War Thunder vet here, love the video. Some tips when playing at this BR: when you engined that light tank on American desert and all you could hit was the engine and driver you could have gotten the kill by staying where you were and waiting for the driver to be replaced. It's a cheesy tactic but necessary when you start getting to higher BR's. When using the M163 best thing to do when firing at a plane over 1km is to use your gunner's sight. The lead indicator is more accurate in the gunner's sight then in third person. You did a great job waiting for planes to commit to an attack before firing! Also be aware that a lot of tanks (especially light tanks) can use the commander to fire the main gun. That is why when you knocked out the gunner on the DF105 he was able to fire back.
I'm working through the American Tech Tree now, I'm at 6.7. I'm also 9.3 in the German Tech Tree. My main advice that you can try. When your hiding around a corner and trying to ambush someone, you can hit "i" (I think that's the default key) to turn off your engine. You'll be relatively silent and have better chances of someone driving around the corner and hitting them. You can then move or hit "i" again and reposition or adapt as needed. Works best with more faster and more mobile vehicles but still works for slower tanks, just need to account for their slower acceleration. Also at 9:55 , You did knock out his Commander, Loader, and Gunner. I think he has a more experienced/aced crew so he was able to fill his gunner role faster than you could reload. With it being French it's also possible he had an auto loader or already had a round loaded when his gunner came back.
9:54 He was given plenty of time to get his gunner back, even for a bad crew level he would have gotten his gunner back. You were also primarily facing your weak side armor, where you would have stood a better chance if you were facing your frontal armor. 13:06 That Tiger II (P) didn't die, and was still alive.
Reached 10.3 for America, the 7.3-8.3 grind was the worst I've ever seen. It's definitely not a skill issue. One thing I found is that more often than at other br are easily predictable. Apart from that, I think just having good knowledge of the tanks you face will help a lot. (e.g: the Somua SM that killed you at 9:58 has an auto loader and gunner replenishment is generally between 10-16 seconds, which is faster than you reload)
Even with heat you should still bring some aphe (m82) for when you have a vehicle like the df105 at 4:40 where dumping aphe into the driver would likely have killed the rest of the crew
I play almost every major nation and most are around that 6.7-7.0 range, Russia I have up to 8.0. Man USA is tough at 7.0-7.7 just 90mm all day long that barely have enough to pen heavy tanks at 6.7 let alone 7.7. Also bought the centurion action X not fully knowing how painful sabot is and then realizing all there other tanks use sabot as well. Also I'm glad the algorithm dropped this video on me because it was a good watch, and to know someone with relatively low hours like me has similar issues except I see that you have a lot of planes and I just cannot fly worth a damn so
The bestest I can give you is to use the protection tool, while int he hanger. IIt can be missleading at times, but I find it best to see how much of an angle you need to bounce rounds. You shuld try and rember where the amo is on enemy tanks you face alot. For example, I'm currenly at 6.3 BR for the US and tend to face a lot of Tiger 2's, most of ht amo is in the back of the turrent. So, I do my best to aim for that spot. I would also suggest to tim for weak points on tanks. I find that with any APHE rounds you can aim kinda of anywhere on a tank and kill it as long as you can pen that spot. For other rounds like HEAT-FS you have to sim more carefully. HEAT-FS rounds can also be used to over presaure open topped or very light vehicles. Another tip is try not to over extend your cover, being patient is better then showing weeker parts of your tank around a corner. Is also importent to try and not over angle your tank. I find this the hardest thing to get out of doing. I find more success in my 76 Jumbo Sherman when I angle my front armor slightly rather then point my tracks at the enemy tank. It doest hurt to use the range finder if your tank has one, it helps you to hit tanks from further away.
I have over 1600 hours on war thunder and I’m only level 56. I still don’t understand what’s happening but you’re just gotta keep grinding on. You might get discouraged at sometimes because you gotta keep going if you wanna reach top-tier.
@@NewEnglandboy453 i mean, if youre lvl 60 with 1400 thats means u bad at the game and most of the time on matches u did nothing lol, not my fault im good at games lmao
hey a quick tip is it doesn't hurt spending a few hours previewing the vehicles you fight the most and learning where the weakspots are and the ammo layout, it will come in really handy since you're using HEAT which doesnt have good post-pen damage
1. take some APHE (it should be your main shell) and a couple HESH in the M48 2. take the T92 in the line-up 3. if you have extra crews dont be afraid to take the M50 in the line-up it still works great 4. take the F-80C over the F2H-2 5. once you get the M-103 it's likely the only tank you'll really need for 7.7 america
I just recently started using 8.3 Germany. There seems to be a lack of people playing 7.7 and I got constantly up tiered to 8.7 as well. Once I got to 8.3, I either go to 7.7 or 9.3 constantly. So it either feels like a cakewalk or like I may as well be fighting America's modern military. The leopard 1 feels terrible for me, maybe I will enjoy it when I unlock the rangefinder, but the APDS lacks damage compared to APHE that other countries get. For the US, I recently got to 6.7, and my friend is higher than me at about 8.3. From what I can tell, unlocking APHE for the American tanks at any tier (until top of course) is very important. I had the most fun playing the US when I treat the heavy tanks' armor like it's a light tank. Because of how much I have died to people driving at full speeds, it seems as if everyone has full stabilizers while my suspension has gotten worse and feels like low tier Germany again. There is a big gap in the technology between tanks sometimes. Consequently, I started playing MUCH slower and I have found that I played much better then.
I struggled a lot with USA 7.7-8.0 too! I found that I could do pretty well with the M103, so long as I played conservatively. It gets a little better at 9.3, especially with the M60A1 AOS. The stabilizer really is amazing.
16k games vet here and i can tell you dont lose heart its not entirely your fault if you're struggling with 7.7 USA. The US is absolute pain from 7.7 to 9.3. my advice would be to use 7.3 to grind out rank 6 until you unlock the xm803. 8.7 is one of the "meta" brs with several nations having extremely potent vehicles including some op premiums like the t55am1 that get spammed out dragging 7.7-8.3 into constant uptiers so 7.3 should see more downtiers. Another bonus being that the m47 is a way better vehicle than the m48, its mobility is much better and armour is functionally better as well. Another tip i can give you is to main the m82 shot on your 90mm armed mediums and use the heat for heavily armoured targets like heavies and russian mediums. The m82 pens a lot less but has enough if aimed carefully to pen most things you'll run into and it does devastating damage.
hey 8.7 US here ,7.7 is actually hard compare to the other ,so here is a little tip get 3 M60 the M60 or T95E1 this thing got sabot dart M60 EOS M60Rise then go to XM803 line get two of them then get M60 TTS BUT don't forget to get M247 too M163 redar is alittle meh 1.5km~1.6km aim assist when lock on most of the time have to press lock on twice to event lock on to target ,THE BULLET DROP IS INSANE TOO ,and don't forget the AH1G *highly recommend* not for RB but for heli sim to get ton of money alittle bored in this mode but you can chill out while making the money for the next tank
I really like the M48A1 and M163, they're very capable in good hands up to about 8.0 but beyond that it's generally a terrible time against stabilized T-55's and so on. I've found that for me, not pushing too hard generally yields the best results in the M48. A more defensive, preferably hull down position has worked well in the past for me, although you can play more aggressively despite you're 45kph top speed. As for the M103 and T32, I don't like them and don't play them
Your biggest problem with US 7.7 is not playing the M103. It is a monster heavy tank as long as you keep your lower front plate and turret ring hidden. Hull down like that, its turret bounces even APFSDS as long as it's not too saucy. Along with that, it has a great cannon. I have no fear poking my turret out, bouncing a T55AM-1 apfsds round, and slamming it right through the turret cheek with a 120mm APCBC round.
You sound like Havok, a For Honor youtuber, also I agree that US cold war era tech tree is actual cheeks , its the worse grind ive ever had than the rest lmao
America 7.7 for me was so terrible that I went back to play 6.7 and 5.3 to grind it out. Nothing in my 7.7 lineup is spaded. But do not fear, 8.3 is very fun and 9.0 is pretty ok
i first started playing about a month or 2 back, and have been grinding the british tree, and have recently reached 7.0 and i must say i absolutely fucking hate it. the fact that british tanks at br7 have terrible armour and sabots which have no spall and shatter most the time is depressing, but worst of all is that your first br7 tanks are the centurian mk3 and the FV4202, but the mk3 is 7.7 which means most times you get uptiered against people at br8, i've been in lobbies against people with a br8.3 tank, while im stuck with these br7 tanks with virtually no modifications since i cant pen anything from the front, they're too slow to flank so by the time i get anywhere, someone is already in a sniping position to take me out, and if i do pen it does virtually nothing half the time. its a horrific experience, and ive actually given up and gone back to br4.7 to use the avenger and firefly instead to grind rp, because there is simply nothing i can do. i'll just keep going until i get to the Chieftain Mk 10, since its got decent armour, decent speed and its when you first get APFSDS, although its still much later than its russian counterparts so i assume it'll still be a nightmare
keep playing 7.3 with the t32 m47 and the spaa until you can get the 8.3 8.7 or 9.0 8.3 is meh 8.7 and 9.0 due to the amount of downtiers are amazing with the rise tts and the xm803
I main usa and have 2.2k hours and 7.7 for us is really a good br ive carried my team multiple times with the 7.7 lineup and once got a nuke with it, so its a verry good line up, but as how heavy tanks go in an uptier you kinda suffer from all the heat rounds
7.7 is pretty much the worst BR imo, grinding to 8.3 was hell for me (because 6.7 is so good), you basically have no good vics in that whole rank and it's pain
the LARGEST problem with 7.7+ is the fact that the players there are giga sweats or cheating probably the second by literal inches is the third person camera you cannot move in 7.7+ people will sit behind hills / walls and wait for you to pull out overall you did aight you need to side scrape better you were angling the wrong way when you got in that corner duel I used to play world of tanks and had purple stats on a lot of my tanks but war thunder is just pain you either die to a guy holding a hill with third person or cas I REALLY want to know how the big youtubers always get to that perfect spot where they dumpster 5+ people and never get countered ive sat in many of their spots and people still instantly shoot at me
Start by removing the "grass on scope" option and I think you need to pay more attention to the game. There were multiple chances where you could have gotten a free kill if you saw the enemy before he saw you.
That is a massive area of BR. America 6.3 and 6.7 are great but 7.0 to 8.0 are all shit (besides the t92). The m60 aos is just worse in every way than the olifant mk1. Which gets a stabalizer. LRF. And APFSDS. When the m60 aos gets APDS. Worse reverse. An optical range finder. And stabalizer. At the same BR.
All pattons after the first suck. The m47 offers nothing the m46 doesnt and the m48 is just dogshit. The m60 you finally get a goos gun. But youre not stabalized and youre slow. So youre just worse than the leopard 1, OF40, and amx-30. And at 8.3 you finally get a stab but youre still slow and using APDS and dont have a LRF. 8.3 beitain gets a stabalized APDS eith a LRF (and a stabalised APFSDS LRF vehicle) and russia gets APFSDS and a stab. The pattons are just underwhelming tanks even IRL.
The US tree as a whole is thoroughly terrible and full of over-br'd vehicles. You most certainly made some mistakes but its also significantly the fault of putting yourself into a shit tree.
M103 is the last good tank till 8.3. But yea, you're transitioning between the basic tanking battles to the stabilizer, ATGM, rangefinder games. It's a very rough transition for the US. I've found that using my older tanks first and then bringing out my newer tanks when everyone is using their older/backups does better.
I have a 7.7 lineup for America and top tier for Great Britain aswell as progress in others, if you need, reply to me and I can give you my username we can squadron
War Thunder vet here, love the video. Some tips when playing at this BR: when you engined that light tank on American desert and all you could hit was the engine and driver you could have gotten the kill by staying where you were and waiting for the driver to be replaced. It's a cheesy tactic but necessary when you start getting to higher BR's. When using the M163 best thing to do when firing at a plane over 1km is to use your gunner's sight. The lead indicator is more accurate in the gunner's sight then in third person. You did a great job waiting for planes to commit to an attack before firing! Also be aware that a lot of tanks (especially light tanks) can use the commander to fire the main gun. That is why when you knocked out the gunner on the DF105 he was able to fire back.
Thanks for putting in the time to comment, these are all great tips and some useful info!
I'm working through the American Tech Tree now, I'm at 6.7. I'm also 9.3 in the German Tech Tree. My main advice that you can try. When your hiding around a corner and trying to ambush someone, you can hit "i" (I think that's the default key) to turn off your engine. You'll be relatively silent and have better chances of someone driving around the corner and hitting them. You can then move or hit "i" again and reposition or adapt as needed. Works best with more faster and more mobile vehicles but still works for slower tanks, just need to account for their slower acceleration.
Also at 9:55 , You did knock out his Commander, Loader, and Gunner. I think he has a more experienced/aced crew so he was able to fill his gunner role faster than you could reload. With it being French it's also possible he had an auto loader or already had a round loaded when his gunner came back.
@@Darksgt23 ah I see thanks for the tip, I'll try some silent ambushes!
One tip comes to mind. Learn to shut off your engine when someone is approaching a corner. Can lull them into complacency at times.
So a little change u could do is turn off Gras in the scope in the options it helps a tone lets u see more in most situations 👍
doesn't that defeat the purpose of owning a modern video card o.O
@@AuntJoey Yes Maybe XD but i rather see more or have the upper hand bc i don´t see the gras that the enemy is hiding behind tbh
@@freakgamertaco i think you're trying too hard tbh, put the game on movie quality and enjoy the new fire animations like the rest of us :D
@@freakgamertaco "Premium Bushpack has entered the chat"
@@AuntJoeyit gives you a pretty big advantage. It was also automaticly set to off when they first added the option.
Just got to 7.7 a few weeks ago, it made me go back to playing the 3.7 & 3.3 Shermans. Good luck my guy
9:54 He was given plenty of time to get his gunner back, even for a bad crew level he would have gotten his gunner back. You were also primarily facing your weak side armor, where you would have stood a better chance if you were facing your frontal armor.
13:06 That Tiger II (P) didn't die, and was still alive.
Reached 10.3 for America, the 7.3-8.3 grind was the worst I've ever seen. It's definitely not a skill issue. One thing I found is that more often than at other br are easily predictable. Apart from that, I think just having good knowledge of the tanks you face will help a lot. (e.g: the Somua SM that killed you at 9:58 has an auto loader and gunner replenishment is generally between 10-16 seconds, which is faster than you reload)
Even with heat you should still bring some aphe (m82) for when you have a vehicle like the df105 at 4:40 where dumping aphe into the driver would likely have killed the rest of the crew
I play almost every major nation and most are around that 6.7-7.0 range, Russia I have up to 8.0. Man USA is tough at 7.0-7.7 just 90mm all day long that barely have enough to pen heavy tanks at 6.7 let alone 7.7. Also bought the centurion action X not fully knowing how painful sabot is and then realizing all there other tanks use sabot as well. Also I'm glad the algorithm dropped this video on me because it was a good watch, and to know someone with relatively low hours like me has similar issues except I see that you have a lot of planes and I just cannot fly worth a damn so
The Cold war era matches in america is 50/50, It can extremely good, or extremely bad just depends if you are either down tier or uptier
The bestest I can give you is to use the protection tool, while int he hanger. IIt can be missleading at times, but I find it best to see how much of an angle you need to bounce rounds. You shuld try and rember where the amo is on enemy tanks you face alot. For example, I'm currenly at 6.3 BR for the US and tend to face a lot of Tiger 2's, most of ht amo is in the back of the turrent. So, I do my best to aim for that spot. I would also suggest to tim for weak points on tanks. I find that with any APHE rounds you can aim kinda of anywhere on a tank and kill it as long as you can pen that spot. For other rounds like HEAT-FS you have to sim more carefully. HEAT-FS rounds can also be used to over presaure open topped or very light vehicles. Another tip is try not to over extend your cover, being patient is better then showing weeker parts of your tank around a corner. Is also importent to try and not over angle your tank. I find this the hardest thing to get out of doing. I find more success in my 76 Jumbo Sherman when I angle my front armor slightly rather then point my tracks at the enemy tank. It doest hurt to use the range finder if your tank has one, it helps you to hit tanks from further away.
I have over 1600 hours on war thunder and I’m only level 56. I still don’t understand what’s happening but you’re just gotta keep grinding on. You might get discouraged at sometimes because you gotta keep going if you wanna reach top-tier.
bro what, i got to lvl 100 in like 500 hours or less lol, you do not have 1600 hours
I’m level 76 and i have about 1200 hours
@@mishimishifus7243 Im like 60 something with 1400, Its very possible when you have a LIFE, maybe a JOB. Clearly you dont get that part though :)
@@NewEnglandboy453 i mean, if youre lvl 60 with 1400 thats means u bad at the game and most of the time on matches u did nothing lol, not my fault im good at games lmao
hey a quick tip is it doesn't hurt spending a few hours previewing the vehicles you fight the most and learning where the weakspots are and the ammo layout, it will come in really handy since you're using HEAT which doesnt have good post-pen damage
1. take some APHE (it should be your main shell) and a couple HESH in the M48
2. take the T92 in the line-up
3. if you have extra crews dont be afraid to take the M50 in the line-up it still works great
4. take the F-80C over the F2H-2
5. once you get the M-103 it's likely the only tank you'll really need for 7.7 america
I just recently started using 8.3 Germany. There seems to be a lack of people playing 7.7 and I got constantly up tiered to 8.7 as well. Once I got to 8.3, I either go to 7.7 or 9.3 constantly. So it either feels like a cakewalk or like I may as well be fighting America's modern military. The leopard 1 feels terrible for me, maybe I will enjoy it when I unlock the rangefinder, but the APDS lacks damage compared to APHE that other countries get.
For the US, I recently got to 6.7, and my friend is higher than me at about 8.3. From what I can tell, unlocking APHE for the American tanks at any tier (until top of course) is very important. I had the most fun playing the US when I treat the heavy tanks' armor like it's a light tank.
Because of how much I have died to people driving at full speeds, it seems as if everyone has full stabilizers while my suspension has gotten worse and feels like low tier Germany again. There is a big gap in the technology between tanks sometimes. Consequently, I started playing MUCH slower and I have found that I played much better then.
I struggled a lot with USA 7.7-8.0 too! I found that I could do pretty well with the M103, so long as I played conservatively. It gets a little better at 9.3, especially with the M60A1 AOS. The stabilizer really is amazing.
16k games vet here and i can tell you dont lose heart its not entirely your fault if you're struggling with 7.7 USA. The US is absolute pain from 7.7 to 9.3. my advice would be to use 7.3 to grind out rank 6 until you unlock the xm803. 8.7 is one of the "meta" brs with several nations having extremely potent vehicles including some op premiums like the t55am1 that get spammed out dragging 7.7-8.3 into constant uptiers so 7.3 should see more downtiers. Another bonus being that the m47 is a way better vehicle than the m48, its mobility is much better and armour is functionally better as well. Another tip i can give you is to main the m82 shot on your 90mm armed mediums and use the heat for heavily armoured targets like heavies and russian mediums. The m82 pens a lot less but has enough if aimed carefully to pen most things you'll run into and it does devastating damage.
Great video it was very good also i have over 1000 hours and im at 7.7 i feel your pain it hard
hey 8.7 US here ,7.7 is actually hard compare to the other ,so here is a little tip get 3 M60 the M60 or T95E1 this thing got sabot dart M60 EOS M60Rise then go to XM803 line get two of them then get M60 TTS BUT don't forget to get M247 too M163 redar is alittle meh 1.5km~1.6km aim assist when lock on most of the time have to press lock on twice to event lock on to target ,THE BULLET DROP IS INSANE TOO ,and don't forget the AH1G *highly recommend* not for RB but for heli sim to get ton of money alittle bored in this mode but you can chill out while making the money for the next tank
Line up that maybe make your day easier ,M46 and 2 M48 since they got heat round
I really like the M48A1 and M163, they're very capable in good hands up to about 8.0 but beyond that it's generally a terrible time against stabilized T-55's and so on. I've found that for me, not pushing too hard generally yields the best results in the M48. A more defensive, preferably hull down position has worked well in the past for me, although you can play more aggressively despite you're 45kph top speed. As for the M103 and T32, I don't like them and don't play them
Your biggest problem with US 7.7 is not playing the M103. It is a monster heavy tank as long as you keep your lower front plate and turret ring hidden. Hull down like that, its turret bounces even APFSDS as long as it's not too saucy. Along with that, it has a great cannon. I have no fear poking my turret out, bouncing a T55AM-1 apfsds round, and slamming it right through the turret cheek with a 120mm APCBC round.
You sound like Havok, a For Honor youtuber, also I agree that US cold war era tech tree is actual cheeks , its the worse grind ive ever had than the rest lmao
America 7.7 for me was so terrible that I went back to play 6.7 and 5.3 to grind it out.
Nothing in my 7.7 lineup is spaded. But do not fear, 8.3 is very fun and 9.0 is pretty ok
i first started playing about a month or 2 back, and have been grinding the british tree, and have recently reached 7.0 and i must say i absolutely fucking hate it. the fact that british tanks at br7 have terrible armour and sabots which have no spall and shatter most the time is depressing, but worst of all is that your first br7 tanks are the centurian mk3 and the FV4202, but the mk3 is 7.7 which means most times you get uptiered against people at br8, i've been in lobbies against people with a br8.3 tank, while im stuck with these br7 tanks with virtually no modifications since i cant pen anything from the front, they're too slow to flank so by the time i get anywhere, someone is already in a sniping position to take me out, and if i do pen it does virtually nothing half the time. its a horrific experience, and ive actually given up and gone back to br4.7 to use the avenger and firefly instead to grind rp, because there is simply nothing i can do. i'll just keep going until i get to the Chieftain Mk 10, since its got decent armour, decent speed and its when you first get APFSDS, although its still much later than its russian counterparts so i assume it'll still be a nightmare
you aren't bad at the game, a lot of the time when you get to higher tiers the play style changes a lot and it takes a bit to get used to
You can press i to turn off your engine when waiting so other tanks can't hear you
keep playing 7.3 with the t32 m47 and the spaa until you can get the 8.3 8.7 or 9.0 8.3 is meh 8.7 and 9.0 due to the amount of downtiers are amazing with the rise tts and the xm803
Close to 10 years, they are in a weird in between. Half late WW2 and Half Early cold war. And the #@€& stock apcr
I splurged on the T114 I like playing rats so I like it and it’s pretty fun if you don’t like rats get the T 29.
I main usa and have 2.2k hours and 7.7 for us is really a good br ive carried my team multiple times with the 7.7 lineup and once got a nuke with it, so its a verry good line up, but as how heavy tanks go in an uptier you kinda suffer from all the heat rounds
This is my favorite US line up lol
M-103, 2 T-32s, an M-48.. what is there not to love?
The m48. Literaly just a worse m46 2 BR bumps higher. Literaly better offbrining the m47.
Nah, I am in the same place in the US tech tree and its just not fun how hard it is. It feels incredibly unfair. I have about 1500 hours.
this br is torture for me
From having the big three all minimum 7.7, armor doesn’t exist anymore and you should play more of a flanking play style
7.7 is pretty much the worst BR imo, grinding to 8.3 was hell for me (because 6.7 is so good), you basically have no good vics in that whole rank and it's pain
the LARGEST problem with 7.7+ is the fact that the players there are giga sweats or cheating probably
the second by literal inches is the third person camera
you cannot move in 7.7+ people will sit behind hills / walls and wait for you to pull out
overall you did aight you need to side scrape better you were angling the wrong way when you got in that corner duel
I used to play world of tanks and had purple stats on a lot of my tanks but war thunder is just pain
you either die to a guy holding a hill with third person or cas
I REALLY want to know how the big youtubers always get to that perfect spot where they dumpster 5+ people and never get countered ive sat in many of their spots and people still instantly shoot at me
Start by removing the "grass on scope" option and I think you need to pay more attention to the game. There were multiple chances where you could have gotten a free kill if you saw the enemy before he saw you.
5.7-8 BR is US best win rate if you’re struggling it’s genuinely skill issue
That is a massive area of BR. America 6.3 and 6.7 are great but 7.0 to 8.0 are all shit (besides the t92). The m60 aos is just worse in every way than the olifant mk1. Which gets a stabalizer. LRF. And APFSDS. When the m60 aos gets APDS. Worse reverse. An optical range finder. And stabalizer. At the same BR.
7.7 america is actually so bad its not your fault i suffer the same 😔
yea not a fan of that tier either. things get slow and clunky
Another. Turn off grass in gunners sights.
I suck ass too
All pattons after the first suck. The m47 offers nothing the m46 doesnt and the m48 is just dogshit. The m60 you finally get a goos gun. But youre not stabalized and youre slow. So youre just worse than the leopard 1, OF40, and amx-30. And at 8.3 you finally get a stab but youre still slow and using APDS and dont have a LRF. 8.3 beitain gets a stabalized APDS eith a LRF (and a stabalised APFSDS LRF vehicle) and russia gets APFSDS and a stab. The pattons are just underwhelming tanks even IRL.
M-48 suck balls
The US tree as a whole is thoroughly terrible and full of over-br'd vehicles. You most certainly made some mistakes but its also significantly the fault of putting yourself into a shit tree.
So whats the best line to grind for a newbie?
M103 is the last good tank till 8.3. But yea, you're transitioning between the basic tanking battles to the stabilizer, ATGM, rangefinder games. It's a very rough transition for the US. I've found that using my older tanks first and then bringing out my newer tanks when everyone is using their older/backups does better.
I have a 7.7 lineup for America and top tier for Great Britain aswell as progress in others, if you need, reply to me and I can give you my username we can squadron