I don't know if you guys are just parroting advice from 5 years ago, or just looking at the stat sheet, but the tank plays horribly for me.
It's penetration is nowhere near as advertised. The APCR lack of normalization ensured that it autobounces on anything even remotely angled.
Its hulldown capabilities are mediocre at best, and you're guaranteed to get pounded by arty. Tier 9 battles and above, hulldown is basically useless.
Its mobility fucking sucks. Can't stick with the mediums at all.
Its mediocre DPM does not justify the low alpha.
It can't trade for shit, and you need to be in a situation where you can actually utilize the RoF. Those situations are pretty rare.
It's dispersion is so bad that it effectively feels like the DPM is halved. It can't hit weakspots for shit.
Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/WorldofTanks/comments/o0tagm/has_anyone_who_keeps_recommending_the_patriot/
