To cap or not to cap?

One mistake I see a lot of newcomers to World of tanks are doing, is to rush for the enemy cap zone. Let’s get one thing clear: The individual player earn more XP by doing damage to the enemy than by capping. And the xp is what you want, not cap points.

If you focus on defending your own cap circle, and damage enemy tanks that try to cap, you will get much more xp than by capping yourself. In fact, you can get the same amount of xp in a few seconds by damaging a tank inside your own cap circle as you can do by capping. Let’s say an enemy tank has stayed inside your cap circle and reached 85 to 90 cap points. If you damage that tank and reset the cap, with as little as one single damaging shot, you will earn more xp than if you cap to a 100% yourself.

And if the tank inside your cap circle is one or even two tiers higher than your own tank, you will earn even more xp.

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

There are 11 tier IV mediums (by patch 1.0):

• T-28
• Pz.Kpfw. III
• Pz.Kpfw. IV
• VK 20.01 (D)
• M3 Lee
• Grant
• Matilda
• Type 1 Chi-He
• Lago
• SARL 42
• ST vz. 39

You can see which one I think is the best here. But what about the worst? It used to be the M3 Lee a while ago, and when World of tanks introduced the British Grant tank in patch 9.5, we got a new worst tier IV medium tank for a while. It is very similar to the M3 Lee, but the mobility is a little bit worse, and you need good mobility and traverse speed in a medium without a turret. However, there is a new kid on the block, and that is the SARL 42. It has really nothing  going for it. No armor, no speed, and horrible damage per minute. I recently played through it, and kept asking “Why?!?!?”

Some might argue that the Type 1 Chi-He is even worse, with it’s lousy accuracy, but at least it has got a turret and fantastic gun depression.

Pros:

• It is not the slowest tank in the game

Cons:

• Eveything

This is what an Ace tanker game in this tank looks like:

See all best/worst tanks by tier and type here.

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

There are nine tier V medium tanks in World of tanks (patch 9.7):

• T-34
• Pz.Kpfw. III/IV
• Pz. Kpfw. IV Ausf. H
• M4 Sherman
• M7
• Renault G1
• Sherman III
• Type T-34
• Type 3 Chi-Nu

They are quite similar in playstyle and in how to deal damage. The only expetion is the M7, which is quite fast. It is therefore difficult to point to one single tank as the best, so this will be my very personal opinion. Some say that using “derp guns” is something only bad players enjoy. I disagree, and my verdict is based on using a derp gun. That leaves us with the M4 Sherman and the Pz. Kpfw. IV Ausf. H as the the two best ones. (But also the Renault and the Sherman III has the option of a derp gun.)

What separate the Pz from the M4 is rate of fire and gun depression. Pz shoots and aim a little bit faster, while the M4 has a fantastic gun depression at 12 degrees. This makes the M4 Sherman the better tank, and since the turret armor is slightly better, I choose the M4 Sherman.

Pros:

• Great gun depression
• Derp gun

Cons:

• Not very fast
• Not very good armor
• Not the best view range

In my opinion, all the tier V mediums are quite similar, when using the “normal” guns, like a 75 mm or a 76 mm. So picking one winner is all up to personal preferences. I played a lot better with the Pz (56% win rate) than the M4, but that is because I was a better player when playing the Pz, I guess.

Let’s see the M4 with a derp gun in action:

See all the best/worst tanks here.

Best and worst tanks by tier and type – worst tier VII tank destroyer

There are nine tier VII tank destroyers in World of tanks (patch 9.7):

• SU-100M1
• SU-152
• Jagdpanther
• Sturer Emil
• T25 AT
• T25/2
• AMX AC mle. 46
• AT 7
• Challenger

I have not yet tried all of them, but I am 99% convinced that I can point to the worst one. Some say the T25/2 is a bad TD, but I have had quite fun in that one. Some point to the Sturer Emil as a bad TD, but the top gun is absolutely magnificent, with 231 penetration and 490 alpha damage. The AMX and the SU-100M1 also get some bad reviews, but they are both good in their own way.

The worst of these, in my opinion, is the Challenger.

Pros:

• It has got a turret
• Low aim time, even though it does not feel like it
• Fast, at 52 km/h, but it does not accelerate very fast

Cons:

• No armor, and the turret armor is worse than the hull armor
• Slow turret traverse, by 16,7 degrees per second
• Low alpha damage, only 150 hp
• Not high enough penetration, considering it’s low alpha damage, by 171 mm

When you play this, you cannot get spotted. Stay in second line, and shoot at what your allies spot for you. You will not bounce a single shot fired at you. The gun is what let’s this tank down. It’s the same gun as you get on the tier V British TD (the Archer). You have to fire a lot of shots to make any impact, and if you stay in one place, you will get spotted and killed.

As always: Good players can make this tank work.

See all best/worst tanks here.

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

There are eight tier V tank destroyers in WOT, as of version 9.7:

• SU-85
• Pz. Sfl IVc
• Stug III Ausf. G
• M10 Wolverine
• T67
• S35 CA
• Archer
• AT2

These are very different tanks, at least more different than TDs at tier IV. Take the AT2 with it’s armor, the T67 with it’s mobility, and the Pz with it’s gun, for instance. It should be easy to find a tier V tank destroyer you will like, since they are so different. In my opinion, one stands out very clearly, and that is the T67. It’s the funniest to play among these, and right now, it is my favorite tank in the game. And I think it is the best one of these, the TDs at tier V.

Pros:

• It’s got a turret
• The speed, with a top speed of 61 km/h
• High rate of fire, with 18,75 rounds per minute. This gives it a high damage per minute, even if it’s penetration and alpha damage is low.
• Good gun depression, by 10 degrees

Cons:

• Bad armor, only between 19 and 25
• Slow turret traverse, by 18,8 degrees per second
• Slow hull traverse, by 32 degrees per second
• Low alpha damage, with 115 hp

You have to use your mobility with this tank. Because of the low alpha damage, you may be tempted to shoot several shots against a single enemy, but this is dangerous. One hit from a KV-2 and you are dead… So stay hidden, and shoot at what you’re allies spot. I recommend you get clutch breaking on the driver, sixth sense on the commander, snap shot on your gunner and camouflage on the rest of your crew. You should also choose camouflage as the second skill on all of your crew.

Let’s have a look at an Ace tanker game:

See all best/worst tanks here.