Hey guys! I played War Thunder quite a while ago, and much has changed since then. Hopefully I can get some clarification on a few things. 1) So the "Clan" or "Outfit" in War Thunder is called a "Squadron". What is a "Group" or "Party" called? Just a "Squad"? Having the terms "Squad" and "Squadron" mean different things is kind of confusing but from what I'm reading it sounds like that's the terminology. 2) How are Tier differences handled in a Squad? For instance, I only have Tier 1 planes right now (playing Britain, did the U.S. thing before and want to try something different). I'm close to accessing Tier 2. If I join a squad, and the leader tries going into say, Tier 3, would I also be sucked into Tier 3 but forced to use the Tier 1 planes I have access to? OR, would the SL get a notice "some players don't have T3 aircraft", or would I just not be able to enter the game? Honestly I don't want to restrict people by being so low level, so I'd rather act as a wing-man in a crummy plane in a higher tier than cause the players to sacrifice their Income, 3) Is it necessary to have a Premium account? I know World of Tanks gives restrictions to grouping without a premium account, I didn't know if this was similar. Are there any other reasons to get a Premium Account? Since it seems the higher Tiers are rather lackluster from the forums, and a money sink, there's no drive to try and unlock Tiers IV and V any faster with a Premium Account, at least not yet. Such a weird mentality, tbh: "Yeah unlock Tier V so you can spend all your time farming Tier 3 to repair your stuff!". Whatever, seems like people really enjoy TIer 3 where the game is kind of focused and that's good enough for me. 4) Are there any NNG specific recommendations? Like, a certain Tier of plane everyone is encouraged to flesh out, or certain planes for certain factions? Basically if we have a lot of people on and we wanted to have a large-scale operation (as large as the group sizes are I guess, which is what, like 5 people?) it seems like it would be convenient if everyone had a "best-in-slot" vehicle for whatever Tier we are participating in. That means instead of personally focusing on unlocking straight through to TIer 3, I may want to get a few key planes in Tier 2 (or Tier 1) for Outfit operations. Thanks for the input! And anything else that may be helpful to know is more than welcome!
Short version: Mutherfooking Teamspeak! Long version: 1) NNG is the "Squadron", The group of players you are with in a match is your "Squad" and multiple squads on one team are "Lucky SOBs". 2) Highest Battle Ranked plane in the whole squad determines MatchMaker. If your current arsenal is set to the same BR or lower then it will affect your teammates in no way shape or form (Though you might cry at your match-ups a bit). Just ask if anybody want's you fly at your rank. Re-tiering takes all of 1 minute unless you are one of those scrubs who has 10 crews per nation. For those of us who don't care about higher tiers, it's all the same to us (T4/5 sucks anyway ). Thus said there are a few planes in the game that play higher ranks really damn well and a good player can wreak face with just about anything. 3) There are no grouping restrictions for non-premium. 4 players per squad. As for grinding, personally I'll probably finish up T3 with my Ruskies, Japs and possibly Germans (If i ever start caring) and then declare my progression done. If I hit jets, it will be by accident. 4) I'd say take your time, unlock every plane that looks good for any given tier, and set your arsenal to as low a battle rank spread as possible. If you blaze through a single tech line you will just end up with one plane in your lineup that is any good for a given match and a bunch of crap backups (Unless you play HB or SB, then you don't have to worry about that). Besides, the more exposure you get to these aircraft, the more you can appreciate what they can and can't do (which is really fucking important in this game). PS: Oh and MOTHERFRICKING TEAMSPEAK!
The short version is actually the long version. By spending more time in TS and flying with other people you will learn a lot about other aircraft, flying tactics and the game in general. Any advice you need, we're here for you. No one will ever turn you down.
I did remember seeing that squads were max 2 players for non-premium. Or does my memory have a bad chip?
They where considering it at one point but I guess Gaijin had a rare moment of blinding genius and didn't go for it.
I've been on the road and offline a bit, so I'm a bit late to this thread, but I wanted to speak to question 4). I certainly don't have the time-in-game as a lot of the other NNG folks playing WT, but I have fleshed out tier 1 planes for each country. In my opinion, a very powerful starting line-up is the Soviets. When you start w/them, the 3 reserve planes of the I-15 line all have reasonably decent MG x 2 (Brit reserve planes, for example, have rubber bullets or something cause I can hardly score damage w/ their MGs).. Also, the very first premium plane from the Soviets (which you receive after the first or maybe second battle FOR WHICHEVER SINGLE country you start with) is the named I-153-M62 (Zhukovsky's). It is exceptionally maneuverable, very rugged, and has freakin' rockets!! By your 3rd battle (or 2nd depending on how you score in the first) you'll be flying a Tier 1 plane, with rockets, that - in practiced hands - can arguably compete with planes 2 tiers higher. The next plane in this group/line, the I-15bis, also has rockets to be equipped when you research out it's upgrades. So do the next 2 air-frames - the unnamed I-153-M62, and then the I-16 type 18 (monoplane). The initial air-frame in the LaGG 3 line (LaGG-3-11) can use rockets, and the next plane, still Tier 1 mind you, has rockets and a 20 mm Cannon!!! Anyway, that's my 2 cents worth on starting out. I've heard the argument that Soviet air-frames are OverPowered because they're favored by a Russian dev team. I dunno if that's true, but I've successfully guided several other family members to that starting point and they've competed well. Have fun, get in TS comms (even when you can't play... I'm idling in TeamSpeak each time I troll the NNG forums), and have some fun w/us!
