2 replies to this topic

[Rainybeet]

The ARL 44 is a "good tank on paper" is a phrase I hear alot, and I agree.  So what is wrong with it?  The problem is that the Matchmaker is not broken to give special consideration to tier 6 French and American heavies (and the KV-1s).

The problem with the matchmaker is that it does not take into consideration the makeup of the player pool.  The people complaining about being in the top 2% of the time fits with my experience as well, though it should be 20%.  The matchmaker will put an ARL44 (and any other tier 6 heavy) in tier 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 battles, and every tier higher adds 1 to the top and subtracts one tier from the bottom.

You should have a 20% chance of being top tank, a 20% chance of having tier 7s, 20% tier 8, 20% tier 9, and 20% tier 10.

If there were an equal number of people playing tier 6s as every other tier then it would work, but what are you going to do as soon as you finish grinding past your ARL44?  You are going to sell it!  Everyone sells it!

You may even only upgrade what you need to in order to get experience faster to get out of it faster, or use all your free XP to pass it.

How about the M6?  Same thing, almost nobody likes the M6, and so nobody plays them for fun.

How about the German tier 6 heavy . . . Oh wait, there is no German tier 6 heavy to figure into the equation, so now your chances are even more screwed up.

The ONLY tier 6 heavies worth playing are the KV-3 and the KV-1s, and most people would dissagree with the 1s.  When you add the Lowe and KV-5 to the equation you just increase the odds of the tier 6s facing tier 8s.

TDs get the same matchmaking, but there is a HUGE difference, the TDs dont need to get close to their targets.

They have good camo values (tough luck ARL44), they have good reload times (sorry ARL 44) and they have great accuracy so that they can stay far away from the front (ARL is not horrible, but it is a far cry from great).  The SU-100 is the accuracy and reload exception if you use the 122, but it actually moves faster and is is more maneuverable than an ARL 44 (twice the traverse of ARL actually), so if you are spotted you can relocate, unlike the ARL.

A tier 6 TD can make a huge difference in a battle with tier 7, 8, and 9 heavies, because it can probably hit and penetrate at least 2/3 of anything it gets into battle with, and walk away unscathed.  The ARL44 can penetrate 2/3 of what it meets, but it has a harder time hitting them, and once it does it is dead meat because it cannot get out of the way, does not have armor, and has no camo to speak of.

As primarily a TD player, I jump for joy whenever an ARL44 comes into view.  I would eat an ARL44 for breakfast with any tier 5 and up TD, even the Wolverine, and I hate the wolverine.

What needs to happen is that the Matchmaker needs to encourage tier 6 heavy tanks by taking the top tier out of the equation, so it never sees tier 10s, its odds of being top are increased, and it actually has a chance of helping out in a battle.  If they want to exclude the KV-3 then fine, they already have special matchmaking for the KV because they dominate when they are top tier.  The other option would be to screw with the tanks so that they have the accuracy of TDs, but they they would play like TDs and Mediums, not Heavies.  There are a million things you could fix on the ARL 44 or the M6, but they are actually fine for tier 6 tanks, they just never get to face other tier 6 tanks to prove that.

[Appollosnos]

I like the M6!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Duty_Remains]

Appollosnos, on Mar 27 2012 - 23:08, said:

I like the M6!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I would second that but I LOVE my M6!  I only like the ARL 44.

On topic, I don't feel the M6 or ARL 44 need any special attention... actually since the ARL-44 gets a 90mm with 212mm of penetration it handles higher tier battles better than anything else in tier 6 (but I'm currently using the 105m for more damage; with acceptable results so far).