Charlotte O'Dell
Molon Labe.
League of Infamy
509
   |
Posted - 2013.06.17 08:48:00 -
[1] - Quote
Congratulations,
You have just become part of the least loved group in New Eden, next to the dropships. You did this because you wanted to be god-mode, I imagine, and in that regard, you are sadly mistaken. Chances were you saw someone like Psychotic Shooter, Void Echo, Slap26, Bobthe843Cakeman, ExMaple, or General Grodd go 35:0 in an ambush and you thought it was just that easy. Sorry to tell you, but it isn't. Sure, we have thousands of hit points, but Av does thousands of damage.
You are entering a world where you have STD defenses when you're being attacked by PRO and OFFICER grade weapons. Your average pub fitting will run you 1.4 million ISK, and you will need millions upon millions of SP to compete with other tanks.
The best advice I can give you, new tanker, is to go out there and get killed by an experienced tanker. Then ask him to teach you. When you can match him, repeat this process until you are going 35:0 in every ambush you play. I understand that you're new and have a lot of pride, but there is no reason to reinvent the wheel, especially now that tanking is harder than it has ever been.
*Being a successful tanker is as much about your social game as your gun game. Starting out, you're going to need a corp to sponsor you, because you won't be making enough money to break even. In fact, it's agreed that only a small handful of 20 or so tankers in the whole game make their money purely off of vehicles. 5 million per week should be a good enough stipend to compensate for all those pubs you play with free suits, to fund a tank every few battles.
*The other part of the social game is finding a mentor, as I said earlier. A mentor will go a long way toward turning you into a self-sufficient tanker, and that's the goal; not being a legend in PC. Learn every trick they have, then create and test new ones with them, and then find more mentors.
*The third aspect of the social game for new tankers, is getting connections. Good tankers are in high demand for PC, and will regularly merc for 1-5 mil, easily. You want to meet lots of players from other corps so that when they are short a tanker, they think of you. Get your name out there- act like a celebrity and you will become one; forums help a lot with that one.
*Fourth, you need to earn respect among the tanking community by killing them. Personally, I have a lot of respect for Movado from Synergy. I specced into armor tanks just to be able to counter him and every match against him is a good one. I respect him because we've killed each other at almost a 1:1 ratio since PC launched. In reality, the who's who of the tanking community is a very tight circle, and we all know who everyone else is. No other school of war in Dust can look at a board before the match, and know exactly who they should watch out for with 100% accuracy. You will definitely want to learn who the tankers are to watch out for, and if you have the ISK to spare, try and play a match against them to see how they beat you- because they will. Anyone with over 10m SP who still tanks is a good tanker- everyone else specced out of it after the respec because they couldn't cut it.
Charlotte O'Dell
"I like rails." |
Charlotte O'Dell
Molon Labe.
League of Infamy
543
|
Posted - 2013.06.19 23:53:00 -
[2] - Quote
Judge Rhadamanthus wrote:I shall add some social advice too if that's okay. I have always been fully specced into drop ships with no suit skills. I have done this in every build and still am. How is relevant to tanking? I run with tankers. Usually two of them. If you run with a drop ship he can tell you where the enemy tanks are even which way the turret is facing well before you can see him or he even sees you. I can report swarmes and forge positions. Another thing we do is fly in early. DELIBERATELY get swarmed then leave. A DS can suck up the attention and AV fire of your enemies. So make some DS friends.
Try get some air support. The advantage of the reports from the sky cannot be overstated.
On a slightly separate note, running with many tankers as I do I hear a lot of disrespect for long range rail tanks. Those that do it from the red line are considered by many to be cheap and low in skill. I watch many tank battles from the air and the respected tankers are the ones I see who display skill at supporting the infantry, get into the fight (wisely no all gung ho) and work as a team with other vehicles on the ground and air. I have tried long range railing and its too easy.
If you want respect, don't range rail.
On that note, if you can become even 50% as effective within 50m with a rail as a blaster, you'll get respect for your skills pretty quick. Right now, the amount of tankers who are actually that good with a rail can be counted on one hand. |
Charlotte O'Dell
Molon Labe.
League of Infamy
543
|
Posted - 2013.06.20 00:01:00 -
[3] - Quote
Hierarchy of tank builds in relation to how hard it is to get kills with a certain build
1) 25:0 with a rail; all kills within 50m (this is the hardest possible thing to learn)
2) 25:0 with missiles (fairly straightforward, but missiles have very low splash damage)
3) 25:0 with blasters (easy weapon, but you do put yourself in considerable danger due to the short effective range of the turret)
4) 25:0 with rails beyond 200m (dont be this guy, but be able to do it) |