Future tanks will likely have a crew of one or two, video cameras that will help the crew see more clearly, targeting computers and various anti-missile and anti-personel defenses.

With all the new systems and the smaller crew, tanks are more likley to become like aircraft. A small crew to operate the vehicle in combat and a support crew to help maintain and repair it. Since the support crew will likely consist of specialists it is unlikely to follow the tank into battle.

Tanks are big and mean but they are far from invulnerable if the defender knows what he is doing. That is unlikely to change.

Yea but infantry doesnt like it when a tank is a tank, they like it when its a coffin on wheels

Also the armor point is moot anyways, we dont have angles/armor thickness or penetration values for the AV we have let alone the hulls

To the people saying "irl it takes a crew to drive a tank" well guess what! A single person can control a 16km long ship in the eve universe!!! How cool is that? It's also called computer assisted controls :D

To op: It's the madrugar that has the insane gun depression. Gunnlogi can't shoot infantry that get too close.

Tanks were originally designed to break through enemy trenches. They are still mainly for area of effect bombardment, infiltration as well as covering larger distances quicker while protected.

In other words, a general blunt instrument vs. precision attack of infantry.

I used to hate tanks in the Marines. I always thought, "How come they are so much better than me? They are just scrubs who don't want to fight like me and be a "man" with all my manly squishiness. I should be able to be as invulnerable as them. They shouldn't be able to just one shot obliterate all before them. I'm sad. Saddy sad sad. Sniff, sniff."

In RL infantry fears tanks. In this game infantry fears tanks. I believe CCP captured the essence of that relationship perfectly.

Lol, gun depression. When it comes to infantry, you got that right!

To the people saying "irl it takes a crew to drive a tank" well guess what! A single person can control a 16km long ship in the eve universe!!! How cool is that? It's also called computer assisted controls :D

To op: It's the madrugar that has the insane gun depression. Gunnlogi can't shoot infantry that get too close.

It seems to me that it is you, rather than the infantry who first stepped up to derail what could otherwise be an intelligent conversation.


DUST tanks are weakest in the back around the engine block. They are also weak on the sides around the treads.

No kidding really!? Hey its tankers that continually say it should take multiple AVers to take them out which is just as silly am argument. Also ass the OP pointed out tanks should be feared but also have to fear being flanked by infantry or infantry getting close enough to sticky bomb them all Saving Private Ryan style. Right now our triple hardener stacked tanks have virtually boo weaknesses to infantry and that is the problem.

No use arguing with the wall that is Taka, he rather enjoys being too far over the top (OP) with his tank.

And yeah Taka, you do extra damage from behind a tank.

I think I would be cool with having to focus more on keeping my tank forward facing. I should take some serious damage WITH A HARDENER UP, when I'm hit in my weak point.

The point at the back is just that a point

We dont have armor thickness values or penetration values for AV, you can t knock of the treads or damage the gun

If i get a shot with my breach on the weakspot i 1 shot all the HAVs with no hardeners on, with a hardener on i easy get 50% of the tanks total HP or there abouts

Now you can do this with a FG or even a lolPLC but you cant with swarms since they lock on to 1 point and 1 point early

@Fox - infantry cry over it being a tank, the infantry in the article cry over it being a tank, i might aswell get the obv out of the way that infantry hates tanks as they are in DUST

Because there are certain aspects of tanking that are currently unbalanced and broken. Why won't you admit that? It's the stone cold truth man.

Name them

A MLT tank is dirt cheap compared to a dropsuit. That alone is something of an issue.

Real life tanks

So was reading through that, that somebody posted on another post. Rather interesting, and I think we could take a lesson from RL tanks when it comes to balancing.

"Originally they were designed to assist infantry. They still do, and quite well I might add. There are several problems with this however. Unlike infantry they cannot sneak up on you. They are often restricted to what terrain they can travel through."

(Right now, tanks easily sneak up on ya. It's nearly impossible to tell directionally where a tank is, just that you know it's in the general area around you, same with dropships.)

"Now the best way to kill a tank is to use another tank."

(True of tanks now)

"Tanks can move faster than an infantryman, about five hundred meters a minute."

(And infantry want to keep up with tanks?)

"Infantry are the nemesis of tanks and there is a love/hate relationship. Tanks hate infantry and infantry hate tanks, yet when the two are on the same side they love each other."

(How fing true is this in relation to dust! )

"Tanks destroy targets that are too tough for most infantry and infantry keep the tanks safe from other infantry."

(Perhaps tanks need an actual purpose on the battlefield. Like breaking down a gate, to allow infantry easier/ more access points to an objective.)

"Attacking is what tanks are primarily designed for. Their frontal armor is thickest and their weapons point forward of their main gun. Anything in front of a tank is going to get hurt and is unlikely to hurt the tank in return."

(Imagine that, our tanks are just like this!)

"The sides, rear, top and bottom of a tank are another story completely. Although they are usually well armored the armor is not nearly as thick as the front. That is why infantry like to attack tanks from nearly any direction but the front (plus tanks have no qualms about running over infantry if they can't shoot them up infantry know this)."

(IE we need the ability to run people over) (Infantry at one time had now qualms attacking from any angle.)

"Because large viewports would make the tank vulnerable to rockets and enemy cannon, the viewports have to be small. This means that when the crew is hiding behind the armor they can't see very well. In fact if an infantryman can get within ten meters of a Soviet built tank then the tanker cannot see him unless he sticks his head out. Also to minimize the weakpoints in the armor the main guns are limited in how high and low they can elevate. This means that if an infantryman can get within twenty feet of the tank, the tanker can't shoot him with any of the tank weapons. The tanker can still try to run over the poor guy though and tanks can move fast.

This is why tanks need infantry. Enemy infantrymen to the rear or flanks of a tank can be a major threat. If the tank has infantry to keep off pesky enemy infantry the tank becomes a true terror. Infantry can shoot at enemy infantry on or near friendly tanks without fear because tanks are bullet proof in the truest sense of the word. Enemy infantry are not."

As far as balance is concerned, changing gun depression so that it's impossible to hit any infantry within 10M isn't a bad idea. (Currently, this is true only of the madrudger, turret depression allows them to shoot infantry right next to their tanks.)

But that's something I've noticed with the new build, infantry used to BE the tanks. They were fearless when it came to tanks, hardly giving a second thought to the tank in front of them. Now though, the things described in these quotes are coming true. Infantry are no longer headstrong and fearless against tanks, and have had to adapt and change tactics to ones similar to dealing with RL tanks.

I think we could take a lesson though from how RL works when it comes to infantry and tank interaction.

"Tanks can move faster than an infantryman, about five hundred meters a minute."

(And infantry want to keep up with tanks?)

what i havent seen is in real life it only takes 1 hit to kill a tank most times
if you were to relate dust tanks to real life tanks
which is the A1 Abrams?
which is a sherman?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tank
go read up on real tanks and how they are used in a real battle
However, as effective and advanced as armour plating has become, tank survivability against newer-generation tandem-warhead anti-tank missiles is a concern for military planners.[54] For example, the RPG-29 from 1980s is able to penetrate the frontal hull armour of the Challenger II[55][56] and also managed to damage a M1 Abrams.[57]
so tell me why the av in dust is so far behind the tanks?

In RL infantry fears tanks. In this game infantry fears tanks. I believe CCP captured the essence of that relationship perfectly.

No kidding really!? Hey its tankers that continually say it should take multiple AVers to take them out which is just as silly am argument. Also as the OP pointed out tanks should be feared but also have to fear being flanked by infantry or infantry getting close enough to sticky bomb them all Saving Private Ryan style. Right now our triple hardener stacked tanks have virtually no weaknesses to infantry and that is the problem.

When tanks can willingly reduce the number of engaged hostile AV users to only 1 at a time, then you might have a point.

You don't have a point, and sound quite absurd because of the fact that tanks will always be engaged by multiple people at once. Just being in a tank already causes the attention of every player within a 100 meter radius to look in your direction. In other words, 1v1 is impossible unless the infantry being targeted is running alone for some unknown reason. Once spotted, the only way for a tank to lose the attention of a combatant is to speed away.

Dropsuits on the other hand can sneak around, or simply run straight up to an enemy and engage 1v1 whenever they feel like it. Albeit a quick blurb over comms can quickly end the 1v1, but it is possible for infantry to get such a situation, and then retreat by cover and loose any pursuant.

Also, I hear a lot of people rant and rave over "triple hardeners" when most fits cannot afford more than 2, only a shield tank might have three, but the limit of hardeners is 2 per health type due to slot and stat constraints.

Can you detail the slot uses of these "Triple hardeners"?