One of the most valuable, and underused, tools in World of Tanks is the minimap. The minimap is that map at the bottom right corner of your battle screen (don't see it at all? Press "M" to turn it on.). It shows you the current battle map, and it overlays your teammates on it, as well as any spotted enemies, so you can see where they are.
If you missed our first Tankers Workshop (Look at the Lineup) you can find it here. You might also want to check out the article that this series is based on: Five Things Good Players do More Often Than Average Players do.
You can make sure these are turned on in game settings by going to Settings and on the General tab, towards the bottom right you'll find it.
Is there a big lemming train forming? Is it going the other way? If so, you may want to reconsider your plan.
During the countdown you identified a couple of teammates who you thought would be key to your team. Are they going in the direction that you expected?
Are you driving a scout and one of the other scouts on your team is going to the same place you are? Maybe you should rethink?
It's enormously valuable to have insight on how your team is deploying early in the battle, before you've committed to a position or flank that may, or may not, be well-supported.
All it takes is a couple of purposeful glances at the minimap while you're driving out of the spawn.
While your gun is reloading can be a good time. In many cases that's 6-10 seconds where you can't shoot anyhow. If you're driving an autoloader you have an even longer window of time to check the minimap.
Or perhaps you've pulled back into cover to get arty safe, or get unspotted. You're going to be tucked in for 5-10 seconds, at least, so take a glance at your minimap.
Maybe you've won your flank, well done! Before you push on to the enemy spawn, take a look at the minimap.
What are you looking for? How about...
If you missed our first Tankers Workshop (Look at the Lineup) you can find it here. You might also want to check out the article that this series is based on: Five Things Good Players do More Often Than Average Players do.
First Things First
Task 1: Maximize your minimap. Make your minimap as large as it can be, without obscuring the enemy team lineup. Next time you're in a battle, during the countdown, press "+" on your keyboard until the top of the minimap blocks the bottom of the enemy team lineup, then press "-" once.
That should maximize the size of your minimap, making it more obvious and easier to read.
BONUS: There are some mods (like XVM) that add the ability to momentarily expand your minimap to a larger size when you press a key, typically the left CTRL key on your keyboard. When you want to quickly check the minimap, which you should do often, press that key and you'll see it nice and big.
EXTRA BONUS: If you have a mouse that has a thumb button in addition to the regular buttons you can probably program that button to do something special in a particular program. My Microsoft Surface Precision Mouse lets me do that so I have the thumb button, in WoT, programmed to be Left-CTRL. Anytime I want to check the minimap I just press the thumb button on my mouse and voila...it's bigger. Release the thumb button and the minimap goes back to normal size.
Next...
Task 2: Make sure the view circles are on. There should be 3 circles on your minimap around your tank.
The smallest one shows you your current view range; how far your tank can SPOT enemies (keep in mind camo may reduce how far you can ACTUALLY spot a tank). If you're driving a Hetzer that circle will be sort of small. If you're in a Bulldog it should be awfully large.
The next circle shows you the maximum possible view range, which is 445m. That's the farthest away you can possibly spot and it's the same for every tank in the game. If you have good view range on your tank and crew this circle and the previous circle will overlap and look like a single circle. That's good.
The largest ring shows the draw range - that's the farthest away that you can SEE (not spot, see). That's 564m for every tank in the game. You've probably realized that's 119m further than your maximum view range. If an enemy tank is 500m away you cannot, under any circumstances, spot them. However...you can SEE them, if one of your teammates (who is closer to them) is spotting them for you.
The smallest one shows you your current view range; how far your tank can SPOT enemies (keep in mind camo may reduce how far you can ACTUALLY spot a tank). If you're driving a Hetzer that circle will be sort of small. If you're in a Bulldog it should be awfully large.
The next circle shows you the maximum possible view range, which is 445m. That's the farthest away you can possibly spot and it's the same for every tank in the game. If you have good view range on your tank and crew this circle and the previous circle will overlap and look like a single circle. That's good.
The largest ring shows the draw range - that's the farthest away that you can SEE (not spot, see). That's 564m for every tank in the game. You've probably realized that's 119m further than your maximum view range. If an enemy tank is 500m away you cannot, under any circumstances, spot them. However...you can SEE them, if one of your teammates (who is closer to them) is spotting them for you.
You can make sure these are turned on in game settings by going to Settings and on the General tab, towards the bottom right you'll find it.
O.K., Those Done
Let's do a couple of exercises to build the minimap skills. Don't rush through these. Get comfortable doing one before you move on to the next. There's no prize for getting through them quickly - the prize is in truly mastering the habit and becoming a better World of Tanks player. :)
Exercise 1: Watch your deployment
For this first exercise, when the countdown ends (you've already evaluated the team lineups ) and you roll out to your initial position lets look at the minimap TWICE in the first 15 seconds. What are you looking for? You're looking to see where your team is going.Is there a big lemming train forming? Is it going the other way? If so, you may want to reconsider your plan.
During the countdown you identified a couple of teammates who you thought would be key to your team. Are they going in the direction that you expected?
Are you driving a scout and one of the other scouts on your team is going to the same place you are? Maybe you should rethink?
It's enormously valuable to have insight on how your team is deploying early in the battle, before you've committed to a position or flank that may, or may not, be well-supported.
All it takes is a couple of purposeful glances at the minimap while you're driving out of the spawn.
Exercise 2: Check the minimap at least 3 times during the battle
Now that you've deployed, and seen where your team is going, the next exercise is to check the minimap at least 3 times during the battle. You have more opportunities than you think you do:While your gun is reloading can be a good time. In many cases that's 6-10 seconds where you can't shoot anyhow. If you're driving an autoloader you have an even longer window of time to check the minimap.
Or perhaps you've pulled back into cover to get arty safe, or get unspotted. You're going to be tucked in for 5-10 seconds, at least, so take a glance at your minimap.
Maybe you've won your flank, well done! Before you push on to the enemy spawn, take a look at the minimap.
What are you looking for? How about...
- How's the other flank doing? Are they winning? Losing? Stalemated? Do they need help? Can you help? Do you need to go back to defend base?
- During the countdown you identified a couple of enemy tanks that you were concerned about, where are they?
- Have any enemies been spotted flanking you?
- Do you still have the support you thought you did? You probably have lots of stories of finding yourself alone in a position or flank because your teammates quietly abandoned you and fled (or died). A glance at the minimap would tell you if you still have 3 friends with you or if they've turned and run.
There is a wealth of information on the minimap. Taking a look, on a regular basis, can really help you be more successful.
When you've mastered that...
Exercise 3: Should I take this shot?
It can sometimes be hard to tell just how far away an enemy tank is; especially if you're sniping from range. Are they 425m away or 450m away? In World of Tanks that matters a lot. The next time you're taking a long-range shot, before you pull the trigger, glance at the minimap and see if your target is inside, or outside, the max view range ring. Why? If they're outside the max view range (445m) they CANNOT spot you when you shoot. If they have a teammate within view range that tank could spot you, but your target cannot.
While you're at it...are there other spotted enemies inside your view range ring? Good to know before you shoot if you're likely to get spotted.
If your target is just a few meters inside the max view range circle, consider backing up a few meters before you fire so that you're outside their max view range.
The minimap is a very powerful tool in WoT. You could spend months just trying to master its use and if you only learn ONE of these habits I've outlined, this is probably the most valuable one.
Next week we'll work on micropositioning.
Got more minimap tips or tricks? Share them in the comments below!
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