In what is apparently an uncommon opinion, it’s just fine where it is now. No longer the brain dead nuke printer it was on release, nor completely obsolete either. To run down it’s characteristics quickly:
Armor can and will bounce most APDS, unless exceptionally well aimed. This is by far the most common round type at 8.3 and below, so it retain’s it’s monstrous advantage when downtiered. It can also bounce some weaker first gen darts too, if not precisely aimed. It’s vulnerable to HEAT rounds, but people rarely main them, meaning you’ll still have the advantage on the first shot unless they have time to prepare.
Firepower is still great. Outside of the Chieftain Mk 10 and the copy paste T-72s, it really doesn’t run into anything that can bounce it’s round reliably. And since it has incredible post pen damage, you barely need to aim at targets. Most enemies can be center massed and oneshot, giving you a sizable reaction time advantage (Considering they need to aim their shots relatively carefully to ensure penetration/decent damage).
The reload is longer than average, but not cripplingly so like on the T-10M, so it’s not impossible to play around. You also get a coaxial 14.5mm gun like the T-10M, an underrated advantage that allows you to dispatch lightly armored tanks and track enemies even if your commander is dead. It’s also a near ballistic match to the main gun, helping you line up shots at medium ranges faster.
Mobility is also rock solid. Not incredible, but for a heavy tank it’s exceptionally reactive and quick to accelerate. Plus, actual reverse gears, a rarity for Soviet tanks at the tier. Not it’s strongest point, but not much of a downside either.
This combo makes it a monster on urban maps, especially in downtiers, where it can brawl aggressively and take advantage of that reaction time advatange to oneshot tanks who are still trying to line up a shot. Considering it’s comparative rarity, there’s still a lot of players who have no idea how to fight it or where to shoot. Generally, if I see a 279 in good matchmaking, I make it my mission to dispatch him, since if I don’t they often run over my team. The only other tank that gets this reaction out of me is a KV-1B/E in good matchmaking, which I think is telling. This happens much less than it used to, thankfully, but it’s still problematic when the stars align.
They’re far weaker in uptiers and on larger maps, but that’s hardly a mark against the tank. You have lineups for a reason, if you get bad matchmaking just spawn something else instead. Trying to balance the tank around that is like trying to balance a Nashorn that you insist on spawning in brawling maps.
Ultimately, like almost every other problematically balanced vehicle, it needs decompression.
