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

I have previously said that the Challenger is the worst tier VII tank destroyer in the game. Now, there is a new “king” in town…

There are ten tier VII tank destroyers in World of tanks (as of patch 9.17):

• SU-100M1
• SU-152
• Jagdpanther
• Sturer Emil
• T25 AT
• T25/2
• AMX AC mle. 46
• AT 7
• Challenger
• ikv 90 B

I have now played all of them, except the AT 7, and I am 100% certain that I can point to the (new) worst one. Some say the T25/2 is a bad TD, but I have still 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 SU 152 can make you giggle like a child, when you one shot Cromwells and other tier VI tanks.

(The best is the Jagdpanther, of course.)

The Challenger was the previous loser, but now we have the Swedish tanks. After playing the ikv 90 B for more than 60 battles, I hereby conclude: This is a turd of a tank destroyer. It is as reliable as an ice cube in the Sahara desert.

Pros:

• It has good camo rating
• Fast, at 65 km/h, but this only applies when falling of a cliff?
• 10 degrees of gun depression
• Wide gun ark
• The NEXT tank in the line might be fun

Cons:

• No armor
• Slow traverse speed
• Unreliable gun

When you play this, you cannot get spotted. Try that in the maps we have to endure… This tank only works in you can “kemp bush”. The penetration is supposedly 210, but it can easily bounce of the side of a light tank…

I hate every minute in this tank. It feels sluggish, and the gun is inaccurate as hell. It is supposed to have 0.33 of gun “precision”, but it behaves more like it has 0.37 or 0.38. You cannot trust the gun at all. 210 mm of penetration should be enough, but since it fires some sort of APCR ammo, you will struggle to penetrate if the armor on the enemy tank is sloped somewhat or if it is spaced.

Here is what an ACE tanker game looks like:

See all best/worst tanks here.

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

There are eight tier V tank destroyers in WOT, as of patch 9.16:

• 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. The T67 is the best, I think, even if it has no armor. The AT2 is the opposite, (one of?) the best armored tier V’s in the game.

However, it is quite easy to pick the worst one. A tier V tank that is slower than the T95…. It is the Archer. It’s top speed is 12 km/h. However, the reverse speed is 32 km/h, so you can escape fast. But this one is hopeless. Really bad. Even if the gun is decent. But it’s speed, combined with the armor, is horrible.

Pros:

• You can escape quite fast
• Good gun, penetration is 171, and DMP is 1915,5
• Good gun traverse.

Cons:

• Bad armor, 20 mm everywhere
• It’s slow!

You have to snipe with this tank. You can penetrate everything you meet, but damage is only 150, so don’t get spotted. 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, camouflage before snap shot on your gunner and camouflage on the rest of your crew. You should also choose camouflage as the second skill on your driver. But I’m confident you will not keep this tank.

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

Notice how the three heavy tank drivers on the enemy team doesn’t know how bushes work in World of tanks. Quite funny.

See all best/worst tanks here.

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

There are eight tier IV tank destroyers (as of patch 9.15):

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

It was difficult to choose the best one, as I said a while ago. If you ask almost anyone, they would call me mad or at least an idiot, because the Somua is a hated tank among a lot of people. But I did very well in that tank. My WN8 rating when I sold it was 2,038. Part of this is because I played it somewhat recently, after I had learned a lot about the game. I played only 17 battles before I sold it, but during those battles I had a win rate of almost 59% and got (at least) one Ace tanker game. Even if I should declare this as the worst tier iv tank destroyer, I can’t, Or rather: I will not.

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

There are nine tier VII tank destroyers in World of tanks (by patch 9.13):

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

I have played all of these, except the AT 7. It plays in a similar way to all the heavy british TD’s, so I have a pretty good idea what it’s like. When you look at at the characteristics of these tanks, they are quite different. The AT 7 is slow with very thick armor, the SU-152 has got a derp gun capable of killing tier VI tanks with a single shot, the SU-100M1 has got a ridiculous high rate of fire, while the T25/2 and Challenger has got turrets. The Jagdpanther, T25 AT and AMX AC are more “middle of the road”.

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

There are nine tier VI tank destroyers in the game (by patch 9.22):

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

I am not a fan of the slow british fortress TD line, where you find the AT 8. The Jagdpanzer IV looks good, but it’s gun has to low penetration. The Churchill Gun Carrier is nothing but a joke, even if the gun has great penetration.  The ARL V39 is the worst tier VI TD. This leaves the SU-100, the Nashorn, the Hellcat, the Jackson, the WZ-131G and the Achilles. Many of these are quite good. The Hellcat would have been the clear winner before it was nerfed in patch 9.3, because it was overpowered before the nerf. It’s still quite good, but now you have to choose between three different play styles to identify the best tank.

If you are a mobile or aggressive player, the Hellcat is the best one. The Achilles have a higher damage per minute, but since the gun has a lower alpha damage, you need to find a position where you can fire multiple shots without recieving return fire. It also has only 5 degrees of gun depression. On some maps it will do very nice, but on city maps it can be a challenge. I think the Jackson is better than the Achilles, but why choose the Jackson instead of the Hellcat? It’s slower, and even though it’s hull armor and the damage per minute is better, the Hellcat wins in the “mobility TD class”.

The remaining three TDs (WZ-131G, SU-100 and Nashorn) are very different from these. The SU-100 has a monster gun, if you can hit your target AND penetrate. 175mm of penetration is very good in a tier VI battle, but not so great in a tier VIII battle. The WZ-131G has slightly better penetration, but less alpha damage. The DPM is better. The gun mantlet armor on the SU-100 is great, but the rest of the front armor is only slightly ok. The WZ-131G hasn’t got a lot of armor. Basically, the WZ-131G is ok, but not great. It cannot win here, even if the camo rating is quite good.

The Nashorn has an excellent gun, with the best damage per minute and high penetration. Both the aim time and accuracy are excellent. The drawbacks are it’s armor and mobility. It is a “glass canon”, meant for sniping from distance. With a good crew, camo net and even camo paint, it can do the job. However; fewer and fewer maps are suited for sniping.

If you are an aggressive player, choose the Hellcat. If you are more of a second line player, following your heavy tanks at some distance, choose the SU-100. I recommend the SU-100, since I have a lot of turret-less TDs and is familiar with the play style of these.

Pros:

• Very high alpha damage at 390 hp.
• Good penetration at 175 mm
• Can bounce some shots from the front

Cons:

• Long aim time (2,8 seconds)
• Low accuracy (0,41)
• Low rate of fire
• No turret makes it vulnerable if it gets tracked

Have look at an Ace tanker battle where you can see the strengths and weaknesses of the gun:

See all best/worst tanks here.

Equipment for tank destroyers

I have covered equipment for heavy tanks and equipment for arty and light tanks earlier. Here, I will cover equipment for tank destroyers (“TDs”). There are basically to different types of TDs, and equipment choices will vary between the two types. Let’s do the TDs with a turret first.

TDs with a turret

TDs with a turret have less armor than those with a fixed gun (no turret), at least in the mid tier range. (Compare the two tier V British TDs AT 2 and the Archer, or the tier VII american TDs T25 AT and T25/2.) Some, like my favorite tier V TD, the T67, have absolutely no armor, and therefore, they should remain unspotted for as much of the battle as possible. TDs generally have a low view range. These factors have an impact on my recommended equipment choices for low and middle tier TDs with a turret.

1. A camouflage net is a must. Take the T67 as an example: It is very mobile, but the turret traverse speed is very low. You should not use it for close combat, but should keep your enemies on a distance, and remain unspotted. Choose camouflage for your first crew skill, and use a camouflage net. Since you can rotate your turret, you don’t have to move your tank to aim at the enemy tanks, and your camouflage net will remain active until you move your tank.
2. If your TD can fit ventilation, use it, especially on tanks you plan to keep. Ventilation improves almost all of your crews skills by 5 percent, like aiming and loading faster, for instance. Only a few turreted TDs can fit ventilation, however.
3. Binoculars improve your view range by 25 percent, after your tank has been stationary for at least 3 seconds, and is quite useful, obviously. I even use them on my tier 8 TD, the Charioteer, due to it’s almost non-existent armor. If your play style is more aggressive, consider coated optics instead, which gives you 10 percent increased view range at all times, also when you are on the move. You can also use coated optics in combination with binoculars.
4. If you cannot mount ventilation, you should choose between enhanced gun laying drive and a gun rammer. If the rate of fire is high, I would recommend a gun laying drive to decrease your aim time. Again, the T67 is a good example. It fires quite quickly, and aims quite quickly, but since the turret rotation speed is so slow, I think it’s important to decrease aim time. Since it can take a while to get your enemy in sight, I think it’s vital to aim as fast as possible. However, if your gun has a high alpha damage, but low rate of fire, you should consider the gun rammer, to increase your rate of fire. The Hellcat (tier VI american TD), is an example.

TDs without a turret

TDs without a turret have one serious flaw. If the tracks are damaged so they cannot rotate, they are defenseless. Since they (often) have more armor, the consequences of being spotted may be lower than for the turreted TDs. In my opinion, these are the best alternatives:

1. Ventilation is perhaps the best all round equipment to fit. Besides the advantages mentioned above, your crew’s repair skill is increased by 5 percent.
2. Mounting a tool box is actually a valid option, since it increases your repair speed by 25 percent. The longer you can wait before you have to use your repair kit, the better, since it can be the difference between a victory and a defeat in the final phases of the match.
3. Quite a few TDs without a turret have a narrow gun arc. The gun arc is the angle you can turn your gun from left to right without turning the whole tank. The shitty ARL V39 has only 14 degrees, while it’s predecessor, the S35 CA, has a whopping 44 degrees. When you have to rotate your tank, you have to re-aim to hit with your next shot. Therefore: On tanks with a narrow gun arc you should mount an enhanced gun laying drive to increase the accuracy.
4. The Hetzer is a popular German tier IV TD.  The funniest way to play this tank is with the “derp gun”, the 10,5 cm gun. It has a low rate of fire, so you should use a gun rammer to decrease the reload time. This is also a valid choice on all tanks with a low rate of fire, like the Russian tier VI TD SU-100.
5. Depending on your play style, you can also consider using binoculars instead of some of the equipment mentioned above.

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

There are five tier III tank destroyers in WOT, as of patch 9.9:

• SU-76
• Marder II
• T82
• Renault UE 57
• Valentine AT

These are not very different tanks, but they to vary, of course. Picking the best might be a bit difficult, since they are all ok, maybe except the Valentine. Both the T82 and the Marder have a lot of fans, but I actually mean the Renault UE 57 is the best. The armor on these things is not a topic to discuss, since they will meet tier V tanks from time to time. The T82 can mount a derp gun, but my verdict is based on its 57 mm gun. With that gun it is quite similar to the UE 57, but the UE has a better camo rating, and with these vehicles you need to hide.

Pros:

• Decent gun
• Good camo rating
• High rate of fire, and high DPM.

Cons:

• No armor
• Very bad hull traverse
• Narrow gun arc

You have to use stealth with this tank. Stay hidden, and shoot at what your 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.

My best game with the UE got me 8 kills. This is how 14 kills look like. Note the camo rating!

See all 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.

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.