Unused abilities

I just wanted to post about some of the most unused abilities that I think we should all be using more often and maybe some of you will learn something new.

Most of them are Vet abilities.

Ostheer:

Vet 1 Abilities:

-Pioners & Grenadiers unlocks Field First Aid at vet1, that can be used to heal any squads on the battlefield for 20 munis.

-MG42: Vet1 unlocks Fire Incendiary Armor-Piercing Rounds, which is very effective vs. light vehicles.

-Sniper Fire Incendiary Explosive Round: which will kill a model and stun the rest of the squad.

- Pak 40, StuG & Brummbar: Target Weak Point, which will stun the crew of the tank for a few seconds.

-SdKfz 221 Scout Car & SdKfz 251 Half-track Infantry Awareness : Displays infantry in a good radius on the mini map & tactical map.

Soviets

-Used a lot more now and days but not as often as it should imo. Conscript Merge! Conscript can merge with another squad, to reinforce them.Can be used with another Conscript squad, Shocktroops, Guards, MG but especially useful for AT-Gun crew.

-Combat Engineers,Conscript,Guards Rifle Infantry, Shock Troops and Penals unlocks Trip Wire Flares at Vet1, which will not only launch a flare to reveal enemy activity in that area but it also as a chance to kill a member of the enemy squad.

-PM-41 82mm Mortar & HM-38 120mm Mortar Squad Smoke Barrage: very useful to flank MG or save some units that might be losing a fight and giving them a chance to soft retreat or retreat.

-Sniper Flare: Although it's very expensive at 60 munis, it can reveal a huge part of the map.

-Shock Troops Smoke: can be used to flank MG or soft retreat.

-T-70 Recon Mode: Will disable main gun but reveal a large part of the map.

-T-70 & T-34, KV-8 Flamethrower & IS-2 Secure Mode: Can cap any strategic,ammo,fuel or VP Point which is unlock at VET1.

-SU-76, Su-85 & ISU-152 Tracking: reveal infantries on mini map.

Good idea.
MG42 AP ammo and the target weak point ability are great. Trip wire is severely underused, too. Maybe partially due to its long build time but other than that it is a very good ability. Merge is great, too!

Smoke in general (other than tank smoke) is pretty underused imo. I think it would be better if the mortar started firing it faster, it takes a while to arrive and thus can't really be used as a reaction.

You mentioned the Su-76 etc. tracking mode. It is great for the ISU-152 but the Germans also have a comparable ability on their Sdkfz 221/222 and 251 vehicles. For them, it displays infantry in a good radius on the mini map and when on the tactical map you can see their type/hp etc.
This can be very useful for avoiding traps, general flanking and especially for flanking AT guns that are also revealed by the ability.

yeah forgot about the Sdkfz 221/222 and 251, I'll add it.

Dear vehicle detection, totally useless even none notice its existence.


For OP, I think the HEAT round for German TD is very very useful

Dear vehicle detection, totally useless even none notice its existence.


For OP, I think the HEAT round for German TD is very very useful

its not useless. both vehicle detection (soviet) and infantry detection (germans) are usefull to detect flanks withouth being too obious about it. and its not very expensive. it works to bait flanks.

sniper flares work in winter storms, even when the scout plane or other stuff dont. it really helps to provide vission in a vision reduced enviroment.

its not useless. both vehicle detection (soviet) and infantry detection (germans) are usefull to detect flanks withouth being too obious about it. and its not very expensive. it works to bait flanks.

sniper flares work in winter storms, even when the scout plane or other stuff dont. it really helps to provide vission in a vision reduced enviroment.

Vehicle detection is a passive skill for panzer elite in vcoh, consider you can have mark target, auto repair , incendiary bomb or even a ppsh upgrade for the support abilities, the vehicle detection is useless compare to any of these ability above, for the german infantry detection ability , it doesn't waste your doctrine slot, and only cost 15 munition instead of 60 munition and a precious doctrine slot.


I hate this ability. While you play soviet, you already waste a slot for a primary mutually exclusive infantry(guard or shock), every doctrine slot is precious

i try to put tripwire flares in cap circles to go off and spot for 120mm

need to start using them on highly used roads though

Infantry detection also increases sight radius. Using this on an su-85 using focused sight gives some tremendous view range. I'm not sure if vehicle detection also increases sight radius.

Mg42 incendiary gives 9 penetration, which makes it very good vs stuff like Vet shocks. It can also severely harm t70s, and even t34s. Shoot a t34 in the rear and the damage is surprisingly high.

I absolutely love Target Weak Point, medkits, and the sniper Incendiary Explosive Round.
The last one is pretty situational, but I used it yesterday to stop a charging shock + conscript blob. It must have stunned about 10 guys, which gave me the chance to retreat/reposition my units. In the same game I used it on some conscripts that were trying to steal my MG42. With the stun and the sniper's vet 2 increased fire rate I was able to shoot out the 3-man crew before it could pack up and retreat Just make sure to focus the guy manning the gun!

I always forget about those trip wire flares. I did lose like two snipers to trip wire flares in one game, however, and now they are on my mind again.

the MG42 Vet1 unlock is sooooo great It's eating light vehicles

Also the heat round ability is 1000 penetration. Guaranteed damage. (damn mobile phone put 100 before edit)

Isu-152 concrete piercing has the same damage and penetration as a regular shot, but will go through any and all obstacles in the way.

Also the heat round ability is 100 penetration.

Isu-152 concrete piercing has the same damage and penetration as a regular shot, but will go through any and all obstacles in the way.

Argh....isu-152....I don't remember last time I could actually afford one, and BTW I noticed the cone sight nerf also applied to isu-152 by accident

I have to read this before playing my next game because I personally forget about using most of these abilities myself!

Trip wire flare kills a model ?? TIL

I must point out that it is a bad idea to merge into guard or shock squads. The conscript models don't have the extra armor so as more and more conscripts are added, you are reducing the overall effectiveness of the elite infantry. Merge is good for penals because they have the same armor value anyway, and of course MGs and ATGs.

I must point out that it is a bad idea to merge into guard or shock squads. The conscript models don't have the extra armor so as more and more conscripts are added, you are reducing the overall effectiveness of the elite infantry. Merge is good for penals because they have the same armor value anyway, and of course MGs and ATGs.

I think it can be situational.

I find the HEAT round for the pak takes so long to load that you can't use it when you really want to, ie when a vehicle is about to turn a corner and not get shot at by your AT anymore. Maybe that's by design though.

Nice list.

I think Target Weakness should have the dmg removed and made a proper instant.

May not make sense in terms ofmthe unit suddenly firing two shots in rapid succession, but atleast it wouldnt be the "double tap" it is now.

-Combat Engineers,Conscript,Guards Rifle Infantry, Shock Troops and Penals unlocks Trip Wire Flares at Vet1, which will not only launch a flare to reveal enemy activity in that area but it also as a chance to kill a member of the enemy squad.

What was my favorite, till one of the patches. Suddenly, Flares stop 100% killing the enemy soldiers.

I really want to see the stat for Flares. 10 munitions for mp bleed is very good.

I think Target Weakness should have the dmg removed and made a proper instant.

May not make sense in terms ofmthe unit suddenly firing two shots in rapid succession, but atleast it wouldnt be the "double tap" it is now.

Agreed. I'd take that trade.

Trip flares are insanely good, especially when you complement them with T2 mortar based play. Put them around capping points and precision strike is your best friend. Getting kills from it is not the benefit but a bouns, it is simply vision area in my eyes.

For me the most under-used ability in the game is definitely 'secure point' for the Soviet heavier tanks. I do not see the purpose in it and always keep those units actively fighting or repairing.

Honestly, asides from that I think I use all the abilities in this game where approriate.