1
It's well known that the M48 nerf welt overboard.
At the moment, the 48 is outclassed by almost every other tier 10 med, it possesses no DPM, no hull down ability, no armor, no alpha, no maneuverability, it's supposed niche is in vision control, with a view range of 420 meters to every other tier X's 400, but this is rendered moot by the fact that it's such a fat tank that its camo value completely neuters its advantage.
http://forum.worldof...ouflage-tables/
My proposal for a composite buff
1) Raise view range to 500
Consider the present situation.
M48 has 420 view range, camo values of 8.5/5.5 when stationary/moving
The T62A and Batchat have 400 view range, camo values of 17.5/12.5
E50M has camo values of 8/3
An M48 will spot a stationary E50M at 386 meters, and a moving one at 407.
The stationary M48 will spot the moving Batchat/T26A at 367 meters.
A moving M48 will spot a stationary Bat/T62A at 346 meters.
A stationary T62A/Bat will spot a moving M48 at 378 meters.
Now for some absolutely ridiculous figures:
A stationary M48 will be spotted at 366 meters by any tank with 400m view range
A moving bat will be spotted at 350 meters by any tank with 400m view range
In a standoff, the T62 and Bat will be able to light the M48 at a range the M48 is unable to light them
Against a tank such as a T110, the Bat will spot the enemy at 368, and the M48 likewise be able to light at 386.
And that's not even getting into the fact that compared to a Bat, the M48 is slow as shit and just as fragile.
The M48's niche is supposed to be vision control, its current combat capabilities offer it nothing to exploit the niche, if the niche could even be said to exist,
2) Raise RoF to 7.4
Over the past few patches, the American entry's line has been based on superior DPM, however, the M48 has lost its DPM advantage, this is aimed at returning some of its DPM to it, restoring it to just behind the T62.
Why the ROF buff? You'll see why in a bit.
3) Increase speed limit to 50kmph
Meh, why the hell not? Right now the thing's effectively a T110E5 with a pitiful speed advantage in exchange for losing every other goddamn thing.
4) Remove the tumor bobble
A. It makes it look like a dunce.
B. It's just plain ridiculous
5) Differentiate it from the T110E5
THIS is the biggest problem with the M48, as long as it exists, it will inevitably be compared with the E5, and the comparisons between them are hardly what one could call "flattering"
The E5 is a heavy which plays like a medium, except with a bit less mobility and some armor
The M48 is a medium which plays like a heavy, except with a bit more mobility and absolutely garbage everything else
Consider the analogy below:
The US heavy line has a smooth chain of progression, you start at the fat, bloated T1, and get either the ability to punch harder as you work out with the 90mm on the m6, and get sleeker and faster with every tier, the T29 being a sturdy, hard hitting tank, the T32 making everything even faster, the M103 trading a bit of turret armor for an excellent gun, and the E5 becoming one of the best all-rounded tanks in the game.
The US medium line is like a sprinter who tries to bulk up every year on steroids (yes, sprinters shouldn't try to bulk up, that's where this analogy is headed), you start at the somewhat average sherman, get faster and heavier with the E8, bulk up and get even faster even more with a 90mm at tier 7, get even more buff and a bit slower at tier 8 with a pershing, even more so with the Patton, and finally bulking up so much that you wind up being unable to spring and end up as the obese dude known as the M48
The US heavies are about how a fat tank slims down and becomes a fast moving hard-hitter, the US medium line is about a great sprinter that bulks up too much and winds up as a fat bastard.
Look at how the T62 is differentiated from its counterpart the IS4
- Significantly more mobility
- Significantly less armor
- Significantly less alpha
- MUCH more DPM (2900 against the IS4's 2200)
- MUCH less HP (only 1950 to the 2500 of the IS4)
And look how it's different from the IS7
- Less armor
- Less alpha
- A lot more DPM
- A bit less HP
- Somewhat more mobility
There are a gazillion more ways that one could say are significantly different between the IS4 and the T62A.
Likewise, I don't even have to say how the E50 is different from the Maus or E100.
Now think, if a good player was asked to describe the M48 and T110E5, he'd probably say something like this
"Well the T110E5's like the M48, except better in almost every way"
- The M48 has a very small DPM advantage over the E5 (2650 to the E5's 2400) compared to the T62A
- The M48's alpha is just 10 less than the E5
- The E5 IS less mobile, but not by much
- The E5 can actually bounce stuff, the M48 lets everything in
- It doesn't even have that much more gun depression
- the E5 has 200 more HP
So where am I going with all this? What I'm saying is that whenever two tanks are sufficiently close to each other, one of them will inevitably make the other obsolete.
Consider where we have seen something similar to this before:
Let's look at a history of the 50B
- Generally alright tier X tank
- Nerfed to oblivion
- Rebuffed to usability
Look at that pattern, it looks JUST like the current state of the M48, except without the rebuff part.
Remember what happened after the nerf? the 50B did have its advantages over the bat, but ultimately the bat was still generally considered the superior tank overall, and even then the 50B was still much, much more different from the Bat than the E5 is from the M48.
Until we find a way to effectively differentiate the M48 from the T110E5, we will ever truly be able to find a place for it in tier X.
