General tips on selecting protective paints in Tanki Online

 

In Tanki Online (play it now!) there’re dozens protective paints each having unique set of resistances. So which protective paint to buy? In this small article I’ll give you some general tips on how to select a good paint.

First things first – are cheap protective paints worth of buying?

I personally find no sense in buying paints meant for protecting from tier 1 weapons. But still if you want to get a good protective paint and save crystals (which looks like mutually exclusive requirements) – buy Swamp paint for 500 crystals. It is good not only in terms of protecting your tank from enemy Twins guns, but it also provides great camouflage on many Tanki Online maps. Hence buying Swamp paint is a good investment, especially if you play with Twins in Deathmatches.
Being a low-rank tanker you may find useful to buy paints without resistances for the sake of camouflaging your tank. Green paint is great in terms of camouflage, but there’re other paints great for both camouflaging your tank and good look. Like standard White paint that is good for camouflaging your tank on winter maps.
Forester, Savanna (and Urban) paints are good for most Tanki Online summer maps. Because those fancy spots on these paints give additional advantage in terms of camouflage. And Desert paint is great for Desert and Iran maps.

How to select good protective paint for your tank?

Selecting good protective paint is tricky, though there’re some general advices:

What’s your tank gun? It’s always good to have protection from your own tank gun. Every tank gun has its own advantages and drawbacks. You can always use the advantages of your own gun and the drawbacks of your opponent’s gun to win one-on-ones dogfights. But what if you both have similar guns? By having a protective paint from your own tank gun you’ll get a huge advantage over your opponent in Tanki Online. It’s especially good idea to buy a protective paint from your own tank gun for Thunder users. Because of self-damage. What tank hull you use? Selecting good protective paint is also dependent on the tank hull you’re using. E.g. you don’t really need protection from Ricochet if you’re using Hornet or Dictator hulls, because of huge physical effect on your tank by Ricochet plasma balls. Either way you’ll not be able to properly attack and even retreat under enemy fire. If you want to get good resistance from Isida for your Hornet don’t count on paints having only 20% of resistance (e.g. Rustle paint) – because of an error in computation it’s not working properly in Tanki Online (and Isida M3 will inflict 100 hp damage, which is enough for killing Hornet M3). What's your role in CTF games? If you’re using Hornet and you’re a caper, consider buying protective paint from long range tank guns like Railgun, Thunder and Shaft. And vice versa – if you’re a defender and you’re using Viking or Mammoth tank hulls, buy yourself a protective paint from close range weapons like Freeze and Ricochet. Turnkey solutions on selecting protective paints in Tanki Online! If you’re a low-rank tanker buy Swamp paint. It’s cheap and effective. Paints worth 5000 crystals are maybe the best in terms of quality-price ratio, providing good low-cost protection. These paints are very good to start with and will give you sensible advantage over enemies. Prodigi is maybe the best protective paint for campers playing with Railgun + Dictator package. It is also good for Railgun or Thunder turret + Viking M3 package. In case you’re short on crystals try Tundra, though its effectiveness is questionable. If you’re a caper and you’re using Hornet remember that your speed and agility are your best protection. Having Corrosion, Prodigi, Emerald and Jade paints to protect you from long-range weapons is also handy. Defenders on Viking and Mammoth tank hulls should consider buying protective paints from close range tank guns like Freeze and Ricochet. I personally vote for Zeus, since I believe that Ricochet is more dangerous. Most of the time it’s a good idea to play Ricochet with protective paint versus Freeze and vice versa (sorry for my Latin!) If you’ve got a stable tank hull like Viking or Mammoth course. If you still can't choose which protective paint to buy, consider buying the most expensive paint you can afford from your own weapon.

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methods to pump your Tanki account: Perfect turret + hull combinations and upgrade sequences

 

In Tanki Online (play it now!) there’re 9 tank guns and 7 tank hulls. The number of possible combinations is really great. But there should be some combinations of turrets and hulls that are better than the others. And of course there should be a proper sequence of their upgrade to save precious crystals and time.

Here are some good combinations and upgrade sequences depending on different playing styles and objectives you may assign to yourself.

Wanna test every single tier 1 gun available!

That's a great objective! Some tankers believe that buying every single gun in Tanki Online is disadvantageous and even impossible, but that’s nonsense! It’s just not the most effective way to upgrade your account. But still replacing an older weapon with a newer is profitable, cos every subsequent tier 1 turret has more power than the previous one. And the prices for M0 modifications are really low.

4 methods to pump your Tanki account: Perfect turret + hull combinations and upgrade sequences

In Tanki Online (play it now!) there’re 9 tank guns and 7 tank hulls. The number of possible combinations is really great. But there should be some combinations of turrets and hulls that are better than the others. And of course there should be a proper sequence of their upgrade to save precious crystals and time.

Here are some good combinations and upgrade sequences depending on different playing styles and objectives you may assign to yourself.

Wanna test every single tier 1 gun available!

That's a great objective! Some tankers believe that buying every single gun in Tanki Online is disadvantageous and even impossible, but that’s nonsense! It’s just not the most effective way to upgrade your account. But still replacing an older weapon with a newer is profitable, cos every subsequent tier 1 turret has more power than the previous one. And the prices for M0 modifications are really low.

Do not upgrade your Smoky gun and buy yourself a Firebird. Then – go for Twins (without upgrading the Firebird), then – Railgun. That’s it. You’ve tried all four tier 1 guns in Tanki Online. Now you should choose which tank gun you like the most and focus on playing and upgrading it. I don’t recommend buying Isida M0 not only because it’s rather expensive, but also because M0-M1 modifications are very inefficient in terms of destroying enemy tanks. So it's a good idea to stop "testing" tier 1 guns after buying Raligun M0.
It’s a good idea to mount Smoky and Firebird on Wasp, then switch to Titan for playing with Twins, and then back to Wasp or Hunter for playing with Railgun.
Resume:
(+) You will try every single tier 1 gun in Tanki Online.
(-) You’ll have limited experience in playing with each gun. It’s always a better idea to go for one gun and one tank hull to master your skills.

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Wanna play with a Railgun and join a clan!

Railgun is not only a legendary Tanki Online weapon, but it is also fun to play. And most importantly – it’s the official tank turret for playing clan wars (together with Dictator hull). So many Tanki players have just one objective – to buy and upgrade Railgun in order to participate in clan wars.

It’s always a good idea to stick to Smoky + Wasp combination (cos it is cheap and will help you to practice your targeting skill). Upgrade your Smoky gun up to M2 modification, save 100 crystals for buying Railgun M0 at Staff Sergeant rank and spend all the remaining crystals for upgrading your Wasp.
I personally recommend playing Railgun on Wasp. Maybe it’s not as efficient as Hunter (which is also kinda recommended), but it’s definitely the best possible tank hull for training your skills. Though may win more prize crystals if playing on Hunter because of its good armor and best stability, but you’ll become a better Railgun player if practicing on Wasp.
Upgrade your Railgun and Wasp to M3. Then save crystals to buy Dictator M2 (if you want to play in a clan) or Viking (if you don’t). Never buy Dictator M0-M1 modifications, they are rubbish.
Railgun + Dictator combination will be effective until mass appearance of tier 2 M3 modifications of turrets and hulls (that’s approximately till Major rank).
Resume:
(+) Having a Railgun M3 and Dictator M3 you can join a clan.
(-) Railgun and Dictator are the most expensive tier 1 goodies. And they are not a match for tier 2 guns.

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Cheap and cheerful

All the above ways to upgrade your Tanki account were not really efficient. But not this one! The following combination and upgrade sequence really rocks.
Switch to Twins + Hunter (or Titan) combination at first opportunity. Focus on playing Deathmatches, avoid playing team games. Because Twins is so cheap and powerful you'll have a huge advantage on small and medium size maps over your enemies. Try playing long battles. Don’t waste your time on battles less than 30-40 minutes or 100 frags.

You may switch to Viking or Mammoth at first opportunity. Mammoth is better for Deathmatches, but Viking is more versatile solution, good for playing with any Tanki Online weapon.
Twins gun in combination with Viking or Mammoth will be effective approximately till Lieutenant rank. Replacing Twins with Thunder M2 and continuing playing Deathmatches in combination with Mammoth (or Viking) is also cheap and cheerful.
Resume:
(+) Twins is really cheap and cheerful.
(-) Just in case you think playing with Twins is easy, it is not. Every Tanki Online turret requires skill to play.

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The fastest way to upgrade your rank in Tanki Online

Isida is the most profitable turret in Tanki Online, because of its 50% bonus for healing teammates. If choosing Isida you'll be restricted to CTF games, which are always risky (cos you very much depend on your teammates).

Use Firebird + Wasp combination on early stages. The gameplay will be very similar to playing with Isida. Then you’ll have a choice to upgrade your Firebird to M3 or to buy yourself Isida M0. Buying Isida M0 is risky, and a wise decision is to play with Firebird M3 till you can afford Isida M2 + Hornet M0 combination. But nothing venture, nothing have – buy Isida M0!
Now having Isida M0 + Wasp M3 combination on First Sergeant rank join teams that have high-rank players (approximately 5 ranks higher than you – WO4 and higher). Heal your high-rank teammates and get points for healing with 50% bonus. Also remember, that the higher rank your patients have, the more points for healing you get. In fact it depends not on rank, but on rating. But high-rank players usually have higher rating, so it still works.
Remember that Isida M0 needs 20 seconds to recharge, so it’s a good idea to let enemies to destroy your tank and make you respawn. Strange, but true: this way you’ll save time on recharging your weapon and will get a chance to get more points for healing in CTF. And just in case you missed the point – focus on healing. Isida is not for serial killers!
Though Isida is a tier 1 weapon, you can still play with it up to Marshal rank, winning battles and crystals. Though Isida is not suitable for Deathmatches and lets its own team down when playing TDMs. In case you get tired of playing with Isida, you can always buy Freeze. This awesome tier 2 turret will suit your Hornet tank hull perfectly.
Resume:
(+) Playing with Isida you will upgrade your rank very fast.
(-) There’s always a risk to upgrade your rank and turn out to be low in crystals.

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Tanki secrets

 

Do you know you can swing the turret? Just kidding! In this article I will disclose some Tanki Online (play the game!) secrets that are not apparent at first glance. And mind the turret!

Do you know that...

Get 100 crystals as a gift! ...the first time you donate into Tanki Online you get 100 crystals as a gift? So why don’t you make the smallest possible payment and buy like 1 crystal for $0.01 to get your gift virtually for free? Of course 100 crystals is not much on higher ranks, but getting your gift at the very beginning really makes the difference! Upgrade your tank gun first! ...it’s better to upgrade your gun first, and your tank hull later? You're using your tank gun to get frags, not you hull, right? Unless you’re a donator it is also recommended to focus on playing and upgrading only one turret, until you get a tier 2 M3 combination of turret and hull, and expensive protective paint. Collect crystal boxes smart! ...crystal drop starts every time the fund is multiple of six? And you don’t need to stay in places where blue boxes are dropped all the time? Just wait until 1 crystal before the drop, then rush to the drop site and collect your reward for being a smart guy! Gold box! ...there’s a gold box with 100 crystals in Tanki Online that is dropped every time the fund is multiple of 700-720 (approximately)? On higher ranks the competition for those boxes is really high, but low-rank tankers seldom know about them, so find long battles with high funds (multiple of 700) and try getting the gold box. So how do you know where the gold box is dropped? It is dropped in predefined areas, typically not far from the center. If you don’t know an exact location, try watching other players. Most probably you'll notice one or two players are standing and protecting the central area of the map from other players. That is a possible location of gold box drop site. Get more points defending your flag in CTF! ...you can get double points in defense? For this try killing enemy attackers after they take your flag in CTF. It's risky, but this way you get double points for a kill. The perfect tank gun for killing enemy capers for double points is Freeze. Just freeze the attacking tank when it approaches the flag (in order to reduce its speed), let it take your flag and destroy it. Of course playing with other tank guns is much more risky, but it is still too profitable to refuse. Jump from heights using recoil or walls! ...you can use recoil to safely jump from great heights? Just press fire button when both caterpillars of your tank become airborne. Of course that works only if your tank gun has recoil. But what should you do if playing with Firebird, Isida or Freeze? Flip over and press "Del" to self-destruct? There’s a better way! Just find a place with some walls and make a thing: Change your weapon and tank hull without leaving a battle! ...you can change your weapons without actually leaving a battle and loosing your points and frags? Sometimes you need to change your weapon to win. Of course if you hit the Garage button you’ll loose your points and frags and will be forced to start over. But there’s another way! Open a new browser tab and go to Tanki Online website. Then select a different game server and log into it. Go to Garage and Equip whatever you like. Close this page. Then switch to the previous tab with the battle you’re in. The game will tell you the connection is closed. Hit Refresh button in your web browser to reload the page. You’ll reemerge in the battle you’d been playing with all your points and frags intact. Just remember that you have only 2 minutes for changing weapons. Otherwise you’ll be banished from the game due to inactivity! Just be careful, especially if you’ve got slow Internet connection. Dictator has no advantage because of shifted turret! …Dictator, Hornet and Viking have identical rear overhangs? And short rear overhang of Dictator is just an optical illusion? So after all Dictator has no advantage over Viking? Thanks to comrade Sinclerik you can verify that: Change your weapon and tank hull without leaving a battle! ...you can change your weapons without actually leaving a battle and loosing your points and frags? Sometimes you need to change your weapon to win. Of course if you hit the Garage button you’ll loose your points and frags and will be forced to start over. But there’s another way! Open a new browser tab and go to Tanki Online website. Then select a different game server and log into it. Go to Garage and Equip whatever you like. Close this page. Then switch to the previous tab with the battle you’re in. The game will tell you the connection is closed. Hit Refresh button in your web browser to reload the page. You’ll reemerge in the battle you’d been playing with all your points and frags intact. Just remember that you have only 2 minutes for changing weapons. Otherwise you’ll be banished from the game due to inactivity! Just be careful, especially if you’ve got slow Internet connection. Dictator has no advantage because of shifted turret! …Dictator, Hornet and Viking have identical rear overhangs? And short rear overhang of Dictator is just an optical illusion? So after all Dictator has no advantage over Viking? Thanks to comrade Sinclerik you can verify that: Having multiple accounts you can get a Daily bonus at each of them! ...having multiple accounts in Tanki Online is permitted? And you can get a Daily bonus on each of them? Having two or even more accounts in Tanki Online is great especially if you’re not going to donate into the game (which I think is a grave mistake!) You can try different weapon + hull combinations, focusing on upgrading only one such combination per account. Together with free stuff you get with your Daily bonus that will give you a visible advantage over other Tanki players. Use game chat commands to block foul language foul language! ...there’s no need to read all that foul language in game chat? Just input the following chat commands during battle: /block name – blocks acquisition of messages from the NAME player /unblock name - unblocks acquisition of messages from the NAME player To view a list of blocked players or to unblock them all input the following chat commands in the lobby (not working in battle): /blocklist - shows the list of blocked /unblockall - clears the list of blocked players You can also deactivate game chat by pressing the corresponding Setup button (in top right corner, the one with gear symbol) and clearing the checkbox "Show battle chat". In this case to check game chat, just press Enter key. Secretly use supplies for your own advantage! ...picking up boxes with supplies from the ground you will have an advantage for only 40 seconds? But you can secretly activate similar supply from your backpack after 30-35 seconds (before the one you’d picked up from the ground didn't start blinking), hence prolonging it for another 1 minute? This way you'll have almost 1.5 minute advantage over you rivals, and none will really notice you’re drugging! Kill Isidas first, patients later! ...if you’re fighting an opponent that is backed by Isida, kill Isida first! No secrets – otherwise Isida player will continuously heal your enemy.

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How to play Tanki Online? Keyboard layout

 

When you first start playing Tanki Online (Play Tank Game Online!) it shows you default keyboard layout for controlling your tank. But is it the best possible solution? Or there’re other more convenient ways to control your tank? I'm ready and willing to give you two more keyboard layouts for playing Tanki Online with several advices.

Default layout

I bet you remember this picture: 

 

By default you’re supposed to control your movement by using arrow keys, swinging tank turret with "Z & X" keys, and lift and lower camera view with "Page Up & Page Down" keys. From my opinion this layout is crap, don’t use it! Especially if you’re skilled in playing first-person shooters on PC. This way you’ve probably got used of moving your character with your left hand on keyboard, while aiming and shooting with the mouse in your right hand. Fortunately there’s no need to switch hands and retrain for playing Tanki Online.

Recommended layout

I personally recommend using a different layout, which should suit most Tanki Online players. Use your left hand on "WASD" keys for controlling movement, your index and middle finger on "< & >" keys for swinging tank turret and your ring finger on "[ & ]" keys to control camera view.

One hand to rule them all layout

Here’s another nice layout, adopted by many Tanki Online players. Use your left hand on "WASD" keys and on "Z & X" (or "Q & E") keys to control both tank movement and your turret. This way your right hand is free to control camera view with "Page Up & Page Down" keys and quickly activate supplies without stopping.


 

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A guide to Control Points

 A comprehensive guide to Control Points [CP] mode in Tanki Online (with optional video guide available for your enjoyment!) General description, rules, tactics and helpful tips & tricks to maximize your performance in everyday battles.

  

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The best Railgun guide

The best Railgun guide

Tankmen!

In the just ended Tanki Online the best of we had brilliant entries coming in from all over the world. Here is a brilliant guide which approximately how the ideas entries were supposed to look like. Its a railgun guide by gamepiong showing good skill and good tips.

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