Detection and camouflage are the most important elements of the game mechanics of World of Tanks. Both aspects are extremely important for successful play on any combat vehicle. Thanks to the site, you will know how to be the first to detect the enemy and effectively hide from him.
Part 1: Review and discovery. Keep your eyes open.
The visibility of all tanks is calculated in meters and is indicated in the characteristics of each vehicle. Please note that the vision value is indicated for a crew with 100% of the main specialty. That is, if your crew has 75% of the main specialty, then the view will be less than what you see in the hangar.
One of the game conventions is the fact that on the battlefield the player sees not only those opponents whom he discovered on his own, but also those whom the team “spotted”. From here it is necessary to distinguish two concepts: detection range and visibility range.
Detection range – the maximum distance at which the player’s tank can detect an opponent. It does not exceed 445 meters. If, taking into account the skills of the crew, equipment and equipment, the value is above 445 meters, then the extra meters turn into a demasking bonus, which helps to detect hidden opponents.
Visibility range – the maximum distance at which the game engine draws allied tanks and enemy tanks they detect. The mechanics of the game include a circle with a radius of 565 meters around the tank. The exception is the self-propelled gun art sight, where tanks - if they are visible to allies - are displayed throughout the map.
There are several ways to increase the tank's base vision and enemy detection range.
The vehicle must be equipped with a turret with maximum visibility.
Since the commander is responsible for overseeing the battlefield, his primary specialty must be upgraded to 100%. The commander's injury reduces visibility.
The commander's skill Eagle Eye (+2% to vision, +20% with broken observation devices), the radio operator's skill Radio Interception (+3% to vision), the skill of all crew members Battle Brotherhood will give an increase to vision.
Installation of equipment Coated optics and Stereo tube. The first will give a permanent increase of +10% to your review. The second gives a +25% increase in vision after 3 seconds in a stationary position. When both modules are installed on a tank, the effects are not cumulative, but can work separately.
Equipment Installation Improved ventilation increases visibility, as do other tank features.
Using equipment that gives a +10% increase to the crew’s basic skill for one battle.
Part 2. Camouflage and camouflage. Shooting bushes
Camouflage is the ability of equipment to remain unnoticed on the ground. If there were no camouflage mechanics in the game, then rivals, provided there was direct visibility, would detect each other at the maximum viewing distance, but no further than 445 meters. However, there are several other factors that influence technology detection.
Aspects affecting camouflage
X-ray. At a distance of 50 meters, opponents illuminate each other even if there are buildings between them. They conditionally hear each other.
Equipment size. Each tank in World of Tanks has a stealth coefficient depending on its size. The larger the car, for example the German TT Maus, the lower the coefficient will be. The maximum coefficient is achieved by combat vehicles with a squat silhouette, such as the Object 416, AMX ELC bis.
Actions. If a tank does not move or shoot, it does not have a penalty to camouflage. While on the move, the stealth coefficient is reduced to 75% for medium tanks, to 60% for tank destroyers, and to 50% for heavy tanks and self-propelled guns. Light tanks have no movement penalty. Their coefficient is always the same. This is a class feature of the LT (except AMX 40 and Valentine). Shooting almost completely reduces the level of stealth. The degree of unmasking depends on the caliber of the gun and the presence of a muzzle brake
Vegetation. Bushes, trees (whole and fallen), and tall grass provide a bonus to camouflage. At a distance of up to 15 meters, the flora becomes “transparent” to the one hiding in it, and impenetrable to the enemy. At the moment of the shot, all vegetation within 15 meters loses its properties, that is, the shot is a strong unmasking factor. Therefore, it is useful to drive a little further than 15 meters before shooting. You will have to shoot blindly from memory, but if you get used to it, you can safely shoot your opponent, turning into a shooting bush.
Dimensional and observation points. How it works
Dimensional and vantage points invisible to the player help the server determine who can see whom in battle. If you imagine that the tank is a brick, then the dimensional points are located in the center of each side of the imaginary brick (length, height, width). There is another point at the base of the trunk. Observation points are located at the base of the trunk and at the site of observation devices. Usually this is the commander's cupola and driver's instruments.
Detection check beams emanate from the vantage points of all tanks in battle at a certain frequency. To maintain camouflage, it is necessary to hide the dimensional points behind various obstacles on the map. If a tank barrel or part of a caterpillar sticks out from behind a bush, then detection will not occur, since there are no marker points on them.
Several ways to improve camouflage
Crew members skill Camouflage. It is necessary to upgrade all tankers, otherwise the effectiveness will be low.
Equipment installation Camouflage network. Allows you to significantly increase your camouflage after stopping and 3 seconds of preparation. The bonus depends on the vehicle class. For tank destroyers it is the largest - +15%, for light and medium tanks it is +10%, and the smallest bonus is +5% for heavy tanks and self-propelled guns.
Applying camouflage, in addition to improving the appearance, will increase the camouflage coefficient by 2-4%, depending on the class of equipment. Camouflage can be purchased both for gold (forever) and for in-game credits for 7 or 30 days.
Leveling up the commander's skill Sixth Sense. It will not add camouflage, but it will allow you to realize in time that the enemy sees you. This information will save your tank from destruction more than once.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Most World of Tanks participants have little understanding of the game's vision and camouflage algorithms. Therefore, they are neglected, considering them dishonest and unworthy. But that's not true. Skillful use of your advantage in optics and knowing how to hide your tank in a bush are very useful. Those who use the characteristics of their combat vehicle as efficiently as possible and know the features of the game often win.
Those who have been living in the vastness of World of Tanks for many years now, of course, know about camouflage and its
Those who have been living in the vastness of World of Tanks for many years now, of course, know about camouflage and its benefits for victory, but not everyone has learned to perfectly use aspects of this game mechanic. Beginners who have just installed the game hope to become professionals in the field of “tanking”, but for this they will need to use disguise, whether they want it or not. The main advantage of a player who uses camouflage to gain victory is the low cost of repairing equipment. This can be explained quite simply - the tanker who constantly hides and plays from the camouflage indicator, in most cases can be considered “invisible”. This tactic has its own “trick” - the enemy does not see the target, which is methodically shooting him and therefore cannot attack in response. As a result, the tanker completely destroys his enemy without receiving damage in return, therefore, loans for repairing equipment are not needed. This is the savings.
The article is devoted to such an important element as camouflage and visibility, as well as their influence on the effectiveness of the battle.
Introduction
Let's start with what we need to understand: How does the process of detecting opponents work?. In the game World of Tanks, streams of rays emanate from each tank, which “prowl” in search of enemy identification marks - dimensional dots. When directed rays and points meet, then the enemy becomes visible. This spectrum comes from the top of the turret and the gun mantlet. Dimensional recognizers, in turn, are located at the top of the turret, in the gun mantlet, on the sides of the turret, and also on all sides of the hull.
It is possible to “find” an enemy who is trying with all his might not to give away his location only at a distance of up to 445 meters. This is based on the fact that there is no help from the allies. These maximum view parameters did not “fall from heaven”; they come from the capabilities of the engine on which the World of Tanks game runs, so nothing can be done about it.
The characteristics of each tank indicate its overview, taking into account the fully upgraded crew to 100%, and also without taking into account additional equipment and skills. Many players prefer to increase this indicator so that they can detect the enemy on the radar faster and fire the first shot, and then roll back to cover. This trick really works. To increase the standard view, you can install modules such as coated optics, a stereo tube and improved ventilation. Each of them acts differently, which adds a variety of tactics for combat. As for the skills that affect the review, there are only 3 of them: radio interception, eagle eye and military brotherhood. You can also use expensive consumables that increase the crew's skills. But here is the main question - why use all this if the maximum visibility is only 445 meters and this bar cannot be crossed in any way? The whole point is that the higher the tanker’s visibility indicator, the less effective the enemy’s camouflage will be. Either way, it's nice to see the target before it fires the first shot.
Advanced World of Tanks players have long understood that results can only be achieved by taking the initiative; relying on your allies is not always worth it, because this often leads to a feeling of disappointment. Small light and medium tanks prefer to pump up camouflage on their vehicles first, so that when constantly driving around the map it will be difficult to catch them in an awkward position. For cunning owners of tank destroyers, the importance of camouflage is also difficult to overestimate, because in most cases they spend the entire battle in ambush, from where they conduct aimed fire. They need camouflage so that the enemy could not detect and punish them for their impudence.
How does "masking" work in WOT?
The principle of camouflage is very simple. All tanks in the World of Tanks game have a camouflage coefficient, which directly depends on the dimensions of the combat vehicle. For example, a heavy tank E-100 or T110E5 is difficult to make invisible, even after installing a camouflage network or increasing the crew’s camouflage skills. But for small and nimble ST and LT this indicator very often helps to survive in the harsh realities of the game.
The different conditions of the tank are also reflected in the different camouflage numbers:
1. While standing in one place, the camouflage rate is greatest.
2. During movement, the camouflage of the tank is reduced by almost half, but this rule does not apply to light combat vehicles.
3. After shooting, you shouldn’t hope that you won’t be noticed. Any shot, especially from a powerful weapon, leads to a complete loss of camouflage.
In order to make it impossible to be detected, the player needs to completely hide all of his dimensional points behind some kind of shelter, be it a house or a stone. If, nevertheless, it is caught in the light, then you need to wait 10 seconds in a safe place to disappear from enemy radars and only then go to the training ground to conduct further combat operations.
Now we need to take a closer look at the mechanics of bushes, which allow you to fire without being noticed.
Rules for using bushes
1. When choosing a bush, you need to take into account the view that opens from behind it. After all, why choose such a shelter from where it is impossible to fire normally?
2. The plant must completely cover the tank body. In order for the silhouette to disappear into the foliage, you need to inspect the equipment from all sides and make sure that the foliage completely hides the “device” from prying eyes.
3. If the player approaches the bush more than 15 meters, it becomes transparent and there is a high probability of being noticed. Therefore, it is not recommended to shoot directly from the plant, because then all the camouflage will go down the drain. To fire, it is better to maintain a distance of 15 meters from the tank to the bush. In this way, you can surprise the enemy, who will not understand who dared to attack him.
4. The “sixth sense” skill is required for an ambush sniper, since there are times when enemies are pressing from different sides and then one bush will not save you from the gaze of the adversaries, and a “light bulb” turned on in time will allow you to quickly change your position.
5. Trees can also help with camouflage, but only their crown, not the trunk. If a player is shooting at long distances and the projectile's flight path is crossed by a tree crown, then such a shot will not lead to the detection of the shooter's position.
All of the above applies only to those cases when the enemy is at a distance of more than 50 meters from the tanker’s position. If he approaches almost right next to you, then even the building will not save you from the “X-ray”, because at such a small distance there is no way to go unnoticed. If the enemy still managed to get so close, then there are 2 options for the development of events: destroy him as soon as possible or “let him go.”
It's time to summarize how to apply this knowledge to enrich your game balance. The entire economic system in the game is built on the division of income, that is, the player who causes damage to someone else's light gives half of his income and experience to the scout for this. It turns out that playing on LT or ST is very beneficial for farming credits. Those players who are accustomed to working on someone else's light will also not be at a loss, because they will not have to spend money on repairing equipment, since they shoot from a long distance without provoking the aggression of enemies. Unfortunately, many LT players at the beginning of the battle mindlessly shout into the chat that they are going to shine and merge after a few seconds. Why do this, because it will not help the team and will not bring profit. The longer it takes to highlight enemy positions, the more useful it will be not only for the player, but also for his team.
It turns out that in the game World of Tanks it is impossible to do without knowledge of the mechanics of in-game parameters, if, of course, the player wants to win and not listen to messages about defeat.
The ability to properly tank on your tank is certainly very important and useful. But in order to avoid taking damage on the battlefield, it is much more profitable to simply avoid being caught in the glare and in the sights of enemy tanks. To do this, you need to know and understand how camouflage works. This is a very big topic.
Let's look at the basic principles of how camouflage works in the field
The first thing every player in the world of tanks should know is that a tank sees in all directions equally. It doesn't matter which way the tower is facing, which way you're looking. The illumination occurs in a circle with the radius of your view.
Secondly, in order for you to be illuminated, the dimensional points that are located on the hull of your tank and its turret must be caught in the light. This is precisely why sometimes enemy tracks stick out from behind a bush, or you look at the enemy from under a carriage and see only his tracks, and suddenly he disappears from the light. Why is this? Yes, because at this moment you cannot illuminate its overall points.
Third, regarding camouflage. In World of Tanks, there are only 2 states of a tank: either it is moving or it is standing still. Rotating the turret or barrel for tank destroyers is not considered movement. But if you turn the body even a centimeter, or if you move in first gear, the server considers this as movement, and the camouflage coefficient decreases. The only exception to this rule is all light tanks. There is no such fine for them. Whether in motion or standing, they have the same detection (light) coefficient.
Fourth. The invisibility of a tank directly depends on its height. This is calculated from the ground to the very extreme point of the tower. The higher your tank is, the less its ability to camouflage itself, the greater the distance it will be detected by the enemy. For tall tanks, it doesn't make much difference whether they move or stand still. Studies were carried out with different tanks of the German branch, they all glowed from approximately the same distance equal to 430-440 m. But for tanks with a low profile (T-54, T-62A, leopard prototype) things are a little different. They were illuminated in an open field much later - at a distance of 220-230 meters. And when moving, the light appeared 20-25 meters earlier. From this we can conclude that on tanks with a low profile it is much more profitable to stand in your position until the last.
Operation of the camouflage network. On average, the exposure distance when activated is reduced by 40 meters. A very useful and not a small bonus.
Bushes are the best place for camouflage World of Tanks
The best way not to take damage, if you are a firefly and not only, is not to get caught in the glare. Now we will talk in more detail about the most interesting and most accessible camouflage element on any map - bushes.
Bushes are not completely transparent to light rays, but simply weaken their effect and reduce the light distance. The lower the profile of the tank, the better the bushes hide it.
There is a difference between whether you are standing behind a bush or moving, and it is a very interesting pattern. The test was carried out on the T-54. When moving behind the bushes, the tank was detected from 150 meters, and in a static position from 120 m. Just standing in a field without bushes, moving back and forth, the tank was detected from 350 meters, and in a static position from 320 m. It turns out that in both cases the difference was 30 meters.
For the game, it doesn’t make much difference at what speed you are rushing behind a bush, just spinning, or turning slightly - in this case, you move and reduce your camouflage.
How does a camouflage net affect a tank standing in the bushes? With a camouflage net, a T-54 standing in the bushes was exposed from a distance of 80 meters. And without network masks, the distance was 120m. That is, the gain is approximately 40 meters. Standing in an open field with a net, the light was at 280 m, without a net 320 m. Tall tanks like E-100 from the bushes glowed at a distance of about 210-220 meters, that is, 2 times more than low-profile ones. It doesn’t matter what class of equipment it is - TT, ST, artillery or tank destroyer; if you have a tall tank, then it will be difficult for you to hide it even behind bushes. Also, for tall cars there is no significant difference whether they stand quietly behind a bush or move; the spread in the lighting distance will be only 10-20 m.
Shooting through the bushes. What we found out after the tests.
1. The level of illumination from shooting does not depend at all on what type of shells you use: armor-piercing, cumulative, high explosives. The illumination will occur in the same way.
2. There is a 15 meter rule - when you move about 15 meters away from the bush, it becomes opaque again and you disappear from the light. You need to move a couple of meters away from the bush, because the visibility in your sight comes from the turret, and there are marker points on the body that are located much further than the turret and stick out. This rule only works over long distances. Using the T-54 and E-50 as an example, the distance at which this rule applies was 220 meters. What does this knowledge give us? Firstly, there is no need to move more than 15 meters away from the bush; most importantly, you must monitor the distance between you and the enemy. Take into account the level of visibility of your equipment and the level of visibility of the enemy. By applying this rule wisely, you will be able to be less exposed to light and correctly assess the situation.
If you like to play with fireflies, in order to light up the enemy, you just need to close the distance and try to get him to shoot.
3. It doesn’t matter how far the tanks are from the bushes; when there is light, only the distance between the opponents is important. This is very useful knowledge. Even if you are standing in the bushes, surrounded by trees, and the enemy drives past you, the distance becomes critical - the bushes will not save you.
4. The masking effect of two bushes on the same line is additive.
5. One bush and one fallen tree - the camouflage effect does not stack.
6. Two fallen trees count as one cloaking object. The last three points with information from WoT developers.
7. To increase camouflage, use camouflage from the developers.
Coniferous and deciduous trees. What's better for camouflage?
Previously, once upon a time, trees in World of Tanks had a camouflage property only while they were intact. As soon as the tree was felled, it ceased to camouflage. You can consider it as if it never happened. But recently the server began to identify fallen trees as camouflage. However, it should be noted that only one downed tree is taken into account when calculating visibility. So it won’t be possible to create a very strong masking obstacle from a bunch of trees.
But even with one tree, players had a lot of controversial situations. Many people simply didn’t understand why they were glowing, it seemed like they had knocked down a tree and hid well, nothing was sticking out, but they still glowed on the floor of the map. How can this be, what happened - the developers were simply inundated with questions on this topic.
On the official forum they were asked if there is a difference between coniferous and deciduous trees, do they camouflage the same? The developers said there is no difference. The only thing that needs to be taken into account is the size of the crown so that the tank does not protrude due to the foliage. If the crown is small, the tank may be caught in light at certain angles and be detected by the enemy.
Comparison of the properties of coniferous and deciduous trees.
When testing a coniferous tree, it turned out that the tank was detected from the same distance as the tank located behind the bushes. That is, we can say that there is no difference between coniferous trees and bushes. Then deciduous trees were tested, and then a little surprise awaited us. Several deciduous trees were tested from different angles, and it turned out that deciduous trees hide worse than bushes and conifers. Standing on a T-54 with an activated camouflage network behind a bush or coniferous tree, the detection distance was 80 meters. Moving, both here and there the detection distance was 150 meters. To be sure of the results, the test was carried out on a second tank. The same data were obtained for the E-50. Behind a deciduous tree for a stationary T-54, the detection range was 130 meters. This is 50 meters more than behind a bush or coniferous tree. While driving behind a deciduous tree, the detection distance was 200-210 meters, that is, again 50-60 meters worse.
From this we can conclude that bushes and coniferous trees camouflage equally, but deciduous trees have a much worse camouflage effect. Therefore, if you have a choice of which tree to hide behind, a coniferous or a deciduous one, choose a coniferous one without hesitation!
Yes, it depends. The larger the caliber of the gun, the higher the chance of detection (the distance from which the tank will be guaranteed to be unmasked) at the moment of firing. In addition, the muzzle brake plays an important role, in the presence of which, at the moment of firing, the vehicle is unmasked more than with a similar shot from a gun without a muzzle brake.
Does detection of a tank when firing depend on the type of projectile?
No, all types of shells, when fired from one gun, unmask the vehicle in the same way.
What is visibility? Is there a difference in visibility between tanks of the same class?
100% visibility means that the tank will be visible at maximum viewing range. 0% visibility means that the tank will only be visible from a distance of 50 meters. The size of the tank affects overall visibility. Each tank has its own visibility coefficients, and they are changed by the “Camouflage” skill and the “Camouflage Network” module.
Bonus to camouflage level from Camouflage Net and Camouflage
The bonus to the camouflage level from the Camouflage Net and camouflage is added to the stealth coefficient of the tank itself. This bonus is fixed and depends only on the vehicle class.
Self-propelled guns and heavy tanks receive a small bonus, light and medium tanks - medium, tank destroyers - large. In this case, the bonus from the Camouflage Net is greater than the bonus from camouflage in any case. So, for example, the bonus from the Camouflage Network for self-propelled guns and heavy tanks is greater than the bonus from camouflage for tank destroyers.
Maximum bonus from bushes
Bushes in the game are conventionally divided into two types: dense and sparse. And these types differ slightly in the stealth bonus they provide. The maximum bonus can be obtained from four dense bushes.
