To allow you to better focus on the battle and reduce the impact of unsportsmanlike conduct on gameplay, we will soon be disabling team damage and team kills caused by friendly fire and ramming in all Random Battles. Learn more about this change in this new video!
It's hard to imagine a sadder situation in the game than getting an allied shell in the side of your vehicle. Fire, destroyed modules, ruined mood. It's accidental most of the time.
The player didn't want to send a shell towards an ally. But sometimes they do it for a purpose that's known only to them. The worst part is that this damages the allies who could be useful in battle.
Outdated Mechanic
Team kill is a game mechanic that was a part of World of Tanks for a long time. Its main purpose was to immerse players into the game atmosphere.
However, with time, negative aspects of this mechanic became apparent – a domino effect, when allies start to exchange fire with each other. It resulted in bans and fines, but this game is not about that.
To make gameplay more enjoyable, we decided to rework the damage system by removing team damage by shooting or ramming.
No Damage?
Remember how frustrating it was to drive your light tank into a heavy and get damaged? Now it's impossible even if an ally decides to intentionally ram you during the battle.
Another typical situation that usually ended in a duel was an ally driving into your reticle during your shot. All the damage was suffered by an unlucky ally who drove forward at the wrong time, instead of that TD hiding in the bushes. It won't happen anymore.
If you hit an ally, you will only scratch their paint with a non-penetrating or ricochet mark. You will be able to identify friendly fire with sounds and visuals that are different from those of enemy shells.
What About the Artillery?
Getting caught in a rain of allied arty fire is very unpleasant. With the new mechanics, SPGs won't be able to damage their allies, but they will still have a chance to stun them. If we removed any effect on allies from artillery, they would be able to just send shell after shell into a bunch of allies and enemies unpunished while affecting the battle in a major way.
The ability to damage an allied SPG by sticking your gun into theirs was also removed completely. Now, if a HE shell meets an allied vehicle's gun, it will just go right through.
Is it Impossible to Destroy an Ally?
You can still get a blue nickname in the game, but it's an extreme scenario – for example, if you push an ally from a cliff which damages or destroys their vehicle, whether intentionally or otherwise. The same goes for flipping an ally upside down. Artillery will also get team killer status if they stun allies all the time.
A player who gets team killer status loses their friendly fire protection. Their teammates will be able to destroy their vehicle without any penalty. However, don't forget that destroying a teammate weakens your team.