WoT EU – Frontline: What Combat Reserves to Go For

Update 16/07: With the fourth episode of Frontline, some Reserves were changed. The text below has been updated to reflect these changes.

Commanders!

When we’re talking about some intense 30 vs 30 Tier VIII battles, a little help is always appreciated. That’s why you should know and use Frontline’s Combat Reserves. Take a look at their effects and great combos in this publication.

Here is some general info to keep in mind before getting into Frontline’s Combat Reserves: there are six different Combat Reserves available. They can be unlocked through the tokens you receive when increasing your Frontline level and upgrade to a maximum level of five. Moreover, you can add them to each separate vehicle in the Garage before you enter a Frontline battle.

The Combat Reserves

All the effects described below are specified for the maximum (5) upgrade level.

Airstrike	Activate this Reserve to drop 60 bombs into a large rectangle area of 50×30 meters. Vehicles within the strike zone will receive damage and be stunned for up to 26 seconds. You receive Credits and XP for dealing damage with this reserve. With a large impact zone, decent damage input but low penetration, an airstrike is recommended to attack swift targets or large enemy formations. You can use it to prevent enemy vehicles from capturing a base, delay their advance or weaken enemies before you push their lines.
Artillery Strike	Activate this Reserve to call an artillery unit, that will fire 20 shells within 5 seconds in a 10 meters circle area. Vehicles trapped in this area will receive a lot of damage. You receive Credits and XP for dealing damage with this reserve. Artillery Strike is pretty much the opposite of Airstrike. Its impact zone is quite small, but it deals a lot of damage. Target a single enemy you definitely need to eliminate. Very convenient if they’re in a strong position and you can’t push them out, for example, if they are capturing the base.
Engineering	This reserve is passive and offers a lot of bonuses: 50% higher cooldown speed of Resupply Points and 100% faster base capture. It delays damaged enemies’ capture progress by 10 seconds. Even better, it blocks base capture if you are in the base circle. Engineering is probably the most versatile of all Combat Reserves, thanks to the many bonuses it offers: a refresher for Resupply Points and a boost for capturing or defending bases! Fast tanks or vehicles with a high rate of fire benefit the most.
INSPIRE	Activate this reserve to increase the crew performance of your and allied vehicles within a radius of 40 meters by 15% (of their major qualifications). This bonus lasts 60 seconds, with another 10 seconds if a vehicle leaves the bonus area. You receive XP and Credits for every point earned by your inspired vehicles. Inspire is particularly useful if you play with a group of friends or a very strong pack of tankers. Since this Combat Reserve is shared with everyone around you, you should always use it next to allies. Also, Inspire stacks with every other bonus affecting your crew, allowing for very efficient combos.
Recon Flight	Activate this reserve to send a reconnaissance plane, which will spot enemies in a rectangle area of 300x750m. Recon Flight lasts 15 seconds; enemies spotted by the plane remain visible for 30 seconds. You will receive XP and Credits for every point earned against spotted enemies. In a game of Frontline, you might lose your recon specialists or be cut from your light tanks and wheeled vehicles. If that happens, Recon Flight is here to help: the plane will spot for you. So it’s a great choice for vehicles with a long-range focus, such as light tanks, tank destroyers, and even SPGs.
Smoke Screen	Activate this reserve to launch five smoke grenades into a specified area of 200×50 meters. The smoke screen will last for 50 seconds, in which it blocks the view from enemy vehicles but also reduces the view range of allies. Basically, Smoke Screen is one big bush you can place at the right moment to help a base capture or prevent enemies from revealing your positions. Indeed, Smoke Screen may reduce your view range to 2/3 of its value, but your radio signal will remain the same. Best suited for tank destroyers supported by recon units and packs pushing for/defending an objective.

Airstrike

Activate this Reserve to drop 60 bombs into a large rectangle area of 50×30 meters. Vehicles within the strike zone will receive damage and be stunned for up to 26 seconds. You receive Credits and XP for dealing damage with this reserve.

With a large impact zone, decent damage input but low penetration, an airstrike is recommended to attack swift targets or large enemy formations. You can use it to prevent enemy vehicles from capturing a base, delay their advance or weaken enemies before you push their lines.

Artillery Strike

Activate this Reserve to call an artillery unit, that will fire 20 shells within 5 seconds in a 10 meters circle area. Vehicles trapped in this area will receive a lot of damage. You receive Credits and XP for dealing damage with this reserve.

Artillery Strike is pretty much the opposite of Airstrike. Its impact zone is quite small, but it deals a lot of damage. Target a single enemy you definitely need to eliminate. Very convenient if they’re in a strong position and you can’t push them out, for example, if they are capturing the base.

Engineering

This reserve is passive and offers a lot of bonuses: 50% higher cooldown speed of Resupply Points and 100% faster base capture. It delays damaged enemies’ capture progress by 10 seconds. Even better, it blocks base capture if you are in the base circle.

Engineering is probably the most versatile of all Combat Reserves, thanks to the many bonuses it offers: a refresher for Resupply Points and a boost for capturing or defending bases! Fast tanks or vehicles with a high rate of fire benefit the most.

INSPIRE

Activate this reserve to increase the crew performance of your and allied vehicles within a radius of 40 meters by 15% (of their major qualifications). This bonus lasts 60 seconds, with another 10 seconds if a vehicle leaves the bonus area. You receive XP and Credits for every point earned by your inspired vehicles.

Inspire is particularly useful if you play with a group of friends or a very strong pack of tankers. Since this Combat Reserve is shared with everyone around you, you should always use it next to allies. Also, Inspire stacks with every other bonus affecting your crew, allowing for very efficient combos.

Recon Flight

Activate this reserve to send a reconnaissance plane, which will spot enemies in a rectangle area of 300x750m. Recon Flight lasts 15 seconds; enemies spotted by the plane remain visible for 30 seconds. You will receive XP and Credits for every point earned against spotted enemies.

In a game of Frontline, you might lose your recon specialists or be cut from your light tanks and wheeled vehicles. If that happens, Recon Flight is here to help: the plane will spot for you. So it’s a great choice for vehicles with a long-range focus, such as light tanks, tank destroyers, and even SPGs.

Smoke Screen

Activate this reserve to launch five smoke grenades into a specified area of 200×50 meters. The smoke screen will last for 50 seconds, in which it blocks the view from enemy vehicles but also reduces the view range of allies.

Basically, Smoke Screen is one big bush you can place at the right moment to help a base capture or prevent enemies from revealing your positions. Indeed, Smoke Screen may reduce your view range to 2/3 of its value, but your radio signal will remain the same. Best suited for tank destroyers supported by recon units and packs pushing for/defending an objective.

Choose Your Reserves Right

Using the right Reserves in the right moment can make a huge difference in Frontline. Before every battle, think about the style and vehicles you want to play to be sure to win some momentum. Here are some great combinations. But first, a reminder:

Light tanks and SPGs can only bring 1 Combat Reserve to the field
Medium tanks and tank destroyers can pack 2 Combat Reserves
Heavy Tanks can change the tide of the battle with 3 Combat Reserves

Scout	Since you only have one Combat Reserve available with a light tank, make it a full scout to support your team and earn those precious spotting damage points! Recon Flight is extremely precious, both in attack and defense. Not necessarily the most aggressive gameplay, but dynamic enough, and rewarding. Go with a strong light tank like the HWK 30 or the LT-432 to be even more useful.
Flanker	If recon is not your thing, you could always go for a more aggressive loadout. This requires more dexterity and safe driving, but if you think you’re experienced enough for this, get this setup. Move around to find the enemy’s positions and use Airstrike or Artillery Strike to harass them. You can even add some shots to the mix to be even more dangerous. Pro-Tip: Wheeled vehicles are perfect for this.
Boxer	Medium tanks are known for being more versatile, and on a very diverse map like Normandy, their versatility is more important than ever. You will reach the objective quicker, fight faster and move more than most of the vehicles, so you better be ready to assume multiple roles. The good news is you have two slots to fill. We’ll usually go for Engineering and Smoke Screen to play the objective, but Inspire can also be useful, especially with autoloaders like the Progetto M35 mod. 46.
Sniper	In Frontline, staying out of sight and seeing all around you is even more of an advantage! Fortunately enough, tank destroyers have two Combat Reserves Slots, and two abilities to activate to fight in these excellent conditions. Hide in a Smoke Screen to deliver precise shots and use Recon Flight to keep an eye on your targets when no light tank is around. Simple, but efficient. And if you want to deal even more damage, go for a hard puncher like the SU-130PM.
Conqueror	As the only class capable of bringing three Combat Reserves, heavy clans have a big responsibility in Frontline. You better choose a vehicle with strong frontal armour, and some great Reserve combos. For a tough and strong tank like the 50TP Prototyp, a loadout made of Smoke Screen, Engineering and Airstrike will allow you to clean and take an objective tactically.

Scout

Since you only have one Combat Reserve available with a light tank, make it a full scout to support your team and earn those precious spotting damage points! Recon Flight is extremely precious, both in attack and defense.

Not necessarily the most aggressive gameplay, but dynamic enough, and rewarding. Go with a strong light tank like the HWK 30 or the LT-432 to be even more useful.

Flanker

If recon is not your thing, you could always go for a more aggressive loadout. This requires more dexterity and safe driving, but if you think you’re experienced enough for this, get this setup.

Move around to find the enemy’s positions and use Airstrike or Artillery Strike to harass them. You can even add some shots to the mix to be even more dangerous. Pro-Tip: Wheeled vehicles are perfect for this.

Boxer

Medium tanks are known for being more versatile, and on a very diverse map like Normandy, their versatility is more important than ever. You will reach the objective quicker, fight faster and move more than most of the vehicles, so you better be ready to assume multiple roles.

The good news is you have two slots to fill. We’ll usually go for Engineering and Smoke Screen to play the objective, but Inspire can also be useful, especially with autoloaders like the Progetto M35 mod. 46.

Sniper

In Frontline, staying out of sight and seeing all around you is even more of an advantage! Fortunately enough, tank destroyers have two Combat Reserves Slots, and two abilities to activate to fight in these excellent conditions.

Hide in a Smoke Screen to deliver precise shots and use Recon Flight to keep an eye on your targets when no light tank is around. Simple, but efficient. And if you want to deal even more damage, go for a hard puncher like the SU-130PM.

Conqueror

As the only class capable of bringing three Combat Reserves, heavy clans have a big responsibility in Frontline. You better choose a vehicle with strong frontal armour, and some great Reserve combos.

For a tough and strong tank like the 50TP Prototyp, a loadout made of Smoke Screen, Engineering and Airstrike will allow you to clean and take an objective tactically.