VK 30.01 P Guide

Before we start...

This will be a guide that compares VK 3001 P to it's fellow VK brother mediums, including only those that are tier 6 (so no 3002 DB here). Please bear this in mind as I will compare 3001 P a lot with other two VK tier 6 mediums, 3001 H and 3601 H. You shall notice its position on German tech tree, it can be researched from Panzer IV and leads to Tiger P, so you will have to research it eventually if you want to go down the Porsche line.

Stats overview

Health points: 710
Weight: Around 39 tons
Engine power: 670
Speed limit: 60
Traverse speed: 28
Turret traverse speed: 28
Hull armor: 75/60/40
Turret armor: 100/82/82
View range: 370
Signal range: 810

Stats explained

VK 3001 P has 710 hitpoints, making it more fragile than 3001 H (750 HP) and 3601 H (850 HP). It's kinda weird it has the lowest health pool since he's the middle ground between all three VK tier 6 medium tanks (more about that later!) and it would make more sense it reversed that stat with 3001 H, but that's just me. 710 HP is okayish for that tier (especially medium tanks) and you can take a few shots just like everyone else.

It weights around 39 tons, making him, again, the middle-weight champion between his brothers 3001 H (around 36 tons) and 3601 H (around 42 tons). You will need to upgrade your tracks if you want to pimp it out to max for better load limit. This will not upgrade traverse speed, however. Okay for ramming lighter tanks.

It has 670 HP engine power and 60 km/h speed limit, which is very nice. It is very mobile and although it looks like an oversized boat-tank, it goes pretty light. Traverse speed isn't really that good, only 28, but you will notice that only on sharper turns. Just for note, 3001 H is lighter and even more mobile (650 HP engine power and 55 km/h speed limit, but it has 40 traverse speed) and 3601 is noticeably slower ( 750 HP engine power, 40 km/h speed limit and 27 traverse speed). Again, middle ground.

Turret has a decent frontal armor, all around not that bad, but anything from tier 6 and up won't have troubles with that. Can be prone to jamming a lot if arty makes your life harder. 28 turret traverse speed is not ideal, so predict the enemy's movement and turn before your enemy moves in one direction. 3001 H (25 traverse speed) and 3601 H (26 traverse speed) are only slightly less slower. It's okay if you're used to those.

View range and radio range are just fine and I think there's not much to add here (all VKs share the same stats here).

Guns (and recommended module research order)

You start out with a 75 mm L/48 (won't put the whole gun name here since very small number of people care about that) which ain't that bad, I mean it has good RoF, okay penetration and so-so damage, but almost everything up above that is an upgrade. This gun is bound to your stock turret, so you'll be stuck with it until you research the next turret (and eventually, the next guns if you already didn't).

Next thing up ahead is a 105 mm L/28 derp gun. If you know the concept of the derp gun, I don't have to explain anything. But still, here it is: lower velocity, higher caliber, not suitable for sniping, good for platoons, useless with AP (HE only). Don't recommend you use this, but if you can somehow control your team roster (be it with platoons or Tank Companies) it can be good for getting money and experience if you are skilled enough.

Next real thing is 75 mm L/70. Great sniper gun, used to be on old prenerf Panzer IV. It has 150 mm penetration and 135 damage, making it the perfect gun for chipping away the damage, being the ultimate support tank. However, this tank isn't made for sniping.

88 mm L/56 is your top gun and personally, it should be used 100% of the time. It has good alpha damage, but total crap penetration of 132 mm. That might somehow stand in tier 6, but for bigger tiers... just nope. However, it's still your main choice.

Why? Well, let's put it like this. You have a tank designated to be a sniper support. It is, logically, worse in brawling situation. Your damage output is low unless you get multiple shots on enemy, in which case he might retreat or aim for you.
With this gun, you are more versatile. You can still snipe (altho with lowered accuracy and and worse penetration, but still, you can) and you suddenly become more reliable at close-range combat. 220 dmg at one hit is more scary than two shots for 135, right? It's that "momentum", I should call it. Medium range combat is the stage of perfection and you become much more versatile, altho you can't always rely on your gun against KV-3 etc. Finishing off tanks can be important too, when your opponent is at 20% and you're just as low - let's presume you shoot first - your dmg output is more likely to kill him outright rather than wounding him. That can be very important.

So, you should probably research tracks first (radio should be already researched). Then the turret, so you can mount at least the 7,5 L/70. If you haven't researched 88 mm L/56 yet, I would recommend upgrading it last and getting the top engine first if you're keen on eliting it. With L/70 and top engine you'll be a mobile sniper platform (not THAT mobile, tho). In the end, do get the 88 mm gun.

Playstyle

I shall compare 3001 P to its brothers again and show you their role in the battlefield. I will try to do this objectively with a dose of my personal experience.

First of all, 3001 H, 3001 P and 3601 H share the same top gun, 88 L/56. That already makes them very connected. However, there are small... "shades", making them different in playstyles.

3001 H is a tank I would recommend buying first and upgrading the modules for the other VKs on it. It's more like light tank and it isn't ashamed of it - you can pretty much zoom around even with modules not upgraded to full. With stock turret and top engine you can even mount the derp gun and have fun around, making your life a bit easier for 3001 P (you'll be left with only tracks and turret to research on 3001 P, so saving some free exp might help too). It's light, fast, nimble, but VERY poorly armored. So, to sum it up, fast but weakly armored.

3601 H goes, however, on the opposite side. To put it up shortly, he's not as quick as 3001 H. It has much better armor tho, capable of bouncing even tier 7 guns if angled properly. It's a pseudo-medium tank, and it behaves more like a small heavy. In short, armored but not that fast.

And then comes the 3001 P, and you might have already guessed it already, right in the middle. Why is that, someone could ask? Let's see:

Pros:
- Faster and more mobile than 3601 H
- More armor than 3001 H
- SLIGHTLY BETTER RATE OF FIRE (8,70 compared to other two with 8,11 - this is important to notice, I also used rammer and vents on all

Cons:
- Slower and less mobile than 3001 H
- Less armor than 3601 Hthree)

These are the most obvious. As you can see, those 2 pros and 2 cons outweight themselves and you're left with one small, tiny positive side - slightly better rate of fire.

"So what, it shoots a bit faster, it's still crap" you might have asked yourselves. Well, not really.

You see, this tank requires a rather specific playstyle. It's the most obvious middle-ground between the 2 VKs and that's a hard statement. Nothing changes that. You should probably go for this VK last... after you've played 3601 H and 3001 H. Where you would stay and soak up shots with 3601 H, you use your mobility to advance behind or hide somewhere like 3001 H. Where you would zoom around with 3001 H because your opponent is somewhat inferior, you can do 3601 tactics too - use your armor and soak up until the support comes along too.

Now, I'm not saying you should use this as a heavy tank since you're a medium with fairly bad armor, but when it comes to even, same tiered fights, do the sidescraper a lot, avoid getting shot unless it benefits you and the team and be aware of your surroundings. Many people underestimate the 3001 P because of it's mediocre everything, but keep in mind 3601 H has just the same gun, only with more armor, and is feared more. It behaves most like medium between the tree VKs.

Important note - your gun depression sucks, but it's the German tanks' curse. Nothing to do about that, just keep that in mind when playing maps like El Halluf etc.

Recommended equipment and crew skills

As in every tank, there are 3 slots for equipment. My recommendations are:

- Gun rammer
- Laying drive
- Ventilation

This is a pretty standard loadout for most of the tanks but it's the most effective. Rammer adds that extra tiny bit for loading faster (very important in 1v1 situation where first shot decides the victory), Laying drive makes you aim faster (always helpful with German guns, you can set up more faster to snipe someone across the map) and vent adds up to overall efficiency of the crew.

If you're not satisfied with this choice, you can replace one thing with one of these:

- Spall liner
- Wet ammo rack
- Toolbox

Spall liner can be very effective against lots of lower tier derp guns roaming around (Hetzer, M4... basically everyone with derps) and probably arty too. Wet ammo rack is kinda dumb choice if you have a repair kit around but if you really, really dunno what to put, durability of ammo rack is always welcome (it can happen very often in this tank). Toolbox is great for repairing tracks faster and the best of all, you need only one (demountable for free).

As for crew skills, I would suggest:

Commander: I would actually suggest Eagle Eye over Sixth sense (if you're still not convinced, just go for Sixth sense then). You can spot the enemy's current damaged modules, making it easier to know where he's more vulnerable if you actually got the clear view on him before. For example, if his gun is damaged, you know he will have a hard time sniping you across the map and you can use that to your advantage. 3001 P is that kind of tank, exploiting other tank's weaknesses and doing the best to screw them up.
Gunner: I'd go for Armorer or Snap shot. Designated Target might help too, but really you can't miss with those three.
Loader: Safe Stowage or Adrenaline rush. Probably Adrenaline rush, since it'll make your gun even faster at low HP.
Driver: Really anything except for Controlled impact, you shouldn't really ram often. Preventive maintance and Off-Road driving are good choice to begin with.
Radio Operator: Situational Awareness. Self explanatory.


Originally written by PanzerRage