I will start by first saying that I do not claim to know everything, or that this guide is the best way to use a SPG.
This guide has a single principle at its heart. If you only read one sentence of this guide, let it be this: Your effectiveness is increased not by reinforcing your weak points, but by further strengthening your strong points. This guide will suggest situations, skills, parts, and tactics to use that will enhance the natural abilities of the SPG.
This guide will be divided into parts, namely: I. When to Use a SPG II. Military Skills III. Combat Skills IV. Parts and Equipment V. Effective Tactics
When to Use a SPG
If the SPG is your vehicle of choice in Blitz like it is mine, then you will naturally be inclined to use it as much as possible. I must, however, issue a warning of restraint; not every situation needs another SPG. There are three conditions which I consider when deciding when to use my SPG.
First is the number of people on the map. A tank is much more suitable for small battles, as an SPG is slow and vulnerable, and will easily be isolated when there are very few teammates around. If you like having range and shooting from the second line, perhaps a tank destroyer would suit your tastes well enough in these situations, although it is my opinion that a tank is still more prudent. It is your call, but I recommend at least 4 or 5 teammates in tanks, TDs, or AGs to be participating in the battle in order to most effectively use a SPG there.
Second, consider how many of your teammates are already in SPGs. Despite my prefrence for them, I sometimes use a tank instead, if more than 30% or so of my team is already in SPGs. They are useful, but cannot win battles by themselves.
Last, I consider the battlefield itself. Urban settings are less suited to SPGs, as you may know. This doesn't mean they are ineffective by any measure, mind you, as cramped alleys and streets are fantastic for herding enemies into a nice bunch for you to rain death upon. This factor never deters me from using a SPG by itself. But, when combined with the other two factors, especially small battles, it often makes a big difference in how effective your SPG will be.
In the end, it is your decision when to use a SPG. If you have much more fun using a SPG than other tank types, by all means, use a SPG. Do not let these things get in the way of you having fun.
Military Skills
Military skills, especially the passive ones, make a huge difference in your combat effectiveness. In tune with my guide's theme, I strongly recommend the middle column of the Assault skill tree. The first skill gives you a considerable boost to your range. Besides the obvious benefit of shooting farther and possibly outranging other SPGs, it allows you to shoot at lower angles, which makes it easier to strike targets at medium and long ranges. The turret speed skill is not useful to you, so I recommend putting a few points (2 or 3) in the ammo capacity skill (Right assault tree). As you continue to gain ranks, cancel these skill points and put them into the turret speed skill. That way, those few skill points are useful to you until you can afford to get all 5 points in the turret skill. That's when you reach the firepower skill, which is what you've needed all along. Get it. +50 firepower per shot makes a huge difference.
This is the Assault military skill tree.
At this point, you have a few options. You are 6 skill points away from Deathblow. It's nice, but not that great. Another option is to put points in the ammo capacity skill; you will run out of ammo. I don't recommend this, though, as capacity is easily augmented by equipment. You could get Support tree skills; a SPG with Recovery and Rescue is useful indeed. My ultimate recommendation, though, is the left side of the Scout tree.
This skill line starts with Resistance Reinforce, which will reduce the duration of indisposition effects on you by 2.5 seconds. Pretty nice, although you shouldn't be getting shot at much as a SPG. The next two skills are nice: Body Rusting and Forestalling Oppression. These active skills do not cost any FPW to use, and cause damage over time and reduce the enemy's defense, respectively. The best part is, they apply to multiple targets if you use the Splash skill in conjunction with them. They are nice skills for SPGs, as shooting stuff is your specialty. Their utility is limited only by their long cooldown times.
Then comes the fantastic (and somewhat overpowered) skill First Shot. At level 5, it doubles your damage if you fire while hidden. This, by the way, hardly means you actually have to be stealthy and sneak attack someone for it to work. Instead, it's a nice way to start off a fight by simply using Hide I right before you fire. It works at any range and, because it is a passive skill, stacks with any active skill, including Snipe, Splash, and Deathblow. It even works if you have been detected by an enemy.
The Scout military skill tree.
Once you have this skill, you only need 1 more point to get Storm and Stress, the ultimate Scout skill. This skill is more useful for non-SPG tanks, but it is still very helpful if you get attacked, especially when combined with Concentration. It can either give you time to escape danger or time for you and your friends to blow up whoever is threatening you.
At this point, I would recommend getting Deathblow, if you haven't already, as it stacks with First Shot. This will allow you to do 300% damage (not 400%) with one shot, which, if you get a critical and use Splash III, can be devastating to the enemy team. Deathblow does not stack with indisposition attacks or Forestalling Oppression or Body Rusting.
Combat Skills
At first, you won't have much choice on what combat skills to get. You must first and foremost get all 5 buff skills (Repair, Supply, Yell, Fortress, Acceleration) and keep them at the highest level available to you. Then you should get indisposition skills such as Overpower, Confuse, and Turbulence. These are important skills for any tank type, and are especially useful to SPGs. I will explain this in greater detail in the Tactics secion of my guide.
Once you get these core skills, you will have a budget of skill points to use at your discretion. I strongly recommend Snipe, Hide, and Scout. Snipe is excellent for finishing an injured enemy who is retreating, and Hide and Scout are useful to everyone. If you want to focus on offensive skills, Direct Shot, Exhaust, Rapid Shot, and Landmine are good ones to get. If you want to support your team, Recovery and Rescue are very useful. The skill Spirit is nice, but I don't recommend getting it past level 1, as it becomes very expensive and is less useful to SPGs.
In the later levels, Splash, Concentration, and Assault I become useful. Splash is only moderately useful to SPGs at first, as they already do splash damage. It does, however, apply critical hit damage. It is most useful for applying debuffs to multiple tanks on the enemy team. Skills that work with this include Direct Shot, Body Rusting, and Forestalling Oppression. Meanwhile, Assault lets you escape from dangerous situations and Concentration allows you to keep your cool and get critical hits while under fire.
Parts and Equipment
The equipment you put on your SPG becomes very important in the mid and later levels; it is crucial you outfit your SPG appropriately. Again, for SPGs, it is all about offense.
Your SPG needs to do the most damage it can in the shortest time possible. In general, the majority of your equipment space should be used by parts that decrease your reload time. You will notice that reload parts are the most space-efficient way you increase your DPS. Increasing firepower is good, but SPGs do not need the one-shot damage that TDs do. Instead, damage over time becomes the most important for withering down enemies and finishing off weakened ones.
Specifically, I recommend the following for basic parts:
Ammunition: Depending on how much ammo your SPG carries by default, you will probably need some ammo parts. I recommend having at least 80 shells in any SPG. Reload: Muzzle breaks should take up the majority of your part space. Try to get your reload down to 2.5 seconds, that's the minimum reload time. However, you may notice that a reload speed of 2.5 seconds makes the combat skill Rapid Shot obsolete. Thus, you may choose to keep a reload time of about 3 seconds in order to maximize damage while using Rapid Shot. Or, you can use the skill points for something else. That skill is very useful for other tank types, though, if you use them often enough. Damage: Aiming Sights will increase your damage per shell, which, while useful, takes a back seat to reload time. Use Aiming Sights to fill in 1x1 spaces that Muzzle Breaks won't fit into or if you already have a 2.5 second reload. Speed: This is up to your discretion. You may choose to sacrifice some damage output for extra speed to get to the battle faster. I personally do not. Armor: Do not get armor parts. The space is much better utilized when filled with offensive parts. Range: Gun Barrels are very large and only increase your range marginally. I don't recommend them, as you will outrange pretty much anyone you can see anyways.
I got my reload down to 2.52 seconds and then filled the remaining space with ammo and aiming sights. The brown parts are my Breech Mechanism and Piercing Shell.
There are some VP parts that I do recommend for SPGs:
Breech Mechanism: This thing increases damage and decreases reload time. Why compromise? I highly recommend it. It is expensive, though, but remember: You can use this thing on every vehicle you own. Just transfer it when you switch. Also, when it's time to upgrade to Breech Mechanism B, you still get back 75% of what you spent on A.
Piercing Shell: These have a 5% chance to apply a damage over time effect for one minute. It's pretty nice for every type of tank, but it's fantastic for SPGs. Why? Because it has a 5% chance to apply this damage to every tank that is hit by your innate splash damage! Great. It's also cheap. Get it.
Exhaust Shell: I personally do not like them, as they have a very low chance of working (3% on a critical), and the amount of FPW it takes away usually isn't enough to make a difference anyways. They're pretty cool otherwise, though. Get it if you want to. I do not know if it can also apply to tanks that you've splash damaged. I doubt it, though, as the SPG splash damage does not consider criticals.
Effective Tactics
How you use your SPG is at least as important as your equipment and skills. While the job description for SPGs (shoot stuff until it explodes) is quite simple, its implementation is important in order to maximize your effectiveness. There are several main points I want to emphasize, and I will explain their nuances in the following paragraphs.
Target Prioritization. Because they fight behind the battle and they have enough range to hit anyhing they want, SPG drivers have the unique opportunity to exploit the enemy's weaknesses and take out weak and injured enemies. Because you don't have to constantly fight for your life, you can stay aware of the entire battle; always be on the lookout for targets of opportunity. Many of these ripe targets are apparent with the use of a little common sense, but some you might not have thought of. To keep it simple, here is a list of things you should shoot at:
1. Injured enemies that are retreating. Finish them! Your long reach allows you to reward your team for their work of almost killing that guy. Use indisposition attacks. 2. An enemy that everyone else is focusing fire on. That's the best way to win a battle, and you should participate. 3. Groups of enemies. You have splash damage, so use it. However, shooting groups of enemies is not as important as shooting one enemy that is very hurt. However, it is always worth shooting a group if you have a debuff skill and Splash ready to use. One shot is often enough, though, as they will disperse pretty quickly once they see a big red number appear above everyone's tank. 4. Tank Destroyers. They do more damage, and die faster. Get rid of them first. 5. Second-line fire support. You have vision of the enemy's SPG's and rear-line TD's? Good. Throw some shells their way. Kill them if you can, but even if you don't, they'll turn and run instead of shooting your teammates. 6. Assault Guns. When you are firing at long ranges, you may have the chance to drop some high-angle shots on the enemys' AGs. They are vulnerable to plunging fire; aim for their rears. You will do full damage to them, and they dont have much HP. They have the choice to either die or turn and flee (and then die), unless they have uber reverse. In any case, your team will stop shooting them and shoot something that they can actually kill.
Be tenacious. Finish them! If you're shooting at a hurt enemy and he starts to run, stay on him! This is why you got those indisposition skills. Use them to halt his retreat. If your indisposition attacks don't work (or are cooling down), hit the gas and follow him. You may have long range, but it's not unlimited. Don't be afraid to get your hands dirty; you often have to chase enemies to finish them. Did he go out of visual range? Doesn't matter. Guess your shots. Often, damage numbers will follow them into the darkness for a few meters. If they use a kit while in the shroud, you will see the blue icon. Shoot it. Use Snipe if he goes out of range. If you hit an enemy that is not visible, the screen will shake, indicating a hit. If you manage to hit him with Confuse or Overpower, keep shooting that spot (actually a little past that spot, thanks to lag). You may be surprised how many enemies you can finish off when blind firing.
Be careful, though. Keep one eye on your radar. If you see yourself passing your team's front line, you should probably stop. He got away, but at least he'll spend 5 minutes repairing.
Be careful, though. Keep one eye on your radar. If you see yourself passing your team's front line, you should probably stop. He got away, but at least he'll spend 5 minutes repairing.
Finished him with a blind shot.
This guy is hurt. See that number? Shoot it!
Help your team! Kills aren't the only important thing. Often, the best way to help your team is by applying pressure to the enemy. As I said before, shooting enemy SPGs or TDs a few times is usually enough to make them start running. With a bit of effort, you can easily keep their second line distracted so that they spend more time moving than shooting. Also, because you are on the second line, you are a perfect candidate to fill a support role. If you have Recovery and Rescue, keep an eye on your teammates. Heal them and revive them when you can, and don't forget to buff them after reviving. This will keep your frontline alive longer and allow you to operate in safety. And thus ends my SPG guide. For now, at least. I do hope that, if you read this guide in earnest, you have learned something of what makes the SPG really stand apart from the other tank types, and how to wield these unique strengths.
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The_SPG_Guide_By_Anubis.pdf - on Nov 15, 2009 2:42 PM by Rhadoo El. (version 1)
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