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

There are five tier V light tanks  (by patch 9.19):

• T-50
• Chaffee
• M7
• Leopard VK 16.02
• AMX ELC bis

All light tanks now get regular matchmaking.

Vital tips for playing light tanks in lower tiers – UPDATED

Too often, I see new players playing light tanks complaining about being bottom tier. Light tanks are meant to be bottom tier, due to the characteristics of their tanks: Being sneaky/having good camo rating, being fast, and having a long view range. Light tanks now got normal matchmaking, and they see tanks of the same tier as themselves and as all other types of tanks (+/- 2 tiers).

Light tanks keep their camo rating while on the move, unlike any other type of vehicle in the game. And if you compare view range, it is very obvious: M24 Chaffee has 390 meters view range, while the Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. H has 350. 40 meters might not seem like a lot, but in the game, it is enough.

So, how should you play light tanks? Let’s first have a look at how you should NOT play them.

Best and worst tanks by tier and type – best tier III light tank

There are fourteen tier III light tanks  (by patch 9.14):

• BT-7
• T-46
• T-70
• Pz. Kpfw. 38 (t)
• Pz. Kpfw. I Ausf. C
• Pz. Kpfw. II Ausf. G
• M3 Stuart
• AMX 38
• Cruiser Mk. II
• Cruiser Mk. IV
• Stuart I-IV
• (Cz10) LT vz38
• Type 2597 Chi-Ha
• Type 98 Ke-Ni

None of these get matchmaking as scout tanks. When I started to write this post, I noticed it would be difficult to argue for my choice. There are a lot of good tanks here, actually. As I have mentioned, I’m doing a reroll to experience these tanks without having decent crews. I noticed very fast that many of these are fun to play.

Best and worst tanks by tier and type – worst tier II light tank

There are seventeen (!) tier II light tanks in WOT, as of patch 9.14:

• BT-2
• T-26
• T-60
• Pz.Kpfw.35 (t)
• Pz.Kpfw.I
• Pz.Kpfw.II
• M2 Light tank
• D1
• FCM 36
• Hotchkiss H35
• Renault R35
• Cruiser Mk.I
• Cruiser Mk.III
• M2
• Cz03 LT vz35
• Vickers Mk.E Type B
• Type 95 Ha-Go

I am currently on a reroll to test these vehicles in order to identify the best and worst light tanks. I’ve yet to play them all, but I am quite confident I can say which one is the worst.

But first: These light tanks do not play like the high tier light tanks. They are not scout tanks,and they meet only tier I, II and III. Low tier tanks tend to have almost equal armor and penetration values. The difference between light tanks and medium tanks in the lower tiers is of limited significance.

And even if a tank is bad, you can grind through it in very few battles. If you win and perform well, two or three battles should be enough. So you do not need to stick with tier II for long.

Among the best in this category are the following: BT-2,  M2 light tank, both the cruiser tanks, Cz03 and Type 95. During my battles one tank stood out as especially bad. That is the T-26. It has got no good features when in battle, even if it on paper should be average or even better than average in this class. The gun wouldn’t behave at all and it was really slow. I tried it for quite a number of battles when I discovered how bad it actually performed, to see if I was correct or not. But no. It is terrible, even if I do not know why.

Pros:

• High ammo capacity – but who need 140 shells?
• High penetration – but all of these tanks penetrate their opponents…
• The next tank in the line (T-46) is quite fun, even in tier V and you do not have to play many battles in the T-26

Cons:

• To slow
• The gun does not behave. Even fully aimed shots can miss by a mile

I was surprised how bad the tank performed, compared to other tier II lights. The statistics do actually lie, it seems?

Here is how an Ace tanker looks like:

This guy also has some useful tips, so pay attention. (But I disagree with his verdict on the T-26…)
See all best/worst tanks here.

Best and worst tanks by tier and type – worst tier IV light tank – UPDATED

There are ten tier IV light tanks  (by patch 9.13):

• A-20
• T-80
• Pz. Kpfw. 38 (t) n.A.
• Pz. Kpfw. II Luchs
• M5 Stuart
• Covenanter
• Valentine
• M5A1 Stuart
• Type 5 Ke-Ho
• AMX 40

All light tanks now get regular matchmaking. Those marked with * are scout tanks. The others get regular matchmaking: Tier IV scout tanks will meet enemies from tier IV to tier VII. Here, I will focus on tier IV light tanks that are not scout tanks.

Equipment for light tanks and artillery

One question you will come to ask yourself is “what kind of equipment should I use on my tanks?” I will try to answer this, based on recommendations I’ve seen and heard, and based on my own experiences.

The type of equipment you should use depends on what type of tank you are driving. Let’s run through them type by type. But first a few words about my “philosophy” when it comes to using a tank’s strengths and weaknesses. Very few tanks are good allround tanks, maybe except tier IX and X medium tanks. Most tanks and types have certain strengths and weaknesses, and you have to play them accordingly. When it comes to equipment you can either use it to compensate for weaknesses or to enhance it’s strengths.

My personal philosophy is to equip tanks to increase their strengths, and to use their relative advantages to the fullest. This also includes what kind of crew skills I choose.

Light tanks

I may be a bit controversial on this one. Really good light tank drivers will certainly recommend something different than I do, but my choice is what I think is the correct setup for newbies up to medium good players:

1. A camouflage net increase your tank’s stealthiness by 10% when you have been standing still for 3 seconds or more. Even if there are fever and fever maps with bushes for passive scouting, there still are enough possibilities. (Only yesterday my passive scouting in a match resulted in 4.250 assistance damage, and I became the best player on my team.) If you move, the camouflage net loses it’s effect, but it is a great equipment on the right map. And you can move a net from tank to tank without any cost.
2. Binoculars increase your view range by 25% when you have been stationary for more than 3 seconds. Therefore it is – like the camouflage net – for passive scouting only. Remember that even if your tank has a view range of more than for example 500 meters, the maximum view range in the game is actually 445 meters. What those extra meters of view range means, is that your view range will be used to reduce the effect of the enemy’s combined camouflage “effect”. (= camouflage value on a tank + camouflage net + camouflage skills on the crew)
3. You can not win a game only by passive scouting. So the third equipment I use on light tanks is coated optics, which gives you an extra 10% view range when on the move. This might not sound like a lot, but remember that light tanks keep their camouflage values when they move. A good scouter moves a lot when passive scouting is not possible. So that extra 10% will be enough to spot a heavy tank with a low view range.

Better players than me will definitely choose equipment that increase the performance of the gun, for instance a vertical stabilizer. I have played the tier VI american light tank T37 a lot lately. At first I used binoculars, coated optics and vents, but then I swapped the vents for the camouflage net, and I think my performance in that tank increased after I change the equipment.

On tier VIII light tanks gun performance is more important, but for tier IV to VII I believe my setup is quite okay. On tier I to III you can use a toolbox instead of coated optics, since you can move it for free to other tanks. (Spending 500.000 in game credits for equipment on a tier I tank is a bit….. silly?)

Arty

It is in my opinion a lot easier to choose equipment on an arty than on and other type of tank. To maximize the strengths of an arty you have to focus on reload and aim time. Therefore the setup is:

1. An enhanced gun laying drive increases the aim speed by 10%. Anyone who has played an arty knows how frustrating it is to wait for the gun to aim fully.
2. An artillery shell rammer decreases the reload time by 10%. You just have to use one!
3. The third equipment is a difficult one to choose. I have tried different ones, and on my artillery I now have three different equipment in the third slot: A spall liner (increases the protection from light vehicles which will find you), camouflage net (see above) and vents, which will decrease reload and increase aim speed. Choose any. When your crew has got reasonable camouflage skill, you might want to choose not to use the net. Vents might be the best all round equipment.

On a later post I will recommend equipment for medium tanks, tank destroyers and heavy tanks.

Best and worst tanks by tier and type – best tier IV light tank (scout) – UPDATED

There are ten tier IV light tanks  (by patch 9.19):

• A-20
• T-80
• Pz. Kpfw. 38 (t) n.A.
• Pz. Kpfw. II Luchs
• M5 Stuart
• Covenanter
• Valentine
• M5A1 Stuart
• Type 5 Ke-Ho
• AMX 40

All light tanks now get regular matchmaking.

Only those marked with * are scout tanks. The others get regular matchmaking: Tier IV scout tanks will meet enemies from tier IV to tier VII.