Top of the Tree: Type 5 Heavy

Commanders,

May is here, which means it's time for another round of the Top of the Tree special. In the spotlight this time is the gargantuan Type 5 Heavy, a mountain of a tank that can easily compete with the Maus in the field of size, weight, and armour.

50% discount on purchasing the following Japanese vehicles:

• II Type 89 I-Go/Chi-Ro
• III Type 91 Heavy
• IV Type 95 Heavy
• V O-I Experimental

30% discount on purchasing the following Japanese vehicles:

• VI O-I
• VII O-Ni
• VIII O-Ho
• IX Type 4 Heavy
• X Type 5 Heavy  

+50% Crew XP bonus on all vehicles discounted in the special

Vehicle Overview

Type 5 Heavy is a tank that simply cannot be overlooked, mostly because it's as big as a barn. Having been conceived as a mobile naval fortress to defend the shores of Japan, this experimental project is huge, well-armed, and heavily armoured, albeit slow and cumbersome. 

The tank has two guns that can be mounted, each with their own pros and cons that will impact your gameplay:

• 14 cm/50 3rd Year Type: Neither accurate nor fast-firing, but damage-per-shot is stable and penetration is sufficient for effective brawling and weakspot targeting from close-to-mid ranges. Loads two types of AP shells and one HE.
• 15 cm/45 41st Year Type: Essentially a high-tier howitzer capable of dealing devastating damage per shot under perfect conditions. Unfortunately, penetration and rate-of-fire are abysmal. Loads two types of HE shells.

If you go for the first gun and stick to focusing close targets, your damage output will be more consistent. You may experience a lot of bounces because of the accuracy, so in order to use it effectively, you need to close the distance between you and your target and then focus their weakspots. Sniping is next to impossible.

Installing the 15 cm gun will force you to use HE shells exclusively: on the one hand, your average damage per shot may be very inconsistent, but on the other, this setup will make you a mortal threat to any vehicle with light armour e.g. light tanks, German open-turret TDs and all French vehicles. The howitzer will also deal damage to heavily armoured tanks, such as IS-7 or E 100, regardless of where the shell lands - although the damage output may not be that high, the potential for damaging modules can give you a tactical advantage over the enemy. 

The role of this colossus is easy to figure out: you are the team's shield and damage soaker. You either lead the charge and draw the enemy fire on yourself, or block a strategically important position like a choke point and use your armour to keep the enemy from advancing. Remember that you are very slow, so pick the spot you will be most useful in battle very carefully - you will most likely not have the chance to readjust your position later on.

In order to maximise your performance on the battlefield, we suggest installing the following equipment:

In addition, your crew members should learn the following skills and perks:

Commander
gunner
Driver
Radio operator
first loader
Second loader

As always, please consider the setup for both the equipment and crew skills as suggestions. Feel free to experiment on your own and choose what you think works best for you.

This special will be available from 1 May at 07:00 until 1 June at 07:00 CEST (UTC +2).