Scorpiany Posted July 11, 2015 Posted July 11, 2015 Don't worry. I see that you are lost and confused, in need of guidance and support. Lucky for you, thou have stumbled into the Scorpion's Den; with guides aplenty. This particular edition contains A Guide to properly suiciding / going AFK. If these are the drones you were looking for, sit back, turn on some pimping music and read away... all of your questions shall be answered here. The heat of the battle is going strong, the fighting is thrilling and intense - yet something disturbs your killing spree. A wild "real life interruption" appears! And sadly, it is super effective at stopping your gaming session. Now what? You don't want to randomly disappear & disappoint your allies, yet you must leave the game as soon as possible. We've all been there, done that. In the middle of a heated battle, your wife interrupts and gives you "the look", the baby begins crying or perhaps you simply received a phone call that you must respond to. Chances are, you're left with only a few seconds to do something in the battle (assuming it's not a "every second counts life or death" emergency; if that's the case, GTFO the computer). What do you do in those few seconds that will maximize your team's chance of victory? This guide covers your options. Obviously, your tank can do a multitude of roles throughout the course of a battle. When you need to abandon the game immediately however, you only have so many options which you can do in the span of 5-10 seconds. You could: Drive your tank into the nearest enemy tank and face-hug him Fire off a well-aimed shot Leave your tank at an angle; side-scraped around a corner Idle the tank in a bush Cruise Control in a random direction Turn your tank side-ways as cover for your allies Type a suggestion to your team in chat Fire off an un-aimed shot (SPG's or no targets spotted) Let's discuss each option in some more detail and discuss the "when's" and "if's", shall we? Drive your tank into the nearest enemy and face-hug him: During a close range brawl, there's usually an enemy tank within very close proximity to you. If you need to leave, charging into the tank on the enemy team with the longest reload / most dangerous gun can be a good idea - if you get him to shoot (say it's a Jg. Pz. E-100), then your allies have 25 seconds to push up without worrying about taking a 1,050 damage shell to the face. Not only will you make your targetted tank suffer, but by ramming him you may also end up destroying a track, blocking his line of sight and also attract fire from other sources as well. When selecting a target, find a tank that: Has a dangerous gun with a long reload Most important Will not benefit from your destroyed wreck (you don't want to provide T32's with improvised hull-down cover!) Average importance May take damage from the face-hug ram Least important, not necessary If it's possible for you to cruise-control towards the enemy (which takes 1 second to activate) use your time to tell your allies "Must AFK, yolo'ing XYXY tank, push after he shoots". It takes about 5 seconds to type out, and will (hopefully) let your allies know what's going on, and perhaps allow them to capitalize on your tank's loss. That way you leaving will still allow your allies to push through an important flank; maximizing chances of victory. Fire off a well-aimed shot: Perhaps rather than suiciding, it will be more useful for you to fire off one more shot and then leave your tank where it is. Obviously, putting in a well-aimed shot has its benefits; the enemy takes more damage, or perhaps you kill a tank before you leave. When peeking out to take the shot, don't be afraid to take heavy return fire - remember, you're about to leave the computer in the next 5 seconds. What happens to your tank after you leave doesn't matter. It's what you do in those remaining 5 seconds that does. After shooting, you can either leave your tank exposed to more fire, or pull back into cover before leaving. Chances are, pulling back is the better option - that way your allies can use your tank as cover; whereas if you leave your tank exposed, the enemy may end up making use of it. When choosing a target to kill, consider the following factors in your split-second decision: The Tier of the tank - damaging a top Tier tank is more beneficial than damaging a bottom Tier one The skill of the opponent - if you wound an Unicum's tank, it limits his options and makes him more likely to be destroyed. The sooner a good player is taken off of the battlefield, the more likely your team is to win. Whether the enemy is stock or not - your allies can easily kill a stock M103 without much worry, but a fully upgraded one is a much larger threat The HP of the vehicle - it's better to damage a low HP vehicle than a full HP one. The less HP the enemy has, the sooner they will be destroyed. If you can knock a 500 HP IS-7 down to 100 HP, chances are that the IS-7 won't last much longer. Not only that, but the IS-7 will be much more likely to play more passively or pull back; which means that his gun and especially his armor are no longer in your team's face. If you can kill the tank or not - if the last shot you fire kills a tank, especially a skilled opponent or top Tier tank, that's one less dangerous gun your allies have to worry about shooting them. Not only that, but your allies won't have to waste a 490 alpha shell on a tank with 50 HP; their 490 shell can then actually knock 490 off of an opponent, since you took care of the 50 HP tank. Essentially, pick the priority target to be the recipient of your shell. As soon as that shell is fired, pull back and get away from the computer. If your tank is very slow and it would take time to pull back, just leave your tank where it is or cruise control forwards. I do not recommend cruise controlling backwards as your tank may end up slamming into an ally and messing up his aim, or your tank may go off in a direction where it won't direct any enemy fire. Leave your tank at an angle, side-scraped around a corner: This one is fairly simple - if you leave your tank side-scraped around a corner, you may trick the enemy into shooting you and bouncing. The fact that your tank is angled means that it's likely to survive for longer, and thus direct more enemy fire. Not only that, but when the enemy sees a tank that is side-scraping, they are more likely to believe that the tank still has a player controlling it, and thus will be more cautious about peeking out to shoot it. Just keep in mind, you want to leave your gun pointing towards the enemy; in particular, point your gun where they will peek out. If your gun is aiming directly at them whilst you're side-scraping, even skilled players will believe that you are still commanding your tank, and will take their time moving to shoot. This can do anything from wasting the opponent's time & allowing your allies to perform a flanking maneuver, or perhaps it will delay the enemy's push and it will give your allies more time to get away. Idle the tank in a bush: Leaving your tank in a bush will do both, keep your tank hidden and thus safe from return fire for longer, but will also allow you to spot the opponents and make them warier about your tank's location. If you are in a bush, they won't know where your tank is, and may believe that it is active in play elsewhere, and may be more careful about moving in. This especially works for tanks with good camo & view range, or high "fear factor" tanks. If it's the latter, the enemy will be much more cautious about pushing as they believe they'll take a massive damage shell to the face if they're careless; even though you're really no longer at the computer. If the enemy thinks that you're active, it slows down their advance, and thus also gives your allies more time; which may be very valuable if they need a few more seconds to win their other flank or to reach the enemy base. If you're in a light tank or some tank with great mobility, if there is a good bush nearby you that you can reach in the 5-10 seconds that you have left, go for it. It doesn't matter if your tank is AFK in a great spotting location - if you're in a good location, you will spot the enemy and assist your allies regardless. (I actually completed LT-15 this way! I went AFK for half of the battle in a good bush on Prohorovka with my WZ-132. By the time I came back, I had racked up 4,500 spotting damage; which allowed me to easily farm the remaining 3k upon my return! Much better than hiding at the red-line where I wouldn't have spotted anything!) Cruise Control in a random direction: Whilst this is the least favorable of your options, it can still have benefit. If you don't know where the enemy is, or you can't tell whether your team is winning or not, sometimes you may just have to triple tap the "R" key to cruise control somewhere. Take a guess where your tank will be most useful, and send it driving that way. When choosing the direction to send your tank, keep the following things in mind: If your allies are losing their current flank, cruise control your tank in a direction where it will be able to hit a building and spot the enemy as they are advancing (assuming that you are not near the engagement) If your allies need some targets spotted, or need some hidden TD's / artillery to fire off a few shells, send your tank in the direction where the invisible tanks are. You will (hopefully) spot a few targets and allow your allies to rack some extra damage or perhaps even take out a few targets. If the enemy's location is unknown, take a guess where they'll be and have your AFK tank intercept them. If it's early on in a battle, cruise controlling through the 1/2/3 lines on Fisherman's Bay for example isn't a bad idea - you'll let your allies know how many tanks are there, and what kind of tanks are there. Who knows? Your tank may just hit a rock where it can keep spotting from safety. Will you attract high caliber guns, or perhaps force an enemy scout to retreat? If it's say, Malinovka, yolo'ing your tank across the field will not only spot targets and allow your allies to easily get shots off, but if there's a scout at the H2/G3 bush, your suicidal tank will end up spotting the scout or forcing him to retreat. Or perhaps it's a Swamp campfest simply because there's a WT. auf. E-100 or Jg. Pz. E-100 guarding the enemy base. Sending your tank in that direction will make the TD waste his shell and allow your allies to push up. Make your AFK tank have the greatest effect! Turn your tank side-ways as cover for your allies: Sometimes, all what your allies need is a little bit of improvised cover. Tell them that you have to leave in chat, and then turn your tank side-ways. This will allow your hull-down tanks such as T32's & IS-7's to make use of your wreck and stay safe from enemy fire. Or perhaps you just gave your allied E-100 a new place to side-scrape from; except now he can side-scrape in either direction (s)he want to! Worse case scenario, your tank is now a road-block for the enemy to avoid and you'll have at least attracted a few enemy shells. By telling your allies in chat that you're going AFK, you'll let them know what's going on at least. Perhaps telling them "I'm going AFK, use my tank as cover" will allow your more watchful allies to take advantage of you having to leave. Type a suggestion for your team in chat: Take a glance at the mini-map and your surroundings, and tell your allies something useful. Whether you're telling newbies how to penetrate a KV-220 / AT-2, telling your lemmings that they out-number the enemy on the flank, or if you see that your LTTB will have a clear shot to the enemy base from the 6 line. Whatever you say, just make sure that it's informative. Once again, the more watchful of your allies may notice your suggestion & capitalize on it. Who knows? Your 5 second message may have just given your allies a game-winning idea! If there's nothing you can say that would contribute, just tell them you need to leave, so they will know not to rely on your tank anymore. Fire off an un-aimed shot (SPG's or not targets spotted): If you're in an SPG, there's really not much you can do. Chances are, you're sitting in a bush next to your base, far away from the actual combat. Before you leave, assuming that you're reloaded, aim your gun where there is likely an enemy and discharge a shot. If it's early in the battle and you know where enemy's usually are crossing at the time, your shot will be very likely to do something. Otherwise, you still will have taken a chance. Whether you shoot at TD camping spots, SPG bushes, etc. is ultimately up to you. Who knows? You may just end up killing something. Or perhaps an enemy arty notices your tracer and wastes a shell blind-firing at your location. Worst case scenario is that you missed, and your SPG is now spotting any enemy that comes close to your base. Alternatively, you may be in a regular tank, far away from the battle with no targets spotted. Assuming it's an open map, aim your gun where there may be enemy's camping / crossing, and take a shot. You have two options when doing this however: Take the 5-10 seconds you have to aim your shot, so it has the greatest chance of landing where you aimed; thus the greatest chance of hitting something if a target was where you aimed. Take a snap-shot in the direction where the enemy may be, and use the remaining 5-10 seconds to cruise control your tank in a desired direction, rather than aiming the shot. Regardless, your took a chance at the very least. A 1% chance of hitting an enemy is better than no chance at all, right? I hope that this guide gives you a few ideas about your options at hand when you have to leave mid-battle! Perhaps the option you choose may be just enough to push your allies to victory! Good luck both on the battlefield and in real life, tankers!
ryuuto Posted May 31, 2019 Posted May 31, 2019 Great ideas! I'll keep them in mind next time I have to go AFK.
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