I feel like developer just putting it out there to force people who played SPG to invest in tank line as well as the SPG line or else they have to suffer through one whole SPG tier(which is like 3x tank tier).
I dunno, I enjoyed the SU-14, but at the time I didn't know just how much better the S-51 was. I have managed to run the S-51 out of ammo, which is frustrating. You don't feel like you can take low probability shots in the S-51 when you're only packing 12 rounds.
I don't do that in su-14 because 40 seconds of load time.... plus su-14 only have 4 more rounds than s-51.
I don't know that this is the case, and if it is I don't think it's effective because the SU-26 and SU-5 are both excellent.
actually SU-5 is pretty shitty for it's tier too(talk about running out ammo in S-51, I ran out ammo pretty much 1 out every 3 battles in Su-5), su-26 is the best tier 3 arty, a fact that makes su-5 look bad by comparison. Su-8 is decent but still not too good vs other of the same tier. Pass tier 3, Grille is the best tier 4 arty, Hummel and M41 is better than Su-8 for tier 5, I think GwPanther pretty much take the the best arty at tier 6. anything above tier 6 just cost too much to play normally.
The SU-5 is by far the most accurate of the tier 4 arty. The Grille has more damage and range and is therefore the "best," but the SU-5 has excellent arcs and can therefore hit a lot of people who think they are safe. The shortage of ammunition is its main limitation.
Grille is .53 vs SU-5's .51 accuracy. it's slightly more accurate, but you can only carry 14 rounds.. at 6-7 rounds a minute, you run out in 2+ minutes...
On-paper accuracy figures are highly misleading, especially for artillery. Aim time and arc have much more to do with whether you can actually hit what you're shooting at than the rating on the info card. And there are also "hidden" factors; the M7 Priest has nominally superior accuracy and aim time to the Grille, yet it can't hit a goddamn thing. A better way to think about arty is that every potential target has an "exposure time," a window of time in which you could reasonably expect to hit it with a sufficiently well-aimed shot. The question becomes whether the properties of the weapon you're using will allow you to get that shot before the window closes. When you're running a base 75% crew on the Grille, the answer is often no. When you're running a 116% crew (100%+BIA; no vents due to open top) the answer is usually yes. So I won't dispute that the Grille is the better vehicle in terms of ultimate potential. But the SU-5 can hit most targets you can fire at from game 1, and shells tend to come down almost vertically on it, meaning that not only is it more accurate in practice (less eccentric target zones), it also has a higher than average chance of penetrating for full damage, and it can strike targets that are safe from other artillery. The SU-5 is also excellent at self-defense, which can be important in mid-tier matches. Since it's only midway up the tree, only people who are dedicated medium company players are likely to have the full 116% crew for it or the Grille.
As I understand it, it's rolled into their base stats. It seems to me that since skills work in proportion to the base stats, the numbers wouldn't work out right, but in any case, the skill score displayed on the crew tab will be 116%.
high arc is good for hitting the weak top armor, but also increase the time it takes for your round to travel, it's the same thing on Su-8, great arc, but take about 2.5 seconds to travel 850, while on Su-14, 800m only take 1.3 seconds to reach.
Nobody's perfect. Ironically, the short range of the SU-5 means it's not as big of a deal as it might otherwise be. Regarding the original topic of the post, now that the S-51 comes from the KV-2, the difference in XP is not as large as you might think because there's the additional KV-1 to KV-2 grind (if you didn't receive a free KV-2, of course) followed by the lateral KV-2 to S-51 grind. Of course, arty typically earn less experience per game than tanks, so it is longer. But, on the other hand, the crew experience you earn while grinding down the arty line will transfer (without gold training). So I think both paths have their merits. Even if unicorns are better than school buses.
I never transfer crew since I want to keep my SU-26 and SU-8. but it's not that hard to get a crew to 100%. I started at 75% and they are currently at 94% and I just finish fully upgrading the SU-14.I will have plenty of time to grind out crew seeing the 146k XP needed for t7. not sure if I want to keep going since T7 soviet SPG sucks too. might do french light -> french arty, at least French's t8 arty rocks.
To go from 75% to 100% is still over 70k XP, nothing to sneeze at. And because artillery aiming considerations operate strongly at the margins, you're significantly less effective while underskilled--it could be costing you a lot in earnings. I'm not saying that you have to do things one way or another, only that it matters to some people. For CW, the BatChat 155 and T92 are the preferred ones. Typ Es suffer from extremely poor speed, so if the preferred set up position on that map is close to the spawn, they can be quite effective, but they carry a risk of being overrun or not being able to get shots due to bad positioning. Obj. 261s have shorter aim time, but I think their role has mostly been taken over by the 155. You still see them from time to time. For pubbing, I hear they are all pretty usable, but I'm not a big-time arty player; my biggest one is the GW Tiger.
not in a Clan so I don't do any clan war, mostly just play with some friends in platoons. since it's Pub it's really easy for me to get taken out early due to how slow su-14 is because I can't even move out of spawn. if I can survive first 3 minutes, then usually I do pretty well, but if I get spotted, it's game over for me since the chance of me getting away is next to nil..
Unlocked Cromwell. Muah ha hah ha. May not be most effective T6 medium, but certainly great fun, sold my M4E8 as it won't be played much (if at all) with this in the garage. It's basically a big, boxy T50 with teeth.
I guess the difference between whether or not to crew transfer is that it takes a much shorter amount of time to jump between tank tier, while it takes a very long time to research the next tier SPG, I max my crew already and training BiA, about 60% into it, and I'm only about half way to the next tier of SPG in term of xp, it's around 148k xp and I only have 76k currently.
The Obj 212 is so much better than the SU-14, it's not even funny. Accuracy is much better, ability to tighten your ring is better, and it is faster to get into position. The stats lie, on paper it doesn't look to be that much an improvement, but IMO it's huge. And if would have done it again, I would have went the S-51 route as the SU-14 was such a painful grind. I'm 90K away from the 261 and looking forward to it. And a final note while talking about soviet arty - I still take my SU-8 out as I think it's the best arty for it's tier, distance notwithstanding.
other than faster to get to position, rest of it doesn't seem to be true since it use the same gun as su-14.. the default armament stat is using the base gun which is the low tier su-14 gun.
Like we've said, the paper stats are highly misleading. You really ought to trust the people who have actually used the vehicles in question and not what the info card says.
How about stock? That starting gun looks terrible, is it worth trying to grind out, or better to just wait until I have enough xp to skip past it?
8.2 patch is up and (apparently) live yet. Downloading right now. I've been drawn back into this game since resolving my connection issues and have dropped an embarrassing amount of money on Gold for premium tanks, 100% crews, and XP conversion.
It's only embarrassing if you're the only one doing it, And you're not the only one doing it. WoT was supposed to be my stopgap until MWO and PS2 but it ended up being my refuge from those games too.
Okay, who is going to take one for the team and buy some of those premium tanks? I was interested in the new French heavy right up until I saw the $50 price tag. The British TD looks painful to play- unless it has heavily armoured tracks I won't go near it. The British heavy looks like a joke. Its length makes it like a tank version of the human caterpillar.
I got a T34 last month and 6 months of premium so I exhausted my WoT budget for a while. The frenchie T8 looks like a bit tougher AMX 50 100 with a weaker gun, but I already have an AMX 50 100.
Um, I tried to post this reply earlier but apparently it didn't go through as I was having connection problems. What tank are you referring to? If it's the Obj. 212, the 212 shares a gun with the SU-14/S-51 and also is compatible with enhanced suspension, so there's no need to spend free XP to avoid the stock gun.
Like Nathan I bought a T34 last month, but should have waited for the French FCM50, which by all accounts is excellent. Kinda like an M26 Pershing, only faster, and classified as a heavy tank. At an HP/ton ratio of 18.4 it can really move, which allows it to flank well enough to make use of its gun (which has pretty good aim time, gun depression, damage and penetration). More details in this thread (not by me). The T34 was the least terrible tank out of a bunch of terrible choices (the actually decent Type 59 was not on sale) and I don't really enjoy driving it. But ... I held off on buying any premium tanks for two years, activating a premium account instead whenever I was advancing through a tank line, but now I'm glad I finally did buy one. I never need to run a premium account ever again, with the money these things bring in (even on a bad game).
The T34 is less a good tank and more an average platform for a good gun. I like it better now than the type 59 but that's mainly because the type 59 has been both tweaked down in effectiveness and also has lost its preferential matchmaking. The type 59 still holds my record for earnings in a single match - 262k - in a company battle in which I got 5 kills with it and had 22 hits for damage, but the T34 is a more consistent earner.
It's actually a bad platform for a good gun. It's the reverse of most other premiums, which are good platforms for awful guns.
The turret front armor alone makes it better than a bad platform. If you use it in the right places you can bounce a very good amount of fire. I agree with your assessment of most other premium tanks though. The Lowe is another example if a less than stellar gun platform for a solid gun, but I don't have one because it seems to be made of engineonfireium.
The T71 is hilariously fun to drive, by the by. It's essentially another 13/75, but adorable looking.
The T21 is a shitty T20. It's the old version, with crap gun a tier down and less armor. The T71 is essentially a 13/75 that can actually hit targets at range reliably (if stationary and sniping) and haul ass around the map. The thing drifts like a fucking T-50 though, so be wary. I died last night trying to make a turn that all my mediums make, and drifted right off the side of a cliff. I also intercepted a T-50 at full speed to stop his arty run, and could have jumped a Maus with the air a I caught from the impact.
After 170 battles in the FV4202 (the tier 10 British medium) I sold it and bought back the tier 9 Centurion Mark 7/1. Just got tired of constantly being thrown into tier 10 battles in a 40kph tank that is so large. FV4202, arty bait is thy name. Especially with arty now throwing gold rounds around for 50% greater splash range. The 7/1 gets essentially the same gun but one tier lower (a bit longer aim time), is almost as maneuverable, has the same excellent gun depression, and the armor is paper on them both anyway. So, for anyone contemplating advancing along the British medium line, trust me, there's little point in going all the way to tier 10. At least until they buff the top medium in some way (SPEED!) to make the more brutal matchmaking worthwhile.
