Dear players,

On Tuesday, 14th of July 2015, we are releasing an Armored Warfare patch full of issue corrections and rebalances of the vehicles in the game as well as the previously introduced Pipelines and Narrows maps. To give you enough time to test these new features and changes, we have decided to extend the Early Access 3 testing phase to 21st of July 2015!

To make the testing more interesting, we have prepared some special features just for this week!

• On Tuesday (14.7.2015), tier 3 premium vehicles will be awarded to all players to test
• On Wednesday (15.7.2015), tier 4 premium vehicles will be awarded to all players to test
• On Thursday (16.7.2015), tier 5 premium vehicles will be awarded to all players to test
• On Friday (17.7.2015), tier 6 premium vehicles as well as the Early Access vehicles will be awarded to all players to test as well!
• From Friday to Sunday (17.7.-19.7.) players will receive double reputation and double credits for each battle!

But that’s only the beginning – the following weeks will bring far more exciting features so stay tuned and see you on the battlefield!

General

• Fixed multiple issues and bugs causing game crashes (especially in the garage)
• Fixed the audio issues causing various sounds to cut out in battle
• PvE reward system temporarily changed: PvE ammunition and repairs now don’t cost any credits
• Fixed the issue where various skills and equipment affecting the aim time made it worse instead of improving it

Vehicle rebalances

Class Changes - MBT:

MBTs have generally been performing very well in our internal tests with our most recent changes, but we've found that their accuracy while on the move was a little too poor. This (along with the prior state of their armor, which we've already addressed separately) were combining to force players to play MBTs more like snipers, which is not their intended role.

In order to help improve the close-combat ability of MBTs, we've somewhat improved their accuracy while on the move. Their minimum and maximum reticule sizes are unchanged, but they will no longer reach as large of a size just from driving straight forward or backward. They will still have poorer accuracy on the move than LTs and AFVs, but this should mean that MBTs can more easily make slight movements - e.g. quickly ducking out from behind cover and firing - without as much of a penalty to their accuracy.

We will continue to look at these changes closely to see if they are moving MBTs in the right direction and make further changes as needed.

T-80 and T-90 Changes:

In order to reduce the problems with the T-80 and T-90 "Alpha" damage being too devastating to lower tier vehicles, we've decreased their raw damage output, but increased their rates of fire to compensate. This also helps represent the historical improvements to their autoloaders. The T-90's hit points and penetration have also been slightly increased.

• T-80 shell damage decreased by 12.5%
• T-80 rate of fire increased by 15% (8.7 second reload)
• T-80 ATGM damage decreased by 12.5%
• T-80 ATGM rate of fire increased by 11%

T-90 Changes:

• HP increased from 2597 to 2656.
• T-90 shell damage decreased by between 10% and 17.5%, depending on the specific round. (Stock rounds were reduced more than upgraded rounds.)
• T-90 rate of fire increased by 18% (8.2 second reload)
• T-90 ATGM damage decreased by 17.5%
• T-90 ATGM rate of fire increased by 6.5%
• Penetration of all rounds increased by 7.5%
• Camouflage factor increased from 0.15 to 0.17
• In addition to the changes above, the penetration of the top shell ("3VBM20 Svinets") increased to 600mm, damage of the top KE shell was increased from 717 to 760 (DPM increased from 5214 to 5560) and the damage of the top HEAT shell was increased from 896 to 923 (DPM increased from 6516 to 6753)
• Frontal plate was corrected (it is much more powerful now), the thickness of the following parts was significantly increased: gun mantlet, turret sides.

Spotting rebalance: Some vehicles had abnormally high spotting ranges for their classes. Sight ranges have been adjusted to fall into the proper ranges for their class.

• LAV-300 spotting range changed from 459 to 417
• LAV-600 spotting range changed from 459 to 417
• Stingray 1 spotting range changed from 440 to 400
• M60A2 spotting range changed from 450 to 375
• M60A3 spotting range changed from 413 to 375

Penetration rebalance: With the upcoming introduction of Tier 2 MBTs, it's become necessary for lower tier autocannons to have higher penetration values in order to be able to deal damage. To address this, we've increased the penetration of low tier autocannons, but decreased the rate at which penetration goes up with each tier at lower tiers. Essentially, this means tier 1-4 autocannons have considerably higher penetration values than before, but that Tier 5-8 autocannons are mildly or completely unchanged.

• Base penetration for 51mm to 75mm autocannons increased by ~6.66%
• Base penetration for 40mm to 50mm autocannons increased by ~8.5%
• Base penetration for 35 to 39mm autocannons increased by ~10.7%
• Base penetration for 30 to 34mm autocannons ~11.66%
• Base penetration for 21mm to 29mm autocannons increased by ~21%
• Base penetration for 20mm autocannons increased by ~28%
• The penetration increase between tiers for autocannons has been decreased

C1 Ariete rebalance: With the recent changes to armor penetration, the C1's formidable health pool has made it extraordinarily resilient. We've found that its average performance significantly exceeds that of other Tier 8 MBTs, and as such, we needed to make some adjustments.

• HP reduced from 3116 to 2904

Challenger 1 rebalance: Similar to the C1 Ariete, the Challenger 1 is currently over performing for its tier. We've slightly reduced its health to reduce its current advantage and bring it closer to in line with the other Tier 7 MBTs.

• HP reduced from 2975 to 2833

FV510 Warrior rebalance: The FV510 Warrior has an excellent gun, but it's proven too fragile for its size and lack of maneuverability compared to other vehicles in its line. We've given it a significant HP buff to help make it more survivable.

• HP increased from 1574 to 1889

Leopard 2A5 rebalance: Similar to the T-90, the most powerful rounds for the Leopard 2A5 had too much alpha damage potential. We've slightly decreased the damage on the fully upgraded shaped charges and ATGMs to reduce their potential for devastating low tier opponents.

• Fully upgraded ATGM damage reduced from 909 to 886
• Fully upgraded shaped charge damage decreased from 912 to 869

Other vehicle adjustments

FV721:

• The FV721 can now fire salvos of two missiles between reloads
• The damage for individual ATGMs has been decreased by about 25%
• Magazine reload time increased from 20 seconds to 24 seconds

M60A3:

• Hit Points reduced from 1803 to 1721
• Reload time increased from 7.27 seconds to 7.8 seconds

VFM 5:

• Hit Points reduced from 2203 to 2015

Stingray 1:

• Reload time standardized to 6.77 seconds for all ammo types

Stingray 2:

• Reload time increased from 5.69 seconds to 6.77 seconds for all ammo types

LAV-150 90:

• Damage increased by 7.5%
• Penetration for all rounds increased by about 5%

AMX-10P PAC 90:

• Penetration for all rounds increased by about 12%

BMP-3M:

• Damage for all rounds increased by 5%

BMD-1

• HP increased from 759 to 888.
• Damage increased by about 10%.
• Penetration with Shaped Charges increased by about 10%.

Chieftain:

• Damage increased by about 10%.
• Penetration increased by about 15%.

T-64:

• Damage increased.
• Stock AP and all HE round damage increased by 5%.
• The fully upgraded AP ammo has been increased by 15%.
• Shaped Charge damage was increased by 7.5%.
• Stock AP round penetration increased by about 5%
• Upgraded AP round penetration increased by about 10%

. Leopard2 AV:

• Stock ammo damage increased by about 5%.
• Upgraded ammo penetration increased by about 2.5%.
• Upgraded ammo damage increased by about 10%.
• Upgraded ammo penetration increased by about 5%.