This page is solely for the purpose of explaining the main information a player may need in the game itself and does not give any detailed explanation about the playstyle and performance of each tanks in which they can be accessed in their own tank pages.
The Basics
When joining for the first time, you're instantly bombarded with a lot of features with little to no explanation behind it. This may make you confused initially and grinding through the game without any knowledge would make the grind very difficult. However, this guide will help you with the basics.
Starting Out
The prompt asking new players if they want to go to Low Tier Servers.
When you're first playing the game, it is recommended that you join the Low tier servers through a pop-up prompt asking if you want to be teleported to Low Tier Servers or by clicking the button that says 'Servers' on the bottom of the screen that is shown between the 'Paint' button and the tank selection menu. This way, you'll find it easier to grind through the game since you're unprepared to fight against high tier tanks. If there are no or barely any people in low or mid tier server, then just try and play in high tier. Your best bet for starting tanks would be the: LT vz. 38, T-46, Pz.KpfW. II M, Panzer 3 Ausf F and Renault ACG-1. All these tanks are currently available to anyone.
For more information on the Server Tiers, visit Server Tiers.
Playing on The First Match
Before playing on a match, equip a tank that you want in the tank selection menu at the bottom right of the screen (you can use your scroll wheel to scroll through the tanks). Don't forget to check out their stats and find a tank that is to your liking, this means that you should check out the tank's stats in their respective wiki pages and ask for recommendation from other players.
For more information on what the stats of the tank means, visit Tank Statistics.
During a match, the enemies are always shown with a red nametag, while your allies are shown in a blue nametag. To deal damage to an enemy, simply just shoot at it. Be aware that you may not be able to penetrate some tanks as their armor may prove too thick for your tank's shells to penetrate, so make sure to keep track on the Hit-log shown at the left of the screen during a match.
There are different gamemodes in the game with different objectives in order to win. For more information about it, visit Gamemodes.
When a match ends, the game gives a report on how well you do on that match and also a 'Spoils of War' which are random rewards after winning a match. After this, there is an intermission before another match starts again where you can change tanks or quickly buy a new tank before a match starts again.
Buying a New Tank
Before buying a new tank, make sure to learn about the tank beforehand. Since the shop does not give you a detailed view of the stats, the pages for the tanks in the wiki is a good source for knowledge about those tanks. Although recommendations from other players can be unreliable, they can sometime give you good advice on what tank you should get and you should avoid. Make sure that you also have enough to purchase that tank. Please be aware that every tank in the game has their own playstyle, therefore a playstyle that works in one tank may not necessarily work in another tank. If you see there is a red button that says "Locked" where it should say buy; that means that you need to get a tank at least a tier below it if you wish to buy that tank.
For more information about the currencies in the game, visit Currency.
Helpful Tips and Information For Beginners
- Do not shoot other tanks that spawned with you or have a blue nametag, those are your teammates.
- DO NOT collide into enemy and friendly tanks to prevent flipping your tank over. If you are flipped, there's a flip button on the bottom right corner of the screen (It sometimes doesn't tug you strong enough). If that fails, you will have to rejoin or ask a teammate to help you out. Colliding into friendlies or enemy could result in one to combat log, rage, etc.
- Do not engage the enemy head-on unless you're confident that you can defeat the enemy.
- Do not try to snipe with a Howitzer/Heavy artillery tank or any short-barreled tank unless you're actually good at it.
- Do not try to engage multiple enemies alone unless you're confident you can take them on.
- Aim where you think your enemy is going before shooting or you'll miss your shot.
- Do not attempt to fight high tiers head on by using low tiers.
- Know your tank. For example, if your tank is, say, Crusader Mk II, a tier 1 and you see a T-62A, a tier 6, do not engage. Instead, you should find tanks that are similar to you like the M2 Light and other lower tiers.
- Know your enemy. Another example, if your tank is an M4 Sherman, a Tier 2 with a penetration value of 90, and the tank you are facing is a T-34-85, a tier 3 with an armor value lower than the Sherman's penetration, that means you can penetrate its armor and deal damage, you should look up pages or study wiki pages on the tanks to get more information on them.
- Enemy tanks are now always marked as red while teammates are always marked as blue since 8/23/2019.
- Read the page of the tank you want to buy before actually buying it, this can prove decisive depending on your playstyle and or current amount of money.
Detailed Information on Tankery
This explains Tankery in a more in-depth view that mentions the various complex features in the game.
The page has been moved to Detailed Tankery Info for getting too long, so go there.