Tank perks in BF3 as of this post

[CptainCrunch]

A lot of changes to vehicles since the release of BF3 and I went away from vehicle maps for a while and went into a few the last few weeks and notice that just about every tanker uses smoke.

Do you think that is the way to go? Ive always enjoyed using thermal optics, but perhaps thats not the way to go anymore?

I also use guided shell, but it seems most people dont use that either.

So this is my layout:

Reactive Armor
Thermal Optics
Guided Shell

Is my layout "old school" thinking or is it just as good as any other?

[Mtrooper]

Re: Tank perks in BF3 as of this post

Its a tough call, the reason everyone uses smoke nowadays is because more people use the SOFLAM and Javelin and its very frustrating to be taken down very quickly by that combination. The Guided Shell is obviously very good if you are on a team that is making extensive use of SOFLAMs or you have a good CITV operator, but I feel that most of the time Canister Shell is more useful for dealing with close to even long range infantry (not to mention being decent against helicopters). Still, even if your layout is "old school," as long as you suit your playstyle towards it (staying far away from enemies) it should do fine.

[Anarchy1]

Re: Tank perks in BF3 as of this post

My loadout is reactive armor, smoke, and canister shells.

The reason for reactive armor is obvious. I use smoke because there is usually one or two people using javelins or SOFLAMs or the laser guided missiles in vehicles, and having smoke in these situations is huge. Plus, it does come in handy when you are in a tank fight and you want to try and screen your position. It doesn't work perfectly because you are usually spotted, but it can cause the enemy to miss a shell or two. Smoke can also help cover your escape or cover an engineer that is repairing your tank. Thermal optics can be useful too though. As for the canister shells, they are absolutely deadly against infantry. The main shells don't work fantastically against infantry, and they make take two shots to kill an enemy with 100% health. The canister shells are instant kills and they both are deadly accurate and provide some forgiveness, if that makes any sense. You can snipe enemies at pretty good ranges with them and get the hit, but you can also "miss" enemies and still get the kill because of all the pellets. In essence, they are one shot kills to infantry and you can easily get multiple kills. They are also great because they allow you to quick switch with the cannon. What I usually do is fire a tank shell at enemies and then fire a canister shell at them to finish them off if they did not die. When you are fighting a tank with enemy infantry around it, you can easily shoot the tank with the main shell, then kill infantry with the canister. The canister is also deadly against air vehicles and jeeps. Now the guided shell, I don't really like. It is completely useless unless you have a teammate in the CITV (very rare in my experience) or there is a SOFLAM set up and painting targets who don't have countermeasures that are within your range (also pretty rare I find). I easily get more kills with the canister than I do with the guided shell. If you are playing with a full tank crew, though, then I think guided shells would be beneficial. You have the anti-infantry capability of the MG on top, you have your CITV operator painting targets, and you now have two different shells to use against enemy vehicles.

[jimykx]

Re: Tank perks in BF3 as of this post

Reactive armor
Zoom optics
Canister shell

I enjoy the canister shell because it's a great weapon against infantry, air and light vehicles.
The reactive armor because I pretty much think it's the best out of all of the others in that slot
The zoom optics because I play at the lowest resolution and sometimes, in the larger maps, it's a little bit hard to distinguish a light pole or a bush from an enemy at a distance.

[Eagle101]

Re: Tank perks in BF3 as of this post

Mines is

Smoke

Thermal Optics

Canister shell

iirc, the canister is great against those pesky scout copters and infantry smoke against javvys and use the thermals cause sometimes i cant see shit but i believe all ppl custom their tanks to their taste or to the battle's enivronment.

[teetsaar123]

Re: Tank perks in BF3 as of this post

Choosing between thermal and smoke is pretty hard, smoke saves lives from those oman highrise soflam/javelin teams although with thermal optics you can pretty much see the enemy even if they are behind a bush or if just an inch from their tank sticks out behind cover. The zoom optics might find a little more use when AK comes out.
On the other hand reactive armor gives us APC guys another reason to use APFSDS-T armor piercing shells, since they are not affected by reactive plates ...