World of Tanks – spotting questions

The formula for calculating the effective armor rating in world of tanks is:

Armor tickness/cos(impact angle)

With an Angle of > 70% always leading to a ricochet, this leads to this table:

Impact Angle    Effective Armour Thickness
    0°                 100%
   10°                 101.54%
   20°                 106.42%
   30°                 115.47%
   40°                 130.54%
   50°                 155.57%
   60°                 200%
   70°                 292.38%
  > 70°                Ricochet

(source: world of tanks effective armor rating)

Which angle to chose depends a lot on the tank you're driving and how it is armored. But in general, having at least a slight angel towards your opponent is a good idea.

For example, if you're driving a tank with 100mm front armor and 80mm side armor, a 45% angle on both front armor would give you an effective front armor of 141mm and effective side armor of 113mm. In this example having the opponent hit your side at an angle would still give a lower chance of penetration than hitting the front armor at a straight angle.

However if the situation is the same, but the tank you're driving only has 60mm side armor this means the effective rating of the side armor would be 85mm, which means you're giving your opponent an opportunity at an easier penetration, in this case it would be still good to present yourself at an angle, but less than 45%. (a 30% angle in this case would give you 115mm front armor and 120mm side armor)

Many tank destroyers, and particularly the Stug III have a great camo rating, which means that if you play carefully the enemy team will have great difficulty spotting you.

While playing this particular tank, and other TDs like it, try to stay behind the rest of your team and lay down supporting fire form a sniping position.

If you're not familiar with how camo and spotting works, I recommend this camouflage tutorial.

Some general tips:

• Stay behind a bush, but remember that firing your gun will temporarily remove the additional camo value of the bush
• Equipping your TD with a camo net, and training the crew in camouflage will greatly increase your overall camo rating.
• Remember that moving your tank, even by slightly turning it lowers your camo value. With TDs and SPGs you can prevent accidentally turning your tank by locking it in place by using the (default) X key.
• The commander's sixth sense skill is great on TDs as it will help you know when you're spotted.
• The Stug III is responsible fast and mobile, if you are spotted or think you might be soon, relocate to a new position from which you can safely snipe.