Winning Solopub with Different Tank Subclasses

[CarbonatedPork 1,585]

Rexxie wrote an informative guide to subdividing tank classes called "On Sub-classes and Roleplay". I'm curious: which of these subclasses do you think is the best for winning solopub?

 

If you feel strongly about one subclass being the best at winning solopub, I'd also love to hear how you play a tank in that subclass to its strengths to secure a win.

 

Edit: This poll is multiple choice, so feel free to vote for multiple subclasses.

Edited June 11, 2014 by CarbonatedPork

[MntRunner 223]

I'm not sure why you have the 110 and Is-3 in different classes since they are very similar tanks. The 110 also has more medium traits than the IS-3 for Heavy/Medium  "Heavium" classification (view range, accuracy). Although I personally prefer to play both as a "brute".

[CarbonatedPork 1,585]

I'm not sure why you have the 110 and Is-3 in different classes since they are very similar tanks. The 110 also has more medium traits than the IS-3 for Heavy/Medium  "Heavium" classification (view range, accuracy). Although I personally prefer to play both as a "brute".

The example tanks are taken straight from Rexxie's article; I don't have any experience with either of those tanks. I think his distinction was that heaviums are more mobile than brutes.

 

Rexxie also had "Misc Heavies" (including the AMX 50 100) and "Misc Mediums" (including the Super Pershing). I'd probably classify the Super Pershing as a Brute given that it's slow as hell and neigh-impenetrable if you present the front at a 45 degree angle around a corner to pubs that can't aim for weak spots.

[Intumesce 1,695]

When you pick only tier 8 tanks as examples, it's hard to accurately describe which tank does the best

If heavium also includes medium heavies such as the E 50 M, arguably that class is best at solopubbing

The Type 59 is also more of a heavium than a "flex" medium

Having a bunch of different classes for TDs also seems pretty stupid, just give them heavy or soft support roles depending on their armor and firepower

 

Heaviums have an excellent all-around combination of armor, mobility, firepower (and if classed as a medium, camouflage) which means they are good on all maps and suffer on none, as opposed to specialized tanks who can do a good job on some maps but suffer massively on others (KV-4 on Sand River, STA-1 on Ruinberg)

They always have at least one strength to leverage, and often their weaknesses aren't that bad

 

Support heavies are arguably THE worst class for solopubbing, as they are basically medium tanks without any of the mobility or camouflage, often even without the armor of a heavy

FCM 50t is a great tank, but that doesn't change the fact that it's a huge, thinly armored french baguette carton with a medium tank's gun, albeit with special matchmaking and the best pen on a pref tier 8

[CarbonatedPork 1,585]

I'm waffling between Heaviums and Brutes as being the #1_BEST_SOLOPUB_CLASS_NA. I feel like they can achieve roughly the same solopub winrate, but Heaviums would be the least frustrating of the two since you can always contribute something to a win. On certain maps, a Brute will absolutely dominate but a good player can probably still work a Heavium in the same situation to tip the tide in their team's favor.
 
I think a good, aggressive player can do amazing things with a really mobile tank, so I also voted for Flex Mediums (including Obj. 140) and Combat Lights (including Leo. 1). I believe that these still fall behind Heaviums and Brutes and require considerably more effort to achieve comparable results.
 

Having a bunch of different classes for TDs also seems pretty stupid, just give them heavy or soft support roles depending on their armor and firepower

I'd use the extra categories to distinguish between something like a T95 (assault) and a Waffle (heavy support).

[Intumesce 1,695]

Leo 1 is bad for winning, ESPECIALLY solo

When your tank takes frontal damage from tier 6 light tanks, consider playing something else

 

It might be fun to play, sure, but it's worthless at winning as it's a pure support tank

the E 50 M does everything better than the Leo

[GehakteMolen 2,063]

Not 1 class really suits imo, lights and support mediums in general fail (hard) while tanks with armor, good guns and *enough* mobility usually work, but thats also playstyle....

 

When you play solo, you have to win the slugparty yourself to win the fight, so you need a tank which can hold itself in close and midrage slugfests, tanks which can brawl are good, tanks which cant are useless...

[CarbonatedPork 1,585]

I don't know what EmbryonicJourney's solopub stats are in the Leo 1, but every time I've seen him streaming it he's solopub and he's got some pretty decent numbers in the tank.

 

I do agree that Heaviums do it better, though.

[Cool_Man 44]

I don't know what EmbryonicJourney's solopub stats are in the Leo 1, but every time I've seen him streaming it he's solopub and he's got some pretty decent numbers in the tank.

 

I do agree that Heaviums do it better, though.

http://wotlabs.net/eu/player/virginslayr There is EmbryonicJourney's stats playing only the Leo 1. Now back on topic I prefer Heaviums for solo play because they are just really good for doing whatever is needed most of the time.

[_Goliard 343]

Gah, too stupid to click. Good thing I don't play arty.

 

Could a mod please change my vote from "Support Medium" to "Flex Medium"?

[Cool_Man 44]

Gah, too stupid to click. Good thing I don't play arty.

 

Could a mod please change my vote from "Support Medium" to "Flex Medium"?

You can delete your votes and change them yourself

[_Goliard 343]

You can delete your votes and change them yourself

 

Didn't even notice that, thanks.

[d4majesty 88]

I don't know what EmbryonicJourney's solopub stats are in the Leo 1, but every time I've seen him streaming it he's solopub and he's got some pretty decent numbers in the tank.

 

I do agree that Heaviums do it better, though.

 

It's great for pissing out 4K+ DPG, not so much for carrying your team to a win. Especially with the map rotations these days.

[CarbonatedPork 1,585]

Totals so far (subclasses sorted by votes):

Subclass         |  +/-
-----------------+-------
Flex Medium      |  +17
Heavium          |  +11
Brute            |  +5
Support Heavy    |  -1
Hard Support TD  |  -2
Flex TD          |  -2
Support Medium   |  -3
Burst Light      |  -5
Assault TD       |  -9
Combat Light     |  -9

Pretty clear that decent mobility and usable armor are key to solopubbing by popular opinion. TDs, support tanks, and scouts not so much. Thanks for all the responses!

[Steel_Hawk 2]

I can clearly notice this with my tanks:

M24 chaffee = scout/combat light (since it performs the scouting job every day worse, just combat), even if I end the battle with 2500dmg it's not all of my merit because I probably scavenged a half of that DMG towards the end since the chaffee can't lead a push or block a road, so very team dependant = loser.

T29-T32= (especially the T29) they can easily lead a push and they can block even tier tens supposed you're hull-down and they don't have the balls to rush you. They pretty much can solo carry a team of donkeys.

The best example is prokhorovka: I managed to exploit the small dip in the ground in the western side of the map to scout the TDs hiding in the bushes and successfully push a flank that is normally thought as too risky to attack. A hard tank can do this, a fast light can't.

[_Goliard 343]

Totals so far (subclasses sorted by votes):

Subclass         |  +/-
-----------------+-------
Flex Medium      |  +17
Heavium          |  +11
Brute            |  +5
Support Heavy    |  -1
Hard Support TD  |  -2
Flex TD          |  -2
Support Medium   |  -3
Burst Light      |  -5
Assault TD       |  -9
Combat Light     |  -9

Pretty clear that decent mobility and usable armor are key to solopubbing by popular opinion. TDs, support tanks, and scouts not so much. Thanks for all the responses!

 

 

Not always being at the bottom/middle of the team would also factor in, I guess.

[JoreyTK 491]

I think the flex mediums are the best to carry in, at least in my experience with mainly playing the T-54 and the E 50. My win rate has been about 65% for the last 2-3 weeks.

[CarbonWard 3,529]

WG is actively reducing range of engagement with every map update, with it armor, aim time and having a turret becoming much more important than before. 

I do see T62A and E50M getting a indirect buff as a result.

[d4majesty 88]

WG is actively reducing range of engagement with every map update, with it armor, aim time and having a turret becoming much more important than before. 

I do see T62A and E50M getting a indirect buff as a result.

 

Hence swapping my best Russian crew to the 62A and the swift E50 grind.

 

Couldn't agree more.

[Necrophore 143]

I have mixed results trying to solopub in a medium or fast heavy. If the rest of the team retreats into hard cover when the first red dot shows up, I'm often overextended and left punching it out with enemy heavies all by myself. Scouts are even worse, since it's a coin toss if anyone will actually shoot at what I light up, and it's not unusual to be outside of draw distance of my own team because they never left base.

 

(There's also the issue of having to carry from two tier down, without having the gun, armor, or hit points to run the field against larger opponents.)

[CarbonatedPork 1,585]

Updated totals as of this post:

 

Subclass         |  +/-  |  Position Change

-----------------+-------+-----------------

Flex Medium      |  +24  |

Heavium          |  +16  |

Brute            |   +7  |

Support Heavy    |   -1  | 

Flex TD          |   -1  |     up 2

Burst Light      |   -3  |     up 2

Hard Support TD  |   -5  |   down 2

Support Medium   |   -6  |   down 1

Combat Light     |  -12  |     up 1

Assault TD       |  -13  |   down 1

 

Interesting to see mobility and damage farminess play a factor in some of the vote total repositionings.

 

Would you consider the STB-1 to be a flex medium or a support medium? I think I've been playing it like a support medium and it doesn't quite fit that playstyle given the bad bloom.

[TitoPuente 82]

Bit obvious imo... : something that has some speed and is not dependent on the team... so:

+ flex med

- light

 

Bit weird examples though in the poll.

 

Tito

[Rexxie 10,788]

Would you consider the STB-1 to be a flex medium or a support medium? I think I've been playing it like a support medium and it doesn't quite fit that playstyle given the bad bloom.

 

I think its more of a flex, but it really depends on the map. It actually is pretty damn good at laying down fire when its stationary, but most of the time you can't afford to do that. When it can, it's a great support med. The DPM is astounding.

 

Im surprised to see people dissing assault TDs so much. I recognize T8 isn't really a good tier for them, but otherwise I found them quite capable. Certainly not the worst at solopubbing.

[d4majesty 88]

I think its more of a flex, but it really depends on the map. It actually is pretty damn good at laying down fire when its stationary, but most of the time you can't afford to do that. When it can, it's a great support med. The DPM is astounding.

 

Im surprised to see people dissing assault TDs so much. I recognize T8 isn't really a good tier for them, but otherwise I found them quite capable. Certainly not the worst at solopubbing.

 

I think it plays both rolls equally, again depends on the circumstances and/or map. 

[Lindy 41]

What about tier 9s, could you do some type of list of how each fits into a group?