World of TDs

Some commentary and a look at the numbers 

 It's long been known by experienced players that, if there was ever a proper nerf to artillery, we would see a World of Tank Destroyers. Since the arty nerf of 8.6, this has more or less proven to be correct, at the very least for tiers 8-10. Artillery provided a safe and relatively easy way to give a player high damage, as well as avoid all the close-quarters brawling which can be tricky for many. It's only logical that once an entire class is nerfed so that only good/great players can succeed with it, the masses would run to TDs as their new safe haven. 

So, let's look at some numbers shall we. This is from October 10th through November 9th of this year (source: Noobmeter.com):

Tank                         Games Played       Win Rate (recent)
WT E-100                   111k                       60.3%
AMX 50 Foch 155     728k                       55.5%
Object 263                  104k                       54.7%  
Object 268                 1,168k                     54.4%    
T110E3                       222k                       54.2%
FV215b (183)             494k                       53.6%    
T110E4                       553k                       52.7%   
JagdPz E-100              507k                       50.7%    

Now for the heavies:

T57 Heavy                 867k                        53.1% 
E-100                         824k                        52.9%   
FV215b                      110k                        52.5%
AMX 50B                  498k                        52.4%            
T110E5                      629k                        52.0%            
IS-4                            245k                        51.9%        
Maus                          176k                        51.7%            
IS-7                            931k                        51.3%            
113                             53k                          51.0%

And the mediums:

Bat Chatillon 25 t      1,139k                      54.9%        
M60                           157k                         54.5%        
Object 140                 362k                         54.1%        
T62A                         672k                         53.2%            
M48A1                      240k                         53.1%    
E-50 Ausf. M             289k                         52.9%        
Leopard 1                  247k                          52.8%        
FV4202                      89k                           52.6%           
121                            130k                          51.9%  
  
I believe these recent numbers show a few things. In today's meta game, it's simply easier to win in a tier 10 TD. For the heavies, the top win % is 53.1% on the T57, you don't even see a 53% for the TDs until the last 3. As for the meds, they fare better, however, only the very top 3 are even close to the best TDs as far as win rate, and the Bat barely eclipses the 263 in this regard. Even the very worst 3 TDs have higher win rates than the worst 3 meds and heavies, with the exception of the JP E-100, known to be the worst tier 10 TD. Yes, the WT E-100 has a bit of a small sample size, but I believe once it gets to 500k+ games, the win rate will not change a great deal. This tank in particular may be the single most overpowered tank Wargaming has ever released. 

 

Aside from the WT E-100, it's quite widely known that the Foch 155 and Object 268 are formidable, if not outright overpowered. It's no accident that since 8.6, and with the release of the new German TDs, these 3 have become the kings of the battlefield, and you may include any of the tier 10 TDs in this category if well played. You may argue that any well-played tier 10 will be a king of the battlefield, but, having played almost every tier 10 on the test server, I'd argue it's much easier to make a massive difference in a TD. I'd argue this because this game favors alpha damage/burst damage (autoloaders) over DPM for the most part, speed and maneuverability over armor, and if you just happen to have a good combination of all 3 (Foch 155 and 268), you may not need much help in winning your share of games.

 

I really believe another major reason TDs do so well is because of the way the maps are intentionally designed. There truly aren't a lot of unique maps, in many cases you have 3 lanes, or maybe only 2, which are viable options for the majority of tanks. For the most part, if you don't stick to these lanes, you will die very quickly. Here are a few examples of this:

Fisherman's Bay

Karelia

El Halluf

Prohorovka

Murovanka

Steppes

These are only a few examples, but, as you can see, you're rather restricted to where you can go. On many maps, such as El Halluf, it's even more restricted. This only favors TDs who get to sit back, wait, and deal insane amounts of damage, not unlike the way arty used to. If there are only a few lanes, all you need is 3-5+ TDs on a team to virtually negate the entire map from the opposing team. In my experience, getting 3-5+ high tier TDs on a team is not uncommon at this stage. 

To me, this is a broken game mechanic, and should be addressed. I don't want to be punished even more than I already am for taking the initiative and attacking in my heavy, medium, or light tank. This does not mean blindly rushing a known enemy position, or some other suicidal technique. Experienced players can see that high tier TDs are indeed in need of rebalancing. Let me be clear, I'm mostly addressing public play, and not clan wars or some other modes.

some TDs not only have ridiculous alpha, but armor, or speed, or all 3

It would seem that in nerfing one class of tanks (arty), WG unintentionally (or perhaps intentionally) majorly buffed TDs. Where once you couldn't sit out on a hill or behind known camping spots, you can now feel quite safe in a TD. TDs have become the go-to pubstompers for high tiers, and generally speaking, if you're not in one, you're putting yourself at a disadvantage.