Weak Spot Guide: KV-1

For almost any player just starting to play World of Tanks the KV-1 has that special place in everyone’s heart of the first “fearsome” tank encountered by most especially before the KV-1/2 split. At tier 5 it is one of the first true heavies encountered by most new players(heavily armored, slow, good gun) and many do not know how to damage one correctly. While it may seem hard to damage as you plink away at it’s armor it does have some weak spots that are very easy to exploit.

The index at the bottom of each picture describes a few abbreviations used and also the format in which the armor details are described in. Effective Armor (EA) refers to the overall effectiveness of the armor without normalization(HEAT and HE shells) while Armor Against AP Shells (AP) refers to the overall effectiveness of the armor with normalization(AP and APCR Shells).

The armor values are presented in three different scenarios for the angled view of the tank.15° frontal(75° side), 25° frontal(65° side), 35° frontal(55° side), and 45° frontal(45° side). A# refers to specific spots on the hull while T# refers to specific turret locations.

Frontal View

Frontally the KV-1 is actually easy to deal with if you remember a few small “rules”. The first one is the avoid shooting any heavily angled areas as you will bounce off a lot. Even the UFG#2 can bounce a lot of shells since it is near the 70 degree auto-bounce angle(although it is somewhat negated since it is low to the ground). Avoid shooting the beak at all costs as it will bounce shot after shot. Also, the turret does have various weak spots located around the gun and to the left/right of the mantlet which can be used at close range…just make sure to hit them fully aimed so you don’t hit the tough around around them. Lastly the “ears” and sights on the KV-1 colored in purple do not do any HP damage but only destroy modules or kill the crew.

Side View

A KV-1 from the side is extremely vulnerable due to the lack of angles on the side of the tank. The main strong points are the turret since it is thicker than the hull and also the areas where the tracks overlay the hull armor. Just fire away at the side hull armor and be careful of not hitting the purple track sections since there is no hull behind those areas. Aim towards the rear of the KV-1 to set it on fire fairly often(1-4 shots will do it).

Angled View

An angled KV-1 can prove to be a difficult opponent for many tanks the KV-1 normally faces. Use the side and frontal sections for turret armor information and for the hull all of the effective armor and armor values against AP are listed in the picture. The best locations to aim are the frontal weak spots unless the KV-1 angles a lot which opens up the upper side hull armor.

Rear Armor

The entire bottom rear portion of the KV-1′s hull is 70mm and the engine is located there making it a high fire possibility. The upper rear hull armor is only 60mm making it easier to damage but with a smaller chance of hitting the engine compartment. The rear section of the turret is the only strong spot on the rear at 110mm thick however the machine gun sticking out of the rear of the turret can be penetrated easily.

9 comments on “Weak Spot Guide: KV-1”

ployd22 says:

January 17, 2013 at 10:46 am

Very useful guide, for someone who is relatively new to WOT this is extremely helpful. Thank you very much

WoT Guru says:

January 18, 2013 at 8:12 pm

Glad you liked it. I am actually looking to “update” this to my new version of an armor guide since this is a bit less informative than my others.

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Belett0 says:

January 22, 2013 at 1:23 pm

Thank you so much for this !
It s so hard to knock out this kv1 with my valentine
My next shells will go straight to that gun port !

WoT Guru says:

January 22, 2013 at 10:49 pm

No problem. Typically on any tank you see the machine gun ports and small driver “slits” are a bit weaker than the surrounding armor. The gun ports are the best to aim for since shooting at the driver ports has a chance of killing the driver but doing no HP damage(which isn’t all that bad but won’t destroy the tank).

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taco says:

January 29, 2013 at 12:56 pm

I wouldn’t recommend taking on a KV-1 with a Valentine or any tier 4 tanks. If that KV-1 is focused on you and angles the tank at 35-45 degree it will be immune to any gun found on tier 4 tanks even tank destroyers. Try to flank it or shoot at it when it’s distracted or it will finish you with 2 shots.

Only tier 5 tanks and above can engage a kv-1 and only with guns that have +110mm penetration. Shooting at it with 80-90mm pen guns will bounce most of the time even on the green areas

Grey d'Miyu says:

February 15, 2013 at 9:53 am

Odd, I like taking out KV-1s in my Hetzer. Of course I run it pretty much opposite of everyone else, 7.5 PaK w/AP rounds. 110 pen, punches through half the front of the KV-1, all of the sides and rear. Of course if you’re running a 10.5 HE Hetzer the KV-1′s going to be impervious to you.

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- John says:
  
  March 16, 2013 at 8:30 am
  
  Actually, I run the 10,5 and you can still do some significant damage, maybe even taking out a module or two. I also own a KV-1 and I know that even with the damaged modules the hetzer wont last long against the frontal armour. Even knowing which bits to shoot at you shouldn’t engage a KV-1 alone at anything less than tier V, and even then most of the time. An experienced driver can even take a T14 in single combat and roll away with more than half their HP.
  
  Reply