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I'm getting pretty close to the Ferdi with my Jadgpanther, but recently, after getting two tier 8's in the form of the KT and Panther II, I've been wondering whether I should continue on with to the Ferdinand, or go down a different line all together. I'm certainly not losing money on my tier 8's, I'm actually probably breaking even or maybe gaining a little bit from them (I've always been non-premium, with no premium tanks), but I don't know if I want to support another tier 8, seeing that it could be a long grind on a tank that I don't like, even though I heavily play sniping classes. I've been eyeing both the American and Russian Heavy (the one that leads to the IS-7) lines, but I can't make up my mind. What do you think I should do? Thanks for your feedback.

My current other lines that I'm already on are: US TD line down to the M18, Three German lines: To the Panther II, Tiger II, and to the Jadgpanther, and a ways down the US and Russian mediums lines (I don't want to go further for now in those though.)

The Ferdi can make good money with the 128, so don't worry too much about the money issue: repairs are lower than average because of its low HP pool. It's a fun tank to play after you get the 128 because it's pretty much a murder gun. As TD's go, the Ferdi is great at the classic TD role and isn't bad at assault work either. The thing that can drive you crazy is how slow it is after the JP. But it has a wide firing arc, which I feel compensates some.

That being said, the T29 and T32 are great tanks, and the IS and IS-3 are both enjoyable.

I personally found the Ferdi worth it in entirety, so I don't think you should stop that line just because of what you've heard - give it a shot first then make the call.

I'd highly recommend the ferdinand. I've playing a majority of the Tank Destroyers in the game and it's actually a really good one if you can play it correctly. I know that the Jagdtiger has gotten a bad rap but I have no problems in it. It really boils down to your play style and whether or not you want to put the time into grinding this line to its finish.

On another note I do enjoy having a Turret and even enjoy some of the soviet line as well, each have their bonuses and mis-givings.

Just got the fully loaded Jagdpanther (after Ferdi)  The Ferdi was a poor tank/TD untill FULLY upgraded.  Engine AND Gun.  After getting the big gun and the Engine it was a good TD to play then.  Fairly fast, nimble and lots of damage.

But it is a LOT of credits, and unless you really want to play the sniping TD you might think twice.

The Ferdninad is by no means a bad TD. I quite liked mine, although bear in mind that your armor is merely sufficient; without being able to angle your hull and an abundant number of weakspots means lot of shots will go through. However, the super structure is strong against anything tier 8 and below, and the 12.8 cm gun is awesome.

Plus, the Jagdtiger gives you access to what is in my opinion the best gun the the game, so that's always nice.


Otherwise, the American heavy tank line is pretty sweet

I love my Ferdinand because it packs a punch...I suggest you try it.

Fully upgraded the Ferdi is one of the most useful tds in the game.

When the question is Ferdinand, the answer is always yes.

The Ferdi holds a special place in my garage long after getting and eliting my JT. In a tier 8 match it can bring so much pain and suffering to the enemy if played right. In tier 9 and 10 matches you just have to aim a bit more precisely. It has it's faults but most complaints you read are Ferdi 1.0, before fully upgraded it is slow and can't do much with the 10.5cm. You will need to be cautious and pick your battles carefully.

Ferdi 2.0 ie. 12.8cm and top engine, changes the game, you can now get around well and send death clear across the map. People will retreat or pick a new route based on your arc of fire. As long as you remember your not a heavy you will be a great 2nd line asset to any team and should be in for some fun. It takes time but it is worth the investment.

Get the Ferdie.  You have come this far, so you may as well finish out your grind up this line before starting on a whole new one.  Also, if you liked the Panther, KT, and Jagdpanther then you can appreciate an accurate gun that can pack a whallop, and the Ferdie has that and fantastic front armor that will not be penetrated reliably with anything other than tier 9s and 10s.

Also, with a tier 8 TD the matchmaker does not really matter that much any more, since you can hurt anything that you come into contact with.

The grind to fully upgrate the Ferdie is horrible, but totally worth it.

You want to get the ferdi and JT.
Keep the ferdi in your garage with 190k exp at least when the 0.7.5 happens with the German alternative TD line, you can unlock the JPE-100 on the first day.
Another decent thing to do, would be to stock up about 80k exp on the Jagdpanther for the Jagdpanther II.

And generally ferdi is a nice all-rounder tank destroyer with decent armor, as long as you can hide that lowermost frontal plate.

I'm in the process of banking up about 180k xp or so on the Ferdi, one daily double at a time, but it's not a great vehicle right now. It's been on a gentle slide for nearly a year that slowly reduced the number of maps it was useful on, but copped two big hits in a row in 7.2 and 7.3 with the American and Soviet heavy changes that birthed the new tier 10 super-penetrator guns. It's now utterly terrible in every situation, bar getting one of those rare games as top tank in an urban map that does not suit the ISU-152. In a tier 10 game, the entire front of the Ferdi is now easily pentrated by 95% of your opponents, not just the lower glacis, and at ranges where the meek 12.8cm is not able to effectively pinpoint their own significantly smaller weak spots.

Unless you want to just do a daily per day for the next 12 months and get yourself a lazy free replacement, I'd wait for the second line of German tank destroyers to come out, when hopefully the existing ones get a bit of a refresh to handle the power creep as well.

 NTRabbit, on May 16 2012 - 14:30, said:

The Ferdi was always relatively easily penetrated, if you know where to aim. It's not a T95, its strengths lie elsewhere. The only time you should be advancing with it is when the enemy is low tier or you've got other teammates with you to draw fire. TD's are fragile, and the Ferdi with its 80mm sides and 100mm lower hull is no exception. You have to be alive for the 128 to work its magic.

When it comes to skill selection, in particular, ignore the people saying you should get repair instead of camo - all TD's need and can use camo, no matter how oversized they are. The little difference in detection it gives is often the line between victory and defeat.

 the_moidart, on May 16 2012 - 18:19, said:

It's not just advancing - the Ferdinand is totally outclassed at sniping ranges (ie 400m) by the IS-8 and the M103, because they can penetrate with every hit, and with the entire front easily penetrated the accuracy is not an issue. In response, the Ferdi needs to make precision hits on the lower glacis of both, something the 12.8cm is not capable of doing at that range, let alone MG ports or other hatches. There was once a time when the majority of your opponents in the Ferdi could only reliably penetrate the lower glacis, but now they all go through the front of the casemate too. The amount of uses for a Ferdi has steadily declined over the last year, and as it stands there does not exist a single map where the Ferdi is preferable to the ISU, and only a few with steep hills where the Ferdi is preferred to the T28.

The complete lack of camo - and by the way, the camo skills and a camo net make practically no difference to how easy it is to spot a Ferdinand - makes things even worse. In contrast, the ISU gets a massive gun that doesn't need special aiming points, and an enormous amount of camo.

The Ferdi, like much of the German line,  has been a victim of power creep. It's casemate armor (where the gun is housed) used to be fairly effective against most opponents , allowing a sort of hull down  approach with the vehicle. Now a days there are more guns that have no issue with your armor. Additionally, the Ferdi got no benefit from the normalization change, while the normalization change made it's gun less effective against higher tier Soviets and the new  US kit.

All that being said though, it can still be a fun tank. The gun is accurate/powerful/has an OK ROF,  and the TD's mobility is surprisingly good.

I took my Ferdi out again over the past two days after responding to this post and I'm starting to agree more so with NTRabbit and Antosha a bit. I had a heck of a time getting my daily doubles and didn't seem to be nearly as powerfull as I once was since I don't play the Ferdi as often as I did.

It's still a great TD because of the 12.8cm but I think some of my fond memories were pre 7.0. The reality now is that it is starting to get pushed aside.

I am in the same situation and this has been helpful, thanks ya'all for giving some insight on the Ferdi.  Think I will grind to unlock and then keep the jadpanther for a while and work on some other lines.  Haven't heard a ton of love for the tier 9 german TD either so thinking I will go another direction for a while and re-evaluate in the future.  Love the Jadpanther though...love it.

The Ferdinand is a Tier 8 with a better gun then the German Tier 10s, enough armor to shrug off lower tiers and a fair amount of bigger stuff, and it's actually fairly mobile with the top engine.

Having a 490 damage gun that fires faster then the BL-9 is enough to almost single-handedly win most T8 and many T9 matches.
Edited by MaxL_1023, Jun 13 2012 - 15:35.