731 replies to this topic

[Sgt. Nuker]

The D-25T, 122mm, is a little more accurate than the D-2-5T, but both are nowhere near as accurate as the BL-9 (which the IS has to do without because the IS-3 gets that gun). Some have grown to call the BL-9 a "mini S-70", which, was dubbed the "Finger of God". One thing is for sure though, whatever I point my turret at is hit by the BL-9.

If I remember right, shell speed is being reduced by 20%, so even the most accurate of guns may have trouble hitting a moving target...might being the operative word.

[Kris]

YAY! WoT now released the patch for American tanks!

[Sgt. Nuker]

Anyone else find it ironic that the American tank patch was released on Veteran's Day?

Can't wait to get home from work and try out the American tanks. YAY!!

[NergiZed]

BEWLD MOAR TANNNNGGGXXXSS~!

Fuuu... I have two labs to do yet. I wish I could play. Oh well, I'll at least get it downloaded first.

Edited by NergiZed, 12 November 2010 - 17:57.

[Sgt. Nuker]

It is confirmed: XP is doubled for the first game you have with each SEPARATE tank you own. In other words if you own multiple tanks, you can gain double xp for your first game you have with each tank.

Also, the match making system is improved, though there are times where it reverts to it's old ways (my stock Pz. III was thrown into a match with tier XIII tanks).

American tanks, while not as well armoured as other tanks, can pack a punch. The T2 medium tank can mount a snub-nosed 75mm howitzer. In Lamen's terms, that is the largest cannon to be mounted by a tank in that tier. The only ones larger are those mounted by the AT-1 (76mm) and the Bison (105mm), a tank destroyer and artillery respectively. The American light tanks are also quite fast, the tier 2 light tank matching the A-20's speed of 72kph.

Edited by Dr. Nuker, 12 November 2010 - 12:26.

[NergiZed]

I personally think that All the US tanks, cept for the tier 10 beast, look silly and shoddy. The German and Russians seem to all have 'real' tanks after tier 6 (cept for Maus, Silly German Metal house is Silly). The US? Besides the Sherman, not really.

[Kaido]

NergiZed, on 13 Nov 2010, 5:44, said:

I personally think that All the US tanks, cept for the tier 10 beast, look silly and shoddy. The German and Russians seem to all have 'real' tanks after tier 6 (cept for Maus, Silly German Metal house is Silly). The US? Besides the Sherman, not really.

Well, most tanks are just experimental tanks as well

[Destiny]

Drag#!, on 13 Nov 2010, 16:46, said:

NergiZed, on 13 Nov 2010, 5:44, said:

I personally think that All the US tanks, cept for the tier 10 beast, look silly and shoddy. The German and Russians seem to all have 'real' tanks after tier 6 (cept for Maus, Silly German Metal house is Silly). The US? Besides the Sherman, not really.

Well, most tanks are just experimental tanks as well

If you say that then if admins play the game they'd be driving Abrams

[Sgt. Nuker]

Besides a few of the tanks that actually made it to the battlefield, like NergiZed pointed out, the bulk of the US tanks in the game are experimental. The M3 and M5 Stuarts, Priest, Sherman and "Easy 8" all saw combat (and are the most iconic of the US tanks, barring the M26 from that lineup), but the rest of the tech tree was a "spring board" for those tanks or towards future designs. The T1 and M6 heavy tanks, eventually evolved into the M26 Pershing, which despite its heavy tank roots, was classified as a Medium tank (though, it should be noted that the Russians would have tried to pass it off as a "heavy" tank, seeing that the IS/2 and the IS-3 were "heavy" tanks despite weighing 47 tonnes). The T29 is a heavier version of the M26, originally intended to provide better armour protection when facing the King Tiger tank (though it never faced that beast), and the hull is a clear tracer to the Pershing.

[NergiZed]

Just Got IS-3 and it is filled with victory. Also, lots of cross-compatable parts with my IS. Happy Day.

[Sgt. Nuker]

Yeah, you should replace the D-2-5T with the D-25T asap. The motor and radio carry over, but the IS-3 gets another radio that reaches 130m farther and is 30kgs lighter than the top IS radio. Get the tracks and the turret as soon as you can. Then prepare for the long haul and grab the BL-9. After that, you'll want to grab your camping gear and stock up on non-perishable supplies because the grind to the IS-4 is stratospheric. Fortunately the double xp for the first battle helps out in this department and the IS-4 shares some components with the IS-3 and IS.

A note on the US tanks:

1). The "Easy 8" is apparently a very good tier 6 medium, despite it's apparent lack of armour. The only thing it really lacks is the option to mount the Pershing's 90mm or the M4's snub-nosed 105 howitzer. Outside of that it is quite nimble and a decent money maker.

2). The T-29's tracks, as well as the T-30's, T-32's, and American T-34's tracks suffer from the same deficiency as the King Tiger's tracks did before the update (too thin).

3). The later tier American heavy tanks have extremely stout turrets. Combine this with a fairly low profile chassis and your opponent will be forced to try and smash your turret. The good thing is that your opponent will need a high calibre gun to penetrate the turret.

[NergiZed]

I find most American Heavies hilariously easy to destroy with my heavies. When I see the high-tier US tank, I don't fear it (Although I'm not stupid enough to attack it head-on), but when I see IS-4s, IS-7s, Aufs-Bs or Mauses, it's mild terror.

My two targets atm is the IS-4 and the Easy-8, after I get the Easy-8, I'll prolly go down the Russian medium tanks to get the T-34s and all the stuff after it.

[Sgt. Nuker]

Yeah, that's the same for me. If I see a US heavy, I know it'll be an easy kill. Thing is though, it's always the M6 and the T1 that I find, not any of the tier 7-10 heavies.

[NergiZed]

T1's are hilariously brittle. Maybe it's because I use the big marshmellow cannon with my elite KV and the good ol' D-25T with my IS. I remember one time (don't remember with tank) where I was reloading, a T1 rolled up in front of me, plinked off my tank TWICE, at which point I finished reloading, pointed my gun at the back end of side of his tank and fired. The guy was at full health and he exploded. Looking at the stats I must've been using my KV with it's marshmellow canoon and 900 damage HE shells, which is even more hilarious because we were same tier tanks.

Edited by NergiZed, 15 November 2010 - 03:59.

[Sgt. Nuker]

Yeah, T1's are soft, that's for sure. I can reliably take 49% of that tank's health off with the D-25T on my IS. Sometimes the second shot will kill it, other times it leaves the T1 at 2%. What I find a bit odd is that I can take around 40% off of a T29 with the same cannon. I know the T29 is a tier 7 tank, but it can't have that little health, can it?

Edited by Sgt. Nuker, 15 November 2010 - 05:35.

[TehKiller]

Try going up against a T32...trust me you wont laugh that much (well if you are a medium that is...not sure how funny it is against heavies)

[Sgt. Nuker]

I've only seen a T32, never had to face one. I do know that the heavies are glass cannons. You can hurt the heavies, but they also have a chance to mess you up royally.

[TehKiller]

Well a T32 is actually very durable...feck it bounced off 5 shots from my T-43's 100mm in a row (and 3 of those bounces were to the rear)

[Amdrial]

I just applied for the beta yesterday, and I was wondering if someone had any good starting tips (What to invest your starting capital in, what tech tree I should invest in and what type of tanks would suit my playstyle (High agility and firepower with low armor, preferrably))

Edited by Amdrial, 16 November 2010 - 12:55.

[Sgt. Nuker]

You'll start out with 3 tier 1 tanks, the Russian MS-1, the American T1 and the German Leichttraktor. In all honesty, the Leichttraktor is the more durable option of the starting 3 tanks, but the MS-1 offers you a bigger cannon quicker as well as the option to pursue the Russian heavy and light/medium line. Russian tanks typically have thinner armor than their German counterparts, and depending on the tier have slightly thicker armour than the US tanks. Speaking of US tanks, American tanks are sort of a cross between the Germans and the Russians, mixing firepower, RoF, and agility, while sometimes lacking in armour (though the later tier heavies have stout turrets).

As far as tips go:

1). For the first few days, convert your gold alotment to credits (150 gold = 60,000 credits).

2). If you, for whatever reason chose the American tanks, avoid their light tanks like a plague. They are simply trash and grinding through them is much worse than the grind through the Hetzer tank. Not only that, but the tier 4 M5 Staurt gets placed in matches with tier 7/8/9/10 heavies almost constantly. Take the US medium/heavy route.

3). Avoid the Hetzer, unless you like ripping out your hair and gouging your eyes. The grind is less entertaining than watching paint dry and more painful than tearing off your fingernails. Save up the free xp and leapfrog it.

4). For your first battle of each new day, you will receive double the xp. When you own multiple tanks, you will be able to achieve double xp multiple times.

Admiral, what's your WoT screen name? Is it the same as it is on the forum?

Edited by Sgt. Nuker, 16 November 2010 - 21:51.

[TehKiller]

If you really want to go with the yank tanks then here are a few pointers:

T1 has a crappy gun and some clumsy armor but there is one thing it excels at: Speed. Its the only Tier 1 tank thats faster than Tier 2's (yes gentlemen this baby can reach even 40 kmph)

I suggest you aim either for the M3 Lee (because from there on you have access to all 3 Tech trees) or go down the arty route (T57 seems to be the best Tier 2 arty piece)

If you want Tank Destroyers then you must go Germans as they have the best TD's (especially the Tier 2 PanzerJaeger which is good enough to make good damage even against Tier 4's). Hetzer is clunky and may appear as if it fares like crap but thats far from the truth. All you need to do is hide in the bushes and wait (HE rounds to the tracks are a must if you are going up against larger tanks)

[NergiZed]

First two three tiers will generally only occupy you for a week or two, so I won't talk about them much. Keep in mind that a new tank will always suck, and that your crew is important, a fully decked out tank compared to the same tank with a 100% trained crew are two completely different vehicles. Upgrades matter as well.

Here's a little summary for each tech tree I've come in contact with:

Russian main branch:
- The T-46 (III) is a pretty fast little bugger, mine can reach 60, and that's pretty good for something that can actually mount a decent sized cannon (45mm iirc), good scout, great SPG hunter. Had 6 kills with this thing once, took my IS to beat that record.
- Avoid the T-28 (IV), it's gigantic and has thin armor which makes it a huge delicious target. It's only redeeming factors are it's decent speed and rather large cannon later on.
- KV (V) is a painful grind but it does yield some rewards later on, including the most damaging non-TD non-SPG cannon in the game. Armor leaves for something to be desired, but with the KV's big gun, you can actually hurt things a few tiers above you. It's terribly slow, but with a 100% crew and full upgrades and no accessories (saves on weight) mine has gone 37 kph downhill, which translates into massive ramming damage. The S-51 aka the moon cannon, branches from the KV, and so are the KV-3 and KV-1S. because the KV has so many upgrades and branches, it'll take forever to get elite, but it's a good tank IF you can stand the horrible grind and IF you like the high burst-damage play-style. (hide, pop out, deal 900 damage with 152 cannon, hide and reload for half a minute). A good money farm, but you can't make it a xp farm till you elite, which will take forever.
- S-51 (VI) has the 203mm cannon and is technically the most powerful weapon in the game, this thing is a tier X killer. Being a massive arty makes it slow and it probably has the longest reload in the game, but it's all worth it imo. Very easy to elite due to limited upgrades and the fact that it shares a lot of parts with the KV, so it makes a great xp farm (cause it does damage to high-tier tanks, yeilding massive xp), will run a profit on premium.
- KV-1S (VI) don't bother.
- KV-3 (VI) a horrible tank, even slower than the KV, only marginal gains in armor, and it loses the ability to mount a 152mm cannon. A really sub-par tank. It can deflect damage from a lot of tanks of lower tier (not the 152 cannon though, nothing shrugs off HE shells from a 152mm cannon), but is completely outclassed by all other heavies of the same tier or higher. This tank was the most painful grind for me. I hated it so much, but you need to go through it to get to the IS
- IS (VII) best tank in the game. Got my highest killstreak in it (7 kills, last guy on team, capped to win). The vanilla tank isn't even that bad. Once it's upgraded, and has some accessories, it will likely become you're main tank for there on out. Great xp and credit farm if you're on premium. Can run a loss sometimes though.
- IS-3 (VIII), just got it, not as phenomial as the IS so far. I prolly just need to upgrade it more. Slower too, though IS-4 and IS-7 are faster. I hear that from here on out, the tanks become premium babies, meaning that it basically takes a long time for you to ever be able to run a profit on them, if ever.

Russian medium branch:
A-20 - fast, very fast. Can't hurt much though.
T-34 - very much worth getting, a pretty good medium tank in terms of speed and armor. lacking firepower though.
T-34-85 - trades speed for firepower, technically an upgrade, but it changes roles slighty. T-34 could pass as a scout, T-34-85 really can't
T-43 & T-44 - really good tanks from what I hear, some of the very best medium tanks in the game.

German main branch(s):
Leapard - It's a really awesome scout and is a tough little nut to crack. the problem with it is that it's the end of a branch and you can't go any further from there.
VKs and III/IVs - basically a clusterfuck of German mediums in an incomprehensable web, they're actually quite different but it's hard to tell them apart on the battle field. Though from what I hear they're all pretty dependable and useful, nothing horrible in there.
Tigers onward - I don't have any of these tanks, but I hear things slow down quite a big. Where as Russian Heavies got faster and more powerful, German heavies get slower and more armored. I personally prefer the Russian model, but the Maus and the Ausf B are pretty terrifying, even if they're slow.
Panthers and stuff - didn't really get to these tanks, nice fast mediums, I hear they're pretty great.

German TDs:
Stug is prolly the best one, good damage for how manuverable it is.
Hezter is a silly tank. It's not a bad tank, but because of it's funny shape and not-so-great armor, many people will single you out and target you. (Hetzer's gonna Hetz) My roomate didn't even bother, he skipped that tank
Jadg Panzer and beyond, gets increasly powerful, uparmored, and slower.

US:
too new don't know. I'm currently pretty happy with my M2, nice speed, big cannon for a Tier III, but lacks armor. I've heard and seen good things from the M3 Lee, but it's a goofy tank. I'm personally aiming for the Sherman and Easy 8 (the better Sherman) and then I'm gonna stop. All the other US tanks are all all kinda crap or no my style, also none of them have any historical significance since none of them made it to produciton.

Overall best tanks would prolly be the Russians, which is no big surprise since this game is developed by Russians. (thought it's probably paritally right)

Edited by NergiZed, 17 November 2010 - 03:22.

[Sgt. Nuker]

The T-28 might actually play to your style of play Admiral, as it is rather thin-skinned (30mm front and 20mm sides), but it is really quick at 45kph and fairly agile, despite its length. The "nice gun at the end" is the 85mm, which, for its tier, and for the tanks it faces (usually), is a very nasty cannon. Capable of piercing the hides of some heavies, it has a respectable rate of fire and damage (13.33 rounds/min and 160 damage).

The KV-3 is not a horrible, horrible tank, but then again, it all depends on your play style. For you, Admiral, the KV-3 has absolutely no mobility, and its only saving grace is that it can mount the venerable 107mm. It is a "heavy" tank in every sense of the word. Its engine and transmission are burdened with moving and turning 66+ tonnes, and with only 600hp in top form, you can bet the tank is in no way going anywhere fast. The upgraded turret does provide some hilarity, as it will bounce shells. Sometimes these shells are quite high in calibre (88-122mm).

The IS-4 is in fact a bit slower than the IS-3, at 35kph, whereas the IS-3 is capable of 36kph (nowhere near a noticeable difference, but it is a difference). The IS-4 will also be slower getting to its top speed, given that it is roughly 10 tonnes heavier and the 700hp diesel that can be found in the IS-3 and IS is tasked with moving the behemoth. For a heavy tank though, the IS-4 is quick.

You don't have to go German for TD's, but if there's one thing the Germans do right, its building durable tanks and TD's. Tier for tier, the comparable Russian TD is lighter armoured, though their cannons tend to hurt a LOT more. One of the better TD's is the Jadgpanther, which has access to the same 88 the King Tiger carries, and it quite quick.

One thing I didn't mention earlier, is that, if you keep all the gold you're allotted, within 20 or so days, you'll have enough to "buy" a premium account for a month. Keep this in mind, because @ 150 gold/day, you'll make enough to keep a perpetual premium account.

[NergiZed]

Yep, I'm currently doing the whole perpetual premium account plan right now. Though now with all this extra xp from floating around right now due to 1st day doubles, I find myself actually 'low' on gold (I need to keep 2500 gold for my next premium). Kind of annoying.

[Amdrial]

I decided to pick the American tank tree. Levelled up to an M2 Medium Tank with the 75mm howitzer. Quite effective against lighter tier tanks (1-shotting tier 1 and sometimes 1-shotting tier 2 light-tanks) and also quite effective at critical-hitting medium tanks from the rear/sides.

I'll try and level up my Russian crew. Hopefully will get a medium tank by the end of the week. (How far is the T-28 down the tech tree?)