While some players complain about "shooting bushes",
other have mastered the game mechanics and become these bushes themselves.
Today, we'll talk about how to turn your vehicle into a true invisible warrior.
Let's go!
To improve vehicle concealment, you need to train it.
But if you train your brain, you can improve concealment in a different way.
Just look around. Many things can come in handy:
a bush, a small bush, a very small bush,
a tree, a fir tree, a palm, and even brushwood.
As a last resort, the nearest building will save you.
Let's start with the simple things.
And our confidential informant is here to help.
As you know, spotting range depends on the enemy view range
and your concealment value.
The higher this value is, the shorter the spotting range will be.
If a tank is hidden behind cover, the concealment value
is considered at its max, and you can spot this vehicle only at 50 meters.
Not only buildings, but any of these objects can serve as cover.
They are all similarly non-transparent for the enemy’s vision rays.
But keep in mind that every tank in the game
has two view range ports and seven visibility checkpoints.
And all vehicles have different dimensions.
Where you can hide one tank, you might not hide another.
It's clear that opponents spot each other using the top view range port,
which is also a visibility checkpoint.
But things can be different. Let's take two similar tanks.
One is parked in the open field, and the other is behind cover.
And what do we see?
The vehicle behind a building is spotted,
while the tank in the field is not.
At first sight, it seems absurd, but if you look closer...
This vehicle’s vision rays hit the non-transparent object,
and one of its visibility checkpoints is exposed to the enemy’s line of sight.
So park your tank carefully.
Especially when every second counts.
When capturing a base like this, remember that
a crate protects you from both vision rays and shells.
But canvas won't hide from either.
Also, all vehicles within a 50-meter range are spotted automatically.
Don't confuse it with the radius on the minimap.
In this case, the vehicles won't spot each other.
Let's get back to concealment.
You can improve your concealment
with the help of bushes, trees, and other flora.
Objects like these give a bonus to the concealment value.
Small bushes and plants without foliage usually add a smaller bonus.
Thick plants with foliage double the bonus.
But what do these numbers mean?
The answer is simple: they are added to the vehicle concealment value
in the formula of the spotting range.
Hey, hey, easy there! Let's see a specific example.
We take an observer tank and three vehicles with similar concealment.
The first vehicle is placed on a clean straight line,
the second is hidden behind a semi-transparent bush,
and the third one is covered by a thicker bush.
Send our observer forward and let's watch.
The first vehicle is already spotted at 383 meters.
The second is spotted 100 meters closer.
And the third becomes visible only at 183 meters.
Let's check the test results with the help of a formula—yeah, that fits.
Let's bring our observer back to the starting position
and send him forward again.
The other tanks remain at their previous positions,
but they're moving now.
The red vehicle is spotted at almost 400 meters,
the yellow one at 300 meters, while the green tank is spotted at 200 meters.
Let's insert the value of vehicle concealment on the move to the formulas.
And everything fits again.
And what will happen if you shoot? It's clear in theory.
The bushes provide great advantage.
But what about in practice?
Let's put our observer
at the range from where he spotted the first vehicle and watch.
The thing is
that not only the concealment of the vehicle itself decreases.
All flora in a 15-meter radius from a firing vehicle
becomes transparent and doesn't provide any bonus to concealment.
The drop of both values lasts only a split second,
but the formulas of calculating the spotting range for all tanks
become the same for this time.
And now let's use our head
and roll the vehicles 15 meters back from the bushes.
It's very easy to do.
Switch to sniper mode and roll until the bush becomes opaque. And that's it!
You can fire. The first vehicle is spotted just like before.
To see the second one, we'll have to move 100 meters closer.
And the third tank will only be spotted from 237 meters.
It all adds up! But there's one nuance.
Let's do another test. Here are two twins.
Both have identical view range and concealment.
The one stays 15 meters away from the bush,
and the other takes the observer's place. Let's go!
One vehicle is moving forward, while the other is turning around.
Both spot each other at the same time.
In other words, when more than 15 meters away from the bush,
it's similarly opaque for both vehicles.
You can use this!
If an enemy moves so that there will be a bush between you,
you might want to hold your fire.
In the first case, you'll be spotted right after the shot.
But if you just wait a little… There's a chance to remain undetected.
And if you want to fire and remain unspotted for sure, do the following:
roll to the bush, spot the enemy, roll 15 meters back and then fire.
Then again, roll forward, spot, roll back, and only then fire.
Seems inconvenient? At least it's safe!
Now it's time to talk about what spotting time and visibility time are.
The first is the time when you or your ally are spotting the enemy.
As soon as the enemy stops being spotted,
they remain visible for about 10 more seconds.
So the visibility time is the spotting time plus these 10 seconds.
Sometimes it's not enough.
The Designated Target perk can help in this situation.
It adds two more seconds to the visibility time of the enemy.
The Focus On Target Directive will add two more.
In total, it's 14 seconds instead of the standard 10!
But it's not that simple.
First of all, this will affect only those enemy vehicles you spot yourself.
Secondly, it will work only against opponents
who were in the 10-degree sector of your gun direction
at the last moment of spotting.
Here's some advice: if you play using your allies' spotting,
it's almost pointless to improve visibility time.
You will still see the enemy for the same 10 seconds and not more.
If you've spotted the enemy vehicle,
but it turns round the corner expecting to get off your radar,
don't start looking for a new target right away.
Against you, their standard calculations don't work as reliably as against others.
These four additional seconds are a good for vehicles with a long reload time.
Every time you spot the enemy, you have time for one more shot.
And it's not a shot to nowhere, but at a certain target.
Let's get back to concealment.
The one-bush situation is clear. But what if there are several bushes?
It's very simple. Concealment bonuses from each bush are added up.
But remember that the maximum value of this sum is 80.
For more clarity, the table shows a number of particular cases.
Knowing your vehicle concealment and approximate enemy view range,
you can roughly estimate the distance you will be spotted from.
In other words, if your vehicle concealment is more than 20,
the enemy will be able to spot you through double bushes
at only a 50-meter range, regardless of their view.
Here it is! A real shooting bush!
If you find good thick bushes and want to check their precise number,
you know what to do.
Roll to the first bush, switch to Sniper mode, roll back, and count.
Like this.
Now you can fire.
And fire.
Repeat until the enemy comes from your rear…
However, it's not the end.
While the fir trees conceal tanks about as well as bushes,
there's a thing about other trees.
The thing is every object like this has an invisible simplified model.
It can be slightly different from the visual model,
but it shields your vehicle from the enemy’s vision.
As you can see, the models of fir trees and bushes suit well for concealment.
To hide your vehicle behind a tree, you'll have to bring it down.
This is how it looks like in the visibility system.
A tree that toppled near a bush or two trees fallen next to each other
work like double bushes.
You can hide behind palm trees using the same principle. But be careful.
You can be immediately hit by a shell from a conservationist. And vice versa.
If you see a tree falling, shoot there to test that woodcutter.
Sometimes it makes sense to fell a fir tree.
The bonus to concealment won't increase.
But a fallen fir tree will give you cover from the enemy in a greater sector.
But no matter how many fir trees you bring down
and how well you master the hiding skill, here's a simple truth:
you won't be able to sit in bushes all the time.
If you want to win more, seize the moment when you need to advance,
and go for it!
And that's all for today.
Share your ideas about the topic of the next episode,
and we might tell you exactly about that!