MTA Gameplay Basics

A quick guide to controls, game systems, and general advice on how to not die.

Intro

If you're here, you've probably run into some problems while playing or just generally have burning questions. No worries, because this guide will try to provide as much surface level information as possible. My goal here is to help you win a bit more, and maybe teach you some things you didn't know before.

Controls

For quick reference, I've put the controls in a table. Below the table is an explanation of each control.

Action	Input
Move Forward	W
Move Backward	S
Move Right	D
Move Left	A
Engine Boost	Left Shift
Aiming	Mouse Position
Fire Main Turret	Left Click
Fire Secondary Weapon/Skill (Main Turret)	Right Click
Fire Sub Turrets/Other Weapons	Space
Reload (for magazine/clip/rocket weapons)	R
Quick Turret Swap	Scroll up or down on Mouse Wheel
Modify Turret Layout	B
Rotate Camera	Hold Middle Mouse and move
Order Allies to Position	Aim at location, tap C
Order Allies to Follow/Regroup	Hold C
Pause Menu	Esc

• Movement: Self explanatory, controls where the tank goes.
  
• Engine Boost: Increases the speed of the tank. This skill refills over time, and is useful for getting out of dangerous situations.
  
• Aiming, Firing: All turrets will do their best to follow the mouse cursor. However, depending on where you aim, some turrets may be blocked and cannot aim where you intend.
  
• Reload: Some weapons can fire multiple shots before they must be reloaded. If desired, they can be manually reloaded before all shots are fired.
  
• Quick Turret Swap: If the player has two or more turrets, they can use the mouse wheel to rapidly switch between turrets. It's similar to using a weapon wheel in FPS games.
  
• Modify Turret Layout: In addition to modifying the turret layout in the mission roadmap, it can also be changed in the field! It allows much finer control than quick turret swapping, and can be used to change sub turrets, but can't be used mid-combat and will stop the tank.
  
• Rotate Camera: The rectangular shape of your screen means you see more to the left and right than the top and bottom. Use this to get a better view if you think an enemy is just outside the camera.
  
• Order Allies: Player-owned units can be commanded to anywhere within the play area. You can use this to create a protective formation for yourself, to flank enemies, or hold a position.
  Pause Menu: Pauses the game and brings up detailed statistics about the current tank.

Icons (What are those emojis?)

You may have noticed various icons scattered throughout the game. These are all currencies that you earn by playing the game, and can be used to purchase items, tanks, and even new ways to play the game.

Lemons 🍋 are earned by completing missions. These are used for unlocking new vehicles in the garage. If you want a specific tank, but don't have enough lemons, try to complete a run. You don't have to get far to get lemons; just see a run to the end, whether that be running out of crew, completing the final mission, or intentionally hitting the retreat button in the pause menu.

Pineapples 🍍 are earned by completing missions and scoring kills. These are used for rerolling choices and buying things at the Department Store. Using pineapples isn't always necessary, but having enough for a reroll or shop choice can make or break a run. Pineapples are reset at the start of a run, so don't be stingy with them!

Days Off 🏖️ are earned like Lemons. However, they are a lot rarer, and can only be earned after beating the first boss. These are used for unlocking strategies, which change how the game is played. It takes quite a few Days Off to max out strategies, but these are earned alongside Lemons, so you can simultaneously work toward buying tanks and upgrading your playstyle.

Rewards, Department Store, and Missions

After clicking the globe in the main menu, you will be brought to the mission roadmap. This is where you make decisions that can change the outcome of your run. The roadmap starts with a choice of a free turret, then alternates between battles and rewards.


A typical roadmap after completing the first few missions

1. Battle: This is where you choose which mission to fight. Each mission gives the player a reward, with four potential mission types. There are:

• Capture: Attack and maintain control over points of interest. Alternatively, destroy all the enemies to win. Enemies spawn in preset locations.
  
• Defend: Keep enemies away from the point. When the timer is complete, you win! Enemies flow in from one or several locations around the map.
  
• Survive: Keep your tank safe while enemies flood the map from every direction. Destroying enemies can speed up the timer, but you can also time out the clock if that's not an option.
  
• Assault: Help a tank formation in a large, head-to-head battle. Enemies spawn in preset locations, but will also reinforce from one side of the map. You must destroy enemy tanks to win!

2. Boss: Same as a regular battle, except you are guaranteed to run into a powerful elite enemy. Destroying them rewards the player with a lot of pineapples 🍍.

3. Turret Reward: Choose from 1 of 3 turrets to potentially improve your tank. As a rule of thumb, it's best to pick turrets that cover your weaknesses at the time of picking (penetration, damage, range, etc).

4. Crew Reward: Choose from 1 of 3 crew skills. These are the most varied items in the game, and have the widest range of effects. Every crew skill is unique, and can only be obtained once during a run.

5. Hull Upgrade Reward: Choose from 1 of 3 upgrades to improve the performance of your tank. Most options improve survivability, with a few exceptions.

6. Ally Reward: Choose from 1 of 3 allies to follow you in battle. Many playable tanks can show up as allies, so you can afford to be picky if you're looking for a tank with a specific role. However, as of writing, several SPGs and casemate vehicles are unobtainable.

7. Department Store: Visit Sunny's Department Store, where you can exchange pineapples 🍍 for some of the above. Can be very useful if you're looking for a specific type of reward, but haven't had the chance to get it.


A variety of rewards are available at the Department Store.

Turret Upgrade and Swap

In the bottom right corner of the roadmap are two buttons. One leads to a turret layout menu, much like pressing B during battle. The other allows the player to invest turrets into each other to improve their performance. This is very useful if you have a lot of low rank turrets wasting space in your inventory!

In the turret swap menu, you can preview all the turret's you've collected during a run. You can freely swap them out with each other, or sell them if they're not helping you. Sometimes, you can use this to afford a department store upgrade or reroll that you really need.


Swapping turrets in the middle of a mission.

In the turret upgrade menu, you can dismantle turrets in your inventory to apply bonuses to other turrets. This is a great way to keep old turrets usable, or to make up for shortcomings of otherwise great turrets. The specific effects of each upgrade can be found in the sidebar.


Upgrading turrets in the mission roadmap.

The Two Types of Damage

There are two main types of damage in Multi Turret Academy: AP and HE damage. Turrets that follow AP damage rules are AP, APCR, HVAP, MG, and HEAT. Simply put, if the turret has more penetration than the enemy has armor, then it'll go through and do damage. If you can't get a clean shot, don't worry: repeated shots wear down armor, making it easier to penetrate.


Typical AP and HE turrets.

HE damage applies to HE turrets, rockets, and Kettengrad mines. These turrets do full damage when striking armor less than or equal to their rated penetration. Against higher level armor, damage begins to fall off, until it eventually cannot do damage. Also, HE weapons have an area of effect, with some much larger than others.

As a general rule of thumb, if you're not using HVAP or MG turrets, never let your damage per shot be lower than 2. 1 damage is not enough to reliably destroy enemies. Even 2 damage may be too low depending on the mission. There are exceptions, like with HVAP turrets, but your turret may need an upgrade if it takes more than 3 shots to destroy 5 or 6-crew tanks. In the early game, this rule isn't as strict, but it becomes very important in mid and endgame.

How to Not Die

It's pretty easy to put yourself into a position where you're being fired at, or get caught between a tank and a hard place. How do you get into position to fire without getting hurt yourself? Thankfully, there are quite a few ways to deal with this dilemma:

Crew System

First, let's discuss the Crew System. This is the big number in the top left of the screen when you load into a mission. You use points to respawn depending on how many people are in the tank, with bigger tanks requiring more crew per respawn. Think of it like extra lives.

Crew points can't be replenished during a game, so to maximize this, use either the Commisar's or Maria's strategy. Both will add crew points at the start of the game. It's also important to know that as long as there's one crew point left, your tank can get respawned. This makes strategy choice important for large-crewed tanks if you have a habit of getting blown up a lot.

Moving with Purpose

The most consistent way to avoid getting hit is to just move faster. Many options are available to help you achieve this, from hull upgrades, to crew skills, even to strategies. Even with much improved speed, approaching the enemy at the wrong angle will still get you blown up, so it doesn't replace planning maneuvers ahead of time. But being able to put your tank where you want it at any given time is the most consistent way of not taking damage.

Some tanks, however, are too large and bulky to move out of the way in time. It's just a fact that some vehicles simply can't dodge. That's when you need to start thinking about the following:

Angling and Ricochet

A real life tactic that WWII tanks used was angling. This is when a tank rotates itself to increase the effectiveness of its armor. Simply put, rounds perform best when hitting head-on. The bigger the angle, the less likely it is to penetrate. Learning how to angle is a powerful skill for long, slow tanks like the TOG series. At high angles, attacks can even ricochet. Allowing attacks to ricochet is very safe, but it's also very difficult to intentionally set up. It's easier to angle instead.

Crew Resistance

If not getting hit is your best friend, then crew resistance is your next best friend. This is a mechanic that reduces the amount of damage taken when hit, by up to 90%. You can get some crew resistance by choosing the Commisar's strategy, or by equipping Spall Shields. Spall Shields are hull upgrades, meaning they are stackable. Even one can make a big difference, turning normally lethal hits into just-barely-survivable ones.

As a side note, choosing a high rank tank will automatically give enemies some degree of crew resistance. Also, bosses use crew resistance to great effect, regardless of rank.

Armor and Armor Hardness

Ever notice how some shots against late game tanks just don't go through, no matter how many ways you shoot at it? High armor can shrug off HVAP and MG fire like it's nothing, and can dampen the damage that HE weapons do. However, there's a caveat - armor degrades every time it gets hit, meaning even the weakest guns will eventually do damage to your tank. In critical situations, armor can buy you more time, but it's only good for as long as it lasts.

If you have a surplus of armor, Armor Hardness upgrades can be viable options. It reduces the speed of armor degradation from repeated hits. When choosing this upgrade, be very conscious about your current armor level and the enemies you'll face by the end of the game. After all, if the enemy can reliably penetrate you, what's the point of hardening armor that doesn't work?

Sophia's Crew Skill - Care

Let's say you've got a tank with over 8 crew, or you've stacked a lot of crew resistance. How can you make your tank even more survivable? The answer is with Sophia's crew skill, Care. Every 7 seconds, she'll heal 2 damaged crew members in your tank. As expected, this can make your tank significantly more resilient towards any attack that doesn't outright kill it. However, keep in mind that this doesn't undo bad decisions - it just makes the consequences easier to deal with.

Contacts and Strategies: A Bit of Outside Help

Now that we've gone over strategies that you the player can pull off, let's talk about the game's Strategy tab. Strategies are a list of effects that will be given to you in exchange for Days Off 🏖️, and can notably change the difficulty of the game. You can find the tab in the main menu, by looking above the tank and to the left of the globe.


In the main menu, look above the tank and to the left of the globe.

Once in, you'll be sent to a stats screen where you can see things like how many enemies you've destroyed, how long you've been playing, etc. To get to strategies, simply click one of the contact icons on the left side under messages.


Read through what the club members have to say, and you'll be able to start unlocking new and powerful gameplay tweaks.

As a rule of thumb, the strategies are;

• Commissar's Steady Growth, useful for reducing the overall difficulty and making it easier to unlock other strategies.
  
• Sophia's The Bigger, The Better, which focuses on dealing massive HE damage.
  
• Sunday's Determination, which mildly improves speed and buffs HVAP, MG, and Rocket weapons.
  
• Yulia's Panzer Ace, for maximizing the power of AP and APCR turrets, and
  
• Maria's No Limits, for the most speed possible (and ramming enemies as efficiently as possible).

Keep in mind you can only have one strategy active at a time!

Game Speed and Accessibility

There are no explicit, dedicated accessibility options in the game as of yet. However, you can change the game speed by going into the options menu. To get there, either pause the game during a mission, or click the blue notebook in the welcome screen. Then, click the tab that says "Special" and there will be a slider that can slow down the game.


The special menu has a variety of options, but game speed is the one with the slider.

Multi-turreted tanks have a special property where secondary turrets can track targets and fire on their own. If aiming is not your strong suit, try putting your main weapon in a sub-turret slot and let the computer handle aiming for you. For single turret vehicles, Yulia's skill "Let Me Play!" will do the same thing. Perfect after a long day of work!

Closing Remarks

After making it through this book of a guide, I hope you learned something you didn't know before! If you've got any suggestions about things I should add, feel free to comment them down below. Have fun playing, and good luck, Commander!

[diggy631]

I actually don't know. That's a great question.

[Arri Shi]

Alright, so here's another question, what if ya can't pen at all, or have HE that can't bypass the armor, how does the armor damage get calculated on a no-pen?

[diggy631]

I forgot to mention - the more penetration you have, the more armor gets shredded. I don't know the exact numbers, but once you're over 30-ish penetration, just one shot nearly guarantees that swapping to MGs and HVAPs can finish the job.

[diggy631]

If you're sticking with autocannons and MGs, getting Sunday's +3 side penetration skill is a must. Her +1 side damage and Maria's +50% rear crit skills are handy too, but penetration is the single most important factor when it comes to breaking armor. Because of this, APDS and APCR turrets are the best turrets in their tiers for shredding armor. Just make sure you bring another turret to deal damage afterwards, because it's impossible to win some missions with just 1 damage every 3 seconds.

[Arri Shi]

Question, do you know how armor degrades? Or more specifically do you know the optimal way to degrade enemy armor? I know one strategy is to try and weaken enemy side or rear armor enough for your autocannons and MGs to have their way with the enemy's crew, I'm just curious what the most optimal way of doing this is.

[diggy631]

In the main menu, there should be a box above the tank and left of the globe labeled Contacts. That should open the strategy menu. Thanks for bringing that up, I should add that in a new section!

[Patchoulidaze]

where do i unlock strategies?

[Gilipollon pidiendo socorro]

It's Perfect

[Flzzyf]

Nice tutorial