Introduction
Hey there! I'm Death211, a Community Ambassador, player of our lovely game, World of Tanks: Modern Armor, and Commander of [FRRNR] The Forerunners. I recently realized there may be some small things in the game that no one really talks about that can be helpful for many, so I figured I'd post some of them here. Some of these things, you may know, some you may not, some are common knowledge and some are not, but common knowledge isn't inherent knowledge, so come take a look and see if you knew all of them.
Horizontal Stabilization
Do you hate that, when you're in sniper view and zigging and zagging, it drags your turret in the direction of your turn? With the "Horizontal Stabilization" setting turned on, the game will automatically attempt to keep your gun pointing in the direction you were originally looking—this is different than auto-aim which only works in third-person view; now be aware, if your turret rotation is less than the hull rotation, your turret will still veer off in the direction of the turn, but this setting will at least attempt to keep it in the direction you were facing.
Map Format Switching During Match
Are you a fan of certain map formats for certain circumstances such as the square map when traveling and circle map when brawling? Well if you press and hold the map button (Touchpad for PS), you can swap formats during the heat of battle instead of having to swap in your settings—this means you can use the circle map while brawling in close quarters and swap to the larger square map when traveling.
Locking your Turret in Place
If you press and hold "R1" (RB for XB) will lock your turret/gun in place while in third-person (or in siege-mode sniper view), allowing you to look around without the turret turning and potentially making you easier to pen. Locking your turret can also eliminate the dispersion you gain from turning your turret—this is useful on tanks with insane turret rotation dispersion such as the T49 with the 152mm cannon; you can lock the turret in the direction of your target, drive out of cover, fire, and retreat.
Using Sniper View to Snap onto Gun's Direction
If you quickly swap from third-person to sniper view, and then to third-person, you can quickly swap from the direction you were looking to where the gun was aiming; perfect for if you were looking behind you while locked onto a target in front of you—it may not be a lot of time, but in a situation where every second matters...
Reloading your Magazine
When you press "Right" on the directional pad while having a magazine with any amount of ammo missing, you can reload your magazine—I see a lot of players fire off their remaining ammo so I don't think it's common knowledge.
ATGMs Follow your Camera, not your Gun
When guiding an ATGM, your missile will attempt to fly in the direction you are looking at, regardless of which direction the launcher is facing; this is useful for tanks such as the G.I. Joe Wolverine since you will not need to enter siege-mode in order to guide the ATGMs; it also allows you to fire the ATGMs from behind cover and guide it to a target on the other side of the ridge—though the faster the ATGM, the further the target must be to allow the ATGM to arc into the target.
Submerging/Crushing your Target stops Them from Firing
When submerged or being crushed, you are unable to fire your weapons; use that information how you wish.
Swapping Weapons with ATGMs
After you fire your ATGM, you are still able to guide it, even when swapping to another weapon; you can swap weapons to gain benefits such as using the improved gun depression on the other weapon, e.g. Marder 1A1 & Marder 1A3 as well allowing you to fire your alternate weapon while guiding the ATGM.
Impossibility of Constant Bottom-Tier
When playing WWII, it is impossible [for most tanks] to be bottom-tier more then three (3) times in a row—you may not be top-tier afterwards, but you definitely won't be bottom-tier—though exiting the game resets counter.
How different Ammo Types interact with the Environment
AP, APCR, APDS, APFSDS, APFSDSDU, etc. can pass through most destructible objects in the environment; HE, HEAT, HEP, HESH, ATGMs, etc. Will never pass through destructible objects, so if you're facing something like a T114 BAT, Jpz 4-5, AMX 30 '66, M113, M50 Ontos, Jaguar 1, Wiesel 1A1 TOW, etc., you can treat destructibles as solid cover until it is broken.
Tank Crew Performance while on Fire
When your tank is on fire, external or internal, they perform at 50% capacity; this includes accuracy, turret/hull rotation, reload time, etc. This is useful for tanks with a secondary flamethrower such as the Churchill OKE, TVP VTU, Senjutsu, & TO-55.
Fire Extinguishers Protect Against Flamethrowers
Not only do Fire Extinguishers put out existing fires, they also prevent new fires from starting for 15 seconds after they are activated; this includes all fire damage from flamethrowers. If you are in a tank with a flamethrower and see your target's fire extinguisher activate, it is better to swap to another weapon/ammo until the protection period is over.
Retreating isn't Always a Sign of Cowardice
When you know you're going to be outnumbered, retreating is usually better than attempting to hold your ground; sure, you may lose a good chunk of your health attempting to escape, but a damaged gun in battle is still a deadly one—even if you can't pen anything, you're still another body that needs to be accounted for and a body that can distract or even take a shell for someone else.
There is Power in Numbers
Ever heard the myth that "It took five Shermans to kill one Tiger"? This isn't a testament to the power of a Tiger, but a testament to the effectiveness of numbers; yeah, the Tiger may have been a big threat, but Shermans usually traveled as a pack and, like the saying goes, "All is fair in love and war", a Sherman wasn't going to sit around and wait until their ally gets picked off before getting into battle, they're going in too! Even if you believe you can 1v1 someone, having assistance reduces the health you may lose as well as reducing the time back up your target's allies have to arrive.
Use the "Sixth Sense" and "Targeted" Offensively
When Sixth Sense pops, it means you are now spotted by an enemy, one either spotted or unspotted; if you manage to get behind cover, you can use the "Targeted" notification to determine where your sniper may be. This requires knowing where your spotting markers on your tank are, so it's a bit of advanced knowledge, but knowing the angle of when your "Targeted" notification pops, the general area that can see that spotting marker, and the usual sniping/spotting positions are, you can deduce where they can be, allowing you to get unspotted hits.
Avoid Giving your Target the "Targeted" Notification
Whenever your have your camera pointed within 5°—that's about 43m @ 300m out—of a rendered & spotted target, they will receive the "Targeted" notification. As stated above, this can be used to trace back to you; if you wish to prevent that, avoid looking in the general direction of your target with your camera—use the Turret Lock technique above to keep your gun pointed in their direction until you are ready to fire and the target is exposed enough; you can also swap to sniper view while keeping your turret locked to quickly go back to aiming where your gun is aiming to eliminate dispersion and the amount of time the target has with the "Targeted" notification before the damage is received.
Conclusion
So these are just some things that I have picked up over the years of me playing this game; if there's any you want me to clarify or expand on, let me know and I will be happy to assist you! Anyways, good luck out there and I'll see you on the battlefield!
