XM551 Sheridan

The XM551 Sheridan is the top tier USA light tank. This tank is well known for its all-round spaced armour protection, a 152mm gun with high alpha, and great mobility.

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Armour

(The Sheridan in the images is using Improved Assembly)

Drag slider right –> to view 250mm AP
Drag slider <– left to view 60mm HE

When flat and facing head-on:
Upper plate 33-60mm (covered by spaced armour)
Lower plate 67mm
Turret 50-170mm (overmatchable to all guns larger than 120mm)

Note the the Sheridan’s whole hull is covered in spaced armour. Its upper plate, upper side armour, and upper rear armour are all protected by a 6mm box. The red highlighting on the hull is that 6mm spaced armour box. This red indicates that there is no base armour behind it (sometimes its not very accurate, just try shooting as central as possible when aiming at a Sheridan).

To penetrate a Sheridan with HE, you have to hit the lower plate (60mm penetration), side armour behind the tracks (35mm penetration), turret side (60-70mm penetration), hull rear & turret rear (25mm penetration), or the commander’s cupola which is mostly 50-60mm thick.

VS tier all 9-10 tanks:
As stated above, the tank is covered in spaced protection, so its very hard to HE without a very well-aimed shot.

However, against AP, the Sheridan has no armour at all. The only cases where you may bounce a shell are if the enemies accidentally hit an auto-ricochet angle on the edge of the turret front, or if enemies shoot an area of spaced armour with no actual armour behind it.

HEAT will also easily penetrate the tank, as the spaced armour of the Sheridan is so thin, and is so close to the base armour. Basically all shells other than HE will easily penetrate the Sheridan.

Gun

The Sheridan mounts a 152mm gun

-Alpha damage is 570 on APCR, 495 on HEAT, and 690 on HE
-It has an 12.9s reload, giving it 2651 DPM
-Penetration on APCR is 235mm, HEAT is 310mm, and HE is 90mm.
–Estimated aim time is 4.1/4.3s
–Base aim time is 2.5s, but it can get down to 1.92s.
-Dispersion is 0.380/0.323
–Gun handling is 0.12/0.12/0.14, or 0.1/0.1/0.12 with Vertical Stabilizer.
-Gun depression is -10 degrees

Overall this gun is quite incredible, it has great alpha damage, along with great ammunition in terms of both penetration and choice. The tank’s reload is fairly quick (relative to its alpha and tank class), aim time is decent enough, and gun handling is very good.

The only aspect that’s not great is its accuracy, 0.38 is among the least accurate tanks in the tier, however this is compensated for by other aspects (premium penetration, gun handling, aim time), and the fact that the Sheridan generally is at mid and close ranges. When at long range, often you get the time to fully aim in your shot, so the poor accuracy isn’t as much of an issue as it may seem.

Mobility

-Top speed is 67km/h forwards, and -22km/h in reverse
-Traverse speed is 72.8 deg/s on hard terrain, and 65.5 deg/s on medium terrain.
-In game acceleration rate is shown as 30.4 hp/t, it has a very strong 519 horsepower engine for its 17 ton weight.
-Actual acceleration rate is 33.8 hp/t on hard terrain, and 30.4 hp/t on medium terrain.
–Terrain resistances are 0.9/1/1.1

In terms of both its top speed, and its effective acceleration rates, the Sheridan is perfectly average. out of the five tier 10 light tanks, 2 of them have better acceleration, 2 of them have worse; 2 of them have better top speed, 2 of them have worse; so the Sheridan is perfectly in the middle in terms of mobility.

Overall this is a very quick tank, and its able to easily reach its 67km top speed and maintain it.

Equipment, provisions, & consumables

Calibrated Shells:
Just like the T49 and many other high-alpha tanks, the Sheridan’s damage output is not focused around its reload time or DPM, but rather its single-shot damage.

With the Sheridan’s gameplay, its not important to reload quickly, or to out-DPM enemy tanks. Sheridan’s gameplay has emphasis on making each of its high alpha shots count. For this reason, calibrated shells is more beneficial to the Sheridan than gun rammer.
Sheridan also already has very good DPM considering its alpha damage, so it can afford to lose some. It also has great ammunition, which benefits greatly from calibrated shells.

Using calibrated shells, the Sheridan’s reload increases from 12.9s up to 13.6s, and DPM goes from 2651 to 2518. However, it increases penetration on APCR from 235mm to 247mm, HEAT from 310mm to 350mm, and HE from 90mm to 97mm.

Improved Optics:
The Sheridan is not a sneaky tank, it has the worst camo rating of all tier 10 lights, however it should not use camo net to try and compensate this.

Use improved optics to boost the tank’s view range and maximise its spotting ability. With optics, the Sheridan has 310.6m view range.

Improved Assembly:
As the Sheridan has no armour at all, enhanced armour doesn’t help the tank.

Its far better to take improved assembly, which will improve the Sheridan’s base HP from 1700 to 1768 HP.

Refined Gun:
Similar to the choice of calibrated shells, the main impact of the Sheridan is to deliver its huge alpha damage effectively. Due to having good gun handling (relative to its alpha damage), vertical stabilizer often is less useful than refined gun on this tank. Refined gun will let you be more accurate in general, which will help you to deliver your damage more effectively.

Though the gun aims slower compared to vertical stabilizer, the Sheridan’s high alpha means it shouldn’t rush shots and it should take that extra time to aim and be more accurate, just to ensure you don’t miss. The impact of the Sheridan is its damage, not how quickly it can deal it.

Gameplay advice

The Sheridan plays the role of a regular light tank, just with a big gun.

You can rush early positions, scout enemy tanks, be an active flanking/support tank, and isolate lone enemy tanks.
Be aware of the differences in the Sheridan though, its not quite as sneaky as the other lights, and while its DPM is good relative to its alpha, its still not high in the scope of all tier 10 tanks.

Trade in alpha:
Use your alpha to get damage out. The Sheridan is a tank in which its damage output is not based in its DPM or its ability to quickly deal damage, but rather the impact of a single shot. When playing the tank, keep this in mind.

Try to avoid all situations where you have to brawl with an enemy, as generally you won’t win (given that you are evenly matched in skill). The Sheridan’s DPM isn’t high, its reload is fairly long, and most of the time its 247mm APCR isn’t enough to deal with the fronts of many enemy tanks (even some mediums)

Use peek-a-boom tactics, shoot your enemy once, go into cover, reset camo (takes 10s), then come out and put another shell into the enemy. This is how you should always play the tank, as its raw DPM isn’t enough to get into brawls with enemies, and its low HP just means it will get destroyed faster.

Use bushes to scout:
To compensate for the terrible camo rating of the Sheridan, use bushes to hide the tank as you scout enemies. This often ensures that you don’t get spotted, while spotting enemy tanks easily with the high view range of your tank.

Flank enemies:
Use the “ambush” nature of the Sheridan in your gameplay. Flank around enemies and use the huge alpha damage to surprise enemy tanks and cause distractions in enemy lines. The Sheridan is especially effective when it can shoot the sides and rears of distracted enemy heavy tanks. The great mobility and good gun handling allow the Sheridan to very effectively move to where it needs on the map and deal damage, even from a distance.

No player likes getting hit from the rear for 500-600 damage by a pesky light tank, and usually it causes enemies to leave the frontline and turn their attention to you. If they don’t do this, then you can just keep farming the rears of the enemy tanks.

Ammunition use:
Sheridan not only has the highest alpha gun of any medium or light tank in the game, but it also has the highest penetration, not to mention, it gets proper derp gun HE shells with 90mm penetration. The Sheridan has some truly powerful ammunition at its disposal, and it needs to utilize its this to truly take advantage of its high alpha gun in battle.

-APCR is the primary shell, it doesn’t have great penetration, but it deals the most damage for its good level of penetration.
-HEAT is the alternative shell, it has incredible penetration (350mm with calibrated shells), and it can easily shred through most enemies you face against. Use it against everything which APCR couldn’t penetrate.
-HE is is very multi-purpose on this tank, it can be used to deal big splash damage to enemies when you don’t have time to aim, or when even the HEAT penetration isn’t enough. However this has proper HE damage and penetration, so it can also be used against the sides and rears of enemy tanks to deal a full 690 damage.

Overall

Armour – 2/10
Gun – 6.5/10
Mobility – 8/10
Speed – 9/10

The Sheridan is overall a great light tank.

Armour is weak to standard and premium ammo, but the tank has amazing HE protection.
Gun is lacks accuracy, standard penetration, and aim time, but has great premium and HE rounds, amazing gun handling, and good DPM for its high alpha.
Mobility is great, with both high acceleration and traverse speeds, and good reverse speed.
Speed is good, 65km/h.

On top of these factors, the tank has good view range (310.6), but poor camo rating.

Is it worth grinding?

The Sheridan is worth grinding for. Its both a very fun tank, and also a competitive one. It has great speed and mobility, an armour profile that’s very hard to use HE or HESH against, and a gun that is very effective for the style of gameplay that it has.

Its a very unique tier 10 light due to its high alpha damage and premium penetration (the only tier 10 MT/LT with more than 300mm premium penetration). The Sheridan tech tree is also an enjoyable grind, with all the tanks either being good or great tanks (except the T49).

Camo cost:

“Sidewinder” camo: 3D, costs 5,500 gold

Tech tree overview

To get to the Sheridan, you have to progress up 1 of 2 tech trees, starting from the low tier lights and mediums, then progressing into the tier 6-10 light tank tree.

-Tiers 1-3 are generic light tanks, these gradually increase in mobility and speed as you get to tier 3. They have average guns with decent alpha and quick reloads. Armour is light and weak.

-Tiers 4-5 are medium tanks, the M7 and M4 both have decent armour against same and lower tier tanks, both also have good 75mm guns, and decent medium tank mobility. The tier 5 M4 Sherman presents a painful and horrible stock grind, so its better to save some free XP for modules, or just play it in modes where you have special abilities.

-Tier 6 is the Chaffee, not a very fast or mobile light, but it has good DPM and small size. Here the tech tree goes back to having no armour. The stock grind is ok, the stock gun is decent but the tank is slow for a LT.

-Tier 7 is the M41 Walker Bulldog, the fastest tank in the line with the highest DPM. It sports a very fast firing 76mm gun with very high speed and manuverability, however its a very large tank and has no armour. The stock grind is also ok, but will take a while, as the M41 has 2 stock guns and a turret to grind.

Note that the best gun on this tank is the cyclic gun, NOT the autoloader.

-Tier 8 is the T49, this is where the tree takes on a derp gun. The T49 is a less mobile light tank and is also very large, it has 2 “top” guns, a 90mm and a 152mm. The stock grind is quite bearable, since if you researched the M41’s engine, the T49 uses the same one. The stock 90mm has the same penetration as the top gun, and still good DPM. Both “top” guns are optional, you can reach the T92E1 without upgrading anything on this tank.

-Tier 9 is the T92E1, it has a bit of armour, but not reliable. Its mobility isn’t much improved, but the tank is much smaller and much harder to penetrate with HE on the front. It also has an optional 152mm top gun, as its stock 105mm is actually quite competitive. The stock grind is very easy and comfortable, this tank has no turret upgrade, and the top gun is optional; the engine is needed to progress to the Sheridan.

The T92E1 is the only tank in this tech tree that doesn’t have -10 gun depression. It has -5 on the front and rear, with -8 on the sides.

-Tier 10 is the Sheridan, much more mobile than both the T49 and T92E1, and featuring the best protection against HE. It also take a huge step up in DPM on its 152mm gun, and has the best view range out of any tank in this tech tree.

Historical note:

The Sheridan in game is not the “Sheridan”. The tank in both the pc WoT and WoT Blitz is a prototype of the Sheridan, what we have in game is the XM551 Sheridan Pilot tank (pilot = prototype).

The final production Sheridan which saw service has a different hull and slightly different gun. The tracks and road wheels were also different in the production variant.

The Sheridan was tested with a 76mm, 90mm, 105mm, and 152mm gun after production started. All of these are present in game except the 76mm gun.
-The 90mm gun can be mounted on the T49 (which itself was a Sheridan test bed turret on an M41 hull)
-The 105mm gun can be mounted on the T92E1 (a fake tank made for Blitz, its a Sheridan test bed turret on a T92 hull, a false configuration)
-And of course the 152mm gun can be mounted on all 3 tanks, the T49, T92E1, and the XM551 Sheridan.

The Sheridan’s “Sidewinder” camouflage and the Sheridan Missile’s camouflage both have historical stowage (the 3D elements on the camo), these elements (Laser range finder, light, ammo boxes, etc) were mounted on the real Sheridan tanks that went into service.

The “Sidewinder” legendary camo has a small detail, showing that this is Sheridan Pilot No. 13.

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