Highway to X - Busy November

Fellow Pilots,

When I last left you, I had reached Tier III, the humble Arado Ar 80. My last battle had not gone well. But I did promise I'd be back. And here I am again.

Birthdays and Presents

The next time I logged in, I was greeted with wonderful news. Four years of World of Warplanes had passed, and it was looking good for me! Quintuple XP, missions, discounts. Perfect! I didn't even wait to turn on any music and headed straight into battle. While it was nothing special, the bonus for the first victory meant I could already unlock the Bf 109 B. With the big discount for Tier IV, I was also able to buy it right away.

Tier IV and a long pause

I used some of my precious free experience to grab the wing mounted weapons straight away. I was going to need firepower to make the stock grind a little less annoying. At this point I also decided to start using consumables. It might mean a little less for the credits, but sometimes it means the difference between victory and defeat.

So, with victory firmly in my mind, I headed into battle to the sound of "Heaven's on Fire". Sadly, I wasn't the one setting things on fire and crashed and burned to a defeat. Maybe my mind was slightly more on the weekend than victory.

The second battle was a victory, not a great one, but enough to complete both "Cake" and "4 Candles". The lovely birthday bonus was enough to end the stock grind with that battle.

At this point I decided on a quick excursion to Premium to get the quintuple XP bonus on my premium planes while unlocking the I-207/4. Quick victories in both the Ar 67 and the Type 224 were followed by my first fairly good battle in the Messerschmitt. 

Having unlocked the birthday plane, I went for a quick battle in it, to start progress on the combat reconnaisance mission which requires the destruction of ground targets. I still haven't finished that one, but that 55 Gold is tempting!

Just in case you were wondering why I mostly play fighters, not other types.

Sadly, I couldn't find any time to play during the weekend. Rather regrettable, as the victory bonus would have definitely been helpful. 

I was back at it the following Monday, though I only found time to play a single battle. Double XP and 10,000 Credits for "Hold the Line" felt good. I was starting to really like the plane. 

At this point, if you look closely at the screenshots, you'll notice a fairly large jump in the date. I found no time to play anymore during November and missed out on a whole array of great specials. 

I returned to action only two days ago, on the 6th. The goal I'd set for myself for this second part was Tier VI. There was now a bit of a sense of urgency. With no specials active either, I honestly felt a little stressed. Thus, there was only one thing for it: With the mellow tones of Deichkind in the background, I got going. 

After my first battle netted me a little over 5000 XP, I relaxed a little, though I was a little worried about the credits. But World of Warplanes rewards good performance. It took three more battles to reach it. The Bf 109 E. I did have to sell the lovely plane at Tier IV. A shame really, I was starting to rather like it.

Tier V

I started this Tier with a victory, although in my opinion I did not do great. The stock plane felt a little sluggish and the guns weren't quite as strong as I would have liked. But since strong guns won't damage a target I can't hit, I decided to upgrade the engine first. 

I wasn't quite sure that was the right decision though, as the next battle ended in a horrible defeat. With only one destroyed target and one assist, I actually lost credits for the first time. I'd really have to step up my game if I was going to get anywhere with this plane. 

Luckily, the next battle went a lot better and I was able to get the 20 mm wind mounted guns before calling it a day.

Thursday started with a victory and ended my stock grind. I now had a day left to get 30,000 XP and to reach Tier VI. 

With my plane significantly more powerful than when it had started, I really got into it. I had some great battles, and some not so great. The first battle with all modules I lost, as the enemy had a very competent flight which handily outplayed me at almost every turn. This loss was followed by the closest battle I'd had in quite some time with the score at 399:402 by the end. I still feel like I might have been able to turn it around, but my tail had been damaged in my last sortie and while playing at this Tier, I quickly noticed that that pretty much always doomed me straight to the ground.

I was victorious in all the other battles of the day and managed to complete the daily mission "Commendation", which brought a nice chunk of credits. Definitely good news, since apart from the experience, I'd need almost 900000 credits for the Bf 109 F.

Friday brought a special. That was definitely good news. Even if I could only earn the triple experience once, two First Aid Kits for a victory in the top 3 basically translated to 10,000 extra credits in my mind.

My first battle went straight into the ground, but that was to be expected. I still had to wake up. The second stung a little, as my results had been fairly nice and it would have been a great first victory with triple experience. By comparison, the actual first victory looked a little unimpressive. It was one of those battles where you always feel like you're in the wrong place and all the targets you shoot end up being assists. 

By the fourth battle I'd completed the Air Raid mission, and full marks in your class role are a great motivator. The rest of the battles were alright. I almost had to end on a loss, but I was missing around 570 experience, so I headed in for one last battle and managed to get one last victory on the tier. It was definitely not my best, but it still felt good.

Left: would have been a nice first win. Right: One last flight.

Two quick excursions in the Type 224 and the Ar 67 brought me the credits I needed. That and the sale of 12 First Aid Kits and of course the Bf 109 E. I have to say: I'll miss this plane. I had a lot of fun in the 20 battles I played.

Tier VI

So here we are. I've reached the Messerschmitt Bf 109 F. What I take away from this edition of Highway to X is this: I can't afford to miss out on the specials this month if I want something to write about next time. I'm not looking forward to another stock grind, especially since I actually shot down quite a few of these planes while I was grinding towards it, but I'm sure I'll be able to get a grip on it.

Do you have any advice for me on what to unlock first? I'm leaning towards the Synchronized machine gun, but the added speed of the engine might also come in handy. Let me know!

I'll be back with more in January. I hope you'll enjoy all the great specials coming during the holiday season!

See you next time!