After the recent battle rating changes the Premium AMX-50 (TO90/930) and Char 25t have moved from 7.7 to 8.0 while Gaijin have explaied why they’re moving them up them going to 8.0 isn’t the main issue.
The main issue is France 8.0 and its horrible (or lack of a proper) lineup, there are a total of 4 8.0 vehicles the AMX-30 and its premium counterpart(a complete downgrade) as well as the Char 25t and the AMX-50 (TO90/930). That leaves a free to play player with 2 tanks and a plane, your best SPAA’s are 5.7 and any possible backup vehicle is either 7.7 or 8.3.
Meaning if you want to have a proper lineup to either have to fall back on 7.7 tanks in OR simply uptier your already existing 8.0s to 8.3.
This highlights more the issues of the latest few BR changes compressing the 7.7-8.7 battle ratings changes forcing players to uptier their already overtiered vehicles more as well as the gaps in the French TT that Gaijin have refused to do anything about
I would like to add that this is an issue with most 8.0 vehicles and changes like this only increase the number of people who leave after one death as due to not having proper backup vehicles
The problem is Gaijin makes superficial decisions without context and these tanks will remain at 8.0 not because they deserve to be there but because no one will play them again. The 8.0 lineup for France was already aweful and while I love the Char and TO90 I will NOT play them again and when/if I choose to will only be in battles that they are 150SP.
The Char25t was probably my most played and enjoyed tank and one of the chief reasons I have continued to play over the last few months. It wasn’t the highest earning light tank because it so fundamentally better than other tanks, it was good because most people playing French are seasoned players and few people you play against actually bother to look left or right.
Most of my Nukes and big games came because zero people looked in my direction. Hurtgen Forest is a great example where I can drive up to b4 and fire on the whole team crossing from A to B or vice versa. The Char excelled at it because it has a short profile but this isn’t because the tank is so much better, it’s because no one else ever went up to b4, no one else bothered looking in my direction.
Below are my stats in the the previous 7.7 lineup. You can see that they are all pretty mich the same with the TO90 actually being the worst of the bunch.
There are a couple posts before this 8.0 shift of people complaining about 7.7 because while the M82 is a great round to shoot at someone through the side, you are now running into tanks that are faster, better armor, thermals, stabalizers, darts etc. Meaning that many of your options to flank are neutralized.
Compare the Char25t at 8.0 and the AMX-10RC at 8.3. The 10RC is faster, slightly better armor, thermals, laser range finder, drone, and APFSDS. Why would anyone chose the char at this point. Just run a test drive of the Char 25 and people will see it cant even pen any of the tanks in the testin range without driving all the way to the sides or rear, while everything else at 8.0 and 8.3 can.
Combined with the amount of uptiers 8.0 gets, why bother playing it again. Look at the table below which is nation agnostic and based on over 100k battles. It’s better to play at 7.7 or 8.3
Yeah and the sad truth is that no matter how many times people will complain Gaijin will not revert the change, but in all honestly i didnt understand the change for the Char 25t.
I still don’t understand why the 100mm gun tanks were kept at 7.7 and the 90mm gun tanks were moved to 8.0. The 100mm is in many cases superior as the reload time is shorter, pen is better, muzzle velocity is better, and despite not having HE filler, the spalling and module damage is good.
It’s almost as if they wanted France to remain a good 7.7 country, but just didn’t want people to play French tanks that shoot M82 anymore. Maybe the good post-pen damage means it punishes lemmings too much and they want to let the Tiger II players continue to W-key?
Interesting and agreed and likely the case. I actually prefer the 100mm as it has more reliable pen, good post pen damage, I’ve had plenty of situations in which M82 non-penned due to hitting road wheels and wierd stuff like that.
The AMX-13-90 should be higher BR than the Char and maybe it makes more sense to have it at 8.0 instead but the HEAT rounds of the french are so poor with post pen that it makes the tanks aweful, so perhaps you are right in that this is a way they are minimizing the use of APHE…idk or maybe its a way to try and force people to play other tanks in the tree.
I stopped playing the char at 7.7, like how many skill issue players struggle to kill a dam light tank. IMO, the AML, Char should both be 7.3.
The Lorraine 70 is faster, better gun, more pen but at 7.7 lower than the chat that started at 6.7 and was fine versing tiger 2s.
So what if they get lots of kills as the minority who play them actually have the skill to flank and get into grooves. If the majority of players didn’t put there blinkers on and go straight up the middle you would be able to help your team.
There is also a The horrible gap in the ait tech tree for cas means props against radar spaa. 6.3 to 8.0… lol
Not to long ago, I played the French and rush Grinded the grind with E.B.R 1954 tank before the change due to someone in the Forum complaining the French suffered at 7.7…I unlocked it and well, they don’t suffer there, in fact it was a strong line up and can carry every game if played well. The Char 25t was the most picked tank due to how good it is with its 4 second reload along with the F-84 for CAS. (AD and F4U exist but needed a faster plane to escape from Radar SPAAG quickly.) Took some time to get used to the vehicles, but they can do work at 7.7 and they were balanced there. 8.0 is just killing it, no different from the Japanese J6K1 prop plane being moved from 6.3 to 6.7 and facing Jets. 6.3 was already balancing her, 6.0 would dominate more often. Char can be 7.3 but it will dominate more often for sure.
Now that it’s 8.0, will see more 9.0 tanks like heavily armored Object 279, T-62M-1 and other much stronger opponents with better rounds/mobility. Yea, the Char will still kill the lightly armored leopard A1A1, MBT-803, Chieftain Mk 10 at the sides/lower front plate (strong turret armor so avoid hull down battles) etc…but it will be outclassed by a lot.
Pretty much nailed it here. Japan is one of the main victims and suffered a lot due to this. Sooooo welcome to the club where Line ups are crucial.
I am sure these French tanks will eventually end up at BR 9.0 while the T20 will take their place at BR 8.0. Because they are all so overpowered, because Gaijin says so and Gaijin would never BS us.
I honestly preferred this vehicle when it was at 6.7, then gaijin decided to add the M82 ammunition and they raised the br to 7, then to 7.7 and finally to 8, the truth is that it makes no sense to have a vehicle that barely pierces 200mm in br 8 when There are other vehicles with APDS and HEATFS with better skills.
Basically you are forced to flank and make very precise shots, but at long distances it is useless, I think Gaijin should at least give it the HEATFS OCC 60-62 ammunition to justify this high br.
