35 replies to this topic

[MagusGerhardt]

 

With patch 1.9.5 Warplanes introduced an entirely new Crew Skill system, moving closer to the model of Warships and farther away from what we see in Tanks.

 

The new skills are more varied and allow for greater customization of skills between different aircraft.

 

A complete review of each skill is offered here, complete with what equipment synergizes best with them, what aircraft types they are best used on, and which ones are a high priority to obtain.

 

Good hunting!  

 

Edit:  The patch I refer to here is in error; I should have said 1.9.5, but I can only suppose that I was brain fried after 48 hours of nonstop testing of the crew skills in live matches and training rooms.  Then there was the four time off-recording rehearsal I did before creating the video that further cemented the oversight into my narrative.  Mea culpa.

Edited by MagusGerhardt, 10 June 2016 - 01:11 AM.

[Quesnel]

Thanks for the hard work on this one 

[obamaphone]

Nice job ty MG.

[honorabili]

Great job, Magus! o7

[losttwo]

Glad your heart is still into this game. Great work and thanks for doing this for us.

[Ace_BOTlistic_Cosmo]

Good info, thanks Mag

[BrushWolf]

Nice job Mag, this was badly needed. WG should have put this information out before 1.9.6 came out to help us make our decisions.

 

On the Expert Rocketeer skill I may be wrong but rockets have dispersion just as MG's & cannons do and in fact it is larger so this should reduce that spread.

[backseater60]

Great info, Mag.  Have been waiting for some insight of how these item work.

 

[kparrow]

i know i shouldn't discuss politics on forums so punish me , but Magus for president.  thanks magus . well done.

[Cuesta_Rey]

An excellent analysis of the new crew skill system by Magus.

Thanks for taking time to do that, and doing it so professionally. 

[Donnchadh]

Thanks, Magus! Great job, much appreciated.

 

For a quick way to compare the strengths of different aircraft, people might try the WoWP Assistant app. Although it hasn't gotten a lot of love from WG, it's useful in this case.

 

Click the aeroplane symbol and select your aircraft. Be sure to click the "Change" button every time and select "Maximum Configuration" (otherwise it'll compare one stock aircraft to another).

 

The app will then produce a bar graph showing how that particular aircraft's attributes compare to the attributes of others in its tier and class (HF, LF, MR), for each attribute, when all those aircraft are fully researched.

 

It'll come in handy when deciding where the real strengths and weaknesses are, without staring at the hangar screen all evening.
 

[PostTraumatic]

MG you have outdone yourself once again.  Well done and Thank You.

 

I have the following comments:

 

- Expert Rocketeer might simply increase the damage radius.  I cant see any other mechanism by which it would work.  I feel they should have given more specifics on this and so far I do not see use for it on any planes over other skills available, including for Attack Aircraft.

 

- The Resilience skill could be Very useful for Attack Aircraft.

 

I agree with your assessment on all of these skills and I am glad your thought process on these matches what I was thinking.  

 

I appreciate you trying to assign these skills to specific nations and I am wondering if, over time, we could put a chart together with all of the planes on it and the order of importance for the skills needed and the equipment needed to maximize the optimization of the planes.  I would be willing to help in producing that.

 

 

Edited by PostTraumatic, 06 June 2016 - 05:46 AM.

[MagusGerhardt]

Everyone, thanks for all the kind words.  I was hopeful that I could provide useful information in response to this large change to the game; as demonstrated by the outcry in general, ignorance of how these new skills function and interact with not only each other but mounted equipment has led to a lot of discontent.  

 

I'm convinced this is a positive move for the game to move forward.  It appears to shake up the meta a bit, not a complete meta change or shift, but it changes how you go about reaching the aircraft stats needed to really make use of it while at the same time giving the turn n burn aircraft access to a lot of really sweet abilities that are best used in their hands.

 

Donn, that's a great suggestion/reminder for pilots to use the web function to compare aircraft quickly and easily rather than plodding through the in-game info boxes and the multiple hangar load cycles they require.

 

PT, I think the chart is a very good idea; if I was more proficient with GIMP I would have had something made like that to include in the video.  If you can make it, I'll offer my input on choice/selection for individual aircraft.  As for Resilience, my main aversion to it is the low-health enrage mechanic.  I like my active abilities to be "turned on" as much time as possible.  At 30% health, even with all major stats improved for the duration of the battle, an IL or German attacker isn't much longer for this world.  I think you've probably nailed it on Expert Rocketeer, though.  Was discussing that with a few rocket expert wingmen of mine and the consensus is that rocket spiral dispersion being tightened up is the only way to acheive what the ability does.  The only other option is that it affects the RNG factor of a rocket's detonation timer, causing it to explode while it's closest to an enemy aircraft.

 

Thanks again, everyone!

 

Good hunting!  

[K1OXD]

Magus, thanks a bunch!

Where do I find this?

"Donn, that's a great suggestion/reminder for pilots to use the web function to compare aircraft quickly and easily rather than plodding through the in-game info boxes and the multiple hangar load cycles they require."

[RedSpartacus]

Thank you very much Magnus.

 

 

 

I would like to add a side note. I used to have one crew per nation per type of aircraft (heavy, light fighter, multirole, ground attacker). With the new system you cannot accelerate pilot training any more by moving the pilots from plane to plane except for premium planes. Let's say I like to get one crew per plane with skills that require 6 skill points. In order to get 6 skill points you need 400,000 XP. Looking at my stats my average is around 500 XP per battle. The following calculation is not accurate but should give some rough numbers.

 

400,000 XP / 500 XP = 800 battles

 

I do have around 100 planes without pilots. This would add up to 80,000 battles, and this is for 6 skill points only. What if you like to max one pilot out to 15 skills ?

 

In my point of view WG should allow to collect experience like before this patch on all planes or reduce the required amount of XP to get a skill point.

 

 

 

[Lvcivs_Flavivs]

Thank you very much for the hard work and dedication you put into this !

 

[Toggle]

Another great video, Magus.  I do appreciate all your time and effort supplying these informative videos.  That was crazy fast!

 

I have a question about the Marksman Skill.  My thought was, the Marksman Skill would be best suited for the slow firing pomegranate lobbers like the Ta-152, Ki-88, Yak-9, J8M and so on.  Having such a slow rate of fire the Marksman skill would improve your chance of a hit and Marksman II for the maneuvering bad guys. There's not much that sucks worse than only being able to lob three rounds before the canon dries up and all of them sailing past the target.

If someone has experience with the big gun planes flying Marksman I & II, I'd like to hear your findings.

[Donnchadh]

K1OXD, on 06 June 2016 - 03:40 AM, said:

Magus, thanks a bunch!

Where do I find this?

"Donn, that's a great suggestion/reminder for pilots to use the web function to compare aircraft quickly and easily rather than plodding through the in-game info boxes and the multiple hangar load cycles they require."

 

I got it as a free Android tablet app (from the Google Play Store), but I think it's available for Apple devices, too (I guess through iTunes).

[Porkins_Jr]

Awesome job Magus, this is top-notch!

[Bobby_Tables]

Excellent explanation of the crew skills Magus.  You post made me rethink some of the things I had done.  

 

To add something to this thread, I recently tried out Adrenaline Rush on my Tier III F3F and I found it to be very useful for a lower tier turn fighter.  At the lower tiers, the ability to cool your guns after shooting someone down inside the furball is very useful.  I think its usefulness at higher tiers might be diminished as those battles tend to spread out more and it is less common to shoot down one and immediately be guns on with another target.  I am thinking I will try it out on maybe a Russian mid tier and see how I like it.  

 

[Edit] Maybe a brilliant thought:  The Lagg 3-34 might be just the mid tier turn fighter that would benefit.  Cooling down that 37mm derp gun could be deadly!  I will let you all know.  

Edited by Bobby_Tables, 10 June 2016 - 01:44 AM.