Tier 7 is a very interesting and
popular tier for a large number of players. Not without reason either. A lot of
great vehicles populate it, amongst them such crowd favourites as the T29 heavy tank or the ubiquitous KV-3.
The same can be said about the tank destroyers (TD's) of the tier. With
vehicles such as the Jagdpanther to choose from, it's no wonder that a lot of
players still play Tier 7 vehicles, even after having moved to higher tiers.
Amongst these fine vehicles, in my
humble opinion, the T25 AT stands out as an excellent choice and a very
enjoyable vehicle to drive. It is not the most well armoured, or the fastest, nor does it have the best
gun. But all of its qualities are so balanced and the tank destroyer itself so
flexible that it can be a very effective weapon in the hands of a capable
player.
In this article I will attempt an
in-depth view of this TD and by the time it's finished, it is my sincere hope
that it will have convinced a lot of you to give this fine vehicle a try.
Historical
Background
As the vehicle is one of the
prototypes Wargaming used to populate the various trees, the actual history of
the vehicle is rather limited. The T25 was a tank destroyer essentially based
on the T23 medium tank. The latter was a prototype medium tank developed in
1943 as a proposed replacement for the M4 Sherman.
Fig.1:
The T23 medium tank on which the T25 AT was based
The T23 was eventually not accepted
for service for various reasons, including the reluctance of the US army to
disrupt full-scale production of the M4. Despite that, around 250 vehicles were
built, which never saw action.
The T25 AT was based on the chassis
of the T23 medium tank. The turret was removed and a simple superstructure used
in it's place. The vehicle never progressed past the drawing board and no
actual prototype was ever constructed.
The T25 AT in World
of Tanks
And now we move on to the important
stuff. How does the T25 behave in WoT and how can a player make it work for
him? I will attempt a comprehensive look into that in the paragraphs the
follow.
So you bought a shiny new T25? This
is how the vehicle is going to look like when it's thrust into your garage.
Fig.2: This is how a stock T25 AT looks like. Do not be fooled but the
cute looks though
Main characteristics and crew
The T25 AT belongs to the turretless US TD
line. A misnomer of course, as the two vehicles preceding it are actually
turreted, but let's ignore that for the time being.
It is researched through the Tier 6
M36 Jackson, at a cost of 45000 experience points. The cost of the vehicle is a
rather substantial 1.327.000 credits but if you are patient and persistent, you
will find that the vehicle will repay you with hours of death-dealing fun.
A stock T25 AT is not a pretty thing
to behold. It starts out with a 560 hp engine, which is the same as the
upgraded engine used on the T20 medium tank, and the same 90mm gun as the elite
M36 Jackson. The engine gives it a rather mediocre power/weight ratio of 14,46
hp/ton (assuming you do not mount any extra modules) while the penetration of
the stock gun is inadequate for the matches the vehicle gets thrust into. But
do not worry, this all gets better later on.
The vehicle's hit point pool stands
at 840 hp which is around average for a Tier 7 tank destroyer. The same can be said of the view range of
350m. The track traverse is a decent 30 degrees per second, not amazing by any
means but not bad either (yes SU-152, I am looking at you). A peculiarity of
the vehicle is that the upgraded suspension does not improve the traverse but
only enhances the load-bearing characteristics.
Although the T25's predecessor has a
5-man crew, the T25 itself dispenses with the Radio Operator by shoving that
role onto the Commander. So anyone intending to move the crew of the Jackson to
the T25 will find he is left with a spare loader that does not fit into any of
the tanks further on this line. The 4-man crew is comprised of a Commander, a
Driver, a Loader and a Gunner.
Mobility
Despite the popular misconception,
mobility does not (only) mean speed. Sure speed is an important facet but so is
its oft-ignored sister, agility. With that in mind let's take a peek at how our
TD does in that aspect.
Remember me saying that the stock
T25 is not a pretty sight? One reason for that is mobility. While you won't
call it slow, it's definitely not fast either. The top speed of 56 km/h is
great but you won't reach it often. And even if you do, when you decide to
turn, the vehicle WILL bleed speed, serving to annoy you even further.
But do not lose heart gentle
tankers. Once the upgraded engine is installed, things become MUCH happier.
Acceleration is improved significantly and the top speed can be reached far
more easily. To top that, turn rate is improved. All in all, the T25 acquires
the handling characteristics of a medium tank and a nimble one at that.
Keep in mind however that despite
the agility improvement, the turn rate remains less than stellar. While you
won't get circlestrafed by anything under the sun (SU-152 I'm once again
looking at you), a determined light or nimble medium can out-turn you. Take
care to avoid such situations.
Armour
In stark contrast to the vehicles
following it in the tree, the T25 is not armour based. I could include an armour
model here but I feel it's unnecessary. The only spot on the vehicle with
substantial armour is the rather large gun mantlet. It can eat shots,
especially if the vehicle is put into a hulldown position.
The bad news is however that the
tank is underarmoured everywhere else. Sure the front hull has a decent slope
but it will not reliably bounce the high tier guns it faces. Perhaps (and
assuming it's correctly angled) it will bounce some low penetration guns (the
M1A2 of the Sherman family jumps to mind) but in the vast majority of battles
you should NOT rely on that armour to save you.
The above obviously mean that, as
with most tank destroyers, your aim should be not to be shot at in the first
place. Whether you achieve that by remaining far away from the action or by
using your mobility and camouflage to avoid getting hit depends on your
playstyle. But one thing is for certain: your job is to deal the hurt, not take
it.
Armament
Who doesn't like stuff that goes
boom? With the T25 being a tank destroyer, gun choice is paramount. The good
news is that you won't really have much to do in the way of choosing; there are
no two opinions regarding which gun the best choice for the T25. The bad news
is that the grind to get to it takes more than any of us would like.
The T25 starts out with the same
90mm as was fitted on the elited Jackson. The stats are as follows:
Caliber: 90mm
RoF: 8,22 rounds/minute
Average penetration: 160mm (243mm with premium ammo)
Average
damage/shot: 240 hp
Accuracy: 0,35
Aim time: 1,7 secs
Ammo count: 56
While this gun was more than
adequate on the M36 Jackson, the same is not the case for the higher tier T25.
It does the job against same and lower tier tanks most of the times but even
then some heavies might give it pause. Higher tier tanks (especially heavies)
tend to require hitting weakspots or sides to reliably inflict damage. The good
news is that the gun is accurate enough to allow hitting of said weakspots and
the premium round penetration is high enough
that it will allow the reliable infliction of damage on the vast
majority of targets, if you are willing to pay the substantial cost.
After you gather 16300 experience
points, you can unlock the second gun, the 90mm T15E2. Here are the
characteristics of said gun:
Caliber: 90mm
RoF: 8,22 rounds/minute
Average
penetration: 170mm
(258mm with premium ammo)
Average damage/shot:
240 hp
Accuracy: 0,35
Aim time: 1,7 secs
Ammo
count: 56
As you can see the ONLY stat the
second 90mm gun improves upon is the penetration, and that not by an
overwhelming amount. It goes without saying that you should mount this gun
while you continue the grind, as you can use every advantage you can get, but
you should not expect to see a huge performance difference.
In order to actually see that
difference, and unlock the full potential of the T25, you need another 18100
exp, which will net you the final gun upgrade, the 105mm T5E1.
Caliber:
105mm
RoF: 6,59 rounds/minute
Average
penetration: 198mm
(245mm with premium ammo)
Average
damage/shot: 320 hp
Accuracy: 0,38
Aim time: 1,7 secs
Ammo
count: 40
With this gun, the T25 finally
becomes a force to be reckoned with. The alpha is great, the accuracy remains
decent, the aim time is the same (i.e superb) despite the caliber increase and
the dpm increases markedly. But the most important different is the penetration
increase. A standard AP shell is now able to hurt most anything it encounters
and reliably damage higher tier opponents if you combine it with a working
knowledge of weakspots.
While the 105mm gun does not have
the outstanding characteristics of the Jagdpanther's same caliber gun, or the
great penetration and RoF of the 20-pounder mounted on the AT 7, it's still an
amazing weapon you will eventually come to love and rely on.
Review-Playstyle
So now that we have reviewed the
hard stats of the T25, it is time to move on to the playstyle. Or in other
words, how to use the T25? How do we play it in order to inflict maximum pain
on those that dare to face us on the battlefield?
I would like to begin this section
with a disclaimer. everyone plays his tanks differently and the bottom line is
simple: does it work? If it works, if you're effective with a particular tank,
then you don't need anyone to tell you how to do it. I had a friend I used to
platoon with that played the Panther as a close-range brawling tank. He would
hear any talk about how it's more of a long-range sniper. But he was effective
with it so I couldn't argue with his method. Keep this in mind while you read
the following lines. They are a suggestion but nothing more than that and
certainly not the one and absolute truth.
The previous paragraphs I believe
made apparent the fact that a stock T25 is very different from an elited one.
Therefore the playstyle has to be adapted accordingly. The stock T25 is neither
very mobile to effectively relocate as needed nor well armoured to go up close
and personal. And the gun will not exactly strike fear in the hearts of enemy
heavies. Therefore my suggestion is to play in a stand-offish way. Keep to camo
and cover and use the rather good accuracy of the 90mm guns to snipe the
weakspots of enemy tanks. If you are not opposed to the use of premium ammo,
keep some of those to take care of heavily armoured opponents or to use in case
you need a guaranteed penetration.
Now an elited T25 can easily adapt
to a different playstyle. It is of course viable to play it in much the same
way as the stock one, keeping yourself outside of danger and sniping from afar.
However the elite T25 is a wonderfully mobile vehicle and that potential is
wasted if you only use it a stationary pillbox. Due to the mobility and the
good punch of the 105mm gun, the T25 can now be used more offensively. You can
switch flanks easily, support the main attack or effectively return to defend
the base or reinforce a flank that wavers.
The mobility of the T25 is its main
tactical advantage and should be exploited as much as possible. You can offer
valuable close range support to a push by relocating in advantageous spots.
Even if the penetration is not enough to make frontal shots, you can easily
move to a position that turns frontal armour into side armour. And despite the
lack of a turret, a rewarding tactic, especially in urban maps, is a form of
“flanking”. If an attack has stalled because of resistance at a choke point,
it's feasible to bypass the choke point and strike at the enemy from the rear,
much like a medium tank could do. Let's face it, a lot of the players found in
randoms will not notice you until you've unloaded a good number of shots and
caused a nice amount of havoc.
I've described the T25 as a
turretless medium tank with a big gun strapped to is and this is what it
effectively is. Its versatility is what sets it apart from its other Tier 7
peers. Snipe from afar, flank and bypass large groups of enemies, use it as a
second line assault gun or even use it as a passive scout if you have camo
trained crew and a camo net mounted. Never commit yourself to only one flank
but move to where your gun will make the most difference. The T25 might not
have the superb gun of the Jagdpanther, the great camo values of the SU-100M1,
the penetration of the AC Mle. 46 or the dpm of the SU-152; it might not be
number 1 in a single category but it is number 2 in several and that's a
distinction no other Tier 7 tank destroyer can claim. It can fill a variety of
roles and your success depends on learning what needs to be done at what time
and then going ahead and doing it. The T25 will not fail you.
And as is always the case with most
US tank destroyers: your gun depression is amazing. Hide as much of your
frontal armour as you can, abuse hills, play peekaboo from hull down positions
and in general abuse this advantage as much as possible.
Advantages-Disadvantages
Advantages:
-Very good
speed, above average agility and mobility characteristics on par with a medium
tank.
-Decent
armour on the gun mantlet.
-Very good
penetration, damage and excellent aim time on the top gun.
-Great gun
depression.
-Can work as
a medium tank in a pinch.
Disadvantages:
-VERY bad
stock grind as the tank needs to be elited in order to be truly effective.
-Bad armour
anywhere else but the gun mantlet.
-Relatively
high ammo cost on the top gun.
Suggested crew
skills
The following suggestions assume you
use credits only for training, not gold.
Commander:
Choose camo as your
first skill. Max it out, then get the second skill to about 40%. After that,
drop all skills for Sixth Sense. This tactic should net you Sixth Sense at 100%
and then afterwards pick camouflage as your second skill. Assuming you keep the
vehicle, the third skill could be either Brothers in Arms (BiA), Mentor to
enhance crew training skill speed or Recon for that extra view range.
Gunner: No perk is especially important here
so my suggestion would be to start with camo, then repair as it's universally
useful. If you intend to go for BiA as your third skill in all crew members,
pick that afterwards, otherwise you can go for whatever catches your eye.
Driver: As the stock T25 is best used in a
sniping role, camo is again a solid choice. After that, you should consider
Clutch Braking and Off-Road Driving, to improve handling characteristics and
especially the turn rate. This becomes paramount if you intend to use the
vehicle more offensively. Train BiA as appropriate depending on whether you use
it on all your crew.
Loader: Seeing as Loader-specific perks are
not especially useful here, I suggest treating the Loader the same as the
Gunner. You might however wish to consider Safe Stowage as 2nd or 3rd
perk, even though the Ammo Rack of the T25 isn't particularly vulnerable.
Suggested equipment
A T25
played as a sniper can benefit the most from a pretty standard configuration of
Camo Net, Gun Rammer and Binoculars. This is especially recommended for a stock
T25 which is pretty much confined to that role.
As the vehicle is elited and the
crew is camo-trained you can customize the equipment to benefit your playstyle.
If you use the T25 offensively you might want to drop the Net in favour of
Vents and even the Binoculars for Optics. Another configuration (which I
personally use but then again it's rather unconventional) is to go for a
combination of Net-Rammer-Vents. This effectively reduces your view range so
that you're no longer a long range sniper but on the other hand you can both
snipe from mid- range, retain a good camo value to help you in remaining unseen
while doing that and giving you the across-the-table benefits of the Vents. The
choice is ultimately yours and depends on your playstyle.
Regarding consumables, the trio of
Repair Kit, Med Kit and Fire Extinguisher are the way to go on the T25, as is
the case with most vehicles.
Suggested research
path
The only piece of equipment that carries over
from the Jackson is the upgraded radio. You should obviously install that
immediately.
If (and that's a big if) you have
elited the M26 Pershing (the tier 8 US medium tank), the upgraded engine is the
same as the upgraded engine on the T25. You're in luck if that is the case so
also install it immediately.
The wiki suggests to go blindly for
the upgraded gun. I have to disagree there. Assuming you want to mount any form
of equipment, you need the suspension, even though it doesn't do much other
than increase your load limit. However in order to reach the top gun you need a
total of 34400 experience without including the cost for the suspension, an
amount you will have to grind in a slow and sluggish vehicle. Therefore my recommendation
is to unlock the upgraded engine before you go for the guns. You should see a
remarkable increase in mobility which will make the grind easier.
After you are done with the engine,
all that remains are the two guns. The grind will not be pretty but with the
extra mobility and judicious use of premium ammo you should survive it just
fine. After that, enjoy dealing death to your enemies and hearing the
lamentations of their women.
So is it worth it?
In my opinion? Hell yes! You think
I'd spend my precious few free hours writing up this wall of text if I didn't
think it was worth it? The T25 is a great vehicle that promises hours of fun
and many kills, if you can persevere through the admittedly very bad stock
grind. Take my advice and do so and believe me, the tank destroyer will not
disappoint.
You don't believe me? Go ahead and
try it out, I dare you.
This is one of my favorite Vehicles in World of Tanks
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