Best and worst tanks by tier and type – best tier IV tank destroyer

There are eight tier IV tank destroyers (as of WOT 9.6):

• SU-85B
• Hetzer
• Marder 38T
• StuG III Ausf. B
• M8A1
• T40
• Somua SAu 40
• Alecto

To choose one from these is actually very difficult. They are all good, or at least not bad. The Somua gets a lot of criticism, but when I played it, I did quite well. I only played it for 17 battles, and got a win rate of 58,8%. The T40 was the one I did worst in. So, in my opinion, the four strongest of these are the Hetzer, the SU-85B, the M8A1 and the Alecto. But they are all quite different to play:

• The Hetzer has got a derp gun, which is quite fun. You will one shot every tier II and III when you are a top tier. You can do quite a lot of damage also on tier V and VI vehicles. The armor is very sloped, so you can actually use it as protection from some tanks.
• The SU-85B is all about the top 85 mm gun. Good penetration, good alpha damage and not to inaccurate.
• The M8A1 has a turret and is very fast, so you use it quite differently than the others.
• The Alecto also has a derp gun, and is a lot faster than the Hezter. However: The armor is non existent, by 10 mm.

So these are very difficult to choose from. I never sold my Hetzer, and I rebought the SU-85B as a crew trainer. I played the M8A1 a long time ago, and I believe I might enjoy it more now, as I’m a better player now. But since I have to choose only one, it has got to be the Hezter.

Pros:

• The derp gun with HE-shells. If you penetrate, you do 410 damage. Since it is HE, you will do damage to modules and crew even if you don’t penetrate.
• The armor is better than the competition, since it is very sloped. You are NOT invulnerable, but you will bounce some shots
• Low profile means better camo rating

Cons:

• Derp gun is inaccurate
• It is slower than many of the other tier IV tank destroyers, and the traverse is also not the best
• Gun depression is not the best

As always, good players do very well in any tank: See all best/worse tanks here.

Understanding free experience (“XP”)

As you already know, in World of tanks experience (“XP”) is very important. However, understanding how to use your XP efficiently, isn’t easy when you are new to the game.

There are basically three types of XP:

• XP related to your crew
• XP related to your tank
• Free XP

In this post we will look at free XP. The other two types will be explained in other posts. 5% of the XP you earn in a match will be added to your pool of free XP. You can not increase or reduce this amount. Free XP can be used on any tank and module. You can use free XP to open a new tank, or in opening a module. You can use free XP in combination with XP earned on a tank.

Let’s look at an example. You are playing a T-28, a Russian tier IV medium tank, and want to play the next tank, the KV-1:

T-28 leads to KV-1

To unlock the KV-1 you need to have earned 10.650 XP on the T-28. Let’s say you have only earned 9.000 XP on the T-28, but that you also have 2.000 free XP. Then you can use all of the T-28’s 9.000 XP and 1.650 of the free XP to unlock the KV-1. (9.000 XP + 1.650 free XP = 10.650 XP needed for the KV-1.) But be sure you have chosen the right moment to unlock the KV-1.

If you want to use the free XP for modules instead, you can do it like this:

• Play the T-28 until you have earned the necessary 10.650 XP
• Unlock the KV-1 using only XP from the T-28
• Use 2.350 of your free XP to unlock the 122 mm gun (for example) on the KV-1 BEFORE you start playing it

Converting XP to free XP

You can add extra free XP by playing a tank after you have unlocked every module on it and you also have unlocked every tank it leads to. To continue with the example with the T-28: The T-28 only leads to the KV-1. Once you have unlocked all modules on the T-28 and you also have unlocked the KV-1, you will continue to earn XP on the T-28 that will be added to this tank, but that you will not be able to use on anything. However, it need not be “wasted” XP. If you have bought gold and are willing to use it, you can convert XP from a tank to free XP.

The exchange rate is 1 gold for 25 XP, so if you have earned 1.000 “wasted” XP on your T-28, it will cost you 40 gold to convert it to free XP.

So if you can afford it, you really should pay for XP conversion. Some of my clan members never play any tank on higher tiers unless they have unlocked all modules on it by using free XP. On some tanks this is not necessary, but on most, especially the stock guns are simply to weak to be any good. (On a lot of tanks you need to unlock a turret to fit a better gun, and before you can mount a better turret, you often need to mount tracks that are better than the stock tracks.)

If you do not have the money to buy and use gold, you can change the strategy in the opposite direction to avoid earning any “wasted” XP on a tank. Take a look at your average XP earned on a tank, and once you realize that in the next battle you will earn more XP than you need to unlock the next tank, use free XP instead.

Last notes

• On one occasion there was a possibility to use free XP on crew skills, but I am not sure if this will be possible again any time soon.
• On the RU server in march 2015, players earned 10% free XP instead of 5% for a few days.
• I have only seen a discount on the exchange rate to convert free XP once (on the EU server), so don’t wait for it. I believe the discount rate was 1 gold for 50 XP.

How to make your in game credits last longer

As you already know, you earn in game credits by playing, and hopefully winning games. You can earn a great deal extra by completing missions or by using premium tanks. And you already know that buying tanks and equipment and retraining crews is what you use your in game credits on.

But you may not know that there are ways to make your in game credits last longer.

The trick is to wait for sales. Every now and then, Wargaming put equipment and tanks on sale. The discount on tanks will then typically vary between 50% and 15% off. If you have grinded a new tank, but do not need to buy it right away, try to wait for a sale. As I’m writing this, there are discounts on a number of vehicles:

15% discount on tanks

So if you can wait before you buy a specific tank, you can save a great deal of in game credits. At the moment I have six tanks in my garage which I haven’t started playing, all bought on a sale.

Right now, there is also  a 50% discount on crew reset:

50% discount on Crew Skill Reset

Again, if you can wait for a sale, you should do it. With a 50% discount, you save 50.000 in game credits when retraining a full crew on a tank with a crew of five.

Every now and then, there is also a discount on consumables:

50% discount on consumables

When this happens, I usually buy so that I have 100 large repair kits in my depot. Full price on a large repair kit is 20.000 in game credits, so if you buy 100 of them, you save 1.000.000 in game credits.

 

Best and worst tanks by tier and type – best tier V heavy tank

There are six tier V heavy tanks in World of tanks (by april 2015):

• KV-1
• KV-1S
• VK 30.01 (H)
• T1 heavy tank
• BDR G1 B
• Churchill I

Three of these are contenders to the title  “best tier V heavy tank”, and that is KV-1, T1 heavy tank and BDR G1 B. A lot of players would say the KV-1 is a clear winner, but in my opinion, I had a lot more fun with the BDR G1 B. Therefore, I go for the BDR. It is big, has less armor than the KV-1, but the gun ticks all the right boxes.

Pros:

• The 90 mm DCA 30 is a very good gun: It has good penetration, nice alpha damage and above accuracy (even if the KV-1 has higher damage per minute)
• Better than average gun depression

Cons:

• Worse armor than other tier V heavys
• Fewer HP than other tier V heavys
• Big target

Really, the BDR shouldn’t work as well as the KV-1, for instance, but I really liked the BDR more, even if my win rate on the BDR was much lower than the KV-1. Pointy Haired Jedi will show you how to play this:

See all best/worst tanks here.

Pay attention to where you are going

This is a fairly short post about something very specific: Pushing or bumping into allies.

Recently I had a game where one of my allies obviously was a newbie, and did not pay enough attention to where he was going. I was playing with my T67 on El Halluf. When playing the T67 at this map, I prefer to go to one of the ridge lines and wait to see where my team mates are going, while I spot for scout tanks. (Later on on this map, I will move to support my team and/or flank enemies.

So I positioned myself, and waited for my binoculars to kick in. Just when they did, an ally started pushing me over the ridge line. I don’t think he did it on purpose, but nevertheless. I had to move. So I went to a different position, and started spotting and waiting again. Less than a minute later, the same ally came to where I was and did the same again! I guess he drove his tank in sniper mode, not paying attention to the mini map.

But he must have heard the sound from the collision, and he must have noticed that his progress halted, as he slowly pushed me over the ridge line again.

So, what is the lesson to be learned from  this? My ally probably didn’t learn anything, but the advice from me is: Do not push or bump into your allies. If they are aiming for an enemy and you bump into them, and your ally will either miss his target or will have to aim again. In any case: Any such behavior will reduce the efficiency of your team, and this will in the long run reduce the win rate of your team, and – of course – your win rate.

You might ask “Why should I  care about how well my team mates are doing?” Simply because you will benefit from it. A win will increase your XP and your in game credits, remember?

Best and worst tanks by tier and type – worst tier VI tank destroyer – UPDATED

There are ten tier VI tank destroyers in the game (by patch 9.2.2):

• SU-100
• Jagdpanzer IV
• Nashorn
• M18 Hellcat
• M36 Jackson
• ARL V39
• Achilles
• AT 8
• Churchill Gun Carrier
• WZ-131G FT

In my opinion, the ARL V39 is the absolutely worst of these. I’ve postponed my grind on the french TD line, simply because it’s reputation is so bad. It’s slow, has a narrow gun arc, and a low rate of fire. I hated every game I had in it. The tier IX and X french TD’s are good, but the ARL is a big bump in the road to get to the higher tiers. (EDIT: See bottom of this page for a list of changes on the ARL V39 since this post was created.)

Pros:

• Very high penetration with the 90 mm AC DCA 45 gun, with 212 mm penetration. (It works very well even in a tier VIII match.)
• Acceptable alpha damage with the 105 mm AC mle. 1930 S gun: 300 hp

Cons:

• Very narrow gun arc (+/- 7 degrees)
• Low rate of fire on all top guns
• Long aim time on all top guns (EDIT: See bottom of this page for a list of changes on the ARL V39 since this post was created.)
• Actually, everything else than the pros above is bad about this tank

The only way to get this tank to work, is if you have a long straight and flat piece of terrain in front of you, and can fire without being spotted. Good players can make any tank work well, I guess:

14 kills in an ARL V39

See all best/worst tanks here.

EDIT (January 2016):

Since this review was posted, the ARL V39 has been improved (it got a “buff”) not once, but twice!

In patch 9.8, by May 2015:

• In-motion dispersion of the ARL V39 suspension decreased by 8%
• Hull-traverse dispersion of the ARL V39 bis suspension decreased by 8%
• Aiming time of the 90mm AC DCA 45 gun for the ARL V39 turret decreased from 2.9sec. to 2.6sec.
• Dispersion on gun traverse of the 105mm AC mle. 1930 S gun decreased by 12%

In patch 9.13, by December 2015:

Suspension changes:

• Base suspension:
  • Terrain resistance – hard terrain: new 1.5, old 1.6, difference -0.1
  • Terrain resistance – medium terrain: new 1.7, old 1.8, difference -0.1
  • Terrain resistance – soft terrain: new 2.8, old 3, difference -0.2
• ARL V39 bis suspension:
  • Terrain resistance – hard terrain: new 1.4, old 1.5, difference -0.1
  • Terrain resistance – medium terrain: new 1.5, old 1.7, difference -0.2
  • Terrain resistance – soft terrain: new 2.5, old 2.7, difference -0.2

Gun changes:

• Aiming time of the 90mm AC DCA 45 gun for the ARL V39 turret decreased from 2.6sec. to 2.1sec.

Best and worst tanks by tier and type – best tier IV medium

There are eight tier IV mediums (by april 25th, 2015):

• T-28
• Pz.Kpfw. III
• Pz.Kpfw. IV
• VK 20.01 (D)
• M3 Lee
• Grant
• Matilda
• Type 1 Chi-He

Words from a pro

Rita Gamer is a…. gamer, and quite good at playing World of Tanks. She has a blog where she writes a lot about upcoming features of the game and rumors and so on. This is an example.

How to use bushes – video tutorial

A while ago – quite a long while ago, actually – I wrote about how to use bushes. Recently, I discovered a great video tutorial by Sir Havoc, where you can see what I described in action. Here, take a look:    

As a matter of fact, just the day before I found this, I used some of it’s “mechanics”, so to speak. I was playing on Prokhorovka. Our team spawned to the south, so I went on top of the hill to the east. I got there a while before my team, so I waited in a bush in case someone from a higher tier came up the opposite way.

Within seconds, an enemy Cromwell rushed towards me, but stopped halfway inside a bush, trying not to be detected from the west. He could not see me, just 60 – 70 metres away. I did NOT fire at him, because that would have meant that I would be detected. He got destroyed within a few seconds, due to my spotting. Just before he was killed, I took a shot and fell back. One important kill secured, and I got a lot of assistance damage.