We are pleased to present our September Wallpaper, available in a number of different sizes to fit your PC's monitor!



With Calendar

1024x768, 1280x1024, 1366x768, 1600x1200, 1680x1050, 1920x1080, 1920x1200, 2560x1440, 2560x1600

Without Calendar

1024x768, 1280x1024, 1366x768, 1600x1200, 1680x1050, 1920x1080, 1920x1200, 2560x1440, 2560x1600

Commanders!

Today, we’d like to tell you more about another historical camouflage that will become available in September. This time, we’ll be introducing the iconic Volna (“Wave”) camouflage from Russia.



This was a non-standard camouflage from 1996 and 1997, painted on a unique T-80BV MBT serving in the town of Sertolovo in the Vsevolozhsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia (unlike the city of Saint Petersburg, the area retained its Leningrad name from the Soviet times).



The camouflage was very likely a one-off piece of art. It imitates the wave shimmer pattern on a dark blue background. The “shimmer” pattern is likely air-brushed.



One might be asking though, what’s the point of painting a service MBT this way?

The answer is, most likely, promotion. On the video linked above, the tank can be seen driving around with people in civilian clothing. This is, of course, something many countries do to promote their militaries and Russia is no exception. It’s not an official service camouflage, but your T-80B would look really cool in it.







This camouflage will be usable on all vehicles and for all environments. We do hope you’ll enjoy it and, as always:

See you on the battlefield

Commanders!

Today we’ve prepared the following items for you:

• Altay Tier 10 Premium Main Battle Tank
• Leclerc T40 Tier 9 Premium Tank Destroyer (Military Bundle with historical camouflage)
• Leopard Revolution Tier 8 Premium Main Battle Tank (Military Bundle with historical camouflage)
• Marder 2 Tier 8 Premium Armored Fighting Vehicle (Military Bundle with historical camouflage)
• Battle Coins on discount

Between August 27 and September 3, 2020, the following items will be available:




The Altay is the result of a Turkish program to build a true indigenous MBT. After a decade of development with hundreds of millions of dollars spent, Turkey finally achieved its goal and built a tank that is roughly on par in performance with decades-old Leopard 2 variants while it still uses many foreign components, including some of its most critical systems. Nevertheless, future Altay variants are expected to feature some cutting edge components.



In Armored Warfare, the Altay is a Tier 10 Premium Main Battle Tank based on the current prototypes, but also upgraded by various hypothetical aftermarket components of the future to surpass its current capabilities and to match its assigned Tier in power. The basic tank is – gameplay-wise – a mobile sniper, much like the Leopard 2 series, relying on its mobility and the penetration of its shells rather than on its armor. There are two key features to this tank: Adjustable Suspension (tilting forward and to the side) and Hybrid Engine with its distinctive electric sound, giving the vehicle excellent mobility and agility.

The Altay Tier 10 Premium MBT is available in our Web Shop via Loot Crates. Collect 100 blueprint pieces from these crates to obtain the vehicle.








The Leopard 2 Revolution is a continuation of the older Evolution upgrade, intended to improve the performance of the older variants of the Leopard 2 Main Battle Tank in order to make it excel even on the battlefields of the 21st century. The improvements include a comprehensive armor upgrade, ROSY soft-kill APS and smoke grenade launchers as well as an entire suite of cutting edge electronics. You can read more about it in our dedicated article.



In Armored Warfare, the Leopard 2 Revolution is a Tier 8 Main Battle Tank. It is not only well-armored, it also features an extremely accurate 120mm gun with advanced ammunition, allowing it to destroy its opponents at very long ranges, rivaling those of Tank Destroyers. The German tanks in general perform best at longer ranges and the Revolution is no exception.

The Leopard 2 Revolution is now also available in a military bundle, which includes:

• Leopard Revolution Tier 8 Premium Main Battle Tank
• German amber (Dunkelgelb) base paint
• German historical PSO camouflage
• Bundeswehr Cross decal

With this bundle, you can make your Leopard Revolution appear like a real-life German combat prototype, the true next-generation Leopard MBT. You can read more about the PSO camouflage in our dedicated article. The Bundeswehr decal also fits every German vehicle in the game nicely.








The Marder 2 was an experimental German IFV, developed in the late 1980s to replace the aging Marder IFV. It featured more armor, a new turret and a brand-new Rheinmetall dual-caliber autocannon that could fire both 35mm and 50mm rounds. Despite its qualities, the vehicle was never accepted in service due to its high cost and because it was no longer needed because of the fall of the Soviet Union. A single surviving prototype can be found today in the Koblenz military collection. You can read more about it in our dedicated article.



In Armored Warfare, the Marder 2 is a Tier 8 Armored Fighting Vehicle. With its 44 tons, it’s one of the heaviest and toughest AFVs around. Unlike many other AFVs of its Tier, it is not armed with guided missiles, relying instead on its extremely powerful 50mm autocannon. This vehicle can also deploy Mechanized Infantry.

The Marder 2 is now also available in a military bundle, which includes:

• Marder 2 Tier 8 Premium Armored Fighting Vehicle
• German NATO camouflages
• German summer camouflage from the late 1970s
• Bundeswehr Cross decal

This bundle contains three historical camouflages that, along with the Bundeswehr Cross decal, will make your German vehicles look like their real-life counterparts. You can read more about the camouflages in our dedicated article.








Sometimes called the French Terminator, this vehicle was designed on the Leclerc MBT chassis with one purpose in mind – to accompany tanks and fight off infantry attacks the same way as the Russian BMPT series does. You can read more about it in our dedicated article.



In Armored Warfare, the Leclerc T40 is a Tier 9 Premium Tank Destroyer. It offers you a combination of a durable hull, rapid-fire 40mm automatic cannon and, most importantly, the Javelin missile system. Simply right-click the target, wait until it becomes locket and fire the Javelin ATGM – it will home itself on the target, attacking its weak roof armor. Thanks to this ability, the Leclerc T40 is one of the most destructive vehicles in the game.

The Leclerc T40 is now also available in a military bundle, which includes:

• Leclerc T40 Tier 9 Premium Tank Destroyer
• French NATO camouflages

This bundle contains two French historical camouflages that will make your French vehicles look like their real-life counterparts. You can read more about the camouflages in our dedicated article.








This week, we are offering you an opportunity to boost your Enigma’s Legacy Battle Path progress and get that main prize you know you want – the Type 10 Tier 10 Premium Main Battle Tank!



The following Battle Coin bundles are available:

• 1.000 Battle Coins (10% off)
• 5.000 Battle Coins (15% off)
• 10.000 Battle Coins (25% off)
• 25.000 Battle Coins (35% off)
• 50.000 Battle Coins (45% off)

Battle Coins can be used for a number of things, including:

• Force-completing Battle Path missions
• Progressing through Battle Path levels
• Purchasing the Enigma’s Legacy Loot Crates with Hunter AFV

We hope that you will enjoy the offer and, as always:

See you on the battlefield!

On the 27th of August, starting from 8:00 CEST (26th of August, 11 PM PDT), the server will not be available for 5 hours due to the application of Update 0.32.7245



 

• Added some assets for an upcoming event
• Fixed an issue that caused Mechanized Infantry positions to become visible to the enemy team on the entire map even without spotting
• Fixed an issue with the spotting system that caused some vehicles to become spotted incorrectly

Commanders!

Today we’ve prepared the following items for you:

• Armata 152 Tier 10 Premium Main Battle Tank
• T-72B3 Tier 8 Premium Main Battle Tank Bundles
• BMPT Mod.2017 Tier 7 Premium Tank Destroyer
• Spirithaven Treasure Trove with 10.000 Gold

Between August 20 and August 27, 2020, the following items will be available:




The Armata 152 is a version of the T-14 Armata, armed with larger cannon. One of the upgrades considered for the T-14 Armata was the increase of its caliber to 152mm in order to absolutely, positively destroy anything with the first shot. The 2A83 smoothbore is a behemoth of a gun, designed in the last days of the Soviet empire for the next generation of super-tanks. It’s massive, heavy and quite costly to produce, but, most importantly, it was never truly needed to deal with the western MBTs since the standard 125mm guns were (and still are) up to the task. That is why it never found its way on any Soviet MBT with even the standard T-14 Armata being armed with an improved 125mm cannon. You can, however, experience its awesome firepower in Armored Warfare! Learn more about it in a dedicated article.



In Armored Warfare, the T-14 Armata 152 is a Tier 10 Premium Main Battle Tank. While not firing as fast as its 125mm counterpart, the 152mm rounds do enormous damage, often eliminating weaker opponents with a single shot. And then there’s the platform itself – the Armata, the most modern Main Battle Tank in the world. Earn it and use it to dominate!

The Armata 152 Tier 10 Premium MBT is available in our Web Shop via Loot Crates. Collect 100 blueprint pieces from these crates to obtain the vehicle.








The T-72B3 is the most modern Russian T-72 variant currently in service. It is a heavily upgraded version of the T-72B, featuring Kontakt-5 ERA kit and an improved Fire Control System. Together, these modifications allow the aging T-72 to serve well into the 21st century. You can learn more about its history in our dedicated article!



In Armored Warfare, the T-72B3 is a Tier 8 Premium Main Battle Tank. It continues the tradition of other Russian tanks. Its low silhouette, good mobility, powerful 125mm gun and its advanced ERA kit make it a formidable opponent. This version of the T-72B3 is offered without any camouflage.

The T-72B3 Main Battle Tank is now available in two bundles.



The T-72B3 Biathlon Bundle includes, apart from the vehicle itself, three skins that were inspired by the Tank Biathlon event – Red, Blue and Green. The Green skin hasn’t been obtainable for a very long time and shouldn’t be missed out by those players, who strive to collect all the truly rare visual customization pieces of Armored Warfare.



The T-72B3 Military Bundle, on the other hand, includes (once again, apart from the vehicle itself), the Red Army khaki base paint, three Russian real-life camouflages and a decal that can be typically seen on various military parade vehicles of the Russian army. Together, they allow you to customize your T-72B3 to look the way it can be seen in reality. The camouflages will, of course, come in handy for other vehicles as well.








The BMPT Mod.2017 is one specific version of the BMPT Terminator that was deployed in 2017 in Syria for extended testing along with some other Russian prototype equipment, including the SU-57 jet fighter and the Uran-9 combat robot. It consists of a modified T-90 hull with a modernized turret from BMPT-72 installed on it. Another major difference was the presence of a new type of Explosive Reactive Armor that was made of soft fabric bags with explosive filler. You can read more about it in our dedicated article.



In Armored Warfare, the BMPT Mod. 2017 is a Tier 8 Premium Tank Destroyer and arguably the most powerful variant of the BMPT family. Like the others, it combines a tank hull with an unmanned turret, armed with two 30mm cannons as well as four missile launchers. Its thick armor and advanced ATGMs quickly made it one of the most feared vehicles of Tier 8 battlefields, a position it retains to this day.








Today, we have a special offer for you. A veritable treasure trove of 10.000 Gold awaits you at a discounted price.



Please note that this item can only be purchased once per user. You can find out more about Gold and its uses in our dedicated article.





We hope that you will enjoy the offer and, as always:

See you on the battlefield!

Commanders!

We’re happy to announce that the final vehicle of the Enigma’s Legacy Battle Path campaign, the Hunter Tier 9 Premium AFV is now permanently available until the end of the Battle Path.

Another alternative name for this vehicle is NGAFV (or Next Gen AFV), since it belongs to a whole program to replace the obsolete M113 APC in Singaporean service and to operate alongside its predecessor, another indigenous Singaporean IFV called Bionix. Hunter is the name of the production model of this program. The Hunter AFV is the pinnacle of bleeding edge of technology. In this sense, it can be compared to the AS21 Redback and both vehicles share several characteristics, not the least of which being relatively large size. This bulky IFV offers considerable levels of protection and firepower. It is expected to serve in the Singaporean army in large numbers in the near future with its mass-production having recently begun. You can read more about its history in our dedicated article.



In Armored Warfare, the Hunter AFV is a Tier 9 Premium Armored Fighting Vehicle. As its description above suggests, it is a rather standard-sized IFV with good levels of protection and excellent firepower (consisting of a 30mm autocannon and a Spike ATGM launcher). It also features a recently introduced type of armor, NERA. Simply put, NERA is an ablative armor kit that deteriorates whenever it gets hit. In other words, the vehicle starts with excellent protection levels but it will lose some with damage taken as the battle progresses. Apart from that, the vehicle is adequately mobile and quite universal. It can, of course, also deploy Mechanized Infantry.

This vehicle can be obtained from Enigma Loot Crates. You need to assemble 100 blueprint pieces to assemble the vehicle. The Last Enigma Loot Crates are available in exchange for surplus Battle Coins directly in the game (as long as you have the Enigma’s Legacy access). They include the abovementioned blueprint pieces (along with a chance for the Hunter to drop directly) as well as pieces of Special Enigma Loot Crates. These Special Crates have to be first assembled and, upon doing so, they drop improved loot, including:

• Exclusive Premium vehicles (including those from previous Battle Paths, up to Tier 10)
• Exclusive commanders (including Battle Path ones)
• Battle Path boosters

These Loot Crates can be obtained in the Crates section in the Battle Path window for the following prices:

• 1 Crate for 1.500 Battle Coins
• 5 Crates for 7.000 Battle Coins
• 10 Crates for 12.500 Battle Coins

We hope that you will enjoy this vehicle and, as always:

See you on the battlefield!

On the 20th of August 2020, starting from 08:00 CEST, the server will not be available for two hours due to the planned server maintenance.



Please note that the maintenance can be extended beyond the abovementioned timeframe. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Commanders!

As you already know, the T-72B is getting a complete overhaul in Update 0.33, but there’s more coming than just that. Thanks to the help provided by a skilled group of real-life tank experts, we’re making a number of corrections to other models than that, most notably the Abrams line of vehicles and today we’d like to tell you more about them. Without further ado, here they are.

The earliest Abrams in the game is the XM1 Tier 6 Premium Main Battle Tank. Veterans might remember this vehicle being actually a progression one before it gained its Premium status during Balance 2.0. We haven’t really touched it since and found that its model was overdue for some serious improvements. For starters, the general dimensions are off – the tank is supposed to be lower, its turret wider, the mantlet is wrong and the gun is incorrectly placed. The texture quality is nothing to brag about either.





We changed pretty much every element of the model to the point where it starts being a new one. Take a look and compare for yourselves. The tank should now be historically accurate.





Now, here’s where things get a little complicated. We are, of course, working on the fixes of other Abrams tanks, as we promised. However, this project turned out to be more requiring than we had anticipated and we’re sorry to announce that we won’t be able to include the full overhauled Abrams model line in the launch of Update 0.33. We need a few more weeks to complete the overhaul since we do want to present them in the highest quality possible.

There are, however, model upgrades that we will be introducing at launch.





All Leopard 2 models will receive the correct suspension offset. In case you aren’t familiar with the concept – these tanks do have a torsion bar suspension. The way this suspension works, each roadwheel is connected to a torsion bar assembly that twists in the middle. One of the side effects of this suspension type is an offset. Simply put, either the left suspension side (wheels, tracks everything) or the right side are slightly in front of the other one. Our Leopard tanks were missing this feature and we added it.





Next stop, specific Leopards. For the Leopard 2AV, we’ll be improving the model by modeling new tracks, adding several hull and turret elements such as the crosswind sensor, improving the model of gunner optics and improving the textures of this vehicle overall. But, most importantly, this tank will get unique 105mm smoothbore cannon from the early stage of Leopard 2 development, which will receive a new model.





The Leopard 2 itself will be tweaked as well by a major texture overhaul along with some extra turret and hull elements that were missing.



And last but not least, the Leopard 2AX will receive a new 130mm L/51 cannon model instead of that oversized 120mm it has now. For a while, we wanted to return to the 140mm gun (also with a new model) but decided not to. After all, you never know when that 130mm gun model comes in handy.



Aside from this, we’ll be doing the following updates:

• Vickers Mk.7/2 will receive its correct 120mm smoothbore gun model
• Bradley Fighting vehicle will receive its correct Bushmaster Mk.44 gun model
• Challenger 2 will have its TES kit remodeled to match real life

That’s it for the launch iteration. In the next part, we’ll tell you more about the Abrams model upgrades when they are ready. For now, we hope that you’ll enjoy these improvements that are coming soon and, as always:

See you on the battlefield!

Commanders!

In this final part of the Tier 7-10 Rebalance series, you’ll learn our vision for individual vehicles and how everything you know already comes together. Please note that this article will be heavily drawing upon the previous parts, so please make sure you read those first:

• Part 1: Power Creep
• Part 2: Classes
• Part 3: ERA

In short, in the first part of the series, we told you about our plans to address the differences between various Tiers. In the second part, with those differences in mind, we told you about our vision for each class in the game. The third part unveiled one important element that will play a role in the whole process, the ERA mechanics overhaul.



This article will be split into two parts – one about MBTs and one about the rest of the vehicles. With that being said, let’s get to it.




As you know from the earlier article about classes, Main Battle Tanks will be close-to-mid range fighters, relying on their armor, enhanced by the new ERA mechanics. The first step to their balance is establishing a MBT characteristics baseline for each Tier with each individual vehicle being rebalanced within certain limits above and below the baseline.

As you also already know, we’ll be rebalancing pretty much all the values of each vehicle on Tiers 7 to 10. For MBTs, this is especially relevant when it comes to the interaction of armor and penetration values. We’ll be taking those two values and separating them into several levels, depending on the abovementioned baseline values. Mind you, this is not a black or white situation – pretty much all the values will be within a spectrum. This does sound a bit complex, so let’s use a very simplified example.

Let’s say two MBTs are facing each other at 50-100 meters. First thing, neither commander should be firing at enemy MBT’s ERA. This will typically “eat” the first shot by reducing the penetration significantly, putting the firing tank at a disadvantage. Next, let’s assume both tanks have baseline (average) armor and penetration. What that typically means is that:

• The strongest armor areas, which are the front of the turret and the upper frontal plate, are difficult-to-impossible to penetrate
• Turret ring is possible to penetrate, but only with great difficulty
• Lower frontal plate is possible or very likely to penetrate, depending on the angle

What happens if we upgrade the tank that’s fired upon with above average armor?

• The turret ring becomes impossible to penetrate
• The chance to penetrate the lower frontal plate will drop by 20-30 percent (excluding the angle influence)

Obviously, due to the loss of kinetic shell penetration mentioned in the Classes article, the chances will only reduce with distance so at 300-400+ meters, MBTs will have very difficult time penetrating each other. But what will happen if a tank with above-average penetration (let’s say a Leopard) runs into a tank with below-average armor (let’s say a Type 99)? In such a case:

• Frontal turret will still be very difficult to penetrate
• Turret ring will be possible to penetrate, but not very likely
• Upper frontal plate will also be possible to penetrate, but the chance will 25-30 percent, making it a poor target as well
• Lower frontal plate will offer guaranteed penetrations

The trick for high-penetration MBTs is therefore to aim at the same areas (ideally lower frontal plate), but at longer distances. If we reverse the situation and give the firing tank below-average penetration and the target above-average armor, we’ll still get a manageable situation, where:

• Pretty much all the areas except for the lower frontal plate become invulnerable
• Lower frontal plate will be possible to penetrate, but definitely not guaranteed – we’re looking at 50/50 chances at best without taking the hull angle into account

The message we are trying to convey with this system is:

• ERA has meaning now, especially on high Tiers – don’t shoot it unless you have to
• Don’t snipe with an MBT, the results of doing so will be poor even with above-average penetration tanks such as the Leopard
• A Tier difference somewhat reduces your chances to penetrate, but we took great care to address the differences between Tiers (starting with the one between Tier 6 and Tier 7) so that the sense of progression is kept while the fights are still kept fair

As for the individual MBTs, their role on the battlefield is best explained by the following table:

• Green color means above-average values for their Tier
• Yellow color means average values for their Tier
• Red color means below average values for their Tier

The deeper the color, the more prominent the characteristic.



Keep in mind, however, that these values apply within the MBT characteristics limits. An accurate MBT with high penetration values will never be as good a Sniper as a dedicated Tank Destroyer while a highly mobile MBT will never be as mobile or agile as a Light Tank. Some tanks that were good at pretty much everything will get rebalanced to fit the niche we’ve designed them for, but all of them will serve you well if you take the time to learn more about their new characteristics.




The case with other classes is considerably more complex simply because there are three of them (we won’t be discussing the SPG class individually because it doesn’t change much) and each of these classes contains a number of fairly individual vehicles, creating fantastic gameplay diversity.

Before we get into the details, there are two things that should be mentioned, which apply to all non-MBT classes:

• The ERA overhaul applies to all classes, not just the MBTs, which means that some Light Tanks will become more durable in the process
• The mobility overhaul (which is by its nature very difficult to describe) will allow you to drive your wheeled vehicles with higher precision

So, all in all, we’re starting with two clear (if indirect) buffs. In their typical characteristics (spotting abilities for AFVs, burst damage for LTs, accuracy and penetration for TDs), these classes will be made more different from MBTs, but beyond that, we’ve decided to adopt the Archetype approach to various groups. The roles described in the Classes article will still apply – LTs will not have thick armor and TDs won’t be close-range fighters – but beyond that, there will be multiple groups and each vehicle in the group will be balanced individually. You’ll also see some references to the abovementioned MBT balance so the table above may come in handy.

With that being said, let’s finally dive into it.






AFV – The Warrior is an IFV archetype of solid combined autocannon and ATGM DPM with Type 89 and BWP-2000 leaning towards being more like Light Tanks in their playstyle by using mostly their guns. The BWP-2000 especially will rely on its powerful 50mm gun at closer ranges while being able to harass even MBTs. On the other side of the spectrum we have vehicles such as the BMDs, which work better with missiles to the point of the BMD-2M nearing the Tank Destroyer role. The Rosomak is a special case since it doesn’t have guided missiles at all and lives or dies by its PELE ammunition.

LT – This is an easy one since we do have only one such vehicle on Tier 7. The Stingray is effectively a heavy, less mobile AFV, armed with a MBT-caliber cannon instead of an autocannon. It relies on its main gun and extremely high DPM to do damage (roughly 40 percent higher than an average MBT of the same Tier).

TD (Gun) – Things are getting more interesting. The gun version of ZUBR PSP is more or less an average wheeled Tank Destroyer. In Update 0.33, Tank Destroyers with guns will have the ability to fire very powerful kinetic shells at long distances with high accuracy. Three Tank Destroyers will be leaning more towards being TD/LT hybrids with Type 16 effectively being a LT with wheels, the Centauro benefiting from a clip autoloader at the cost of ZUBR’s powerful shells and PTL-02 resembling the ZUBR with lower alpha but higher DPM. On the opposite side of the spectrum, PTZ-89 will have higher alpha than ZUBR at the cost of DPM.

TD (ATGM) – These vehicles are mostly intended for true long-range combat and will receive a major ATGM firepower buff across the board. There is a downside to it though. At the same, this vehicle category will become much easier to spot when firing. The diminutive Wiesel will be the quintessential ATGM Tank Destroyer with hard-hitting missiles but almost zero protection. NM142 will resemble the Wiesel gameplay-wise, only sacrificing a portion of its camouflage value for the ability to fire top-down missiles. The ZUBR PSP ATGM variant too falls in this category, but this vehicle is due for a major upgrade in the form of upgraded TOW ATGMs, the same ones used by NM142. On the opposite side of the spectrum, the VBL will effectively be an AFV/TD hybrid with more emphasis on ATGMs than on scouting. Right now, in Update 0.32, it’s a stealthy scout that also offers cutting edge direct fire ATGMs. What we want to do is allow it to keep its powerful ATGMs (which we will be buffing, as stated above), but, at the same time, we have to rebalance the vehicle towards the TD role because buffing its firepower while letting it maintain its spotting abilities wouldn’t be good for the game. As a result, it won’t be a very effective spotter but it will be quite stealthy (at least when not firing) even under the new rules. Please note that the same will apply to the other four-wheeled ATGM-armed scouts.






AFV – On this Tier, the Bradley is an IFV archetype of solid combined autocannon and ATGM DPM. There are two AFVs that are leaning more towards the DPM powerhouse role thanks to the fact they do not carry any ATGMs but are instead armed with very powerful autocannons. These are the Griffin 50mm and Marder 2. Of the two, Marder 2 is even more DPM-oriented as well as remarkably well armored, while the Griffin is more about accuracy (it retains its special penetration mechanic) and scouting. On the opposite side of the spectrum, we have the upgraded Rosomak, which is effectively a wheeled Bradley with more powerful ATGMs. Even further towards the TD class, we can find the Stalker with its powerful ATGMs and scouting abilities, but that vehicle is fairly unique not to fall into either category, as is the Pindad, which is a complete outlier due to its weapon system.

LT – The LTs really start to separate from the rest on this Tier. Like we mentioned, they are heavy AFVs with MBT-caliber guns. They are stealthier and better spotters than MBTs, but worse than AFVs in general. The M8 Buford is an archetypical LT with an accurate gun and high DPM values. The ASCOD LT will have a more armor and a magazine clip at the cost of mobility and stealth. The Harimau will sacrifice protection and penetration for higher mobility and a well-sized magazine clip with high rate of fire. On the other side, we have the Dragun, which is basically a Tank Destroyer classified as a Light Tank and the Griffin 120mm, which has heavier armor so it has one leg in the MBT category, although shifts more towards the TD role with unlocked overprogression modules.

TD (Gun) – Here, we have two archetypical gun TDs, the WWO Wilk (which can also fire gun-launched guided missiles) and the ST1, which occupies the same slot but is a progression vehicle (unlike the Wilk). The rest of them lean more towards the Light Tank class, some less (M1128 Stryker), some more (Sprut-SD, which is very similar to the Dragun but fine-tuned towards stealth) and the AMX 10 RCR is a true wheeled Light Tank.

TD (ATGM) – Once again, things are getting more interesting here. We have the light four-wheeled Mephisto and the even lighter VBR (which is, much like the VBL, a TD/scout hybrid that sacrifices powerful ATGMs and hitpoints for extra stealth and spotting), but the most specialized tank killer here is the Bradley AAWS-H with its extremely potent kinetic missiles. This vehicle is almost useless at close ranges, so if you own it or ever get your hands on it (it’s a Premium vehicle), you better proceed with real caution. The M1134 Stryker variant with its top-attack missiles occupies roughly the same position as the NM142 one Tier below.

TD (Terminator) – This vehicle type appears on Tier 8 and is effectively a class of its own. It’s a very unusual hybrid of MBTs (heavy armor), AFVs (autocannons) and TDs (guided missiles) that’s intended for mid-range combat, somewhere between true TDs and MBTs. It features extremely high autocannon DPM but its ATGMs are only average. There are three vehicles of this group available on Tier 8 – Ramka-99, BMPT Mod.2017 and BMPT Mod.2000. Of the three, Ramka and Mod.2017 are roughly the same (yes, we’re taking a look at Mod.2017’s performance) while Mod.2000 leans towards long-range ATGM combat at the expense of autocannon DPM.






AFV – Once again, this Tier has an IFV archetype in the form of Hunter AFV, which, despite the presence of various interesting mechanics such as the NERA, works much like the Bradley. The AS21 Redback is like that as well, only sacrificing its combined autocannon and ATGM firepower in favor of more armor and improved top-down guided missiles. On the other side, we have the Vigilante AFV, which is effectively a gun-based DPM monster much like the Marder one Tier below, but lacks some of its traits. It can be an excellent scout as well thanks to its active radar ability. On the opposite side of the spectrum, we have two small four-wheeled vehicles that are not only excellent scouts, but also close to the ATGM Tank Destroyer category – K-153C and CRAB. While the first one is fairly recent, the CRAB is one of the oldest vehicles in Armored Warfare and is going to receive a well-deserved overhaul in the form of bringing it closer to the rest of the VBL/VBR family as a scout/TD hybrid with the emphasis on scouting.

LT – On this Tier, we have three Light Tanks in total. The archetypical LT here is the Thunderbolt (much like the Buford one Tier below), having an accurate gun and high DPM values. The VT-5 has higher DPM value and better active protection compared to the Thunderbolt, bringing it a bit more towards the MBT class. On the opposite side, the WPB Anders Light Tank has actually less DPM than the Thunderbolt, but features an unmanned turret, making it better protected.

TD (Gun) – Here, we have only one archetypical gun TDs, the Centauro 120. Another TD that’s present on this Tier is the DRACO, which is a Centauro variant with a rapid fire gun. Thanks to its scouting abilities, this is effectively an AFV/TD hybrid and forms a category of its own, although gameplay-wise, it’ll be something like the Marder 2 or Vigilante (armed with an automatic cannon with very high DPM), only with a higher caliber gun and fighting at longer ranges.

TD (ATGM) – On Tier 9, the Hellfire is an archetypical ATGM Tank Destroyer, but that doesn’t really say much because the only other such vehicle on this Tier is the Stryker ADATS, which is a very distinctive hybrid vehicle that features both guided missiles and unguided rockets. Especially the Hellfire embodies what this group should be all about – the potential to deal tremendous damage in a short period of time and at longer distances with the downside being overcoming enemy defenses (APS, ERA) and surviving the salvo (stronger de-masking effect of ATGM fire). However, on this Tier, the truly dominating Tank Destroyers are the Terminators.

TD (Terminator) – Just like on Tier 8, the Tier 9 Terminators form a class of its own, and a very diverse one at that to the point of each of them being quite individual. BMPT-72 resembles the BMPTs one Tier below while the Leclerc T40, while still somewhat armored, is nowhere near as durable. On the upside, it’s considerably more mobile than the BMPT and features top-down ATGMs, making him quite a deadly flanker in addition to its TD role. Abrams AGDS focuses more on long-range combat thanks to its massive loadout of 12 ADATS missiles. It is armed with autocannons as well, but since its missiles are usable exclusively at longer ranges, its combined firepower at mid-to-short ranges will be inferior to the BMPT-72. And, finally, the QN-506 is something like a BMPT/Stryker ADATS hybrid. It’s somewhat armored and features many weapon systems (perhaps too many), but it’s not a “true” BMPT and will not survive close combat. Treat it as a high DPM ATGM Tank Destroyer with lower range instead.




And so we finally get to the ultimate Armored Warfare Tier. Here, we can find some very unique vehicles that do not fit various archetypes but, nonetheless, we can roughly position them on our diagram.



AFV – There are only two AFVs on Tier 10 (excluding the Kornet-EM, which will be treated more like a TD), the widely obtainable SPHINX and the Battalion-exclusive Shadow. The Sphinx is more durable than your classic four-wheeled light scouting AFV – and it has to be in order to be able to take a few hits. It has a high-DPM autocannon and guided missiles. In this sense, it now resembles the Terminator a bit but it still has its AFV camouflage and viewrange instead of armor. The Shadow is a major outlier by being a dedicated scout to the exclusion of pretty much everything else, including firepower. This vehicle does visually resemble the VBL series, but its purpose is mostly organized gameplay where its scouting and disrupting abilities can shine.

LT – There are also two LTs on Tier 10. The PL-01 relies mostly on stealth at the cost of DPM (it also retains its ability to deploy a sniper), while the K21 XC-8 suffers from poor protection, but more than makes up for it with excellent DPM.

TD (Gun) – There’s only one real Tier 10 Gun Tank Destroyer in the game and it’s the Wilk XC-8 with its famous 120mm PELE rounds that provide it with excellent armor-piercing capabilities. All in all, the boundaries start to blend here a lot. The Wilk retains its high wheeled mobility to the point of practically being a Light Tank (resembling the K21 XC8), but is still tuned for long-range combat. The M48 GAU-8 is another unique vehicle that does not really fit the standard schematic. It’s a Tank Destroyer, but thanks to its massive rotary cannon and extreme burst output, it comes closer to the Light Tank role.

TD (ATGM) – We have three such vehicles on Tier 10. The AFT-10 and M8 MGM-166 both fill the role of the ultimate long-range tank killer but each of them does it differently. The AFT-10 relies on volleys of ATGMs, some of which will inevitably become intercepted or diverted, while the M8 MGM-166 fires its powerful kinetic missiles with impunity at the cost of its rate of fire. Both are, however, nearly useless in close combat. And then we have the Kornet-EM, which now acts more as a Tank Destroyer than a scout because we nerfed its viewrange. Still, it’s a light and stealthy vehicle and you will need to use both to your advantage.

TD (Terminator) – As the final Tier 10 vehicle, we have the famous T-15 Armata. The T-15 is effectively the same as lower Tier Terminators and we’ll be taking a long, hard look at its extreme damage output to bring it back into the fold. On the other hand, the T-15 comes with upgraded ERA and APS, so it will still be quite a powerhouse, just not best at everything anymore.

This concludes our Tier 7-10 rebalance article series. All that remains is for you to test this in practice, which you will have a chance to do in the near future during the Update 0.33 PTS phase. We do hope that you will enjoy the experience and, as always:

See you on the battlefield!

Commanders!

Last year in December, we informed you of the effective end of support for the 32bit and SD clients. We also mentioned that, while the SD clients remained available for their existing users at that time, we’d remove them in the future.



That time has now come. A recent analysis has shown that only a tiny fraction of players still use the SD client (the only difference between SD and HD is texture resolution), which simply does not justify the resources spent on working on and introducing two different texture sets for each new vehicle.

That is why, starting from September 2020, the SD client version will be removed altogether. Players with it installed will have the option to upgrade to HD (as they do now). For the vast majority of these users, the only difference should be a slightly larger game client.

This step will allow us to produce content faster and will allow us to shift the freed resources to the development of the features that all players will benefit from.

Nevertheless, we would like to apologize for any inconvenience caused and, as always:

See you on the battlefield!