Which Japanese Tank Line is Right for You?

Choosing which tank line to play in World of Tanks can feel like an impossible challenge. Given that the game has over 50 complete tank lines that span from tier 1 to tier 10 you have a wide array of tanks at your disposal. This World of Tanks which Japanese tank line is right for you guide will help guide you through the Japanese tech tree.

Each tank in the Japanese tank line is broken down into a quick synopsis of the general characteristics of each tank. Also, how well the tank line as a whole performs and ease of grinding is covered.

If you find yourself wanting to see a specific tank played, please hop over and catch me live on my Twitch channel. I take tank requests every stream and I own most tanks(595+) in the game. Even if I don’t own a particular tank I will gladly field any questions you have about one or a specific tank line.

For other nations pop over to the complete which tank line is right for you guide below.

https://wotguru.com/which-tank-line-is-right-for-you/

World of Tanks Which Japanese Tank Line is Right for You?

Click Here For A Large Japanese Tech Tree Image

World of Tanks Japanese Tanks | Low Tier Tank Line | (Renault Otsu (Tier 1) -> Chi-Nu (Tier 5)

Renault Otsu (Tier 1)

Starting all Japanese tank lines is the Renault Otsu. The Renault is not very quick nor does it have a great gun due to it’s very poor accuracy.  What it does have is excellent armor and a gun that packs great damage per shot for it’s tier.

Ha-Go (Tier 2)

At tier 2 is the Ha-Go light tank. The Ha-Go packs a large amount of firepower alpha wise for its tier but sacrifices mobility compared to its peers.  The 37mm guns and the 5.7cm hit hard but are not the easiest to use since the accuracy is not a selling point.  Its a fun tank to play due to the massive gun on a tier 2 light tank but it can be difficult to play at times.

Chi-Ha (Tier 3)

The Type 97 Chi-Ha at tier 3 transitions over to a medium tank from the previous two lights. The Chi-Ha is not that mobile for a medium tank but does gain a considerable amount of firepower in return.  It’s 37mm guns are a good stop gap while you unlock the top 47mm.  The top 47mm is a great gun at tier 3 and absolutely shreds anything you will come across aside from tough tier 5 tanks.

Chi-He (Tier 4)

The tier 4 Type 1 Chi-He resembles a buffed up tier 3 Chi-Ha.  The Chi-He starts out slow since it is a tad more sluggish than the previous Chi-Ha since it is heavier without any engines buffs to compensate for it.

It does however upgraded very well since it has a very good 57mm upgraded gun that allows you to sit back safely and dish out damage reliably.  The Chi-He does have decent armor with 50mm on the hull and turrets that allows you to shrug off some shots from lower tier tanks.

Type 3 Chi-Nu (Tier 5)

At tier 5 is the Type 3 Chi-Nu which is a good all around medium tank and leads to both the Japanese medium and heavy tank lines.

It does have a lot of modules to unlock and starts out slow until fully upgraded.  It transforms from a boring medium that doesn’t excel at anything.  To a very good medium tank that is above average at almost everything when elite.  For a tier 5 medium tank that is.  Tier 5 mediums in general suffer from being bottom tier due to the power gap between tier 5 and 6/7.

The top 7.5cm gun has great damage per shot, good rate of fire, and soft stats for a tier 5 medium.  Combined with the great gun you are mobile and have good gun depression.  The main downside is that you are not very sturdy due to your armor.  The “tall” size leads to you taking damage easily. Play safe and leverage the firepower the Chi-Nu has.

From here you need to pick between the heavily armored, super heavy, big gunned heavy tank line. Or the flexible, mobile, and fast firing Japanese medium tank line.

World of Tanks Japanese Tanks | Medium Tanks | (Type 4 Chi-To (Tier 6) -> STB-1 (Tier 10)

Type 4 Chi-To (Tier 6)

The Type 4 Chi-To at tier 6 improves upon the Chi-Nu’s design.  The Chi-To does have a little more armor with 75mm that can give you some protection from weaker tanks.  The Chi-To has decent mobility and a fantastic top gun that is very easy to use.  The main downsides are the somewhat poor view range, “tall” boxy size like the Chi-Nu, and somewhat low durability against higher tiers.

Type 5 Chi-Ri (Tier 7)

Tier 7 the Type 5 Chi-Ri starts out as simply a Chi-To at a higher tier since you carry over the top gun.  The Chi-Ri is very large for a medium tank that is not that nimble, has “meh” armor, and resembles a heavy tank in appearance.  Start out by grinding the top turret+top gun and equip them(you can run enhanced torsion bars+rammer+vents with this set up).  You will want to have the 3 round auto-loading 7.5cm since without it you are simply a tier 7 Chi-To.  The upgraded suspension/engine allows you to to gain better acceleration  and also allows you to drop the torsion bars and add coated optics.  Even as a top tier you will want to avoid taking to many hits since your armor is very poor and your large size attracts unwanted guns pointing towards you.  The good part is that your 3 round burst spews out 390 average damage. It also has a very short reload between clips.

Chi-Ri Tank Guide: https://wotguru.com/tank-guide-type-5-chi-ri/

STA-1 (Tier 8)

The STA-1 starts the transition to a different play style compared to the previous medium tanks. The stock grind is difficult because without the upgraded guns & engine there isn’t much to this tank. Once fully upgraded you have a mobile platform with great penetration and gun depression.

The STA-1 shines at mid range on hilly terrain. Or if you aren’t able to get close then taking shots at longer ranges until its time to flank. The armor is the main flaw of the tank since you cannot bounce many shots even from lower tiers.

Use the -10 degrees of gun depression and your above average DPM/penetration to dish out the damage. Avoid being the center of attention since your durability won’t hold up compared to your peers.

Type 61 (Tier 9)

The Type 61 takes the STA-1 and ramps it up to tier 9 levels, especially when it comes to firepower. Much like the STA-1 your stock tank isn’t impressive since you don’t have the top 105mm gun and stronger engine. This is the main negative about the Type 61 since without free experience you are basically playing a tier 8.5.

With the top 105mm and engine you have excellent mobility and firepower to back it up. Armor and durability are still your main concerns since even hull down you cannot block many shots. Stick to mid to long range and actively support your team. Then turn on your mobility to help flank and advance when your team has the advantage. The main change coming from the STA-1 is that your top gun does more damage per shot for its tier.

Type 61 Tank Guide: https://wotguru.com/tank-guide-type-61/

STB-1 (Tier 10)

Following the Type 61 is the tier 10 STB-1 that sees a significant improvement across the board to much needed areas. It is also unique in that it has hydro-pneumatic suspension allowing it to automatically enter/exit siege mode. At low speeds this gives the STB-1 up to 14 degrees of gun depression!

The turret armor of the STB-1 is also significantly better and very strong for a tier 10 medium tank. It is well angled and while hull down is difficult to penetrate. Keep in mind that outside of ‘siege mode’ you have reduced gun depression(8 degrees across most of the tank).

Mobility is excellent and you find yourself capped at 50 km/h with great engine power. The gun is the main feature of the tank due to the insane damage per minute it has. It spits out 360 damage / 258mm penetration rounds with a base DPM value over 3,172!

The combo of decent damage per shot, top notch DPM, and great hull down potential leads to the STB-1 being a great tier 10 tank. The downsides of the tank are somewhat iffy accuracy at longer ranges and OTM accuracy if you aren’t super close to targets. It plays best at close to mid ranges while using its hull down capabilities to mow down targets with its DPM.

STB-1 Tank Guide: https://wotguru.com/tank-guide-stb-1/

World of Tanks Japanese Tanks | Heavy Tanks| O-I (Tier 6) -> Type 5 Heavy (Tier 10)

O-I (Tier 6)

The O-I has enough armor to bounce shots from most tanks you face. Even higher tiers need to aim carefully to avoid bounces.  For firepower you start out with a 10 cm that upgrades onto a 15 cm howitzer that has huge damage potential.  With 700 damage shells and 910 damage HE shells you can annihilate lightly armored tanks and still carefully damage more well protected foes if you pick your battles.  With the huge damage per shell you are hampered with poor accuracy and poor penetration.  As long as you go into the O-I knowing its a slow heavily armored HE chucking machine you’ll love it.  The O-I is great for facing off against mediums, weak tank destroyers, lower tiers, and heavy tanks that are distracted.

O-I Weak Spot Guide: https://wotguru.com/weak-spot-guide-o-i/

O-Ni (Tier 7)

The O-Ni at tier 7 sees a dramatic increase in size and looks larger than the tier 10 Maus.  The O-Ni has very good overall armor with 175mm/70mm/150mm on the hull and 200mm/150mm/150mm on the turret.  Side armor is a weakness of many Japanese heavies and the O-Ni is no exception even with most of it being covered in spaced armor.  Outside of the side armor however the O-Ni’s armor is well above average and it will be able to take a beating.  Mobility is very poor which is to be expected due to the extreme size of the O-Ni.

For those who do not like howitzers you can rejoice since the O-Ni has a choice between two 10 cm guns and a 15 cm howitzer.  The top 10 cm is well rounded and outside of the .42 accuracy will hold up against most foes it comes across.  One huge downside is the poor gun depression when pointing across the front hull.  This can lead to difficultly hitting enemies without exposing the weak side armor.  Your height is also high enough where most enemies can not be hit if they are next to your tank.

O-Ni Weak Spot Guide: https://wotguru.com/weak-spot-guide-o-ni/

O-Ho (Tier 8)

The O-Ho improves upon the previous O-Ni and keeps many things the same. The O-Ho sees a noticeable buff to both the hull and turret armor.  The side armor being increased from 70mm to 105mm while retaining  good spaced armor allows the O-Ho to take a few more risks since your side armor isn’t anemic.  The O-Ho is a truly massive tank like the O-Ni and the size coupled with the very poor mobility make the O-Ho take a large amount of incoming fire from SPGs.

No surprise the mobility is very poor like the O-Ni.  The O-Ho does see some improvements over the O-Ni when it comes to its firepower.  The top 10 cm has performs decently but many prefer using the 15cm howitzer gun.  The larger HE gun allows you to take shots while focusing on deflecting shots.  You can also use some AP/HEAT from it to cause massive damage on thin roof armor due to your height.  The O-Ho also suffers from poor gun depression across the front of the tank like the O-Ni.

Type 4 Heavy (Tier 9)

The Type 4 Heavy which sees another significant improvement in the armor department at the cost of even more mobility making you extremely slow.  Your armor is significantly increased and you lose the mini-turrets that ruin your gun depression.  The sides and rear do suffer from lack of protection but the frontal armor more than makes up for it.  Mobility wise the low 20 km/h top speed along with a poor power to weight ratio limits where you can get to on maps in a reasonable amount of times and forces you to think ahead 3+ minutes.

The Type 4 Heavy stays with the trend of increasing the size of the tank yet again and by now you should be used to being a large target.  Gun wise the Type 4 Heavy starts out with a 12.7 cm and upgrades into a 14 cm that gives it a higher alpha strike.  There is also an upgraded howitzer gun that has high potential damage at the expense of a slow reload and poor performance against heavy tanks.  Both the 14 cm and HE howitzer are viable guns and picking one determines how you play the Type 4 Heavy.

Type 4 Heavy Weak Spots: https://wotguru.com/weak-spot-guide-type-4-heavy/

Type 5 Heavy (Tier 10)

Finally at tier 10 the Type 5 Heavy improves upon the tier 9 Type 4 Heavy in several areas to provide you with a massive heavy tank to rival the German Maus.  The Type 5 sees a buff to both hull and turret armor coming from the Type 4.  Most tier 10s will struggle to penetrate the Type 5 Heavy’s front armor without careful aiming and/or premium rounds. The Type 5 Heavy is extremely lacking in the mobility department and is also the largest tier 10 currently in World of Tanks.  What it does have is extremely good armor, a 660 damage shell, very good health points, and great gun depression.

If you can live with having a large silhouette and being the slowest tank on your team(most of the time) then the Type 5 will provide a mobile fortress to crush your opponents with its sheer might.  As of 9.17.1 the Type 5 Heavy received a new howitzer gun like the Type 4.  If you prefer howitzer guns this gun is very easy to slowly rack up damage.  Unfortunately you struggle against heavily armored tanks that you will usually see.  For many using the standard gun and carrying a few HE shells for lightly armored tanks is the better option.

Type 5 Heavy Weak Spots: https://wotguru.com/weak-spot-guide-type-5-heavy/

Japanese Collection Tanks

Chi-Ni (Tier 2)

The Chi-Ni is a tier 2 medium tank.  Compared to the Ha-Go light tank in the tech tree the Chi-Ni receives a bit more HP, and a pinch of armor. It also loses some mobility and gains a slightly more reliable 5.7cm.  It mainly plays as a close quarters brawler that picks and chooses when to take pot shots.  It is hard to play with the poor mobility at this tier but the firepower is there when you do get into the fight.

I-Go/Chi-Ro (Tier 2)

The I-Go/Chi-Ro medium tank at tier 2.  The I-Go/Chi-Ro is very slow for a tier 2 tank and combined with this slow speed is very poor armor, making it very difficult to stay alive if you are caught out in a bad location.  To offset this the I-Go/Chi-Ro has two 5.7 cm guns that do great damage while having a good rate of fire for a tier 2 medium tank with a 5.7 gun.  On the downside the shells are very inaccurate, travel slow, and have poor penetration(although they can overmatch a lot at tier 2/3).

Ke-Ni (Tier 3)

The tier 3 Type 98 Ke-Ni is very mobile with the upgraded engine. With the upgraded 37mm allows you to not only scout/spot but also to dish out damage from a semi-safe range.  Compared to the Ha-Go in the tech tree the added mobility improves the tank greatly.

Type 91 (Tier 3)

The Type 91 is a tier 3 heavy tank with poor armor.  The speed of the Type 91 is also well below average for a tier 3.  On the positive side the Type 91’s stock howitzer gun is good for a stock gun. The upgraded 47mm also has a good combination of damage, penetration, and rate of fire.  Once upgraded the Type 91 can dish out damage reliably to anything it faces.  The downsides are that it takes a long time to travel any sort of distance and you can’t bounce any shots.

Ke-Ho (Tier 4)

The Type 5 Ke-Ho is a tier 4 Japanese light tank.  It is pretty mobile, has low HP/armor, and packs a very good gun for a light tank.  The 47mm and upgraded 57mm guns have very good damage and penetration..  You will have some difficulties against tier 5/6 opponents like most other tier 4 tanks due to your lack of HP.  The Ke-Ho is a fun tank to play if you can afford to carry a few premium rounds. They help to deal with pesky tier 5+ heavies.  The Ke-Ho is the highest tier Japanese light tank currently in the game.

Type 95 (Tier 4)

The Type 95 is a tier 4 heavy tank. The Type 95 has limited matchmaking and does not see any tanks above tier 5.  Like the Type 91 at tier 4, the Type 95’s armor is pitiful for a heavy tank and its speed is well below average.  Unlike the Type 91 the Type 95 does not get a very good top gun.  Arguably the tier 3 Type 91 has the better gun once upgraded.  Driving the Type 95 you are stuck with low velocity 7 cm/7.5 cm guns with low penetration and poor accuracy.  At tier 4 the grind is still short and moving onto tier 5 won’t take very long.

O-I Experimental (Tier 5)

The tier 5 O-I Experimental is a tier 5 heavy tank collection tank for Japan.  The O-I experimental is a massive 100 ton tank and at tier 5 dwarfs most other tanks around its tier.  Most tanks will receive a ton of ramming damage for simply touching it.  At tier 5 you will be able to take a beating while dealing with any threats you come across.  The O-I experiment has very low mobility, high armor, and deadly slow firing weapons.

O-I Experimental Weak Spot Guide: https://wotguru.com/weak-spot-guide-o-i-experimental/