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After my initial anger at this update I decided "what the hell, someone's gotta do it" so I've created the following guide on Update 3.8 equipment.
Please note that the following guide is aimed at Random battles. While some of it will apply, I am not writing this with competitive gameplay in mind.
Silevern's Guide to Equipment in Update 3.8
Might not be a popular update. But changes are changes, and we might as well view them positively.
Equipment in Update 3.8 have been divided into three categories: Combat Power, Vitality, and Specialization. For the most part, Combat Power deals with enhancing the tank's firepower: greater accuracy, faster reloading, etc. Vitality deals with the tank's physical defenses: thicker armor, self-repairing tracks, etc. And Specialization is the miscellaneous category, with equipment such as coated optics or improved hull traverse falling in this category.
Players accustomed to the old equipment system will immediately notice that the Binocular Telescope is no longer available. Why? No clue.
Let's break down each individual equipment, organized in pairs.
Combat Power I - Gun Rammer vs. Calibrated Shells
The Gun Rammer reduces the gun reload by 7%, while the Calibrated Shells offer 5% more penetration for all forms of ammunition. It's immediately obvious that you are given a choice between faster reload or better penetration. The decision will really depend on the tank: if your tank already has excellent penetration, such as a Jagdtiger or an ARL 44, you will want to get faster reload in order to pump out more damage. If your tank already has exceptional rate of fire and you want to increase the reliability of the penetration, such as an AT 2 or an Object 140, get the penetration boost to ensure more of your shots on target can penetrate and deal damage.
Vitality I - Protected Modules vs. Enhanced Cabin
Protected Modules offers 10% more protection to the engine, transmission, and ammo rack, and improves suspension and fuel tank durability by 10%, while Enhanced Cabin increases crew protection by 10% and reduces ramming damage by 10%. This one seems to be a no-brainer, you will definitely want to protect your modules with Protected Modules. The Enhanced Cabin might come in some use but ultimately the frequency and destructive capability of damage to the ammo rack or fuel tank is of much more concern than losing a crew member or taking a bit more ramming damage.
Specialization I - Improved Optics vs. Camouflage Net
The Improved Optics increase view range by 10%, capped at 500m, while the Camouflage Net offers a spectrum of benefits that depend on the tank: -7% visibility for tank destroyers, -5% for lights and mediums, and -3% for heavies. Additionally, the bonus is doubled if the vehicle remains stationary for 3 seconds. This will depend on your vehicle; for scout tanks or TD's that need to remain unspotted, the Camouflage Net looks like the best option, while tanks that are trying to actively spot or have no need for the Camouflage Net should equip the Improved Optics.
Combat Power II - Enhanced Gun Laying Drive vs. Supercharge
The Enhanced Gun Laying Drive offers 10% faster aiming speed, while Supercharge increases shell velocity by 10% and reduces the penetration decrease over distance by 30%. The EGLD looks like a good fit for tanks that are inaccurate, such as the KV-2, while Supercharge is best for guns with slow shell velocity or that fire AP or APCR ammo at range frequently. This is one of the more technical equipment choices, and I would personally see Supercharge being a wonder weapon. Consider a Death Star with 913 m/s shell velocity instead of 830 m/s, that retains much of its AP penetration at range. Both equipment options are good for sniping weapons, and in the end it will depend on the range that you fire at: shots at medium range should use the EGLD to bring the accuracy to bear, while shots at longer range would benefit from the faster shells and the reduced penetration decrease over distance. Please note that HEAT and HE shells lose no penetration over distance; if you find yourself firing these two types of ammo very frequently at closer range, it might be better to use the EGLD.
Vitality II - Enhanced Armor vs. Improved Assembly
Enhanced Armor offers 5% more armor to the hull and turret of the vehicle while Improved Assembly adds 5% HP. Both of these choices can be used to dangerous effect; it will depend on the tank that you are using. If you are using a tank with paper armor such as a Grille 15 that will get penetrated regardless of a slight armor buff, go for the HP buff. If you already have a lot of armor, such as a Maus, go for the HP buff. This choice will boil down to playstyle and tank class preference. More on this will come later.
Specialization II - Improved Control vs. Engine Accelerator
Improved Control offers a 7% boost to the tank's hull traverse, while Engine Accelerator improves the acceleration to top speed by 7%. Note that both equipment choices will improve the tank's horsepower and traverse speeds; IC will benefit the traverse more while EA will benefit the horsepower more. IC will be extremely useful for tanks with exceptionally slow traverse speeds such as the T95 or the Grille, or for aggressive close-range brawlers. Engine Accelerator will probably be more useful for tanks that are low in weight but have weaker engines, such as the T-54 lightweight. There are strong arguments for both choices; I would personally prefer the Improved Control because it offers much more flexibility.
Combat Power III - Vertical Stabilizer vs. Refined Gun
The Vertical Stabilizers improve accuracy with a moving hull or turret by 15% while the Refined Gun reduces gun dispersion at 100m by 5% (disclaimer: applies to all ranges, not just specifically 100m. Yes, someone I know used to think that this only applied at ranges less than or equal to 100m). Vertical Stabilizers are hands down the better option; a significant majority of shots fired in Blitz are done while moving the hull or turret.
Vitality III - Enhanced Tracks vs. Toolbox
The Enhanced Tracks will instantly repair broken tracks from a "damaged" state to a "not damaged" state, while the Toolbox will improve repair speed of all modules by 25%. Enhanced Tracks is downright useless; unlike rumors leading up to this update, it does not repair tracks from a "broken" to "damaged" state (red icon to yellow icon), it will instead repair your damaged tracks to fully module health. So no, it will not automatically fix your tracks if you get detracked. Go with the Toolbox to improve your vehicle's repair crew by 25%. Enhanced Tracks is utterly useless.
Specialization III - Consumable Delivery System vs. High-end Consumables
Consumable Delivery System will reduce the consumable cooldown speed by 10% while the High-end Consumables will make Engine Boost and Adrenaline last 15% longer. This is a definite win for the CDS; having Engine Boost and Adrenaline last for 17 seconds instead of 15 seconds is absurdly useless, while having the cooldown for the repair kits down from 90 to 81 seconds and the cooldown for Engine Boost or Adrenaline down from 75 to 68 seconds is extremely useful.
So there's a quick rundown on each individual equipment slot. Now to analyze certain vehicle types and the best kind of combination. I will be using the following format to quickly describe an equipment setup:
211, 212, 121
The first set of numbers, 211, means "Second, First, First," for the Tier I equipment. I'm using the second option for Combat Power, so there's a 2. Same applies for the second set of numbers with Tier 2 equipment and the third set of numbers for Tier 3 equipment. Got it? Let's move on.
Heavy - Inaccurate, Armored, Slow: Brawler or Armor Angler
Your typical inaccurate, heavily armored, slow heavy tank, such as the IS-7, Churchill I, or the T32.
211, 111, 121
Heavy - Accurate, Weakly-Armored, Mobile: Sniper heavy or Precision heavy
Some heavies in Blitz have poor armor, or accurate guns, or are surprisingly quick, such as the Löwe, the Caernarvon, or some of the French heavies.
111, 211, 121
Medium - Acceptable Armor, Mobile: Brawling medium or armored flanker
Most Russian and Chinese mediums, some German mediums, have reasonable armor and are good at brawling and/or flanking.
111, 212, 121
Medium - Poor armor, High-Precision: Sniper medium or precision ridgeline shooter
The Leopard branch, the Centurion branch, and some other select mediums tend to have poor armor but have highly accurate and precise guns, and are oftentimes played as snipers or mobile tank destroyers. Also applies to some highly mobile turreted TD's such as the Hellcat.
212, 212, 121
Light - Poor armor, high mobility, high rate of fire: Demonic flanker, Bringer of Chaos, Fear, Destruction, and Panic
Basically most light tanks in the game that are very fast and are designed to spot and cause mayhem in enemy lines
111, 222, 121
Destroyer - High alpha, poor accuracy: Hard hitter, make noobs cry loudly, ambush/sniper
Tanks such as the Jagdpanzer E 100 or the ISU-152 that have a devastatingly powerful gun, but are inflexible and inaccurate.
112, 211, 221
Destroyer - Low alpha, high penetration/rate of fire, accurate: The pain in the [edited] from across the map
Some TD's such as the E 25, the Object 263, or the T67 are accurate with low alpha damage and tend to have either high penetration, high rate of fire, or (Lord be with you) both.
(1 or 2 depending on which one you need more) 12, 211, (1 if you have a turret, 2 if you don't) 21
Hopefully that covers everything! Equipment in Update 3.8 is very new and you can expect most players you encounter in Random Battles to not have a full complement of equipment. Take advantage of my review of the equipment choices to make a good decision for your equipment; the good news is that once you unlock a slot, you're free to toggle whatever equipment you want. Experiment, try something new, and if you find something interesting, please discuss!
~
Silevern
Edited by Silevern, 04 May 2017 - 09:33 PM.
