Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Good armor all around
- Second highest hit points
- Side skirts help protect the tracks
- Gun 15 cm KwK 44 L/38 is the most powerful gun for tier X heavies
- Choice of two guns
- Decent gun depression
- Can deal a lot of damage by ramming
- Great at side scraping
- Low profile tanks who comes near can bounce easily on the sloped turret
- good ammo count
Cons:
- Large silhouette, the E-100 is an amazing artillery magnet
- Front-mounted transmission can catches fire very easily. Engine is prone to get damaged.
- Turret ring is vulnerable
- Slow rate of fire
- Weak lower plate,even tier 8's guns can penetrate it. Hulldown tactics are highly recommended
Performance
While boasting the same gun as the Maus in one configuration, the E-100 has the option of mounting the 15cm KwK 44 L/38 with good damage at 750/750/950. However, the penetration of the 15 cm is a serious detriment to a Tier X heavy when fighting other top tier heavies when running full AP. However, armed with HEAT ammunition, this tank easily becomes one of the most immediate threats to your health around.
Penetration issues aside, the E-100 is the second slowest tier 10 heavy tank. On paper, the armor appears almost as good as the Maus but the entire front lower glacis plate is vulnerable to even Tier 8 guns. Hide the lower plate whenever possible by sidescraping or using uneven terrain. Even with this weakpoint, the E-100 is more than capable of leading a charge with its strong all around armor and very high hitpoints, second only to the Maus.
While it does have more mobility than its heavier counter-part, the Maus, it also doesn't have quite as much armor. When starting out, both the E-100 and the Mausshare the same 12.8cm main gun. However if the player chooses, they can grind to unlock a second more powerful gun, the 15 cm KwK 44 L/38. However, to balance the extra damage, it has very bad AP penetration and accuracy compared to other tier X heavy tanks. Unlike the Maus, the entire lower armor plate is a huge weakness to the frontal armor on the E-100, as even tier 8 guns can penetrate it (though a little angling quickly resolves this). Combined with the front-mounted transmission, you are at high risk for engine and fire damage. It is the only tier X heavy to mount a gun that can do an average of 750 damage per shell but since update 7.5, all tier X TDs with 15 cm guns have 850 damage per shell with an at least equal rate of fire compared to the E-100 or have auto-loaders. During the long reload time, if there is no cover, it's advised that the player angle the turret by about 25° which will make the effective armor of the turret as thick as 300 mm on both front and on the exposed side of the turret. Your turret ring is still vulnerable, however.