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

There are eight tier VI heavy tanks (by patch 9.12):

• KV-2
• KV-85
• T-150
• VK 36.01 (H)
• M6
• ARL 44
• Churchill VII
• O-I

Note: I have not yet played the O-I, so it will be kept “out of the equation” for now, so to speak.

There are several good tanks here. In fact, only the Churchill is bad / very bad. Some might claim that the VK 36.01 is rather weak, but it actually has almost as good armor as it’s bigger brother, the Tiger I.

The KV-2 has the (in-)famous derp gun, and is sort of a different beast than the others. Therefore it is kind of difficult to compare it with the others, but it is perhaps the funniest one to play. 

As a “serious” contender for the title “best tier VI heavy tank”, the KV-85, the T-150, the VK 36.01, the M6 and the ARL 44 are the only real rivals. It might be an idea to have a look at the tech tree for each tank to see what line you will explore, but they all lead to decent or very good tanks.

My personal success with these tanks is a bit odd, I guess. I’ve had great success with the VK (62,3% win rate, one Radley-Walters medal). I thoroughly enjoyed the T-150 and actually kept it after unlocking the next one. I always enjoyed the M6, but did not perform well in it. The KV-85 (in it’s previous disguise, the old KV 1-S) got me my record for base experience (2.359 xp). The ARL 44, however, is a tank I really didn’t like.

The guns for the VK are actually quite bad. You have to choose between penetration and alpha damage. The top gun is okay in a tier VI battle, but it is almost useless in a tier VIII battle. Exit the VK.

The ARL has a low damage per minute, and I don’t like it, even with it’s 212 mm of penetration with it’s top gun. But 3,4 seconds of aim time is really, really bad. Exit the ARL.

What’s left is the KV-85, the M6 and the T-150. A good all rounder, a medium-ish american and a slow, fortress-like heavy. The KV-85 is a good tank, when you consider all the statistics. It does nothing really bad, but it doesn’t stand out in any way. The M6 is slightly better than the KV-85 on a lot of areas. What really gives it the edge is it’s mighty 10 degrees of gun depression, compared to the KV-85. Exit the KV-85.

So, do you want a tank for city maps (T-150) or a slightly better all round tank? You can play the M6 well on all (or most) maps, but the T-150 is such a good (and underrated) tank, that I have to choose it as the best tier VI heavy tank. When you are top tier in a city map, and there are no arty, you will be a very powerful opponent.

Pros:

• Decent (or even very good) armor
• High alpha damage
• Good gun traverse speed for a real heavy tank
• 167 mm of penetration can be put to work even in a tier VIII battle
• 7 degrees of gun depression is unexpectedly good for a Russian heavy
• Good side armor both on the hull and the turret

Cons:

• It’s slow, even if it’s top speed is supposed to be competitive
• Slow traverse speed
• Long aim time, by 3,3 seconds

Have a look at this replay for how an ace tanker game in the T-150 looks like, and why a very good player decides to keep it.

See all best/worst tanks here.