Obsidian Entertainment and My.com are proud to introduce the newest addition to Armored Warfare - Update 0.14, bringing some of the long-awaited and exciting features!
Update 0.14 does bring several major features that include:
- A new PvP Map Highwall
- New PvE Missions (Albatross, Cerberus)
- Light Tank and Tank Destroyer Penetration Overhaul
- High Tier Gameplay Changes
- Replay System
- Field Rebuild Kit
Apart from the new features, a large number of game corrections including but not limited to vehicle performance adjustments, map balance and critical issue fixes was implemented as well.
New Features
Highwall Map
The land here has been mostly cleared of forest, making room for a small industrial infrastructure that has grown over time. Machinery and heavy equipment dot the landscape, precariously perched at the edge of open quarries in order to harvest rich gold veins, manganese, and uranium ore deposits. As a result of the industrial boom, various armies, rebel groups, and outside actors have been attracted to the area for its natural resources. Perilous routes above man-made pits and staggered hills present unique and interesting terrain obstacles for you to cross, with a number of winding paths that will allow you to take up strategic positions to destroy your enemies from above before swooping down to take the area for yourself!
Highwall spans 1200 x 1200 meters in size and takes place completely within an industrial strip mine. The map features multiple pathways set at varying elevations similar to those seen in real life mining operations, creating a mix of both short and long range engagements opportunities. The routes presented in Highwall often have diverging paths - opening up key opportunities for players to flank their enemies and overrun a route from several directions.
Read more about the Highwall map in our Preview.
New PvE Missions
Operation: Albatross - prepare to traverse a treacherous road that leads high into the mountains in Operation: Albatross. A remote airstrip occupies the only open spot in an otherwise endless forest, making it a prime location to discreetly ship supplies in and out. You must stop encroaching forces that are trying to take over the location and gain control of the airstrip.
Operation: Cerberus - a train hauling a critical munitions shipment has been interrupted and overrun by an elite strike team. It's up to you to destroy the invading squadron and do what is necessary to ensure the munitions don't fall into the wrong hands.
Light Tank and Tank Destroyer Penetration Overhaul
As one of the steps toward improving our Tier 6+ gameplay, we're increasing the penetration values of Tier 6+ LTs and TDs that are currently below average. In some select cases, we'll also be improving penetration for TDs that are already in average ranges, but might need some extra punch to fit the TD role.
High Tier Gameplay Changes
To reduce the unpopular elements of high-tier gameplay, we have decided to introduce numerous additional changes that will mostly concern Main Battle Tank players.
Replay System
We have implemented initial support for players to record videos of their matches so they can replay, review, and relive their past matches and greatest moments! Playing a recording of a match will allow players to view everything from the perspective of the replay creator. Players can pause, play or stop their recording, as well as increase or decrease the speed at which they want the match to replay. Additionally, players can spectate specific vehicles or seamlessly switch into a free-cam observer mode.
Players can access the replay menu by pressing the new video recording icon in the top-right corner of the screen. In the replay menu, players can enable or disable match recordings (by default they are set not to record), as well as view, edit or delete previous match recordings in the replay folder. While navigating a replay, players have access to the following shortcut commands:
- Mouse Movement - Controls Camera Look
- W - Forward Movement
- S - Backwards Movement
- A - Left Movement
- D - Right Movement
- C - Downwards Movement
- Spacebar - Upwards movement
- Left Shift - Fast Camera movement
- 1 - Press to save a camera position, press again to add multiple camera positions
- 2 - Press to have the camera transition/interpolate between all saved camera positions
- 3 - Clear all saved cameras
- Left Ctrl - Enable Mouse Cursor
- Tab - Team List
- Esc - Menu
- F2 - Enable/disable UI
At this time, replays are only recorded client side, which prevents players from replaying the battle from the perspective of the enemy team. However, replays recorded in spectator mode can be viewed from both team's perspectives. It is important to note that replays are currently patch specific and are not guaranteed to work from one patch to the next.
Field Rebuild Kit
Starting in 0.14, players who have been killed in PvE matches will have the opportunity to revive in the match by using a new Field Rebuild Kit consumable purchased in the garage. If a player is destroyed in a match and has a Field Rebuild Kit equipped, they will be presented with a 30 second window to revive. Upon reviving, they are restored to 60% health and ammo at a pre-determined revive point of their choosing. After reviving, the player will be invulnerable to damage for 15 seconds or until they fire their weapon. If the kit is activated while the player is still alive, it will restore 100% of the player's health and a portion of their ammunition.
List of 0.14.1972 Changes
- Falling damage is no longer based on absolute height differences. As a result, grazing collisions with terrain should no longer deal damage
- The SPG class bonus to Reputation and Credits has been increased from 20% to 40% in PvE. This has no effect on rewards earned in PvP
- Implemented some optimizations geared towards improving performance on AMD systems
- Changed the color of the PvE miniboss tag so that is can be easily recognizable and distinct among the various color settings
- Updated the in-match UI for Rewards Feedback and Tab Overlay
- Updated the in-match spectator text to white for more visibility across all maps
- Updated the Commendations element container to make it drag-able
- Commander and Crew tabs have been merged into a new Personnel Tab
- The in-game camera has been altered so that it can no longer clip into destroyed tanks or props
- Players in Garage will now be notified when a user goes offline while chatting with them
Armor Changes
Wheels no longer grant bonus armor due to striking them at a high angle; they can also no longer ricochet shells. Passing through a wheel will always grant a passive 15mm for non-MBT/25mm for MBT level of effective protection. This should greatly reduce strange behavior firing at the sides of vehicles, especially at lower tiers of play.
The underbelly armor of all vehicles has been redone, reducing its effectiveness to no longer auto-ricochet shots. Firing at the occasional underbelly of a vehicle going over a rise - protected in the past by the extreme angle this tends to generate- will now result in the shot penetrating and damaging the vehicle.
We have begun instituting changes to the armor behavior of vehicle hatches. In this introductory pass, Tier 7 through Tier 9 MBT driver hatches should no longer ricochet shots from non-autocannon fire in the majority of cases. There are still some flat portions of certain cupolas that autocannons will be able to deal some damage to. This will be expanded to all MBTs in 0.15, and also further improve cupola performance on the turret as well, resulting in cupola hits being more reliable regardless of angle. We are still testing this system, so please provide feedback on how you feel this affects higher tier gameplay, and any issues you encounter!
Previously, shooting cupolas that were not part of an MBT's turret did an additional 10% damage. This critical damage has been removed from all vehicles; shooting a cupola will instead do normal penetration damage in these cases. Additionally, Light Tanks have been adjusted, and now gain the same damage reduction to turret cupolas as MBTs.
Vehicle cannons will no longer ricochet enemy shots. Previously, due to their rounded shape, some vehicle cannons were deflecting shots or providing unwanted protection defensively. The armor thickness of all cannons has been reduced to remove this behavior and allow even autocannons to damage them from any angle.
Light Tank and Tank Destroyer Overhaul
As one of the steps toward improving our Tier 6+ gameplay, we're improving the penetration values of some Tier 6+ Light Tanks and Tank Destroyers that are currently below average. In some select cases, we'll also be improving penetration for Tank Destroyers that are already in average ranges, but might need some extra punch to fit the Tank Destroyer role.
In 0.14, we've also begun the process of updating the underlining system controlling the depression values on our vehicles. As a result, we've been able to give many of our vehicles a much-needed increase in cannon depression not only from the front and rear, but also on the sides. While we plan on updating the values for all of our vehicles where needed, we have started with Tank Destroyers.
AMX-10 PAC 90
- Increased cannon depression on the Front/Sides/Rear to -10 / -10 / -10 degrees
B1 Centauro
- Stock AP penetration increased from 303 to 333
- Upgraded AP penetration increased from 318 to 357
- HEAT penetration increased from 278 to 292
- Increased cannon depression on the Front/Sides/Rear to -8 / -9 / -6
BMPT Prototype
- Reduced rear armor from 80mm to 70mm in order to bring it in-line with the other vehicles in the line
Centauro 120
- No penetration changes; this vehicle already has sufficient penetration for its tier and is performing above average
- Increased cannon depression on the Front/Sides/Rear to -8 / -9 / -8 degrees
DRACO
- Added 76mm SAPOM-ER rounds to the vehicle's upgraded STRALES cannon
Dragoon 300 90
- Increased cannon depression on the Front/Sides/Rear to -7 / -7 / -5
ERC 90 F4
- Increased cannon depression on the Sides/Rear to -10 / -10 degrees
- Decreased cannon depression on the Front to -10
LAV-300
- Increased cannon depression on the Front/Sides/Rear to -7 / -9 / -8
LAV-600
- Stock AP penetration increased from 363 to 381
- First AP upgrade penetration increased from 381 to 400
- Second AP upgrade penetration increased from 390 to 410
- Third AP upgrade penetration increased from 408 to 429
- Stock HEAT penetration increased from 334 to 351
- First HEAT upgrade penetration increased from 341 to 358
- Second HEAT upgrade penetration increased from 356 to 365
- Increased cannon depression on the Front/Sides/Rear to -4.5 / -12 / -6 degrees
M1 Abrams
- The M1 Abrams has received a new model
M1128 Stryker
The Stryker already has excellent penetration values, and thus it is not receiving a penetration boost in this pass. We are looking at some of its other capabilities, however. We plan on adding more elevation to the Stryker in order to match its real life performance, but this requires some art changes to be completed first.
- Increased cannon depression on the Front/Sides/Rear to - 6 / -13 / -10 degrees
- Increased cannon elevation to 12 degrees
Stingray 1
- Stock AP penetration increased from 278 to 311
- First AP upgrade penetration increased from 292 to 327
- Second AP upgrade penetration increased from 299 to 334
- Third AP upgrade penetration increased from 320 to 350
- Stock HEAT round penetration increased from 262 to 280
- Upgraded HEAT round penetration increased from 274 to 299
Stingray 2
- Stock AP penetration increased from 334 to 365
- First AP upgrade penetration increased from 350 to 384
- Second AP upgrade penetration increased from 359 to 393
- Third AP upgrade penetration increased from 375 to 411
- Stock HEAT penetration increased from 296 to 324
- First HEAT upgrade penetration increased from 310 to 339
- Second HEAT upgrade penetration increased from 317 to 346
- Third HEAT upgrade penetration increased from 330 to 361
T-80
We increased the minimum armor thickness of the vehicle to be on par with the preceding T-72A. Due to its already improved armor composition, this change will make the T-80's weak points on the turret - including the flat portions in front of the commander's cupola - to appear on average as yellow to Tier 7 penetration values instead of green like before.
XM8
- Stock AP penetration increased from 436 to 468
- First AP upgrade penetration increased from 458 to 492
- Second AP upgrade penetration increased from 468 to 504
- Third AP upgrade penetration increased from 490 to 515
- First HEAT upgrade penetration increased from 383 to 412
- Second HEAT upgrade penetration increased from 401 to 431
- Third HEAT upgrade penetration increased from 410 to 440
M8 Thunderbolt
This vehicle already has solid penetration and didn't get a buff during this pass.
- Added Smoke grenades as an upgrade option
Warrior
We increased its base armor thickness to bring it up to 14.5mm of all-around protection, accurate to the real world equivalent. The applique armor upgrade package should now also provide complete protection against autocannons as well, making it a viable alternative to the vehicle's ERA upgrade package.
Zhalo-S
- Increased cannon depression on the Front and Sides to -8/-8
Coastal Threat
- Fixed an issue causing broken building textures
- Fixed an issue where vehicles could get stuck under wagon props in various cells
Cold Strike
- Fixed an issue where textures on buildings were missing on Low Graphics setting
- Fixed issues with Level of Detail when using Artillery mode
Ghost Field
- Fixed an issue causing water and puddle VFX to go missing when firing into them from a distance
Lost Island
- Fixed an issue where the wrong VFX were playing when vehicles drove through water
- Fixed an issue where ground textures on the map were misplaced or rendering incorrectly
Pipelines
- Fixed an issue where invisible walls were causing collision on the map
- Fixed an issue where map assets were missing collision
Port Storm
- Fixed an issue where map assets appeared to be floating in the air
River Point
- Fixed an issue where invisible collision was popping up on the map.
- Fixed an issue where lower quality settings were causing Level of Detail issues on the bell tower.
- Fixed an issue where the South Side artillery spawn was too far from the main group
Roughneck
- Fixed an issue causing map assets and debris to float above the ground
- Fixed an issue where map assets were missing collision
Mission Reward Improvements
As a part of our continuing improvements to PvE rewards, we've identified some missions that aren't rewarding quite enough for their current difficulty and duration. These are only increases; we're not decreasing the rewards for any of the missions that are rewarding more than average at this time, but that could happen in the future if they end up being vastly too efficient compared to other missions.
This pass is for Primary Objective changes. Secondary Objectives will be adjusted further based on their relative difficulty in the future.
Primary Objective Reward Increases:
- Stormy Winter: Reputation increased from 98 to 147. Credits increased from 2520 to 3780
- Ghost Hunter: Reputation increased from 28 per Objective to 52 per objective. Credits increased from 720 per Objective to 1350 per Objective
- Perseus: Reputation increased from 28 per objective to 63 per objective. Credits increased from 720 per Objective to 1620 per Objective
- Rolling Thunder: Reputation increased from 52 per objective to 63 per objective. Credits increased from 1350 per Objective to 1620 per Objective
- Starry Night: Reputation increased from 37 per objective to 42 per objective. Credits increased from 900 per Objective to 1080 per Objective
- Wildfire: Reputation increased from 35 per Objective to 52 per Objective. Credits increased from 900 per Objective to 1350 per Objective
- Red Opossum: Primary Objective Reputation increased from 35 per Objective to 45 per Objective. Primary Objective Credits increased from 900 per Objective to 1170 per Objective
- This should help some of these missions, especially the ones that take longer to complete like Perseus and Ghost Hunter, feel more rewarding for the amount of time and effort they take.
Global PvE Corrections
Designers have gone through and made a lighting pass to update map wide lighting variances for the following PvE maps:
- Spearhead
- Umbrella
- Sapphire
- Ricochet
The minimap has been updated for the following maps:
- Snakebite
- Perseus
- Cavalry
- Banshee
PvE mission Perseus was temporarily removed from rotation due to existing issues.
Miscellaneous
- Fixed an issue where AI vehicle turrets would appear to randomly snap to a player's position
- Fixed an issue where map props were displaying health bars
General
- Fixed an issue where vehicles would take damage while driving through a fence
- Fixed an issue where vehicles were being shown 'Enemy Spotted' indicators after putting fires out on their vehicles.
- Fixed an issue where when out of one ammo type, vehicles default to ammo in Slot 1 instead of the ammo that was most recently loaded
- Fixed an issue where players were able to buy Tier 4 and above premium vehicles when they should be locked
- Fixed an issue where the vehicle status panel would remain on screen during the Kill Cam banner
- Fixed an issue where players were unable to ping the minimap after dying
- Improved Level of Detal pop-in for Artillery
User Interface
- Fixed an issue where players who were revived in match were shown the Defeat UI screen
- Fixed an issue where vehicle tags would become pixelated on destroyed vehicles
- Fixed an issue where the reticle was missing UI components
- Fixed an issue causing the 'Ignored Players' list to disappear into the UI
- Fixed an issue where shrinking the custom match window and re-sizing it would cut off the top part of the window when playing at a 1360x768 resolution
- Fixed an issue where in-game UI messages for reload-time were not properly updating
- Fixed an issue where placeholder text was appearing in matches
- Fixed an issue where auto-resupply for consumables would continue to activate even when disabled in the UI
Garage
- Fixed an issue where you could no longer drag-and-drop paint or camo
- Fixed an issue where mouse-click sounds were triggered where there should not have been sounds
- Fixed an issue where a vehicle sold while being used in a platoon would still display as available
- Fixed an issue where the player's username would overlap the dealer buttons when playing at a 1920x1080 resolution
Vehicles
- BMP-1 - Fixed an issue where the drowning indicator for the vehicle was displaying wrong
- BMP-3M - Corrected the composition of the vehicle's hull to military aluminum instead of steel
- BMPT Prototype - Fixed an issue where the vehicle's underlining physical model was larger than the textures indicated
- BMPT-72 Terminator 2 - Fixed an issue where the base of the vehicle's cannon was missing armor collision
- Challenger 1 - Fixed an issue where the wrong stats were being displayed when equipping the vehicle's Applique armor package
- Challenger 1 - Fixed an issue where the rear-left portion of the vehicle's turret was unintentionally penetrable from the front
- Chieftain Mk 5 - Fixed an issue where the wrong stats were being displayed when equipping the vehicle's Stillbrew Applique Armor Package
- B1 Draco - Added missing commander sight point within the small slit on the left of the turret
- Leopard 2A5 - Fixed an issue causing the vehicles hull to not display paint and camo correctly
- Leopard 2A6 - Fixed an issue with the vehicle's turret cupolas causing them to display as non-penetrable
- M1 - Fixed the spaced armor composition of the vehicle's side-skirts. Before it was inadvertently providing too much protection. It has since been reduced to the same levels as the A1/A2.
- M1A1 - Fixed an issue causing an unintended increase in the rear armor thickness of the vehicle when equipped with the improved armor composition packages
- M1A2 - Fixed an issue causing an unintended increase in the rear armor thickness of the vehicle when equipped with the improved armor composition packages
- Ramka-99 - Fixed an issue where the vehicle would not block shots after being destroyed
- Stingray 2 - Fixed an issue where the cannon color did not change when switching camouflage
- Stingray 2 - Fixed an issue where the engine fire VFX was misplaced
- T-62 Veteran - Fixed an issue where the T-62 Veteran did not display the same defense bar value as the regular T-62 despite having the same armor stats
- T-72 - Fixed an issue where the dust kick up VFX were appearing above the dust guard
- T-90 - Fixed an issue where the T-90 was missing spaced armor under the cannon base
- T92 Light Tank - Fixed instances of erroneous critical hit damage being applied to the vehicle when striking the ballistic glass view-ports
- T-90MS - Fixed an issue where red textures would appear on the turret when viewed on low graphical settings
- Type 80-I - Fixed an issue where part of the driver sight was misplaced
- Type 80-I - Fixed an issue where decals on the right side of the turret were rendering wrong
- Type 80-I - Fixed an issue where the Crew Sights texture was rending wrong
- Type 80-II - Fixed an issue where the vehicle's treads were rendering incorrectly
- Type 85 - Fixed an issue where spotting helpers did not cover the top of the turret
- Type 90-II - Fixed an issue where a Battalion decal was being covered by the ERA package
- Type 90-II - Fixed an issue where the engine exhaust vents on the vehicle were using the incorrect armor composition value
- Type 90-II - Fixed an issue where exhaust smoke was not coming out of the proper vent locations
- Type 98 - Fixed an issued where the vehicle's tracks appeared to be empty and were clipping
- Type 98 - Fixed an issue where the vehicle's tracks were changing color when applying camouflage
- Wiesel 1 - Fixed an issue where decals would not display properly when the vehicle was equipped with the cannon upgrade
Player versus Environment
- Anvil - Fixed an issue where it was possible for players to escape the map boundaries
- Anvil - Fixed an issue where a helicopter from the ending cinematic could be seen frozen in mid-air
- Banshee - Fixed an issue where invisible walls and blocks of collisions were found on the map in various cells
- Banshee - Fixed an issue where map assets were floating in the air
- Banshee - Fixed an issue where the silo near B5 was missing collision
- Cavalry - Fixed an issue where map assets and debris were floating in the air
- Ghost Hunter - Fixed an issue where the wrong textured would be observed on the map when changing Level of Detail in Artillery mode
- Ghost Hunter - Fixed an issue where a missile could be seen frozen in mid-air
- Harbinger - Fixed an issue causing map assets and vehicle props to clip into the ground
- Harbinger - Fixed an issue where the mini-map boundaries and the map boundaries did not matchup
- Hydra - Fixed an issue where players could get into non-playable areas of the map
- Kodiak - Fixed an issue where VO for the third defense point was overlapping
- Life Jacket - Fixed an issue where level of detail was being lost at various places on the map
- Life Jacket - Fixed an issue where the defeat cinematic displayed broken rendering
- Life Jacket - Fixed an issue where ground textures were floating above the map floor
- Life Jacket - Fixed an issue where secondary objectives were missing
- Onyx - Fixed an issue where AI interaction was unintentionally tapering off at the end of missions
- Onyx - Fixed an issue where VO for the secondary objective played after the secondary objective time has ended
- Quarterback - Fixed an issue where primary and secondary objectives were not displaying during the countdown timer
- Quarterback - Fixed an issue where the map border would disappear depending on camera angle
- Red Opossum - Fixed an issue where players were able to drive into non-playable areas on the map
- Rolling Thunder - Fixed an issue where map assets positions were offset
- Rolling Thunder - Fixed an issue where players were able to see beneath the map in certain cells
- Rolling Thunder - Fixed an issue where AI waves were approaching the second objective point too slowly
- Rolling Thunder - Fixed an issue causing broken level of detail on map assets
- Starry Night - Fixed an issue where the 3rd primary objective would be swarmed by AI almost immediately upon activating
- Starry Night - Fixed an issue where the 2nd primary objective would not be attacked by all AI on medium difficulty
- Starry Night - Fixed an issue where an enemy AI would sometimes spawn directly behind the player artillery spawn point
- Sapphire - Fixed an issue that caused SPG vehicles to see the map inside out
- Sapphire - Fixed an issue where invisible walls were popping up on the map in various places
- Scorpio - Fixed an issue where the mission didn't end even if all AI were destroyed, players captured the base, and no new AI spawned
- Scorpio - Fixed an issue where SPG vehicles could complete secondary objectives without spotting them
- Snake Bite - Fixed an issue where players could drive into non-playable areas on the map
- Spearhead - Fixed an issue where failing secondary objective did not generate appropriate VO
- Starry Night - Fixed an issue causing map assets and debris to float above the ground
- Starry Night - Fixed an issue where invisible textures would appear in certain cells on the map
- Starry Night - Fixed an issue where players could get stuck at various points in the riverbed
- Starry Night - Fixed an issue where AI were able to capture the base within 20 seconds of the match starting
- Tsunami - Fixed an issue where level of detail would disappear on vehicles in certain map cells
- Umbrella - Fixed an issue where players in the XM1 could get stuck in certain cells
- Umbrella - Fixed an issue where Primary Objectives were missing from the UI duration countdown
- Umbrella - Fixed an issue where AI were spawning in and becoming stuck in the map
- Wildfire - Fixed an issue where VO for the secondary mission would play even after failing the mission
Miscellaneous
- Fixed an issue where female commander portraits were using male voice clips
- Fixed an issue where the incorrect audio loop played when being hit for 1 damage
- Fixed an issue where zooming out when viewing the base would make various base components appear to float at a distance
