Best and Worst Efficiency Combos, Turrets in need of Buffs
There are several turrets I believe need to be "buffed." In addition, there are many turrets that get what I believe is an unwarranted "bad rap" on the discussion boards.
It is August 9, 2017. I have just finished scouring through the week's top 100 most efficient players (all Legends). I did this to get an idea what the very most efficient tank combinations were (or weren't). The most efficient should rise to the very top.
Following is the data for the most frequent turrets, hulls and protections amongst the top 100 most efficient players this week, followed by a short discussion. These are all M3 combos, I assume fully (or nearly fully) maxed out.
Most Common Turret and Hull of top 100 players:
#1: Smoky. 24. (9 Viking, 6 Titan, 5 Mammoth, 2 Dictator, 1 Hornet, 1 Hunter)
#2: Railgun. 21. (6 Hornet, 6 Viking, 4 Wasp, 3 Titan, 1 Dictator, 1 Mammoth)
#3: Twins. 10. (6 Mammoth, 3 Titan, 1 Viking)
#4: Thunder. 7. (3 Viking, 1 Hunter, 1 Dictator, 1 Titan, 1 Mammoth)
#5-7: Hammer 6. (3 Viking, 2 Titan, 1 Dictator)
Vulcan 6. (2 Dictator, 1 Hornet, 1 Viking, 1 Titan, 1 Mammoth)
Firebird 6. (3 Wasp, 1 Viking, 1 Dictator, 1 Mammoth)
#8-10: Isida 5. (4 Viking, 1 Mammoth)
Ricochet 5. (2 Viking, 2 Mammoth, 1 Titan)
Shaft 5. (3 Viking, 2 Mammoth)
#11: Freeze 4. (3 Viking, 1 Dictator)
#12: Striker 1. (1 Viking)
#13: Magnum 0.
Most Common Protection of 100 most efficient players:
#1: Thunder: 64%
#2: Railgun: 59%
#3: Firebird: 43%
#4: Shaft: 36%
#5-6: Ricochet and Twins: Both 33%
#7: Freeze: 27%
#8: Isida 22%
#9: Hammer: 20%
#10: Smoky: 16%
#11: Vulcan: 10%
#12-13: Striker and Magnum : BOTH 0.0%!!!
So what does all of this mean? As we don't know the relative frequency that these turrets, hulls and protections are owned and used by all Legends and all other players, or these Legends this particular week, it is hard to make definitive conclusions. Also, it is not exactly clear to all of us how the efficiency numbers are arrived at. Despite this, to me the above data suggests Magnum and Striker both need to be Buffed up (perhaps counter-intuitive, yet objectively supported above). Despite the vast paucity of protection against these two turrets, they still are not showing up on the leader board (Striker only once, Magnum not at all). Isida is frequently accused of being OP. The data above would suggest otherwise. Railgun is probably the strongest turret. Even though it came in slightly below Smoky for frequency of being most common turret with the most efficient players, far more players have protection against Railgun than Smoky.
There are many other potential conclusions, etc. that can be made from this as well. For example, Mammoth/Twins appears to be the strongest Twins combo, Viking/Isida also appears to be the strongest Isida combo.
It is common to use our subjective and anecdotal experiences to shape opinions. However, regardless of what individual stats of each turret, etc. may show, the end result isn't always what one might think would intuitively be the case. It is perhaps more frightening to be killed up close by an Isida, Freeze or Firebird, or instantly or near instantly by Striker, Shaft or Magnum. Perhaps that is why these Turrets in particular appear to be less prominent on the leaderboards above. Perhaps they have been excessively nerfed. Particulary Magnum and Striker (both very difficult to use and prone to being killed by other players).
I think this is important to consider. In my mind, always important to use objective data rather than subjective data before making rebalancing decisions, etc.