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My kill rate with the IS is way higher than the one in my tiger ever was... the IS is waaaay superior to the tiger(h). And going by how easily i can take out t-29's, i would say that this tank is at least on par with those tanks as well. Tiger(p) has its amazing frontal armor... but thats why you aim for the turret. The IS can dish out the damage and block shots with angled armor, i love this tank.

I've never really understood why people complain about the IS...

 Strategyking92, on Feb 29 2012 - 18:29, said:

I don't agree.  With normalisation changes properly angled Tiger can take more punishment then IS, and Tiger long 88 is a much nicer gun.  IS has the shittiest penetration in class.  One of one Tiger will kill IS if the drivers are of equal quality.

 Veksha, on Feb 29 2012 - 18:32, said:

penetration does not matter when you can one shot tier 5 tanks and below and severely damage tier 6 & 7 tanks. With the tiger vs IS, all you have to do to beat a tiger is to stay in cover and pop out every so often. This negates the tiger's RoF and like I said, the pen isn't bad enough where it can't damage a tiger. Tier 8 and up you'll have a harder time, but other than that you are superior to everything if you play to your strengths and the other tier 7's obvious weaknesses.

I learned weak spots with 105mm on US tanks. 175 pen is lower on paper but really doesn't feel too different. IS goes through sides and front weak points of just about everything it has to confront, and IS has the mobility to get those shots. On top of that, D-25T has been great for one-shot kills on everything smaller than IS.

 Rypper, on Feb 29 2012 - 06:36, said:

I know. I'm sure I will get XP to unlock and buy the engine way before I earn enough credits to buy the IS3.

 Strategyking92, on Feb 29 2012 - 21:50, said:

not mush chance that IS can beat Tiger even if IS have 120 frontal armour and slope but the huge optic in the frontal make 120 frontal armour nothing  
IS can be own the tiger in only Himmeldolf that 's urban map in the game
about the gun ger have is really better that the shitty 122mm d-25-t at pen DMG and shell cost cuz  tiger 88mm 203 pen OMG it even pen tier 8 HT and 240DMG is reallt reasonable finally is the cost shell cost IS's122mm cost 1025credits and 88mm cost only 252 this is the problem

Well I went ahead last night and picked up the top level cannon.  I was only able to get two matches in and was low tier so didn't get a chance to really use it.  I'm enjoying the newer engine immensely and am hoping the faster firing cannon will help a little.  I also installed the GLD, Vents, and rammer.  Just need to get the radio probably tonight then grind the IS3.  After having a bad string of losses last night I was able to win a Top Gun, Sniper and Steel Wall in one game.  This is the first tank that allowed me to do this.  I'm really liking the upgraded version much better and find I have to keep focused on what it does well.  Use its strengths and be mindful of its weaknesses.  I am surprised to say I am actually looking forward to the grind to the IS3.  Thanks for this thread and advice.

Tracer

I've driven both, it's not even close Tiger I w/88 will murder an IS all day!  

 shareluk, on Mar 01 2012 - 14:27, said:

I'm quite enjoying the IS so far.  It is by no means a win button, but more often than not having pretty good times.  Was top tier in one match, managed 8 kills with top gun, steel wall and sniper.  the fast 122 and upgraded engines/tracks makes it a real hit and run tank.  There's plenty of frustration in higher tier matches but I never try and go head to head with bigger guys, just flank and pop shots into their weak spots.  After grinding with the beastly slow KV-3 I really enjoy this tank and have been performing quite well.  If I'm the high tier I usually get atleast 3 kills, if not it's at least 1 or 2 and plenty of damage on the other tanks with a somewhat decent survival rate.

most painful point of this tank is the shitty frontal armor even tier 5 can still pen your proud 120 armor with non shit richochet at all then why i have to pay a high repair bill for paper thin armor IS

 shareluk, on Mar 02 2012 - 21:35, said:

Coming from my KV3 to the IS I was very disappointed.  The more I upgraded the IS it did better but as it got better the matchmaking for me got worse and worse.  When I get into a room where tier 7 or 8 is the highest I generally can pull at least a couple kills.  When I get put into the tier 9/10 matches(the norm now) I am lucky to do any damage before I'm 2 shotted.  The tank itself is pretty good but due to the crappy armor and long load times on the gun(not to mention the fact the gun has really bad accuracy) I find myself losing money as the matchmaking throws me to the tier 10 wolves.  At times it feels like the matchmaking was made this way for you to lose money so you have to stay subbed.  I would lose money on the IS more often due to the tier 9/10 fights if it weren't for the subbing.

I am so tired of losing in my IS.  Even with the 122mm D-25T the last gun....I can't penetrate a T29 from the side to save my live....even at PB range it BOUNCES, and I am aiming at the engine or the back the turret where the Ammo Rack is near the ears...I DON'T GET IT!  I can hit a E-75 on the side of the Turret and hit it and sometimes it bounces and sometimes it will do 480 damage...!  I like those shots but man I am telling you, the roll of the dice sucks donkey balls with it.  I tried shooting a SU-85 with it and it bounced off the front like I had a tier 2 gun on.     I do give it that it is fast...but man, the T29 is where it is at, I had it on the EU server and loved that sucker.  I think I will go back up that route and just continue to get try and get the IS-3.

Really? there must be something wrong because i can pen a t29 from the front and do 44% damage

I'm having some success with my fully modded IS. It's my 2nd tank that has more kills than battles. 230 pub battles and 238 kills. Not great but it's something for me anyway. This tank was designed to play peek-a-boo against heavies in the same or higher tier. And you have to be close to do any real damage to them. In Himmelsdorf, down tank alley, I find that distance to be effective in doing damage with the faster loading 122. I get more kills in the maps with buildings like Ensk, Lakeville, Himmelsdorf, Ruinberg and Siegfried Line. The solid buildings help make it a great equalizer where nobody can kill you from long range like Sand River, Malinovka or El Halluf. In the other open maps, I usually stay with the larger group, preferably other heavies with heavier armor and just snipe with them. Be aware of arty though.

Terrible tank,

I only take it out for doubles once in a while, like yesterday

Having played German Heavies I've found the IS to be inferior to them in many ways. Not only is the armor weaker. Having the 122 mounted can be a blessing and also a curse. It's uber slow loading speed (True to the real Russian tanks of WWII) allows the German tanks to shoot you two times. Another thing is that the driver is almost always taken out in a fight. The gun also is easily destroyed in fights. The grind so far has been tedious and my survival rate dismal. So far 60 fights. Victory's 22, Defeats, 35, battles survived 5. I'm hoping that the IS3 is a decent tank. Historically speaking Russian tank survival during WWII was an average of 2 weeks. Thus they were built cheap. The Germans destroyed thousands of them. Now I see why.

My IS with the 122mm D-2-5T

 Gatomon, on Mar 04 2012 - 15:06, said:

You don't sit in the open and trade shots in an IS. You shoot, hide to reload, shoot. You can't play Russian heavies the way you play German tanks.

 Okeano, on Mar 04 2012 - 15:23, said:

I figured that out very fast. But, in some cases you cant retreat with teamates stuck to your butt. (Cause of several deaths) Running away even from them and they chase also is a good cause of death. I did have one hell of a fight not long ago. Its not my record but its close.  I had top gun with 6 kills.

I only have the smaller version of 122mm, engine, suspension, and turret and yesterday i got about 7 kills, the other team had 2 T29s and a couple other op tanks, but they had the advantage and underestimated me, that can be a HUGE advantage any IS player, but even if you have the advantage in the IS, dont just be a rushtard, whether its a stug or a jagpanther/tiger dont be stupid about the way you play

TigerH is one of the best snipers in the game, capable of killing tier 10's from across the map(done it). nuff said. It also has the most health.
IS has a really low repair bill actually, I was surprised at just how low it was. 6k when I was expecting around 10k.(this might become my new moneymaker)
IS has the greatest DPM out of any of the tier 7 heavies. 2164 compared to the TigerH's 1920, or the T29's 1920. The 175mm penetration and low(.4) accuracy doesn't matter so much when this tank is used at close to medium range, where you can aim at weakpoints much more effectively.
All tanks will bounch improbable shots sometimes, thats just the way the RNG works.

I actually quite like it. Beacuse I certainly have no problem performing well in it.