Announcement of Public Test: Strongholds 2nd Iteration

Tank Commanders,

Starting from 10th July 2014 onwards, the next Strongholds Public Test will be open for all to try. Similar to the previous Public Test, it will be isolated from the live servers.

To participate in the test you need to do the following steps:

1.  Download & Run the installer found here.
2.  Update the game via launcher.

About the Strongholds Public Test

'Strongholds' represent clan property and consist of a virtual military base, zones surrounding the base as well as auxiliary buildings. Strongholds may be created by clan commanders for free.

Here is a list of main features included in the Strongholds Public Test:

• Ability to create a Stronghold and upgrade it to Level 4.
• Ability to build Stronghold structures that produce special 'Reserves' (bonuses) and upgrade them to Level 4.
• Ability to participate in Skirmishes to gain Industrial Resources.
• Industrial Resources yield will be boosted five times (x5 bonus).

Strongholds Public Test Information

1. The Public Test will be available from 10th July 2014 to 14th July 2014.
2. The Public Test will be available to players who have registered their accounts before 30th June 2014.
3. If a player has changed his login password before 30th June 2014, he or she will be able to log in to the Public Test server with his previous password.
4. Clans that were registered before 30 June 2014 will be able to participate in the Public Test instantly. Do note that all clan tags will be changed randomly during the Public Test.
5. It is possible for players without a clan to create a test clan in the Public Test server. Please visit this link for more details.

Additional Information

• Payments of any sort will not be available on the Public Test Server.
• Each player in the Public Test will receive 20,000 gold, 100,000,000 EXP and 100,000,000 credits
• The income rate for EXP and Credits will be on the same level.
• All clan operations, including clan creation, changing of positions or joining a clan will be available in the Public Test portal.
• The 48-hour cooldown for changing clans will be disabled in the Public Test.
• The 20-player requirement to create a Stronghold will be disabled in the Public Test.
• The 15-player requirement to create zones will be disabled in the Public Test.
• The 48-hour cooldown for clan operations will be disabled in the Public Test.
• Any clan member other than the Commander can create a Stronghold in the Public Test.
Clan Tags will be renamed; random names will be assigned.

Update 9.2 Preliminary Patch Notes [UPDATED]

Aside from the Strongholds feature, the Public Test server will also be loaded with new changes and additions that may be arriving in Update 9.2. Here is a list of the preliminary patch notes:

New Content

• New Strongholds mode for Clan Wars
• Six new awards for Team Battle mode introduced
• SU-85i tank destroyer added to in-game shop

Maps

• Improvements and corrections made to the following maps:
  • Sacred Valley
  • Cliff
  • Sand River
  • Hidden Village
  • Erlenberg
  • El Halluf
  • Airfield
  • Komarin
• Prokhorovka map reworked, added under the name "Fire Arc"
• Snowstorm effect on Kharkov reworked
• Fixed the glitch causing vehicles to be launched into the air upon contact with certain structures on the Pearl River map
• Fixed the issue with blinking abbey windows on the Abbey map and the Gosprom building on Kharkov
• Reworked collision models for window embrasures in certain buildings on the Kharkov map. Players will now be able to shoot through these windows
• Collision model of bridge arches on the Windstorm map improved

Changes to Vehicle Characteristics

• Damage with HVAP M93 premium shell fired from 76mm gun M1A1 and 76mm gun M1A2 set equal to the damage with standard shell for these guns (from 110 to 115). Previously the premium shell dealt 5 points of damage less than the standard shell

France

AMX 50 B:

• Aiming time for 120mm SA46 gun for AMX 50 B turret changed from 3 s to 2.5 s

Germany

Aufklärungspanzer Panther:

• Reload time for 7.5/5.5cm Waffe 0725 gun for VK 28.01 Ausf. C turret changed from 4 s to 3.4 s

Indien-Panzer:

• Aiming time for 9cm Bordkanone gun for Indien-Panzer turret changed from 2.9 s to 2.7 s
• Reload time for 9cm Bordkanone gun for Indien-Panzer turret changed from 7.5 s to 7.2 s

Leopard 1:

• Reload time for 10.5cm Bordkanone L7A3 gun for Leopard 1 turret changed from 9 s to 8.7 s

Leopard Prototyp A:

• Reload time for 10.5cm L7A1 gun for Leopard Prototyp A2 turret changed from 14 s to 13 s
• Aiming time for 9cm Bordkanone gun for Leopard Prototyp A2 turret changed from 2.9 s to 2.5 s
• Reload time for 10.5cm L7A1 gun for Porsche Standardpanzer turret changed from 12 s to 11.1 s

Rhm.-Borsig Waffenträger:

• Reload time for 12.8cm Kanone 44 L/55 gun for Rhm.-Borsig Waffenträger turret changed from 10.9 s to 11.5 s

Waffenträger auf E 100:

• Movement dispersion for Waffenträger auf E 100 suspension increased by 25%
• Dispersion on hull traverse for Waffenträger auf E 100 suspension increased by 25%
• Reload time for 12.8cm Kanone L/61 gun for Waffenträger auf E 100 turret changed from 60 s to 52 s
• Magazine shell quantity for 12.8cm Kanone L/61 gun for Waffenträger auf E 100 turret changed from 6 to 5

Waffenträger auf Pz. IV:

• Reload time for 12.8cm Kanone L/61 gun for Waffenträger auf Pz. IV für 12.8cm turret changed from 10.9 s to 11.6 s
• Reload time for 12.8cm Kanone 44 L/55 gun for Waffenträger auf Pz. IV für 12.8cm turret changed from 10 s to 10.6 s
• Reload time for 15cm Pak L/29.5 gun for Waffenträger auf Pz. IV für 15cm turret changed from 16 s to 17 s
• Reload time for 15cm Pak L/38 gun for Waffenträger auf Pz. IV für 15cm turret changed from 16 s to 17 s

VK 45.02 (P) Ausf. B:

• Armor of upper glacis plate changed from 170mm to 200mm
• Armor of lower glacis plate changed from 150mm to 200mm
• Armor of the frontal section of the roof for VK 45.02 (P) Ausf. B Schwerer Turm changed from 40mm to 60mm

StuG III Ausf. G:

• Load capacity for StuG III Ausf. F suspension changed from 19,800kg to 22,940kg
• Load capacity for StuG III Ausf. G suspension changed from 22,400kg to 25,690kg
• Hull weight changed from 12,000kg to 15,140kg
• Armor arrangement of StuG III Ausf. G brought in line with armor arrangement of real vehicles

Japan

Type 97 Te-Ke:

• Repair cost decreased by 5%

Great Britain

Churchill I:

• Armor arrangement adjusted to be more accurate (minor changes)

FV215b (183):

• Penetration of HESH Mk.1 shell for 183mm L4 gun changed from 275mm to 230mm

FV4202:

• Reload time for 105mm Royal Ordnance L7A1 gun for FV4202 turret changed from 9.3 s to 8.6 s

U.S.A.

M46 Patton:

• Dispersion on the move for M46T80E1 suspension decreased by 7%
• Dispersion on hull traverse for M46T80E1 suspension decreased by 7%
• Dispersion on the move for M46T81 suspension decreased by 8%
• Dispersion on hull traverse for M46T81 suspension decreased by 8%
• Dispersion for 105mm gun T5E1M2 on turret traverse decreased by 14%
• Dispersion for 105mm gun T5E1M2 changed from 0.42 m to 0.4 m
• Dispersion for 105mm gun T5E1M2 on turret traverse decreased by 17%
• Dispersion for 105mm gun T5E1M2 changed from 0.42 m to 0.4 m

M8A1:

• Armor arrangement adjusted to be more accurate (minor changes)

U.S.S.R.

IS:

• Armor arrangement adjusted to be more accurate (minor changes)

Object 263:

• Reload time for 130mm S-70A gun for Object 263 turret changed from 11 s to 10.7 s

SU-100M1:

• Reload time for 100mm LB-1C gun for SU-100M1 turret changed from 6.9 s to 5.9 s

SU-101:

• Reload time for 100mm D-54S gun for Turret_1_SU-101 changed from 7.1 s to 6.7 s
• Dispersion for 100mm D-54S gun changed from 0.36 m to 0.35 m

SU-122-54:

• Reload time for 100mm D-54S gun for SU-122/54 turret changed from 6.8 s to 6.5 s
• Dispersion for 100mm D-54S gun changed from 0.36 m to 0.35 m
• Reload time for 122mm М62-C2 gun for SU-122/54 turret changed from 10 s to 9.2 s
• Dispersion for 122mm М62-C2 gun changed from 0.36 m to 0.35 м

Т-44:

• Reload time for 100mm LB-1 for Т-44-100 turret changed from 8.6 s to 8.1 s

Gameplay

• Removed all Historical Battle scenarios from the game
• Winter Himmelsdorf map is unavailable for low-tier battles
• Komarin map is unavailable for high-tier battles (available for tiers I-VIII only)
• Performance on the Komarin map improved
• Six new awards for Team Battle mode introduced
• Current average damage percent for Marks of Excellence, displayed in a tooltip, changed from maximum to current

Graphics

• The IS, SU-100, StuG III Ausf G, and Churchill I vehicles reworked in a new visual quality
• Visual models of the following tank models improved: the ISU-152, SU-122А, M18 Hellcat, M3 Lee, M4A3E2 Sherman Jumbo, Tortoise, Black Prince, Conqueror Gun Carriage, Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. D, Sturmpanzer I Bison, Pz.Kpfw. B2 740 (f), and Type 4 Chi-To
• Minor bugs in the collision model of the Object 430 tank fixed
• For vehicles in HD quality, levels of detail for various display distances reworked
• Improved display of shaders on vehicles in HD quality with settings set to low or medium
• Improved textures of certain previous vehicles that would be display worse after release of 9.0
• Snowstorm effect on the Kharkov map reworked
• Effects of shells hitting certain surfaces reworked
• New option in settings to disable foliage transparency between the camera and the player's vehicle is now available (to improve performance of low configurations)
• Fixed bugs with blown-off turrets disappearing underground

Sound

• Vehicle explosion sounds reworked depending on weight differences
• Volume of gunshot sounds reworked depending on shooting distance
• For certain vehicles, reworked turret traverse sounds that were recorded incorrectly

Other Bugfixes and Changes

• Green / red line in Artillery mode reworked. Now, when a vehicle crosses the intended shell flight path, the line turns red
• Fixed the issue with auto-aim position hanging up in replays
• Fixed the issue with vehicles twitching when turning on inclined surfaces
• Display of HD vehicle models changed. Only the player's vehicle will be displayed in HD now
• Parameters of many vehicles rebalanced
• Certain bugs with application failures and crashes fixed.
• Certain cases of desynchronization of vehicle position on the server and player's client fixed
• Certain bugs related to memory leaks when joining/leaving a battle fixed
• Certain bugs during battle playback fixed
• Bug with allied artillery gunshot tracers getting split in certain cases fixed
• Bug with all enemies getting spotted at battle completion fixed
• Occasional false notifications of setting enemy vehicles on fire fixed
• Certain minor interface bugs fixed

Join the Public Test!

Once you've downloaded the Public Test client, you can proceed to create a test clan and begin tinkering with Strongholds in the 2nd Public Test. Tutorials/FAQs are also available if you want to learn more about it.

Roll out!

Download the Public Test Client here

Read the Tutorial/FAQ page for Strongholds

Visit the Strongholds section in the Forums