World of Tanks Update 2.4: All Four New German Heavy Tanks

Update 2.4 brings four new German heavies spanning Tier VIII through Tier XI, and the stat sheets make their intended role unmistakable: this is a hull-down line, not a brawling one. Turret armour climbs steadily from 280mm to 360mm across the branch while hull armour stays thin and inconsistent, and gun depression improves at every single tier — from −8 on the Pz.Kpfw. 55 up to −11 on the Tier XI Pz.Kpfw. Neu. Speed, meanwhile, barely moves: three of the four run identical 40/13 km/h figures. These tanks are built to sit behind ridgelines and trade with their turrets exposed, and if that isn't how you play, the whole branch will feel wrong. Here's every stat and what it means.

Pz.Kpfw. 55 — Tier VIII

• Average Damage: 360/360/450
• Average Penetration: 230/280/53
• Reload: 9.8s
• DPM: 2,204
• Dispersion at 100m: 0.35
• Aiming Time: 2.3s
• Gun Depression/Elevation: −8/15
• Hit Points: 1,800
• Hull Armour: 135/80/50
• Turret Armour: 280/135/50
• Top/Reverse Speed: 40/13
• Specific Power: 15.5

The entry point, and the least specialised of the four. A 280mm turret at Tier VIII is respectable, but −8 gun depression is the weakest in the line and limits how effectively you can use it.

Versuchspanzer 57 — Tier IX

• Average Damage: 390/390/490
• Average Penetration: 255/300/53
• Reload: 9.3s
• DPM: 2,516
• Dispersion at 100m: 0.34
• Aiming Time: 2.2s
• Gun Depression/Elevation: −9/15
• Hit Points: 2,000
• Hull Armour: 105/80/50
• Turret Armour: 320/110/50
• Top/Reverse Speed: 40/13
• Specific Power: 16.8

Read the hull armour line twice. At 105mm, the Tier IX has thinner frontal hull armour than the Tier VIII below it — the only regression in the entire branch.

That makes Versuchspanzer 57 the tank to be careful with. Its 320mm turret is a real improvement, but any situation where your hull is exposed is worse than it was one tier earlier. If you grind this line, expect the Tier IX to be the frustrating stretch.

Kampfpanzer 67 — Tier X

• Average Damage: 420/420/520
• Average Penetration: 270/330/55
• Reload: 9.2s
• DPM: 2,739
• Dispersion at 100m: 0.33
• Aiming Time: 2.2s
• Gun Depression/Elevation: −10/18
• Hit Points: 2,200
• Hull Armour: 120/80/50
• Turret Armour: 340/120/60
• Top/Reverse Speed: 40/13
• Specific Power: 17

Hull armour recovers slightly to 120mm, the turret climbs to 340mm, and gun depression reaches −10 with 18 degrees of elevation. This is where the line's identity fully arrives — enough depression to use the turret properly, and enough turret to survive doing it.

Pz.Kpfw. Neu — Tier XI

• Average Damage: 450/450/550
• Average Penetration: 280/345/60
• Reload: 8.9s
• DPM: 3,034
• Dispersion at 100m: 0.33
• Aiming Time: 2.0s
• Gun Depression/Elevation: −11/20
• Hit Points: 2,600
• Hull Armour: 185/90/60
• Turret Armour: 360/140/70
• Top/Reverse Speed: 42/14
• Specific Power: 19

The capstone, and the only tank in the line that breaks the pattern in a good way.

Hull armour jumps to 185mm — a 65mm increase over the Tier X and the strongest in the branch by a wide margin. It's also the only one faster than 40 km/h, and the only one to break 3,000 DPM. The 2.0s aim time is the quickest in the line, and −11/20 gun handling is the best.

Visually it's a departure too: the Pz.Kpfw. Neu is styled as a modern main battle tank rather than a late-WWII prototype.

What the numbers tell you

Three patterns run through the whole branch, and together they define how it plays.

Turret armour is the progression axis. 280 → 320 → 340 → 360. Every tier makes your turret meaningfully harder to penetrate, which is the resource you're meant to be spending in every engagement.

Gun depression improves at every single tier. −8 → −9 → −10 → −11. Branches rarely scale depression this consistently, and doing so is a deliberate signal: the developers expect you to fight from ridgelines.

Mobility is not part of the progression. Tiers VIII, IX and X all run identical 40/13 km/h, with only the Tier XI reaching 42/14. Specific power creeps from 15.5 to 19, which improves acceleration, but top speed is essentially fixed. You will not outrun anything in this line.

And the hulls stay soft. 135, then 105, then 120, before the Tier XI's 185. For three of the four tiers, showing your hull is a mistake rather than a calculated risk.

Should you grind it?

Yes, if you play hull-down. Strong turrets with improving depression and a competitive DPM curve — the Tier XI's 3,034 DPM is substantial — reward a patient ridge-fighting style. Every stat on these tanks points the same direction.

No, if you prefer sidescraping or brawling. German heavies have historically included excellent corner-fighting tanks, and this is not one of those lines. The thin hulls punish exactly the positions a sidescraper wants to take.

Be realistic about the Tier IX. At 105mm hull, Versuchspanzer 57 is the weakest-armoured tank in a branch defined by armour. Plan for it rather than being surprised by it — and consider whether Free XP is better spent skipping past it than accelerating the earlier tiers.

Two caveats before you commit

These are preview figures. The stat cards are explicitly marked as showing characteristics with upgrades and without mechanics — meaning fully-researched values, and excluding whatever special mechanics these tanks carry. There is something not shown on those sheets, and it could change how any of them plays.

Preview stats change. Vehicles routinely get adjusted between announcement and live release, and a line built this tightly around turret armour is exactly the kind that gets tuned if it proves too strong or too passive.

Wait for the full mechanics reveal before spending Free XP. The numbers above tell you the role; they don't yet tell you the whole tank.

Build toward the line you actually want

Grinding a full branch from Tier VIII to XI is dozens of hours and millions of credits — and knowing whether the line suits your playstyle before you start is what saves that time. Browse verified World of Tanks accounts if you'd rather start from a developed garage, book World of Tanks hourly services to keep credit and XP grinding moving, or set specific targets with World of Tanks boosting.

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