Dedicated tanker here:

With the nerf to hardeners in a 1.8 'hotfix' glass cannons are far more powerful than true defense based tanks. This means that something like 2 damage mod sica with a Plate and Repairer will eat just about any kind of tank that is defense oriented, even if the defense tank gets the first shot. The reason you were killed so quickly is probably because you didn't have a hardener on for the first shot, which wipes out 80% of your shields. Even having a hardener at that point is worthless because your Shields are so low. Meaning if you only have like 400 shields left, reducing damage by 40% is only give you ~267 more HP.

Do not bother using AUR tanks; they are pre-fit with turrets that you cannot remove. This means they have less free fitting power than Militia tanks. I would say Standard > Militia > AUR. AUR tanks might be better because of the extra slot but using it is hard with the turrets eating a lot of PG/CPU and the real dollar price makes Militia stand out as the better vehicle to me.

The typical tank hunter fit is generally damage mods + railgun. Try to get the drop on someone or at least not be surprised and you can kill most things easily. Shield tanks can fit damage mods far, far easier than armor tanks because armor tanks have downright terrible CPU, the fitting resource that damage mods eat massively.

Decide early if you want to do use a Madrugar or Gunnlogi. They are about equal. Madrugars are better at taking low to moderate damage over an extended period of time, something a Gunnlogi is terrible at. Gunnlogis can take a huge amount of punishment in a single fight, something that Madrugars cannot do as well.

thanks man you have been a great help... I think I will go with the gunnlogi and try to get the drop on people.....but practice with the sica...and good call about the wasted cpu/pg on the aur's

thanks man..

I decided to get some AUR to buy a couple of Gunnlogi tanks and thought I would take them for a spin...
Not that long after I came across a Sica with a Millita Rail gun on it and it took my tank out in 2 to 3 shots....How was he able to cause so much damage so quickly when I have come up against tanks of the same class and at least have had a chance to fire of a couple of rounds....

If I was to become a Tanker...what would be a good fit to go after other tanks?

I am a heavy and I normally run around in an LAV and hunt people down...I get around 15 kills... but thought to myself why run around in an LAV when I can do it in a tank... I just need a good tank fit though

Yours faithfully
maeth-01

That sica had two damage mods, that is what took you down so quickly. To counter this you'll need a good shield buffer or an injector. I honestly prefer the injector. You'll also be viewed as a scrub here for hunting people down in a LAV as a heavy. Even more so if you do it in a tank.

Do not put points into Shield Fitting Optimization unless you have to, same with Armor Fitting Optimization when you start to put points there eventually. Sicas and Gunnlogis are swimming in CPU while Shield modules take a lot of PG. Shield Fitting Optimization saves you CPU, making it nearly worthless. It is the reverse for Somas and Madrugars, though certain armor modules like Plates and Repairer to a lesser extent take a digesting amount of PG so Armor Fitting Optimization can be useful.

Turret optimization skills are gold for freeing up resources as they give 3% (or around there) reduction in CPU and PG cost. Only put what you need.

In my opinion, don't really bother with higher level turrets. The price is far, far higher for a very small bump in damage. The difference is not worth it for normal games.

All Shield modules give the same amount of defense regardless of Meta level aside from Extenders which give higher HP for each meta level. This means that you can throw a single point in the Shield skill and try everything out decently enough. Put a big toe in the river before you jump to see if it is what you like.

Shield tanks are slower than armor tanks but turn MUCH tighter and get to max speed faster. If you are fighting an armor tank and you need to escape, make tight turns FAST. It is a lot harder for them to turn like you can. Don't escape over open ground because they will catch up to you.

Finally, Mouse and Keyboard. It is so much easier to control a tank with mouse and keyboard compared to controller. This isn't the case for dropships (trying to control pitch is impossible without the controller) or LAV's (you can ONLY drive max speed) but for tanks being able to make easier turns makes it the clear choice.