E-50 viability?

[kopf]

So I've recently gotten into tanks, yeah a bit late but whatever. Friend of mine got frustrated with me slowly grinding the German lines and gave me a Lowe. It's nice and all, but I tend to use it just to grind credits to buy new tanks and parts. I'm aiming at the E-50 as I don't really like heavy tanks. I suppose I'm just looking for advice as to the fastest route there, and whether I should bother. I've noticed a lot of people don't really like the E-50 on here and I was wondering if y'all could shed some light on why? Really new to the game so any input would be appreciated, even if it entails telling me to go heavy anyway, or to switch nations. tia

[Dogbeast]

The E-50 is very good. But it cannot be played like a true medium tank. It simply lacks the agility of the other mediums. By that, I mean it cannot turn at full speed and maintain any semblance of weaving in-and-out among obstacles. It is good in a straight line, but requires near stops to turn.

Beyond that, it plays more like a mobile heavy tank. It has the gun to compete with most heavies, the frontal armor to go toe to toe, and the hit points to absorb hits. If you know how to play a Tiger II or E-75, then you most likely know how to play an E-50. Just add more speed and the ability to reposition yourself advantageously to your enemies.

A caveat for the E-50: It is rarely used in Clan Wars due to the above reasons, where a true heavy would be better in some situations, and a true medium would be better in others.

The fastest route to the E-50 would be using free experience on your Lowe to blow past everything and get into an E-50. But aside from that, you should just go the normal route to the Panther > Panther II > E-50. With each of those tanks, you learn more and more of the playstyle of the German medium line. They are not good brawlers, but can be if you know how to play them. They are awesome snipers and have good frontal armor.

And because I'm rambling now:

tl;dr: The E-50 is the hardest of the mediums to work properly. In the hands of an average player, it will suck horribly in comparison to the other mediums. In the hands of a good player, it will absolutely rape everything else. (BatChat is anyone's game)

[Stormscion]

I have over 1000 games in E50 and it is easily my favorite tank.

If you favor firepower and protection over maneuverability and small size then E50 is for you ... well more accurate saying would prefer not favor
Speed acceleration wise it is far from bad and can be classified good tank in that respect.

So if you have no prejudice about medium tanks like : having to be ultra maneuverability and wolfpack / circle of death ( because that is wrong idea of medium tanks ) but understand that medium tank can do and focus and specialized on any tasks from breakthrough to scouting and long range fire support then you will do good in it.

Most players do not understand that medium do not have to focus on speed and maneuverability to survive , they can ofc , but they dont have to , that is why they fail with patton and e50 because that is only one simplistic view on the medium tanks.



With E50 you can dominate with ease any tank tier8 and lower without and fear of them ( as long as you dont suck ). Why ? Well you do damage as much as bl9 does but without any disadvantages of that gun... reload is fast and deadly accurate , your front armor equals or surpasses those of the tier8 heavies that means that you can just stand and duke it out against them or lower tanks without receiving much or any damage to your self and your top speed allows you to take advantageous position on the battlefield.

Problem with people that i have noticed is that they think like this : E50 is well armored , lets rush , 30 seconds latter that E50 is attacking head on IS7 and dying like a pig.
Well armored against what ? Like T54 it is well armored against tier7 targets , they can have serious problems penetrating you.
That means you have to make certain rules how you play the tank.

Tier7 tank , you can attack it even head on if they are slower heavies you can attack even few of them at once if they are mediums you have to keep maneuvering so they dont get to your side , so keep distance and it is very easy.
Tier8 tank you can attack it head on but you have to be careful and look to have good angles and dont attack him when he has advantage. You can still kill him in that case but you will take significant damage that you do not want to take.
Tier9 tanks attack head on only if you have serious HP advantage or they are unupgraded. Not because you cant kill bad IS4 or E75 head on , but because you are risking to die for no reason at all. Better maneuver around kill rest of his team then bunch up to kill the bastard.
Tier10 tanks only if they are exceptionally retarded.

Simple way to say it , prey on the weak run from stronger enemies , dont be cocky , dont trade shots etc general medium tank logic.
In general you dont want to take unnecessary damage , when playing ANY tank and that is most true to the medium tanks and so is true for E50.

Also then there is classic story of adapting to the battlefield. If you see 4 tier10 heavies rushing to the hill on karelia just dont go up because you will die. Turn around leave your camper heavies there and go other side.
Gun of E50 allows you ( if needed ) to protect from long range or to support from long range ( even tho that should not be your primary role and should do that only when you assess ) but if you see for instance rushing tanks across open terrain , there is no need to charge to him , keep long range behind the cover and peekaboo to kill him , in such situations E50 is very good.

and ofc there is classic story of ramming it is good for ramming even tho it is situational tactic for killing mainly is7s


TLDR;
blabla ,
tank is good for randoms , not used in clan wars ( because many of its roles are overshadowed by the tier10 heavies , such comparison is valid for clan wars but not for randoms ) depends do you like playstyle or not.

[user_31001]

One emphasis that has not realy been made in the two upper post is, it is probably the best sniper in the game, good view range, huge relocation power, and the two best gun accuracy wise in the game for the task.

You didn't tell us where you are by now on the Medium line but if you play a lowe think of the E-50 like an harder hitting more precise 50mph Lowe, the insane acuracy, good hp pool and front armor allow you to destroy pretty much anything on your ground : range fight.
On the other way it has a huge profile, side and rear armor si pretty much non-existant and when i think storm gave a good resume of the tank i'd add you realy fear TD's, most tier 7+ td's have the punch to get through you and anytier 8 can destroy you in no time if they target to.

I personaly realy play him as a long range support, often rushing into a strategic point of the map, dealing some good hits and relocating.

Also it doesn't realy matter if you're playing premium or grinding credits with Lowe, but tier9 can be expensive to play, even after a good game, it's not uncomon with 80% hit in my E-50 that a victory cost me money because of the ammo cost, and i'm in premium.

[Muffinsrevenger]

I always come back to the E-50 as my funtank

You skip in and out of the big fights, do good damage from what ever range suits you and run away once things get scary, find another fight and do it all over again, and as long as you don't do something really stupid you can just keep it up
It's a very enjoyable play style, and even though as mentioned above it has weaknesses, it's still a great tank to play

[Jindo Minian]

Me and Corw have had a few games where our E-50's won the entire match for our team.
Had an especially good one on Sand River where we literally won the game for the team.

E-50 is a fun tank for random battles but it does tend to get screwed a lot somehow. Some weird twist of fate or something.
Plus a Batchat will eat your arse for breakfast.

[Jade Constantine]

While my favourite tank is a toss up between E50 and IS4 I agree with much of what people have said above. E50 is a supreme sniper that also comes with the best ramming engine in the game for those special moments when you get a nice run up on an unsuspecting fool. At any kind of range at all (200+) you have a significant advantage in aiming accuracy against other mediums and your front sloped armour is useful. You can also hit the weakpoints on enemy heavies with amazing precision from decent ranges. If you can drive aggressively on the flanks and get into a position to fire across into the sides and weak points of enemy heavies you'll eat the other team for breakfast. That rolling hills italian countryside map with the valley in the middle where you fire across into the town is probably my favourite map for it - but any kind of traditional tank battle terrain with long lines of fire it'll do exceptionally well.

My stats with it are a bit fucked up from trying to play too many lone randoms though - it excels with a teammate or two.

I got to mine straight up the german medium line (panther 1 is fun) and ended up transferring my elite crew from the Lowe. (which I had gotten thoroughly sick of after 200+ battles of its slow assed molasses gameplay).

That said, I'm now getting tempted by the t54 a bit simply because its a super type 59 and I've found myself really enjoying the type as a money grinder and been wondering what its big brother is like to play.

But E50 in conclusion? I think its one of the best tanks in the game and if you like precision targetting and an exceptional gun then its your baby.

[Stormscion]

revoking HE nerf or just straight up buffing HE would be good start on the path of French extermination
even tho i have loraine and batchat i dont really enjoy playing fucking OP tanks ... not fun

[Qui Shon]

revoking HE nerf or just straight up buffing HE would be good start on the path of French extermination
even tho i have loraine and batchat i dont really enjoy playing fucking OP tanks ... not fun

Sure it's fun

But it's not the OP status, it's the speed and agility that make them fun. They're gank tanks, go in, murder&mayhem, disappear before the blob arrives. Or at least that's the most fun part, though tbh in this game the Lorry is more often the ultimate ambush tank, as in grab a forward bush and wait, and I have to admit I have not yet figured out how to best use Batty. Don't have the tracks yet which doesn't help of course, but even so I still feel like I'm not using it right.

Can't play it like Lorraine, as it seems to have higher demands placed on it and if I go even slightly passive (ambush) then my team gets wasted.
Can't play it like T-54 either because it can't take a hit and has to keep an avenue of retreat open for reload time.

Plus it seems every single medium will come from all flanks to chase you down when they think you're reloading, because they hate BatChats and so do I, so I can't do deep incursions until very late game.


Oh well, I'll figure it out sooner or later.

More on topic I'm sure I'll enjoy the E-50, loved T9 P2 after all, though as tier 8 it's decidedly meh.

[VARRAKK]

I use it's speed to get into a good sniping position, what I call "front-line fire support".
Stay in cover and let it rip in the start of the match, once tanks are damaged or engaged in combat.
Rush out and slaughter everything.

Easily the coolest german tank in the game. That gun, OMG!

[Jindo Minian]

After thinking about it.
I think the E-50 is probably THE best tank for randoms when you are platooned.
Having two or three E-50's working together on any map is just hilarious.

[Brimborium]

Mind if i join in with my impressions of the E50?
It has a lot of potential as a sniper. The accuracy is just yummy.The aim time is second to none in that weight class.And the ramming damage you can bring about is just about an extra shell worth, without the reload time.
However, there are some things that make this tank very special.

Pivot turning for example, which make him very maneuverable in standing engagements between buildings.
Downside of it is, you have to practically stand still to use it.

The other drawback is his weight. if you are at full speed, this thing will not stop easily.
Keep that in mind if you are "rushing to your snipe spot" only to find you in front of the bush, instead of behind it with half of the enemy team pointing their barrels at you. (I got some embarrasing stories to tell, which start exactly like that,but they are usually very short.)
At speed, the turning circle is massive, there is no two ways about that.Get into rough terrain, and you lose a lot of maneuverability as well.
Once you are in position though,the 10.5 is almost a cheat, at least compared to other nation's guns of equal size.

Size...uhm yeah, about that. You are a heavy tank, not a medium. You just have the engine to accelerate that weight properly.

This tank is the only one i use with a spall liner. Okay it makes me even more sluggish at handling. But it is fun to ram an IS4 in his side for 400+ dmg and taking only half of that dmg. myself at almost same weight (funny anecdote: i once squished a 12t on "Mines" while pivot turning. poor thing)

Platooned with other E 50's it is a terrifying opponent for Anyone

[Dahak]

This tank is the only one i use with a spall liner. Okay it makes me even more sluggish at handling. But it is fun to ram an IS4 in his side for 400+ dmg and taking only half of that dmg. myself at almost same weight (funny anecdote: i once squished a 12t on "Mines" while pivot turning. poor thing)

You're actually ~3.5 tons heavier than the IS-4 with a spall liner, so there's a lot you can ram successfully. The tank is pretty demonstrative of the German weight problem up high, although admittedly it can be used to your advantage in this instance.

[Vortex]

I don't mean to highjack the thread, but I am curious - whats the best way to get into the panther line? Through the VK30H? Or through the 3002DB? I don't really want to grind out the 40k xp or whatever in the H line though, but a tier7 med with the short 88 seems equally as bad ><

[Qui Shon]

I don't mean to highjack the thread, but I am curious - whats the best way to get into the panther line? Through the VK30H? Or through the 3002DB? I don't really want to grind out the 40k xp or whatever in the H line though, but a tier7 med with the short 88 seems equally as bad ><

DB needs something like 45k xp to be decent, meaning to get its upgrades, which you for the most part won't get from other tanks (engine, tracks, turret). Then a paltry 25k to Panther.
3001H needs 10k xp to be decent, 20k if you don't have the 88 from VK36 or P. 25k if you don't even have the 7,5 L/70 from Pz4, BUT that means you went straight up 3001H tree anyway which means DB is just a no-gain sidetrack on the road to E-50, so you DO have the L/70 or you wouldn't be asking this question.

Then 45k grind with upgraded tank to Panther.

So, for me 3001H every time, they fucked over DB royally by giving it tier 7 price modules when it could have cheaper modules and more expensive Panther research.

[Cool09]

I did it in a really strange way...

I got the VK3601 with the golden gun (lol), plowed through that to the DB, then I just grinded it out to panther with the 7.5 L/70. If I recall correctly I had an upgraded engine from VK3601, and didn't even get tracks upgraded. Somehow I got like 60%+ wins with the DB using just the L/70.

I'm considering going back to the DB because it was a lot of fun, even stock it was pretty damn fun to brawl with, the short 88 would be just fine if you are shooting weakspots at point blank. Is it any faster than the panther? Right now I have the panther with the long 75, I didn't even get the short 88.

Then I hit a brick wall and pretty much abandoned the tree. Can't stand the 135 damage. Also I'd pobably go nuts if I got the short 88, trying to deal with its crappy pen. It performs well enough, the armor is ok and it can land tons of penetrating hits a t long range, it just feels weird because enemies go "oh shit I'm being shot, time to take cover" and thus escape sometimes taking less than 100 damage.

[Brimborium]

Before the introduction of the E-series, you HAD do do the DB to get to the Panther.But because of that at first the Panther was a letdown.You were actually going from "Pling pling pling" to: "We're on fire, put it out, we're on fire put it out" usually, 2/3rds of your crew were already dead, and nobody could stop those flames anymore.
The DB was also 5 kph faster than the Panther, and on more than one occasion, i have seen the 10.5 HE gun mounted on it . Back in the days, when firing a HE shell at turrets actually hurt.The tier 7 med tanks in general,were all a lot of fun to play with, no matter the nationality.

[Vortex]

Oh right, I remember now why I had this dichotomy. I don't have the 3000h unlocked, because its tied into that POS PZ3/4. God I cannot stand that tank.

[kopf]

I rather enjoyed the PZ3/4, if only cause it's pretty quick

[Vortex]

I rather enjoyed the PZ3/4, if only cause it's pretty quick

Its quick enough to get into trouble, but not quick enough to do anything about it. Amx12t is a superior tank in every way, but is like 1/4 the volume and with 5 times the firepower.

Oh well. Ground through the 3/4, now going through the 3001h, which I already have everything unlocked for from the 3601h. Its not an amazing, epic tank, but its very serviceable and handles the short 88 well. Won't be a terrible grind into the panther line.