Tank Advice

I have always played infantry and would like to finally expand into being helpful to my team from a tank perspective. I've reviewed some videos, but they are old and I'm not sure if the tactics are exactly the same in 2018 and I imagine there are newer weapons now.

How would you suggest a newb get started to be of help and not just be a sitting duck that waste time and nanites pulling armor just to get smoked?
And should I start with a lightening or faction specific MBT?

If you have a friend: First start gunning with teamspeak on. You can learn a lot from just watching what your friend is doing and from what he asks you to target. Which is another thing: Listen to what he asks you to target. Standard is to shoot what your driver is shooting, and only start opening fire the moment your driver opens fire.


As for basic strategies: First grab a tank, MBT or Lightning doesn't matter, and stick close to an ally. Stay off to his/her side and try to stay out of his/her front/back driving space. Then just fire at targets while they take the hits. Should you take hits, hide behind nearby cover for repairs. Leave room for your allies to hide behind the same cover should they need to move backwards to repair. That should get you to learn the basics through experience.

Armour is going the way of the dodo in this game so don't waste certs & time on them.
Use a harasser instead, and make sure you have someone to gun or drive for you.

MBTs are good if you have a good gunner. Most of the random pple who will jump in your tank will have no idea of what they are doing.

So, light tanks are great. Cheaper than MBTs, better for hiding / escaping. They make smaller targets.

Fire suppression / Vehicule stealth / Racer chassis for flanking and solo roaming. Open fire on other tanks only when you're sure to hit their rear when using Stealth (when you're not detected of course).
Fire suppression / Auto rep / Racer chassis when you know you'll have teammates around.

Unlock last rank Reload speed on main weapon.
Always check if there's no harrasser around (sound and mini map).

Always bring pizza and drinks in your tank.

My personal opinion is to just go head long for an MBT. I usually find them as being more profitable, albeit they also carry a higher risk in their usage then lightnings. Still, I find that the extra HP makes them more forgiving to learn, and its easier to transfer MBT knowledge to a lightning in my experience.

As for tactics, it really heavily depends on which MBT you are using. Obviously get a gunner though. That should definitely be a priority.

If your using the Magrider, you actually want to avoid using cover if you can avoid it, and instead just rely on your mobility to survive. Every Magrider I encounter that does this usually ends up being harder to kill, and I usually survived longer in my Magrider when I did this in my VS days.

As for the Prowler, you really just need good awareness, aim, and terrain knowledge. Its damage reliance means that it rewards positioning and good aim. Knowing when to stand and fight, and when to run is critical.

With the Vanguard, its basically just a question of knowing when/how to advance and when to retreat. If you can force a close range fight while driving a Vanguard, do it.

With every MBT, use the faction ability, and either proximity radar or flanker armour for defense. Main cannon choice is dependent on faction and play style. Your secondary weapon should either be a halberd, or one of the faction specific options (For TR, its Vulcan. For VS, its Saron or Aphelion. For NC, its the Mjolnir.). Sole exception is if you want some AA for your tank, in which case you should take a G40 ranger.

As for your character, always run sweeper HUD while driving tanks. It saves you a lot of headaches.

As for play tips, I have one really simple one. Play scared. Way to many people get in a tank and think of themselves as being invincible, so they get careless and get destroyed for it. As long as you keep aware of your surroundings, and play with a bit of caution, you should do alright.

I started a while back after playing infantry exclusively. I waited for the CAI update and went of a Lightning because I like to shoot as well as drive. The advice I was given was good - racer chassis (lightning is a light tank so speed is useful), fire suppression, stealth and the most useful gun - HESH. I stay mobile, know where cover is if I get into trouble and don't get isolated from other vehicles, especially due to lack of AA in a Lightning.

I wanted to thank everyone who took the time to give me some advice. I just started back up again after 3 years of not playing. I used to play VS so I started trying NC and TR.

I went back to my VS character and just realized that I unlocked a Lightning's fire suppression level 3, nanite auto repair 4, racer chassis, python heat and python AP. I obviously have tried before, but don't really remember doing it.

I went into the VR room to test things out and I really suck hitting infantry. I know when I play infantry myself there are several people who kill me with AP frequently like they have their own sniper rifle. So I'm pretty amazed they can do that.

I sit in lightnings far more than is healthy, low spec pc....

What server are you on?

Really Harassers are OP right now, so learn those instead of tanks. At 150 nanites you can afford to lose them and pull more, plus you can turbo out of danger or to road kill infantry. If you find an isolated MBT or lighting, just circle it and vary your speed slightly while your gunner pounds away at rear armor - you'll probably shred it unless they have very good aim. If they hit you, then just turbo away, repair, and return to finish the job. ;p.

meh... harrasers arent op since the latest update
they are pretty much in their own zone that they needed to be in

anyway tanking
find a good gunner/driver and learn from each other
dont fight vanguards on close range
dont fight prowlers in long range
and try not to get harrased too much by magriders

anyway add players you see that play as MBT's allot and gun for them watching how they react to each situation and analize it
in you play as nc try to find krutoy yojik(best vanguard driver ive ever met)

play dirty as much as you can
be nice to other mbt drivers(they might become your friends and help you out in the future)

most important tip is to always communicate with your gunner/driver as he can make all the difference(not too rare)

Don't listen too this guy - especially if you are new to tanking. If you see a harasser, then get to lots of friendlies and hope it isn't able to isolate you. If you see two, then don't even bother pulling a tank unless there are several other friendly tanks or harassers in the area.

Personally I think the Basilisk is an underrated weapon. It has a good elevation, so you can shoot down Light Assaults, and its high rate of fire helps against the Harasser's evasion. Those two (plus air) are going to be your biggest threats. It does have two problems though.

First, as the default weapon, most players see it as a newbie weapon. I've had a noticeably harder time getting randoms to gun for me when I use it. Getting a friend who will gun will help a lot. Second, its default ammo pool (300) is pretty low considering its high rate of fire. The first few upgrades are dirt cheap, so make sure to get a couple of them.

I must confess to sharing this perception - mostly that the driver is probably a newbie at harassers and is driving a stock vehicle as well. This has come from jumping into a couple who ask for a gunner and promptly getting driven into a rapid death situation. On sundies now, the twin bassies are probably the best choice but they have more ammo too. With enough ammo it is a solid weapon imho.

I do not regret starting out on the Lightning though. And HESH with fast reload strikes a nice balance between anti vehicle / anti armour capability. I don't see so many AP snipers around since they changed weapon stats but there are one or two still out there.

sadly AP is pretty useless on the lightning right now. i think someone did some testing and came out that it takes 18 seconds to kill a sundy with AP and 12 with HEAT and similar results against MBTs. so aside from less drop and higher velocity there isn't really any point to it

Learn how to judge and use distance.

there is a difference between arguing against an opinion and directly against a person and that opinion is getting weaker as you dont give any valid arguments as:
1.why shouldnt you listen to this guy
2.why do you need to run from 2 harrasers
3.can you do something against them?
4.is running your only option

answers are
1.?!!
2.2 harrasers have the potential to kill an mbt if they cooperate well, but if you have a gunner then everything you need to do is to not give them your rear(stay near a building a rock etc...)
3.yes, yes you can! use this opportunity to learn to aim under stress so in the next time you wont be as nervous as you were
and you train your accuracy
4.absolutely not, you can retreat! but... the problem with that is that you expose your rear side and they are faster than you!
so basically you do no damage, run and most prob die without taking anything with you along the way

sometimes you need to be as effective as you can to push your team forward
if you got into that situation from the start you
1.had bad luck
2.misunderstood the situation
3.were outsmarted

as this guys opinion that doesnt really stand for itself can be called BS in simple words

a new tanker should experience the pain of loosing a tank and allot of stress to be stronger in the next time and more suited to deal with those kind of situations!

best of luck to you and dont loose hope!

the point with ap rounds is that you kite the enemy and expose yourself to the least amount of damage you can
the heat rounds are more of a constant damage weapon
but while giving constant damage you might receive constant damage yourself

in the end their both good but i prefer the ap most of the time

1. Harassers are op and you are wrong - unless in the hands of a noob, they will destroy an MBT.
2. As I stated, Harassers will circle and hit rear armor and there's nothing you can do, if you are isolated. If you stop against at tree or building to protect your rear armor, then you're a sitting duck - literally sitting still.
3. You cannot retreat as even you admit. If you do try and retreat, then reverse so your front armor is facing incoming fire.
4. Ergo, do not pull a solo tank when there are harassers around; instead pull a harasser and keep pulling them because they are cheap.
5. You will learn to aim better gunning for a harasser anyway.

Conclusion - pull harassers because they are simply more powerful than tanks given their price. At 150 nanites you can probably keep pulling them indefinitely, as long as you turbo away and repair once a tank does hit you. You'll learn to aim much better if you gun for a harasser because you'll be moving at high speeds while aiming. As an added bonus, the enemy will have to devote a lot of resources for a long period of time to kill you - and that helps your team. An isolated tank requires less resources to kill because it cannot retreat very well.

Pretty much when it comes down to Harassers versus tanks:

The Harasser only needs to hit some of the time to win.
The tank must hit every single time to win.

The Harasser can choose to pursue, engage, or disengage.
The tank can't choose.

Pretty much why Harassers most often come out on top versus tanks. They might not kill the tank every single time, but the tanks are certainly killing them much less frequently.

Harassers are not so much a problem after the last patch. One less tank round to kill means they no longer have time to run away.

Even if you have two on you - There is time to focus on one and then take out the other.