World of Tanks

[DGuller]

More than any other tank I've played so far, KV was so much hate at first, and so much love later.

Based on it just being crap when you first get it but good when it gets upgraded, or based on learning how to play it?

Both.  KV was my first heavy tank, and its slowness at everything took some getting used to.  You can't drive fast, you can't turn the turret fast, you can't aim fast, and you can't fire fast.  Your moves need to be more deliberate in that beast.

It is also quite crap stock.  KV's one virtue are the two big guns it can sport with the stupid ass turret.  Without the big guns, it's just a slow target full of weak points.

[Berkut]

Seems like it starts out slow, then gets slower. The engine upgrade doesn't have anymore HP than stock!

How do you find out about weak points?

[DGuller]

Seems like it starts out slow, then gets slower. The engine upgrade doesn't have anymore HP than stock!

How do you find out about weak points?

Not sure about own tank, but you can figure out the weak points of your enemies by pointing a crosshair at them, and seeing which spots give you a green one.  It obviously works best with a middling gun: one which is strong enough to be able to penetrate some places, but not strong enough to penetrate every place.

[Slargos]

Some weak points can be googled. The popular Löwe, for instance, has several weak spots in the front that if targeted can be easily penetrated. It's possible to penetrate its armour like a hot knife through butter by bouncing a shell against the turret just under the gun mantlet so that it ricochets down into the driver's compartment. It's not something I typically aim for, however, when facing the Löwe. I just aim for the lower glacis and try to spend as little time as possible aiming, since often it's possible to dodge back into cover while he's waiting for his aim to improve.

As a rule of thumb, you can specifically target viewports, hatches and the lower glacis plate. Some tanks also have other weak points, and if you know where the ammo is stored in a tank, or where the engine is located it can be effective to target them.

Generally, if I'm facing a tank head on I simply try to aim for the lower glacis since most of the time you're not close enough to get a reliable shot on such a small target as a view port. Only hit the turret if it's your only target since other than the KV most turrets are poor targets since they're heavily armoured and often sloped. Sometimes I will purposely fire at the gun in order to disable it, and it can be a last-ditch attempt if you're facing a single tank which you can't really hurt. If you get lucky and take out his gun and he doesn't have a repairkit you have anywhere between 20-30 seconds to try to get in behind him and get a few shots in.

Bigger SPGs can typically take a lot of damage, but if you manage to sneak a shell in past the armour they're typically easy to take out. Same goes for the low tier german and US TDs who have open turrets or casemates.

If all else fails, try for a shot in their ass. 

Don't forget that if they are angled in a way that your shell won't hit at or close to 90 degrees, the probability of a bounce is increased, so always try to aim for areas of the tank with the greater or smaller angle than about 30 degrees. Same goes for your own tank of course. If you can help it, don't face your attacker head on. Always slightly angle your tank.

[katmai]

So if one wanted to go blow up douchebags like oh i don't know...racists Swedes who can't make a living in their own country so have to be dirty ex-pat, how would one go about this?

[Slargos]

You'd have to join the Euro server. And unfortunately there are server checks on TK so you can't pull your usual shenanigans, but have to OFFICIALLY be a part of the opposing team. 

[katmai]

Bah!

[MadBurgerMaker]

I was looking through the section about this game on another forum and noticed there were some skins you can use to show you where the different weak spots/compartments/etc are on the various tanks.  Useful as a "training aid," and no, the devs don't care if you use it.   B&W version is available for those who don't like multicolored tanks.  Dude also said he'd be putting together some screenshots for those who didn't want to use the skins in game, etc.

http://forum.worldoftanks.com/index.php?/topic/38001-hitzones-skins-for-actual-version-065-topic-updated/

I have better links in case those are really slow for you.  I also see the WoT official forums haven't gotten any better. 

[Berkut]

What is with the KV research?

You have an engine that is no improvement over vanilla, and a turrent that is actually WORSE than vanilla? I don't get it.

[DGuller]

The turret is required to house the very big guns, and it does have more hitpoints.  Hitpoints come in hand when the light tank is circling you and firing at your impressive turret, while you're trying to catch him at 2 degrees of rotation per hour.

[Razgovory]

What is with the KV research?

You have an engine that is no improvement over vanilla, and a turrent that is actually WORSE than vanilla? I don't get it.

The KV wasn't that good a tank in reality.

[DGuller]

It was crap against good tanks, but it did a number on the lightly armed and lightly armored German tanks that first marched into Soviet Union.  Many KVs would keep knocking out Germans until they broke or ran out of ammo, which would be often.  That's pretty much what the in-game KV is like too.

[Berkut]

It was crap against good tanks, but it did a number on the lightly armed and lightly armored German tanks that first marched into Soviet Union.  Many KVs would keep knocking out Germans until they broke or ran out of ammo, which would be often.  That's pretty much what the in-game KV is like too.

Of course, in the game you aren't going up against a bunch of PzIIIs and PZIVs. You are going up against Korean war era heavy tanks.

[Slargos]

The KV was a huge frustration until I got the Tier 6 tanks and TDs. Up until then it felt like an extremely unreasonable vehicle.

[Razgovory]

It was crap against good tanks, but it did a number on the lightly armed and lightly armored German tanks that first marched into Soviet Union.  Many KVs would keep knocking out Germans until they broke or ran out of ammo, which would be often.  That's pretty much what the in-game KV is like too.

It was crap because it was so poorly made that it broke down constantly.  Any tank that requires a hammer to change the gears is not a good tank.