T34

T34 is a tier 8 USA heavy tank. Its one of the oldest premiums in tier 8, and is well known for its extremely strong turret armour and high penetration. Other than that it has average mobility but weak 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:
9. Camo cost:

Armour

(The T34 in the images is using Improved Assembly)

vs 225mm AP (left image), 265mm APCR(right image)
When flat and facing head-on:
Upper plate 160mm
Lower plate 120mm
Turret 285-310mm+ (weakest point 260mm)
Gun mantlet 280mm
Weakpoint above mantlet 205mm
Cupola 60-225mm

Note that on flat ground the turret roof can be overmatched by all guns larger than 114mm in caliber, however its quite a hard shot to hit.

VS tier 7-8:
Against tier 7 and 8 tanks, the T34’s armour will perform in roughly the same way.

The hull is extremely weak, there’s no point in angling or using gun depression to get bounces, as the hull is just far too weak to bounce. 

The turret is extremely strong and most enemies have no chance of penetrating it when the hull is hidden. Due to how far back on the turret the cupola is, it can be quite hard to hit even on flat ground.
The only tanks that can penetrate the turret will need to have over 280mm of penetration, and must hit it in the gun mantlet.

VS tier 9:
Tier 9 tanks will have a slightly easier time dealing with the T34’s turret armour. Standard rounds will still easily bounce off, but premium round’s have a higher chance to penetrate.

Most mediums and lights in tier 9 have 270-300mm premium penetration, so many of these tanks will still struggle to penetrate the T34’s turret.

Heavies have between 300-340mm premium penetration, so most of these tanks can very easily penetrate both the gun mantlet and the turret cheeks of the T34. 

Gun

The T34 mounts a 120mm gun

-Alpha damage is 400 on AP, 340 on APCR, and 515 on HE
-It has an 11.8s reload, giving it 2036 DPM
-Penetration on AP is 248mm, APCR is 297mm, and HE is 60mm.
–Estimated aim time is 5.5/5.9s
-Dispersion is 0.317/0.285
–Gun handling is 0.25/0.25/0.16, or 0.21/0.21/0.14 with Vertical Stabilizer.
-Gun depression is -10 degrees

Overall this is a very good gun for tier 8. It has incredible penetration, and you will find many tanks surprisingly easy to penetrate. The accuracy is also incredible, and you can definitely feel this in battle, as the tank doesn’t have to aim much even at mid range. The gun depression is what really makes this tank work incredibly well, and what enables it to use its turret effectively.

Other than these factors, the DPM is just average, gun handling isn’t great, and aim time is just average. 

Mobility

-Top speed is 35km/h forwards, and -12km/h in reverse
-Traverse speed is 34.6 deg/s on hard terrain, and 28.5 deg/s on medium terrain.
-In game acceleration rate is shown as 15.8 hp/t, it has a strong 1030 horsepower engine for its 65 ton weight.
-Actual acceleration rate is 11.4 hp/t on hard terrain, and 9.4 hp/t on medium terrain.
–Terrain resistances are very poor, with 1.4/1.7/2.4

Overall the T34 is a rather sluggish tank, however its mobility isn’t bad for such a large and heavy tank.
Though its effective stats may look terrible, its raw engine power saves it from being an ultra slow tank. The tank definitely doesn’t feel slow, and its mobile enough in battle.

Equipment, provisions, & consumables

The T34 does not have any special provisions or consumables.

Gun Rammer
The T34 does not need calibrated shells at all. Do not use calibrated shells, its completely useless on the T34, and you are putting yourself at a huge disadvantage by doing it. 

Since the T34 already has TD levels of penetration, its far better to improve its DPM. Use a gun rammer, it will give the T34 an 11.8s reload, with 2036 DPM for its 400 alpha damage.

Improved Assembly:
Due to an extremely weak hull, and extremely strong turret, enhanced armour generally doesn’t benefit the T34 as much as improved assembly.
While it would help the turret in hulldown, it would only make a notable difference against 5-10 tanks in tiers 8 and 9; and that’s only when hulldown, its useless when the hull is showing.

Due to enhanced armour not being useful in every situation, its better to use improved assembly, which will help the tank even when the hull is exposed. This will give the tank an extra 105 HP, taking it from 1750 HP up to 1855 HP.

Vertical Stabilizer:
As the T34 has very good accuracy of 0.317, and is not a sniper tank; refined gun does not help it in battle.

Its far more useful to use vertical stabilizer, which will enable the tank to be more accurate while its moving, and after it stops moving. This is useful on all tanks which play an active role in battle, and especially for frontline heavies like the T34.

Gameplay advice

The T34 is a frontline heavy tank.

This tank should be taken to the heavy tank side of the map, driven to a hulldown or gun depression position, and just use its great gun and turret armour to grind down the enemies’ HP.

Hide the hull:
Do this by either going hulldown or using your great gun depression.

The hull is large and very weak, if exposed at all, all enemy tanks will be able to easily penetrate your tank. When the hull is hidden, the T34 is practically invincible against most same and lower tier enemies, as its turret armour is so strong.

Use gun depression & go hulldown:
When doing this, make sure to not sit still. Your cupola is small, but enemies definitely can still hit it if you allow them to aim.

When using full gun depression, the cupola is completely hidden, however the small area above your gun mantlet can still be penetrated by same and higher tier enemies. To stop enemies from hitting this, keep making small movements so its harder for them to aim.

Aim properly:
While the accuracy is great, the tank still has poor gun handling and long aim time.

This means what when the target is smaller than your aim circle, you do just have to stop and let the gun aim, don’t risk snapping the shot in unless the situation is desparate.

Due to the tank already having very good 0.317 accuracy, and very high penetration, generally you don’t have to aim long at all. Its good to aim properly as the reload of the tank is still fairly long, and 400 alpha still hits pretty hard in tier 8.

Overall

Armour – 6.5/10
Gun – 7/10
Mobility – 4.5/10
Speed – 5/10

T34 is overall a good tank. 

Armour is very strong on the turret, but very weak on the hull. HE protection is good.
Gun has poor aim time and gun handling, but amazing penetration and accuracy. DPM is decent and gun depression is good.
Mobility is decent, acceleration rates are ok, but not great. Traverse speeds are decent, and reverse speed is slow.
Speed is average, 35km/h

Is it worth getting?

The T34 is worth getting for players who really like gun depression heavy tanks, or tanks with just reliable guns. Its just a tank that is perfect in its situation, where it can sit hulldown and just shoot enemies.

Avoid this tank if you like mobile heavy tanks or heavy tanks with great hull amour, as this is neither of those.

The T34 is worth 7,000 gold. Its a great tank for credit grinding due to its very high penetration, and its also a reliable vehicle in battle. Often it can be bought for much less than this in a special bundle costing 5,500 gold.

Most recently sold for:

5,500 gold (Full bundle) – May 2023
7,500 gold in bundle with KV-5 & T26E4 – August 2023

Camo cost:

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