I’ve been having a blast with my Firefly/Avenger/Sherman 2/Cromwell I (finally replaced with concept 3, but yet to spade that one)/Spit F MKIX line-up.
However, I do want to eventually reach Vickers and Conqueror one day. I kinda think the Challenger looks kinda ugly (way too tall and boxy turret) but the comet looks pretty (sole reason I went british: Crusader, avenger and early MBTs look snazzy).
I also use my british line-up to make money for my american ARB grind, as I can consistently get 10-20K/match and repair costs are fairly nice.
Chally/comet aren’t much more expensive than firefly/avenger to repair, and look like they got a 11-23% increase in SL gain.
However, I imagine chally/comet are far less likely to regularly ohk enemies even in a full up-tier and they’d also deal with far tougher tanks in general. I have been informed though that lolpen/glass cannon tanks can handle uptiers fairly well, so i could support the chally/commet with the firefly/avenger/concept3 just fine.
So! British players.
Would the chally/comet introduce more fun playstyles/variation over the 4.7 british line-up, or is it more of the same?
Do battles feel less/more fair at 5.3 compared to 4.7?
Is the increase in sl modifier tangible or it gets balanced out by fewer kills from tougher enemies?
Based on the above, should I upgrade my line-up with them or skip straight to Cent/Chari/FV4005/Ratel?
I will star this off by saying that i don’t play Britain.
However, general things still apply so.
If SL gain is your main priority then the higher up in rank/BR you get the more SL you earn BUT the repair costs also increase. so it’s less about the “SL-efficiency” of a specific vehicle and more about how well you play in that vehicle. You can have a vehicle with GREAT SL gain/cost ratio but be absolutely dogshit with it and gain almost nothing. On the other end you can have a vehicle with bad SL-ratios but play like a god with it and thus gain far more SL in the end.
and to answer your questions:
in my experience in most tech trees (i have not played past tier 3 in many of them) BR/rank matters little in terms of playstyle/variation. and if its fun? that’s highly subjective and the only way to know is to try them out for yourself. give them a go in testdrive with reference vehicle on, see how well they destroy they test-targets, get a feel for the handling and see what your first impressions are.
This HIGHLY depend on what matchups you get and what countries are present. my main comment here is that Britain doesn’t have a full lineup at 5.3 so you’ll have to bring 4.7’s with you and that could make it less fun towards the end of a match when you don’t have more 5.3’s to spawn in. i don’t know how these specific vehicles will fare though.
its easier to have a net plus at lower BR and easier to loose a lot at higher. its a risk/reward thing. the span of how much you can earn or loose is grater the higher up you go. if you have the possibility to grind an event for a vehicle to sell (or just have spare cash you feel like using) i highly recommend using that gained GJN to get premium time when there is a sale. with it you cant loose ANY SL (unless you teamkill) and it makes higher BR’s/tiers the better option for SL grind in almost every case.
The Comet 1 and Challenger are pretty well the same, but I play the Challenger over the Comet 1 as it has quicker reload, APDS, and slow reverse speed. In fact it’s almost quicker to do a pivot turn and move away. That said, APDS and solid shot can be fickle and are great when they work and suck when they don’t.
I also have the TOG II (event vehicle) which is great in the right game. Heavy armor, lots of crew, and a good gun.
I would assume that you’ve played the odd full BR uptier? You play 5.3 now you’ll have a chance to face 6.3. APDS tends to bounce on angled hull so if you’re used to that there is no real difference other than a chance for more heavy armored enemies.
I really didn’t enjoy that part of the lineup and primarily used the Ratel with it’s HEATFS and The Eland 90 with HEATFS. The Eland with it’s small size and nimble handling is great though. Just be aware of the light armor. The Ratel does have horrible handling, but it’s gun is decent.
Centurions are fine, but seem slow compared to the other countries tanks, and again solid shot and APDS you’ll suffer with weird bounces or non-pens. I had a the event Centurion Mk5/1 which was ok, but again your outclassed by faster and nimbler tanks from other countries in uptiers.
Stay away from the Tortoise unless you enjoy pain. It’s slow…
You do also have options with the M109 and it’s HE which can destroy everything once you know where to aim. I don’t have it as I play mostly the 8.3 lineup, Vickers Mk1 with it’s quick reload, the Falcon, and the Fox.
Make sure you keep a decent SPAA, Ystervak, Bosvark or the skink as CAS becomes more of a threat. The Spitfires are more than capable of dealing with the air threat though.
I’d recommend setting a specific 4.7 lineup, for as awful as Gaijin makes Britain, 4.7 is probably the best British BR by far.
Once you get both the Comet and the Challenger I’d recommend putting them in your lineup. It’s best to unlock at least two tanks of a certain BR at once before starting to grind with them.
but yeah highkey what the guy said, don’t play Britain, I grinded my way to the top with Britain first and it’s just, complete garbage because Gaijin says so and refuses to give the Challenger anything it has irl.
Even with minimal modifications (tracks, shell type 8), comet/challenger is super worth the upgrade. And the firefly/avenger don’t care about being dragged to 6.0, they keep performing quite well.
5.3 is great, but only if you have all the ground premium/reward/BP vehicles and/or play aircraft. If you’re ground only and don’t have the premiums you might as well keep playing 4.7 until you unlock 7.7