What's In Store for World of Tanks

This report comes from WG Fest, the first-ever global gathering for those who keep World of Tanks and the Wargaming universe close to their heart! A lot has been going on, and we didn't want tankers who couldn't make it to Moscow to miss anything. That’s why we’re bringing all the latest news to you in a single article: from a small look at what’s just arrived through to a lowdown on what’s ahead for World of Tanks. There’s a lot in the works, and lots more on the way, so let’s get started!

Premium Tank Rebalancing

Premium vehicles that rolled out 5–6 years ago, and were perfectly fine in terms of combat parameters back then, often underperform in the game as it stands today. In Update 9.15, we set out to fix that. Since then, 18 vehicles were rebalanced. This made them more on par with their respective tiers. We'll continue to listen to your thoughts on Premium vehicles and tweak them in future updates.

Here's a handy summary of the changes made from 9.15 to 9.17:

• Update 9.15
• Update 9.16
• Update 9.17

 

А-32

Dispersion decreased from 0.52 m to 0.44 m.

 

 

 

 

Shell BP-320A (75 mm penetration) replaced with the UBR-354KB (98 mm penetration).

The A-32 gets much-deserved upgrades to its penetration, accuracy and shell velocity. With these improvements, the vehicle should be more effective in helping turn the tide of battle.

 

59-Patton

Maximum reverse speed changed from 16 km/h to 20 km/h.

 

 

 

 

View range increased from 370 m to 400 m.

 

 

 

 

Aiming time reduced from 2.5 s to 2.3 s.

 

 

 

 

Gun reload time reduced from 7.6 s to 7.5 s.

 

 

 

 

Dispersion reduced from 0.38 m to 0.36 m.

 

 

 

 

The 59-Patton’s firepower and aiming parameters were improved, which means that now this tank needs to spy enemy weak points and use its high damage per minute value to get the most out of battle. With the increased view range, it’s not just easier to spot enemies, but it’ll be easier to survive the melee, too. The 59-Patton’s speed has been ramped up, which will make it easier to zip behind cover to avoid incoming fire and secure favorable positions.

 

M56 Scorpion

Dispersion on hull traverse and on the move reduced from 0.32 to 0.28.

 

 

 

 

Maximum reverse speed changed from 12 km/h to 17 km/h.

 

 

 

 

Aiming time reduced from 2.0 s to 1.9 s.

 

 

 

 

Dispersion on barrel move reduced from 0.14 to 0.1.

 

 

 

 

The M56 Scorpion can now take a more active role in battle, seek out enemies, and fire off a well-placed shot, rather than being stuck aiming for a long time. Its improved reverse speed will help it get out of tight spots and avoid enemy fire a little easier.

 

112

Vehicle purchase price reduced from 12,250 to 10,500 Gold.

 

Moved the fuel tanks from the front to rear.

The fuel tanks were moved to the rear to reduce the chance of the vehicle catching on fire. We also analyzed the 112’s combat effectiveness and adjusted its cost accordingly.

 

STA-2

Reload time increased from 7.1 s to 7.5 s.

 

 

 

 

Dispersion after shot reduced from 3.5 to 3.

 

 

 

 

M318A1 shell penetration increased from 185.9 mm to 212 mm.

The STA-2 is now more comparable to the STA-1. However, it is still more at home on the second and third lines of battle. While its DPM decreased, its penetration was increased. So, it won’t be shooting as frequently, but it will have a better chance at scoring important hits.

 

Pz.Kpfw. V/IV
Pz.Kpfw. V/IV Alpha

Vehicle’s Tier changed from VI to V.

 

Suspension’s Tier changed from VI to V.

 

Turret’s Tier changed from IV to V.

 

Dispersion on the move reduced from 0.18 to 0.12.

 

 

 

 

Dispersion on hull traverse reduced from 0.18 to 0.16.

 

 

 

 

Dispersion reduced from 0.39 to 0.37.

 

 

 

 

Dispersion after firing reduced from 4 to 3.5.

 

 

 

 

Aiming time reduced from 2.3 s to 2.0 s.

 

 

 

 

Turret traverse speed increased from 30 deg/s to 44 deg/s.

 

 

 

 

View range increased from 350 m to 365 m.

 

 

 

 

Vehicle durability decreased from 820 HP to 520 HP.

 

 

 

 

To keep the Pz.Kpfw. V/IV Alpha competitive in Random Battles, several parameters were improved. Firstly, the tank moved to Tier V, and it won’t be matched with Tier VIIs anymore. Because of this, its technical characteristics have been tweaked to make it more suitable for this Tier. Other improvements include the Pz.Kpfw’s gun stabilization and accuracy, so it should be easier to pick off targets.

 

Heavy Tank No. VI

The Pzgr. 39 shell penetration increased from 132 mm to 145 mm.

The Heavy Tank No. VI had its shell penetration upgraded, which means it’s now a Tier VI heavy tank with excellent damage per minute, a large amount of hit-points and is capable of penetrating Tier VIII vehicles in their vulnerable frontal armour points.

 

Škoda T 40

The Vz. 39N OPG shell penetration increased from 132 mm to 145 mm.

The Skoda T 40’s standard shell penetration has been upgraded, with improvements similar to that of the Japanese Heavy Tank No. VI.

 

 

VK 45.03

Vehicle profitability increased by 15%.

Improved profitability cements the VK 45.03 place as a Premium credit-maker. Now, its earnings are comparable to Tier VIII vehicles, while preferential matchmaking prevents it from facing tanks of a much higher tier.

 

112

Dispersion on hull traverse and on the move reduced from 0.25 to 0.23.

 

 

 

 

Dispersion on turret traverse reduced from 0.14 to 0.12.

 

 

 

 

Changes to gun dispersion allow for easier gun handling and make the 112 more on par with the IS-6 by the sum of combat parameters.

 

 

FV4202

Top speed increased from 35 km/h to 40 km/h.

 

 

 

 

Vehicle profitability increased by 10%.

The FV4202’s poor speed was often a big disadvantage. Now, it can change positions much quicker and get around the battlefield to keep up with the action. The FV4202’s increased earnings per battle cements its place as a Premium credit-maker.

 

Panther mit 8,8 cm L/71

Hull traverse speed increased from 38 deg/s to 40 deg/s.

 

 

 

 

Engine power increased from 600 h.p. to 700 h.p.

 

 

 

 

Gun depression angle increased from -7° to -8°.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Panther mit 8,8cm L/71’s combat performance gets a boost with a 700hp engine and 40dps hull turning speed, gearing it up for more dynamic combat.

 

Löwe

Engine power increased from 800 h.p. to 1000 h.p.

 

 

 

 

Gun depression angle increased from -8° to -10°.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Increased LGP, UGP and turret armor.

 

Side armor at the bottom increased to 100 mm.

The Löwe gains increased durability. Its improved armor makes it resilient to enemy assaults, while the gun depression of -10° enables the Löwe to return the favor while playing on uneven terrain. Its awful mobility used to keep the Löwe behind its more powerful brethren: the IS-6 and T34. Following an engine boost, it will be able to secure advantageous firing positions, while thicker frontal armor lets it play like a true heavy tank in certain combat setups.

 

WZ-111

Dispersion on hull traverse and on the move reduced from 0.23 to 0.2.

 

 

 

 

Dispersion on turret traverse reduced from 0.14 to 0.12.

 

 

 

 

Dispersion reduced from 0.46 m to 0.44 m.

 

 

 

 

Aiming time reduced from 3.4 s to 3 s.

 

 

 

 

Engine power increased from 520 h.p. to 600 h.p.

 

 

 

 

Increased LGP and turret armor.

Thanks to improved mobility and positive changes to aim time and gun dispersion, the WZ-111 will be able to stand tough against the 112. It also gains thicker turret armor and a thicker lower glacis plate, making it less prone to enemy fire.

 

M4A1 Revalorisé

Dispersion on hull traverse and on the move reduced from 0.18 to 0.16.

 

 

 

 

Dispersion on turret traverse reduced from 0.16 to 0.13.

 

 

 

 

Dispersion reduced from 0.36 m to 0.35 m.

 

 

 

 

Aiming time reduced from 2.8 s to 2.4 s.

 

 

 

 

Engine power increased from 460 h.p. to 550 h.p.

 

 

 

 

Gun depression angle increased from -7° to -10°.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Engine type changed from diesel to gasoline.

Although the M4A1 Revalorisé’s gun deals solid alpha damage with good penetration, it is anything but easy to handle. To make for a smoother ride, we improved its aim time, stabilization and accuracy. On top of that, it’s getting better gun depression (-10°) and a more powerful engine: the Continental R975.

 

STA-2

Top speed increased from 45 km/h to 55 km/h.

 

 

 

 

Engine power increased from 500 h.p. to 570 h.p.

 

 

 

 

Chance of fire on impact decreased from 15% to 12%.

 

 

 

 

The STA-2 now has a more powerful engine, as well as a +10 km/h increase in speed, enabling more dynamic gameplay.

 

112

Side hull slope to the hull floor increased from 60 mm to 80 mm.

The side hull slope to the hull floor used to be the 112’s considerable weak spot that not many knew about. Now its normalized slope matches its vertical side armor.

 

T34

Dispersion on hull traverse and on the move reduced from 0.32 to 0.28.

 

 

 

 

Dispersion on turret traverse reduced from 0.24 to 0.22.

 

 

 

 

Aiming time reduced from 3.4 s to 3.2 s.

 

 

 

 

View range increased from 360 m to 380 m.

 

 

 

 

The T34’s gun boasts great penetration, which is offset by its terrible handling. We improved a few of the gun parameters, making it more enjoyable. Aiming time was lowered as well, but only slightly to keep it from being overpowered: full aim will take 3.2 seconds. This heavy suffered a considerable decrease in view range when it moved to Tier VIII. The change that used to be reasonable is no longer relevant in the game as it stands today. So, we increased this parameter to what is appropriate for a Tier VIII heavy: 380 m.

 

M46 Patton KR

Frontal turret armor thickness raised from 101.6 mm to 111 mm.

 

Gun mantlet thickness increased from 114.3 mm to 203.2 mm.

The M46 Patton KR is a lot like the M26 Pershing, but used to lose to the latter when it came to turret protection. We tweaked its parameters so that it can keep up with the Pershing.

 

T26E4 SuperPershing

The AP M77 shell penetration increased from 170 mm to 192 mm.

The SuperPershing often plays the role of a heavy tank: it secures flanks for well-armored vehicles. It has impressive APCR penetration, but the sheer cost of shells keeps its earnings per battle down. Improved AP penetration will allow it to excel in both fields: deal solid damage to thickly-armored enemies and generate more credits after each battle.

 

 

New Vehicles

Work on the game’s core mechanics always keeps the developers busy. Rest assured, we have great things in the pipeline, including—of course!—new vehicles. They will be designed to boost gameplay diversity with new tactics, alongside incorporating your feedback and respecting the historical stats. Here’s a sneak peek at just some of them:

Tech Tree Review

National Tech Trees change and grow as World of Tanks evolves. This growth often happened with little change to how they relate to each other regarding historical authenticity and stats. As a result, some are no longer relevant in the game as it stands today. In 2017, we’ll be putting things right with a series of tweaks to very structure of several national Tech Trees:

Matchmaker Improvements

Over the past year, we’ve been working hard to address your feedback on the matchmaker and fix well-known issues, including, for instance, getting ranked in the top/middle/bottom of the list an uneven number of times. We won’t just be tweaking matching—we’ll be overhauling its very core and the template system, so that it fits better with the game as it is today.

The improved matchmaker design will balance teams according to a number of templates (e.g., 3/5/7: three vehicles at the top of the list, five in the middle, and seven at the bottom). And one important factor comes to the forefront here: with a vehicle roster as diverse as that in World of Tanks, you are free to choose any tank in your Garage. We wouldn’t want to limit your choice. Therefore, the variety of vehicles waiting to get in a battle is different in prime time and periods when fewer players are online. To prevent excruciatingly long queues, the matchmaker may sometimes create two-tier or even single-tier battles.

• No Platoons with vehicles that are more than three tiers apart:The improved matchmaker simply won’t let players create them. The system of XP Bonuses & Penalties will be updated accordingly: there will be no penalties because creating a +/-3 Platoon will be technically impossible.

• Fewer easy wins and quick losses (these are usually caused by the uneven distribution of vehicle types between teams): In the future, the matchmaker will spread vehicles types across two teams more evenly.

  EXAMPLE: The current system might balance two teams with five TDs against six heavy tanks. The enhanced system spreads vehicles across the teams so that both have TDs and heavy tanks. Though this doesn’t necessarily mean there’ll always be equal numbers of identical classes (e.g., a team with three TDs/two heavy tanks against a team with three TDs and three heavy tanks).

• Artillery: The improvement will limit these to a maximum of three per team.
• Light tanks: To ensure the new system works, we’ll be stretching light tank branches to Tier X. The addition of tier IX–X vehicles will let the matchmaker assemble diverse teams, and faster. As for gameplay, this could kill two birds with one stone: light tanks gain power and get a chance to contribute meaningfully. The combination of decent view range, compact size, great speed and solid firepower (with guns being just a little less powerful than those of medium tanks) will transform them into small and swift predators. When positioned well, they will pose a threat to the enemy.

Sandbox Server: Second Iteration

Global rebalancing is hard to implement and get right, but we are committed to moving forward on this front. This past summer, players and developers tested a few different balance setups on the special Sandbox server. We can’t thank you enough for answering the call and helping us with feedback and suggestions!

The second Sandbox kicks off in 2017. Unlike the first, which featured massive changes to vehicle roles, and more, stage two will be divided into two phases, each introducing selective changes for you to test. This time, we’ll continue fine-tuning features that showed good results during summer testing.

PHASE 1 AGENDA:

Changes to accuracy, penetration loss over distance, and the revised overmatch/ricochet rule that was first revealed during the 9.17 Common Test.

Currently, the penetration stats and great accuracy of top-tier TDs and medium tanks allow them to hit and penetrate well-armored frontal projection, even at long range. We’ll be tweaking their penetration stats and penetration loss over distance mechanic, as well as accuracy stats for all other tanks, to raise the role of armor and make it more fun to play heavily-armored vehicles.

PHASE 2 AGENDA:

Changes to artillery; new consumables that could be used several times per battle.

For artillery, we’ll continue testing the “stun/shellshock” feature. We improved it a lot since the first Sandbox, so it's different from what some of you saw this summer. Also on the docket in this phase are aiming improvements, including the introduction of an alternative aim similar to Battle Assistant. The UI will undergo a few improvements as well and will provide you with important information about the stun: duration, radius, etc.

You're likely eager to hear what else is on the way, and we have more exciting news inbound. Stay tuned!