Tuesday, 28 December 2010

The T-54: Yet another OP Russian Tank?

After the patch we have noticed a few more T-54's, Pershings, GW Panthers and the new tanks filtering through into our fights and having played alongside/gone up against most of them, I have to say that they have added a bit more spice to the game...

But as the numbers of T-54's increase, I am hearing more and more about the Russian T-54 tank being overpowered more and more.... Is this the case of yet another Russian tank perceived to be overpowered or just a case of a community unable to adjust to certain other tanks?

The T-54 in it's current form is fast, it turns like a T-44 and packs an enormous whallop with it's 100mm gun. The armour is thick and well sloped in many places and the main T-34-5/T-43/T-44 issue regarding the flimsy and exposed ammo rack seems to have been addressed in the main.

I have faced off against the T-54 in tanks ranging from my lowly KV with 107mm to my ISU-152 with it's BL-10. In all honesty their low profile and high armour make them a tough opponent to take down but I haven't had too much issue penetrating them. They also seem to be resistant to tracking attempts and hard to pin down.

My observations have shown me that I very often damage them for 0% in areas where I would expect to deal damage. It will take a few more days for us all to see how the T-54 plays out and then form a better judgement of this tank.

So far the complainers seem to be the ones that thought the T-44 was completely overpowered compared to the Panther. It is still my opinion that they share different roles and those who complain about the disparity between the Panther/T-44 and Panther II/T-54 are those who cannot fathom how to play the Panther/Panther II to it's strengths and more often try to use it like a T-44/T-54.

Having trouble with penetrating the T-54 or want to weigh into the debate? Join us on the World of Tank Forums T-54 thread.

Check out my other World of Tanks previews and guides

6 comments:

peril1337 said...

What about the Pershing? It looks to be just an inferior T-54.

ElcomeSoft said...

Relative to the Russian and German trees, not many people had Tier 8 medium tanks and after the last patch, mediums were rather underpowered and the US mediums were underpowered compared to the German and Russian side. This leads to not may Pershings or Pershing players around at this time.

So far I have encountered two in close combat and I have not been impressed. Like most American tanks they seem to be a middle ground between German tanks and Russian tanks and fail at doing that well. (generalisation)

Anonymous said...

I personally find the T-54 a bit on the overpowered side. It has the survivability of a heavy without any of the heavies drawbacks. I recently went up against a T-54 with me in my IS-3 and a team mate in a KT and the T-54 approached us down a road for 100 meters on a straight line, we both got two shots of (on his front armour) and both of my AP shells bounced. The KT then rammed the T-54. This stopped him dead and we both opened up on him but he still was taking laughable amounts of damage even when firing at his sides... It felt a lot like trying to shoot an IS-7 with a PzII... "just dinged him"... In the end the T-54 managed to kill the KT by simply slugging it out even with me firing on him at the same time. Only when I could get a shot in from behind (which doesn't happen often as a heavy VS a medium) did I manage to destroy him.

I think a slight nerf is definitely called for. Either the T-54s speed should be closer to a heavy, it's armour should be weaker or it's weapon nerfed. As it currently stands I don't see much point in playing a heavy when I can get a medium that can take the same beating and deal nearly the same damage (and actually deals way more damage due to higher manoeuvrability and being able to flank etc.)

Maybe I was just immensely unlucky tho... I hope there will be a soft-wipe sometime soon so I can re-train to T-54 and try it out myself.

bazker said...

Its tier 9 tank, what do you expect? It must be as strong as IS-4. Dont you Think?

There were times when hevies rules WoT. Now they has pack of challengers:)

No more "I slowly go down the hill and pown what I want"

Anonymous said...

Good point besker :P.The T54 is still a tier IX tank so dont expect it too be easy too destroy just cause u a heavy ....I faced T54 and didnt have issues penetrating it.Sometimes it bounces off cause well it has sloped armor.But i penetrated it with an M6 with 90mm from sides(of course it pwnt me but the point is i did 30% too it).I myself im very happy tier IX mediums are here we can finally compete with all heavy tanks.

Anonymous said...

Ok Anonymous, if the T54 is a tier IX tank then I would expect the Pershing, also a tier IX tank, to have similar capabilities. You take a Pershing against the KV and IS3 in the example above and the first 2 shots would have tracked it and damaged it to 50%. When the Pershing shot back it would have hit the KV for at most 30% dmg and the IS for no more then 15% and more than likely it would have bounced against the IS3. The T54 is overpowered in armor, speed and weapons. Period.

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