kedaha
3801
The IS4 has better armour than the VK, more heavily sloped, better turret/track traverse, faster, much smaller and harder to hit profile, and mounts a better gun. It only loses out on signal range, and aiming time.
Head on, my Tiger II really struggles with the IS4, and I still get a good few ricochet/failed to penetrate on the sider. VK in comparison is a joke!
I never liked the PzKw IV as implemented in this game. The goofy turret and the overall poor mobility just killed it for me, though it can pack a nice gun for its tier. The VK 3601H is not a bad tank once upgraded, and from the front is pretty tough, but it just doesn’t seem as fun to me as a T-34-85, for instance.
I’m closing in on my M12, which I’m looking forward to, but being able to actually have the credits for all these beasts is proving to be a challenge.
IS-4 armor is quite good–I have a hard time understanding the “weak as butter” comment Sean made a couple posts above this one. In fact, many players, myself included, prefer to drive the IS-4 over the IS-7 because of its armor. Both mount the same gun, but the IS-7 is faster and more maneuverable while the IS-4 is smaller and far better armored.
Just from my personal experience. Front armor yes but side and rear are weak. Of course a good tanker will always keep his front to the enemy where possible.
Both of those tanks have fantastic armor. The is-7 has weak rear but it is, after all, the rear.
kedaha
3806
The only tank with better side armour than the IS4 is the Maus, and the IS4 has somewhat sloped armour and a tiny profile.
I’m not advancing past my Tiger II, but I’m working on the KV to start moving up the Russian line.
It’ll be interesting when it gets bumped to Tier 10. Rumor has it that it won’t keep the same gun as the IS-7. I think the devs stated they want the IS-4 to be a ‘tank’, with the IS-7 being the damage dealer.
Dejin
3808
My Tier VII and IX mediums have serious trouble penetrating an IS-4 even from the side. I often can’t even track it, even when I aim for the treads and I get the ding sound indicating I’m doing critical damage to one of the components.
The only thing I can think of that’s got tougher side armor than an IS-4 is a Maus.
schurem
3809
In beta I drove an IS4 for a short while. King Tigers genuinely scared me because they could penetrate me. It is the god tank though.
I’m on the euro server as [drumroll] schurem. Really enjoying the tier 5-7 vehicles too much (got about 15 of 'em!)
Yeah, shooting at IS-7s often feels like an exercise in futility, though perhaps the Maus is just as bad. I usually just run away.
What I’ve seen developers say is that they currently position T10 heavies in 3 different roles - tanks, damagers and “universal” (i.e. fast but not so armored and so damaging). Currently the Maus is a tank, T30 is the damager and the IS-7 is universal. New T10 tanks are going to be: IS-4 = tank, E-100 = damager and the two US tanks are going to be damager and universal IIRC.
About the T-44 ammo rack. The word is (and I haven’t seen developers say anything about it) the number of rounds you pack into the fight affects the chance to get the ammo rack blown up. If it’s true, it explains why I don’t get one-shotted that often (twice in about 80 fights so far) - I only fill up about half of the ammo rack (and haven’t ran out so far).
In other news, I got rid of the 122 mm gun on the T-44. The last straw was when I didn’t penetrate the Easy Eight and had to wait forever to reload. With a firing rate 3.5 rps, it really needs to have better penetration and accuracy than the 100 mm gun, otherwise it’s worthless.
With all the credits I’ve made during the double-credits day (wooping 2.5 mil), I was finally able to get the SU-100. What a great TD! Pretty much as fast as the T-44, great gun for its tier (the 2nd gun is btw almost the same as the T-44’s 100 mm and works much better on a 6th tier tank :)) I am going to enjoy this TD.
The SU-100 is a great TD and is one of my favorites.
Ok, I know some folks just love the KV-13, but I have to ask–why? I have one now, with the upgraded turret and the nice 85 (unlocked from another tank). It has good health, and good durability, but it’s not very fast, and only moderately maneuverable. The 85 is inadequate against the tanks I’m facing, even the mediums, especially against the frontal armor. And it’s lack of speed and maneuverability makes getting flanking shots difficult. So what exactly am I supposed to do in this thing?
I mean, I want to like it–the size, shape, and general configuration is good, and it seems on paper to be decent, but I have more trouble using this thing effectively than anything else, largely because of the guns it has available. Truthfully, though, I only plan to drive it until I unlock the IS.
schurem
3814
it is no T-44 speedwise, but its pretty good.
You will most certainly die if you run off right when the clock hits zero. This is ok, you can make pretty good xp/cash being a suicide scout because the thing takes a good while to die. The thing to do is to wait till the main lines join battle. Then use your speed and agility to get some damage in on the weak side. pwnage ensues.
Because of the weak ass gun and the tough nose, you need to drive this thing agressively. You can not sit still and you can not play peek-a-boo. you can make an end run to his weak side and pwn his ammo rack and engine for all you’re worth.
shit you’ll still die a lot, but you’ll also sometimes turn the tide, punch way above your weight and feel like a badass armoured samurai motherfucker as you look at your burning wreck.
Wicks
3815
I love my KV-13 but I’m not sure I could tell you why. I tend to hang back, snipe, let the battle develop and then pounce where I see back needed or an opportunity. Equipment-wise there’s nothing that jumps out other and the gun is underpowered for it’s tier. It’s armor does seem to bounce a lot of hits. As far as my stats in it, it’s about on par with my other tanks except I’ve won many more medals in it then any of my other tanks and I have no idea why.
I’m having a similar experience in my Slugger at the moment. I’m only about 40 matches in and I hate the thing, but I’m inexplicable swinging a 70% winning percentage, better then any other tank I’ve had with the same number of matches.
Thanks for the tips. I’ll try the aggressive approach, as normally I’m a sniper, but that gun ain’t gonna win any sniping competitions.
ShivaX
3817
Isn’t the KV-13 stupid fast once you fully upgrade it?
I always thought that was its strength.
It is fast, but not terribly good on the acceleration or agility. a fun thing to do in a -13 is to run down the hill at campinovka, slightly swerving (small taps on left and right buttons only) and making a straight run past the defenders into the arty parking spot. if you dont die from a mass of well aimed big-ass bullets, chaos ensues. fun times :D
It’s definitely not a drag racer. It’s not sluggish like a Ram II but it’s nowhere near as nimble as a T-34-85 or an Easy 8. But as schurem notes, going downhill it can get up to a good clip.
Talorc
3820
Surpisingly, the suggestions for how to drive the KV-13 exactly mirror the way I would suggest to drive the RAM-II - fast agressive and in their face.
The armor/hit points is good enough to shrug off a shot or two, it goes decently fast once it gets head of steam, and while the gun is nothing to write home about it is accurate and very fast firing - so perfect for shooting into the soft side and flanks. In a battle where things go your way (and doesnt have like 6 Lowe’s) I’ve had great fun driving it like that.
the crew on it now is 100% / 70% repair so I am hoping to move them over to the M7 medium when I get it.
M5 stuart with the howitzer is still my “best” tank for kills. Absolutely pwns when in an equivalent tier match - very fast (A-20 speed), armor that can bounce a few shots and one shot kills.
