1. Update 9.17: Version Status
Updated
Update 9.17.1
2. Update 9.17.1: German Tech Tree
Updated
Ensuring that the vehicle roster stays fresh, exciting, and relevant as the game evolves is the promise we made at WG Fest. And we're kicking this year off by delivering on it with the very first update of 2017.
This revision begins with the German Tech Tree. The growth it’s been through since the game's release messed with the tree’s very structure: today, vehicles united into one branch (and supposedly similar in play style) often differ a lot. Here, we set things right with comprehensive balance changes and the introduction of completely new tanks. Now, let’s get to the full change list.
Heavy Tanks
The Maus heavy branch (as we know it now) is quite a bumpy ride. The VK 45.02 (P) Ausf. A and VK 45.02 (P) Ausf. B. are miles apart from the Tier X Maus in terms of gameplay. Firstly, after careful consideration, we decided to replace the two with the VK100.01P (Tier VIII) and Mäuschen (Tier IX). If you researched the Tier X Maus, they will be credited to you as researched as well. Everything you've come to expect from heavies, the newcomers are somewhat slow, yet well-protected and pack a punch. Secondly, to further smoothen the succession within the line, we’ll improve the Maus’ combat parameters. It’ll receive thicker frontal and hull armor. The gun handling is going to get easier thanks to a quicker reload time (reduced from 14.9s to 12s) and improved gun stabilisation—one of the best in the game, which isn’t surprising if you consider its sizes and speed.
We heard the requests to keep the VK 72.01(K) as a unique reward to Clan players. It will remain this way. The fan favourite VK 45.02 (P) Ausf. B and its predecessor VK 45.02 (P) Ausf. A will form an alternative branch ending in a new vehicle: the Pz.Kpfw VII.
This change won’t affect the XP you’ve earned on the VK 45.02 (P) Ausf. A and VK 45.02 (P) Ausf. B. The same applies to the Maus: all equipment, camos, emblems and crew you have for it are there to stay.
Researchable from the VK 45.02 (P) Ausf. B, the Pz.Kpfw VII will mount the 12.8 cm Kw. K. 46 L/61 gun, providing a playstyle that’s quite different from the VK 72.01 (K). Also, the latter will get a number of improvements including easier gun handling, an increased penetration value for the Pzgr. 42 shell (the 15 cm Kw. K. L/38), and a larger ammo load of 35 rounds. On top of that, the VK 72.01(K) and the Pz.Kpfw VII are getting significantly thicker frontal armor. To compensate for it, we’ll reduce their maximum speed from 43 km/h to 33 km/h.
If you favor the E-100 line, this bunch will receive a few improvements as well. The E-75 will benefit from better gun stabilisation, while the E-100 will get a much-deserved increase to AP shells penetration. Starting in 9.17.1, it’ll be capable of piercing through 246 mm with 150 mm gun. Finally, moving down the tiers, the Tiger (P) and Tiger I turrets will become more resistant to enemy shells thanks to thicker turret armor.
Medium Tanks
Upon analyzing the combat stats of mid-tier medium tanks, we decided to improve gun handling and boost their mobility a little. Moving to top-tiers, the Tier IX E-50 and Leopard Prototyp A will get a considerable power-up:
- The Leopard Prototyp A's large size, paired with its poor gun depression, often makes it a fairly attractive target. To make it better on uneven terrain, we’ll set its gun depression at -8° (previously -6°).
- The alternative E-50 gun, 8.8 L/100, will receive a major power boost: better accuracy, rate of fire, and gun stabilisation. Moreover, starting in 9.17.1, you’ll be able to mount it on the Panther II.
Tanks Destroyers
Although originally designed as vehicle for ambush warfare, the Grille 15 currently plays a lot like a medium tank. Its technical characteristics will be tweaked to make it more suitable for ambush combat: we’ll give it a less powerful engine and worsen its gun handling. Its maximum reverse speed will go down as well.
Premium Vehicles
Update 9.17.1 will introduce a series of tweaks to punch up underperforming Premium vehicles and make battles more enjoyable for them:
Krupp-Steyr Waffenträger
Engine power increased from 140 h.p. to 220 h.p.
The Krupp-Steyr Waffenträger will get a 220 h.p. engine, enabling more dynamic gameplay.
Pz.Kpfw. IV Schmalturm
Dispersion on hull traverse and on the move decreased from 0.2 m to 0.15 m.
Dispersion decreased from 0.35 m to 0.32 m.
Dispersion on turret traverse decreased from 0.16 m to 0.11 m.
Dispersion after shot decreased from 4 m to 2 m.
Gun reload time decreased from 4.6 s to 4.2 s.
Added 5 mm thick side screens.
The Pz.Kpfw. IV Schmalturm will benefit from better gun stabilization and shorter reload time. So, it should be easier to pick off targets.
Panther/M10
Dispersion on hull traverse and on the move decreased from 0.19 m to 0.15 m.
Dispersion decreased from 0.35 m to 0.32 m.
Dispersion on turret traverse decreased from 0.12 m to 0.11 m.
Dispersion after shot decreased from 4 m to 2 m.
Gun reload time decreased from 4.5 s to 4 s.
View range increased from 350 m to 365 m.
Maximum forward speed increased from 46 km/h to 55 km/h.
Added 5 mm thick screens to front, sides, rear, along turret perimeter, and mantlet front.
The work on the Panther M/10 continues. This time we’ll give it a significant boost in speed and a better view range, gearing it up for more dynamic combat. Also, we’ll slightly improve a few of the gun parameters, making it more enjoyable.
Panther mit 8,8 cm L/71
Improved gun mantlet armour.
Thicker gun mantlet armour will make the Panther mit 8,8 cm L/71 a little more resilient to enemy shells.
Lastly, we’ll increase APCR shell penetration with the 8.8 cm Kw. K. 36 L/56 gun for absolutely all vehicles that have it.
Along with the German Tech Tree revision, 9.17.1 will bring changes to Japanese and American vehicles. To read up on them, head here.
We’ve put a lot of work into these changes, and we're looking forward to rolling them out and seeing what the experience is like for you!
3. Update 9.17.1: UI Improvements and Platoons
Updated
Tank Commanders,
Along with major changes to the Tech Tree and Strongholds, 9.17.1 will also bring a few small, yet long-requested improvements to UI and platoon battles. Let’s take a closer look at them.
Garage Vehicle Filters
Significantly optimised, the new Garage filters will get you to your desired selection a lot faster. Working off your requests, we:
- Revised the order of filter options. Now you can choose from vehicle types to nations, then tiers. Additional filtering options are last on the list.
- Added a new counter in the filter popover showing the number of filtered vehicles.
- Reworked “Additional” block into a filter. Just like with other filters, rented and special event vehicles are now switched on by default.
The confusing “Reset Filters” button (often mixed up with “Apply Filters”) will soon be replaced with a far more useful search bar. Here, you can search by name, taking into consideration all the filters marked earlier, e.g., if you select, heavy USSR tanks, it’ll search among them. If you’d like to search among absolutely all vehicles, don’t apply any filters. Just type the name to get a full list of all available vehicles whose name(s) contains the characters you typed in the search field.
Vehicle Carousel
Starting in 9.17.1, you’ll no longer need to go to the Settings menu to switch between one and two-row carousels. You can do it right in the filtering popover: just click the button to the left of the search field (If you don’t mind going the long way, the similar option in the menu remains). However, we urge you to check out the Settings menu regardless. There’s one useful new option in there: minimalistic carousel display. Compared to the adjustable layout you are all familiar with, it keeps small-row design even if you switch to high screen resolution.
To save you some time when checking additional stats, we implemented a few new information blocks for vehicle slots: Mastery badges, win ratio, and Marks of Excellence. Just hover over the vehicle slot to view them.
Platoons—Spawning and Postmortem Camera
Getting placed far from your fellow platoon members is a frustrating experience that can seriously undermine your battle plan. It takes a long time to rendezvous, not to mention the precious seconds that you lose when coordinating this “reunion.” Working off your direct feedback, we’ll put an end to it with an additional logic to prevent platoon members from getting placed far, far away. Instead of random start positions, vehicles will be placed as close to each other as the map, the number of platoons in a battle, and the platoon setup (vehicle types) allow.
Yet another frustrating scenario that you brought up to us occurs when playing in a platoon and your tank gets destroyed. You, most likely, want to see what happens to the people you were fighting with. However, you often have to click through a good half of the team roster before you finally switch to your platoon mates. And it's often too late when you get to the right one. Starting in 9.17.1, the camera will automatically switch to your first platoon mate on list. Left clicking will move the camera to the next platoon member, instead of the next teammate down the list.
Battle and Personal Missions UI
Too much isn't always a good thing, which seems to be the case with missions. Sometimes, it gets hard to keep track of all of them. What we are going to do is improve on the very way they are brought to you in the Garage so that you get timely notifications about completing a mission, rewards you earn, and new tasks you get. Simply put; we’ll ensure you don’t miss on the fun.
As many of you know, to get the first taste of personal and battle missions, you have to level up to Tier IV. And Battle Training missions are there to help you climb the ladder. From Update 9.17.1, you can access them by clicking on a special flag in the Garage:
Starting with Tier IV, you’ll see two flags: daily and personal missions, each animated to inform you on changes to the number of available missions, rewards, and switching between mission types. Once you complete all daily missions, a check mark on the flag will inform you about it, while hovering over a flag will open an info tip with the full list of missions and rewards for them.
Need a detailed breakdown on a certain mission? Just click the one that excites you most, and it’ll appear on a tooltip including basic and extra conditions, as well as the rewards for fulfilling each group of tasks.
The Battle Missions and Specials screen is in for a revamp, too. To improve navigation, we’ll group all missions into three tabs: all available missions, Specials, and missions for the current vehicle, with ribbons marking new arrivals and the full list of rewards to the selected task at the bottom right.
These improvements are just a small fragment of what we have in store for Battle missions UI, and we’re looking forward to hearing what you think. Your feedback will help us prioritise future work and improve on the overall experience moving forward.
4. Update 9.17.1: Vehicle Comparison and Technical Characteristics
Updated
Tank Commanders,
Update 9.17.1 is right aroud the corner, so we're getting you up to speed regarding upcoming features and improvements. This time, we’ll walk you through updated vehicle comparison mechanics—featuring mounted equipment, Crew skills and perks, consumables, and camo—and a pack of enhancements to the simplified technical characteristics display. Shall we begin?
Vehicle Comparison
When this feature was first introduced in 9.16, many players noted that the rundown on vehicles wouldn’t be complete without including the elements that influence their performance: Crew skills and perks, equipment, consumables, camo, and ammunition. From 9.17.1 onwards, you will be able to select those parameters in a special menu and get the lowdown on a vehicle’s capabilities.
The Crew proficiency dropdown menu that you currently have will be replaced with a vehicle configuration list, where you can choose between default, current, and custom setups:
- Standard: Stock configuration
- Current: Present configuration
- Configured: Manually set configuration of modules, Crew proficiency, equipment, consumables, ammo, etc.
The Vehicle Configuration screen (above) is where you can get a full breakdown on default or current setups and can customise the selected tank in any way you want:
- Crew. Set at 100% by default; you can also choose 50%, 75% or current Crew
- Skills and Perks. Listed here are additional proficiencies that influence vehicle performance: Concealment, Brothers in Arms, Recon, Clutch Braking, Off-Road Driving, Signal Boosting and Situational Awareness.
- If you decide to go with current vehicle configuration, you’ll see perks and skills that are fully or partially trained and their effects in a tooltip to the right. For your convenience, partially-trained proficiencies are considered 100% trained here.
- If you don’t have a certain perk, but want to see how training it will increase a tank’s overall performance, make sure you have the crew set at 100%, then select it. Perks you add will be considered 100% trained.
- Modules: gun, turret (greyed out for turretless vehicles), engine, suspension, and radio. As with proficiencies, you can proceed with the current setup and create a manual configuration. Just left-click any module to get started:
- If you aren’t that into it, just flag “Select Top Configuration,” and we’ll get it done for you. It’s even easier with Premium, reward, and the majority of Tier X vehicles: the top configuration is the only one for them.
- Consumables and equipment. You can choose any item from the list. To keep things simple, we highlighted those that don’t affect technical parameters with an exclamation mark (“!”). Keep in mind that any consumable or equipment adds to the vehicle’s overall weight and may slightly reduce its mobility.
- Camouflage (not available for vehicles that have pre-installed camo). Since all camo types provide the same bonus, you have just two options here: mark whether you have it on or not.
- Ammunition. The default type will be marked in a tooltip on the shell. And you can see it compared to others, right in the tooltip, which will make it a lot easier to choose the most useful shell for the job. Also, these newly-added tooltips aren’t just for vehicle comparison. They are just a small fragment of the improvements to the simplified technical characteristics display that will make its way into the game in the next update.
Simplified Technical Characteristics Display
In 9.17.1, we’ll build on the display of simplified technical characteristics to make them more informative:
- One-time cost equipment that affects combat performance (e.g., Binocular Telescope and Camouflage Net) will display their familiar icons. On top of that, you’ll see how much of a bonus they give you in solid numbers.
- Instead of the “Standard Shell Penetration” and “Standard Shell Damage” ranges, you’ll get an average number for each, shown in the Garage and Vehicle Preview Mode. Ranges remain: they will still be shown in a tooltip.
- Ammo type representation will get a slight revamp a well. Just as in the vehicle comparison screen, the default type will be underlined in a tooltip, while others will be compared to it right there.
These are long-awaited changes that we hope you’ll enjoy. The teams around the studio are continuing to monitor and optimise your gaming experience. As we get closer to 9.17.1’s release, we’ll continue priming you for what to expect with the update. So, stay tuned.
See you on the battlefield!
5. Supertest 9.17.1
Updated
Please keep in mind that this is a preliminary set of features for 9.17.1. We’ll reveal the final details just before release.
Update 9.17.1 is headed into Supertest, and it's jam-packed with game-shaping changes to multiple features. We're also excited to begin our breakdown of everything that’s in store. This update will bring a salvo of features: enhanced representation of technical characteristics and improved damage log panel, sound tweaks and additions to vehicle comparison, along with a massive Tech Tree revision. Strongholds mode is in for a few adjustments as well.
Check out the detailed change set below to see what’s on the way.
The Supertest happens in the early stages of development—typically a month and a half before final release—and involves checking the changes of a new update and searching for the most critical issues before open testing. World of Tanks Supertests are divided into production tests (new maps, balancing vehicles, etc.), and version tests (the entirety of the update).
Once Supertests are complete, Common Tests begin, and those are available to all players interested in trying out the new features.
Once Supertests are complete, Common Tests begin, and those are available to all players interested in trying out the new features.
Changes to Tech Trees
As mentioned recently, we’re reinforcing our commitment to bring Tech Trees up to speed with the game as it stands today. In 9.17.1, this includes smoothing the progression to the top tiers of the German, Japanese, and American lines in particular, plus tackling some balance issues and introducing several all-new tanks.
Full rundown:
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Germany -
Japan -
U.S.A.
To make its overall structure more consistent, the German Tech Tree will get two completely new heavies: the VK100.01P (Tier VIII) and Mäuschen (Tier IX). Massive and heavily-armoured, these two will combine powerful guns with decent protection and poor mobility. Gameplay-wise, they’ll be more similar to the Maus than its current predecessors: the VK 45.02 (P) Ausf. A and VK 45.02 (P) Ausf. B. That’s why the Maus will be placed after the Mäuschen. It’ll also receive a shorter reload time, better gun handling, and thickеr frontal armor.
At the same time, the VK 45.02 (P) Ausf. A and VK 45.02 (P) Ausf. B resemble the VK 72.01(K) a lot. So, we’ll create a very similar tank and make it Tier X on their branch. If you earned the VK 72.01(K) on Global Map, it will remain a Premium vehicle in your Garage. You’ll be able to transfer its crew to another vehicle for free and without training. The VK 72.01(K) will also receive a unique camo and equipment loadout.
Following Tech Tree revisions, German heavy tanks will get a few of their combat parameters changed. The nation's medium vehicles will see a number of improvements too. We'll share a full list of balance tweaks soon, so stay tuned.
At the same time, the VK 45.02 (P) Ausf. A and VK 45.02 (P) Ausf. B resemble the VK 72.01(K) a lot. So, we’ll create a very similar tank and make it Tier X on their branch. If you earned the VK 72.01(K) on Global Map, it will remain a Premium vehicle in your Garage. You’ll be able to transfer its crew to another vehicle for free and without training. The VK 72.01(K) will also receive a unique camo and equipment loadout.
Following Tech Tree revisions, German heavy tanks will get a few of their combat parameters changed. The nation's medium vehicles will see a number of improvements too. We'll share a full list of balance tweaks soon, so stay tuned.
As of now, the Japanese Type 4 and Type 5 HEAVY are rarely seen on battlefields: they are somewhat inferior to their peers in terms of mobility and find it difficult to fight evenly with them in combat. It won’t stay this way for long, though. As you know, the trademark of tier V–VIII Japanese heavies are their HE shells and guns, so we are going to give them to the Type 4 and Type 5 HEAVY as well.
Overall gameplay has changed a lot since the T28, T28 Prototype, and T95 rolled out on Tiers VIII and IX. They lack mobility in today's World of Tanks, so we’re going to give them a considerable speed boost, gearing them up for more dynamic combat.
Balance Tweaks
We’ve kept a watchful eye on battle stats and will introduce a series of tweaks to punch up underperforming vehicles and prevent their more powerful counterparts from upsetting overall balance:
T110E5
Decreased armor protection of the commander's cupola.
Armor protection of the sides, behind the roller wheels, decreased from 254 mm to 76.2 mm.
The T110E5 commander’s cupola is near impossible to penetrate with regular shells in all but a small section. We will tweak the cupola armor to make it more even across its surface. It’ll still have robust protection, but a good shot with regular rounds will do the job.
Grille 15
Engine power decreased from 900 h.p. to 850 h.p.
Maximum reverse speed decreased from 20 km/h to 15 km/h.
Reload time of the 15 cm PaK L/63 gun increased from 16.5 s to 18 s.
Gun depression angle decreased from -8° to -7°.
Velocity of the Pzgr. shell for the 15 cm PaK L/63 gun decreased from 1,350 m/s to 1,200 m/s.
Changes to engine power, reverse speed, and gun depression are designed to make a more pronounced TD out of the Grille 15, while the reduced DPM puts its combat efficiency more on par with same-tier vehicles.
Т-34-85М
Replaced the shells with the ones from the T-34-85 Rudy:
UBR-365K (160/126) replaced by UBR-365KBM (180/144).
UBR-365P (160/167) replaced by UBR-365PBM (180/194).
UOF-365K (280/43) replaced by UOF-365BM (300/44).
View range increased from 350 m to 360 m.
Dispersion on hull traverse and on the move decreased from 0.24 m to 0.22 m.
Dispersion decreased from 0.42 m to 0.37 m.
Aiming time decreased from 2.5 s to 2.2 s.
We tweaked the T-34-85M’s penetration power and gun handling parameters to make it more efficient. Following the balance changes, it plays as a less mobile, but better armored version of the Т-34-85.
Centurion Mk. I
Centurion Mk. 7/1
Centurion Mk. 7/1
Maximum forward speed increased from 40 km/h to 50 km/h.
Reload time of the OQF 20-pdr Gun Type A Barrel for the Centurion Mk. III turret decreased from 8 s to 7.5 s.
Reload time of the 105 mm Royal Ordnance L7A1 for the Centurion Mk. 9 turret decreased from 12 s to 11.2 s.
The two Centurions will gain improved mobility and receive better gun parameters, to cement their place as medium tanks.
FV4202
Maximum forward speed increased from 40 km/h to 50 km/h.
The FV 4202’s maximum speed will be increased so that it can keep up with the Centurions.
Damage Log Improvements
We’re continuing to incorporate useful elements from your favourite third-party modifications. This time, the battle UI is getting a detailed "received damage" log. This includes ribbons for the damage amounts, shell type, critical hits, and the name and type of the vehicle that hit you. Conversely, we’ll remove ribbons that aren’t as useful: machinegun fire ribbons and detailed log messages will only display the total amount of damage caused by a series of shots.
Finally, 9.17.1 will introduce a new setting for adjusting the width of the dynamic damage indicators, indicating how much damage you receive or block. These additions will make it easier to evaluate ever-changing combat situations and quickly adjust your battle plan.
Vehicle Comparisons
We heard your requests to expand the list of comparable stats, and we're pleased to say this is coming with 9.17.1. Soon, you can examine vehicles' mounted equipment, Crew Skills/Perks, consumables and camo.
Tweaks to "Simple" Technical Characteristics
With over 500 vehicles to choose from, it’s crucial to get the maximum information on each, whether it’s already in your Garage and you want the full rundown on specs, or you’re thinking about researching or purchasing it. In 9.17.1, we’ll build on the simple tech characteristics display to make it more informative. One-time cost equipment that affects combat performance (e.g., Binocular Telescope and Camouflage Net) will display their familiar icons. On top of that, you’ll see how much of a bonus they give you in solid numbers.
Also, as you have requested we’ll be replacing the "Standard Shell Penetration" and "Standard Shell Damage" ranges with an average number for each, shown in the Garage and Vehicle Preview Mode. If you prefer the current range displays, they will still be shown in a tooltip.
Finally, you’ll be given more details when choosing ammo types. The default type will be marked in a tooltip on the shell. And you can see it compared to others, right in the tooltip, which will make it a lot easier to choose the most useful shell for the job.
Strongholds
A brand-new, simpler “Offensive” format will replace Battles for Strongholds. It differs from the old format in a few ways:
- Defeat doesn’t result in structures being pillaged. The winner’s earnings will depend directly on the level of their Stronghold.
- You don’t need to defend a Stronghold every day. It’s up to a Clan to decide whether to engage in “Attacks” or not.
- Matching is automated, so it’s impossible to choose a certain Clan to attack.
With the removal of pillages and mandatory daily battles, it would have been too easy to reach the top levels of Strongholds development. As a result, War Departments, which are now mainly used by top clans who earned their stripes in combat, would become available to more players. All clans would rush to level up and receive tasks with valuable rewards, which would disrupt the fair play environment. To prevent this from happening, we’ll replace War Departments with challenges, dubbed “War Games,” where clans that participate in Skirmishes and Offensives will compete for rankings in different categories. Those who end up at the top will receive Gold, Advanced Reserves, and other rewards.
IMPORTANT: This change will be implemented after the 9.17.1 release.
IMPORTANT: This change will be implemented after the 9.17.1 release.
Also, you’ll notice a new option for Skirmishes. When creating a detachment, you can open it for others to join, similar to Team Battles and Tank Companies. Whether you're new and want to try Skirmishes, or fought in a few as a legionnaire or volunteer, just browse through the list of available detachments in a special screen and choose.
Sounds
If you love to go all unconventional with game sounds, it's time to celebrate! Starting in 9.17.1, audio files will be available to modders, while those using third-party voiceovers or sound packs can personalize their experience by tweaking almost every in-game sound.
Deeper under the hood, 9.17.1 also marks the transition to Wwise 2016.2.
Reworked Minimaps
Finally, a new bunch of maps get remastered minimap art: Training Area, Overlord, Stalingrad, Empire’s Border, Sacred Valley, Stalingrad, and Fiery Silent.
6. Update 9.17
Updated
Tank Commanders,
The time has finally come to let Swedish reinforcements loose on the battlefield. Along with the new Tech Tree, which introduces some cool new mechanics, we’ve also buffed a number of Premium vehicles based on your feedback.
Here's what you need to know before rolling out in Update 9.17.
World of Tanks servers will be down on 16 Dec from 03:00 to 08:00 SGT (UTC +8) to get everything in order. Also, we’ll be freezing the Global Map for 24 hours, temporarily closing the Clan portal and cancelling Strongholds battles (except skirmishes).
Current Premium players will be credited an additional 24 hours of Premium account time to make up for the maintenance period. If you’d like to make any in-game purchases, please wait until the servers are up and running again.
In the weeks leading up to release, we revealed details about the update's new content in a series of posts. Click the images below to jump to more detailed coverage.
What's New
Swedish Vehicles
The Swedish tree comes in two flavors: tank destroyers and a mixed branch.
The TDs are lightly armored, making them quick off the mark. They can bring the pain with their decent guns and stay safe with their low silhouettes. At tiers VIII–X, the TDs introduce Siege and Travel modes. The former considerably ramps up your ability to deal damage. The latter is for when you need to secure your position.
The mixed branch has light, medium, and heavy tanks. Early-tier and mid-tier tanks have good gun elevation arcs and can perform a wide number of combat roles. At the higher end, the EMIL I, EMIL II, and Kranvagn have the nation’s trademark gun depression and autoloaders.
Premium Vehicles
Thanks to your feedback, we’ve made the first round of changes to several Premium vehicles, tweaking the combat parameters of the FV4202, STA-2, M4A1 Revalorisé, T26E4 Super Pershing, WZ-111, Löwe, Panther 8.8, T34, M46 Patton, and 112.
Improvements were also made to the French heavy tanks АМХ 50В and АМХ 50 120.
Sounds
On the sound stage, we’ve made a few improvements:
- Those of you with 5.1/7.1 surround systems now have associated presets in Settings
- Locking onto a target is now followed by a sound notification
- The option to turn on a mic is now available in the “Sound” tab
- New sounds for hitting the ground and collisions with natural obstacles that signal the severity of the collision
Minimaps
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9.17 refreshes the looks of seven more minimaps: | |
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HD Models
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The revised overmatch and ricochet rules (initially planned for 9.17) were postponed. All the data and your feedback from the Common Test showed that their introduction could lead to some deeper changes to vehicles strong and weak spots. Just like you, we wouldn’t want that. That's why we're taking some extra time to fine-tune these elements. Until it's all ready and meets our high standards of quality, we’ll stick to the old, time-proven mechanic for all vehicles, including the Swedish TDs. Head over to the Common Test article for more details.
As usual, your contributions during the test period were extremely helpful in making World of Tanks a better game. Head to the forums, talk to your fellow tankers, and let us know what you think about the final release!
See you on the battlefield.
Full list of patch notes
Game Features
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Added two vehicle branches in the Swedish Tech Tree:
- Light tanks at Tiers I-III, medium tanks at Tiers IV-VII, heavy tanks at Tiers VIII-X:
- Strv fm/21
- Strv m/38
- Strv m/40L
- Lago
- Strv m/42
- Strv 74
- Leo
- Emil I
- Emil II
- Kranvagn
- Tank destroyers. The distinctive feature of the Tier VIII-X vehicles is the mechanics of the "siege mode" and the ability to aim the gun using their hydraulic suspension:
- Pvlvv fm/42
- Ikv 72
- Sav m/43
- Ikv 103
- Ikv 65 Alt II
- Ikv 90 Typ B
- UDES 03
- Strv 103-0
- Strv 103B
- Light tanks at Tiers I-III, medium tanks at Tiers IV-VII, heavy tanks at Tiers VIII-X:
- Removed the Ranked Battles tab from the Missions window, since the mode is no longer available in the game.
- Added first-person view for Spectators in Training Rooms.
- Increased the maximum number of participants (including Spectators) in Team Training and Special Battle modes to 20 players. The number of team members remains limited to 15 players.
- Sound-related improvements:
- Implemented configuration presets for 5.1/7.1 surround systems that can be enabled by players in the Settings.
- Reworked the system of collision with indestructible objects and other vehicles.
- Added a sound for Auto-Aim: locking onto a target will now bei followed by a sound notification.
- Implemented an option that re-configures the Push-to-Talk button in the Sound tab (previously the button could be reconfigured only in the Controls tab)
- Enabled award windows for completed missions (previously award windows were enabled only for Personal Missions).
- Restored transition between related missions in the Missions window.
- Implemented a feature that allows saving previously compared vehicles between game sessions.
- Fixed an issue where the solid aiming circle was incorrectly displayed.
- Fixed an issue related to driving to map areas that are not intended for playing on the following maps: Pilsen, Karelia, Serene Coast
Vehicles
Added the following vehicles for testing:
- Chrysler K
- Lorraine 40 t
Reworked the following vehicles to HD quality:
- SU-85I
- Conqueror Gun Carriage
- Pz.Sfl. IVc
- Pz.Sfl. IVb
- VK 28.01
- KV-2
- Sturer Emil
- Tetrarch
- SU-122-44
- B1
- SU-76I
Changed technical characteristics of the following vehicles:
- FV4202:
- Increased top speed from 35 km/h to 40 km/h
-
Increased vehicle profitability by 10%
- Panther mit 8,8 cm L/71:
- Increased traverse speed of the Panther mit 8,8 cm Kw.K. 43 L/71 from 38 to 40
- Increased engine power of the Maybach HL 230 P30 engine from 600 h.p. to 700 h.p.
- Changed the depression angle of the 8,8 cm Kw.K. 43 L/71 gun from -5 to -8 degrees
- Löwe:
- Increased armor thickness of the upper front glacis from 130 to150 mm.
- Improved gun depression angle from -8 to -10
- Increased engine power of the Maybach HL 230 engine from 800 h.p. to 1000 h.p.
- Increased thickness of hull armor
- WZ-111:
- Improved accuracy during movement for the WZ-111 model 2 suspension by 13%
- Improved accuracy during hull traverse for the WZ-111 model 2 suspension by 13%
- Decreased dispersion of the 122 mm D-25TA gun from 0.46 m to 0.44 m
- Improved accuracy of the 122 mm D-25TA gun during turret traverse by 14%
- Improved aiming time of the 122 mm D-25TA gun for the WZ-111 model 2 turret from 3.4 s to 3 s
- Improved engine power of the NORINCO 12150L engine from 520 h.p. to 600 h.p.
- Improved armor
- M4A1 Revalorisé:
- Improved accuracy during movement for the M4A1 Revalorisé suspension by 11%
- Improved accuracy during hull traverse for the M4A1 Revalorisé suspension by 11%
- Decreased dispersion of the 105 mm D1504 L/51 gun from 0.36 m to 0.35 m
- Improved accuracy of the 105 mm D1504 L/51 gun during turret traverse by 19%
- Improved aiming time of the 105 mm D1504 L/51 gun for the M4A1 Revalorisé turret from 2.8 s to 2.4 s
- Improved engine power of the Continental R975 engine from 460 h.p. to 550 h.p.
- Changed the type of the Continental R975 engine from diesel to gasoline
-
Improved gun depression angle from -7 to -10
- STA-2:
- Increased top speed from 45 km/h to 55 km/h
- Changed chance of fire for the Mitsubishi 12HM20WT engine from 0.15 to 0.12
- Increased engine power of the Mitsubishi 12HM20WT engine from 500 h.p. to 570 h.p.
- T26E4 Super Pershing:
- Increased penetration of the AP M77 armor-piercing shell for the 90 mm Gun T15E1 gun from 170 to 192 mm
- T34/ T34B:
- Decreased dispersion of the 120 mm Gun T53A1 gun during hull traverse from 0.32 to 0.28
- Decreased dispersion of the 120 mm Gun T53A1 gun during movement from 0.32 to 0.28
- Decreased dispersion of the 120 mm Gun T53A1 gun during turret traverse from 0.24 to 0.22
- Improved aiming time of the 120 mm Gun T53A1 gun from 3.4 s to 3.2 s
- Increased the view range from 360 to 380 m
- Decreased dispersion of the 120 mm Gun T53A1 gun during hull traverse from 0.32 to 0.28
- M46 Patton KR:
- Increased thickness of the frontal turret armor
- Increased thickness of the frontal turret armor
- 112:
- Increased thickness of the lower sloped glacis plate in the side armor from 60 to 80 mm
- Increased thickness of the lower sloped glacis plate in the side armor from 60 to 80 mm
- AMX 50 120:
- Increased depression/elevation angles for all guns from -6..+6 to -9..+11
- Increased depression/elevation angles for all guns from -6..+6 to -9..+11
- AMX 50B:
- Increased depression/elevation angles for the 120 mm SA46 gun from -8..+12 to -10..+12
- Krupp-Steyr Waffenträger:
- Increased vehicle profitability by 15%
- Increased vehicle profitability by 15%
- VK 28.01:
- Increased gun depression angle from -5 to -10
- Increased gun depression angle from -5 to -10
- IS-3A:
- Decreased repairs cost by 40%
Maps
Reworked visual quality of the following minimaps:
- Karelia
- Pilsen
- Sand River
- Mountain Pass
- Tundra
- Windstorm
- Winter Himmelsdorf
7. Update 9.17.1
Updated
Subtitles in our supported languages are also available by clicking on the icon in the bottom-right corner.
Tank Commanders,
Mark your calendars, because Update 9.17.1 goes live on 28 February! On the portal over the past few weeks, we’ve fired a few salvos of information explaining changes to Tech Trees, balance tweaks, Strongholds, damage log improvements, and other additions. Now is your chance to jump in, give it a shot, and check for yourself if these changes make your gaming experience better. But before you do, let’s take another look at everything scheduled.
Ready? Let’s do this.
- DOWNTIME
- PREMIUM ACCOUNT & PAYMENTS
World of Tanks servers will be down 28 February from 03:00 to 09:00 (UTC +8) to get everything in order. Also, we’ll be freezing the Global Map for 24 hours, temporarily closing the Clan portal and cancelling Strongholds battles.
Current Premium players will be credited an additional 24 hours of Premium account time to make up for the maintenance period. If you’d like to make any in-game purchases, please wait until the servers are up and running again.
Click the images below to check out some of the details on each feature.
What’s new
German Tech Tree Revision
To bring the German Tech Tree up to speed with the rest of the game, we re-examined its structure, including three new heavy tanks. We also dealt with some balancing issues to make battles more enjoyable for medium tanks and select Premium vehicles.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The revised German Tech Tree features two completely new heavies: the VK100.01P (Tier VIII) and Mäuschen (Tier IX). If you researched the Tier X Maus, these two will be credited to you as researched as well.
The Tier IX VK 45.02 (P) Ausf. B is now followed by another newcomer, the Pz.Kpfw. VII. This change won’t affect the XP you’ve earned on it.
The same applies to the Maus: all equipment, camos, emblems and crew you have for it are there to stay.
The Tier IX VK 45.02 (P) Ausf. B is now followed by another newcomer, the Pz.Kpfw. VII. This change won’t affect the XP you’ve earned on it.
The same applies to the Maus: all equipment, camos, emblems and crew you have for it are there to stay.
Changes to Japanese and American Tech Trees
Along with changes to German vehicles, in the crosshairs for 9.17.1 are Japanese heavy tanks and top-tier American TDs. You’ll now find that there’s a smoother progression to top tiers in the Japanese Tree, while the T28, T28 Prototype and T95 received a much-deserved speed boost.
Strongholds
Originally, Strongholds was a way for everyone to get involved in the World of Tanks metagame, but the barrier for entry ended up being too high. To bring the fun back, we replaced Battles for Strongholds with a newer, simpler “Advances” format. Now, defeat doesn’t end in structures being pillaged; you don’t need to defend a Stronghold every day, matching is done automatically, and Battle rooms are open for legionnaires.
We've heard your requests to keep good ol’ 10-vs-10 battles for detachments in Tier VIII vehicles. So, the 7-vs-7 format we tested together will make it into the release, but only for Tier VI detachments.
Also, with the removal of pillages and mandatory daily battles, it would have been too easy to reach the top levels of Strongholds development. This could disrupt the fair play environment. To avoid it, we’ll replace War Departments with a new format, War Games, where clans that participate in Skirmishes and Advances will compete for rankings in different categories. War Games will roll out after the 9.17.1 release.
We've heard your requests to keep good ol’ 10-vs-10 battles for detachments in Tier VIII vehicles. So, the 7-vs-7 format we tested together will make it into the release, but only for Tier VI detachments.
Also, with the removal of pillages and mandatory daily battles, it would have been too easy to reach the top levels of Strongholds development. This could disrupt the fair play environment. To avoid it, we’ll replace War Departments with a new format, War Games, where clans that participate in Skirmishes and Advances will compete for rankings in different categories. War Games will roll out after the 9.17.1 release.
Vehicle Balance Changes
Working off your feedback, we rebalanced another two Premium vehicles so that you can get the most bang for your buck: the T-34-85M and FV4202. Improvements were also made to the T110E5, Grille 15, Centurion Mk. I, and Centurion Mk. 7/1.
Simplified Technical Characteristics Display
The simplified technical characteristics display now briefs you about bonuses you get with one-time cost equipment, signals which one is the default shell type and compares it to others. Paired with newly-added average shell penetration and damage numbers, it helps you choose the most useful shell for the job.
Vehicle Comparison
Vehicle Comparison is also in for a change, now allowing you to compare more stats like a vehicle's mounted equipment, Crew Skills/Perks, consumables and camo.
Detailed Received Damage Log
Battle UI received a detailed “received damage” log informing you of critical hits, who hit you and what type of ammo they used. The log will also include ribbons for damage amounts, shell type, critical hits, and the name and type of the vehicle that hit you—all in aid of upping your game and seeking revenge. Several ribbons will also be removed, and you’ll be able to adjust the width of the dynamic damage indicators, signaling how much damage you receive or block. Combined, these tweaks should help you get a better read on the battle.
Platoon Spawn System
The point of a platoon is that you’re playing together with your teammates. When you spawn halfway across a map, that’s not so helpful to your or your team. With 9.17.1, we’re stopping this from happening with a nifty new logic that will spawn you and your comrades closer to each other.
UI Improvements
Thanks to a lot of people being vocal about a number of UI improvements they want to see in the game, we’ve made some changes. We’ve streamlined searching for vehicles and added a search by name option. Now, you don’t need to go further than the carousel to look up additional stats like Mastery badges, win ratio, and Marks of Excellence. Also, we revised the UI of Personal and Daily Missions, which will help get all the info about new and current mission quickly and easily.
Sounds
If it’s your dream to replace the sound of tank firing with an air horn, dog barking, or whatever audio file takes your fancy, then you’re in luck. In 9.17.1, audio files will be available to modders. If you’ve got a third-party voiceover or sound pack, you can play around with nearly every sound in the game.