There are many tanks, and they all are different.
Big, small, with a gun and… with two guns.
Hundreds of vehicles!
However, any tank has just two special roles in battle.
It either hides or looks for other tanks.
To become a successful hunter in World of Tanks,
even the Maus needs to do both.
Looking for the enemy while hiding from them is a science!
Luckily, you can learn it with the help of just two things:
the Battle! button and this video.
The video where we delve into the interaction
between view range and concealment.
Explaining Mechanics: View Range and Concealment
All vehicles have their tools to either spot or hide.
You can affect some of them but not others.
Just like a movie starts with a trailer,
tank concealment starts with checkpoints which determine
when the enemy is spotted and when your position is revealed.
Each vehicle has seven checkpoints.
Five of them are purely visibility checkpoints,
and the remaining two are also view range ports.
Their arrangement on tanks follows the same principle.
There are visibility checkpoints on all hull sides
and one at the point where the gun is attached to the turret.
One view range port is at the center of the vehicle at the top,
and the other is at the point where the gun is attached to the turret.
The latter is a dynamic port and moves together with the turret.
View range ports emit vision rays
that search for enemy checkpoints within a radius of 50 to 445 meters.
If the enemy concealment value is not enough to hide them,
they will be spotted.
This is also affected by obstacles.
For example, destructible objects hide vehicles
but only until they're no longer intact.
Indestructible objects and bushes hide vehicles
so long as they are between you and the enemy.
Vehicles taking part in battle,
or their carcasses after they have been destroyed,
don't hide your tank at all.
We cannot see how all these checkpoints interact,
but for the server, this is a whole web of events
which inextricably links the one who spots with the one who is spotted.
The vision rays from the view range ports
hit only the visible checkpoints of the enemy vehicle.
The number of emitted vision rays
is limited only by the number of enemy vehicles in battle.
This rule works in the opposite direction as well.
Knowing how this works is valuable information in real battles.
If you need to spot the enemy during a skirmish, many do it this way.
They show their checkpoint first
when their view range port is still behind cover.
So they are dealt unnecessary amounts of damage, though deservedly.
But you can avoid it by using the knowledge you've just received.
As we now know, there's a dynamic view range port in the turret
that can spot enemies from behind cover.
In this way, you can remain hidden and keep your precious hit points.
You should always keep this in mind in positional fights.
Just remember that not all gun mantlets can withstand hits.
Sixth Sense
In typical battles, a game of chess unfolds between tanks.
One is on the move, searching, and the other is hiding, not moving.
When your vehicle is spotted,
the Sixth Sense perk activates in 3 seconds.
To disappear completely,
you need to move far enough away or hide behind cover,
making sure the enemy cannot see you,
then count the standard 10 seconds of spotting using the counter in the corner.
But there are nuances.
If the enemy has Improved Radio Set equipped in a certain slot,
you will be spotted for 12 seconds.
If you add the trained crew perk and the directive for it,
the spotting time can reach 16 seconds.
You need to keep this in mind
when you roll out to fire at the enemy again after you've been spotted.
Now when you know that spotting time may be almost two times higher,
you can punish the enemy who spotted you.
But first, you need to find them.
And the view range ports might not be enough in this case,
because concealment is more complicated than it seems.
First of all, vehicle concealment depends on the type of vehicle and its size.
You can view and compare the characteristics of any vehicle
in the Garage.
Light tanks are stealthy scouts.
They are small and fast, and produce less noise.
Their concealment values on the move and when stationary are the same.
The concealment of tank destroyers is on par with light tanks,
but only when stationary.
When on the move, they lose a lot of their concealment value.
The concealment of medium tanks is a bit worse,
but some of them can play as passive scouts.
Regarding heavy tanks, hiding in the bushes is not for them.
Their bush is a barn on Malinovka.
In fact, concealment is an adjustable parameter
that can be increased in different ways.
First of all, by applying camouflage to a tank.
The idea of putting paint on tanks to camouflage them
appeared at the end of World War I.
There were several variants of tank camouflage.
One was to cause it to fade into its surroundings
with the right colors or pattern for it.
Another variant of camouflage was applied
to break the familiar vehicle geometry and confuse enemy gunners.
It was often enough to camouflage only a part of the tank to hide its outlines.
This was quite effective.
The same feature is also implemented in the game.
When applying a camouflage only to the vehicle's hull—
the largest part of the tank—
it receives the full bonus to concealment.
That's why there's no need to paint the whole tank,
but that doesn't stop it being something you still want to do!
In real life, tank crews also contributed greatly to a vehicle's concealment.
For example, more experienced tankers
had a more qualitative approach to applying camouflage on their vehicles.
In combat, they could disguise their tank well in the field
or sneak up on the enemy using the terrain.
Crew experience in the game is also important
because it directly contributes to the vehicle concealment.
This is about the Natural Cover Directive and Concealment skill
that the crew trains over time.
If this skill is trained,
you can additionally increase your vehicle’s concealment
with the help of the Brothers in Arms perk,
Improved Ventilation, and consumables.
They won’t affect vehicle concealment if the Concealment skill is not trained.
Camouflage Net and Low Noise Exhaust System
Equipment also helps to improve the tank's concealment.
For example, Camouflage Net.
Just like its real prototype, it perfectly masks a stationary tank.
In real life, when tankers deploy a camouflage net at a stop,
the true outlines of the vehicle become hidden,
and it fades into the surrounding environment.
In the game, the crew can deploy a camo net in just 3 seconds.
In reality,
the muzzle blast and propellant gases from the shot exposed the tank.
This is displayed in the game in a similar way.
The effect of Camouflage Net becomes minimal when firing a shot,
and the shot also affects the surrounding vegetation:
the bushes within a 15-meter radius lose their masking effect.
You need to keep a greater distance from such vegetation
in order to maintain the concealment effect when firing.
You can measure the distance using Sniper mode.
If a bush becomes non-transparent, you're at least 15 meters from it.
Low Noise Exhaust System also increases the vehicle concealment.
In real life, it was the whole set of measures
to reduce the amount of noise the tank made.
The vehicle's modules were replaced with less noisy ones.
Better mufflers were installed.
Electrical engines were used to keep a stationary vehicle
in a suitable combat condition.
All these changes helped tanks to set up effective ambushes
or perform stealthy flanking maneuvers, catching the enemy off guard.
In the game, the Low Noise Exhaust system
logically provides a bonus to concealment when both on the move or stationary.
But when equipped together with the Camouflage Net,
the concealment values do not add together—
only the largest bonus will be active, which depends on the situation.
You can also additionally mask your tank by hiding it in vegetation.
This increases concealment in addition to the crew and equipment.
Vegetation
The concealment coefficient depends on the density and amount of vegetation
between you and the enemy.
The maximum value of concealment cannot exceed 80%.
If your vehicle is equipped with the Commander’s Vision System,
this will help reduce this value for the enemy.
What does it mean in practice?
When there are several thick bushes between you and an enemy vehicle,
you both get additional concealment from them.
The Commander's Vision System reduces the total concealment bonus
your enemy gets in this way.
Even if there are thickets of bushes in front of you,
it won’t decrease this effect.
The bonus for concealment provided by trees is reduced in the same way.
But there’s one nuance.
When a tree stands, it provides concealment
only if your vehicle is at the tree's crown level.
You need to fell it, and then it will mask your tank like a bush.
You don't need to fell fir trees.
It's important to remember that your visibility checkpoints
shouldn't stick out from behind vegetation
when taking position in a bush or behind a fallen tree.
It's easy to check this: just turn the camera and look at your position.
But what if a bush is not what it seems?
And, indeed, this is the case on the server side.
The bush has a slightly different shape there,
and this shape is used to calculate the interaction of vegetation
with the vehicle's visibility checkpoints.
Concealment in a bush is not affected
by the location of your visibility checkpoints inside it.
Just make sure that they’re all are hidden behind the bush
in relation to the enemy to not get spotted accidentally.
Another unique feature of the Commander's Vision System
is the reduction of the enemy vehicle’s concealment on the move.
It’s most effective against light tanks.
The equipment breaks the familiar foundations
and neutralizes their bonuses to concealment on the move.
Now it will be more difficult
to change position in the bushes and not get spotted.
This will help bring some overconfident light tanks back down to earth.
But it's easier said than done.
To find a well-concealed tank,
you need to understand how the view range works.
View Range: Coated Optics and Binocular Telescope
The first tanks just had vision slits in their armor.
This was ineffective and unsafe.
As tank building developed, vision devices with protective glass appeared.
They didn't provide great vision at that time, but it improved survivability.
During World War II, the triplexes were made of high-quality materials,
and their number in the tank
allowed all crew members to monitor the situation in all directions.
But the quality of vision devices
wasn't the only thing that defined a vehicle's view range.
An experienced commander also played an important role.
When rolling out to battle, they were ready for anything,
be it noticing the glare from enemy vision devices
or discerning a camouflaged tank among the bushes.
The view range of a tank in the game is the sum of all these real-life phenomena.
You can see its value in the Garage in the Spotting section.
The maximum distance at which a vehicle can spot the enemy is 445 meters.
When view range is improved,
everything above this value will work as a revealing effect.
This is a tank's ability
to spot enemies more effectively within the 445-meter radius.
That's why the increased view range of an opponent
is the main threat to a fully concealed tank.
The higher the view range,
the greater the distance at which we can spot an enemy tank.
View range is affected by a trained crew and its skills,
modules, consumables, equipment, and directives.
Examples of equipment which improves view range in the game
are Coated Optics and Binocular Telescope,
which have their real-life prototypes.
In reality, coated optics means the improved transparency of standard optics,
thereby improving the vision.
Regarding the binocular telescope, it was a separate V-shaped optical device
that increased the vehicle's view range by elevating its vision point.
In the game, both pieces of equipment
mimic the work of their real-life analogues.
Coated Optics increases the default view range
both when on the move or stationary.
Binocular Telescope increases the view range of stationary vehicles only.
In reality, it took some time to bring it out of the tank.
In the game, it takes 3 seconds.
This piece of equipment improves the view range of so-called blind tanks.
Let's compare the well-seeing Jagdtiger and Strv that has a lower view range,
particularly because of its height.
That’s why, having equipped the Swedish Strv with the Binocular Telescope,
we’ll increase its view range by improving its visibility.
The principal work of the Binocular Telescope and Coated Optics
are very different, because they are two different types of vision equipment
that you can't use simultaneously.
Following this principle,
their bonuses to view range don't sum up when they're both equipped.
Depending on the situation, the highest bonus will be applied.
A good view range helps your tank locate even the most concealed enemies.
In order to transmit their location to your team,
there's the Radio module in the game.
Radio
Radio communication was one of the cornerstones of battle,
allowing tank crews to react more quickly in combat,
therefore affecting the outcome of the battle.
In the game, the radio mechanics mimic the communication principle in reality.
All allied vehicles exchange data with each other
within the range of their radios.
In the game today, the radio is very important only at low tiers
and on big maps in such modes as Grand Battle or Frontline.
It's important to know how the radio works in the game
so that your actions are more effective.
For example, if an ally is out of your radio range and spots an enemy,
you won't see that enemy vehicle.
Even if there's another ally between you,
whose radio range radius intersects with both yours and that of the distant ally,
you will still not be able to see the opponent,
because the tank in-between does not act as a relay.
So, you'll need to come closer to support your ally.
Support
It's crucial to not only cause damage in the game, but also help others do it,
thus increasing your own effectiveness in battle and bringing victory closer.
You can support your allies in several ways.
Spot the enemy and get damage upon your spotting,
which is divided between the allies who spotted the opponent.
Knock off the enemy's track and get assisted damage,
which is divided between the first player who immobilized the enemy vehicle,
and the last player who prolonged the track damage.
When artillery fires,
the first player who stuns the enemy gets the higher assistance value.
If other SPGs fire after that,
they will divide the damage to stunned enemy vehicles.
Only one type of assisted damage will count in the results—
the one that is the highest.
Now you're armed to the teeth with knowledge of the art of spotting,
it's time to put it into practice!
Don't rely on brute force. Be more cunning.
Become an invisible hunter that can't be destroyed,
because the enemy can't hit you if they don't know where you are.
But you will know everything.
Know your enemy, and hide yourself from them.
Good luck on the battlefield!