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Guys I know there is no such thing as a bad tank... But this one has got to be as close as it gets. I am at 137 battles with it and I don't know how I am sporting a 50% win rate with it. It just seems to be very underpowered compared to its counterparts. I mean it can move pretty quick I guess but compared to the Hetzer and the StuGIII... it just doesn't line up. This thing just doesn't do enough damage in my opinion. I deal out about 200 or so damage but when I am hitting a tank that has 1200 or more HP I am having some difficulties.

I find that I am having to play it more as a scavenger then anything else. I have to try and pick off weaker enemies or enemies that are busy with other targets. It seems like the TD's from the other nations at Tier 6 are a bit better equipped. I started doing a little better when I got its final gun but I am about 30K XP from the JdPanther. (I hope it is better).

Where I line up on the stack doesn't really matter too much (unless I am at the very bottom). If I am towards the top I am nowhere near top dog. I like to be towards the middle. If I am on top I feel cocky like enemies should fear me. If I am at the bottom I get a feeling of hopelessness. When I am at the bottom with my VK3601H I just support heavies and scavenge. But since my JdPzIV doesn't have a traversing turret, I cannot do that. I just hide in a bush and trying to pick away at the enemies.

Did anyone else struggle with this tank? I feel at times that I am a tin of beans with a sparkler crammed in it.

I sold mine off I mean it was a ok tank for me but there is times where I had to get into the front line discarding the td concept of sniping.
Cause of the weak flank I just count sit back so I decided to go back to the Russian heavy line

Have no fear, I to felt the pains of grinding past the JdPz IV, though don't give up as you will one day be sporting the JgPanther and enjoying the ability to cause hate and discontent.  Be patient with it and keep up the good work, 50% ratio is not bad in my book, happy hunting  

BaronVonDark, on Aug 04 2012 - 17:44, said:

Bingo! You won the special price! Here is your reward: this tank is accepted by everyone as the weakest tier 6 TD and also the most underpowered tank in German TD line. The best part is a friend of mine said this: I (he) won a lot by shooting enemy's track so that my (his) teammates can finish off enemy. He just doesnt know how sad it is for a tier 6 TD to resort to shooting track.

Did you feel any better now? Here is the the best of the best part: Stock Tiger is even weaker than JPzIV. Totally flat, weak armor, same gun, no camo value, slower. Hence, good luck!

But worry not, you followed my advice, you didnt buy VK3002. VK3002 use the same gun with stock Tiger and JPzIV, believe me, having three tanks that use that weak gun is totally a torment.
Edited by soluuloi, Aug 04 2012 - 18:10.

i never had any problems with it, the JP4 is in fact one of my favorite tanks that ive played... i could never figure out why other ppl hate it so much. other tier 6 TDs might have some more fire power but ive taken on tier 7 KV-3s on multiple occasions (1 on 1) and won. the 88 is a great tier 6 gun. its about dpm vs alpha, and the JP4 can deal some serious damage in the right hands. i had 163 battles in it with 184 kills and a 56% win rate before selling it adnvancing to the Jagdpanther. it is in fact one of the tanks i would buy back if i had the extra credits laying around.

btw, the JP is an amazing tank. i fxp'd straight to the 105 though, so i cant tell you how the smaller guns are. the 105 on the JP though is something to fear.
Edited by Savage281, Aug 04 2012 - 18:14.

I found the Jagdpanzer wasn't was bad as everyone said. For me the gun is very good though lacking on accuracy as well as having decent agility. The sloped frontal armor is also really strong from my experience having bounced a point blank shot from a panther (had no idea how i did it). I find it's a pretty good upgrade from the Stug,

Dreadhelm, on Aug 04 2012 - 18:06, said:

But even the stock Tiger, is better than this, since at least, you got a turret, and the last gun is pretty good for a tier 7.

The only thing you can do with the JagdPz4, is patience, and have more patience when you get to the JagdPanther until you get the last gun.

BaronVonDark, on Aug 04 2012 - 17:44, said:

the short 88 works best when you can get to the sides of your target. which is fine on the mediums, but rather poor on the Jpz4.
thankfully the MM spreads got tightened a bit, so you shouldnt see tier 9s anymore.
short 88 has 132 pen, which is enough to frontally pen tier 7 heavies. tier 8s, you can pen the IS3s lower plate, VK4502s lower plate, lowes lower plate, and the T32s hull/LP. (note that these are iffy. most of these youll bounce off upper hull due to slope, lower plate is better odds, but still not the best place to shoot.)

I keep grinding through... I have had some lucky battles but overall I am not doing hot with it lol. I have done the tracking before but I get the feeling like soluuloi said... I am flippin TD I shouldn't have to be tracking fools so my team mates can finish them off. Its just been a rough grind for me. I will post some replays up tonight and you can tell me what you think

I sort of enjoyed it to be honest. It has some short comings, but it also has some pros. Some of the best cammo in the game,  accurate  gun,   throw in some equipment and crew skills and it is workable.

Jagpanther ... It is hurting me. Still on the jgpz iv gun, very painful xp grind. Do not expect a sudden improvement in fun when you get past the jgpz. I can see the fully upgraded Jagpanther being a wrecking ball  but it is going to be a long grind.

Wait, JDPz was supposed to be a bad tank?
I loved that thing.
It has great Camo + an accurate gun, so just stay well behind and snipe people off.

Trick to the Jadpanzer IV is camo. It already has a high camo rating, but if you toss on the net and your crew with camo skill, makes this TD invisible. When you hide behind 2 bushes, they can't see you firing either. Stay back, hide and use the 88mm.

The JadPanther is totally what every TD driver is looking for. Fast, maneuverable and hits hard! The 105mm is nice, but if you can't afford the shells, use the 88mm L/71. Both guns are accurate, penetrate and do allot of damage. Your grind thru the JP IV will be rewarded.

BTW, took me 109 games, 55% WR, 1487 efficiency and 152 kills. So far my JadPanther: 30 games. 60% WR, 1216 efficiency (Had to use the short 88mm for 18 games), and 44 kills.

Thank you savage, someone agrees finally.  I did quite well in the JagdPanzer IV.  Yeah, I had to get used to the whole negative gun depression thing, but once I got passed that it was quite a good tank.  Tank Destroyers are not meant to be brawlers by a long shot.  They're meant for ambushes and the low profile of the JagdPanzer IV is there to aid in that.  That's what I use it for and I do quite well.  Especially with the short 88.  I do whatever I can to win.  Whether it be actually doing damage, or aiming for tracks and skedaddling.  If you try to play that tank like other TDs, you're going to lose ... bad.  It basically requires a new art to use that one, but once you learn, it's cake.  It's not a bad TD and I used the hell out of it for my free xp to help get the Ferdinand.  Combined with the StuG III I probably got 25k xp on those two alone.

-Akuzimo

A lot of people do. I personally loved it. I thought you would too. Well you do have to be sneaky with it. I never had one problem taking side shots on anyone except E75s near there back end. E75 has a funny side, you need to place the shot near the front but in the middle, if you know what I mean, between the tracks.

The armor is a TDs so you know to stay back. The only thing I didn't like about it was the depression. So you have to be careful where you set up. At the time I played it my TD crew were at 80 or 90% camo on the whole crew so I was invisable a lot. I ran a rammer, camo net, and binocs. I sniped like a master. Hold your fire on a target if it is facing you and stay hid. If they turn light them up. T the target and fire away. I wish I had sixth sense back then but I managed pretty good in it.

Well I hope you learned something from me and good luck. The jagdpanther is so worth the grind.
Edited by PanzerKriegen39, Aug 06 2012 - 16:04.

i am going threw same thing to me i cant stand the tank but love it, lol love hate thing going on but when i get home today going to free XP what i need and just move up..got to cant deal with it anymore lol

Unlocked the Jagdpanther and now I am grinding up enough cash to buy it. I have noticed more matches where I am near the top and the JagdPzIV makes a line holder in maps like mountain pass, artic region, and abbey. Recently my teams have been less then stellar and I find myself trying to hold off the enemy long enough for some of our team to cap in a standard match. It's great to peg them from a well hidden position and watch their turrets swivel around looking for me. I like the JagdPzIV. I intend to keep it (and the Stug).

My thoughts on this tank is you have to prepare for it while you run the StuG III.

If you aren't going to gold a crew for it, play the StuG until you crew is at 100% and start them on camouflage. Save up the $80k to academy train the crew.

DO NOT attempt the JagdPanzer IV with a 50% crew unless you have a perverse desire to give other people xp.

Until your crew is above 90% be as furtive and careful as possible. Missing while shooting in this thing is a death sentence. You need to shoot, hit and hide before the inevitable retribution comes. At the merest hint you've been lit up either hide for a slow six seconds or get out of Dodge as fast as you can.

Shoot from areas with a clear line of retreat to nearby cover. Your best firing spot is a bunch of rocks with bushes nearby so you can fire and nip over to another bush. Don't hang around for a second shot unless you're shooting over four grids and there's no way in hell they can see you. Your gun has almost no traverse so if you're tracked you're even more helpless than you were in the StuG III.

Been working on it. But like mentioned by mcclada, I have been with some "less than stellar" teams myself... It is hard to set up and snipe, and fire and hide when you are the only tank defending an entire flank. I am trying to be more opened minded about it and almost have the crew to 100%. I am at 25K till the JdPanther. It has just been a long rough grind for me. It has been the only tank I played thus far where I hit the "Battle" button and get a feeling of dread lol. Hell I have really enjoyed the StuGIII and the Hetzer but this thing is rough...

I just don't see how so many people have posted saying they like it. It just doesn't do the damage that it should in my opinion but I think I am in minority here. Thanks for the tips guys. I am trying to implement them!

Every 88 in this game needs a buff IMO. I was a little surprised how bouncy that gun was when I was about your level. I really did some studying after playing it a few dozen times to better my shot placements and worked on my discipline to hold shots if they weren't going to do damage or track. The set up is the most important part of being a Tank Destroyer. You have to know every map's snipe spots on both sides to be a monster in it. If you're that guy holding a flank by yourself, don't be and get out of there. Tell your team you're not holding a flank by yourself tough crap if they complain. You're not built for that role. You need targets down range  and from an angle of your attacking force. Even get far behind a defending force, but don't be the Lone Ranger out there in that tank.