SU-130PM

SU-130PM is one of the best tier 8 TDs, having great mobility, high camo rating, a very accurate and quick aiming 130mm gun, a semi-traversable turret, and even some hull armour.

1. Armour
2. Gun
3. Mobility
4. Equipment, provisions, & consumables
5. Gameplay advice
6. Overall
7. Is it worth getting?
8. Most recently sold for:

Armour

vs 182mm AP
Upper plate 120-380mm (autoricochet to all guns smaller 135mm in caliber)
Lower plate 33mm
Turret/gun shield 12mm

SU-130PM is a paper tank destroyer. Play it as though it has no armour, because it really doesn’t. All tanks can easily frontally HE the turret or lower plate.
Its auto-ricochet upper plate means that the SU-130PM can sometimes get some troll bounces from 120mm, 105mm, 100mm and smaller guns that shoot AP or APCR. If enemies don’t aim their shots properly or you are at quite a distance, the upper plate can bounce shots.
(Note that due to overmatch mechanics, 139mm, 149mm, 150mm+ and larger guns will always penetrate the upper plate, no matter what angle.)

Don’t rely on this upper plate armour, as all enemies can still HE your gun shield and lower plate.

Gun

The SU-130PM mounts a 130mm gun.

-Reload time is 10.4s for 460 alpha, giving it 2665 DPM.
-Penetration is good, 245mm on AP, 318mm on HEAT, and 65mm on HE
-Aim time is 3.2/2.9s, which is extremely good for this alpha.
-Dispersion is 0.308/0.277, very accurate for a 130mm
-Gun handling is 0.22/0.22/0.16, or 0.19/0.19/0.14 with Vertical Stabilizer.
-Gun depression is -7 degrees, very good considering the tank’s low profile
-Gun arc is very flexible with 70 degrees to the left and to the right.

The SU-130PM’s gun is very good in every regard for a sniping TD.
Considering this tank’s high camo rating, its great gun flexibility is a great combination to keep it sneaky during a battle. Its accuracy and aim time are extremely good, and the tank has high penetration. Its DPM isn’t impressive, but the other statistics of the tank more than compensate for it.

Mobility

-Top speed is good at 50km/h forwards, and -20km/h in reverse
-Acceleration rate is unimpressive, 19.07 hp/t on hard terrain, and 15.3 hp/t on medium terrain.
-Traverse speed is 46.5 deg/s on hard terrain, and 37.2 deg/s on medium terrain.
–Terrain resistances are very bad, which is why its in game power/weight ratio of 22.9hp/t is rather misleading. Terrain resistances are 1.2/1.5/3, so the tank is a lot slower than the in-game stats make it look, and due to 3 terrain resistance in water, this tank is even slower than a Maus when it goes through water.

While the terrain resistance may make the mobility seem bad, its definitely not. The SU-130PM’s mobility is like that of a medium tank, and its certainly enough to be able to quickly relocate around the map.

Equipment, provisions, & consumables

SU-130PM has no special consumables or provisions.

Gun Rammer:
The penetration of the SU-130PM is perfectly adequate for a TD, its accuracy also makes up for it as its very easy to aim at small weakpoints on enemies. Since the reload of 10.4s isn’t very impressive, and its DPM of 2665 isn’t great for a tier 8 TD, its best to use a gun rammer on this tank.

Camo Net:
The SU-130PM has very good camouflage rating. With a level 7 camouflage crew skill, using camo net will give this tank 77% camouflage while stationary, 52% while moving, and a very decent 16% after shooting. Since the SU-130PM has essentially no armour, staying hidden is essential to making this tank survive.

Improved Assembly:
While this tank has an auto-ricochet upper plate, its not meant to bounce shots. Its lower plate and turret are also too weak to enhance, so using improved assembly is the better option. Improved assembly will improve this tanks HP from 1100 up to 1166. 

Vertical Stabilizer:
Even though the SU-130PM is a sniper TD, its also often can double as a support medium tank. Due to already having good accuracy of 0.308, refined gun isn’t really needed. The improving the dispersion-on-move with vertical stabilizer is more important, as it makes the tank more accurate during and after movement; when it doubles as a support medium (or when it has to relocate in general), vertical stabilizer will be a lot more impactful on this tank.

Gameplay advice

The SU-130PM has a very unique playstyle, and it does play differently to a Skorpion G.

While there are some similarities in the gameplay to the Skorpion G, the SU is a lot more flexible with its mobility, gun depression, and profile size. It allows the SU to use more positions than the Skorpion, and be more confident in its gameplay due to having better camouflage rating and a small amount of armour advantage. If you have played the Skorpion G, you should feel quite comfortable in the SU, since its just easier to use and has better stats in most areas.

SU-130PM is a sniper TD, so at the beginning of the battle you should find an advantageous position to snipe at enemies from, ideally use high ground or a bush. Its a bad idea to play as a support medium right from the beginning of the battle, as the tank most certainly doesn’t have the durability for it.

When you notice allies on your flank needing help and you feel like you will be able to overwhelm the enemy with your allies help, then push forward from your sniping position and play as a support medium. While its DPM and alpha damage aren’t impressive for a TD, compared to heavy and medium tanks its extremely impressive, so supporting allied HT and MT playing an active role can be very impactful. Take hits for your allies if they are a one-shot (to keep their gun in the game). However if they have enough HP to take a shot, use them as your armour, 2 HE shots from a 122mm gun can bring this tank down to just 100 HP, and only 1 HE shot from an enemy 152mm TD will take away 90% of your HP.

If the flank where you are sniping falls, then use the camo rating and mobility of this tank to relocate away. It is fast and sneaky enough to do this. Don’t go play as a support MT when you can see your allies won’t win even with your help, Su-130PM is a good tank, but it can’t deal with 2 enemies at once, and a full HP heavy, medium, or light could quickly and easily take you out of they know what they are doing.

Overall

Overall the SU-130PM is definitely one of the best tank destroyers in tier 8. It has an amazing gun, great camo rating, great gun flexibility, and good mobility. It can easily double as a medium tank, but is still extremely effective as a sniper. However, its hitpoints are fairly low and its armour is easy to deal with if aiming properly.

Is it worth getting?

SU-130PM is worth buying. Any player will do will in this tank if they know sniping positions, the SU has every tool needed for a great sniping TD and support medium. Its better than the Skorpion G, and most of the time it is cheaper, so it is worth getting even if you have that tank.

The SU-130PM is easily worth 11,000 gold considering how good it is. Any player can fall in love with this tank because of how comfortable and flexible it is. Not only that, but its gameplay is quite unique, as most other sniper TDs in tier 8 aren’t nearly as flexible/mobile or well camouflaged as this tank. SU-130PM can often be bought for around 8.5k gold

Most recently sold for:

8,500 gold (Tank only) – October 2022
Blitzfair Auction – December 2022

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