That is it’s battle rating in Arcade battles, so I’m assuming you base your observations mostly/entirely around that game mode?
Lightly armored tanks, those who rely on mobility & not being seen, perform worse in AB due to the spotting system. So if you have a rough time there in the Strv74, I understand completely.
I find the Strv 74 is alright in RB. The height is a drawback, but it can be offset with skillful play, as positioning is more important. You have -15° depression, so hills are your friend. I find the gun and ammunition good for it’s BR.
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Good gun depression, scouting ability, decent ammo (Be it APHE or APDS), and formerly good mobility, it makes sense, not to mention the high angles of the armor can make some shots ricochet. You can also turn your engine off and still have the same rotation speed while being silent, even after the battery dies.
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the strv 74 is just never going to be a good tank no matter where you put it.
better higher and a bit crap then lower, a bit crap, and also makes armor useless
We already have the same gun ~.7 lower, it would be fine there.
True. The thing is quite massive though, and honestly even at 5.0 it wouldnt be that good compared to stuff like the DT imo. APDS is good, but ngl 90% of the time aphe is king.
The pvkv also has actual armor too, which is a big help, and considering the optics on that thing go from 8x to 16x…
Should be fine at 5.0 imo. It just seems way too high rn for a slow LT that really lacks armor.
Not sure I would say that. It has 70mm almost flat over the casemate, which even at the best possible angle doesn’t go much over 85mm effective. Even 4.0s can rip through that pretty easily, even at range.
The Strv isn’t well armored either, but it’s all pretty heavily sloped, meaning occasionally someone with take a snapshot and get trolled by hitting a near horizontal plate. It’s not consistent, but it bailed me out a few times.
The LT classification is bizaare and shouldnt be given much thought, it’s a holdover from the time it was up over 6.0 BR somewhere (I forget exactly where), and Gaijin gave it scouting in the vague attempt to keep it at such a high BR.
IRL, it was a medium tank (Well, MBT more accurately) and it plays like a support sniper more than an LT, but is still more flexible than the Pvkv. You can be more aggressive and work ridgelines more proactively since you have the turret, and you’re substantially less vulnerable to being outpositioned or flanked.
I can’t really underscore what an advantage having a turret is in game. On maps that don’t allow the super long range sniping the Pvkv excels in (IE most of them), trading that zoom for a turret is always worth it, IMO.
It is accurate, they did call it a LT.
Lago hull moment. I still think they are roughly equal in capability, and the DTs better then both imo- so it should be 5.0.
Huh, so they did. I remembered differently.
That’s a harder comparison. It’s the lack of APDS that gives me the biggest pause, sure APHE is often better but the APDS is a very useful option at longer ranges and against tougher tanks. Not having it limits the Delat quite severely.
The turret is also quite slow on it, and it’s not got that amazing 15 degrees of gun depression that makes the 74 so flexible in positioning. I’ll admit, the 3.5 second reload is a great asset, but it’s hard to compare it to a sniper like the 74.
Pvkv has some advantages, including DRASTICALLY improved armor, especially when angled, more gun elevation (5 extra degrees), a smaller less “tanky” profile, and it does not have to worry about a ready rack (while still having the same reload speed).
Lots of small things, but it does add up imo. I also think it looks much better but thats just me.
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Imagine if we got the best Pvkv with APDS, roof armor, and better engine. Pvkv m/43 (1954) - The best of both worlds
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the pvkv has a 3.8s reload. And lets be honest’ that tank isn’t particualrly good, so using that as a benchmark has some flaws.
It can be drastically improved but still amount to nothing. ~85-90mm of effective armor doesn’t even block most 4.0 guns at range. Everything stronger than a M4A2 or KV-1 will punch right through. I’ve bounced more rounds in the Strv 74 due to the high amounts of sloping than I have with the Pvkv (Which isn’t a lot, but still).
More gun elevation is nice to have in the rare moments when you need it, but it’s not critical most of the time. +15 degrees is also plenty, generally.
Presuming both are hulldown, they have almost the same silloheutte. Both have that huge forehead that sticks out over cover unless you’re using all 15 degrees. Which is something the 74 is better at, since having the turret means you can position yourself more easily on ridges to get as much gun depression as possible.
I’ll give you that one, but that’s up to Gaijin at the end of the day.
No it doesn’t. The Delat Torn is the only autoloaded one, at 3.5 seconds per shot.
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Its worth considering that the american 75mm and russian 76mm are still quite common at the BR, as well as it having enough armor to be safe from (i think) all autocannons/AA it can run across, and that is quite a big difference.
And hey, if you are playing around tall hills (as you should) with either of these, that extra 5 degrees could save you from from that guy on top of the hill!
it was very fine on 5.7 before all the decompression, now it is even better on the “new” 5.7. It has great depression, great round, and gets scouting. It is everything you would want for a 5.7 sniper tank to be.
Except it is slower than a tiger or panther and its profile is HUGE. Getting to said sniping spot is difficult due to the speed and profile and its very easy to get caught out by the actual good light tanks. Combine that with short rod APDS bad postpen and longer reload and its not very good at sniping. Compare to the 5.3 brit challenger. Challenger is WAY faster, better round, and has 6.7s reload rather than 8.5s. I do think the strv has better postpen by a bit, but its hard to compare how much. Yeah, the strv isn’t close to 5.7 material.
Never had problems with its mobility, it is enough to reach sniping spot and that should be your goal. Profile means nothing since with that depression you can hide behind hill too steep for any other tank. APDS is comparable to chally and pens everything on its BR with decent post pen to knock out whatever you are aiming at. Only real advantage is that reload but I say I will take extra reverse for that one second.
Now additionally:
You get nice APHE that helps a lot with lighter armor or finishing stuff.
Scouting, airstrike for extra rewards
Extra reverse speed to get behind cover
Wonky turret armor that can ricochet plenty of rounds.
Strv is fine where it is, it plays well into niche role and with a right spot it will excel at it.
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Ah yes, the ‘playes a niche role’.
Aka any other tank probably does the same thing.
158 pen APHE at 5.7 isn’t a selling point. You are facing 6.3-6.7 russia and germany every game. There are very few light vehicles that you will be encounting on a consistant basis.
When you have to bring up airstrike rewards as a justification for a tank… oof
Reverse speed isn’t significantly better than most of its competition. Its average, not a selling point.
‘wonky turret’ that is 30mm of armor… yeah, you aren’t bouncing anything on that you would bounce off a PT76 . That is armor, thats a spall promoter.
M36B2 is a far better sniper, and exists in 4 nation’s trees at 5.7.
VK 3002 is a better sniper at 5.0
SA-50 is a better sniper at 5.0
Waffentrager is a better sniper at 5.7 with almost as much APHE pen as the Strv-74 gets APDS.
So you are sitting on the bottom rungs of the ‘sniper’ role.
That leaves you… scouting? But you are as slow as a heavy. So you can’t take adavntage of flanks or get into positions where scouting shows your team more than they can see. Certainly ‘niche’ in terms of flawed design.
Literally nothing stopping this tank from dropping a BR or two. The problems are inherent in the design and dropping those BRs isn’t going to unbalance any BR under it. Its obviously not up to the capabilities of its own BR. Keeping it at its curent BR is like justifying a tank due to its APCR pen. You have a big number that no one cares about.
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Hell, the pvkv m/43 1963 is better as a sniper.
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Just went out and played a few games in the thing, and it is fine where it is. Its not a “traditional” light tank but fills the same role as the later IKV-91 and is quite comfortable in its position alongside the T-34/85
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