New Ares Line in WoT: No Need To Reload!

The New Year in World of Tanks starts explosively. With Update 2.1.1, which arrives in the game on January 12th, players will get another new line of vehicles. Prepare for the American Ares medium tanks that change the habits of the game. Are you tired of reloading? This new branch brings a revolutionary autocannon mechanic to the game, altering the established rules of loading and firing. The path leads through four new vehicles to the very top at Tier XI.

Hopefully, it wasn’t just you who gained some weight over Christmas, but your World of Tanks accounts as well, because Free XP and credits will disappear from your accounts faster than you can forget your New Year’s resolutions. Although I wrote about the new line some time ago, a few days before the update release, WG provided us with detailed statistics of the incoming machines. Let’s break them down.

Overheating Mechanics

The main novelty of this line is the firing system, appearing in World of Tanks for the first time. Forget classic clips. A new system rules here.

At the start of the battle (or when switching ammo), the entire belt loads in a few seconds. After that, you can fire at will for as long as you have ammo or until the gun overheats. So watch the temperature!

A key element of gameplay is thermal protection. Every shot generates heat. The higher the gun temperature, the greater the shot dispersion. A cool state offers dispersion of 0.35 – 0.37 at 100 m (depending on the tier). In a heated state, conversely, accuracy drops to 0.52 – 0.55. Beware of critical overheating!

The system requires discipline. The gun begins to cool down shortly after you stop firing. However, if you “hold the trigger” too long and reach critical temperature, the thermal protection system activates. This completely locks the gun and prevents firing for approximately 15 seconds until the mechanism cools down.

This system forces you to choose between: firing slowly BUT accurately, or unleashing a devastating barrage at close range at the cost of overheating.

Reserve Track Mechanics

American engineers also thought about survival. Similar to the heavy tanks of the Yoh line, these vehicles are equipped with so-called “UFO tracks”, a reserve track system.

If any enemy destroys your main track, the vehicle does not stop. You can continue driving, albeit significantly slower. Compared to heavy tanks, the new mediums are relatively agile even on these reserve tracks.

To completely immobilize the tank, the opponent must destroy the reserve track as well. This gives you precious seconds to retreat or angle your armor.

How to Play Them?

This line rewards players who can keep a cool head (and a cool gun). The key to success is “tap firing” (firing single shots) at long range to keep dispersion to a minimum and hit weak spots.

At close range, you can use “burst” for maximum damage, even though accuracy drops drastically. Due to tragic penetration (especially at Tier X), you cannot face heavy, or any other, tanks frontally. Use the 50–55 km/h mobility and reserve tracks to flank the enemy and utilize the gun’s full potential.

However, try not to let the gun reach the overheated state unless it is to secure a guaranteed kill. The 15-second penalty without firing could backfire on you.

New “Ares” Family

The number in the name of each of the four tanks in the new branch directly refers to the caliber of its autocannon. With each tier, not only the caliber grows but also the combat potential. Although they have a higher caliber than Czechoslovakian light tanks, do not expect dazzling alpha damage per shot.

Ares 75 (Tier VIII)

The entry tank to the new line follows the American Tier VII medium tank, the T20. It is ideal for mastering the gun overheating mechanics.

A mobile tank with a top speed of 50 km/h delivers 60 HP Alpha damage with 195 mm penetration on standard ammo and 212 on premium. I don’t even recommend buying HE shells because they have incredibly low penetration of 10 mm. Dispersion of 0.37 at 100 m worsens to 0.55 after fully overheating the gun. However, this shouldn’t bother you in the end, because in such a situation, the gun jams anyway, and you cannot fire. Surprisingly for American tanks, it has a relatively low gun depression of -7°, but an extreme gun elevation of 45°.

The above-average 1,600 HP won’t offend, but unfortunately, it will disappear quickly as the frontal hull armor is only 63 mm and the turret is 139 mm. However, thanks to its rounded shape, the turret has a chance to bounce some small calibers.

Ares 85 (Tier IX)

Same speed of 50 km/h, but the higher caliber brings more effective destruction of the competition thanks to 80 Alpha and better penetration: 210 mm on AP and 227 on premium ammo. Compared to Tier VIII, the aiming time improves by one-tenth (to 2.1s), as does dispersion in both situations. Gun angles remain the same as on the Ares 75.

Your 1,800 HP is better protected by 95 mm of front hull armor and 184 mm on the turret. However, if you fight against Tier X to XI machines, you can rely on that armor about as much as you can rely on RNG with the FV4005.

Ares 90 (Tier X)

Much like its predecessors Ares 90 requires active play and seeking flanking positions.

This Tier X with a top speed of 50 km/h and a reverse speed of 19 km/h offers 115 HP Alpha damage with a really bad penetration of 220 mm on standard and 238 on premium ammo. And guess what – HE shells still have 10 mm penetration but deal 220 damage, so why not take a few for an FV or Grille party. Dispersion of 0.36 at 100 m and 0.54 after fully overheating the gun does not change. Only the aiming time shortens to 2 seconds. Gun depression also improves to -9°.

Wargaming states that the 1,950 HP of this tank is protected by 190 mm front hull armor and 260 mm turret armor. Upon closer inspection, it is evident that the 190 mm is found only on a narrow strip of the upper plate, while the rest is almost paper for other tanks of the same and higher tiers. On the other hand, the turret armor has a great chance to block a few shots.

Ares 90 C (Tier XI)

The absolute peak of the line combines top-tier mobility with devastating damage per minute (DPM). As a Tier XI vehicle, it offers access to the advanced upgrade system.

Tier XI speeds up to 55 km/h and 20 km/h in reverse. It keeps the 115 HP Alpha damage as well as the tragic penetration – 240 mm on standard and 259 on premium ammo. No change occurred for HE shells either. Dispersion improved to 0.35 at 100 m and 0.52 after fully overheating the gun. Also the aiming time decreases to 1.8 seconds. Gun depression increases to 10°, and gun elevation remains at an unimaginable 45°.

Surprisingly, the front hull armor drops to 120 mm, but the turret increases to 273 mm. Since technical data for this machine is still not available on the Supertest, I am unable to say how the armor on this tank really performs. You will have 2,100 HP at your disposal.

Conclusion

The new line of American medium tanks brings a fresh wind to World of Tanks. While they are not ideal tanks for everyone, in the hands of an experienced player who can utilize their mobility and specific firing rhythm, they will be deadly. Are you ready?

Curious about what else Update 2.1.1 has to offer? I break it down in my other article here.