4Game

So I noticed something tonight on the common test server, it appears that I can mount a Commander's Vision System to my Leopard 1, and being a try-hard I asked myself: Would it be better to mount a CVS or Optics?

Well an hour later, I did the math and its looking like the CVS is going to be the go-to for medium tank drivers trying to maximize their effective spotting distance while also mounting a rammer/vstab. This information won't make sense if you don't already have an understanding of the game's spotting mechanics. Checkout WOTNA's video series on concealment here to get up to speed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0CKEJhIptI

I've got a spreadsheet here to show my work: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1g8_D5REK1P7q_P5r5gLeVrn1XpbUyVmBxqZ52ZWypng/edit?usp=sharing

To start with, I'm using the Leo's base viewrange of 410, with a 0 skill crew. No food, no vents, no crew just the 410m you start with. You can copy the spreadsheet and change the value for spotting range in A4 to match what your tank's pre-optics configuration is.

The values charted out assume the base bonus from the CVS, where you get a flat -10% reduction in enemy Camo rating for moving vehicles. Its effectiveness for static enemies sitting behind bushes is even higher than coated optics, since the flat bonus grows from 10% to 15%. However, you're also trying to spot a tank with much higher camo rating since its sitting still so its neither here nor there.

Assuming that the CVS functions like a flat decrease to enemy camo percentage, I've found that for the Leopard 1 (base VR of 410, no skills/equipment) the CVS will become more effective than coated optics at spotting enemies with over 9.95% camo rating, with a corresponding effective spotting distance of 410m at that camo rating.

The graphs in the google sheet I linked confirm my intuition that a flat reduction in camo (CVS) will be much more effective than a simple boost to base viewrange (coated optics). Interestingly enough, at > 65% camo the CVS is actually better than binos at spotting enemy tanks.

These prior calculations are also assuming that the tank is out in the open, only using the -10% bonus that the CVS provides. The CVS is even more effective when you are against a tank behind foliage. Granted, the foliage will produce a higher camo rating for you to attempt to spot. For example, in the case of the 410 VR leopard, you could spot a double-bush'd (+100% camo) enemy FV4005 when firing at 100m (w/ CVS) rather than the 50m (w/ Optics) proxy-spotting distance. Will equipment 2.0 be the dawn of triple-bushing?

As this piece of equipment is new, we don't quite have all the information we need. For example does the camo decrease apply if the enemy is only inside the bush? Or also if behind the bush? As a result, this data will need to be verified, because the CVS could function differently under the hood.

TLDR: At face value though, it seems more powerful than coated optics in 90% of situations, and better than binos in a few situations at spotting pesky high-camo TDs without a 3-second activation delay.

What do you guys think about this? Have I missed something, or are we all gonna sell off our coated optics for CVS?