It's more of a case of TOG being uptiered than IS-2 being OP.
But this kind of collection game is far less sensitive to balancing or "historical accuracy" issues compared to, say, WoT. So maybe TOG will later be balanced out as a punching bag with hideous amount of HP.
In "story" page below the game window:
"...fallen warriors live in peace and harmony..."
In one of the in-game dialogues:
"why did you attack before waiting for us?"
"Soviet HQ ordered us to get mysterious stuff first before capitalists do."
From what i gather from my first couple of days of playing.
Balance isn't a priority for the devs.
They have some good ideas like fallout shelter's scouting system but in general, it seems like they are focused on heavily marketing the game.
Well, with the amount of tanks out, I don't think balance is that much of a priority either. That said, it also means it should very easy to do since there are so little tanks out.
I hit a wall, but just means I need to level and spend more on gatcha
Which I did. Yea I'm a sucker for punishment as many on this forum already know.
Just one /groan about it, rolling 10 and not getting anything above 3 stars will make many not spend on this game, hope the developers change that in the future. The 10+1 should at a minimum should have at least one 4 star in it, IMO. Basing this on the fact of how decent the rate is for just building em in the 3 build slots.
Not all bad though, see for yourself:
Some units just added, previous team was 15-17 in level...leveling is so slow.
Hard to get more then 4-5 units out in any given fight. Just isn't enough time to get more most rounds. And I've already noted the longer ready state for higher rarity units, so there does seem to be some semblance of balance, at least based on rarity/stats. No idea if they will adjust this or not in the future.
Some of the later maps (128 oil cost I'm case), were out right humorous, we finally get to know what it's like when we get zerged. Some of them drop Heavy's, and several of them. I'll level up the team and get there eventually
No, 5 stars were from gatcha. Had many where I got nothing of value at all.
Construction is always hit or miss, mostly 3*, think I got 1 4 from it, not sure though.
I hit a wall, but just means I need to level and spend more on gatcha
Which I did. Yea I'm a sucker for punishment as many on this forum already know.
Just one /groan about it, rolling 10 and not getting anything above 3 stars will make many not spend on this game, hope the developers change that in the future. The 10+1 should at a minimum should have at least one 4 star in it, IMO. Basing this on the fact of how decent the rate is for just building em in the 3 build slots.
Not all bad though, see for yourself:
Some units just added, previous team was 15-17 in level...leveling is so slow.
Hard to get more then 4-5 units out in any given fight. Just isn't enough time to get more most rounds. And I've already noted the longer ready state for higher rarity units, so there does seem to be some semblance of balance, at least based on rarity/stats. No idea if they will adjust this or not in the future.
Some of the later maps (128 oil cost I'm case), were out right humorous, we finally get to know what it's like when we get zerged. Some of them drop Heavy's, and several of them. I'll level up the team and get there eventually
Well, looking at your units, I can see why you're having trouble.
1. You put only 5*s on your first line even though they're not leveled and you have stronger tanks available. The top row of tanks are your starters and will always appear in that order. 2nd and 3rd row appear in a random order.
Well, looking at your units, I can see why you're having trouble.
1. You put only 5*s on your first line even though they're not leveled and you have stronger tanks available. The top row of tanks are your starters and will always appear in that order. 2nd and 3rd row appear in a random order.
1>Directly above the picture: "Some units just added, previous team was 15-17 in level...leveling is so slow." It's why I said i'll be leveling for awhile, and its a picture, doesn't mean order stays that way. Just meant to look orderly.
2>I've seen a lot of people say this, but have seen them single handedly win me matches with a heavy taking the hits in front of them, and even then it wouldn't take long for them to get over run. This is more true on maps where the enemy is zerging with swarms instead of higher quality units. I prefer to have an answer for multiple scenarios. To each their own.
2>I've seen a lot of people say this, but have seen them single handedly win me matches with a heavy taking the hits in front of them, and even then it wouldn't take long for them to get over run. This is more true on maps where the enemy is zerging with swarms instead of higher quality units. I prefer to have an answer for multiple scenarios. To each their own.
Artillery stats are just too low, so if they get hit by boss aoe they die instantly. If you decide to stick with them, I suggest you increase their range as much as possible along with attack.
Artillery stats are just too low, so if they get hit by boss aoe they die instantly. If you decide to stick with them, I suggest you increase their range as much as possible along with attack.
Yes, I have, its why they have wide arcs, you don't set them directly behind tanks so they can clump up, DUH. Destroyer AoE blast isn't that large, and unless you're letting units clump it's not really an issue regardless of the unit. Now when the enemy also has shelling attacks, that's a different story, although to be fair, lights and even mids don't fare well against a direct hit against those (if the map is of level, or your slightly under leveled). The arc of fire along with range is just as important for them. I'll use em regardless, so the point is kinda moot.
Already have, they tend to clean up what the tanks don't stop as I also try to extend the rate of fire. Both are useful for them.
No, 5 stars were from gatcha. Had many where I got nothing of value at all.
Construction is always hit or miss, mostly 3*, think I got 1 4 from it, not sure though.
Ahh I see okay. What did you think of the odds of pulling the 5*s? Bad? How many cores did you burn?
Well this is what I'm using although I recently replaced the Type 91 with KV-1 like few minutes ago.
If there is one thing I learned after the past few days, the combat is dictated by minimum range of engagement. Heavy tanks have shortest range of engagement which ensure that they are upfront and have enemy tanks shooting at them instead of tanks with longer range of engagement.
Because of this, M6A1 almost always gets destroyed.
When Heavy tanks go, the light tanks and medium tanks is always next to go. Light tanks have second worst range. While meds seems to be middle of them all but sometimes their speed gets them in trouble because they can charge ahead of heavy tanks and implode from the focusfire. lol
Arties can be okay i guess. Some of them have abilities, other ones have nothing but that's more of a tier issues than anything else. I was using an russian arty with no abilites on it with 2*.
Sexton Arty has DOwnfall + HE shells. Downfall is a 3 second stun for enemies caught in aoe and is an activated ability.
But I think its amusing that mediums in armor blitz eventually becomes the best tanks to be because they're most flexible just like they are in world of tanks and warthunder and other games.. its always end up like that.
Light tanks? They don't' even have a purpose in armor blitz other than being cheap to spam. That's it. You could however, theoretically dump a bunch of LTs onto one lane after saving up to ten gears and drop 3 right away then they charge across to try decapitate the enemy boss's life points while their reserves is fighting your main army. But boss can kill LTs quickly too so its dicey. I used to carry five LTs in my army but i gradually remove them because it became obvious that they have no purpose in armor blitz.
WWII tactics don't lend themselves to lane pushing games very well it seems.
Artillery isn't truly bad, it's just that unless you give them a couple medals that boost their survivability the AI general tends to splash damage them down fairly quickly. I suspect it's more along the lines of TDs being really, really, REALLY good.
If there are any gripes I have with the game it's that:
1: Light tanks feel extremely underwhelming. I've never had a single moment where I felt like I wanted a light tank over literally anything else except artillery in some cases. Their passive also feels useless because TDs just nom through health bars anyway and can actually trade hits just as well if not better than light tanks. In fact, I swapped all but 1 of my 4* light tanks for 3-4* medium tanks and never regretted it. Might swap the final one too the monent I roll another 4* med/heavy tank.
2: Gacha is an absolute joke. You are 100% better off buying construction slots and taking in between 0 and 3 4* tanks per day from that. (And yes, I've had two days where 3/3 slots were 4* already)
3: Candy gain rate is terrible. 1/tile + 5 from daily quest. Maxing 1 girl requires 150. There really needs to be a way to reliably grind this stuff.
4: Random daily spin needs the 1 candy/500 coins rewards changed. At least turn them into 5 candy/2000 coins like the daily quest. Especially since the spin is weighted as all hell. Possibly change the "free ticket" reward as well because right now it's basically a redraw which wastes your time.
5: AI buffs maybe? Right now I cringe every time I see the AI throw a single light tank/arty/TD right into my deathball only to follow up with a heavy tank someplace useless 10sec later. Maybe let the AI save points like the player can and drop 2 tanks at a later interval if it feels like it's losing ground/needs a more solid push?
Artillery isn't truly bad, it's just that unless you give them a couple medals that boost their survivability the AI general tends to splash damage them down fairly quickly
My problem with artillery isnt with their survivability. My problem with them is the reason only to use them is for their aoe stun and their tendency to get distracted by turrets insted of helping with the push.
They have bad dps. Their aoe attack isnt too great since the ai tends to trickle units in one at at time. Their massive attack angles tend cause them to get distraced by turrets. And then there is the ability "artillery" that you can equip and use at any time for 3 mana. That ability can clear mines, destroy atillery turrets and artillery tanks (ai artillery are actually dangerous due to their stat buffs and their skills being available to use sooner than your tanks) in one shot as long as you arent underleveled for the area. Sure it costs 3 mana per use and can only be used 3 times but you can target a specific area and not have to worry about it get distracted by turrets.
I do mostly agree about light tanks. IMO, the only good ones are the ones with aoe buffs since they work well with a large ball of tanks. Which is pretty much the only strategy that works unless you have a couple of specific tanks that allow to you rush the boss.
Speaking of rushing the boss, does anyone have Tinda, sherman crocodile the medium tank (not the heavy one)? Back when I played the andriod version, she was the best at it due to her stats (high dps, good speed, awful range and an aoe cone attack). I am curious if she was nerfed.
Just got Cymric and the well beside it. Now I need to clear up the dozen tiles I bypassed in favor of blitzing resource nodes.
I think artilleries can safely be retired once you get SU-152 - an absolute beauty of a cannon. Mad aoe dps and high alpha skill more than make up for 3 sec arty stun.
I did retire all the lights from combat roster except for the T-70 I got from starter free gacha roll. 25% def team buff for 20 sec is similar in effect to bulwark lv.3 (26% def, self, for 12 sec) and helps a lot keeping the heavy alive once heavy's own skill wears off.
Cromwell (starter tank for Evie) is surprisingly useful as clutch tank. If heavy is about to go, activating Crom's Haste will put it in front of the heavy to draw first aggro and evasion-tank for a while. Even if crom dies, repair downtime is still less than that of a heavy.
And about gacha... it's basically loyalty point shop; purchase 100 loyalty points for a random 5*. 3* and 4* you get from the process are just gravy. 1% for 5* is just a lucky jackpot that one should not rely on.
i would advise you to damage test her with penetration and crit first.
im told it's aoe damage that is bugged in general. i just spent the last 10 minutes testing if artillery could crit or benefit from pen and i can 100% confirm they do not crit or benefit from pen.
Meta becomes stale as most optimal way of play narrows down to either boss rush or a giant deathball.
This is because players' priorities are first and foremost to prevent loss, especially loss of the main heavy tank in order to not incur the damage repair time.
The main Heavy tank, while being the most likely unit to die first, is by design also the tank with longest repair time. I think designers' intention is to prevent blitz and regulate the speed of content consumption. Nevertheless, this causes a chain reaction ending in the optimal choice of deathball marching down the center lane.
Game starts, player gathers points and deploys a Heavy and maybe a couple other support tanks. Heavy is essential because one needs a damage sponge to protect other tanks.
Heavy needs to survive, not only because of the repair time mentioned earlier but also because the damage dealer tanks need to be delivered safely in front of the boss.
So how to keep the heavy alive? First, there is heal. But heal is limited and enemy can easily out-dps the heal per second. i.e. a Heavy can only endure so much before dying. Thus, you stack damage dealer tanks behind the heavy to form a "deathball" that will win the dps race before heavy dies.
See where this is heading to? The game devolves into a simple dps race between player's deathball and the boss.
What if the boss deals aoe damage that bypasses heavy's damage sponge roll? Then heavy's survival and dps stacking becomes even more important because damage dealers absolutely cannot afford to take damage from enemy minions before fighting the boss. If enough dps is stacked, then the boss melts, everyone lives.
Spreading damage dealers on separate lanes in order to avoid boss aoe is suboptimal. Because of cost and time constraints, you cannot provide damage sponge heavy to each separate group. And even if you can, every extra heavy that you field is every extra damage dealer that you could've fielded.
Also, heal is area-limited; two separate groups cannot be effectively healed with a single heal shot.
Brain goes back to drawing board and ends up in the deathball.
And where to place the deathball? One might want to place it on the flank lane to bypass some of the fortifications. But this is a simple game (which isn't necessarily a bad thing, mind you); "flanking" goes both ways. AI might be able to spawn a couple of strong units on the other flank and snipe the officer before the deathball can snipe the boss.
Again, placing some units to meet this flanking threat weakens the deathball and also risk loss of this "flanking guard" units because those units will keep moving forward to their doom. Loss is penalized. Player created deathball in the first place to avoid loss. Flank guards frustrate that very purpose.
Thus, to minimize this possibility and catch as many minions as possible with the deathball, the ball is best placed at the center lane.
So, what is the fundamental issue that we can tackle to solve this series of issues?
Maybe penalty scheme balance is off: the game imposes heaviest penalty on the class with highest casualty rate. Maybe it shouldn't.
Maybe award and penalty are applied on wrong places.
Remember "Paladog"? Or, in the hentai game genre, "Tentacle Tactics"? (discontinued) These are lane pusher games similar to Armor Blitz, albeit on single lane only. Major difference between these games and Armor Blitz is that they present attrition (death) of units as a natural part of gameplay that does not get penalized outside of the battle. i.e. If you spawn a strong, expensive dragon unit, losing that unit early might impact your odds of winning the battle of attrition against the AI but this loss of unit won't have an impact outside of battle. Actually, you are encouraged to keep grinding units for the tug-of-war until the frontline reaches the boss.
Maybe game lacks necessary complexity to support its penalty scheme.
Simplicity is good, until it's not. When unit death is penalized heavily, forcing units to obliviously march into certain death only promotes frustration. Players need more control over individual unit.
Edit: as a weeb and armor enthusiast, I want this game to be successful. I think basic gameplay concept itself is solid and fun. I just think that it needs some... more polishing.
I also want to talk about artwork quality but I assume that's a delicate (or "impolite") issue not worth discussing here.
I also concur about light tanks, only added them to my roster for the pic and to level them beyond level 1. As far as useful, they generally are not due to how quickly they die to either AoE, or just being outclassed vs opposing tanks even those that are a 1v1 battle. Watching a level 12 light tank die to a level 7 enemy med tank is a bit depressing.
Like others, majority of team is comprised of Med tanks, as overall they perform better consistently then almost every other. I could field an entire team of med tanks, but just don't want to do it, it bugs me having other units that can and should be used. Thus I do, even if it isn't optimal.
As the game evolves and gets updates, hopefully some of these things get resolved. While it's still fun, I'll keep playing it.
Soviet 5-Stars 100% Bonus Drop Rate until July 23rd, 5:00pm EDT!
-Thanks for joining us for our launch, everyone! From now until the 23rd, we'll be boosting the drop rate for rare Soviet tanks in both Recruitment and Factory. This is your chance to capture a beautiful new Soviet tank for your arsenal!(edited)
