Hi everyone,
I am currently grinding the Chinese tt after having ground and air out both Italy and Russia. Based on my current experience playing the VT-5, I strongly believe it struggles at its current br and needs to be moved down.
(The lineup I currently have.)
Let me explain why.
First of all, survivability. Due to the most light tanks are not at 11.7 br, I barely found some light tank to compare with it.
Here are Centauro RGOs protection map against 12.7mm gun, front and side views.
And here are VT-5’s
They are both light tanks and at 11.7, I think this explains something already.
And another light tank Booker has a lower br which is 10.7 while it has a better protection compares to VT-5
Sprut at 10.0, has a better protection in front.
Even HSTV has a better protection in front.
Why I use 12.7mm gun for the comparison? Cause the weak area of VT-5 is directly covering the driver.
Because the VT-5’s weak spots can be easily penetrated by standard 12.7mm heavy machine guns, a single burst can kill the driver, leaving the tank immobilized or unable to escape. What makes it worse is that due to this vulnerability, enemies (even those with a broken main gun) can just hold down their trigger with a .50 cal, repeatedly killing your replacement drivers the moment they hop in, effectively locking you down and executing you with machine-gun fire. For an 11.7 light tank, this level of vulnerability is completely unacceptable.
(In this image, the Centauro and the VT-5 destroyed each other’s main guns, and the VT-5 was smoked by 12.7mm and was unable to escape.)
All light tanks above would be the comparable materials I use for this suggestion.
Next, armament.
To be completely fair and objective, the firepower of the VT-5 is acceptable. The 5sautoloader is definitely a strong point, and having slightly lower penetration is usually manageable for a light tank that relies on flanking.
Centauro RGO’s APFSDS vs VT-5’s
It is reasonable that the Centauro RGO has higher-penetration ammo but a slower fire rate compared to the VT-5; it’s a fair trade-off.
The exact same logic applies to the M10 Booker, 2S25M Sprut, and HSTV-L (though the HSTV-L trades penetration for an even faster fire rate).
Cannon-armed light tanks generally have very similar armament performance anywhere from 10.7 to 12.0. Because of this, the VT-5’s decent armament does not justify keeping it locked at an 11.7 BR, especially when its survivability is so far behind. Moving it to a lower BR would not break the game’s balance.
And the last one, mobility.
VT-5’s mobility is not really bad.
(From up to down, VT-5, Centauro RGO, HSTV, 2S25M and Booker’s max speed status)
Since I only have VT-5 and Centauro RGO, I was only able to test the acceleration of their two vehicles. (I am still grinding the US tt as well, but I don’t get Booker yet.)
I got 15s to reach 60km/h while playing as Centauro and 17s for playing as VT-5, both are running in “reference”, their acceleration abilities is similar. If someone has tested any of the other vehicles, please leave your test results in the comment section.
Because its survivability is extremely weak while its other traits only meet the standard of a light tank, moving the VT-5 down to 11.3 or even 11.0 would allow it to perform its intended role without breaking the balance of the game.
Put it in 11.3 is a best choice imo.
- Yes
- No (If you have passion to explain why, leave your comment.)
