In this digest we would like to tell you about our continuing work on improvements and fixes in the game. You can find information about all updates that have been released in War Thunder on the website special section.



Let us tell you about the reason for the upcoming changes first. Artillery in War Thunder was designed as a fairly effective method of pressure on the enemy that allows you to squeeze them out of their well selected position or make a particular section of the battlefield dangerous for a while. The mechanics work well enough but the occasional but memorable deaths from sighting shells can really spoil the impression of the game, especially on weakly armoured vehicles for which artillery fire carries a much greater danger.

In its updated form the artillery strike is devoid of this drawback and just becomes more interesting. Now the first shells in the bombardment will be loaded with coloured aerosol upon which spotters can guide the main salvo and pilots can see the location of likely targets. The explosion of aerosol shells doesn’t cause significant damage and gives any enemies in the epicentre of fire a chance to react.

At the same time the number of the shells that have been replaced by targeting shells have been added to the main salvo which means that the final danger in the artillery strike zone hasn’t been reduced.



Launching an aircraft from aircraft carriers is a technically complex process that involves a special device - an acceleration catapult. In War Thunder this mechanism also gives the initial impulse to your aircraft. It’s just that until now it could give an impulse in the wrong direction…

We have fixed a bug that caused the launch direction on some aircraft carriers to be incorrect and might not only damage the aircraft on the superstructure but also throw you into the water. Taking off is now less risky!


This bug showed up most often in the most fierce battles with an abundance of destroyed and still living participants. Fragment shadows appeared on the ground not related to the vehicles themselves.

We found the reason for this problem and worked to eliminate it.



In general not a single rubric can do without various clarifications in the technical and weaponry vehicle characteristics if you open the full list of changes. But usually it is a minor change for a single vehicle.

This time we want to please the owners of the following vehicles: Ariete, Ariete PSO, Ariete (P) - will become noticeably more dynamic due to an increase in the number of gears in the gearbox. And Chieftain Mk.3, Chieftain Mk.5, Chieftain Mk.10 will become better at turning on the spot. Many such useful little things are waiting for you in each digest.

• The first four rounds of an artillery strike in ground battles are now targeting shots that leave orange smoke trails. Targeting shots may damage vehicles only with direct hits (no splash damage). The total number of shots in artillery support has been increased from 12 to 15.
  
• Ariete, Ariete PSO, Ariete (P) — the number of forward and reverse gears have been increased, the gear ratios have been adjusted.
  
• Chieftain Mk.3, Chieftain Mk.5, Chieftain Mk.10 — pivot radius has been reduced.
  
• M4A2 (76) W — targeting time on the AA machine gun has been increased from 30 to 90°/sec, similar to other open MG mounts.
  
• 2А11 37mm gun 一 burst fire spread has been increased, muzzle velocity spread has been increased when firing in bursts.
  
• M7 76mm gun一 muzzle velocity of the M42A1 HE round has been specified from 800 to 853 m/sec (report).
  
• M1 76mm gun 一 muzzle velocity of the M42A1 HE round has been specified to 823 m/sec (report).
  
• MIM146 SAM missile — a bug has been fixed that prevented armour fragmentation.

• A bug has been fixed that caused the incorrect launch direction of the right catapult on the AI carrier USS Forrestal (rерort).
  
• Yak-38,Yak-38M 一 incorrect indication of the thrust direction in the cockpit has been fixed .
  
• F3H-2 — a bug with the aircraft’s armouring has been fixed (report).
  
• He 111 H-16 — a bug has been fixed where the lower turret was able to fire through the fuselage (report).
  
• B-10B — separate bomb drop from the bomb bay has been added for the 1,000 lb AN-M65A1 bombs (report).
  
• I-180S — separate bomb drop with low calibre bombs has been added.
  
• Meteor F Mk.8 Reaper — separate bomb drop has been added for 1,000 lb G.P.Mk.I and M.C.Mk.I bombs on the fuselage pylons, as well as for the 500lb Mk.IV bombs.
  
• S-199 — a bug has been fixed that prevented separate gun control.
  
• IAR 316B — the secondary weapon menu has been corrected.
  
• Sa’ar — weight of the FFAR Mighty Mouse pods has been corrected.
  
• m/56D rockets — a bug that prevented armour fragmentation has been fixed (report).

• HMS Blackpool — a bug has been fixed with the depth setting of the Mk20 Bidder torpedo that prevented damage to destroyers and boats (report).

• The incorrect display of shadows in areas of accumulation of destroyed and operational armoured vehicles has been corrected.
  
• Long names for missiles in air battles have been shortened in the HUD (report).
  
• FPS drop has been fixed when firing AA machine guns in naval battles.
  
• A bug has been fixed with an interpolation switch to the remote key point when watching replays.

The current provided changelog reflects the major changes within the game as part of this Update. Some updates, additions and fixes may not be listed in the provided notes. War Thunder is constantly improving and specific fixes may be implemented without the client being updated.

Historically, many gaming mechanics in War Thunder were originally created for WWII and early Cold War vehicles, for example - air respawn for bombers and strike aircraft. However, many late period jet bombers and strike aircraft feature flight characteristics close to, or even similar to those of jet fighters. In this case, we consider air respawn closer to ground targets as an unreasonable advantage for such aircraft, since their efficiency is obvious both for players, and for gaming statistics. If later strike aviation is taking off and approaching targets together with fighters, their value for the team remains. That’s why we decided to revoke the air respawns for bombers and strike aircraft of ranks VI-VII in air Realistic Battles mode.

Currently, we see no need to adjust the Battle Ratings of these aircraft, but we will monitor your feedback and game statistics to quickly update the BRs of the top-tier aircraft, if they need it.

Air combat at rank VII in Realistic Battles intensively employs air-to-air missiles, rather than guns, as it is in the lower ranks.

Now, the majority of rank VII fighters will come equipped with more advanced air-to-air missiles right after purchase. This will allow pilots to fight more confidently and be more valuable to the team, even if their aircraft are not yet mastered. It is worth noticing however, that the weapon presets that include the advanced air-to-air missiles (if they are available from ‘stock’) still require the related modifications to be researched.

Here is the list of planned changes for rank VII jet fighters that currently lack the advanced missiles out of the box:
[expand type=details]
USA:

• F-5E Tiger II - The setup with 2xAIM-9B has been replaced by a setup with 2х AIM-9E without the need to research AIM-9E modification. Mixed setups with AIM-9E still require this modification to be unlocked.
  
• F-4E Phantom II - The setup with 2xAIM-9B has been replaced with a setup with 2х AIM-9E without the need to research AIM-9E modification. Mixed setups or setups with large numbers of AIM-9E still require this modification to be unlocked.
  
• F-8E Crusader - The setup with 2xAIM-9B has been replaced by setup with 2х AIM-9E without the need to research AIM-9E modification. Mixed setups with AIM-9E still require this modification to be unlocked.

Germany:

• F-4F Phantom II - The setup with 2xAIM-9B has been replaced by setup with 2х AIM-9E without the need to research AIM-9E modification. Mixed setups or with large numbers of AIM-9E still require this modification to be unlocked.
  
• F-4F Phantom II (Early) - The setup with 2xAIM-9B has been replaced by setup with 2х AIM-9E without the need to research AIM-9E modification. Mixed setups or with large numbers of AIM-9E still require this modification to be unlocked.
  
• MiG-21MF - The setup with 2х R-3R without the need to research R-3R modification has been added. Mixed setups or with large numbers of R-3R still require this modification to be unlocked (R-3R missile has been also added to the armament nomenclature).
  
• MiG-21bis-SAU - The setup with 2xR-3S has been replaced by setup with 2х R-13М1 without the need to research R-13М1 modification. Mixed setups or with large numbers of Р-13М1 still require this modification to be unlocked.
  
• MiG-23MF - The setup with 2xR-3S has been replaced by setup with 2х R-13М1 without the need to research R-13М1 modification. Mixed setups or with large numbers of R-13М1 still require this modification to be unlocked.

USSR:

• MiG-21SMT - The setup with 2х R-3R without the need to research R-3R modification has been added. Mixed setups or with large numbers of R-3R still require this modification to be unlocked.
  
• MiG-21bis - The setup with 2xR-3S has been replaced by setup with 2х R-13М1 without the need to research R-13М1 modification. Mixed setups or with large numbers of Р-13М1 still require this modification to be unlocked.
  
• MiG-23M - The setup with 2xR-3S has been replaced by setup with 2х R-13М1 without the need to research R-13М1 modification. Mixed setups or with large numbers of Р-13М1 still require this modification to be unlocked.
  
• MiG-23MLD - The setup with 2xR-3S has been replaced by setup with 2х R-13М1 without the need to research R-13М1 modification. Mixed setups or with large numbers of R-13М1 still require this modification to be unlocked.

Britain:

• Jaguar Gr.1A - The setup with 2xAIM-9G without the need to research AIM-9G modification has been added: Mixed setups with AIM-9G still require the research of this modification.

Japan:

• F-4EJ Phantom II - The setup with 2xAIM-9B has been replaced by setup with 2х AIM-9E without the need to research AIM-9E modification. Mixed setups or with large numbers of AIM-9E still require the research of this modification.

China:

• F-104G Starfighter - The setup with 2xAIM-9B has been replaced by setup with 2х AIM-9J without the need to research AIM-9J modification. Mixed setups or with large numbers of AIM-9J still require this modification to be unlocked.
  
• F-5A Freedom Fighter - The setup with 2xAIM-9B has been replaced by setup with 2х AIM-9E without the need to research AIM-9E modification. Mixed setups with AIM-9E still require the research of this modification.
  
• J-7E - The setup with 2xPL-2 has been replaced by setup with 2х PL-5B without the need to research PL-5B modification. Mixed setups with PL-5B still require the research of this modification.

France:

• Mirage IIIC - The setup with 2xAIM-9B + 1х Matra R530 without the need to research Matra R530 modification has been added. Mixed setups with Matra R530 still require the research of these modifications.
  
• Mirage IIIE - The setup with 2xAIM-9B + 1х Matra R530 without the need to research Matra R530 modification has been added. Mixed setups with AIM-9B or Matra R530 still require the research of these modifications.
  
• Mirage 5F - The setup with 2xMatra R550 Magic 1 without the need to research Matra R550 Magic 1 has been added. Mixed setups with Matra R550 Magic 1 still require the research of these modifications. AIM-9B missiles will be removed from the weapons nomenclature.

Sweden:

• J35D Draken - The 2xRB24 setup has been replaced by a setup with 2х RB24J without the need to research RB24J modification. Mixed setups or with large numbers of RB24J still require this modification to be unlocked.
  
• JA37C Jacktviggen - The 2xRB24 setup has been replaced by a setup with 2х RB24J without the need to research RB24J modification. Mixed setups or with large numbers of RB24J still require this modification to be unlocked.
  
• AJ37 Viggen - The 2xRB24 setup has been replaced by a setup with 2х RB24J without the need to research RB24J modification. Mixed setups or with large numbers of RB24J still require this modification to be unlocked.

Israel:

• Mirage IIICJ - The setup with 2xShafrir 2 + 1х Matra R530 without the need to research Matra R530 modification has been added. Mixed setups with Shafrir 2 or Matra R530 still require the research of this modification.
  
• Nesher - 2xAIM-9D is now available without the research of the AIM-9D modification. Mixed with AIM-9D setups still requires this modification to be unlocked.
  
• Kfir C.7 - 2xAIM-9D is now available without the research of the AIM-9D modification. Mixed setups or with large numbers of AIM-9Ds still require this modification to be unlocked.

[/expand]
You can check Battle Ratings update table here

On February 8th, 1945, Allied forces began Operation Veritable to seize a foothold to the west of the Rhine on German territory.

Complete the task from 11:00 GMT on the 8th of February until 11:30 GMT on the 12th of February and get the reward!

• 20-50% RP booster for 3-10 battles
  
• 20-50% SL booster for 3-10 battles
  
• 3-5 universal backup vehicles
  
• Random camouflage for ground vehicles of rank I-IV for USA, Great Britain or Germany from amongst those available to obtain in-game through achievements or purchase with GE.
  
• 1 day premium account

• Destroy 40/20/20 (AB/RB/SB) player vehicles whilst controlling specified vehicles in random battles

Tasks can be completed only on vehicles from the list:

• USA: M5A1, M10 GMC, M18 GMC, M36 GMC, M4A3E2, M4A3E2 (76) W, Cobra King, M4A2, M4A3 (105), Calliope, M4A3 (76) W, M4A2 (76) W, M8A1, M8, P-47D-25, P-47D-28, P-47N-15, P-51D-5, P-51D-20-NA, A-26B-10, A-26B-50
  
• Great Britain: Valentine IX, Sherman II, Sherman Firefly, Crusader AA Mk.I, Crusader AA Mk.II, Challenger, Achilles, Archer, Spitfire F Mk.XVI, Spitfire F Mk.IX, Spitfire LF Mk.IX, Tempest Mk.V
  
• Germany: Sd.Kfz.234/1, Sd.Kfz.234/2, Sd.Kfz.234/2 TD, Sd.Kfz.234/3, Sd.Kfz.234/4, Sd.Kfz.251/21, Wirbelwind, 15 cm Pz.W.42, StuG III G, Jagdpanzer 38(t), Jagdpanzer IV, Panzer IV/70(V), Pz.IV G, Pz.IV H, Pz.IV J, Pz.Bef.Wg.IV J, Tiger II (P), Tiger II (H), Panther D, Panther A, Jagdpanther, Bfw.Jagdpanther, Bf 109 G-6, Bf 109 G-14, Bf 109 G-10, Fw 190 A-5, Fw 190 A-5/U12, Fw 190 A-5/U2, Fw 190 A-8, Fw 190 D-9, Fw 190 F-8

Follow progress by clicking on your nickname → Achievements → Memorial Date.

You were extremely quick to deliver over 130 beautiful screenshots! We had plenty to choose from! The three most popular and the three selected by us will get 300GE! We will meet again next week!
Create a stunning screenshot and submit it on the War Thunder Steam Community Hub (link for instructions) with the tag #WTscreen13. You have time until 13.02.2022 to submit your screenshot.
After that date, 6 winners will be selected (3 of which will be the highest rated by the community and 3 selected by our judges), each of which receive a reward of 300GE.

Screenshot theme - Big Guns

• Your screenshot needs to be focused on big guns. If you can flatten the barn in one shot - Bring it on!
  
• Screenshots need to be compliant with the War Thunder rules.
  
• You need to be the author of the screenshot.
  
• Screenshot needs to be new. You cannot use those which have previously been published or used in other competitions.
  
• We will only accept raw screenshots from the game. You cannot use any editing software nor any other visual enhancements (like Nvidia Ansel filters).
  
• You can use filters and settings built into War Thunder.
  
• You can use the replay functionality built into War Thunder.
  
• Rewards will be delivered to the author's account within 7 working days.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2739805922
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2741922835
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2738794177
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2745533791
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2742943091
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2738473590
Each winner will get 300GE! Congratulations and see you next week!

Planned economy changes have been implemented:

• Bonus Silver Lions reward for victory or defeat in missions have been changed to 47% and 20%, instead of 67% and 0% respectively.
  
• The research points reward for time spent in mission has been changed: 0.8 RP/sec for defeat and 1.2 RP/sec for victory, instead of 0.6 RP/sec for defeat and 1.4 RP/sec for victory.
  
• Changes to reward multipliers, repair costs, and related economic parameters for vehicles have been applied in accordance to with a transition to the rank based economy.
  
• Changes to research and purchase costs, as well as relative parameters for specific vehicles have been applied.

Changes to the research trees:

• M1A1 Abrams and IPM1 一 switched places.
  
• Pz.IV F2 and Pz.IV G 一 grouped up.
  
• Pz.IV H and Pz.IV J (in the group) 一 moved to rank II.
  
• TAM and Begleitpanzer 57 一 switched places.
  
• Crusader AA Mk.I and Crusader AA Mk.II 一 switched places.
  
• Chi-Ha Kai and Ho-I 一 switched places.
  
• Ikv 103 一 moved to rank III.
  
• F-104G 一 moved to rank VII.
  
• Ju 88 C-6 一 moved to rank II.
  
• Bf 110 C-7 and Bf 110 F-2 一 grouped up.
  
• Tu-4, Tu-4 (China) 一 moved to rank V.

---

The current provided changelog reflects the major changes within the game as part of this Update. Some updates, additions and fixes may not be listed in the provided notes. War Thunder is constantly improving and specific fixes may be implemented without the client being updated.

The Battle of Stalingrad was one of the turning points in the history of World War II. The German offensive towards Stalingrad threatened the USSR with the loss of the Caucasian oil fields and the region itself, but the exhausting counterattacks of the Red Army prevented German plans. During months of intense action, Germany and Axis nations lost the initiative, and the last decisive blow from the Soviets resulted in an encirclement of German troops, followed by capitulation at the beginning of February 1943.

Complete the task from 11:00 GMT on the 2nd of February until 11:30 GMT on the 7th of February and get the reward!

Completing the “End of the Battle of Stalingrad” task will bring you a battle trophy with one of the following rewards:

• 20-50% RP booster for 3-10 battles
  
• 20-50% SL booster for 3-10 battles
  
• 3-5 universal backup vehicles
  
• Random camouflage for ground vehicles of rank I-III for USSR or Germany from amongst those available to obtain in-game through achievements or purchase with GE.
  
• 1 day premium account

• Destroy 40/20/20 (AB/RB/SB) player vehicles whilst controlling specified vehicles in random battles

The task can be completed only in vehicles from the following list:

• USSR: Т-70, GAZ-MM (72K), Т-34 (1941), Т-34 (1st Gv.T.Br.), Т-34 (1942),Т-34E STZ, М-3 Medium, BM-8-24, BM-13N, KV-1S, KV-1 (L-11), Il-2 (1941), Il-2 (1942), Il-2-37, Yak-1B, La-5, Yak-9
  
• Germany: Sd.Kfz 6/2, Pz.III L, StuG III F, Panzerjäger 1, Marder III, Pz.IV F2, Pz.IV G, Pz.35 (t), Pz.38 (t) F, Sd.Kfz. 251/10, Bf 109 F-4, Bf 109 G-2, Bf 109 G-2 (Romania), Ju 87 B-2, Ju 87 D-3

Follow progress by clicking on your nickname → Achievements → Memorial Date.

In this digest we would like to tell you about our continuing work on improvements and fixes in the game. You can find information about all updates that have been released in War Thunder on the website special section.



You may have noticed that War Thunder now has regular events with simple tasks and nice prizes that can be completed in specific vehicles. We wanted to make it easier for you to find the vehicles involved in these events.

Now vehicles that can be used in these events will be marked in the research trees with a special tag with an image of a star. You will also now be aware of the available task with the “Research” icon on the appropriate nation and type of vehicle with the aforementioned star on the vehicles themselves that are suitable for its completion.

Due to its specifications, this improvement will become available within 24 hours after this news has been released.



Don’t worry, in normal situations your “armour penetration cross” operated and is operating correctly. The problem was affecting vehicles with a laser rangefinder that when trying to fire at air targets, encountered an effect that caused the marker to remain on the ground and calculate the point of impact far beyond its possible range. You also couldn’t even tell if the cannon was already pointing in the direction you wanted it to or if it was still moving.

We changed the logic for the ballistic marker so now if you decide to shoot “birds” it will be replaced by a simple cannon direction marker.

When switching to anti-tank guided missiles your trusty helper will also be hidden so that nothing interferes with aiming.


We are talking about ground AB, where an active player can temporarily leave their armoured vehicle and hurt their enemies from the air in every way. But if at the time of the switching from ground vehicle into an aircraft you were firing, for example from a machine gun then the sound of endless machine gun shooting was transferred with you and created a unique atmosphere for the whole flight.

We have fixed that cacophony and now when you fly the aircraft, you will only hear the sounds of actual shots.

• The marker for the ballistic calculator (crosshair) has been disabled for the ATGM weapons.
  
• A bug has been fixed that caused the marker for the ballistic calculator (crosshair) to be displayed incorrectly when shooting at aerial targets with ground vehicles with a laser rangefinder.
  
• M1A2 Abrams — commander’s sight magnification has been specified: x2-8 → x3-10 (report).
  
• Ikv 91, ikv 91-105 — gun control option has been added to the commander’s sight.
  
• Ikv 91, ikv 91-105 — number of forward and reverse gears have been increased, the gear ratio values have been specified (report).
  
• Merkava Mk.2D — the display of the composite screen has been disabled in xray mode.

• F4J — a bug has been fixed where the 20mm Mk 11 mod 5 gunpod was not displayed on the model (report).
  
• Mi-24V — a bug has been fixed where the S-24 rocket was displayed in the weapon preset “9M114 Shturm x8 +S8KO x40”.
  
• SBD-3 — a separate gun drop has been added for the 100 lbs ANM-30 bombs.

• Purchased, or available to purchase vehicles, able to complete tasks in the weekend/special events now have the ‘star’ tag. You can get to the task via the “Task” tab in the vehicle menu, or by clicking the ‘star’ tag in the hangar. (Note: this feature will be implemented within 24 hours after the publication of this change list).
  
• A bug has been fixed where the RMB+LMB click on a vehicle group might disable the interface.
  
• Dependence of the camera rotation speed from the replay speed has been fixed.
  
• Freezing of shot sounds in aerial and ground Arcade battles has been fixed.

The current provided changelog reflects the major changes within the game as part of this Update. Some updates, additions and fixes may not be listed in the provided notes. War Thunder is constantly improving and specific fixes may be implemented without the client being updated.

Almost 200 screenshots full of beautiful aircraft! Well done Pilots! The three most popular screens chosen by you plus three more, selected by us will get 300GE! We will meet again next week!
Create a stunning screenshot and submit it on the War Thunder Steam Community Hub (link for instructions) with the tag #WTscreen12. You have time until 07.02.2022 to submit your screenshot.
After that date, 6 winners will be selected (3 of which will be the highest rated by the community and 3 selected by our judges), each of which receive a reward of 300GE.

Screenshot theme - Fast delivery

• Your screenshot needs to be focused on fast machines: jets or fast props, the fastest tanks and vessels. If it can move faster than a bus - Bring it on!
  
• Screenshots need to be compliant with the War Thunder rules.
  
• You need to be the author of the screenshot.
  
• Screenshot needs to be new. You cannot use those which have previously been published or used in other competitions.
  
• We will only accept raw screenshots from the game. You cannot use any editing software nor any other visual enhancements (like Nvidia Ansel).
  
• You can use filters and settings built into War Thunder.
  
• You can use the replay functionality built into War Thunder.
  
• Rewards will be delivered to the author's account within 7 working days.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2731785423
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2731286383
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2736777662
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2731673777
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2737229487
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2731490215
Each winner will get 300GE! Congratulations and see you next week!

In the recent economy updates, we described the mechanics of earning Silver Lions and Research points, and proposed that you vote for one of the possible variants to change the bonus rewards at the end of a mission. This was followed by the second stage of voting in order to make the final decision with confidence. These are the results:

What RP reward distribution during a battle do you want to have in War Thunder?

• 56.7% 一 0.8 RP/sec for defeat and 1.2 RP/sec for victory
  
• 43.3% 一 0.6 RP/sec for defeat and 1.4 RP/sec for victory (same as before)

What SL reward distribution do you want to have in War Thunder?

• 66.1% 一 +20% for defeat and +47% for victory
  
• 33.9% 一 +0% зfor defeat and +67% for victory (same as before)

Thus, the bonus reward for defeat and victory in mission will be revised in accordance to the vote results. The changes will be deployed with an economic update, which we will announce later.

Currently, the game features an economy model with a calculation of economic parameters for mid- and high tier vehicles based on the efficiency statistic for each vehicle. Efficiency is the sum of Silver Lions earned without taking into account the reward multiplier, Premium account, boosters, achievements and mission bonuses for the given time, divided by the number of deaths on this vehicle for the same period of time. That is, the more active rewardable actions are performed by players (hits, critical damage, kill assists, destruction of enemies, points captures, damaging and destruction of enemy bases), and the less often they lose their vehicles, the higher the efficiency is. The system is used in the game for most of its existence due to the specifics of gameplay. We may balance the vehicles by changing their technical characteristics very rarely and through a very limited range as this may contravene historical data that we rely on when we create the vehicles. As a rule, we balance vehicles by the Battle Rating (BR), but we can only change it within certain ranges due to the features of the given vehicle. For example, the vehicles with modern ATGMs with high armour penetration value can’t be below a certain BR level, even when their efficiency is low. The same is true for the early heavy tanks with good armour protection that can not be set with too high a BR, due to a weak gun.

This inevitably leads to a situation where some of the vehicles find themselves in more preferable conditions, they are more comfortable to play and much more effective on their tier. While others can not equally rival with opponents and are far less fun to play. The current economy system (hereinafter, it will be referred to as the "vehicle efficiency economy") is built in such a way, that playing in a less effective vehicle is more profitable on average to avoid the “double punishment” - gameplay and economic - from the inefficient vehicle. At the same time, playing the more effective vehicles is more risky, and requires player skills to achieve a decent reward after deducting the repair costs.

However, with the growth of the vehicle number and the addition of new gaming nations, the uneven use of certain vehicles also grows. Some nations and vehicles are much more popular among players and this affects the efficiency statistics. Therefore, we are considering the option of introducing a new economic system, which will be completely based on the position of the vehicle in the research tree (rank and position at a rank relative to other vehicles). Further in the text, such an economy will be referred to as "the rank based economy". Such a system was originally used in the game for vehicles of initial ranks (currently these are ranks I and II, and also partially III and IV).

The potential transition to the rank based economy will also cause another noticeable change - the reduction of the maximum repair cost. Due to the constant growth of the number of high tier vehicles and the number of tiers themselves, the rank based economy requires revision of the repair costs and multipliers for all mid- and high-tier vehicles. Instead, we are planning to set these parameters on the almost fixed level for vehicles of ranks VI+ in order to minimize the following economic adjustments. In this case, the number of economy-equivalent vehicles will be quite big (all vehicles of ranks VI, VII, and following), and will be constantly growing. Keeping the current max repair costs level for such a number of vehicles would be wrong, so it requires a reduction.

Before comparing two economic approaches in numbers, it is necessary first to recall one of the features of the economy updates - the normalization of the economic parameters for vehicles. The normalization limits the maximum available change of economic parameters in every economy update in order to smooth the transition to the target values, as well as to avoid harsh changes for vehicles, whose efficiency may vary over time.
Thus, two tables are presented to compare the two economies:
with normalization of the values that allows a comparison of the two economies in the next economic update that is scheduled for February. Here you can also compare the parameters for a specific vehicle in the next economic update, depending on the economy used.
without normalization of values that allows the comparison of two economies at the target values ​​that economic parameters would hypothetically reach for a significant number of economic updates for current vehicles at their current performance. We are not providing target values ​​with details on specific vehicles, as these are hypothetical indicators that change with each subsequent upload of statistics.

In general it is needed to note the following pros and cons of each economy for players:

• (+) On average lossless play in less efficient vehicles of rank IV or higher without premium account.
  
• (-) Vehicles of the less popular game nations are often the most efficient and as a result unprofitable.

• (+) Repair cost and reward multipliers are identical for similar vehicles of different game nations.
  
• (+) There is a clear correlation between economic parameters (repair cost, reward multipliers, reward for useful actions) and position in the research tree.
  
• (-) Decrease in the demand for less efficient vehicles as they will become economically equivalent to more effective vehicles of the same rank which may also lead to the decrease in the variety of vehicles in the battles.

Generalized key differences between the rank based and vehicle efficiency economies can be summarized as follows:

• greater reward multiplier for popular high ranked vehicles;
  
• lower repair cost for unpopular medium-ranked vehicles;
  
• higher repair cost for popular high ranked vehicles;
  
• lower reward multiplier for unpopular medium-ranked vehicles.

Let us make some specific examples comparing the target indicators (not for the next economy update but for the final implementation for a hypothetically large number of economy updates at the current level of statistics) of the economy by the vehicle rank and the economy by the vehicle efficiency for vehicles discussed in the community:

• base repair cost for T95 in AB will be 8360 SL instead of 17010 SL with a reward multiplier of 1.1 vs 1.3;
  
• base repair cost for Strv 121 in RB will be 5350 SL instead of 7740 SL with a reward multiplier of 1.5 vs 1.6;
  
• base repair cost for Tu-4 in RB will be 12570 SL instead of 30170 SL with a reward multiplier of 2.3 vs 1.8;
  
• base repair cost for F-5A in RB will be 10210 SL instead of 5720 SL with a reward multiplier of 3.8 vs 2.9;
  
• base repair cost for “Parizhskaya kommuna” in RB will be 28430 SL instead of 50860 SL with a reward multiplier of 2.0 vs 2.3.
  
• base repair cost for F-86A-5 and CL-13 Mk.4 (Italy) in RB will be 11290 and 12410 SL instead of 6950 and 10490 SL respectively.

Changes of the reward multipliers, repair cost and related vehicle economy parameters

Please note that depending on the results of your vote the next economy update will be made based on the results of your choice, that’s why are publishing two separate table sheets of economy changes.

• Open the table sheet with economy changes with economy based on the vehicle efficiency (See the 2nd tab 一 eff econ, norm (20/01))
  
• Open the table sheet with economy changes with economy based on the vehicle rank (See the 3rd tab 一 rank econ, norm (20/01))

The updated table sheet for changes in reward multipliers, repair prices and related economy parameters of vehicles has been updated taking into account modifications and corrections described in this message.


Changes of the research cost, purchase cost and related parameters for some vehicles
Open the table sheet


Changes in the research trees

• M1A1 Abrams and IPM1 一 switched places.
  
• Pz.IV F2 and Pz.IV G 一 have been grouped.
  
• Pz.IV H and Pz.IV J (in one group) 一 have been moved to rank II.
  
• TAM and Begleitpanzer 57 一 switched places.
  
• Crusader AA Mk.I and Crusader AA Mk.II 一 switched places.
  
• Chi-Ha Kai and Ho-I 一 switched places.
  
• Ikv 103 一 has been moved to rank III.
  
• Ju 88 C-6 一 have been moved to rank II.
  
• Bf 110 C-7 and Bf 110 F-2 一 have been grouped.
  
• Tu-4, Tu-4 (China) 一 have been moved to rank V.
  
• F-104G 一 has been moved to rank VII.

The War Thunder team would like to congratulate players with the Chinese New Year holiday that is also often referred to as Lunar New Year, or literally "Spring Festival".

From the 28th of January (11:00 GMT) until the 1st of February (11:00 GMT)

While controlling Chinese vehicles:

• Play 3 battles to get the “Fu the Tiger” decal.
  
• Win 5 battles to get the “Sky lantern” decoration.

Challenges must be completed in vehicles of rank II or above, with a battle activity over 70% in random battles, except for the “Assault” mode.

Track your progress by clicking your nickname, then “Achievements → Lunar New Year”.

The following vehicles, previously withdrawn from sale in the store, can now be purchased using Golden Eagles in-game on all platforms. There is no discount on these vehicles.

• Tank T-62 (Rank 6 China) - available till the end of the offer;
  
• Fighter Shenyang F-5 (Rank 5 China) - permanently available.