We need to talk about constantly complaining about scouting 😑🐌
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It’s no more unfair then getting one-tapped by a sniper with much better optics.
That’s the role of light tanks - within the game they are just fulfilling their role. And if there’s no teammate handy to take advantage of the “spot” it’s not a big deal.
Scouting has way more impact on the game than optics. And if that’s the problem, let’s buff light tanks’ optics if that is what makes them inferior to medium tanks.
That’s true in theory, but in practice the “role” has become oversimplified because of scouting.
Light tanks should fulfill their role through movement, positioning, and intel gathering — not by pressing a button that gives the whole team perfect, consequence-free awareness.
Scouting removes most of the risk and replaces actual gameplay with a UI mechanic.
If nobody is nearby to use the intel, fine — but when they are, that single click can decide entire engagements, often with zero counterplay for the scouted player.
Yeah, funny how people keep complaining about a mechanic that breaks core gameplay balance.
Almost like… there’s a reason for it. 🤔
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What I would like to add here: basically scouting is a way for light tanks to have very high impact on the battlefield through zero risk.
In your argumentation, you have made the assumption that only one enemy gets scouted.
That might be how it goes a lot of times. But when talking about mechanics being possibly broken, I think the worst case should be considered, especially since there is no effective counter to being scouted. The enemy can not prevent the worst case (which is critical amounts of players being scouted at once) from happening.
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Scouting IS intel gathering. Not sure how you don’t understand that.
And you are being disingenuous when you keep using the phrase “click of a button”.
It’s a lot more than that and you know it. Light tanks can’t just spawn, click a button, and reveal an enemies location. And yet your posts suggest that is what is happening.
The light tank needs to move into a good position, and then SEE the enemy. It’s not automatic. It’s based on position, crew skill level and enemy movement. Light tank will need to scan terrain through scope or Binocs and actually spot the target. Then they “click a button” which is how things work in a game - there’s no actual radio communication between players.
AND THEN, it only matters if there is a teammate that is around that can take advantage of the scouting. The scout by itself does no actual harm, aside from maybe ruining a flanking maneuver by the enemy.
That is exactly how this works lol, I spawn, I see the enemy and click a button and they stay scouted for up to a minute. This mechanic only exists to make CAS stronger, I abuse it because it allows to me to secure the win for my team. I barely ever run a MBT, I only spawn it if I have nothing else or we are trying to clutch a game.
Scouting imo should be further nerfed, having constant updates of enemy movement is unfair and unbalanced, my ideal implementation of scouting would be more akin to having the marker update every 10 to 15 seconds, and cut the scouted time in half and get rid of the little “eye” icon that says I AM HERE! SHOOT ME, that’s what the map is for.
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The only way you “see” an enemy right after spawning is if they are closing in on your spawn point. You have to place binocular or scope crosshairs on the enemy and press the scouting keybind. You are not spawning and scouting an enemy on other side of map.
It lasts for 30 seconds. But, if the enemy does not move, well, it could scouted indefinitely. Maybe it should move…
I just think the time it takes to update should be halved, and the eye icon specially needs to go, it makes scouting stronger than it should be.
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As with most things it could probably use some tweaks.
But OP was asking for complete removal, which I feel is unwarranted.
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I never denied that scouting was intel gathering. It’s a too powerful tool, that’s the problem.
The level and quality of intel gathering should be dependent on the players in GRB, it should be unified through some semi-automatic mechanics.
They have to see the enemy and then click a button.
The “click of a button” phrase isn’t meant to deny the setup work, it’s to describe how effortless the result is once contact is made:
A single input gives the entire team a perfect marker that lasts for 30 seconds, follows the enemy’s position even when out of sight, and provides information that would normally be earned through awareness and teamwork.
In Arcade the enemies only get spotted when being in LOS, too. The only difference is that you have to see them and click a button in GRB.
Light tanks need to get into good positions anyways, so this is no extra effort for light tanks.
The point is: from what light tanks would do anyways, it is no additional effort to scout, yet scouting can dominate battles. That’s why scouting isn’t difficult to use at all, that’s why I used the term “clicking a button”.
I mean no mechanic could ever be useful if players don’t take advantage of it. Players overseeing the marker is the problem of these players.
Scouting is a very important weapon, if players don’t use and take advantage of it it obviously isn’t going to have any impact. I bet people also oversee the markers in Arcade, that doesn’t make Arcade anymore like RB, though.
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Scouting from light tanks that need to leave safe-zones in order to perform it is hardly the game-changer you make it out to be.
If you haven’t already (and based on this thread YOU SHOULD) make a thread about scout drones. Now they are a problem…
Scouting v mechanic is fine but need a little bit nerf
Like time for spot i think it should be around 5 or 10 sec and if you get out from line of sight that should unspotted
but one thing that really ruin grb is scout drone
especially in lower br like around 8.0
that so ridiculous when you play tank from 1960 like leopard 1 but you meet with technology scout from 2020 that is 60 year of range i dont know why gaijin let this happen
is feels like you use tiger 1 form 1945 figth against t-90a
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Rec drones need a limited battery life so people cant just sit in them spotting the whole enemy team. say like 1 min of operation then a 2 to 3 min CD.
The drone scouting is the really broken part of scouting. Normal scouting could maybe use a tweak like you said, but it’s not a massive issue as it currently is.
I used to play a lot of light tanks before scouting was as present as it is today. Gameplay was vastly different because when only 1 or 2 enemies saw you, it didn’t mean your maneuver was over. Today 1 enemy, if he plays the right type of tank, means the end of your maneuver.
It used to be really annoying when you got hit and marked by enemy planes, because back then being undetected actually mattered.
Today, you basically have to play as if you’re marked all the time anyway.
Stealth and positioning just don’t carry the same weight in Ground RB anymore.
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Go into GSB. They’re not perfect, but you’ll find what you’re looking for. Then come back and post to help improve GSB.
I could ask you, why don’t you go into Arcade battles?
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What a strange response.
We’re looking for the same thing: to overcome the limitations of our vehicle through tactics, cunning, and surprise. And to be able to do so without being spotted if I’m careful enough, if I’m lucky, or if I use the terrain to my advantage.
I read your introductory post carefully, and I disagree with you about removing recon in RB because it’s a “realistic” mode. If you really want what you’re looking for, you’ll find it in simulation. (And besides, even in real life, reconnaissance units communicate by radio about the position of an enemy they’ve spotted.)
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These are team games, so they’re collective. And even many players don’t look at their map enough.
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It was necessary to increase the usefulness and playability of light tanks because the maps are often too small anyway, and that’s their role in reality.
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I’m not saying that the system is perfect and doesn’t need to be improved, but it’s a good compromise between arcade and simulation.
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You’re right that teamwork and communication should matter — but that’s exactly why the current scouting system undermines it.
It replaces real teamwork (map awareness, communication, coordination) with a single mechanic that automates all of that.
Good teamplay should come from players actually working together, not from a universal marker that gives everyone perfect intel.
That is the biggest difference between Arcade and RB, that you actually don’t get conspicuous information from the game anymore.
Making them more “useful” by giving them an overpowered spotting mechanic doesn’t really fix map design — it just hides the problem.
If maps don’t offer enough opportunities for light tanks, then that’s the issue that should be addressed, not compensated for by giving one class a heroshooter-like advantage.
Their role for the most part was to do reconnaissance against superior battle tanks.
In War Thunder tanks aren’t put into the context of their time, so they shouldn’t be pressed into the context of their reallife usage.
Irl, a Centauro would have done reconnaissance against superior MBTs like a Leopard 2a5, ingame it should normally fight in combat against equals like the Leopard 1a5.
Yes, it may be a “compromise” between arcade and simulation, but it leans way too far toward Arcade.
In a mode that’s supposed to reward awareness, positioning, and stealth, scouting can remove most of that depth.