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Ok, so far I thought I knew the roles of all different vehicles. TDs are for defense, lights are scouts, mediums are flankers, heavies are the front line etc etc. But since I recently got a KV, I can't seem to do anything. My speed, turning speed and turret traverse are all so slow, it's like I move and fight in slow-motion. Scouts can literally run circles around me. Arty and TDs can hit me reliably from across the map. That's okay, though, because it's got lots of armor to withstand punishment, right? Wrong. One hit from nearly anything destroys tracks 99% of the time, and then 2-3 more shots hit me and I'm dead. I'm afraid that this tank suffers from Leichttraktor/MS-1 syndrome, aka it's bad at everything. It just doesn't seem worthwhile to continue playing it. Maybe it should have more armor, or something to actually make it worth using. Anyone else feels this way?

the KV is a bad tank if unmodified, but every tank is. get some tracks and a better gun and its actually ok for its tier (compared to german Panzer IV). just because it is labelled as a heavy tank does not mean it can take as much punishment as an IS or Tiger.

FYI there's a whole 4 page topic about precisely that issue on the freaking 1st page of 'game discussion' subforum! Search before you post.

Welcome to a heavy that is on par with the PZ4.

Some people have told stories of KV's being built to lead, I disagree. I say treat the KV like it's a pz4. Keep as much distance between you and the enemy and never give them more than your front armor. This is a definite german strategy however I feel it will work in this situation. Judging by you're hatred of that style I think you'll like the IS just fine.

Also the bigger cannons help a ton, stick it out and it'll pay off.

Yes, but wait till you get your 107mm...

KV discussion has been going on forever. You are not alone. FWIW, it only took me a couple days to fully upgrade mine and now just a bit short of a KV3 XP wise (wouldn't want to grind out an S51 though, that's for sure).

At times it can be a lot of fun (the KV), often it's frustrating. Get the 122mm as soon as you can (with the stock turret for traverse speed) and grind out that 107. Learn where to position yourself on each map and hope for good "balance". Oh, and remember even a couple small arty can make a quick meal of you...

Everything about the KV will be OK once tier balance works, the tank is very powerful versus Panzer 3/4 and so on, that's when it truly shines.

I remeber facing that thing was horror in beta release, commanding my good ole PZ III/IV prototype.  

I'm stuck in the KV grind at the moment, I was really looking forwards to driving it until I actually did.  Yes its historically accurate but god its a pig, I want to get into the KV3 and then the JS as soon as possible but its so damn slow to get the XP on this thing. I've got the 107mm cannon though now so I can actually hurt something.

Xalard - I've read the topic. It all basically says "learn to get good with it, use cover blah blah" but it doesn't change the fact that it's just underpowered in every aspect. I've got the 107mm cannon, but a scout can literally run by me faster than I can turn the turret. And then I get hit by 3 arty shots at the same time, tracks are gone and I'm dead. It's slow and weak and underpowered, that's just a fact. Since this is a beta, and we're supposed to give feedback, I say something about it should be improved, because right now it's zero fun to play.

Play it like a TD and use cover.  Its a horrible tank in any other use.

The 107 hits hard but you are paper thing to even modest medium tanks.  You are essentially a free kill for anything if they get close enough to you.

If you've got the 107 you aren't that far from the KV3...

That said, you shouldn't be trying to chase targets with your turret either. Use your minimap and hard cover (buildings, hillsides) to keep yourself clear of arty and concentrated on something you can hit instead of hoping to whip around and tag someone behind you (you won't, unless they're in a KV too... lol).

Unfortunately, as an early war heavy being thrown up against late / post war and prototypes of higher tier the KV is always going to be meat on the table unless you... "get good with it and use cover".

SlashCo, on Sep 29 2010 - 16:10, said:

Don't go off on your own.

Trust me, almost every problem except the frontal armor is multiplied once you get into the KV-3. It's utter trash.

You should use the KV like a TD. Don't rush with it, and stay behind other tanks, support their fire and go back to cover to reload (if using the 152).

Skraeling, on Sep 29 2010 - 16:17, said:

close?, i can two-shot a KV from across the map, no need to get close(i can rarely one-hit one, usually first shot leaves them with less than 10% HP and who-knows what internal damage)

on one game yesterday on... ensk, opposing team got FIVE KV (ours got panthers, T44, T43, etc), i couldn't reload fast enough to kill them!, at the end of the game i had i killed 3 and crippled the 4th with some track damage and ~200HP less, even when they where ambushing me(straight on) on the right side that has the straight road to the end of the north base, i even left one in 5~10% with one shot of HE to his side.

so yeah, they are pretty much fodder in the post-wipe world, i endured the KV pre-wipe and even then when there wasn't so much high tier tanks it was very hard to play and survive, i can only imagine now...., you need to play it SUPER conservative.
only time i've ever seen a KV survive a battle is because they stuck to the rear of my tank and played smart or didn't moved an inch from behind a house in malinovka whilst the rest of the team won the game.

But then shouldn't I just use a TD? At least it'd be faster and less easily spotted. Sorry, but this just goes to prove that it's worthless.

I just had yet another game where I got hit by arty and tracked from the first shot, then killed in 2 hits by a Tiger II. This is just sad. I wish there was another way to get to the IS.

I dont understand what you expect from a tier5 tank, the KV is fine as it is.

The KV2 IS a TD, the 107mm is OUTSTANDING for its tier and allows for long range sniping with shots doing roughly twice as much damage as a P4.  That said the KV1 is a lol tank that serves almost no role on the battlefield and the grind is quite long to the 107mm.  Last thing is for those idiots who use the 152mm Howitzer you fail think about it, you are completely helpless and with the KVs paper armor you become a weak arti piece, so don't do it.

sharpeh, on Sep 29 2010 - 16:04, said:

Yep, and precisely because the KV was an early war tank IIRC.  We end up with ahistorical combinations of tanks in WoT, so the earlier tanks don't always fill the niche that they were historically designed for.

My 2 cents,  

     When it came time for me to do the KV, I did it as fast as possible, straight line to KV 1S.  No turrent no big gun.  collect my 26k xp after engine i belive and move on. As much as peeps say about the 107, I found the 76 to be tolerable with starter turrent so I could catch the little buggers trying to sweep behind me ( along with rotating the tank itself).
    
     Also in the Big dog fights the 76mm HE spamming seemed to net me some damage, so i was getting xp.  Ironically the KV is still the tank I did the best at with 8 kills in a battle.

Don't call people "idiots", just because they can effectively use something you cannot. I got my KV in the morning before the wipe. Played a few games with it just before they shut down the server. After that I rationed my XP to get it fully upgraded. If you have been around you should know that the first few days post-wipe were literally the t10 jungle. The 152mm served me extremely well in those games. It is a matter of how you use it. Don't try to fancy yourself as the spearhead, never go alone and always try to use cover. Trying to be one of the first in the fight (lol), going Rambo or sticking-out on in the middle of the field will always end embarrassingly badly.  Those are important for every thank but even more so for the venerable KV as it is practically one way ticket. Once you commit yourself to going somewhere, quite often there is no going back because of its speed.