In Winter Extreme event, I was able to use recently unlocked 5th rank vehicles in US tree for that higher multiplier, but looking forward and reading forum topics related to ingame economy, it seems that 6th and 7th rank is where repair costs start to outweigh SL gains, if premium account is not used.
Now personally, I am not willing to make Warthunder a subscription based game by paying for premium account and sinking in more than AAA game type of money.
My personal goal is to unlock as many vehicles for free (eg sinking tons of my free time instead) and I am happy to just stop at BR where it starts to clearly bleed lot of SL and just play BRs that are sustainable without premium.
So my question is, which are the highest lineups in various nations, that are still usable for you, without having to grab premium account or having to complement that lineup with premium vehicle?
I have the italian top tier lineup (without premim veichles and premium account) and rarely I have negative SL balance. So if you play a decent game you should always gain some SL. But obviusly without premium account what you earn in nothing compared to having the premium acc.
I don’t really know, I can make (a little) money at 11.7 (rank 8) without premium, but you do have to be a little better than average. If you want a relatively pain-free environment I’d play 9.3 and 10.3 (most nations have decent lineups at both BR’s); you still need to be relatively decent in a match to make money, and you can lose some but your wins will outweigh any losses.
Just my opinion/experience; it’s been a while since I’ve played without premium and with all the economy changes I’m not entirely sure if what I’m saying is right :D
In top tier SL gain is purely related on skill. Basically, get a point score of over 1500 and do not die too much by making silly moves and you will be good.
Top tier with premium is basically printing SL.
I have done both and without premium account I still had a steady gain of about 30k while noting that I am not the best player.
Not that much, for today I’ve played 9.0 and 11.0 a few times (all losses too, damn…) and I come out with about 30-50k SL every match. And I’m one of those sucky players :D
Understand the map and the enemy team you are facing against and how they play said map. There is no such thing as a “best spot”. It all depends on the play of your team and what the enemy does - Like knowing you will have a challenger sniping or leopard flanking and where they will be / coming from to counter it.
Have a balanced line-up. Ye, I currently have 3 11.7 Abrams in my 11.7 line-up but I also have HSTVL, SPAA & CAS. Always have something small, light/medium and cheap to fall back on if your initial push did not go well. “Big and Stronk” is not always “Good”.
Assists, Kills & Caps : If you can not get a clear shot to one tap the enemy then keep beating them - a team mate will “kill steal”. Either way, you got the assist and at least part reward. Caps are also not scary and this ties back to map knowledge - How to position to cap without getting cqb rushed by ztz/t80 or sniped from the side.
Thermals ain’t everything - Just because you did not see someone on thermals does not mean they are there. Some places you can blend your tank with the terrain thermal image.
If you are being spawn camped mark the position they are shooting from but also, DO NOT MOVE when you spawn. Use that immunity time to gather intel or maybe get a few killing blows. That way if you do move and die you (a) made the SL and (b) you can spawn if with something else.
Getting good with SPAA and immediately countering air (cause your team won’t) is a good way to cover costs and also, respawn again.
Focus on your team score and not the amount of kills you get, use the above to position yourself in a way to die less. On average if you have a score of above 1500 in GRB you have done a good amount to help your team, potentially securing the win for that sweet round win bonus.
Set a key-bind (if you have not already) for “Mark Target for Squad”. Little yellow ping that allows you to mark for your squad but also, allows you to call accurate artillery or accurate map pings.
Do not listen to music while you play, make sure “their” volume is high, yours low in settings. Do not drop the in-game audio below 20. Couple that with a decent headset and you can hear enemy engines from miles away.
If you are having a bad day, change it up and go to another tech tree or change BR. Do not die match after match cause of a “off day” on your favorite line-up.
Lol, the General section is full of “Gaijin does everything to make me lose SL and force me to buy Premium!”, but when I post a question in Academy section, a few chill dudes appear and tell me I can play anything for free :D
I was also hoping for a few ranty replies as well, just to balance it out:P
OMG I ONLY MAKE 5K PER MATCH WITHOUT PREMIUM BUT WITH PREMOUM THEY MAKE SO MUCH MORE RRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
How’s that? I haven’t ranted in a while…
Anyway, jokes aside. Yes, in high tier (let’s assume for a second 10.0-11.7) you can play what you want, without premium, but you have to perform half decent to make money. It is also possible to lose money, again, if you did alright-ish, you may lose 2K SL. Sometimes you will lose more than that - but without premium, it’s perfectly doable. I have done it in the past, now I’m a premium schmuck :)
I’ll also echo what @filthy_za said in his reply - all those things help, with or without premium. What I would add is that if you are having an absolute shitter of a day, grab your favorite lower tier tank and just play that instead. My 9.0 Italy lineup is my stress reliever, and with the MTCA premium tank, it’s also a money maker (on a good match + win + premium I walk off with 125k SL - without premium account you’d still be looking at a nice sizeable chunk of change).
Even from waaaaay back when ground was first introduced, the commonly accepted wisdom is you play high tier for the lulz, and low-med tier to make your money.
And if you don’t play for 1 month, its 6$. And if you don’t play for 2 months, is 9$…
I just don’t like to be tied to a game this way. I bought a few premium tanks on sale and I can play them whenever I feel like it. Premium tanks also give me more content, premium account doesn’t.
Nothing against people, that subscribe to Premium account, its why Gaijin gets to make this awesome game afterall.
I grinded rank 1 and rank2 air with all existing (5) nations in 2016. Then decided that I like the game enough to take a year of premium during the spring sale ($3 per month). Because that seemed a more than fair price to me.