Highway to X - Starting over

Fellow Pilots,

Today things are a little different. This is not a guide. This is not a special. This is simply a story. A story of how I decided that it was time to shun my main account with around 2 years of Premium time running, mountains of Gold and all the Premium Aircraft you could ever eat. I decided it was time for me to see what playing World of Warplanes completely free was like. Would I have fun? Would I miss my collection? Would I be able to reach Tier X before going mad from the grind? Well, only one way to find out! With the release of Version 2.0 it seemed like the perfect opportunity to start.

Here are the rules: A fresh account, nothing allowed that would require money. Anything earned from missions is allowed. Bonus codes are allowed if they are generic and can be used by all players.

When I first thought about starting this project, I felt apprehensive. What was I actually getting into here? I had played up to Tier IX before in World of Warplanes. It had taken a while, and that was with Premium account active all the way and lots and lots of conversion of free experience. I was however determined. Someone should do it. Since nobody else was crazy enough, it was going to me. 

With rules established, it was time to see how I bend them to make this easier. I asked if there were any nice and “beefy” invite codes available. A bit of gold maybe? A week of premium? Not quite, but there was one rather nice code, usable for new and old accounts, which gave me the Ar 67 and the Type 224. 

Well, that at least helped narrow down which lines to play: I would go with either German or British planes, since I’d be able to use these planes to help train the pilots without using Gold. On my usual account, I prefer playing American Fighters. Something about many little guns appeals to me. I might just be bad at aiming, but I won’t admit that. After a look through the available lines and some soul searching (Spitfires are cool, but the P.1101 has 4 guns while the Swift only has 2), I decided to go with German fighters. Now I could of course go with multiple lines, but let's be honest: if I ever want to reach Tier X, then I'll have to stick with just one.

Tier I

Here we are then. The starting point. The Ar 65. A biplane with a weak engine and nose mounted machine guns. A far cry from the jet powered P.1101 I will be trying to reach, but you have to start somewhere. 

My playlist is ready, “Danger Zone” is already playing. Time for the first battle. Will I be able to start on a victory? Yes. And quite the victory it was. While my mastery results weren’t the greatest, I was able to earn a significant amount of combat points. In fact the results are good enough to go directly to Tier II and unlock all the modules at Tier I. Some of those will come in handy at Tier II. Missions are also unlocked and I got some tokens. It’s a good start.

As a quick sidenote for those who aren't aware yet: combat points are earned for everything you do in a battle. Mastery points are given for completing objectives which are determined by your class. Combat points determine how many credits you earn, and mastery points give you experience.

Tier II

For the Ar 68, I purchased the upgraded engine first. I didn’t have quite enough in the way of credits to get the guns. My hope was that more mobility will be helpful. Time then for the second battle. Song playing: Burning Heart. Mood: Enthusiastic.

Another good battle. Enough to unlock all of the modules.

While I could also afford to get all of them, I decide to leave out the top engine. I need credits for the Ar 80. Time for another battle. My soundtrack for the start of this one: Ace of Spades. Two victories later I had the credits I needed for Tier III.

Tier III

A few days later, it was time to take my shiny new Ar 80 for the first spin. First song of the Tier: Victorious Eagle Warfare by Gloryhammer. One fairly uninspiring victory later I’ve upgraded quite a few modules already. Just missing the top engine and the big 20 mm cannons.

That was to be the end of my winning streak though. The next two battles were losses and I am sad to say, that I wasn’t really doing well. Of course everybody has off days. This was clearly one of mine. Maybe it would be better to leave the battles til the next day.

How did that go? Well, you’ll just have to find out in the next edition of Highway to X, which is coming in December. Now that combat missions are back in the game, we should have some nice progress. Do you have any helpful advice for the line I'm playing? Let me know in the Forum!

Take to the skies!