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So now that I have unlocked the last goal I had, which was the IS-4, I am thinking of going to the T-54.  I already have a Type-59, but I really like what I've seen with the T-54.  I need help deciding which path on the tree to take.  I have the A-20 researched up to the point I can unlock the T-34.  I also have the KV-1s researched, so I could always ho towards the KV-13 then into the T-43.

So my choices are the KV-13 -> T-43 -> T-44 -> T-54 route, or the T-34 -> T-34-85 -> T-43 -> T-44 -> T-54

What would you guys suggest?

Why the shortest path of course.  Unless you like the pain and torture of the extra grind.

Just because it has less tanks doesn't make it "shorter". >.>

I personally enjoyed the medium line. If I hadn't of played the T-43, I would have had no idea how to be successful in the T-44.

The T-43 has ***** armor and in turn, FORCES you to flank to be successful. I learned a lot by going up that line.

Have not yet gotten to the T54, but when you get to the T44 - enjoy it. Great tank.

I took the t-34, 34-85, 43, 44 path myself and really enjoyed it.  I think the only painful tank was the 43.  I think that path really gives you plenty of chances to learn how to play the 54 as each tank seems to get closer and closer to what you drive with a fully upgraded 54.  BTW I hated the grind from stock 54 to fully loaded 54.

From what my friend has told me, the T-34-85 was a pain to play. I also am looking at both the stats of the T-43, and the KV-13, and it seems the KV-13 is better. Although I'd have to have someone clarify that for me.

I'd say go the KV-13 route.

And miss out of the T-34 and T-34/85? Not to overhype them, but they are really good tanks (although it should be noted due to thier armor, they are unfriendly to those who are not carful).

Well if the T-54 is your goal, the KV-13 it is... as was mentioned in an earlier post.

The KV-13 is better then the T-43... but not by a wide margin.

I went the regular grind, so here is my opinion.

T-34: fun to meish, sure its fun to circle around some tanks with the 57mm, but the lack of solid damage against tier 6+ is kinda disappointing.
T-34-85 : Probably the tank that i hated the most. Sure it has the idiot gun and I had some epic moments in hull down and came victorious, but i really didn't enjoyed the tank much.
T-43: an improvement to the 85, i had massive fun with the 122mm gun while grinding the turret. Afterwards, well I did love the increase in HP and Armour, but unless you flank, you are pretty much ***** (unless you are in a tier 7 battle)
T-44: Loved the tank, enjoyed the LB-1, its capacity to speed like a devil.... and bounced some pretty dangerous shots (while for some reason PZ 4 and VK3600 penned me constantly) That said I sold it to get my 54 and haven't looked back.
T-54: I LOVE THIS THING. I've bounced : E-75, bat chats, Pattons, IS-3, King tigers, T34(pre buff). The downside, I'm still half way to the nice gun and the costs really hurt my pocket when going non premium. That said, if you survive for more than 4 mins, you will usually do well.

Hope this helps

I thought the T-34 was a blast.
I thought the T-34-85 was fun for a while, but I had to play it a little longer than I wanted to. If you have Premium, this shouldn't be a problem.
I've only just started the KV-13, so I can't comment on it yet, but I know people who loved it.

Can't go wrong either way, basically.  

Some really good replies here, I appreciate it.  

I am tempted to do the T-34 line, since I've been grinding the IS-4 I'm kind of tired of the heavy tanks for a while.  Only issue is I really hate the A-20 when I last tried it, cause it is so weak.  Maybe I was playing it wrong or something, but it is pretty much Elited except for unlocking the T-34.

I can always toss some free xp into it and bypass the grind to the T-34 and just get started

Never has there been a grind so horrible as the A-20... even grinding the grille with its nonexistent gun traverse was more fun. However, IF you manage to beat grind you will learn to be a good flanker and get the patience required for the medium line

 globoglobito, on Apr 14 2012 - 05:23, said:

Bitch plz, T34 stock grind

Yes, the A-20 is horrible, but I loved the T-34 with the Zis machine gun and the T-34-85 with the "tank-be-gone" ™ gun. I am now in the early days with the T-43, which seems to be just an up-armoured T-34-85, so I am anticipating some trouble for that reason, but we will see. As said earlier, you will be forced to get creative with this line, but you will be a better tanker for it.

Well,me myself went up the t34 - t54 line,im 100k xp from the t54 and these tanks have really been fun,i went all mediums,t-34,t-34-85,kv-13,t-43,t-44 is how i went,enjoy it man,great tanks

I did the T-34 -> T-34-85 -> KV-13 -> T-43 -> T-44 -> T-54.

The 34-85 is my all time Dog of a tank, it was bad bad bad. Keep your eye on the prize (T-54) when playing this tank, remember you just have to get through it to a much better tank. The T-34 was a good tank and the T-43 is a good tank just that dam middle one (T-34-85) was bad. The KV-13 was a really fun tank to play, I really liked that tank, and it dose lead to the heavy's. Yes I did make it to the T-54 and IS7.

I went through the Longer Grind, though the A-20 is freaking lame. I finally hit the T-54 after an insane good battles in my T-44. =P

The Longer Grind is through the A-20 and on up.

 ZigZag_Stardust, on Apr 15 2012 - 00:11, said:

Okay, please show me the reason why you say that the T34-85 sucks.

The T-34 was fine to me, but not as great as other tier5 mediums except in the maneuverability in flanking movements (although I haven't tried to do that much, since I'm currently a Heavy tanks and TDs player)
I started to play mediums recently (which explains why my win rate in mediums are so horrible), but I cannot understand why did you say that the T34-85 suck.

Compared to other tier6 meds:
-E8 got best traverse and acceleration
-E2 got best armor
-VK3601H got best HP
-T34-85 got best gun and top speed
-> it doesn't seem very bad to me, thanks to the gun.

and....you are also saying that the T43 is a good tank.....let's compare it to other tier7 meds and have a look:
-HP: 1000-1100 (same as T20, less than Panther and KV13)
-Max speed: less than T20, KV-13 and VK3002DB.
-Gun: SAME AS T34-85 (yup), worse than Panther, better than KV-13 in terms of power, slightly better than T20, VK3002DB is....meh.
-Armor: better than T20 only.
-traverse: best of tier7 meds when upgraded. (slightly)
-View range: Worst. (350m)
-Other: "durable" ammo rack that can get "turned on" to the point of blow up more frequently than others. (big disadvantage)

anything outstanding about this thing? I don't see any.
The only thing good about it that I can tell is its mobility improvement over T34-85 (the HP and armor increase are universal, not counted here), nothing else.
From your statement:
-1: T34-85 is a bad tank -> T43 isn't much better either.
-2: T43 is a good tank -> T34-85 is also a good tank, since it shares the same gun but is 1 tier lower (better matchmaking)

statements 1 and 2 contradict each other -> you fail.

BTW: taking KV13 route from T34-85 actually slow down the advancement to T54, as you only need to spend a little bit exp to get T43. Taking the KV13 route shorten the time running T34-85 but it costs you more credits to buy then grind KV13, then get more credits to buy T43 whereas you only grinds a bit more on T34-85 and save about more than 1M credits. Unless you want the KV13, why don't just grind directly to T43?
(and if you didn't get the 100mm from T34-85 or KV3, then the T43 grind will get worse - you can't fight well in the T43 without the 100mm gun)


*My opinion:
I did sucks at the T34-85, but I'm gradually improving myself in it, as well as other meds. The T34-85 might be a fragile tank (well, not that meds are supposed to have good armor anyway), but it packs big punch for its tier - almost equal to heavies. It might be a bit sluggish, but at least it's still better than some of the tier6 german VKs, or perhaps the M4A3E2 too.
When driving a tank, you need to know what aspects your vehicle is best at - for the case of T34-85, it's the GUN!; for T43, it's just a regular med. the T34-85 plays a bit differently from other meds due to its gun, which changes its role from brawling to sniping; some people didn't know this point and went brawl like other meds (like M4A3E8 and VK3001H), and of course they failed. I personally think that the T34-85 is a good tier6 med, not really great, but no less than "good". It also is good-looking though

I suggest that you should not skip the T34-85. Even though the T34-85 might not teach you the way to play later Russian meds, but it can give some enjoyments to drive (if you know how to). The KV13 is fun also, but if you want T54 then researching T43 from T34-85 directly is the shorter way. You can go back to KV13 from either KV1S or T34-85 as wished. There's no reason to not look back at the T34-85.

Wow all the hate on T-34-85. I really liked mine, it's one of the best performing mediums I've ever owned. The 175mm pen on the 100mm really did it for me. It's not an outright brawler like the E8 or E2 is though, I use it in a flanking role. use cover to negate your slow ROF and the close range usually makes your slow aim time irrelevant.

Looking at both lines though I can't really tell you what an easier path is, it seems highly dependent on how well you adapt to each play style (I avoided the KV-13 because it resembled the E8 too much, which, while fun, was something I never excelled at). If you hate a tank, it'll take you much longer to play even if it involves less exp. Maybe just try both, and which ever one you really hate will be the path you go down. There is no such thing as having too many tanks in the garage heh.

The problem with the T-34-85 is its low HP, glass hull (HE can do full damage with its measly 45mm sides and sometimes front) and meish maneuverability. Of the Tier 6 medium I have only owned the 85 and the VK36001 (if you include all the tier 6 add the M6)and the T-34-85 was underwhelming 2 thirds of the time. Again it is a matter of personal opinion, once you reach to the 54 and get the nice 219 pen gun, all the suffering is worth it.

PS: to the guy that said that the T-34 stock is the worst:  PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF, the A-20 grind is  a freaking 12k exp grind in a piece of junk that can barely damage anything let alone scout (Pre 6.4 mind you), the 34 on the other hand is a measly 2.75k till the 57mm gun.

PSS: ironic that i make such a hazzle of only 12k exp with the grind to the D-54 in the T-54 took me almost 60k exp with an accurate peashooter

Well I bought the T-34 yesterday and other than needing to unlock the T-34-85, its all done.  What gun shoul I be using?  I have the highest one mounted right now, but not sure if that is the best one to use.