Problems in higher tiers

I play my IS-8 a couple of games each day to try to get the best gun. This means playing Tier 10 games.

To summarize - it's not very fun. Why?
1. A lot of tanks that I am unfamiliar with, and a surprising amount of them can one- or two-shot me (I consider an autoloader killing me in one clip as one-shotting).
2. The amount of abuse is a good amount higher than in the lower tiers - I guess because good players don't like bad players there.
3. The skill-level is much higher, and bad players like me gets owned. Which again leads to 2.

There is only one solution to this, and that is to play it more to get better. However, learning alone is slow - learning from others considerably faster. When platooning in SGTA there is a distinct lack of platooning in T9-T10 games.

Can someone please give me a hint if they like to play high tier games and do not mind having a noob tag along for some games to learn? I am old and a slow learner, but I will try my best every game. And there will be beer.

I'll help you around in higher tiers as soon as when I'm free. Currently a bit busy working but shall be available soon (Valve Time).

I am usually up for some hightier-stuff  

I think you only have the Is8 as tier 9 tank right?
If you get in a tier X match in a stock tier 9 tank that cant rely on its armor you cant really expect to do that much sadly. If you face all these evil tier X TD's for example, dont attack them head on!
Use the Is8 a little bit more as a medium. The Is8 has 2 things going for itself, the speed and the gun. Use it!
If you are short on mediums in your team, for example, use the Is8 to get to medium spots and take the fight to the enemy mediums.

Maybe i can help you ingame a bit better, cya there!

I hold 2 tier X's in garage along 3 tier IX's - say when.

The thing is i dont find the tier X-stuff very fun too. There is no forgiving ANY mistakes, in a combination of more skilled opponents with better tanks that can shred you in no time. (And to be honest... look at my gamername. Do you think i make mistakes?)
I found that being my absolute best is tiers 6-7-8 and when i "control" those (undefined) I again will spend more time with my tier 9's and 10's.

Garage:
IX's:
E-75
T-30
Leopard PTA

X's
E-50M
IS-7

But just say when and we can take a couple of rides and mix it up with some confidence builders in lower tiers.

/B

We have quite many t9-10 platoons going on. Problem is we have platooned together for more than half a year and we are stuck to our habits. We go in TS and find the regular platoon mates and start playing.

I've seen you in TS a lot. Just join our channel (me Wasp, Black, Vampir, Boosb, Sapaki and others) and pester us for toon until someone gets the hint. I don't actively ask for a platoon often myself and only join my regular toon mates and or if someone asks in TS.

And best tip you can get for IS-8, play it like a medium.

Thanks for all the replies! I'll listen to your advice black, and also try to force my way in some platoons .

I'm always up for tier 9 toons, grinding biggest gun on Tortoise atm

Hey Lycantia, I share your problem!
The IS-8 is also my first Tier 9 and although I have it fully upgraded (used a bunch of FreeXP for that though) I still find it very hard to play. So hard in fact that it's my lowest efficiency tank so far (only ~900 eff on it :'( ).

The biggest "problem" is that it plays completely different from the IS-3. It's more similar to KV-1S but you need to play it even more careful than that due to the sheer power of opponents you face compared to Tier 6, both in skill and in firepower/armor.

Hello guys, I share also your problem   First tier IX and more difficult tank to play with for me. It is beeing very hard.  

I love the IS-3 and IS-6, but the IS-8 is another story...

Well, see you and have luck.

It only applies to TDs, but I can platoon with anyone is finding Tier 9 difficult.

My answer? BL-10 with gold - pure win.

All these IS8's! I'm happy to take a real heavy out  and cover your backs in platoon!

But seriously though, the IS8 isn't the best tank out there to start getting thrown into 9/10 matches. I didn't play many games in it before I sold it. From what I've seen it's best to use it like a medium for flanking, it's speed and gun are good but it just doesn't have the strength to stand up to E75's, ST1's, etc. One problem I've noticed is that it's low profile negates the sloped armour, I tore one apart in my KV5 the other day since the sloped armour at the front is actually perfectly flat relative to the higher position of the guns on taller tanks.

So maybe using it to snipe or flank is the best bet, I'm sure there are others who have a better idea of how to play it though.

An interesting thing in my stats I've just noticed is that I've killed more IS8's than any other tier 9 apart from the E75, bearing in mind that the E75 has always been in the game while I've been playin and the IS8 was only introduced relatively recently.

Don't despair though, the IS7 is next and it really can do the things you would expect the IS8 to do!

I spent some hours the other day to read and watch all the "IS-8 how-to's" out there and pretty much concluded that the only way to decently play an IS-8 (the medium-style snipe or flank-where-you-can but never get shot) is not the way I really like to play in a heavy. So I'm just doing the dailies in it and gathering freeXP until I can go for the IS-7.

we_just_dinged_em wrote:It only applies to TDs, but I can platoon with anyone is finding Tier 9 difficult.

My answer? BL-10 with gold - pure win.

Not when you bounce side of T54E1  

Anyways, I'm always doing some T9 doubles so just drop me an invite.

Serb hates me, when I get object 268 and I bounce AMX 13 90 with 450mm pen I wil smash something!

we_just_dinged_em wrote:Serb hates me, when I get object 268 and I bounce AMX 13 90 with 450mm pen I wil smash something!

Smash your miss' TV so you can finally talk