Medium vehicle very effective against all vehicles. Fast movement speed, light armor.
The M18 Hellcat Tank Destroyer is a USF tank destroyer unit. In skirmishes, it is available from the
As the name implies, the M18 is specialized as an anti-tank unit. Its main cannon has the the highest penetration at all ranges compared to any other USF unit, making it reliable against even heavily armoured targets like the
This unit combines strong anti-tank firepower with good mobility. It features fast speed similar to the
Just like the aforementioned vehicles though, it features far lighter durability than the
As a downside to being specialized for anti-tank duties, it is not very effective against infantry by default. It can be upgraded with an additional MG at a Munitions cost however.
At veterancy level 1 it can choose between the active ability High-Explosive Charge or the passive ability First Strike, granting it either anti-infantry/garrison utility or a strong ambush bonus. More info can be seen below.
1800 XP
5400 XP
10800 XP
All USF units can choose between one of two veterancy abilities specific to them, upon reaching veterancy level 1.
High-Explosive Barrage: Active ability. Despite having the same name as other artillery barrages, this ability does not work the same way. When activated the M18 fires direct shots at the target area, similar to attack ground at a faster interval. These rounds deal greater area of effect damage but have reduced penetration, making it effective against infantry and garrisons but fairly ineffective against vehicles. Overall a fairly niche ability one can grant to the M18, allowing them to have a cheeky way of dealing with stationary enemy infantry. Like other barrage abilities it can be cancelled prematurely by issuing a new order like moving or attacking, placing it on cooldown.
First Strike: Passive ability. Once the unit is stationary and out of combat for several seconds (around 5-7 seconds), they will gain bonuses to their first shot from this position. An indicator will appear above the unit to signify if First Strike is ready. These bonuses includes +25% damage, +50% penetration, and +50% accuracy. As the name implies, this is an excellent ambush or defensive bonus, making it so the first shot from the M18 is capable of immense and practically guaranteed damage against enemy vehicles. Due to its ease of use and powerful bonuses, this tends to be a popular veteran ability choice and allows the M18 to punch far above its weight, allowing them to threaten heavy tanks at long range, and overall start fights with an advantage. This ability technically has no cooldown but since it requires the unit to be out of combat, after firing the unit will need to move out of combat to regain First Strike.
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M2HB .50cal Heavy Machine Gun: Upgrades the unit with a pintle-mounted machine gun which can turn to face any direction independently of the vehicle turret. Increases anti-infantry firepower overall. Since the M18 is specialized as an anti-tank unit, this upgrade is usually more of a 'luxury' upgrade, but once attained does allow to the M18 to more effectively bully infantry squads.
This unit can benefit from the following upgrades.
Improvised Armor: Increases the armour value of this unit. Also reduces incoming damage of infantry handheld anti-tank weapons to it.
Rearm and Retrofit: Grants unique abilities for various USF vehicles. For the Hellcat, it gains Flanking Speed and HVAP Rounds abilities.
This unit can benefit from the following battlegroup perks.
Veteran Crews: Grants veterancy level 1 to all current and future vehicles.
Fast Deploy: Reduces the production time of vehicles significantly.
Strength in Steel: Reduces the population cap cost and upkeep of all vehicles.
Field Repairs: Active battlegroup ability. Once activated, all vehicles will automatically self-repair when stationary and out of combat for the duration of the ability.
Seek and Destroy: Active battlegroup ability. Once activated, temporarily grants increased movement speed, accuracy, and rate of fire to all vehicles for the duration of the ability.
War Machine: Reduces the Manpower cost of all vehicles from production buildings by 25%.
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Note: Gun Rammer and Emergency Engine Repair are campaign exclusive and not available in skirmishes.
Flanking Speed: Active ability. Requires the Rearm and Retrofit upgrade available at the
HVAP Rounds: Active ability. Requires the Rearm and Retrofit upgrade available at the
76mm-hellcat-us | Near | Mid | Far |
---|---|---|---|
Accuracy | 0.1 | 0.055 | 0.045 |
Range | 10 | 30 | 45 |
Penetration | 360 | 250 | 220 |
The M18 Hellcat has the highest penetration values at all ranges compared to all other USF units, enabling it to fight against heavy armour even at long range.
HVAP and Armor Piercing Rounds - M18 Hellcat, M4A3 Sherman Easy 8, M1 Anti-tank Gun
We want tank and team weapon positioning to matter during engagements. The current benefits provided by these types of abilities, on top of the increased damage, made it too easy to punish heavy tanks like the Tiger from the front at long-range.
We are removing the automatic penetration mechanic to make tank armor still matter to an extent when these abilities are active. The penetration boost, however, is still significant, particularly on units with very high penetration to begin with such as the Hellcat.
No longer automatically penetrates enemy armor. Now gives +50% penetration.
1.6 'Coral Viper' April 2 2024
The current Hellcat is too efficient when dealing with more expensive vehicles in head-on fights. The change is meant to focus the Hellcat as an anti-armor vehicle that uses its speed to disengage or maneuver after getting an accurate, high damaging shot off.
Flanking Speed is also being locked behind an upgrade as we want the Mechanized Support Center to be the primary way for the US to access vehicle abilities.
Long-range accuracy increased from 0.04 to 0.045
Reload time slowed down from 4.5/4.75 seconds to 5.25/5.5 seconds
Now unlocks Flanking Speed when Rearm and Refit is upgraded. Flanking Speed no longer available by default.
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