5 Tips for Tanks

Discussion in 'PlanetSide 2 Gameplay Discussion' started by BengalTiger, Nov 20, 2012.

  1. Undeadfred

    What's odd is rate of climb for hills is actually a stat. It's indirectly effected by speed (i can gain momentum to charge at a hill), but also exist as an independent stat. This was more obvious in beta before they implemented chassis, and you could cert into hill climbing.

    If you have superior positioning you can certainly be a very formidable opponent. A lot of people like to take this position of hyperbole and act as if the all the MBT are so different they as if they are worlds apart form each other. That simply is not the case. If you can land both Prowler rounds, one after the next, with little to no time readjusting your aim, the dps gain you benefit from is exceptional. It's hard to do given the nature of tank fighting (mobile, moving between cover, shifting threats, often only having the opportunity for 1 shot) but by no means will that scenario not occur. From a purely numerical perspective the Anchored mode is amazing. The dps it gives you over the vanguard is 58.4% (Assuming we are using HEAT and that both tanks are default with the exception of 5/5 in anchored mode for the prowler (also un-ceted default information can be found here https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0Amnj8jnZLDIOdDRjMURYRlY0bDlpNjNfSW11MV83X1E&gid=0)


    I actually like this idea. If the gun was stabilized it would help give the prowler an opportunity to land both rounds. How it would interact with the 12.4% dps increase the prowler currently benefits from, and the 58.4% increase over other tanks in anchored mode remains to be seen. My prediction is it would lend the prowler to be too good of a sniper platform, excelling that of even the magrider. I think the best fix would allow it's guns to be reloaded independently of each other, something akin to a MAX (without allowing the guns to be fired simultaneously)


    I would agree, but i'd advise extreme caution in venturing to far from support as the prowler is the easiest tank for ESF to strafe.


    I actually play a bit of NC. The only faction I haven't invested too much time into is VS.
    A big issue i have with the Vanguard is even with points in the Racing Chassis the acceleration is pitiful. It's really why the Prowler's biggest strength is acceleration rather then speed, because compared to the Vanguard you're a jack rabbit.
    If I engage a Prowler by myself it's typically going to be at a TechPlant, or something with a cluttered layout. Race out of cover nail him, and keep moving. Plan an avenue of escape before I even expose myself, and make sure I have a secondary gunner, with an AT weapon. Because the difference in top speed is marginal, the difference in how long it takes to get to said top speed is where the prowler shines.


    You can certainly outplay your opponent, but the strategy you're using is amusing the enemy is either bad, or you are good (perhaps both are true). If he runs with what has basically become the Prowler setup (HE rounds, IR optics, and perhaps smoke) and he is changing between 1st person to shoot, and 3rd person on the reloads to check his 6. He is an infantry's worst nightmare. I will often roll into a crowd of HA drop my smoke so they cant see, have IR optics up so I can see through the smoke and kill them all.
  2. Deadeye[3.1]

    Good thread.
    Being a huge fan of the German tank destroyers in World of Tanks, I've found the magrider to be the best choice for me.
    It really performs well as a long range sniper. And the fact they can climb hills the other 2 MBT's cant, they can strike from heights with deadly outcome.

    With the hull down mechanics and such, it coulda been interesting if armor angels had any effect. Being able to bounce a shell of a sloped plate would add more to tank warfare. But would probably be an EXTREMELY big workover for SOE.
  3. Spookydodger

    Yes, prowlers are meant to be meant on the move, laterally if possible. Open field running is where the Prowler shines, or in situations with low cover to allow the Prowler to plant itself and only have it's small turret exposed.
  4. Axi0m

    Magriders don't come with a handbrake.
  5. BengalTiger

    Look for "American Police Traffic Stop Goes Badly Wrong!", uploaded by SonicOverlordUK on youtube.
    I won't post the link due to lots of not politically correct language, the video is not safe for work or minors.

    Had that happen to me when I parked the Mag on a steep hill to take its hull down screenshot.
  6. Roobarb

    A fully certed Prowler with rank 5 Anchored Mode, Full reload/Max clips, side armour and improved turning, coupled with a vulcan or halberd secondary is a formidable foe indeed. You just need to take advantage of its twin cannon and high speed if you want to win 1 on 1 with another faction.

    Plus, rank 5 Anchored Mode with max clips and reload speed makes for a highly effective anti-infantry mobile artillery spam station.

    And that's the main thing about the Prowler which most people overlook... you need to invest in order to get the most out of it.
  7. Syntera

    Ooh look, I am in a tutorial.
    If I had known you included me for giggles I would have made an effort to be funny ;)

    Well, better than you including my driving skills for laughs though o_O

    --Stormrebel
  8. medbot544

    +1

    Only thing Prowler is good for: smoking infantry. Even then, one HA can dust you by placin two rockets in your fat *** backside.

    I know how to play tanks, quite well infact. However, Prowler is just inferior and has no good secondaries to buy either. NC/VS versions are superior and they also get special ablities that have zero down sides. Meanwhile, Prowler gets Anchor Mode which = stay still and die mode.

    Only way I win 1v1 fights vs armor with Prowler is if the other guy is simply horrible but that is near impossible considerin how great NC/VS vehicles are as a whole.

    You want to tank it up, don't pick TR.

    Great guide but it really won't help that much since Prowler is just bad. Real bad. Vanguards/mags on the other hand, damn they are awsome compared.
  9. BengalTiger

    I would also have to post my highest kill streak as an infiltrator to keep it fair for everyone. :p
    • Up x 1
  10. Takoita

    Me and a couple of fellow tankers were able to test some of these suggestions for Prowler earlier today.

    Those group of Vannies guarding a Sundy were quite surprised to discover a shower of shells hitting their top. They must've been even more surprised when they found out their cannons could not elevate high enough to hit us. In the end we had to leave when we ran out of shells with ~20 kills for each of us.

    I say this was a success - certainly better than my previous tries anyway.
  11. Compass

    Where the hell were you? Where the hell were THEY? o_O
  12. Takoita

    Indar, one of the canyons to the southeast of Crown.

    We were mountain climbing :)
  13. Zapon

    Those hul down shots on p2 are awesome- I was especially curious if the Magrider could use any cover of the sort.


    Thanks again Bengal for your hard work -

    it's also intersting that you were able to utilize hull down to effect.
  14. Remeus

    THIS... THIS... FOR GOD'S SAKE THIS! Take note. The amount of times I've been using a tank for cover against small arms fire while I try to repair it and the tank zooms off to leave me getting cut down by small arms fire is unbelievable!

    Seriously... you're a ****ing tank!

    Also, if an engineer is repairing you under fire and you're facing the enemy for crying out loud don't reverse...
  15. BengalTiger

    Nice to see people appreciate. :)

    Being a former US tank driver in World of Tanks, I got to the point that my tank absolutely didn't need any armor except for the turret front (made it to T34 and even grinded up to the 120 mm gun on it before it became a premium tank).

    Playing with the Mag also made it obvious to me that the tanks have different gun depression/elevation ranges, hence the followup post with info on that.

    As soon as my little outfit figures out tank and infantry cooperation, I'll update this thread with yet a few more tips.
    All I can say now snipers work with tanks quite nicely. :p

    Then armor cooperating with CAS, right now I can suggest putting a waypoint visible to the pilot(s) and informing what the target is near the waypoint- or telling the squad/platoon leader to do so.
  16. Takoita

    Urgh, the latest change to vehicle handling killed half the fun (and capabilities) out of tanks.
  17. BengalTiger

    How to defend a base using tanks?

    No, it's not spawning it in the base and trying to shoot infantry while driving between structures. That only delays the enemies until someone scores a tank kill.

    The trick in defending a base is staying outside of it. Rather counter-intuitive, but a tank in an urban environment is a fish in a barrel.
    In Planetside 2 it also fails to achieve any tactical goals when it's just shooting infantry.

    If the attacked base has no exits that are not enemy free, it's best to spawn a tank at the nearest friendly base that's not under attack and drive back.
    If there is a safe exit, the tanker must rush through it and keep going for a good 200-300 meters before stopping.

    After the tank drives away, it can now begin a sweep, staying 200-300 meters from the base at all times.
    Keeping this distance will allow to get most attackers from behind.

    When driving alone it's best to avoid enemy tanks that are driving to the base (these will get blown up in the courtyard anyway) and to focus on enemy Sunderers.
    Call out each spotted Sundy using /re chat, make sure to let everyone know when it gets blown up as well.

    A few days ago I was driven away from a Sundy in my Lightning, but within a couple minutes 3 friendly tanks neutralized it. If they didn't know about it, it would probably remain there for a long time.

    When driving as a platoon, use fire and movement tactics to keep coordination and to prevent falling into ambushes as a whole unit.
    Enemy tanks can be engaged as they now won't stop from hunting Sundys easily.
    Enemy infantry can be shot up (farmed :p) before engaging Sundys as well. A group of tanks out in the open is not getting driven off by a few bazookas, and even a group of engineers won't out-repair them when they concentrate fire on the Sundy.

    After a full sweep around all sides of the base and when all enemy vehicles are blown up, it is now safe to set up a roadblock leading to the nearest (or largest) enemy base. With friendly units cooperating, roadblocks can be set up facing all enemy bases.

    Wait until the friendly infantry shoots whoever is left in the base.
    When they're done, the base is successfully defended.
    The second wave of attackers is met out in the open field (provided there is a roadblock) and must gain a lot of ground first before harming the base again.

    If there is no second wave, the roadblock becomes the spearhead when friendlies get into vehicles and start moving out.
    • Up x 1
  18. BengalTiger

    [IMG]

    Today we're gonna be doing one thing and one thing only. Killing Gunships.


    In order to achieve this with great reliability, here's a guide on adjusting gun elevation to hit a really distant target.

    [IMG]

    This screenshot shows a good duck hunting situation.

    The vertical wings are a telltale sign the Liberator is hovering or moving quite slowly. Typical spawn camper, busy slowly orbiting the Watchtower while his/her gunner gets free kills.

    What this means is it won't change its distance to your tank too fast to systematically range your shots and score a hit.

    First off- there are no rangefinders in PS 2 other than putting a WP on top of the target, so how does one know where the bullet went?
    The answer is to aim for the first horizontal notch on the reticule.

    See what happens. If nothing until the next round is loaded, aim higher, at the first small notch.

    Repeat until the Liberator gets illuminated by the round's tracer- it'll flash brighter for a moment showing in which direction the round is off.
    This lighting effect will work as long as the round is flying, even if it's beyond render distance when it reaches the Lib.

    Usually it'll light up the Lib's belly. This will be visible even under the lighting conditions seen in the screenshot.

    Now it's time to make smaller corrections, there is no hurry, as the Liberator will be there for quite a long time, farming.

    The next shot should put the Lib half way between the notches instead of going for the next one instantly.
    Either this shot or the next one will hit. Using the Vanguard with an AP gun, this right here earns a critical kill assist if someone else shoots it down.

    Now comes the hard part:
    The Lib will panic and start moving around. Then it'll run.

    How to prevent this?

    Grab a team mate, call each shot, for instance "Notch 1.5.... on the way" (referring to the small notch below the first big one*, and the round is being fired after a pause).
    The other team mate will set up their sight to notch 1.5 and shoot. The pause between calling the notch and pulling the trigger allows better synchronization.

    With both guns aimed the same way (they must fire the same ammo and have the same zoom used), both rounds will very likely hit at the same salvo. That's equal to killing a gunship before the pilot knows he got hit.

    After shooting down a dozen hovering Libs, one should be able to hit with the second or third hit. That means it's time to start shooting at moving Libs, getting the proper lead on a target means it can get shot down even if it runs for it.

    I got like 4-5 kills and 2-3 assists today only (and that being a lone tank), the method is easy to learn, with a team mate and lots of practice, the Lib is nailed the moment it begins hovering or flying slowly in a straight line.

    This method of ranging shots works for everything that's standing still, including tanks, Sundys and even infiltrators for those who hunt infantry.

    *- The screenshot has the Lib at what I'd describe as Notch 1.5 or Notch 1 and 3/4
    • Up x 2
  19. Bill Hicks

    protip: in your are in a magrider please ignore all of these tips
  20. BengalTiger

    That would make it too easy for us. :p