Though there may be many differences among tank destroyers, most of them are vulnerable to similar threats. Many tank destroyers fall somewhere in-between these two extremes, with enough armor to withstand some direct fire but not enough to operate as a front-line brawler. From these positions, sniping tank destroyers can safely inflict damage with their high-power guns and ambush tanks who wander too far into the open. Alternatively, there are many tank destroyers with little to no armor which are best played at a distance, using their camo values to stay concealed behind bush cover. Some tank destroyers, often nicknamed assault guns, are endowed with great amounts of frontal armor and can be played similar to brawling heavy tanks.

How tank destroyers are played depends on the individual vehicle's strengths. Tank destroyers that do get turrets often get ones with limited traverse ranges or slow traverse speeds and are still prone to being flanked or circled. These sorts of tank destroyers often have difficulty maneuvering to attack enemies around corners or turning to face flankers. Turning the gun beyond a certain point in these vehicles requires turning the vehicle's hull (which in turn results in accuracy and camouflage penalties). Many tank destroyers lack a turret, and instead mount their guns in the vehicle's hull. Tank destroyers are the most well armed direct-fire vehicles in the game, alongside indirect-fire artillery. Tank destroyers vary widely from vehicle to vehicle, but they do share a number of things in common.

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