Explaining Mechanics: Equipment - World of Tanks

All’s fair in love and World of Tanks battles. Use every means at your disposal: Consumables, crew skills and perks, a shell loadout, a terrifying decal on the upper glacis, and the thing you can’t play effectively without: It’s the fifth element in World of Tanks for dominating the battlefield. Equipment 2.0. Equipment mechanics have recently undergone massive changes. We talked about this briefly in the Developer Diaries and the announcement of Equipment 2.0. Now let’s explore the new mechanics and explain all the details and nuances that will help you understand the new equipment and answer many of your questions.

00:47 - Equipment in World of Tanks is divided into four categories, and vehicles starting from Tier VI have a slot dedicated to a specific category. It provides a bonus for the equipment of its category, not including Bounty and improved equipment. The Firepower category is somewhat self-explanatory. It’s all about causing damage in battle. It covers accuracy, stabilization, and damage per minute. Each gun requires a separate approach. In addition to the new equipment, there are also timeless classics such as the Gun Rammer, Gun Stabilizer, Gun Laying Drive, and Improved Ventilation— the last of which is universal and relates to all four categories.

01:26 - This is a breath of fresh air for tanks with closed cabins, except for the Bat.-Châtillon 155 58. Yes, the cabin of this vehicle is now closed, but ventilation can’t be mounted for old time’s sake. The resilient French crew doesn’t mind. Regarding the equipment itself, there were no drastic changes to it, and it continues to improve all vehicle characteristics as before. Versatility and functionality are the two main qualities of Improved Ventilation. It’s relevant to most vehicle types, especially heavy and medium tanks, those frontline warriors that need to unlock the full potential of their vehicles.

02:05 - Its Bounty and Bond versions should be considered for better efficiency. Boosted by the Vent Purge Directive, they can compete with the Premium consumables for the crew. The new Improved Aiming equipment boosts gun accuracy. In reality, improved aiming means the replacement of a static sight with a telescopic swivel and a more ergonomic sight for the gunner, providing them with more comfortable conditions for delivering fire. The same sight configuration technology is also used in the game.

02:42 - The equipment affects the aiming circle in all its states. What does this mean? Improved Aiming boosts accuracy when fully aimed, after the shot, and on the move, while not affecting the aiming speed and time. The crews of two FV4005s gladly agreed to demonstrate it. The crew with Improved Aiming is already satisfied with their purchase. Fire. A situation quite typical of a not very accurate vehicle. But a shot of its counterpart was more effective. Consider the vehicle’s role in battle when deciding to mount Improved Aiming. For example, support vehicles such as powerful tank destroyers with high damage per shot but low accuracy. They can use the additional accuracy to deliver damage from a distance. Medium tanks that find it difficult to fight on the front line can use Improved Aiming to fire more accurately from the flanks.

03:42 - But Improved Aiming is not only for snipers. It can also help vanguard tanks hit key weak points: the E 100’s turret bar won’t hit itself after all. For vehicles on the front line, Improved Aiming will make hitting vulnerable spots on enemy vehicles easier, helping them win key positions. When mounting it, you can be sure that a gunner in any vehicle will be grateful, your opponents won’t enjoy your hits, and your allies will appreciate your contribution. Mount it wisely, and remember: the lower the dispersion of a gun, the less noticeable the effect of Improved Aiming will be. Stabilization.

A mysterious characteristic 04:24 - that determines accuracy when firing on the move. It’s hard to control it but not impossible. The Vertical Stabilizer and Improved Rotation Mechanism can help. Both provide a bonus to stabilization, and the Rotation Mechanism also improves mobility. This has generated debate about what should be used. The answer is: mount the Vertical Stabilizer for better stabilization, and the Improved Rotation Mechanism for better maneuverability. And here’s why. The Vertical Stabilizer reduces the aiming circle when on the move and during turret traverse. The Improved Rotation Mechanism works differently. First, it accelerates the turret and hull traverse speed, worsening the stabilization, but then the equipment bonus mitigates it and improves it. As a result, the stabilization on the move doesn’t get worse but also doesn’t get much better.

05:25 - You get a bonus to it when moving straight without turning, but you will rarely need it in battle. The Improved Rotation Mechanism is not about causing damage, but about maneuverability. That’s why you should mount it on the vehicles with good stabilization but poor maneuverability. The Vertical Stabilizer, on the contrary, is purely about effective shooting. So, we have properly equipped the tanks and… No, it won’t work like this. We need to improve its survivability.

05:57 - Open the Equipment interface and go to the Survivability category. There you can find everything you need for Random Battles. Improved Hardening. In real life, this was a series of measures to improve the vehicle’s durability: better steel composition, improved rolling, hardening, and cementing. Altogether, this improved the chances of survival in combat. It works in a similar way in the game, improving the maximum hit points of a vehicle by up to 10%, and improving track durability. There are two Mauses in the crash test.

06:31 - One has Improved Hardening, the other does not. There is a 300 hit point difference. Let’s send in the “musical” T57 heavy tanks. Here’s the first drum. And another one. Metal scrapes. Shells clank. But one Maus still remains, and it’s not in a forgiving mood. In addition to more hit points, Improved Hardening also provides bonuses to the tracks. Remember all the times broken tracks cost you your vehicle? First of all, it improves track durability and repair speed.

07:06 - Let’s take three differently equipped tanks. One with a crew trained to 100%, and one with a crew that has Repair and Brothers-in-Arms. And now the same, but with equipment, including Improved Hardening. We’ll pay special attention to it. Let’s start. The difference can already be seen at the stage of destroying the track. The repair speed is so fast that you can save your Repair Kit for a real emergency.

07:30 - Also, the equipment fully restores the track’s durability, making the subsequent attempts to destroy the track harder. A bonus to suspension load will also allow for mounting some modules without having to research suspension. Improved Hardening is not the most effective equipment for medium and light tanks. It doesn’t provide a great boost to hit points— only around 8% due to the low number of hit points of these vehicle types. And if someone destroys your track and outmaneuvers you, you might want to check that you’re not playing a heavy tank.

08:01 - Modified Configuration is a single piece of equipment in the game, but in real life it was a set of measures used by designers, engineers, and tank crews to improve vehicle survivability. Let’s demonstrate it in a live example. Soviet light and medium tanks were vulnerable in the front, at the fuel tank. When hit, it could explode or catch fire because of the flammable vapors that accumulated there. The solution was to fill the tank up to the top and disconnect it from the main fuel system. The fuel would come in from other fuel tanks at the rear.

08:41 - In this case, the frontal fuel tank wouldn’t explode when hit because there were no vapors there. The fuel would just spill out giving the crew a chance to react and leave the vehicle or take other measures. The same survivability measures are taken in the game when the tank is equipped with Modified Configuration. When the fuel tank is destroyed, there will be no fire. The module will only be damaged. But the next hit will cause a fire unless you do something about it first.

09:13 - Modified Configuration works the same way for the ammo rack and engine. Once per battle, it prevents the ammo rack from exploding, the destruction of the engine, or a fuel tank fire. A notification will be displayed in the equipment section during battle. Additionally, Modified Configuration gives fuel tanks, engines, and ammo racks better resistance to incoming damage. It’s harder to cause critical damage to them.

09:41 - We recommend mounting Modified Configuration on tanks vulnerable to critical hits— the Soviet, American, and French heavy and medium tanks. Now the phrase “You only live once” does not apply to them. Mobility. It allows you to travel around quickly and easily. Additional Grousers are all about comfort. This equipment is not new, but has been significantly changed and can now be mounted on all vehicles except for wheeled vehicles and SPGs. The main bonus from Grousers has also changed. Now they improve a vehicle’s handling on all terrain types by improving its turn speed and mobility. The rougher the terrain, the more effective they are. It’s like the Off-Road Driving skill, but even more effective and it doesn’t need to be trained. Let’s look at the difference between tanks with Additional Grousers and those without them.

10:33 - Set a target for them and then measure the breakaway distance. The track is not the nicest, but that’s exactly what we need. A 20-meter breakaway. In battle, this will allow for spotting the enemy vehicles faster, getting away from enemy fire, and outmaneuvering the Maus on boggy terrain. And what have we got here? This is another test drive of another new piece of equipment: the Turbocharger. It provides speed and power to tanks. It allows you to be more agile. It’s useful for rocking the hull back and forth— a tactic that experienced players use to bait the enemy in positional skirmishes.

11:20 - Careless TDs can retreat to a life-saving rock. Whooooa! Did you see that shell? Mere inches separated it from causing damage. The Turbocharger also accelerates climbing a hill for unexpected flank attacks, and allows for switching positions more quickly. It changes a characteristic that couldn’t be affected previously, unlocking new opportunities for all vehicles. It doesn’t matter if the tank was initially fast or slow, more speed doesn’t hurt anyone. Approved by the Council of Bat.-Châts on the hill of Karelia.

12:00 - Let’s now talk about more peaceful but nevertheless useful actions. The last equipment category, Scouting, offers the most opportunities for fighting without shells. Here, we dress up a tank to make it look like a bush. The Low Noise Exhaust System is equipment for concealing both stationary and moving vehicles. It’s as simple as a bush on Malinovka. However, there is a nuance of using it together with the Camouflage Net.

12:25 - The thing is, the bonuses to concealment do not stack, and the largest one will be applied depending on whether you are on the move or not. So, it’s better to make a choice. For active scouting, it’s better to use the Low Noise Exhaust System and Coated Optics. Spotting and concealment: a strong combination. For passive scouting from one position, the best option is to use the Camouflage Net and Binocular Telescope. Regardless of your choice, remember that scouting is an art. Commander’s Vision System.

12:58 - This is the equipment for the exposure of enemies, and here’s the Soviet all-seeing eye, the T-100 LT to demonstrate it. This is a good spot to play hide-and-seek— an abundance of flora where the cunning French Bat.-Chât hides. Well, the bushes are no obstacle for us because the Commander’s Vision System decreases the foliage concealment coefficient within the view range radius. Our Soviet tank spots the opponent at 196 meters, while it would have to roll 35 m closer without the Commander’s Vision System. And if the French tank moves behind vegetation, it will be spotted even earlier.

13:37 - That’s because another exposure bonus from the equipment activates that decreases the concealment of the enemy vehicle on the move. Combining the Commander’s Vision System with other scouting equipment, you become a solution to the problem of TDs hiding in the bushes at the enemy’s rear. The Improved Radio Set is based on the Gunner’s Designated Target perk but has a significant difference. The effect of this radio set works not only for the enemies spotted within your gun arc, but all enemies you’ve spotted. If you spot an enemy vehicle, it stays spotted for a few more seconds.

14:12 - Your allies don’t need to guess their maneuvers, which is also good for you, because allied shots at the enemy will bring you experience for assisted damage. This equipment also works in the opposite direction. If you’re spotted, your time of being spotted decreases for the enemy. It works perfectly in situations when you need to cross a dangerous zone. But, if an opponent also has the Improved Radio Set, their bonuses will overlap with yours. They will stop being spotted for you and your allies as if the equipment was not mounted. It works the same way for you if the enemy with the radio set spots you. It’s good when everything is in its place. If you want to switch the equipment on a vehicle, you can do it for free. This will allow for experimenting with sets of equipment and bonuses from a special slot.

15:05 - Now you know a bit more about the new equipment than you did 15 minutes ago. So now it’s time to apply this knowledge in battle. Challenge the traditional. Experiment and find the ideal combination. Customize your vehicle and make it your embodiment in World of Tanks! .