Scorpiany Posted February 14, 2016 Share Posted February 14, 2016 Jack of all trades, master of none... though often times, better than a master of one. The Pershing lives by this motto, and spreads freedom across the lands; liberating inferior tanks with the power of the bald eagle. In this guide, I shall cover all of the various Pros and Cons of the Freedom Pershing (Beer Eagle), explain the gun choices and/or performance, equipment choices, give you a general overview of its gameplay style and compare it to other Tier 8 Medium Tanks. Let's get started, shall we? Table of Contents: General overview (Pros and Cons) Equipment, ammo and consumable layout Gun choices and / or performance Gameplay style Comparison to other same-class tanks of its Tier Overall Rating General Overview: Pros: A true "Jack of All trades". It is an American tank; America will not disgrace itself with a vehicle which underperforms in any one regard. Incredibly high APCR penetration of 268mm, this is actually higher than the standard APCR rounds of all Tier 10 vehicles aside from the E-50M. Rather thick gun mantlet which can stop many shells from same-Tier vehicles, outer portions of the gun mantlet and / or turret have some very steep angles as well which can even bounce some Tier 10 shells. Very high ammo capacity of 70 rounds with dirt cheap standard ammo. So long as you don't fire Premium rounds, you can actually make some rather nice profits in the tank despite it being a standard vehicle. Great gun depression of 10 degrees all around the frontal 278 degrees of the tank, the rear 82 degrees has 9 degrees of gun depression. This means that most of the time, regardless of how you position the vehicle, you should have enough gun depression to shoot the enemy on fairly standard terrain. Great View Range of 400m, allowing you to reach the 445m spotting cap rather easily with Coated Optics and one crew skill. Neutrals: Reasonable DPM of 1,831.36. It's not that great a value, but there aren't many Tier 8's that are better by that large of a margin. Alright accuracy of .35, makes sniping fairly effective Reasonable gun handling values when moving the hull, turret, after firing, etc. Alright aiming time of 2.21 seconds Pretty good shell velocity of 975 m/s. In comparison to other Tier 8 mediums, it's a pretty nice value to have. Reasonable mobility with a 48 km/h top speed, 16.51 hp/ton Reasonable terrain resistances which allow you to get the advertised performance from your engine on all terrains aside from soft terrain. Decent tank traverse despite the listed value of 38. Your effective tank traverse will be around 47 degrees / second. Alright hull and turret armor for a Tier 8 medium tank. It can pull off some bounces if angled well, and can provide rather nice protection against lower Tier vehicles. A strange, but fairly good HP value of 1,440. Reasonable module survavibility. You're not immune to taking module or crew damage, but it's not a very common occurrence either. Decent camo values. You don't have any kind of magical cloaking devices such as some light tanks, TD's and the Obj. 416 do, but you can stay hidden at some mid-ranges and most long ranges if you have your crew trained in camouflage. Cons: Poor ground resistance on soft terrain, which will greatly slow you down when going through swamps or the Lakesville valley. That's it. That's the only actual "downside" of the Pershing. There isn't a single thing aside from soft terrain ground resistance which is below average / bad on the Pershing. Not one. The American Standard of Comfort. *Does not apply in the Lakesville Valley Equipment: Personally, I mount Improved Ventilation, Gun Rammer and Vertical Stabilizer on the Pershing. However, Coated Optics are probably a better choice than Ventilation - I'm just waiting for my crew to get BIA before swapping it out. Recommended: Coated Optics: 400m View Range means that with Optics, you will be up to 440m; just 5m short of the spotting cap. This is great for out-spotting your opponents, especially if your crew is trained in camouflage. The Pershing can actually make a decent scout, or at least remain self-sufficient in a battle with the aid of Coated Optics. Gun Rammer: If you can mount a Gun Rammer on a tank, you should. Spread freedom with 90mm shells, now 10% faster than before! Vertical Stabilizer: With a Vertical Stabilizer, the Pershing's gun handling becomes pretty nice indeed. You should definitely mount a Stabilizer if you enjoy superior standard of comfort. Optional: Improved Ventilation: If you really don't believe in spotting for yourself, or perhaps you have BIA + Situational Awareness + Recon + Case of Cola, then Improved Ventilation can be a decent substitute to Coated Optics for the overall performance of the vehicle. The only time I'd truly recommend having Ventilation over Optics on the Pershing is if it is a competitive environment and you know that you won't need to spot for yourself under any reasonable circumstances. Ammo: My ammo layout on the Freedom Beer Eagle is 50 AP, 15 APCR and 5 HE. The Pershing's gun is rather consistent indeed, with some nice mobility and gun depression to make it work in strange or flanking situations. If you're playing the Pershing well, you won't have any real necessity for many APCR rounds in most cases. However, the Pershing's APCR rounds are a massive improvement over the standard AP rounds, with 78mm more penetration and an additional 244 m/s shell velocity. This means that if you have the Credits for more APCR rounds, or you're playing in a competitive environment, loading more APCR will help greatly improve the Pershing's possibilities with its gun. Just be warned that your Credits may need some resupplying afterwards! Consumables: For Consumables on the Pershing, I use a Small First Aid Kit, Small Repair Kit, and Automatic Fire Extinguisher. Small First Aid Kit: Why not? Your crew doesn't really die very often, but it's always nice to have a First Aid Kit just in case. Small Repair Kit: If you are trained in Repairs, in most cases you won't need a Repair Kit. However, on occasion due to the frequency of hull-down tactics in the Pershing, it is possible that your gun will be damaged and could use some repairs. Automatic Fire Extinguisher: The Pershing has a 20% chance of fire, so it is nice to have an Automatic Fire Extinguisher around to keep you safe; even if you won't be shot in the engine very often. Fuel tanks almost never are damaged. Alternate: Anything: If you want to run Octane Gas, Case of Cola or something else on the Pershing, you can. Due to the infrequency of module damage, crew injury of fires, what you mount on the Pershing in terms of consumables is really up to you. Guns: The Pershing's gun is a very reliable 90mm. The gun doesn't really specialize in anything aside from incredible APCR penetration and gun depression, but doesn't fall behind in anything either. The perfect gun for a Jack of All Trades. Below, I've compared the Freedom Eagle's 90mm to the Panzer 58 Mutz's 90mm. On the left is the Freedom Beer Eagle, on the right is the bear. A blue value is superior, whilst a green value is relatively tied (Within 5% of the other value). (Please note that all values are "stock", prior to any equipment mounting) Guns: Rate of Fire: 7.63 (7.82) Aiming time: 2.21 (2.21) Accuracy: .35 (.35) DPM: 1,831.36 (1,877.14) Penetration: 190/268/45 (212/259/45) Damage: 240/240/320 (240/240/320) Shell Velocity: 975/1,219/975 (1,000/1,250/1,000) Soft Stats: .15/.15/.11 (.18/.18/.10) Gun Angles: -10 / +20 (-10 / +25) Ammo capacity: 70 (48) The verdict? The guns are practically identical. The one area where the Mutz really stands out aside from gun elevation is the rather significantly improved AP penetration. However, the Pershing makes up for this with some significantly improved gun handling stats (aside from turret traverse, but it is worth noting that the Pershing's turret turns more quickly, thus slightly worse gun handling during a faster turret traverse is only to be expected). 90mm Gun T15E2M2: The Pershing's gun is a well-rounded armament, and is very consistent in what it does. Go hull-down, use the gun depression and put in relatively accurate shells into your opponents at rather decent rate. In close to mid-ranged engagements, you can shoot on the move if you want to. When it comes to sniping, you have just enough shell shell velocity, penetration, gun handling and aiming time to make it work. The only way to make the gun really "stand out" from its peers would be to load APCR rounds, with their 268mm of penetration and 1,219 m/s shell velocity. Aside from that, the gun depression is the only really impressive aspect of the Pershing's gun. There really isn't anything to complain about when it comes to the weaponry. How to play it: The Pershing is a support vehicle, Jack of All Trades and independent business man all in one. Regardless of which situation you put the Pershing into, it can always bring something to the battlefield which will allow it to perform rather decently. Whilst the Pershing may not necessarily excel in any one aspect at any one moment during the battlefield, it will excel over other tanks throughout the entirety of the course of a battle. Whereas other tanks will find themselves in the awkward situation at one point or another where they can't really contribute to the engagement much in any viable way, the Pershing will always be able to do something. At the end of the battle, this often times means that the Pershing will be the last man standing, still going strong whereas other tanks have crippled or succumbed to their weaknesses. The main strength of the Pershing is its flexibility on the battlefield. You can always find a place for a Pershing, and can never feel bad about having one on your team. You know that it will always find its way to be useful, and can often times be the most flexible vehicle on the battlefield, providing support in even the most awkward of situations. If you want your Pershing to excel at something, make usage of its excellent gun depression and gun mantlet. With some APCR rounds, the Pershing can become a hull-down beast like almost no other, only truly surpassed by the T32 and T34. There is no necessarily "correct" way to play the Pershing. The primary two things you need to emphasis are your vehicle's flexibility and taking on consistent support fire role. If you need to fall back on something, it will be the gun depression, gun mantlet and View Range; allowing you to engage and weaken your opponents from a distance before having to deal with a close-range encounter if it becomes necessary. Comparison to same-Tier Medium Tanks: HP: Good. 1,440 HP is a good value for a Tier 8 medium tank. With some decent armor, especially on the turret & gun mantlet, you can pull off a few good bounces to help preserve your hitpoints throughout the battle as well. You'll make better usage of the 1,440 HP than quite a handful of other mediums would. Armor: Good. Whilst the armor isn't spectacular, it can certainly be rather nice indeed. Your gun mantlet will be the most reliable portion of your armor profile, although the hull can pull off the occasional ricochet if angled well. There are a few areas of the turret / gun mantlet which can be penetrated, especially by higher Tier vehicles, but there are also quite a few zones which will absorb even the majority of non-TD Tier 10 shells. Don't rely on the armor as an absolute safeguard as you may be able to on the T32 / T34, but it's certainly a good feature which will help keep you alive during the midst of a battle. Mobility: Good. The Pershing's mobility is very well-rounded. You have a decent top speed, decent HP/ton, decent terrain resistances and a decent hull traverse speed. The tank isn't incredibly mobile, but it certainly isn't slow by any means either. Once again, it's fairly decent indeed but doesn't excel. DPM: Bad. The Bear Eagle Pershing (Not to be confused with the Freedom Eagle Super Pershing, despite the identical DPM value) has decent DPM, but when compared to other Tier 8 mediums, comes tied for 15th out of 23 for DPM; tied with the Super Pershing. Most of the DPM differences between other tanks are no greater than 200 points however, and the Pershing is within 100 points of most other Tier 8 mediums in terms of DPM. Penetration: Good. Whilst the standard AP round penetration is tied for 12th out of 23 along with the 59-Patton, making the standard round penetration as "average", the Pershing has "Best in class" APCR penetration values, of 268mm (although the Obj. 416 does have much higher Premium shell penetration of 330mm, it fires HEAT rather than APCR). This means that in Tier 8 and 9 battles, in most cases you should be able to get by just fine with the standard AP. However, in Tier 10 matches or in more competitive circumstances at Tier 8 / 9, the APCR rounds will provide you with more than enough penetration to contest even the thickest of armor values even at Tier 10 if you shoot at weakpoints. Alpha damage: Average. 240 alpha damage is standard for a 90mm gun, not much else to say here. Aiming Speed: Very Good. 2.21 second aiming time is tied for 3rd for aiming time, tied with 6 other vehicles. This puts the Pershing towards the top of the pack in this regard, and can pull of shots just as quickly if not faster than almost any other Tier 8 medium tank. Gun Handling: Very Good. The Freedom Beer Eagle's gun handling is approximately tied for 3rd for gun handling, once again with the 59-Patton. This means that the Pershing can pull off snap-shots better than most other tanks, albeit not nearly as well as the Patton KR and Obj. 416 can. Accuracy: Good. .35 accuracy isn't a great value, but it isn't bad either. It's tied for 8th in accuracy, with 7 other vehicles; out of 23. With a good crew and possibly a Case of Cola, you should be able to snipe fairly reliably (especially if you're shooting APCR and penetrating the target isn't too much of a concern; meaning you don't have to aim for small portions of the vehicle to hit weakpoints, but rather just being able to shoot at it as a whole). Shell Velocity: Good. 975m/s shell velocity is tied for 9th in shell velocity, along with the Super Pershing. In terms of DPM and shell velocity, you're getting exactly the same performance as you would from the Super Pershing. 975m/s shell velocity is enough to get some rather nice results from sniping. The APCR rounds have 1,219 m/s shell velocity which should make sniping very easy indeed. Overall, it's once again a value that isn't spectacular, but isn't terrible either. View Range: Best in Class. 400m View Range is tied for "Best in Class", along with the Centurion Mk. 1 and the T69. However, unlike the other two vehicles, the Pershing is better suited to make usage of the View Range due to the more "well-rounded" nature of the Pershing, and it's great adaptability / flexibility on the battlefield. Camo Value: Good. Despite the fairly large size of the Pershing, it's tied for 8th or 9th in Camo Values. Most of the tanks which surpass it's camo values only do so marginally as well. Thus, in mid to longer ranges, if you have a camo skill crew you can actually stay hidden in many cases. Combine the decent camo with Best in Class View Range, and you should be able to out-spot all other Tier 8 mediums aside from the Obj. 416 by at least a small margin. You'll never out-spot an Obj. 416 however, as it has a magical cloaking device which is almost always active aside from very close ranges out in the open. Battle effectiveness: Very Good. The Freedom Beer Eagle Pershing may not excel in many aspects, but it's one of the most reliable vehicles you can find at Tier 8. Regardless of how you position yourself in the battlefield, the Pershing will almost always have something to fall back upon which will allow it to contribute rather well. Unlike most other Tier 8 mediums which specialize in a few aspects but fall behind in many others, the Pershing will never struggle to find a way to make an impact on the battle. And whilst I wouldn't rank it as the best Tier 8 medium tank, it's certainly one of the most reliable and consistent ones, able to keep going strong even when most other tanks have faltered. Throughout the course of an entire battle, the Pershing will tend to be one of the most crucial vehicles on the battlefield, often with one of the largest impacts. It's certainly not a tank you could complain about having on your team. Overall Rating: 8.5/10 (Great) When comparing to all of the other Tier 8 mediums tanks, many of which are either rather mediocre as a whole or are very limited in their specializations, the Pershing is certainly one of the better vehicles to have. Regardless of the situation it's in, it will always find a way to contribute rather nicely to the battlefield. Despite having no realistic downsides to it, the Pershing does still have a few areas in which it is certainly above average in, such as gun depression, gun mantlet armor, View Range and APCR penetration. These 4 strengths of the Pershing make it an exceptional ridge-line, mid-ranged warrior on the battlefield. Even when the Pershing isn't in such an optimal environment however, it always have something to fall back upon. There will never be a time when the Pershing disappoints you, or when you find yourself struggling to figure out how to be useful. The Pershing even has some rather nice income values to go along with it. This means that you can use your great flexibility and carry potential on the battlefield to net home some decent profits at the end of each match. All in all, the Pershing is one of my favorite Tier 8 mediums, and is one of the most consistent and reliable vehicles you can find at Tier 8. It is truly a Jack of All Trades, even having a few traits in which it excels. This means that the Pershing will never find a situation in which it falls behind, and it truly is usually better than a master of one. You really can't go wrong with picking up a Pershing, whether you intend it to be a keeper to your collection, a "pimping" tank, or simply one you're grinding through whilst going down the American medium tank line. The Pershing will not disappoint. Thanks for reading! I hope this guide was helpful! I genuinely wish all of you the very best of luck and fun, both in real life and on the battlefield. This Tank Review has been written as requested by @quan27. (The mighty American medium, prepared to spread freedom and beer across the lands!) Link to comment
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