IS-3A: A Change is Coming

The WoT Promo video for the reworked Tank.

Previously, it’s been widely regarded as “just an IS-3” clone. The ‘A’ in IS-3A stood for ‘autoloader’. However, instead of an autoloader like the French vehicles possess, the IS-3A only had an autoloading mechanism in the sense that it doesn’t need a Loader.

What’s the deal with this tank?

With the update it can be considered as a completely new vehicle, so let’s see what has changed:

• An autoreloading clip has been added to the gun. Three shells are included in the clip.
  • Reminder: An ‘autoloader’ reloads the entire clip at once, and an ‘autoreloader’ reloads each shell in the clip one by one.
• The more shells in the clip, the longer the reload time for the next round. This is the complete opposite to the Italian vehicles, so it means the IS-3A has an ‘inverse autoreloader’.
• The aiming time was improved.

Damage & Precision

As the Premium version has been in the shadow of the regular IS-3 in the past, let’s compare these two once again.

With the implementation of the autoreloader, it now has an immense burst potential (1,170 HP) almost on par with the French autoloaders. It also saw improvements to its aiming time. In general, the IS-3 still feels more reliable thanks to its higher accuracy. Note that, unlike the Italian autoreloaders, the new IS-3A cannot mount a Tank Gun Rammer to lower its reloading time.

The stats displayed in the tables below correspond to a 100% trained crew.

The reload time of shells inside the clip is 3 seconds.

Mobility & Survivability

Looking at the big picture, the IS-3 easily outclasses the IS-3A in terms of mobility. The top speed may be about the same, but the defining factor is the power-to-weight ratio that is much to the favour of the standard tank. It’s also more agile than the Premium version. In terms of survivability, the IS-3A is similar to the standard tank, with 50 HP extra.

Do I need to play the IS-3A differently now?

Overall, the role of the vehicle didn’t change that much. It’s still a vehicle meant for brawling, but it is now much more capable in doing so. Keep the following in mind, when it comes to the inverse autoreloader:

• On the one hand, you can easily cripple and finish off an enemy vehicle thanks to its burst potential, paired with good reload speed for its first shell.
• On the other hand, if the enemy forces you to trade shots, either your reload time will be abysmally long all the time, or they’ll make you waste your burst potential.