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| - Learn your "Gyroscope". "Gyroscope? Wut?" Many players have come out of testing or practicing with Vulcan confused by this auto-turning feature. Let's admit it - it's tough to master. But, let's establish firstly and foremost what it does. This is the most important thing to learn with Vulcan. Here is the gist of it. Gyroscope only takes affect when you begin shooting. When shooting, your turret will automatically stay in the same line even when your tank is turning. Thus, your turret "automatically moves" when you are turning. However, your turret is still able to turn by itself. Let's quickly dissect that phrase. You see an enemy; you start shooting him with your Vulcan. Now, does that mean you can just drive around turning your hull and you're guarantee to just keep on hitting him? Absolutely NOT. Why, you ask? Surely my "gyroscope" means that even if I turn my tank and my turret automatically turns to face the original direction. You're right. But you forgot to factor in one thing. Enemies move. Yep, no joke Sherlock. The enemies do move, and if you turn your tank all your Vulcan is going to do is be shooting the thin air where your enemy was. So you have to adapt your turret. People somehow have this belief that your Vulcan locks onto enemies when you start hitting them. Wrong. You must be in control of your turret. § When shooting, Avoid turning your hull So, the simplest of tips for beginners to begin with. When you start playing Vulcan, drive like your normal self but when you engage in shooting, avoid turning your hull. All it is does is confuse things when you start off. Just focus on your Forward-backward movement and your turret. That's enough to think of without worrying how your turret will move laterally. Practice is the key for Vulcan. You've got to just do the easy stuff first, before attempting doing too many things difficult. As many of us have found out, turning your tank too early in your practice with the weapon will inevitably lead to missed shots and embarrassment, particularly if you are a higher rank. Keep it simple to start with. § When "gyro-scoping", your turret will turn in the opposite direction to your tank If you've decided to get off the "baby-food" and try using Vulcan like a pro, test this for yourself. Enter a battle with your Vulcan and then shoot, and press the Right hour. You'll see your turret turning left. Likewise with the Left Arrow. Fact. You may already know this, but it takes a while to settle in your mind. Keep it in your head. Accompanied by this comes the knowledge that your tank turns faster than your turret. So don't think with this logic - If I turn my turret right while I'm turning my hull right, it will stay straight in line with my hull. Because if you think this way, you'll unfortunately be greatly mistaken. Unless you've got a Mammoth, your hull will turn much quicker than your turret, thus disorientating you. Again, this comes with practice. Join a battle and try out aiming long distance at an object like a house window, whilst turning your tank and your turret. Perfect way to get to grips with the weapon. If someone is behind you and you want to shoot him, turn your hull the opposite way of your turret, but keep shooting. For example, if you want to turn your turret left, then turn your tank right, this is will make you turn your turret faster. This is because of the game mechanics: when your tank turn, your turret turns the opposite way at the same rate which will give you the illusion that your turret has "detached". So turning your hull the opposite way will add onto the rate in which you turn. This has been proven with all hulls. § Charge early. Another quick pointer. Vulcan charges for a second when rotating its barrels before it begins shooting. So, naturally, if you want to get maximum benefit out of your weapon, charge a second before you go into the open. Genius, huh? But be aware that you will want to be careful when you pop out with your Vulcan. Try not to leave yourself exposed whilst your barrels are getting ready to fire. Not wise. Think Railgun pop-out. That's what you've got to use on this weapon too. § Release space-bar when you can't see an enemy Duh. But point stands. You don't want to overheat unnecessarily. Shooting indefinitely is not wise with Vulcan. You may think Infinite Ammo is a reason to put a brick on that space bar, but the aspect of overheating is surely reason enough for you to release shooting when no enemy is in sight. Also, make sure you're careful too, even when you see enemies to be aware of your health. No reason to start overheating when you are sniping and have extremely low health. Suicidal - quite literally. § Automatically resist the temptation of moving close-range Don't. Please don't. Let's be straight here. Vulcan is not a weapon to use for flag-carriers. As we've established, it's pretty difficult to shoot clearly while driving - and even if you've mastered this, the purpose of Vulcan is its fantastic Damage per second - from range. Vulcan is also brilliant at precise accuracy from distance. So avoid wasting your turret's wonderful abilities by running into short-range confrontations. You will often win, especially if you're good at close-range accuracy, but it's a waste of a wonderful weapon. Of course, there are unavoidable events, like, when you have to return a flag. Then, it would be sabotage to not to move towards it. But in most circumstances, range is good. However, I would say that if your position is a drought of opponent tanks, and you must move closer-range to be able to find some prey then go for it. There's no purpose staying somewhere for the purpose of being "long-distance" when you have nobody in your eye-line half of the time. § Don't be afraid of overheating in Team Battles I'm sure you've heard the phrase "Take one for the team". Vulcaners will be having to hear this phrase a whole lot more, with their self-damage effect. I said earlier that you don't want to hold space bar when you can't see enemies, and combined with that, even if you see enemies, try and avoid overheating. But, on the flip side, if you've got enemies to aim at, especially in a team battle, then don't be afraid to over-heat. Now, overheating doesn't do too much damage to yourself, even though it can be costly. This overheating business is another reason why Vulcan is normally equipped with the heavier hulls, to ensure health does not drop too quickly. But, if you're in a good position in the enemy base which isn't particularly secure but is annihilating many of the defenders, then don't say to yourself "You know what, I'll stop shooting." Sooner or later, a player will come after you and kill you anyway, so you may as well use the time you've got to keep shooting. Say there's a Freeze Mammoth in defence for example, and his "pet Isida" has died. You should probably just keep shooting him to clear him out of the way, whether or not you will do yourself significant harm at the same time, because waiting will mean the Isida will probably get back to heal. Discernment is the key. It's making sure you're not stupid and throw away all your health but at the same time, using the fantastic damage you have got to benefit your team. § Equip some Firebird protection In the light of this, equipping Firebird protection is smart. After all, if you didn't know, your self-burning effect will be lowered if you defend yourself with Firebird prot. So might be wise to get a paint with a chunky piece of Firebird protection when using Vulcan. Bit like a Thunder using Thunder protection. Not much needed to say here, but do keep in mind that your Firebird protection, unless it's Zeus, won't do a massive amount if you use your Vulcan wisely and avoid too much after-burn. Still, it's a good use of a paint. § Double Powers are perfect Perfect - pushing it, you might say. But Vulcan, in my opinion, like Hammer, is one of the best weapons to use a Double Power with. Why, you say? Firstly, think maths. If you have 24 Chickens and you multiply them by two, you will get 24 extra chickens. If you have 10 Chickens and you multiply them by two, you'll only get 10 extra chickens. Weird analogy, but it's applicable to Vulcan. The high DPS means that with a Double Power, you are basically doubling a high DPS - making a pretty unstoppable force. Secondly, a Double Power does not affect your after-burn. Yep, so you'll only be burning the same amount as you were. Thirdly, Vulcan's long-distance shooting means it is less likely for you to withstand shooting, meaning that Double armor and nitro aren't such a big deal. So, Double Powers are perfect. Basically. § Play it like a Railgun-Viking Approaching the end now, and this is almost a sum-up of the type of Game play you should use with Vulcan. Railgun-Viking. Especially applicable if you use Vulcan with a medium hull, which in my opinion, is certainly the most effective to use this weapon, unless you plan to use it as a brute-force camper. Railgun-Viking game play is something most of us tankers will be familiar with as two of the most popular hulls in the game. A pop-out, stay in cover style player. And Vulcan is really effective at it. Mirror your Railgun-Viking game play with it, and you'll be surprised at the effectiveness. Of course, you will have differences as you will be in the open more often, but it's a similar style. Just something to maybe keep in your mind as you try to use Vulcan effectively in your battles. § Pick a vantage point in the Enemy Base Finally, a direct point about where Vulcan should be used. My personal preference with Vulcan is either in a camping spot in the Enemy base, or in your base. However, describing game play in your own base - after all, it's sit; camp; hold off attackers. In attack, however, it's much more diverse. Running away from dangerous defenders whilst damaging those disgusting defensive Isidas. It's great fun. And that's what Vulcan is. So in picking your vantage point, bear in mind a few things. Firstly, you must have the freedom of the campers to aim at. It's important to be able to damage those who are really the threats to your attacking players. Secondly, have a go-to route to escape if you are turned on. And thirdly, discern your self-damaging. Leave yourself cover to re-charge if you are on low health. The below picture describes what I feel is a pretty good position to use with Vulcan in Silence. Of course, it depends on what the defenders are, but if they're all short-range this is a great place to fire on them and get some dividends for your efforts.
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