World of Tanks

[xthetenth]

I'd personally not recommend the German TD tree just because the payoff is so bad (after either the stug or the Jagdpanzer they lose their camo bonus. THIS IS BAD), but it is probably a very good one to go down early. Another vital thing is to pick a second tree to run. When you die, you can leave that battle and get in another. Cuts boredom and increases xp gain brilliantly.

For this I'd probably recommend a tank just so you get a feel for them too and see which you really like, although artillery is really good at making credits. I strongly recommend you don't go through one of the light tank trees. This unfortunately cuts out russian mediums, which are generally quite solid and culminate in the brutal T-54, but leave some really good options.

If you like sitting back at range and sniping, German tanks are your best bet. The US medium tanks drive like a dream and pack a great punch, but haven't heard of armor. Considering how easy it is to penetrate in this game, that isn't much of a drawback. The US heavies are a bit odd, but once you get used to them, really good. They're actually kind of all-rounders. They're nimble enough to brawl, unlike the German ones, and have a solid gun for any work, and they have a near impenetrable front turret. They get this at the cost of really squishy hulls. So if you're at long range you want to go hull down. The problem with the US tanks is the M3 Lee. Some people hate it. I personally love it because it's actually quite well armored for its tier and packs a huge gun on a solid chassis. You may not like it. Then there's the Russian heavy tree. The tanks are generally pretty quick, and have big guns that are awkward to snipe with. They're very very solid up close. Those are the things I hesitated against point blank in my US heavies. Now for one last problem. The US and Russian heavy trees get you in a heavy tank earlier. This is not necessarily a good thing. They're both really odd sets of tanks. You may very much not want in them, but if you're interested, I've been through both and will talk about both sets in more detail. This is long enough as is.

[Enigma]

So WoT concentrates on tanks from WW2? I haven't seen the whole tank list but the ones I've seen seem to be just from WW2.

It would be fun if they included WW1 tanks including the weird ones like the Tsar tank. Of course those that choose these types of tanks would be excluded from playing against WW2 tanks for obvious reasons. Maybe they could have their own maps, just for WW1 tanks?

Ditto for post WW2. I'd like to see the Leopards, Challenger, Abrams included in this game.

[PeZook]

WW2 is the perfect spot for an MMO, frankly.

First, you have an abundance of tank types, prototypes, support vehicles et al out of which you can build tech trees.

Second, most people are most familiar with WW2 stuff.

And third, you can model damage and penetration easily and realistically because armor is steel plus geometry, rather than exotic (and mostly classified) compounds of today's MBTs. Plus, of course, 90% of what makes modern tanks so deadly aren't their armor and guns (though of course they are absurdly advanced compared to WW2), but their comms gear and electronics, which are difficult to model to say the least.

WoT has trouble showing true limitation of WW2 comms tech, for example, which is why everyone has XXI century battle networking systems: in reality, having the sort of real time situational awareness as the average WoT player would be an instant win for the side who had the tech, even if their tanks were actually inferior to the enemy's.

And of course the devs are tank enthusiasts, but they also want to make money ; Complexity is your enemy when you want a nice base of clients buying premium stuff, rather than a bunch of screaming maniac "commander's cupola" nerds.

[xthetenth]

If I remember right the timeframe stretches from about 193? to 1950 or so. So you get a whole heap of designs from the runup when people were trying to figure out how to use the things all the way through to the very first vestiges of the main battle tank and the last hurrah of the heavy tank and so on.

Oh, and I forgot to post this, but about those tech tree changes, the order will be:

The draft order: Patton -> E-series and secondary German heavy line -> new US & USSR tanks

[PeZook]

The newest tanks included in the game are either immediately post-war, like the T-54 and Panther II, or total napkinwaffe like the Maus. So you do get a few modern-ish battle tanks, but they're still evolutions of WW2 technology, with none of the real game changers (like composite armor, thermal sights etc.) present.

[Vanas]

Huh. First match with the Lee, took out a VK3001 head to head. Well. That'll do nicely, thank you.

[xthetenth]

Welcome to the Lee club. They shoot fast and they hit way harder than anything in their tier has a right to do. I think the only thing that can hit like that is the T-28, and that has its own issues, namely being about the length of a Maus and made of tin foil. Better yet, the T-28 takes forever to get the 85, and the 57 fires fast enough you might not be able to close the reticule before firing again. Whereas the Lee has a great rate of fire for all purposes and some fun tricks. One thing is that you should always be looking for left hand corners. It goes from being good to god with only its sponson showing.

[Thunderfire]

I'd personally not recommend the German TD tree just because the payoff is so bad (after either the stug or the Jagdpanzer they lose their camo bonus. THIS IS BAD), but it is probably a very good one to go down early.

German Tier 7 and higher TD get this problem. But it shouldn't affect a new player. Reaching Tier 7 takes ages without premium/gold. Low Tier german TD(tier 2-4) are excellent credit/XP makers. Most other tree's get a bad tank or two in the tier 1-5 range. e.g. there are several bad tanks in the american heavy line.

[xthetenth]

Which are the bad tanks you're putting in this several? Just curious, because I can actually put together a reasonably coherent case for the T1 and a great one for the M3. The M6 is kind of teh suck though, but it does at least move nicely.

(Just a note, three of my nine top guns are in the Lee. I quite like the thing.)

I'm also not hugely fond of the hetzer just because it's slow. I like reasonably quick tanks with powerful guns, and though the hetzer's got the second part, the SU-85B is better at getting both. Howitzers on slow chassis aren't my cup of tea.

[Thunderfire]

Which are the bad tanks you're putting in this several? Just curious, because I can actually put together a reasonably coherent case for the T1 and a great one for the M3. The M6 is kind of teh suck though, but it does at least move nicely.

T2 medium , M3 Lee , T1 Heavy , M6.

T2 medium - I want armor or speed. The M2 light is fast and nearly as well armored as the T2 medium.
M3 Lee - No turret. It is a target drone for most Tier5+ tanks
T1+M6 - They are heavy tanks. The KV series is better and some medium tanks get a better gun selection.

[Mr. Coffee]

Ok, I'll just go ahead and say what some of us are already thinking. There aren't really any truly bad tanks in this game, but their sure as hell are a lot of really shitty tank drivers playing it. Chances are, and I'll bet comparing game stats will prov it flat out, that at least half the people bitching about the Lee or whatever have some pretty lack luster kill/death and win/loss records. Quit your bitching and learn to drive the tank properly. It's not the gun, it's not the turret or the engine or the tracks. It's you. The guy behind the keyboard failing to learn how to properly fight your tank.

As far as the Lee goes... If it sucks so bad then explain how the hell it is TheTenth there managed to get 142 kills for only 106 matches in it and four out of ten of his top gun medals were earned in it. Seriously, it's not the Lee that sucks, it's you. It's not a tank, it's a really tall TD with no camo bonus and it's a very accurate sniperplatform that has a good RoF with the upgraded gun. Stop fighting it like it's a tank and you'll find that ityou suck a lot less.

The T2 is a fucking Teir II, so go figure it's not that great. All Tier 2 tanks blow as it's not about armor at that level, it's about overall HP of the tank itself. Again, it's the T2 that sucks, it's just you.

T1 is just fine once you upgrade it. It's a little undergunned compared to the KV, but it makes up for it with a much higher RF and better accuracy than the 107mm on the KV. It's not the T1 that sucks, it's you.

The M6 still has the undergun problem, but again makes up for it in RoF and accuracy, only with the addition of better armor and armor sloping on the front, and it's a hell of a lot more agile than anything in the KV series. So yeah, not the M6 that sucks, it's just you.

[xthetenth]

Which are the bad tanks you're putting in this several? Just curious, because I can actually put together a reasonably coherent case for the T1 and a great one for the M3. The M6 is kind of teh suck though, but it does at least move nicely.

T2 medium , M3 Lee , T1 Heavy , M6.

T2 medium - I want armor or speed. The M2 light is fast and nearly as well armored as the T2 medium.
M3 Lee - No turret. It is a target drone for most Tier5+ tanks
T1+M6 - They are heavy tanks. The KV series is better and some medium tanks get a better gun selection.

Okay. The T2 medium. I played 7 matches in it, coffee played 10. It's irrelevant to picking a line. It's also a reasonably solid tank. Sure it isn't as fast as others but it doesn't start with an M2HB. I'm sorry but the Ma Deuce isn't a tank gun. It also avoids some of the more annoying problems on other tanks like really slow turrets and so on.

M3 Lee is probably my best tank. It's got a gun like a TD, hell it's even better armed than the T-28 except for penetration, the best traverse of any fixed gun tank in the game, and actual armor and the HP of a medium tank. You can also hide about 4/5ths of the tank behind left hand corners to megatroll people. It can defend and back up attacks brilliantly. If you rush solo, you get tracked and die. In fact you'll get tracked and die anyway, but if you put it in a group and back up your allies, you'll find that you get tracked and die after killing two or three enemies or even after the match ends. Any more and I'd have to charge, I can practically run a school on driving the things.

The T1 is what the non derp turreted KV wishes it could be. It gets going much faster, has a much better gun, has better frontal armor and is far more agile.

The M6 is the perfect middle ground between the KV-3 and the KV-1S. The 90mm is the equal of the 107mm, and it's got solid frontal armor while still having a better HP/weight ratio than either KV.

[Agent Sorchus]

The T1 is what the non derp turreted KV wishes it could be. It gets going much faster, has a much better gun, has better frontal armor and is far more agile.

The M6 is the perfect middle ground between the KV-3 and the KV-1S. The 90mm is the equal of the 107mm, and it's got solid frontal armor while still having a better HP/weight ratio than either KV.

I don't know about the T1, as a kv with the 122short it never really felt that different for maneuverability or raw speed, but that is a heavy tank for you. Neither has really supreme firepower, but if you want to have some level of fairness for when you are in a 3-5th tier fight you really can't have a great gun.

As for the M6, the 90 is excellent, and often times you can be overlooked because arty and other heavies underestimate the firepower of the 90 (or they mistake you for an anemic T1). Not a bad tank, but I wouldn't trade any of that for my precious KV-1S. Hiding behind stuff is fun and good and makes up for the lack of armor (especially since most tanks end up not having armor that is worth too much at the high tiers, so it is good practice esp. for mediums) and the ability to relocate fast and have a good gun is worth a lot. When a side of your team gets wiped out the ability to put a heavy tank in their way quick can save the game.

[Slacker]

The M6 with the 90 is really great for a Tier 6 heavy tank. The T29, even before you get the 105 into it, is hands down the best Tier 7 heavy tank in the game. With the 105 it eats ISs and Tigers for breakfast. I love my T29.

I'm finding the Easy 8 to T20 grind a bit painful. I did get the M41 on Monday, haven't gotten too many games in with it yet, but it's progressing. I got the T2 Light Tank for the Boot Camp tourney, I'm the Grim's second team scout. I'm not a huge fan of the map but I am now a huge fan of the T2. My god the thing is demonically fast.

I should be comfortably into Tier 8/9/10 by the time Clan Wars drop. I'm hoping I can get deep enough into the American tree by the time the tree changes happen that I get free tanks, too, but that may not happen in time for the Patton. Probably will happen for the T30 change. We'll see. Jesus the T20 grind is painful, although from what I'm told after that the T20 on up is much less of a drag.

[Zinegata]

I'd agree that almost all tanks can be extremely good as long as the driver knows what he's doing with the said tank. But some are a bit more easy to learn than others.

There's also matchmaking issues. The Panzer Jaeger I is just about never screwed in whatever matchup it's placed in - with the long 50mm it can take on anything it will be forced to fight.

But stuff like the Easy 8? Not so much when the opposition is packing a large number of Maus and IS-7s. You're really just a scout and de-tracker in those matches - stuff which isn't tracked by stats.

[Slacker]

The Easy 8 is a victim of matchups. When I get a good game-say, a couple of Tier 7s a side, and mostly Tier 6 and 5 mediums, it really shines. The Lee can also be a victim of that, the same with, say, the BT-7 or the Panzer III Ausf A. Most of the "Bad Tanks" are bad because of what they're stuck fighting. The biggest problem I had with the Lee was that I was stuck fighting over a hundred battles in it-I unlocked the Sherman, T1, and Priest with it. Yeah, I was dumb.

[Thunderfire]

M3 Lee is probably my best tank. It's got a gun like a TD, hell it's even better armed than the T-28 except for penetration.

No it has the gun of a close combat tank. High ROF+average penetration. This gun is nice on a fast medium tank e.g. M7. I want high penetration or a large HE shell when I am fighting higher tier enemies.

[PeZook]

If it has the gun of a close-range fighter, how come I could snipe people across the map with the same gun on my M4?

[Thunderfire]

If it has the gun of a close-range fighter, how come I could snipe people across the map with the same gun on my M4?

It needs more penetration. My M7 has the same gun and it hands out steel wall awards when I try to use it as a sniper gun vs Tier 5+ targets.

[PeZook]

It won't touch KVs, yeah, but neither can most of the other tier IV-V mediums.

[Thunderfire]

I am a KV driver and I fear PzIV at range. The M4 & T-28 are able to hurt me too with their best gun.

[xthetenth]

If it has the gun of a close-range fighter, how come I could snipe people across the map with the same gun on my M4?

It needs more penetration. My M7 has the same gun and it hands out steel wall awards when I try to use it as a sniper gun vs Tier 5+ targets.

Does it? I keep HE shells and I barely use the things. I can frontally pen a KV. I can pen a KV-3 if I get real creative about it. Do I really need more penetration? Yeah, an extra 10mm would be nice, but what else does that mean I can hurt? I didn't really notice a difference between the targets I could comfortably target with my Lee and my SU-85 with the lower 85mm. I really can't think of any tanks that fall in the 100mm eRHA range of armor. It's a well balanced gun on a chassis that can brawl a whole heap better than a TD and can snipe almost as well, at the cost of camo.

[Thunderfire]

Does it? I keep HE shells and I barely use the things. I can frontally pen a KV. I can pen a KV-3 if I get real creative about it. Do I really need more penetration?

My Marder penetrates a Tier 5 heavy tank nearly all the time when it is less than 100m away. This changes when I try to damage it at a range of 500m. Your M3 has less penetration and damage comparded to a real TD like the Marder or the SU85B. Even the T-28 gets better guns and it has a usefull turret. The Hetzer has the same problem and it's reputation is also pretty bad.

[PeZook]

I am a KV driver and I fear PzIV at range. The M4 & T-28 are able to hurt me too with their best gun.

Hmm, true. The T28 is less of a threat though IMHO due to its paper thin armor. The M4 and PzIV have enough staying power to be bad.

[Mr. Coffee]

I don't have any trouble at all fucking up a KV at range with the 76mm on the T1 heavy. Only thing I've gott worry about is iff he's got the derp tube or that 107mm mounted. Derp tube can sometimes oneshot a T1 and the 107 is accurate and has a metric fuckton of penetration.

Edit: I made my 666th kill a little bit ago in my T1. Fuckin' metal... So far I've got 1 top gun and 3 sniper medals (mostly since I upgraded the gun), and I've got a 24 hit sharpshooter combo with it so far. Like I said, it's not the T1 Heavy that sucks, it's just you.