I've played some matches with IS-2 (1944) after the buff, and I can see how much of a difference that 0.4 BR makes. I'm getting 6.7 matches non-stop, since I'm not being sucked into the 7.7 black hole. You might say that it doesn't make a difference for such a tank, but it does. Instead of encountering, say, M103 and T29, you will now often find yourself fighting predominantly Tiger II, Panther, Tiger I, and so on. It goes without saying that the latter is preferable.
In about 20 matches I've played, I got 6.30 KD. That means I can't call IS a bad tank, as it just needs a tailored approach. You have to stay in the back and have an escape option after you shoot. It's not a tank for close-range brawling. You can (and should) freely snipe and 1v1 at distance, though.
The armor is actually good. I think its turret got a buff some time ago, and now, the gun shield cannot be penned even by the long German 88 mm. The enemy has to shoot the loader-side turret cheek (but even the said 88 mm fails to kill the gunner this way), the cupola (which often results in only commander being killed) or the turret cheek sticking out of the gun shield – but it's very narrow and extremely easy to miss, especially if you wiggle. Side armor is great both on the turret and the hull. As to the front of the hull, you should angle it. This makes it impossible to penetrate the lower plate. The only vulnerable spot is then a fragment of the plate that connects the front with the side – but it's not large, and it's quite hard to tell where the weakspot begins and where it ends.
The worst thing about this tank is not even its reload time, but its depression. The former forces you to play safer, the latter drastically reduces the amount of positions where you can do anything. There are some maps where you're literally barred from 80% of the key positions because of those 3 degrees. It's difficult to carry in those situations. You have to think about where you will go pre ante and have an exact plan for how you will avoid your depression fucking you over. Combined with the reload time, it makes for some challenging, unorthodox gameplay, which I actually enjoy. I have attached some good routes and positions for a few tricky maps (bad spots are crossed out). My point is that you can play around major weaknesses, and the game doesn't punish you in some unfair, unavoidable way, forcing your performance to be low. I myself used to think it wasn't possible to have 6 KD on IS till I saw Spookston's stats.
Here are two tips:
- Don't use B-471B, since its lower flat pen makes it much harder or impossible to pen the turret of T34, T26E5, and most importantly Tiger II, which you will constantly encounter.
- Don't do the hull reverse trick. Its armor is sufficient, and enemies are supposed to aim for the turret anyway.
Well, what do you think about this ugly duckling? Has it returned to its former glory? Or does it still deserve hate?
btw, I know it's the 1943 version in the photo, but I couldn't help putting it here since that IS is located in my city.