I don't know if I ever mentioned it in the forum but I am a big fan of cosmetic items (i.e in-game items that do not grant any competitive advantage) in Tanki as well as other games. Since December of 2020, Tanki started releasing a new series of skins called "HD", which are meant to eventually replace all the default m3 (mk7) skins. When asked why, the developers mentioned that the current default skins are outdated and need to be modernized so the new generation will find them modern and appealing to the eye.
Since those skins are meant to be attractive to new players, I thought it would be a good idea to share my opinion about them as an old player. Keep in mind that it's just my opinion and it's totally fine if you disagree with it.
S Tier:
Hornet HD: The skin looks almost exactly the same like the older version but with much more details.
Firebird HD: At first, I placed Firebird HD in the A tier but after thinking about it, I realized this skin looks awesome.
A Tier:
Viking HD: Overall a very nice skin, however some of the metal parts at the front of the tank look weird.
Freeze HD: The design itself is pretty cool but there are barely any metal parts visible. I don't know if it's just me but it gives off m0 vibes.
B Tier:
Hunter HD: My main two problems with Hunter HD are that a) like Viking, some of the metal parts look weird. b) When using Hunter HD, I feel as if the size of the skin is not the same as the other skins (XT, PR, UT). Overall they have done a better job with Hunter UT.
Railgun HD: Probably my biggest disappointment in this list. As someone who played with Railgun for more than 4,000 hours, I have to say that no skin can beat the older Railgun skin. The HD version looks alright but it doesn't stand a chance against the old version.
C Tier:
Twins HD: Usually when a new HD skin is released, I use a combination of 2 HD skins. Once Twins HD was released, I joined a map using Twins HD + Hunter HD. The first thing that I noticed is that the Twins HD skin appeared to be much darker than the Hunter HD skin. I was asking a friend to see what he thinks and he agreed with me so I assume it's not just me. It really made me dislike the skin, despite the decent design.
D Tier:
Wasp HD: Wasp was my favorite hull because it was the hull I was playing with in eSports, so I had huge expectations when I heard the HD version is going to out soon. However, similar to the situation with Hunter XT, the size of the HD skin is not the same as the old Wasp or Wasp XT. On top of that, the metal parts appear to be extremely dark for some reason, unlike the other HD skins.
Smoky HD: Smoky is one of my favorite turrets in the game, and the older version of the skin was really cool. Unfortunately, the HD version looks nothing like it, it resambles the M2 version but worse.
Feel free to share your opinion below!