How to Side-Scrape in World of Tanks

How to incorporate side-scraping into your angling routine in World of Tanks.

Besides having sufficient armor, proper angling and side-scraping is the key to mitigating damage in World of Tanks. While you probably already know how to angle your tank to improve your armor, you may not be familiar with the similar concept of side-scraping. This guide will briefly explain how side-scraping works in World of Tanks so that you can improve your tank’s effective armor and start bouncing those shells off your flanks.

What is Side-scraping?

Side-scraping simply describes the method of angling your side armor at a steep angle toward your opponent while keeping your front protected. Rather than peeking the front of your tank around the corner of a building or object to peek-a-boom your opponent, you would instead keep the front of your tank hidden behind cover while the side of your tank is exposed toward the enemy. With proper angling, this maneuver increases your effective armor while keeping your frontal plate and equipment protected.

Side-scraping is particularly useful for tanks with rear-mounted turrets. Image source: World of Tanks EU

This may seem counter-intuitive at first, as many tanks have thicker armor on the front, and exposing both your turret and a whole side of your tank seems like a not-so-great idea. The key is to position your tank so that your hull and side armor are at an acute angle toward your opponent ahead. Positioning yourself at an angle that’s less than 90-degrees will improve the effective thickness of your side armor plating, improving your chances to bounce incoming shots if the impact angle is narrow enough. 

Side-scraping is a particularly useful technique when utilizing a tank with a rear-mounted turret, as these tanks can pull off a sharper, steeper angle while keeping their front protected behind cover. Tanks with turrets toward the front can still attempt this maneuver, but it will be more difficult to keep their front hidden while maintaining the sharp angle and keeping a direct line of sight on their opponent.

Tanks with front-mounted turrets can reverse side-scrape instead. Image source: World of Tanks EU

For this reason, players who use tanks with front-mounted turrets can adjust this method by facing their tanks the other way, which is referred to as “reverse side-scraping.” This method is conceptually the same, only it involves facing the tank hull in the opposite direction so that the rear armor is behind cover. This causes the turret to now be at the rear of the tank, allowing for more a more acute side-scraping angle. 

Side-scraping can be a great method for mitigating damage when used strategically. Plan ahead by predicting which direction your opponents will fire from and position your tank to side-scrape accordingly. By utilizing the proper side-scraping techniques in World of Tanks, you’ll be bouncing enemy shots in no time.  

Writer

Larryn is a full-time editor who has written guides and editorial features for various gaming websites. She is obsessed with Witcher 3 and is known to put hot sauce on everything.

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