Update 1.4 brings a lot of exciting content.
Wheeled vehicles in World of Tanks.
Reworked personal missions of operation Chimera.
Improvements to characteristics of reward vehicles—
the Chimera and Object 279 (early).
Return of Ghost Town. New customization features.
And a performance boost for certain configurations
thanks to multi-threaded rendering.
Now let's get down to the details.
We start with the hottest item on our list: wheeled vehicles.
Some players have concerns about how the new vehicles
will fit into Random Battles and how they will affect gameplay.
The common test gave us the answers to these questions.
Wheeled vehicles definitely bring diversity and a new gameplay experience
for all players—just like tanks with new mechanics did in the past.
Based on the findings of the first test iteration,
vehicle parameters were adjusted.
Further testing revealed that in general the vehicles were configured adequately
and can fulfill their in-game tasks.
To do so, wheeled vehicles have a high speed.
They can quickly traverse across the battlefield,
get into surprising positions, scout from a close distance,
and deal damage from flanking positions.
However, wheeled vehicles have their drawbacks as well.
Players should never forget that to be successful on the battlefield.
The first limitation is a low view range.
Their high speed makes wheeled vehicles the first
to reach standard scouting positions, but they may prove ineffective there.
This forces them to look for new spots, get closer to opponents, and risk more.
The second drawback is their low amount of hit points.
Wheeled vehicles can't easily trade hits.
They require a different tactic:
attack from an unexpected direction and avoid returning fire.
First hit on a wheeled vehicle may well take half of its hit points away,
and the second shot is likely to be fatal.
The third limitation is their gun characteristics.
A relatively low armor penetration prevents these vehicles
from dealing damage to well-armored targets from the front.
At the same time, good gun stabilization enables them to score hits
with flanking fire while moving at full speed.
And, finally, the fourth con is— surprisingly—their high speed.
To play wheeled vehicles effectively, one must learn to control them.
Otherwise, any driving mistake can become their last.
You bump into something—you're toast.
You overturn—you're toast.
You grasp the maneuvers— you survive and help your team win.
Now let's examine each particular vehicle.
The branch starts at Tier VI.
It can be accessed from the Tier V AMX ELC bis.
The player will have a smooth journey into the world of wheeled vehicles,
gradually exploring new game mechanics and getting used to the new gameplay.
The first wheeled vehicle is the Tier VI Panhard 178B.
It's an ideal vehicle
for transiting from classical light tanks to wheeled vehicles.
It doesn’t have all the advantages of top-tier wheeled vehicles.
Still, it differs a lot from tracked light tanks.
The first difference is, essentially, wheels.
They bring a brand-new experience in vehicle controls.
Wheeled vehicles cannot turn around on the spot like tracked tanks.
At the same time, they are more difficult to stop.
Each wheel is damaged separately.
If a wheel is destroyed, the vehicle does not stop—it just slows down.
With each destroyed wheel, the vehicle becomes even slower,
eventually down to a complete halt.
Wheeled vehicles have a good suspension absorption,
which may save them from fall damage,
as long as they do not hit the ground with their hull.
Given the high speed of these vehicles,
this feature will make their commanders’ lives much easier.
The second difference is that the Panhard 178B has a lock-on feature.
It's rather hard for the player to aim directly at the target outline,
maintain high speed, and avoid crashing into something.
That is why wheeled vehicles have the lock-on feature.
To lock onto an enemy vehicle,
you don't need to aim exactly at its silhouette—
clicking inside the small area near the target will do the job just as well.
Other than that, it functions just like the regular Auto-Aim:
it points the gun at the middle of the target vehicle
and does not provide any shooting advantages.
The driving characteristics of the vehicle
do not differ much from light tanks of the same tier.
In general, it is an active scout
with a 75 mm gun commonly encountered at Tier VI.
The Hotchkiss EBR sits at Tier VII.
Compared to the previous vehicle, it has six wheels.
The vehicle was added to the Common Test with the Boost mechanic.
However, based on the test results, we made a decision to remove this feature.
Boost was too difficult to utilize effectively.
Players were often confused when they should activate it
to get a guaranteed benefit.
Often, the situation on the battlefield changes in mere seconds,
and the use of Boost becomes meaningless.
Moreover, when using Boost, the player risks losing control over the vehicle.
This is especially true for slopes and confined spaces, where it is impossible
to predict how exactly Boost will affect the vehicle’s handling.
Besides, the current Boost configuration does not give vehicles of lower tiers
a feasible bonus in dynamics.
As such, Boost proved unwanted and was removed from all French wheeled vehicles.
Even without this feature, the Hotchkiss EBR
boasts amazing dynamics, which— coupled with great concealment—
enables it to make bold raids and suddenly strike an unsuspecting enemy.
When it comes to firepower,
the Hotchkiss EBR is a typical French vehicle with a 75 mm gun.
At Tier VIII we have the AML Lynx 6x6.
It features the next unique mechanic of wheeled vehicles—
two driving modes: Cruise and Rapid.
When in Cruise, the vehicle moves slower, but has better maneuverability.
As for the Rapid mode, the vehicle moves much faster,
but is rather difficult to control.
Press the X key to switch between the modes on the move.
In the Rapid mode, the Lynx leaves all regular vehicles of the same tier behind.
When it comes to penetrating armor and dealing damage,
it is more akin to German light tanks, rather than French vehicles.
If you master this vehicle,
you will enjoy the role of an infiltrator for your team, spotting opponents
or surprising them with flanking fire when the time is right.
However, you must be very careful:
the Lynx, just like its fellow vehicles at lower tiers,
has a very modest view range and doesn’t boast a large pool of hit points.
The Panhard EBR 90 is available at Tier IX. It features eight wheels.
The vehicle boasts excellent dynamics and a high top speed.
At the same time, the Panhard EBR 90 has the same forward and reverse speed.
It allows the vehicle to aptly retreat to safety when it gets too dangerous.
The 90 mm gun is guaranteed to cause considerable damage to opponents.
Yet, an honest duel will be a hard endeavor, even against a light tank.
Remember that wheeled vehicles are mostly active scouts and raiders,
and not built for duels.
The real beast is at Tier X.
The king of French armored cars—the Panhard EBR 105.
Not only does it have the top maximum speed in the game,
but also boasts a fearsome 105 mm gun.
It’s especially effective when firing at weakly armored targets.
An important thing to remember, though,
is that the vehicle, just like all other wheeled ones, has low hit points.
Thus, to win a duel, it needs to fully utilize all its advantages:
high speed and maneuverability, great gun stabilization,
and increased penetration with HE rounds.
First and foremost— do not stand still. Ever.
Wheeled vehicles are all about speed, fast movement across the battlefield,
spotting, and dealing damage from unexpected positions.
Note that the number of crew members on all these vehicles
does not change from tier to tier.
As a result, by Tier X you will have a seasoned crew ready for anything.
Wheeled vehicles bring a brand-new experience to the game.
They move fast but have thin armor.
A combination of high speed and poor view range encourages active play.
In battle, wheeled vehicles rely on their guns
featuring good stabilization and accuracy, but low damage per hit.
Wheeled vehicles constantly unnerve opponents,
who fear that they may be attacked at any moment, from any direction.
It’s time to test them in combat.
In the latest update, we continue to improve Personal Missions.
Some of them have had their conditions adjusted.
And the main reward of the operation Chimera became a bit better.
We've improved the accuracy of the Chimera's gun,
decreased the aim time and dispersion upon movement and hull traverse.
Moreover, both regular and special rounds
received a significant increase in velocity.
Penetration of the standard shell increased from 202 to 218 millimeters.
View range was also enhanced up to 380 meters.
It will now become easier to experience the true value of the vehicle's gun.
The Chimera has become an even more dangerous opponent.
Now, it corresponds to its status and name.
We have also improved the Object 279 (early) reward
for completing the third operation of the Second Front.
According to players, it wasn’t worth the effort required to obtain it.
Thus, the time has come to improve its characteristics.
Gun accuracy was improved.
Gun dispersion on turret traverse was decreased.
We've also increased the hull bottom armor from 30 to 55 millimeters.
This change should make it impossible to penetrate the vehicle bottom
by the three-caliber rule in particular cases.
Update 1.4 brings Ghost Town back into the game.
Now the revamped location is available in Random Battles.
Ghost Town underwent significant changes both in its visuals and layout.
We've extended the map borders. Now, its size is one square kilometer.
New attack lanes were added.
The town is the area of utmost strategic importance.
It is most suitable for heavy tanks and assault medium tanks.
Buildings may be used as cover, but they will not always protect you
from SPGs and long- distance fire. Be careful.
The hills to the west of the town are good for fast medium and light tanks.
However, they will not be able to stay still there for too long.
The area lacks solid cover.
The main goal here is to find the right moment
to break through enemy defenses
and help your allies in the town with flanking fire.
To the east of the town, combat is not that intense.
This area is more suitable for positional struggle.
The amount of cover is a great asset in holding off the enemy advance.
For both bases, rear areas of each attack lane have spots for tank destroyers.
You can use these well-concealed positions
to support your allies or halt the enemy advance.
Ghost Town has changed,
and you can notice the improvements from the very first moments of battle.
Use new tactics, improvise, and win!
Besides, in Update 1.4 we will restrict access to non-playable areas on maps.
If an area on the minimap is shaded,
it’s not intended for players to get to and with Update 1.4,
vehicles will no longer be able to reach such areas.
The next announcement will please those who like to stand out in battle.
Players can now apply various three-digit numbers onto their vehicles.
They are displayed at the same spots as inscriptions.
Moreover, the Preset Styles tab
will see an addition of a new 2D style for each nation.
They come in handy when you wish to improve concealment, but do not want
to spend a lot of time on selecting various paints and camo patterns.
Finally, an update to the technical aspect of the game.
When transitioning World of Tanks to the new Core engine,
we introduced multi-threading support.
It enabled the game to use all available processor cores
instead of the primary core only.
However, the feature didn't work to its full extent.
Together with engineers from Intel,
we implemented full support of multi-threading into the game.
In particular, the game will now feature multi-threaded rendering of a 3D scene.
The technology helps us distribute the load
between the processor and video card more effectively.
At the same time, system requirements remain unchanged.
On the contrary, players will notice a performance boost
on many PC configurations. The point is, the multi-threading feature
is supported by all modern processors regardless of the manufacturer.
Moreover, NVIDIA SLI and AMD Crossfire technologies are still supported,
and processors featuring Intel Hyper- Threading and AMD SMT technologies
will become even more effective in our game.
The FPS increase depends on system configuration.
The more powerful and well- balanced your PC configuration,
the smoother the game will run.
And that’s it. Good luck on the battlefield!