WT - Beginner's Guide Part 6, Night Battle Tactics

Night battles, while rare, are exciting and chaotic. Its very easy to lose a lot of planes in these games as enemies appear from nowhere and blow you out of the sky. This tutorial demonstrates tactics that'll help you stay invisible to the enemy while actively involved in the battle.
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[@GabrielMorero]

Great video Long5hot, I was not aware that when a player targeted an enemy they become visible to the rest of the team, Good tip!!!. This kind of night battle could be pretty cool for heavy night fighters with radar if Gaijin get to make it happen sometime, and give at least in some matches an advantage for this type of planes who suffer so much on other modes.

[@Pulmonox]

Love-hate relationship with Night Battles. I love the aesthetics, but geeze if I never see it coming... My situational awareness needs fine-tuning. Just yesterday I glanced at my minimap to see two red dots closer to me than I felt comfortable with. I swiftly looked around for a more visual confirmation, but for SOME reason my brain passed over the most likely candidates because it thought they were farther away then they actually were, and one of them shot me down while I was still trying to find him (and, yes, even practically looking straight at him). Some days, I guess. Night battles just seem so awesome, but everyone seems to be able to see me when I cannot see them (and yes, I'm aware of the 'targeting opponents broadcasts their position to your team... something I wish more people understood in Arcade Tank battles). Maybe I just, somehow, keep getting teams that fail to comprehend this concept, but it's easy to blame a bad team when things go south. Whether I climb for the energy advantage, or stay low for the stealth advantage... I just never seem to be able to perform well in night battles. But that doesn't stop me from loving the concept. It's be nice if planes specifically built for flying at night (as well as planes that had their own radar) like the Mosquito had expanded awareness in such battles. It might actually make some of those heavy fighters worth bringing out once in a while (the aforementioned Mosquito, and the Do-217 come most readily to mind).

[@GeorgePrince]

Wow great instructions! I especially loved your background music..

[@piketchupwarthog3574]

Silly question, but what's the music name?

[@long5hot]

Kevin Techapichetvanich Eine Kleine Nachtmusik by Mozart.

[@noisewater2889]

love the classical music

[@ScottiePace]

Mozart's Eine kleine Nachtmusik. "A Little Night Music." So clever!

[@pierreleonard9758]

Entertainment AND instruction. Easy to watch, and you learn somefink. And 6 kills on a night battle, well, that is as close as I've seen you come to making my gameplay feel sooooo bad. That's the trouble with most of the top KZbinrs who have WT videos out there. I've just unsubscribed to 3 of the top ones because if you watch them too much, you do start to get a bit discouraged. At least, that's what I find. Not so with your videos, Mr L5. Its a shame you dont still make them, but I do understand that you have your reasons.

[@long5hot]

My reasons are real-life related, I'd love to be able to keep playing & making vids. Anyway, glad you find them helpful :)

[@pierreleonard9758]

I was of the understanding that your reasons for not playing were to do with changes in the game that you were unhappy with. However, I'm certainly not prying. Thanks for your reply.

[@long5hot]

Its cool - I wasn't that enthused on the game when I last played it, but I didn't intend to quit just yet.

[@pierreleonard9758]

I have a terrible memory for detail, so I can't recall exactly what you said, but some of the things you have said in your videos, about the damage that some ammo rounds has changed, and the general way that you have seen the gameplay change, made sense to me, and in a way gave me encouragement. I've only been playing for just over a year, and at first I thought WT was brilliant. But as I got into it, I was thinking that I couldn't cut it in tier 2 and 3, but your comments showed me it was more the game than it was my gameplay. Thanks for that. Maybe someday it will swing back to reward the more advanced player a bit better. Sorry for how lengthy this reply has become!

[@jkyu99]

A lot of good tactical information in this night battle tips. Plus several amazing one shot 37 mm take downs. Thank you. You often said, no one targeted you. I assume the only way to know that is the mini-map. Is there a secondary way to know?

[@long5hot]

Scout99 The only way to know if anyone has target-selected you or not is if you suddenly attract attention from the enemy team. If you can pass through the combat zone & exit without anyone trailing you, then in a real sense nobody has targeted you & that's what you want.

[@Moon_Men]

you deserve more subs but i can only promise you one :)

[@Polaventris]

Excellent tips as always, thank you. I wonder if they have done changes to the matchmaking lately as my average BR 3.0 rank II lineup regularly goes against enemies with average BR of 4.3 filled with rank III's. I remember reading somewhere that the limit was 0.6 (+0.1 if you were super awesome). Sorry about the off-topic question.

[@long5hot]

***** The limit is supposed to be 1.0, which means your 3.0 average lineup should see at max 4.0 average, not 4.3 - though obviously 4.0 average lineups can include 4.3 planes. There's supposed to be a skill modifier that makes you more likely to be at the top of the MM if you're a below-average pilot, but not one that gives you harder MM if you're above average - that was removed quite some time ago. I must confess I haven't paid a great deal of attention to the MM since the patch, I'll start looking myself and try to find evidence of it going beyond its proper boundaries.

[@TheMuricanMerc]

***** MM-ing hasn't changed. You are able to face any plane with a BR +1 or -1 of your own BR. However, the way it is done means that you could be below the match average BR and thus see a maximum BR+2.0, although that is very rare. E.g. you take a 3.0, you can see planes from: Minimum= 3.0-2.0=1.0; Maximum= 3.0+2.0=5.0. Thus 3.0 BR has a range of 1.0-5.0 (understand it is very rare to see any plane with a BR+1.4 or higher and similar for lower. However it can happen, so you should always pack a jar of lube for the unfortunate circumstance. :D )

[@Pulmonox]

PallyWoods And of course, always be weary if you're in a squad. Matchmaker will ONLY look at the squadmate with the highest averaged BR, and ignore everyone else. So if you've got a bunch of 2.0 planes, and you're in a squad with someone flying 3.7, then your BR is, for all intents and purposes, 3.7.

[@sparki20081]

First to watch it, hehehe. Great advise as usuall LS.

[@Falls2006]

I can usually see more planes than you at night. Maybe crew scores on awareness etc make a big difference?

[@long5hot]

Falls2006 I don't know ... my awareness/vision numbers on that crew are in the high 30s (out of 50) along with the +30 from experting.

[@long5hot]

Falls2006 Actually I think it was due to the first part being a replay, which screws with the viewing distances. The spotting range seems to be closer to 2km not 1.6km as I said in the vid.

[@arthur1920]

is it possible to target select some one without pointing the plane at the target if one is flying with a flight stick?

[@Cadaverz91]

How do you keep the camera so smooth while flying? I will use the keyboard a lot during a spiral climb for example, holding down C to check my rear. When I release C, the camera whips back forward and my plane will flop around for a couple seconds.

[@long5hot]

***** Ah, a commonly asked question. When using keys for tail controls, as I do in a maneuver like the spiral climb or immelman turns, I look around without using C. When rudder or elevator are being used Mouse Aim is inactive & you can move it wherever you like - no snap-back. I suggest experimenting in test flight.

[@Cadaverz91]

long5hot Got home from work and tried this out on a few test flights. It's easy to move the camera around, I will need to practice controlling my plane more using this method. Thanks for the tip!

[@antiks7389]

Getting a night battle from matchmakers is like 1 in 500

[@anonthemous7437]

6:55, hey that's ME! And 13:00, I'm that 109!

[@long5hot]

AnonThe Mous Nice! Glad neither of us shot the other down :)

[@long5hot]

AnonThe Mous Its amazing how many viewers think it'd be fun to shoot me down ... I'm seeing more & more games where some sporadic person targets me from a long way off & ignores everything in a quest to claim my scalp. Doesn't do much for my kills per flyout stats (lots of wasted time), but can certainly make for some interesting encounters ;) It does get a bit beyond a joke when a full squad decides to swarm me though, especially if I'm in a stock level plane. Goes with the territory I guess.

[@anonthemous7437]

long5hot Yeah, I can see where you're coming from. What's funny is I only started watching you in the last month or so. I can also only play WT when I got to my friend's house, and the first match I play in ages, you're there.

[@Pulmonox]

long5hot This was what, I believe, largely turned Jingles off War Thunder. He couldn't get into a game without people being dipsticks and solely targeting him. I hope the same doesn't happen to you. Such is the curse of Internet popularity for MMO players. Of course, if it gets too bad, you could always call in your squadmates. Let them pick off all the tunnel-visioned dorks specifically trying to gun for you.

[@long5hot]

Breakfast Well, Jingles has more than 100x my viewership, so he was far more recognizable than I'll ever be. Also he was never that good at the game, which is part of the common-man appeal of his channel - its entertainment, not education, but that obviously made things very unpleasant for him when he was routinely picked on as he simply couldn't fight back. Until recently, popular youtubers could change their WT names as much as they liked to avoid recognition - now that's been taken away unless they want to pay each & every time, which I suppose they can do if Gaijin have given them a press account with eleventy squillion GE. I really don't mind players going at me (that's not a blanket invitation btw) but full squads using voice chat specifically targeting me when I'm flying solo, that can be a bit much. I'm not talking about when I choose to take them on or make myself an obvious target, but when they go out of their way to seek me out & pursue me to the ends of the map, that kind of thing. Fortunately it hasn't happened often yet, I hope it doesn't become a regular occurrence. If it gets to the point where I have to deal with hordes of youtuber-killers else have to fly in a protective squad, my vids will cease to be a true reflection of what your average solo player can expect from a plane and I'd eventually have to stop making tutorials. Fortunately its nowhere near that point yet, hopefully it'll never get that bad.

[@miguelgil7266]

Can you review the f6f again they buffed the . 50 cals.

[@long5hot]

Miguel Gil I will fly it again, though I doubt it needs a new review video as its flight model seems the same, so the tactics I outlined in the existing vid should be fine. If I have a good game or two in it I might make a short "update" vid as I did with the D.520 ;)

[@TrxmpBrownNosersBgone]

How did you get 3 night matches in a row? I could play all day and never see even one.

[@long5hot]

zdronexx Damn good question - I haven't seen once since.

[@MrClementk]

I ve just notice the new p51 for the USA, the one with 4 hispano and 3.0 br, So my questions are why the english one still has 5,0 br ? Is the usa new p51 op right now due to this br in your opinion ?

[@long5hot]

clement k I'll have a video on that new P-51 uploaded in a day or two. Yes its definitely OP at its current BR, but it shouldn't have to rise too far - many of us think around 3.7 would work ok due to the limitations in the plane's flight model. The English one has (I believe) a high octane fuel modification which gives it more engine power, other than that its the same plane and should be at most have a BR of 4.0. I have no idea why its still at 5.0.

[@roancraenen1385]

Hey longshot What do you mean with furball?

[@spitfire_flyer5659]

The big mess of dogfighting fighters at the middle of the map in air AB

[@Axonteer]

I havent got a night battle with ships (and therefore searchlights) for now over a year or even more. And only 1 normal night battle half a year ago :(

[@long5hot]

Axonteer And to think I got three of these suckers in a row! I was grinding for the P-51 at the time & pretty annoyed by it, which led me to think I should probably use the experience for some kind of guide video...

[@Axonteer]

long5hot oh i remember when i first got into a night match with cloudes AND some ships, i could not see the prop of my own plane below the cloude layer and when a spotlight shine'd trough a opening.... Tbh instead of making the daytime random they should add another modifier to each gamemode that triggers 20% of the time or so: Night Battle !

[@CssHDmonster]

i hate night battles, cuz my monitor is so old that is has a bunch of dead pixels and dirt that cant be cleaned.