The Puma/VJTF is completely useless and sits at a ridiculous BR.
For a long time, I wanted to research the Puma as an upgrade to the Begleitpanzer, because I felt like 9.3 was getting outdated at 10.7. Now that I’ve unlocked the first Puma, I have to say—it feels lackluster, to say the least. It sits at 10.3, has little armor, bad mobility, no ATGMs or missiles, and a 30mm cannon firing at 200 rounds per minute with only 119mm of penetration. The spalling is like wet noodles
It’s neither fast nor small, so I can’t hide effectively or reposition quickly. I can’t kill anything except a 2S25 or BMP-2M from the front. Killing MBTs from the side is possible, but it often takes over 10 rounds—by which point I’m probably already dead.
What about air-to-ground? It’s awful—complete garbage. The AHEAD rounds don’t match what the radar indicates. I have to compensate so much, and even then, they’re ineffective above 4 kilometers and don’t do much damage even when they hit.
I naively thought the Puma VJTF would be better. Turns out, it’s even worse. It sits at 11.0, where nearly every other vehicle is a better pick. For example, the T-90A is nearly impenetrable unless it’s fully broadside and completely unaware of you. I thought the Spike missiles might make up for it, but they really don’t. They usually just knock out the commander, gunner, or breach—and are significantly worse than most ATGMs around this BR.
But the worst part isn’t just that the Puma is bad. The problem is that vehicles way below its BR perform far better. Here’s a short list for comparison:
Begleitpanzer 57 — Has a 57mm cannon with 133mm pen and much better post-pen damage, plus a decent ATGM. Its anti-air capability is surprisingly good—better than the Ozelot, even.
BMP-3 (9.3) — Feels absurdly undertiered. Has a 30mm cannon at 330rpm with 81mm pen, plus a tandem ATGM with 750mm of penetration. Don’t forget the Gen 3 thermals.
BMP-2M (10.3) — Same BR as the Puma but much more effective. Fires twice as fast, has 99mm of pen, and carries four ATGMs that can be launched on the move in rapid succession. It’s faster and more agile. Sure, it has less armor, but that doesn’t matter when you’re up against APFSDS.
I don’t even need to keep listing examples, but the BMD-4(M) deserves an honorable mention.
Now for the solution, or at least betterment of the Puma:
The Puma, both versions deserve it’s real life capable 600/800 rounds per minute fire rate. The only reason it’s set at 200 in real life is because of the ABM (Air burst munition), accuracy and heat management. But if you request Rheinmetal to up the fire rate it’s perfectly capable of up to 800 rounds per minute and it would make it an actual decent vehicle.
