Difference between revisions of "Crew (WoWP)"

Revision as of 01:10, 22 August 2014

Crew are an essential part to World of Warplanes: You can not fly a plane without crew. And seeing that automated planes have not yet been added, and most likely won't be, crew are needed for all planes. This page is dedicated to getting you familiar with your crew.

Crew Types

There are two crew that you will encounter in the game: The pilot and the rear gunner. Each type has its own set of skills that it can master, though it takes much time to master one skill, let alone two.

Pilot

The pilot is the most important of the crew. Your plane would be a pile of metal scrap if there were no pilot. Pilots drive the plane, shoot the guns, and do everything else related to the main functions of the plane. You will be seeing a pilot from your first plane onwards.

Rear Gunner

The rear gunner is the second crew type you will hear about. It will appear in advanced planes. They are responsible for getting whoever is on your tail... off your tail. They will shoot at enemies that come within their range. However, they have a shallow range, much less than of your plane as a whole, and they have less accuracy, so do not rely too much upon your rear gunner. But in some certain situations, they can save your life. Note that planes on your tail, while getting shot at by the rear gunner, will often injure the rear gunner too by firing.

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  The pilot's seat is the one in the top left corner. The one in the center is where the rear gunner sits, facing backwards, of course.

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  Here you see the rear gunner in action. It may be hard to see, but yes, he is shooting.

Skills

There are multiple skills that a pilot and rear gunner can learn. There are some skills that both can master, and in fact must before learning another, and some skills unique to the pilot or the rear gunner.

General Skills

Here are skills that can be learned by both pilot and rear gunner. These can only be learned after the crew gains 100% proficiency, which increases from experience earned in battles.

• Stamina - This increases the amount of damage your pilot or rear gunner can take before becoming injured. Levelling it to 100% will increase the crew member’s health pool by 50%. This skill is most important for nimble fighters – an injured pilot drastically decreases your chances of winning a dogfight. If you’re flying a ground attack aircraft – this skill will be more important for a rear gunner, since maneuverability for this type is not a requirement but if you lose your defensive capabilities against some annoying fighter on your six – it might prove fatal.
• Increased View Range - Just as the name suggests, this increases the range at which a crew member is able to detect an enemy in his view sector. Levelled to 100%, this skill gives a 50% range increase: for instance, if an aircraft has a forward-facing view sector of 3000 metres, its pilot, upon fully levelling this skill, will be able to detect an enemy at 4500 meters. The rear gunner gains less from this skill – only 20%. It was balanced this way to avoid situations when the gunner detected an enemy and started shooting at him long before being detected himself. Please note that this skill also affects the visibility decrease rate when flying in fog or clouds. At this moment IVR is the most important skill.
• Fire Fighting - Decreases maximum fire duration by up to 50%. Bear in mind that an average level of skill among the crew members is used by the game: if the pilot has 100% and the rear gunner has no skill in it at all, then the maximum fire duration will decrease only by 25%.

Pilot Skills

Here are skills that only a pilot may learn. These can only be learned after the crew becomes 100% skilled at one other skill.

• Engine Guru - Increases engine power. With 100% skill level, increase is 5% and that’s not as little as it might seem.
• Bombardier - Increases bombing and rocket launch accuracy by 50%. With new ground targets system you should be able to really notice the difference while having this skill learnt.
• Crack Shot - Increases accuracy of the mounted guns by up to 10% by reducing firing spread. This skill is most important when you shoot long salvos (and the spread grows gradually) and also when sniping from a large distance with large-caliber weapons.
• Veteran - Decreases maneuverability loss due to wings, tail or fuselage damage by 15%.

Rear Gunner Skills

Here are some skills that only a rear gunner may learn.

• Long Reach - Increases the range for rear gunner's fire at enemy aircraft.
• Tutor - Increases experience per battle for all crew members, including the rear gunner.
• Sharpshooter - Improves accuracy for rear gunner's fire at enemy aircraft.

Injury

Crew members can be injured from shots, which decreases their abilities for that match, such as an injured rear gunner loses accuracy. Crew can be healed in-battle by a first aid dressing package. All crew are automatically healed upon return of the aircraft to the garage. Injured or knocked out crew will gain less experience than if they are unharmed.