Tankers Workshop #4: Spend Your Hit Points

This is the 4th in our Tankers Workshop series (You probably guessed that from the title), based on my article "Five Things Good Players Do More Often Than Average Players". If you haven't seen the first three workshops in the series yet you can find them here:

1. Look at the Lineup
2. The Minimap
3. Micropositioning

That said, let's dig into this workshop!

What are you saving them for?

Every tank has a pool of hit points. When you take out your shiny Tiger I you've got 1500 hit points at the start of the battle. Other than some nominal tank repair costs there really isn't much difference between finishing the battle with 1500 hit points or 100 hit points.

But most average players are so timid about getting shot and losing any hit points at all that they often pass up the kind of plays that would help their team win.

So in this workshop we're going to try a couple of exercises to get you more comfortable with intelligently spending your hit points.

Exercise 1 - Trade hit points for the kill

Hit points are a currency of sorts and spending them just requires knowing that it's worth the trade. For example: Late in the game you're in a T-44 and the enemy top tier Emil II is sitting around the corner in front of you. You're on 900 hit points and he's on just 100 hit points. If you round the corner you can get a clear hull shot on him. Is it worth trading ~500 hit points to get a key enemy tank out of the battle? Yes, probably. 

Obviously if you're on 200 hit points this math doesn't work, whomever shoots first will likely win that skirmish. If the enemy tank has 3 friends behind him you probably don't want to do this because you might eat 4 shots instead of 1. So this has to be done thoughtfully, not recklessly.

This doesn't come up every battle, maybe not even every session, but if you're looking for opportunities it happens more often than you might think. 

To Do: Your task to build this habit is the next time you see an enemy that you can kill with one shot, do the mental math and consider if it's worth eating a shot of damage in order to get that kill.  Then do it. It's surprisingly satisfying to take a shot of damage, and then finish off the enemy with a kill. 

Once you've mastered this habit you'll start seeing other kinds of smart opportunities to trade your hit points for gain in the battle.

Exercise 2 - Be a teammate

Your hit points, and your armor, can be used to help a teammate out as well. This is especially true if you're in a heavy or medium. For example: You're in your 112 and still on full health. Your T-10 has been brawling and has taken a few hits.  He's trading well, but it's close. Consider pulling in front of him and using your armor - and some of your hit points  - to take the next hit for him. Sometimes eating that one shot for your teammate is all they need to win the brawl.

If you sit back and let him take the hit, and maybe lose the brawl, then you end up having to fight the guys he was brawling by yourself. If you take a hit (and maybe bounce it!) you can save your teammate and he can continue using his gun to help you.

This can be especially helpful in a situation where your teammate got tracked and is waiting to repair.

To do: Your task is to look to help out a valuable teammate with your hit points. If you've got lots of health and they're getting beaten up a bit, pull in front of them and take the next shot. 

Don't be afraid! It's just a video game. And finishing the game with at least 1 hit point means you survived. It really won't hurt and spending your hit points wisely will make you a better player and help you win more games.

Got a good story of using your hit points to help win the game? Share it in the comments below!

Next time we'll look at habit #5 - Know your Tank!

GLHF!