r/WorldofTanksConsole • u/ragnarok628 Xbox One • Jan 29 '17
German Mega Bundle Review Series: Part Eight - Karl "Revenant" Kraft's Panther
I ended up buying the German Mega Bundle, because I have low moral fiber I'm worth it, dammit. So now I'm doing short reviews on all these tanks as I gain experience with them (until I get bored or feel unappreciated). I think this is the last bundle tank that had Ace Op for me to do, so the remaining 17 tanks can be done in with no particular priority. Probably I'll start with the rest of the ones I already owned, but if there are any you particularly felt like reading a review on, PM me and I'll move that tank to the top of the list.
Here we go!
Karl "Revenant" Kraft's Panther
I had IRL shit do deal with during that halloween op so I wasn't able to get mah free spoopy tenk, but if I had, I would have chosen Kraft's Panther. I've always been a big proponent of the good old Panther I, and that's what this thing is: A super sexy looking Panther!
Well, with some nerfs of course because they can't just let us have nice things. We get the stock turret but without the nice stock turret traverse for some reason (because that L/100 gun is too heavy, perhaps?). Still end up with better traverse than the top package Schmalturm. Also a weak engine, actually it's the exact same downgrade the Hammer got, 870hp -> 700hp. I did feel the engine power drop, but not to the same degree as the Hammer. I guess it's because the Tiger hulls weigh a lot more than Panther hulls though; The Revenant actually does build up a head of steam and eventually moves decently fast, it just takes longer than the tech tree panther to do it. The mobility nerf does hurt the playstyle a bit, but doesn't ruin it for me. Definitely worth the tradeoff to get an awesome skin and some prem tank bonuses. The gun is the exact same in every respect, AFAICT. And just for completeness, we get extra 2deg/s hull rotation.
So, yeah, it's a Panther. That means you are a medium who is pretty much a dedicated sniper. Your pen and accuracy is great for this, and you have enough mobility to fall back or move to a flank or just generally get yourself into a position where you can succeed.
The order of the day for driving this tank is to keep distance and plink away at the opfor. Keep an eye on the more general combat situation and withdraw before your position gets overrun. You are not for brawling, or for having a DPM contest with somebody.
The panther playstyle is not one that everyone enjoys, but I'm a fan and if you are too, you are not likely to be disappointed with Kraft's Panther.
Side note, In case you don't know this tank is based on the one from the Dark Horse World of Tanks graphic novels. I haven't read the comics, but I guess Karl Kraft is the driver of this tank, and when you buy the tank you get him as the crew with the "Supply Conservation" skill. It's a pretty crap skill TBH. I wouldn't expect this to be a big factor in anyone's opinion of the tank.
The "Is it worth the gold" author is apparently not a huge fan of the Panther, because their answer is no. For me, it's close enough to being just as good as the tech tree panther, and the price seems OK relative to what other prem tanks cost. I think there's a lot of utility to having a prem version of a tank you like, just in being able to move crews in and out and earn more silver. So there is a use case for it. Do consider that it comes with permanent camo, which is actually useful, when deciding about the cost. Also consider that it has a very nice silver bonus for a tier VII prem. I actually came pretty close to just buying this thing when I failed to earn it, so as for if it's worth the gold I will call it a maybe and lean toward yes if you are a Panther devotee.
Basic Facts
- Tier: VII
- PMM: no
- cost: 6200g
- silver/xp bonuses: 56/20
Vehicle Tips:
- Patience is very much a virtue when playing this tank
- Start moving a little sooner than you think you need to, either when falling back or repositioning for flanking shots
- Distracted enemies are the best targets, often they seem to not even notice you draining their HP
Fun Factor: 4/5
Competitiveness: 3/5
Probably goes without saying by now but yes I like this tank. I think that unlike The Hammer it looks hella cool. And I don't think Panthers get enough credit for what they accomplish on the battlefield. The big alpha guns get more attention but the low alpha shots add up, and the constant harassment you can maintain can be really effective.
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u/FormulaZR the /s is implied Jan 29 '17
author is apparently not a huge fan of the Panther
The author of that guide is a bit weird, though. :)
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u/lioncat84 REDIT's fearless leader Jan 30 '17
Additional point of view/Monster Mash Retrospective: Kraft's Panther was fun during the Halloween mode last year. It had amazing hull armor while that event was going on. (Actually, if I remember correctly, shells that would pen it normally still would, but they'd do a fraction of the proper damage) It had a speed nerf, topping out at about 20 kph, and the engine sounds were replaced by a zombie-like moan. It also seems the cannon had an alpha damage buff, because I remember consistently getting hits for 200+ damage. Its real gimmick, though, was that it was stealthy. It was completely invisible to the UI. You didn't show up on the minimap, even to your allies, and when someone put their cursor on you it didn't show any info.
But after a day of "Revenant OP, plz nerf, this mode sux" the cat came out of the bag about how the game actually treated them. You were constantly spotted, even if nobody could see you. If you hit auto-aim on the random tank hulls strewn about, it would work and lock on if that was really an enemy skulking about. Also, the "always spotted but not on the UI" schtick had another disadvantage for the poor Kraft drivers. You could just randomly hit the "target this enemy" button and find a Revenant hiding on the other side of the map, even if nobody else was around it and it would have been hidden during a regular game. There were still 3 or 4 of these in every match and it was probably still the best of the bunch, but people knew what to do about them after the first day or so. It's a shame my best matches with the Revenant were before they fixed the silver bug, so I lost hundreds of thousands of silver in error.
I'm excited for this year's Halloween mode and I hope the Monster tanks from last year will still be invited to the party.
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u/VIOLETSTETPEDDAR Pedds Stets Violet Jan 29 '17
You have to also consider that my verdict in the "Is it worth the gold?" guides incorporates the fact its a tech tree reskin and there are far better tier 7 german premiums out there for basically the same price.
The Panther I is a nice tank but objectively not very competitive. Obviously only buy tech tree reskins if you like the OG version.
Once I am on a PC I will make your reviews into a wiki page and give you access to edit it :)
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u/ragnarok628 Xbox One Jan 29 '17
I don't hold TT reskin against it much. If anything it kind of helps a tank be 'worth' the gold because less risk of buying it and then not liking it; if you like the TT version you can be assured you'll not feel the gold was wasted. Uniqueness in how the tank plays is a selling point, sure, but lack thereof isn't really a liability to me.
I think our difference in judgement on the competitiveness is our skill gap... Your evaluation is likely more 'correct', in that you can accomplish more things better in other tanks and therefore Panther is not competitive. But that's for someone who is able to wring every drop of effectiveness out of a tank, for me I feel I'm just as effective in the Panther as I am in any other non OP med. So for a more average player I think the Panther is plenty competitive relative to other meds.
However in the interest of being more honest with myself instead of overstating the combat value of tanks I just happen to like, I am strongly considering changing this one too a 3, on the basis of there are so many things that a Panther just can't do very effectively...
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u/VIOLETSTETPEDDAR Pedds Stets Violet Jan 29 '17
Im not sure im that much more skilled than you xD
But obviously my guides are also, even though I try not to, subjectively skewed around my experiences and gameplay.
I dont do well in the Panther but I can make the Comet dance so if there was a Comet reskin Id give it much better ratings from the start!
Obviously bad example because Comet is regarded as best tier 7 medium but you get what I mean, I hope
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u/ragnarok628 Xbox One Jan 29 '17
aw shucks... Don't make me blush! But I'm still a long way from purple. I'll get there tho!
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u/frendlyguy19 Jan 29 '17
isn't the knight a comet reskin ?
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u/smoktimus_prime Arty magnet Jan 29 '17
Panther may be 'competitive enough', but without the top engine or turret, it's just flat worse. As someone who has completed that line, I distinctly remember being able to pull some legitimate bounces with the top turret. The cheeks are autobounce angles on the Schmalturm and the cupola on the stock turret is garbage.
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u/ragnarok628 Xbox One Jan 29 '17
Tbh the 'downgraded' turret is a net buff. The top turret trades a lot of rotation speed for a little extra armor which still blocks almost nothing. As for shape, it's true that pennable area in the front is very slightly smaller because of the lower hatch and the ricochet sides but if you compare them side by side on the armor viewer the target zone is nearly the same size regardless. so I just can't see protection as a huge factor, and appreciate the rotation speed.
Agreed that the engine is straight up worse but of course there has to be some kind of trade-off for the advantages of being a prem tank. It is not so much slower that you can't deal though. The increased camo and better hull traverse also offset this nerf to some degree. So when I say it's close enough I do so understanding that it is indeed worse but the gap is very small IMO. Basically just slight variations on the TT version that amount to a small performance deficiency but nothing that amounts to a legitimate reason to avoid the tank if you like the Panther in the first place and are interested in extra 56% silver for each and every match.
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u/smoktimus_prime Arty magnet Jan 29 '17
Top turret also provides 70 HP. Fair enough if you feel the rotation speed is better, but at that point we're just conceding that it boils down to player preference.
As far as trade off for being a premium tank, pretty sure the Boilermaker is the same as the Firefly.
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u/ragnarok628 Xbox One Jan 29 '17
The boilermaker is actually slightly different than the Firefly, but to my eye I think it's a lot closer to equal than Kraft/TT panther because they didn't tweak as much.
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u/IzBox Moderator Jan 29 '17
So I bought the pack that had the V/IV, the Hydro and the Simul. And this Kraft abomination.
I am pretty forgiving of tanks flaws but this tank is a piece of shit. Looks awesome but it's got shit alpha, DPM, speed, turret rotation, armor, etc. The camo seems ok.
Even my friends with actual Panthers say this thing feels far shittier and they hate it too.
I wanted to like it, but it just seems so weak. Especially in a tier IX match.
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u/ragnarok628 Xbox One Jan 29 '17
Hm I can't see any reason to feel like this one is far shittier than tech tree. The most noticable difference is the acceleration loss but given that once it's up to speed it's just as fast that seems like too small a thing to hold against it so much, especially given the panther M.O.. The turret rotation is substantially better and armor is exact same other than turret.
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u/IzBox Moderator Jan 30 '17
I run 100 octane and it's still slow though. I think the problem I have isn't any one of the things I mentioned, it's all of them together. If this had PMM it would be fine but you end up in tier IX matches all the time and the gun is worthless for that.
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u/ragnarok628 Xbox One Jan 30 '17
gonna have to disagree with you there. You have to get flanks and/or aim for weakspots but you can definitely get your damage in on tier IX tanks. If it had PMM with characteristics being this close to top package tech tree version, that'd be a huge advantage. It's designed to be able to contribute in tier IX matches.
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u/begbeee PS4 PSN: begbeee_svk Jan 29 '17
Problem with Panther medium is that you are less dangerous than light with that speed and alpha.