Gameplay: Spotting Mechanics

• Basic Information
• Visibility Checkpoints and View Range Ports
• How Often Are Visibility Checks Performed?
• How Long Does the Vehicle Taking Cover Remain Visible?
• How Can You Make Your Tanks Invisible for the Enemy?
• How Does the Camouflage Net Work?
• How Does Movement Affect Camouflage?
• Does Movement Speed Affect Visibility?
• Does the Gun Fire Penalty to Vehicle Concealment Depend on Gun Caliber?
• Does the Gun Fire Penalty to Vehicle Concealment Depend on Shell Type?
• How Do Tracer Shells Work
• Adaptive Concealment
• Class Bonus

Basic Information

Each tank has:

• Visibility checkpoints (that make it visible)
• View range ports (by which it observes)

Each tank has the following parameters:

• View range (specified in the vehicle characteristics)—depends on the turret, crew skills, and mounted equipment.
• Concealment—depends on crew skills and mounted equipment. In battle, the concealment level reduces when moving and almost reaches zero when firing.

A tank has equally good "vision" in all directions. It can spot vehicles at a distance of up to 445 meters. If its view range exceeds this value, it still won't be able to "see" beyond 445 meters, but it will undermine enemy tanks' concealment.

Enemy tanks spotted by allies are visible at a distance of up to 700 meters (diagonally).

A tank is considered to be spotted if:

1. The distance to it is 50 meters or less.
2. The distance to the enemy tank is not greater than the view range, multiplied by its concealment factor.
3. You can trace a beam from at least one of the view range ports of your tank to one of the visibility checkpoints of the enemy tank, and there are no obstacles (terrain, buildings, trees, bushes) along the path of this beam.

Visibility Checkpoints and View Range Ports

The image below shows the location of the tank's visibility checkpoints. There are six:

The picture below shows the location of the tank's view range ports. There are two, one static and one dynamic (it moves together with the turret of the tank):

How Often Are Visibility Checks Performed?

At 50 meters range—once per 0.1 seconds.
At 150 meters range—once per 0.5 seconds.
At 270 meters range—once per second.
At 445 meters range—once per 2 seconds.
Visibility checks are performed in turn from each view range port, not simultaneously.
In addition, two further specific checks are performed: the first one when a shot is fired, the second one when the tank stops.

How Long Does the Vehicle Taking Cover Remain Visible?

After the tank's visibility checkpoints have disappeared from the line of sight, the tank remains visible for a further 10 seconds.

How Can You Make Your Tanks Invisible for the Enemy?

The enemy will not see your tank if all visibility checkpoints of its hull are completely hidden from observation beams of enemy vehicles by the environment (terrain, bushes, trees or buildings).
It is worth noting that when your vehicle and enemy vehicles approach within a certain distance, bushes and trees no longer conceal the hull of the tank.
The minimum concealment range is 50 meters. All enemies within a radius of 50 meters will be visible, regardless of other circumstances.
In addition, it is worth remembering that your tank loses part of its concealment for 5 seconds when firing (to a greater extent) and moving its hull (to a lesser extent, but including movement on the spot). To achieve maximum concealment, you should not move the hull (you can move the turret), and not shoot at the enemy. In addition, you can use the Camouflage Net.

How Does the Camouflage Net Work?

The Camouflage Net has no effect whilst driving and for 3 seconds after the tank stops. To activate this equipment, the hull should first remain stationary for 3 seconds. Any subsequent movement will again require 3 seconds of idling to activate the Camouflage Net.

How Does Movement Affect Camouflage?

The movement of the hull (in any direction), as well as movement or rotation on the spot, halves the concealment level. Turret movement does not affect concealment in any way and does not cancel out the effect of the Camouflage Net.

Does Movement Speed Affect Visibility?

No. Penalties to vehicle concealment do not depend on a tank's speed. Tanks that move quickly expose themselves to the same extent as tanks that move at a lower speed.

Does the Gun Fire Penalty to Vehicle Concealment Depend on Gun Caliber?

Yes, it does. The larger the caliber of the gun, the greater the probability of being spotted, as well as affecting the distance from which the tank will be definitely spotted, at the time of a shot. In addition, the muzzle brake plays an important role. If a tank is equipped with this, at the time of a shot the vehicle loses more concealment than when firing the same shot from the gun without a muzzle brake.

Does the Gun Fire Penalty to Vehicle Concealment Depend on Shell Type?

No, different shells fired from the same gun reveal the vehicle to the same extent.

How Do Tracer Shells Work

This is the new spotting mechanic for the Object 84 and T-100 LT.

• Effect: Hitting an enemy keeps it spotted for 20 seconds.
• The time an enemy remains spotted is counted from the moment it's hit. The effect from multiple hits and regular spotting doesn't stack.
• It activates when an enemy is hit by any type of shell with any outcome, such as penetration, non-penetration, ricochet, or critical damage.
• Tracer Shells won't work in the case of a blind hit on an unspotted enemy.
• The player hit by a tracer shell will see a different light bulb on their screen.

By skillfully using the effect of Tracer Shells, Soviet scouts can keep several enemy tanks spotted simultaneously for a long period of time. This provides a tactical advantage for the whole team: Spotted enemies have to take cover, which allows allies to seize the initiative.

Adaptive Concealment

This feature is available only for higher-tier tanks of the branch — the WZ-132A and WZ-132.

When a Tracer Shell (certain Soviet light tanks are equipped with them) hits the tank, the WZ-132A and WZ-132-1 become invisible in 17 seconds instead of 20.

A red eye icon instantly appears above the opponent that spotted your tank.

Class Bonus

TDs have an additional camo bonus, which helps them remain invisible at closer ranges. However, this does not mean that all TDs are less visible than tanks. The level of visibility of a TD is determined in the same way as the level of visibility of other vehicles, but in the case of a tank and TD of the same size, the latter will be less visible. Light tanks are the only vehicles in the game that have the same concealment factor both when moving or stationary.