on which I am familiar with the entire map. That's why when I have the opportunity, I will explore and try out the "other side" of any map I'm not familiar with. Keep learning, keep asking questions. When trying to learn how to play a tank, focus on playing only that tank... don't keep bouncing around back and forth between the tanks in your Garage. Yes, it may be frustrating at first because you're unfamiliar with the tank, but the only way you will master a tank is by playing it and (not necessarily solely but) mostly it. You won't learn how to play your heavy tanks if you keep switching back to lights, and you won't master scouting if you bounce between your TD's. There are times when your team is at a position to absolutely over-whelm the remaining enemy, but they are all too afraid to move up. If telling them to move up in chat doesn't work, sometimes you will have to be the one who leads the push into the enemy. You don't have to suicidally rush out; you can inch out and try to encourage the enemy to fire their guns and bounce off of your armor, but if the enemy don't fire then at least your allies are likely to being inching out with you. If you have the HP and armor though, sometimes you will have to sacrifice a handful of your tank's HP to allow your allies to win the push. 99% of the time in this scenario, as soon as the enemy fire off their guns your allies will push all the way up. Just make sure that there aren't any TD's or artillery waiting to strike - if that's the case, you may be better off leaving your allies there and trying to go around. If you don't have the HP nor armor, you may have no choice but to go around, or wait for your allies. The very least you can do is tell your allies which tanks they have that are in the best position (and most likely to survive) a forwards push, to hopefully give your team the courage to do something... but don't be the one who sits still with your allies in silence; otherwise you're contributing to their cowardice. If you can't lead the push yourself, at least try to organize a push via. chat, or flank around the enemy to distract them from behind. My apologies for the blob of text, and for any errors which it may contain. I'm tired right now, and was about to go to sleep, until I discovered I reached my goal. I hope my tips prove to be useful!

zzz...........just sat through 25 min download for latest update to find Asia server hasn't got micro patch. That's bloody annoying just quietly

There is some mod causing this, usualy was RTAN and some mods by Spoter, try to remove them and see if it helps.