Hi people.
I think the Abrams is a bad top tier tank. Certainly, not the worst, but definitely below average. I will count tanks that are 12.0 and not those that are under.
The Abrams is a giant weak spot in the front.
The main mean of damaging a tank in top tier, is center mass in the turret, which is, the gun mantlet. The more protected your turret is, the better.
Turret
The Abrams turret is between protection level of T-80BVM and Leopard 2A7.
The 2A7V turret is simply much better at deflecting in terms of angles, also, spall liner is a major advantage. Notice how small its mantlet is compared to the Abrams. Simply better against flank shots (you wont be 100% frontal with enemy shots all the times)
Hull
Both T-80BVM and Leopard 2A7V feature decent hull protection, allowing for more flexible playstyle.
The Abrams is impossible to buff without making it OP.
Gun
Many people praise its gun.
Citing 5 seconds reload, which I wont’ deny is an advantage; another overly praised aspect is its shells. But the shells mean little when the weakspot/strong spots are the same. A M829A2 or M774 hitting a Relikt will just fail. Of course, I am not denying that it helps greatly in defeating Kontakt 5 and other cases. But it is nothing special either.
Conclusion
It is impossible to balance this tank without making it OP, because its flat hull is its weakest point, and buffing it will make it killable only in very small area.
I’d say the main thing that makes it bad to play are these main points
- Lack of spall liner
- No hull armor
- Poor turret design means it is less resistant to flank shots