Balthazars

Wow, I can't remember the last time you wrote something positive about this game! I haven't been following these changes that much, but if it's true the customizable options means you can help iron out some of those awful bits of certain tanks to at least make them feel competitive, then I agree it will be a positive thing overall.

I've just finished the tier 8 now to, the WZ-111-1 FT. It's not flat-out awful, but it isn't particularly good either, especially when you put it up against the tier 8 premium. The gun is pretty good, both the middle gun (top 122) and the top gun (130) are pretty good offering okay gun handling, penetration and alpha. The top gun in particular is pretty nice, excellent penetration for a tier 8 with chunky alpha means you can deter pushes on lines where you can camo up and can also pick off lowish-health tanks. The main issue is that the platform is absolutely dreadful. Slow, armour that only works if you can hide the lower plate, and even then, only really against lower tiers, and pitiful HP at only 1,000 meaning that if you get spotted, it's over very quickly. I really don't know why WG gave such a slow tank with so little armour so little HP. Camo is okay, so you can bush-kemp, but if you're required to push a lane or engage multiple tanks, you're going to struggle. This is where the comparison to the tier 8 premium is just so silly. In the premium, you get vastly better mobility, actual armour that bounces things (especially against lower tiers, meaning you can bully), slightly better DPM (okay, you lose a bit of alpha strike, but 440 is still really good for tier 8), better camo and better view range. It's just silly. My stats: 90 games to complete the grind, 46.67% win rate, 1,468 average damage with 308 average assist. Frustrating and not that much fun to play.

So, the M48 in 2020 for an average-ish player... one one level, I really like it. It's comfortable to play, but is is most definitely suffers from the power-creep in the game with some noticeable weaknesses. Firstly, it's turret isn't that great, vulnerable to HEAT and also with some flat bits that can get penned by standard rounds too. It can side-scrape but overall the armour isn't great. Mobility is a bit on the slow side too for a medium, meaning you will find getting to certain spots pretty difficult, especially if you don't get a favourable spawn. On the plus side, gun depression, awesome gun handling, DPM, and top-tier view range (my mastery in this tank was a 15k combined game with nearly 11k in spotting on Studzianski). The weaknesses do hold it back in the current meta, but somehow it's still fun to play. 100 games, 55% win rate (dropped off quite a bit recently as I've been spamming games in it), 2,361 average damage with an average of 1,113 assist (by far my highest average assist, the average damage is middle of the road). Conflicted. I find it fun to play, but can't really recommend it in the current meta.

I think that's pretty good, and certainly what I would prefer to be the case, rather than them being overbuffed so that they become the new meta flavour. All tanks, but especially tier 10 tanks, you should feel that when you take them out and know how to play them to their strengths, that you can do well. On that basis, this round of buffs seem okay, especially for the E100 (the only one of them in my garage) - the 128 gun buffs suggest it could be an interesting alternative style of gameplay, and the turret face buffs mean at least you won't always be lol-penned by 340 HEAT unless you angle perfectly, which is the most annoying thing about playing it. That seems pretty sensible to me.

Hard to tell, as even if the turret face is better, it still has a massive lower plate, but typically HEAT through the turret was the most annoying thing about playing it, so I have to admit I would love to find out and take my old E100 (my first ever tier 10) back out for a spin again.

@lavawing I suppose what you're describing is probably why I feel it is less forgiving compared to the T-10? As you say, incremental increases on paper, but those increases means it goes from being one of the best tanks in the tier to merely competitive in the tier.

Hey Rexxie, welcome back! I've just started grinding the tier 8 as well. I totally agree about the HP - 1,000 feels so low for something so fat and slow. Getting two-shot by some of your opponents sucks hard. Getting 4-shot by crappy 230-alpha meds if they get lucky and roll high sucks even harder.

Continuing down the line, just finished grinding the tier 7 - T34-2G FT. This one is absolutely a downgrade compared to the tier 6. It gains some alpha (390 with the old reliable 122), but gives up too much mobility for basically no real gain in armour, which means you can't get to as many forward bushes, so reliant to go to the more typical TD spots. The DPM is pretty good, and it has pretty good penetration for a 122, but the shots are derpy meaning you will miss a lot at long ranges, and the gun handling gets worse so it's much harder to run around and zero in on targets if you're trying to play like a quasi-medium. Low HP is also pretty crippling as you can get 2-shot by tier 9s and some big-alpha tier 8s if they roll high. Stock grind itself isn't awful, the stock gun is the same as the tier below with better DPM which is decent. Engine and tracks do not add much in terms of mobility. You get an intermediate gun for no reason other than an XP sink however that adds marginally better handling and penetration. 50 games, 48% win rate (it was as bad as 44% when I started the grind), 1,132 average damage with 367 average assist. It's not hugely far off my top-performing tanks in the tier, but it feels a heck of a long way off. Quite frustrating to play, would not recommend.

I'll take any nerfs to these little wheeled bastards that they're offering, but as some have described above, if they simply removed the ability of those stupid wheels to absorb all incoming damage, that would help a lot. Yes, hitting them is a problem, but when half your shots hitting them then also do zero damage because the majority of the side profile is made up of invincible wheels, it just exacerbates the problem. The other area I would look to nerf them in is in respects to their HE rounds. Personally I feel this is just another reason that they just crap all over all the other light tanks - they can out-maneuver them, out-circle them, in some cases out-spot them, and then out-gun them due to landing high-pen HE with ease due to best-in-game dispersion on the move.

As I've decided to grind up this line, will post my thoughts here as I get through the tanks. Decided to start out at Tier 6 - the WZ-131G FT. In summary, I actually really quite like it. Stock it is slow and cumbersome with a decent gun. Upgraded tracks and engine, and it moves like a medium tank. Small, and with a good crew and binocs you can max view range in a decent bush and outspot a lot of tanks in the tier, which is pretty hilarious. Had several games acting as a quasi-scout, and the fast speed allows you to get into some aggressive positions normally reserved for lights as a TD. The gun is pretty good for the tier, good DPM and penetration (you won't bounce much for the tier), and the alpha is pretty nice. Gun arc is also quite generous, so you don't feel super-gimped trying to track and opponent going across your line of fire. No armour to speak off though, and you will get full-penned by HE spamming things with derp guns (and of course arty), even from the front so one has to be pretty careful. Light tanks can also pen you frontally which is pretty brutal. Low HP and it is a casemate TD so if an opponent gets close to you, you're be in a lot of trouble. 25 games (slightly less than that to finish the grind). 52% win rate (it was almost 60% at one point, but a few bad teams and you'll struggle to carry games), 1,224 DPG with 418 average assist - it is actually my best performing tier 6 tank by some margin (the VK 30.01P, my only 3-marked tank is the next closest, and it's pretty close). It's quite a fun tank.

I do feel that overall WG has done a very nice job with the 3D styles, pretty much all of them look pretty cool. They are a nice incentive to grind for, at least for me, although at the same time I don't feel that if you miss out that you're gimping yourself. These new bounty equipment though, yeah, absolutely gimping yourself if you don't get your hands on some of them unless you're rolling in bonds.

To be honest I'm kind of on the fence. Yes, the MM is much nicer a tier lower, but that DPM boost is noticeable and I find the armour, especially on the hull, trolls a lot more. Maybe because it's only recently that I started playing a lot of tier 10 games, but somehow I don't find it *that* bad, and I'm kind of enjoying the challenge.

So, my second tier-10 tank to reach 100 games (in recent times) as I've been spamming games in it for the battle pass. 57% win rate, 2,425 DPG with 824 average assist. About middle of the road in my tier 10 tanks in terms of DPG, but win rate is the best of all my tier 10s with 100 games or more (next closest is the Cent AX, most of the games were played as the FV-4202 back in the day, I dunno, I just seem to win a lot in British tanks). It's quite fun to play overall. It has clear strengths and is overall a great package. Excellent gun (although a bit derpy at long ranges sometimes), excellent DPM, super-strong turret (although big guns or HEAT on flat ground can consistently go through the commander's hatch), hull armour that will absolutely troll even same-tier non-gold rounds and lots of spaced armour (including fat tracks) to eat HEAT so it can also sidescrape. Main disadvantage is that it's slow-ish, it's much better on defence than offence, the ammo rack is made of wet paper and the playstyle is fairly repetitive, although I find it quite fun because it's fairly easy to play (go to brawl, find hull-down spot, trade as best you can, once enemy is broken, push and use DPM to finish off low-health targets). I think it's still fun and worth the grind, the last three tiers are all fun, although getting there without free XP is pretty painful.

So given I've been spamming a lot more tier 10 games recently (and apparently don't completely suck, I mean at least I'm managing to consistently win over 50% of my tier 10 games), I've decided I'll offer my average-ish player reviews for tier 10 tanks that I make it to 100 games or so in the 'current' setting (I have over 100 games in some tier 10s but that was some time ago). 277 is first cab off the rank. 100 games, 53% win rate, 2,335 DPG with 715 average assist. Running v-stab, rammer and vents. I like it, but it's definitely less forgiving to inexperienced players compared to the T-10 down a tier, hence my performance in it feels very sub-par. The speed means you can try some funky stuff, but that can also get you killed. It's as mobile as a medium, as usable armour (but it's not outstanding), hits hard and has good gun handling. It's a straight upgrade on the T-10 in almost all aspects, yet, yeah, somehow less forgiving. I do seem to get best results in it when facing off against enemy medium tanks as you can trade favourable against them. The main issue I have with it is that arty loves it, and sides are weak enough to get penned by HESH, as I have been close to one-shotted by death stars and shitbarns before. While I'm not great in it, it's still good fun as it's a comfortable package overall. Worth the grind.