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Tank Crew
Without a crew a tank ain't going anywhere! It is important that players understand the roles that crew play in a tank, and how to manage and grow experience for the crew to be better combatants on the battlefield.
Crew Training
When you add a new crew to a tank you have 3 options for training your crew, the Tank Academy, Regimental School, and Rapid Courses. When you move crew from one tank to another the player only has the choice of the Tank Academy or Regimental School. Players moving their crew up the tier must account for the crew training on top of the purchase of the new tank. Obviously the Tank Academy is the best for players as your crew is immediately at 100% operational status meaning they are performing at their peak and ready to commence training skills and perks. The downside of course is that it costs the player real money in terms of needing to purchase and spend gold.
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Tank Academy - Trains your crew to 100% effectiveness allowing them to immediately commence training a new skill or perk. Generally costs between 500 to 1000 Gold depending on the tier |
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Regimental School - Trains your crew to 75% and is the best option if you are not wanting to spend any gold. Generally costs between 50,000 to 100,000 Silver depending on the tier |
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Rapid Courses - Trains your crew to 50% effectiveness and is completely free |
Crew Major Qualifications and Roles
There are 5 major qualifications of tank crew, the Commander, Driver, Gunner, Loader, and Radio Operator each performing a different role and affecting different tank attributes. For further information on impact to crew when injured refer to Weak Spots & Hit Zones.
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Commander - The boss of the tank! Every tank has a Commander and their role is to spot enemy vehicles. Every tank can only have 1 Commander. On tanks with smaller numbers of crew the Commander may also play other roles typically gunner, loader, or radio operator. Losing the Commander to injury on tanks with a full complement of crew qualifications does not significantly impact the performance of the tank on the battlefield as they don't control any of mechanical aspects of the tank. However the same cannot be said if the Commander plays multiple roles. |
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Driver - The driver has one and only one role and that is to drive the tank. The Driver affects tank attributes such as hull traverse speed, top speed, terrain resistance, and acceleration. The Driver does not play a multi-role. Having an injured driver on a tank that is very manoeuvrable / high top speed will impact performance on the battlefield slightly as the tank will slow down comparable to the rate of heavy tank. However having an injured driver on a large or heavy tank has a far greater impact on the battlefield as they are generally a lot slower leaving the tank susceptible to artillery. |
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Gunner - The Gunner's role is to aim and fire the gun. The Gunner affects tank attributes such as turret traverse speed, aim time, accuracy, and gun elevation. Some tanks albeit only a few have more than 1 Gunner but generally there is a single gunner per tank. The Gunner may be multi-roled often combined with the Commander or Loader. Having an injured Gunner can have a moderate impact on the battlefield as the player will find it hard to land accurate shots. |
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Loader - The Loader's role is quite straight forward, load the tank ammunition. The Loader only affects one trank attribute which is the reload rate. The Loader is a popular multi-role qualification with many tanks having the Loader play the role of Gunner (or vice versa), with quite a number of tanks with large caliber guns especially artillery and tank destroyers having more than 1 Loader. On tanks with a fast reload rate an injured Loader will have a minor impact however on tanks with slow reload rates the impact is much higher and players could be left waiting a lot longer to get a shot off. |
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Radio Operator - The Radio Operator's role is to communicate with tanks on your own team especially through spotting. The Radio Operator is another popular role often shared by the Commander, and affects the radio signal range attribute. An injured radio operator will have minimal impact on the battlefield as they don't affect any of the tank mechanics such as driving, shooting, or loading. The player can still be a very effective combatant. Players can still communicate with other players using the dial command options, map markers, and direct player to player voice communications. |
Crew Skills and Perks
Each crew has the ability to learn new skills and perks that provide small to moderate bonuses on the battlefield. Skills become effective immediately in relation to the training level of that skill i.e. a skill only trained to 50% will only provide 50% of the skills benefit. Perks on the other hand only become effective once fully trained at 100%. Each crew can only have a maximum of 25 skills and perks in total. Some skills are called Legendary and only available through the purchase of select premium tanks. A player will know a crew is eligible for a new skill or perk by a plus '+' sign either in the Crew screen (image 1) or the garage (image 2). Skills are identified by the engineering compass symbol to the top left of the skill (image 3). Perks are identified by the yellow lightening bolt to the top left of the perk (image 4). Refer to Tank Items for a full list of Skills and Perks.
Which Skills and Perks to pick?
This is dependent on a few factors that the player needs to consider in order to get the most out of the skills and perks:
- What Role does the player prefer playing based on the class of tank? Do you prefer being a sniper and hiding or getting onto the frontline and into the thick of battle? If you prefer sniping then select skills and perks that benefit sniping as an example. Select skills and perks that really complement the class of tank and role preferred on the battlefield
- Is your tank prone to being damaged in a particular module e.g. your finding your tank catching fire a lot then train on skills and perks that boost fire fighting
- Does your tank lack performance e.g. poor View Range, if so consider skills and perks that boost View Range as an example
- What equipment and consumables are on the tank? A number of skills and perks work better with certain equipment and consumables as the bonuses accumulate
Hints & Tips for Skills and Perks
- The first 5 skills / perks are the easiest to obtain as they require the least amount of experience. Players should assess what skills and perks would be most beneficial to their gameplay
- Any skill or perk can be swapped out for 10 Gold anytime
- Players can train on a Skill to reap the benefits and once fully trained at 100% consider swapping to a Perk for 10 Gold
- Crew training is directly proportional to the amount of XP accrued per game
- Each new skill or perk to train requires more and more experience
Crew Bonuses
There are a number of items that can provide bonuses to crew during battle or through building crew experience:
- Skills and Perks - Mentor, Brothers In Arms (BIA), Jack Of All Trades
- Equipment - Improved Ventilation
- Consumables - Any of the food consumables per nation e.g. Chocolate, Case of Cola, etc.
- Operations - First Win Double Experience Bonus, Boost Ops, specific operational bonuses e.g. 1.5x XP bonus, 1000 XP, 1.5x crew bonus, etc.
Crew Ranks
Each tank crew will be assigned a military-based rank dependent on their country. All tank crews start at Rank 1 irrespective of the Crew Training type selected. As the tank's crew gain more experience (XP) they will be promoted to higher ranks. Note that Crew Ranks do not actually serve a purpose during an actual battle not do higher ranks earn more experience or benefits. |
