Over the last few months you may well have noticed that I’ve posted regular updates on the various World of Tanks purchase deals that float around (here’s the latest, for example). I’ve tried to work out which stretch your money the furthest and which (if any) are worth getting. I’ve also advised players to never, ever buy in-game credits with your cash, because you will earn it as you play anyway. You should be paying for things you can’t otherwise get.
Well, I’m delighted to discover that the author of Tankonomics, who goes by the name Saiphas Cain, agrees with me. He’s written Tankonomics as a beginner’s guide to how best spend your resources and while I recommend you read the whole thing, you can click through to get a summary of the four most important points.
“Anything you can obtain for credits should be considered a potential waste of gold.”
Indeed, this is probably the most important lesson here. Why spend your gold, which is the game’s representation of your real money, on something you can eventually unlock through playing for free? “You’ll want to ensure you’re only paying gold for things that will or
could stay with your account ‘forever’ like tanks, garage slots,
barracks slots, and camouflage for your favorite tanks.”
Use removable equipment, retrain crews
Sure, they’re expensive at up to half a million credits per item, but once you’ve purchased removable equipment (binoculars, camo nets and toolboxes) it’s yours to keep forever. You can transfer these items from tank to tank whenever you like, paying no dismount fee, and they give very, very helpful bonuses.
Moving capable crews from tank to tank is also a wise idea. Although they will lose some of their effectiveness when you transfer them “It’s much quicker to grind a retrained crew from 90% back to 100% than it is to train new recruits to proficiency.” It also saves you spending a lot of money on getting new, pre-trained crews.
Tiers V and VI are the best for credit farming, “they offer the best balance of income to repair and resupply cost.”
If
you prefer your tanks light, Saiphas recommends the ELC AMX, which is
very cheap to repair. The Panzer IV, the M4 Sherman and the T-34 offer
very good earning/resupply ratios for medium tank fans and, of course, the
ubiquitous KV-1 suits those who prefer heavies. We see KV-1s
everywhere in mid-tier matches as much because they are good earners as
they are easy, well-rounded tanks to play. Do be aware that this means
many of us are better than ever at taking them out.
Whatever you
pick, choose a tank that you like riding around in. If you plan to earn a
lot of money with it, it will help an awful lot of you feel comfortable
and capable when you’re inside your vehicle, not least because you’ll
do a better job.
Don’t forget to check your depot
All the old modules that you’re no longer using, all those turrets, guns and tracks that you dragged off your tanks and replaced with something else, are still sat around in your depot gaining dust. While they’re not worth a fortune, they are worth a few thousand credits and if you’re strapped for cash, selling them off is a good way to top up your account. Be sure to set the depot to display the modules that aren’t currently on your vehicles and go through the lists of items that are and aren’t compatible with what’s in your garage, since they’ll be sorted separately but they’ll all still be unmounted items that you aren’t using.