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Source:

https://armoredwarfare.com/en/news/general/development-borsuk

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With February in full swing, we’d like to start telling you about an upcoming Battle Path called Shadow Protocol and its vehicles, the first of which to be unveiled will be the Borsuk Armored Fighting Vehicle.

 

Borsuk IFV, 2022

 

The Shadow Protocol Battle Path has two themes – the main one is mercenaries and their history. The second one is the past, the present and the future of warfare with Borsuk representing the contemporary vehicles.

But, as usual, a bit of history first.

The Borsuk (“badger”) is a brand-new Polish Infantry Fighting Vehicle, designed to replace the now utterly obsolete BWP-1 (Polish version of the BMP-1) from the 1970s with earlier attempts to produce a universal platform (such as the Anders) or upgrading it (the Puma program) falling short.

Towards the end of 2014, the Poles launched another project to modernize their IFVs. The first public information about the new IFV was unveiled in 2016 and included two important pieces of info – the turret was supposed to be unmanned and capable of launching Spike ATGMs.

 

Borsuk demonstrator, 2017

 

The vehicle was also supposed to be amphibious – an important requirement for the Polish military, as Poland is a country full of rivers. Initially, two versions were envisaged – a light one (25 tons, amphibious) and a heavy one (40 tons, not amphibious). The idea was to produce at least 1000 vehicles in order to completely replace the BWP-1. Initially, it was also considered to co-develop (and co-finance) the vehicle with the Czech Republic, but that plan collapsed very quickly.

A technological proof of concept was exhibited in Kielce during the MSPO 2017 expo. From there, refinements were made, and the chassis was mated with a remote-controlled (unmanned) ZSSW-30 turret (armed with Spikes and 30mm Mk.44S autocannon with -9/+60 depression and elevation and 120 RPM rate of fire). It also gained additional armor and new tracks. This more advanced Borsuk prototype was displayed a year later, again during the MSPO expo.

 

Borsuk IFV, 2023

 

At that point, the Borsuk requirements for “heavy” and “light” variants merged into a single 25 ton amphibious vehicle (although additional modular armor is also supported, increasing the weight to 28 tons). The vehicle was powered by a MTU engine producing some 720hp.

Further work on the design included various modifications based on initial testing feedback such as changing how the splash board works, and the locations of cameras. The final version of the prototype was wheeled out in 2019. Military trials then followed and were completed in 2022 with additional four prototypes being manufactured during this time (bringing the total to five prototypes). At the beginning of 2023, an order was placed for 1400 units (1000 basic Borsuk IFVs, 400 specialized variants), the first of which due to be delivered in 2025.

Borsuk is also available for export with various versions being offered to Romania and even Brazil. However, it’s unlikely to be a widely successful export article for now, first due to the lack of service experience and, secondly, due to the Polish Army likely gobbling up all produced units.

In Armored Warfare, the Borsuk will be a Tier 10 Premium AFV.

All in all, the vehicle itself is not very remarkable, but comes with a major twist. The armor is in concept somewhat similar to that of the Ajax – basic hull covered with modular composite plates. Compared to the Ajax, the vehicle is less armored and has fewer hitpoints (as it is considerably lighter) but it is protected from autocannons.

The firepower is also decent and consists of 40mm autocannon and a Spike ATGM launcher in an unmanned turret (the Spike launcher is unlocked via Battle Path progression). As for the mobility, the vehicle is considerably more agile than the Ajax thanks to its lower weight. 720hp for 28 tons is not a bad value, after all. The vehicle can naturally also deploy Mechanized Infantry.

So, now you might be thinking that we made a decent (if bland) IFV suitable for all kinds of players. But here comes the promised twist.

The Borsuk will also come with a unique ability called Repair Zone. Simply put, when activated, it deploys a repair team. In game terms, it spawns a circle behind it and staying in the circle will slowly restore your hitpoints. The restoration speed and the maximum amount of restored hitpoints are still being tuned, but the base will also have a physical object with hitpoints inside it (a pile of boxes). Destroying that object will remove the base.

This ability is sure to come in handy in both PvP and difficult PvE modes where a strategically placed Repair Zone can save the entire mission.

Comments from SS:

• The repair zone can also repair the parent vehicle (i.e. the Borsuk that deploys the structure itself) as well as other teammate vehicles, but it won't be usable by enemies
• As an entity it will behave similarly to VN20's turret, and it can be spotted by anyone
• It will disappear upon destruction or when the parent vehicle respawns

Source:

https://armoredwarfare.com/en/news/general/update-0260-now-available

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We are happy to announce that the Update 0.260 is now available!

 

List of Update 0.260 Changes

 

Seahawks Battle Path

In this update, we are correcting several issues of the Seahawks Battle Path and its vehicles:

• VN20: Red Arrow ATGMs no longer deal reduced damage with the second turret installed
• VN20: Deploying a sentry turret no longer makes the camera jerk violently
• XK3: Fixed the launcher animations

Vehicle Fixes and Updates

With each patch we continue (and will continue) to update vehicles based on your feedback and fix them. In this update, we have the following changes for you:

• Fixed incorrectly appearing black textures on a number of vehicles
• AS21 Redback: Turret ring now correctly appears in Armor Inspector
• Begleitpanzer 57: Skins no longer make the ATGM launcher disappear
• BMP-2M Berezhok: Fixed the destroyed model appearance (it had two guns)
• EBRC Jaguar: Increased the amount of shells carried to 1200
• Gepard: Turret ring now correctly appears in Armor Inspector
• KF41 Lynx Prototype: Gun can no longer fire through obstacles at close ranges
• KF41 Lynx Prototype: Fixed several smaller visual issues
• Lynx Skyranger: Gun can no longer fire through obstacles at close ranges
• M1A2C: Fixed the spare roadwheel texture on the War Pig skin
• M8 Buford: Fixed the machinegun model
• M8 MGM-166: Fixed the collision model so that the vehicle no longer gets stuck on small obstacles
• MPF: Fixed the broken gun textures
• RST-V Shadow: Fixed the machinegun that was firing through the hull
• Seon’gun-915: Turret ring module no longer incorrectly covers the entire hull height
• T-64BV Mod.2017: Gun no longer clips into the upper frontal plate ERA modules
• T-80U: Fixed the T-80U ROK skin’s rear turret net clipping into other elements
• T-80UM-1 Bars: Coaxial machinegun model no longer clips into the hull
• T-90M Proryv: Fixed the vehicle icon
• Type 99B: Improved the armor thickness of a portion of its turret ring
• Sphinx: Increased the amount of shells carried to 1200
• ZTZ-20: Fixed the aim reticle position that was not aligned with the gun

General Changes

• Changed the portraits of commanders Kathryn Grey, Joshua Seagrove and Fyodor Sokolov both in missions and in the Garage to match the Seahawks Battle Path depiction
• Fixed the missing progression button in your Garage on several vehicles
• Added a number of assets for future events

• This update also shortens the currencies' displayed numbers by showing K, M, and B for thousands, millions, and billions.
• On the other hand, there are reports that seasonal contract missions do not work properly: contract mission UI may not show missions as completed after and on cooldown after completion, but it may just be a UI problem, as they are still being counted towards contract vehicles' upgrade unlock progression.
• T-64BV 2017's gun elevation and depression stats are now narrowed down to -2 and 10 degrees respectievly in this update.

Source:

https://armoredwarfare.com/en/news/general/development-typhoon-vdv

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Today, we have a new vehicle for you that’s coming to Armored Warfare in February. You’ve been asking for powerful scouts to complement the Sphinx and Jaguar on high Tiers and boy do we have one for you. Enter the Typhoon-VDV!

But first, a bit of history as usual.

The history of the Typhoon family of armored vehicles began with the requirement for a modern multi-purpose wheeled platform with unified components for the Russian military. The history of the project began with cooperation between several major companies, including UralAZ, KamAZ, YaMZ (engine), NII Stali research institute (armor) plus a few more.

The project was launched in 2010 although the attempts to design this kind of platform go back to the 1980s and the Soviet Union (before its collapse). The 1990s were not a good time for Russia and many projects (including this one) were cancelled due to budget cuts only to be re-started in the 2000s and 2010s when the economic situation improved.

The program was primarily launched to replace the aging unprotected trucks and other means of infantry transport and the first prototypes that came from it in 2011 (Typhoon-U and Typhoon-K) were 6-wheelers. These are highly modular with many different configurations. The lighter version of the platform with 4 wheels came a few years later, in 2015, with the KamAZ-53949 Typhoon 4x4 (also unofficially referred to as “Little Typhoon”).

The KamAZ K-4386 Typhoon-VDV is a further development of the “Little Typhoon”. It is an air-droppable protected special-purpose vehicle (ZASN-D) for the Russian Airborne Forces. In its basic modification, the vehicle is equipped with the 32V01 Spitsa remotely controlled combat module with a 30mm 2A42 autocannon and a PKTM machine gun. It can also be equipped with a 9K111-1M Konkurs-M anti-tank missile system with two launch tubes.

The number of built Typhoon-VDV vehicles is unknown. The vehicle underwent the state trials in 2020 and allegedly entered official service. An export version is offered since 2021. It has seen combat since 2022 but the amount of vehicles built is unknown, likely quite low.

In Armored Warfare, the Typhoon-VDV will be a Tier 10 Premium AFV.

Typhoon-VDV will be a classic scout, on which you can expect solid mobility and firepower but low armor. Its main task on the battlefield will be to spot enemy targets – but spotting alone wouldn’t make for a fun vehicle to play, which is why the Typhoon has some nasty teeth in the form of:

• 30mm autocannon comparable in damage output to the T-15
• Konkurs-M launcher with two tubes, capable of launching two missiles at once (thermobaric warheads are available)

But that’s not all. In real life, Typhoon-VDV is meant for recon specialists and is packed with advanced equipment and electronics. As such, it serves as a hub for relaying information back to other troops. In Armored Warfare, this is reflected by a special new ability that increases the view range for all vehicles all around it by 30 meters, giving especially scout platoons an edge on the battlefield.

All in all, the vehicle will be ideal not only for pure spotting lovers, but also for players who want to use its firepower to take care of lighter enemies quickly and efficiently.

This vehicle will debut as a loot crate vehicle, but it may also be available via BP shop and contests later in the future.

As for the passive ability, SS says they may take a look at it, implying the details are not final.

Source:

https://armoredwarfare.com/en/news/general/update-0250-now-available

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We are happy to announce that the Update 0.250 is now available!

 

List of Update 0.250 Changes

 

TOS-1M Changes

In this update, we are addressing the matter of TOS-1M and its gameplay. The vehicle currently has two issues. First, thanks to its armor and the lack of ammo rack it can ride out, deal enormous damage while weathering incoming fire, and hide again for reload. Secondly, the basic 122mm configuration is useless due to its abysmal accuracy. We are therefore introducing the following changes:

• Reduced the frontal turret armor of the vehicle (thus creating a large weakspot)
• Removed the “unmanned turret” feature
• Hard-kill APS now only works in the frontal arc (much like the one on the KF51 Panther)
• Increased the accuracy of 122mm rockets

AFT-10 Improvements

The AFT-10 Tier 10 Premium Tank Destroyer has been underperforming for a long time. We are therefore introducing the following changes:

• Vehicle’s ATGMs now ignore soft-kill APS
• Increased the missile agility from 20 deg/s to 30 deg/s
• Increased the camouflage factor from 20% to 30%
• Reduced the time between launches from 3.53s to 3s
• Reduced the launcher reload time from 34s to 30s

Seahawks Battle Path

In this update, we are correcting several issues of the Seahawks Battle Path and its vehicles:

• VN20: Fixed an issue where the vehicle received too high damage by ramming
• VN20: Fixed other smaller visual issues
• Fixed the description of the “Eliminate the Marauders!” mission

Vehicle Fixes and Updates

With each patch we continue (and will continue) to update vehicles based on your feedback and fix them. In this update, we have the following changes for you:

• Ajax: Dirt and snow now applies correctly to the Desert Ajax skin
• AMX-10P PAC 90: Machinegun is now animated properly
• Arjun: Removed the cover from the vehicle’s machinegun port
• BM Oplot: Slightly increased the lower frontal plate thickness
• BM Oplot: Significantly increased the thickness of the frontal part of its side armor
• Boxer RIWP: XM5 Warhawk skin now changes its colors correctly
• BTR-82A: Some parts of cage armor are no longer transparent
• BTR-82A: Fixed other smaller visual issues
• CV90120T Ghost: Machinegun is now animated properly
• ERC-90 F4: Fixed the machinegun animation
• Harimau: Machinegun is now animated properly
• IT-1: Vehicle now has a working machinegun
• K21 XC-8: Machinegun is now animated properly
• KF41: Troop compartment door is no longer camouflaged from the inside
• Kornet-D1: Activating the Retreat ability no longer makes the vehicle fire faster
• Kornet-EM: On the Military Police skin, the police signal lights now only activate when you turn the headlights on
• Kornet-EM On the Military Police skin, fixed the signal lights being white on low graphics settings
• Leclerc Prototype: Machinegun is now animated properly
• M109A6 Paladin: Fixed the machinegun elevation
• M60: Camouflage is no longer applied to the engine exhaust grille
• M8 Hades: Fixed the machinegun location and elevation
• M8-105 Buford: Fixed the machinegun location and elevation
• MGM-166: Machinegun is now animated properly
• Object 187: Machinegun is now animated properly
• Object 287: Vehicle now has a working machinegun
• Object 640: Fixed the machinegun depression so that it no longer fires through the hull
• PT-76: Machinegun is now animated properly
• Puma: Bolts on the top of the hull are no longer flickering
• Puma: Fixed other smaller visual issues
• T-15 Kinzhal: Empty shell casings no longer hang in the air
• T-62M: The Rusalka inscription on the Rusalka skin is no longer flickering
• T-64BV Mod.2017: Fixed the machinegun position
• T-72 Victory: Acquiring the vehicle no longer makes the crew lose a level on the original T-72 Ural
• T-80UM-1 Bars: Fixed the unlock achievement UI
• T-80UM-1 Bars: Machinegun is now animated properly
• T-90: Fixed the missing turret elements
• T-90A: Fixed the broken Relikt ERA
• T-90M Proryv: Removed the fuel tank internal module (the way it is on other vehicles)
• T-90M Proryv: Turret ERA now has a matte anti-slip surface as it does in real life
• T-90M Proryv: Surveillance equipment on the turret is now correctly painted black
• T-90M Proryv: Fixed the rear ERA color (rear panels are no longer black and the “soft” ERA bags change color properly)
• T92 Light Tank: Machinegun is now animated properly
• Type 90-II: Spall Liner module now has a correct unlocking price
• Type 99A2: Fixed the machinegun’s depression angle
• Type 99A2-140: Fixed the machinegun’s depression angle
• Type 99B: Machinegun is now animated properly
• XM1A3: Fixed the missing frontal side ERA panels
• ZUBR PSP: Machinegun is now animated properly

General Changes

• Fixed an issue that caused a major performance loss when activating headlights
• Lone Star: Death cutscene now has a soundtrack
• Lone Star: Death cutscene camera no longer clips through the ground
• Lone Star: Players can no longer enter an area they weren’t supposed to at D1
• Lone Star: Fixed a building with missing textures in the north-eastern area of the map
• Lone Star: Fixed an issue that caused enemy vehicles to teleport around
• Fixed the icons of USA (Winter) and Russian (Winter) camouflages
• Fixed the texts for unlocking vehicle progress for Gold
• Added the assets for future events

• The TOS-1M changes were originally supposed to take place last November, but for some reasons they didn't actually happen back then.
• Both AFT-10 and BM Oplot buffs seem to be in response to requests on last month's stream, where SS also commented that both vehicles weren't doing well.
• IT-1, Object 287, and K21 XC-8 received their coaxial machine guns as part of undocumented changes in 0.235, but are mentioned now.
• As for other vehicles with machine guns mentioned in the patch notes, it looks like that they were the ones that got left out from previous machine gun elevation fixes in 0.155, and finally got theirs fixed this week.
• There is a new unknown consumable slot to the right of PvE-exclusive Field Repair Kit slot in match, where the shortcut key is shown to be "loc_".

Source:

https://armoredwarfare.com/en/news/general/update-0247-now-available

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We are happy to announce that the Update 0.247 is now available!

 

List of Update 0.247 Changes

 

Progress Boost for Vehicles

All progression vehicles now offer special bundles in exchange for Gold that will instantly boost that vehicle’s progress to maximum. If you have some progress accumulated on a vehicle, the bundle gets progressively cheaper. See the screenshot above for an example. In connection with this feature, each progression vehicle’s “progression” section was moved to the top of its Upgrades window.

Please note that the bundle incorrectly states it offers “Reputation” instead of the correct “Experience” – this will be fixed.

Seahawks Battle Path

In this update, we are correcting several issues of the Seahawks Battle Path and its vehicles:

• Fixed the Grimm’s Leadership mission description (the mission requires 17 completions as per the counter while the description stated 15)
• Fixed the Seahawk mission icon in the debriefing window
• VN20: Sentry turret kills are now displayed correctly in the UI
• XK3 Phantom: The Ambush ability is now set as a default one

XM2001 Crusader

This update is bringing the XM2001 Crusader Tier 10 Premium SPG (that is going to be available in the near future). You can read more about it in our dedicated article.

Please note that compared to the article, the vehicle gained two new abilities:

• M982 Excalibur guided HE shells
• Supercharged soft-kill APS

Additional Vehicle Fixes and Updates

With each patch we continue (and will continue) to update vehicles based on your feedback and fix them. In this update, we have the following changes for you:

• Altay: Target lock for the top attack shells now has its correct sound
• Boxer RIWP: TOW turret no longer comes with partially loaded ATGMs
• Boxer RIWP: All base paints now work correctly with the Warhawk skin
• Boxer RIWP: Front of the vehicle now changes colors correctly based on the selected base paint on the Warhawk skin
• Boxer RIWP: Fixed the Warhawk skin battalion decal placement
• Boxer RIWP: Fixed numerous smaller visual issues of the Warhawk skin
• BMP-2M: Fixed the Volnorez visual model
• BMP-2M: Fixed the smoke grenade launcher visual model
• BMP-2M: Fixed the exhaust grille visual model
• BMP-2M: Fixed the missing textures on a destroyed visual model
• BMP-2M: Fixed many other smaller visual issues
• BTR-82A: Fixed the camouflage layout of this vehicle
• BTR-82A: Double missile launch module is no longer getting randomly removed
• BTR-82A: Roadwheels no longer clip into the suspension
• BTR-82A: Turret parts such as the machinegun can no longer be fired through
• BTR-82A: Fixed the headlight visual effect
• BTR-82A: Fixed an issue where the wheels didn’t connect with the ground properly
• BTR-82A: Fixed several texture issues (rubber parts in the front, shading in the back)
• BTR-82A: Fixed the gunfire visual effect
• BTR-82A: Fixed many other smaller visual issues
• Challenger 2 ATDU: Fixed the Desert Rat and Honey Badger skin icons
• K2 Black Panther: Target lock for the top attack shells now has its correct sound
• KF41 Lynx Prototype: Fixed several texture issues
• KF41 Lynx Prototype: Added the correct model of door and troop compartment
• KF51 Panther: Fixed the rear light appearance
• M1128 Stryker: Fixed the destroyed model appearance
• M60A3 SLEP: Fixed the gun position
• MPF Light Tank: Fixed the gun position
• T-15 Armata: Fixed an issue where the vehicle started matches on desert maps covered in dirt
• T-90M Proryv: Fixed the camouflage layout of this vehicle
• T-90M Proryv: Fixed the excessive dirt on certain graphics settings
• T-90M Proryv: Rear turret ERA no longer clips into the turret
• T-90M Proryv: Suspension is now correctly animated
• T-90M Proryv: Fixed numerous other smaller visual issues
• TTB: Fixed the gun module size so that it cannot be damaged when firing outside of the turret
• XM1A3: Trophy Next Gen module is now correctly localized

General Changes

• Fixed several more reasons causing the game to crash
• Fixed an issue where defeated players could not switch the camera between different friendly vehicles
• Fixed an issue where low-Tier targets were missing from the Alabino map
• Commander skill reset is now working correctly
• Dynamic decals are now working correctly on the Alabino map
• Fixed an issue where the gunfire sound behaved incorrectly when switching between the third person mode and first person mode while firing the gun
• Fixed several localization issues
• Added a number of new assets for future events

• The new Progress Boost feature has caused vehicles to reverse in progression. This is due to the way the system now counts overprogression modules as part of the vehicles' progress to renown status (i.e. 100%), which is not intended and defeats the point of said overprogression upgrades.
• There are multiple reports of players getting stuck on mission loading screen with progress at 52%, most commonly on Heroics spec ops chapter 3. Some people also mention CPU going 100% when it happens.

CSB has been updated today to include skill changes on Fyodor Sokolov, Joshua Seagrove, and Kathryn Grey first seen in 0.240.

Link: http://csb-hype.5v.pl/

A few things to note:

• Some skills have changed names and no longer use the I, II and III rank system, but Tenam (the one who coded the latest versions of CSB) is rather busy and says it's not something that can be changed easily (at least not right away).
• Only English language is up to date for now. English, German, Traditional and Simplified Chinese versions are now up to date. Other languages may or may not get updated in the future (depending on volunteers available).

Source (SS enters voice chat around 00:20:34):

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2317916918

Mirror:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gXKmnfo0Bk

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Battle Path:

• SS will try to include SPGs in the next Battle Path's missions
• The high requirements for current BP's missions are intended
  • That said, SS will overhaul the missions again for the next BP
• Battle Coin boosts are not available in ranks, but only via mission chains for this BP, and this is also intended.
• There are no plans to add garage vehicle filters for BP-specific missions, e.g. sort by Bulwark, Maulers, Remnants, or Seahawks vehicles for Seahawks BP

Mechanics:

• The devs are looking into possible AI improvement, especially as part of (but not limited to) the post-season 0 Shockwave Mode overhaul. They don't want to make the bots too smart and cause players to accuse the bots of cheating, but rather make them more predictable (akin to dungeon mobs in an RPG) as the game's development is shifting more towards PvE in direction. They are aware of bots ignoring player vehicles' smokescreens and soft kill APS as it was mentioned last July. On the other hand, AI is one of the most complex things in the game aside from matchmaking and connections.
• PanzerMarmelade asks if SPGs can have selectable modules to allow indirect fire for PvE only and while making it direct fire only for PvP, SS replies he and the devs don't want vehicles to have different behaviours in different modes.
• When asked if the devs can add a live "assist damage" stats table in battle, SS thinks it's hard to answer as it may or may not be very complicated to do.
• Drones will still come this year (this month), but there will be changes to its mechanics. Drone launches will be limited in numbers, and will use consumable mechanic. Light tanks will get attack drones, whereas scouts like CRAB and SPHINX will get recon drones. The changes are still being finalised, but there will be a new article explaining them.

Spec Ops:

• SS thinks that they way how player vehicles get spotted over a long distance since the helicopter stage of Lone Star and getting bombarded by wide AoE artillery are intended - mostly as an improvisation for them to work. There were a lot of problems regarding their behaviour during that mission's development.
  • SS also thinks that the helicopter not being able to locked on with autoaim is probably intended. (Helicopters in older spec ops can be locked on and even be shot down by self-guided ATGMs though)
  • As for the artillery's wide AoE, SS doesn't think it's a problem; it wasn't brought up frequently in the survey.
• The level designers are currently working on the second iteration of Shockwave Mode, but Black Company chapter 3 aka Tiger Shark will probably still come in the first half of 2025 (subject to changes).
• The devs are aware that vehicle achievements for the latest Spec Ops are tedious due to long mission lengths. SS will look into writing new achievements for Tiger Shark.
• Implementing Apocalypse + Exile spec ops series into weekend War Games is harder than it seems. A lot of things, ranging from UI to the missions themselves, were broken, and the task was delayed by other factors as mentioned in July stream. They plan to get it done in 2025, but no idea how soon or late it will be.
• The devs are looking into allowing players to choose which spec ops mission to play, but no ETA on that.
• There are two groups of supertesters: one for EU, and one for RU. The RU group has its own rules for selection and testing things. As for the EU group, SS handpicks the candidates based on how much he trusts them and values their opinions, and the whole process is much easier in comparison.

Vehicles:

• There are plans to add new light tanks, as well as to overhaul the class as a whole.
• European vehicles will get balance changes in the future.
• SPG overhaul is considered a success, because it helps increase the play rate. However, the SPGs will be reviewed again in 2025, as they are not yet in a satisfactory state.
• Autocannon Wiesel is in limbo as it's not at a high priority. The devs don't want to turn it into a contract vehicle though. It may still return as a premium vehicle, or be merged with the progression vehicle (Wiesel TOW), whichever is easier to do.
• As mentioned in July stream, Object 292 is having problems, even though it's not as bad as T-80BVM's. No ETA available though.
• Leopard 2A8 will come after Object 292. Modelling has already started.
• AFT-10 will get a buff because it needs one; its performance is bad in pretty much every mode. This was also asked and confirmed in April's stream.
• The TOS-1M Buratino was supposed to get a new weak spot below the turret, as well as convergence for the 122mm rockets in late November. The changes did not go live last week, but are still coming in the future.
• No plans to nerf Boxer RIWP's armour unless it's doing too well statistically.
• No plans to sell the T-55M1.
• As for why the Object 640 Black Eagle returns as an obtainable skin in the current BP despite the promise not to sell it again, SS said "well I believe we said that we wouldn't sell it".
• No plans for more anime style vehicle skins.
• SS may look into adding an MG to Cheonma-2's stock configuration in order to deal with infantry or other targets
• CATTB is still doing statistically well according to SS. "Not great, not the best tank in the game, but it's doing OK". (For reference, he reported 48.9% win rate and average damage per match last June on official Discord server)
• XM1A3's 120mm didn't get any changes in the recent US vehicles buffs, and it's intended by the game designers themselves. SS didn't have much involvement in this, but he acknowledges that the 120mm doesn't seem as viable overall, yet the double-tap burst may compensate for it. He will look into the stats and see if it needs buffs in the future nonetheless.
• No plans to buff XM1A3's 140mm ammo capacity for now.
• PanzerMarmelade brings up the issue of SPHINX's and Jaguar's low autocannon ammo capacity again (also brought up in July's stream). SS says he will check the vehicles' damage per match and determine if they need buffs or not.
• More low tier vehicles planned for 2025, though not as many as higher tier ones.
• BM Oplot buff is possible, as it's not doing so well. However, the Russian vehicles' ERA took a long time to fix (the models had to be converted to a different format), so SS thinks they may go for a different direction for the Oplot. Buffing HP, however, is feasible, as it has less HP than many other tier 9 MBTs.
• Regarding top attack ATGMs, SS thinks it's better for something to be less useful than having it OP. There was a time when such missiles were doing a lot of damages, and the solution was to buff vehicle roof armour. As for vehicles like Shadow and K-153C, SS says he can look into buffing them, such as reducing lock-on time.
• XM2001 Crusader will be a loot crate tank. SS thinks it'd be really fun, and he's fairly confident that players will like it.

Others:

• Regarding DXVK getting removed from game folder, SS says the launcher now deletes any files that it considers inconsistent with the game files. He also states that this move improves the game's stability, as the number of crash reports have dropped by 30%, even though they're not all caused by mods. He re-emphasised that 3rd party adjustments / mods are not officially supported, yet at the same time they are aware that players are so used to them by now that this is an awkward move, so he encourages people who are facing DXVK problems to contact him on how it's installed etc. and he will try to bring this up with the tech guys.
• Regarding patch notes coming after updates and not before, SS says it's not possible to communicate way in advance, because sometimes the changes are only confirmed at the last minute.
• The winter marathon event will feature things that players requested, such as Yugoslavia flag, googly eyes decal seen on Abrams tanks, and cheese camo to go with Object 490.
• There is a suggestion from the audience asking for repair points to refill APS charges, and PanzerMarmelade suggests doing so via consumable. SS says he will look into either options.
• New gun sounds may come in February or March 2025. The T-72 gun sounds were supposed to come in the Shockwave Update, but it turns out they weren't ready.
• The devs are aware that AMD Radeon cards are not doing well with this game (known issue with CryEngine).
• There will be a boost event (income increase?) around Christmas.
• No plans for new battalion content at the moment. There were plans for a new Battalion vehicle, but there isn't enough resource available and to allocate for such a task. SS would rather not touch this topic until there is a clearer plan on what to do.
• Rental vehicles are helpful for new players, and is a positive contribution for the Shockwave Update, but they also present a problem, because they have become "gold factories" for older players, which is not intended.
• Shockwave Mode has heavily impacted the player count in Global Operations.
• There is a general plan to make changes to Shockwave Mode so that gameplay takes place across the whole map, rather than forcing players to fight around the centre in close combat. Examples include activating turrets.
• Switching game engines was something considered before, but it was deemed super expensive. They did do a tech demo to review such a possibility before though.
• The devs have been looking for a dedicated community manager for the English community, but until then SS will still be fronting the public communications (even though he said he doesn't want to); those who can speak English well are either high in the leadership, or are too shy to do the public stuff.
• Still no plans to remove or change Ophelia's shield, particularly because of her premium nature.
• SS doesn't defend the 250 EUR price for tier 10 tanks sold in the web shop, as it's not his own decision. His only advice is buy if you think it's worth it, and vice versa.
• Regarding a comment about how 10 vs 10 GLOPs is mostly playing just playing on the same 3 maps over and over again, SS says it's possible to add more maps to the skirmish pool, but this requires adjustments for individual maps. About 70% of the matches occur on the same 3 maps. The newest PvP map Carson City only saw about 1.5 to 3%, and it's something that devs need to address eventually.
• When asked if there will be new missions for Heroic mode, SS agrees that there should be more Heroic PvE, but not just for clan content and in a different format ("so stay tuned, I guess"). Shockwave Mode doesn't count as Heroic; the "Heroic" part on mission selection screen is just placeholder text, and the two modes require different mindsets and skillsets.
• No plans for new retrofits, even though some rather toxic ones were planned at one point. Same for consumables.

Source:

https://armoredwarfare.com/en/news/general/future-shockwave-mode

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The initial pre-Season of the Shockwave mode (Season 0) is now over and the mode is no longer available for the time being. Tens of thousands of you participated in Season 0 and the mode was amongst the most popular in the game!

But there’s no denying there has been a lot of criticism raised, as addressed in our latest article. Specifically:

• The mode forces players into close combat inside the capture circle, soon resulting in incredibly difficult and hectic melee suitable for only a handful of vehicles (this is definitely something we’ll address)
• Some AI opponents are clearly too toxic and not fun to fight, be it those dealing unavoidable damage (AbramsX, Boxer RIWP) or capable of destroying player vehicles with one shot (T-15 Lieutenants)
• Performance issues do exist for many players, especially during later waves
• The base layout is not ideal and makes defense more difficult than intended
• The amount of some rewarded currencies is clearly a bit too high
• Ammo does not refill outside of the base
• Mode statistics (losses) count towards general player statistics and are spoiling them

So, what happens now? The good news is, we’ve already begun our work on the next iteration of the mode that will bring major updates to it, including:

• Different gameplay addressing the issues above
• Making all classes be usable in this mode
• New rewards
• Ladder system to compare your results

And much more.

However, that all will take some time and we expect the next iteration of the mode to be ready by spring 2025.

While you wait, we’ll have more amazing new features for you to enjoy, including the second part of the Shockwave update that’s bringing the long-awaited Drones mechanic. We’ll tell you more about those in a bit.

Source:

https://armoredwarfare.com/en/news/general/update-0246-now-available

Quote

We are happy to announce that the Update 0.246 is now available!

Please note that the Shockwave Season 0 is over and the mode is no longer available. Stay tuned for more info about our further plans for the Shockwave mode!

 

List of Update 0.246 Changes

 

Autocannon HE shell overhaul

We are overhauling the High Explosive shells for autocannons (with notable exceptions such as AbramsX and Boxer RIWP) to do the following:

• HE shells will only deal full damage to unarmored or very lightly targets
• Armored targets will be dealt no damage (or very limited damage)
• The HE shells will deal a lot of damage to external modules such as tracks, guns and ERA/NERA elements

Seahawks Battle Path

In this update, we are correcting several issues of the Seahawks Battle Path and its vehicles:

• VN20: Tracks no longer move faster than the wheels rotate
• VN20: Many smaller visual fixes
• Fixed the skills of commander Samuel Thorpe

Additional Vehicle Fixes and Updates

With each patch we continue (and will continue) to update vehicles based on your feedback and fix them. In this update, we have the following changes for you:

• Fixed the aiming point of multiple (almost all) artillery vehicles
• AMX-30B2: Vehicle is no longer excessively dirty
• BTR-82A: Fixed the door-opening animation for the improved armor configuration
• BTR-82A: Small visual fixes
• Challenger 2: Fixed an issue where the targeting was broken when playing with the Faugh a Ballagh skin
• Challenger 2 ATDU: Returned the turret “roof” element to the vehicle and its skins
• Challenger 2 ATDU: Fixed the Honey Badger skin that was missing a camouflage part around the gun
• M1: Increased the amount of ammunition carried from 50 to 56
• M1A1: Increased the amount of ammunition carried from 48 to 50
• M1A1 AIM: Increased the amount of ammunition carried from 48 to 50
• M1A1 Storm: Increased the amount of ammunition carried from 48 to 50
• M1A2: Increased the amount of ammunition carried from 48 to 50
• M1A2: Fixed the look of the SEP v3 PL skin
• M1A2C: Increased the amount of ammunition carried from 48 to 50
• M1A2C Hades: Increased the amount of ammunition carried from 48 to 50
• M1128 Stryker: Increased the amount of ammunition carried from 50 to 63
• Puma: Small visual fixes on the Panzergrenadier skin
• T-72M2 Wilk: The Half-Restored skin gun cover now has the correct color
• T-90M Proryv: Fixed the excessive dirt covering ERA elements
• XM1: Increased the amount of ammunition carried from 50 to 56
• XM1A3: Increased the amount of 120mm ammunition carried from 50 to 60
• XM1A3: Fixed the M1A3 skin icon

General Changes

• Fixed several reasons causing the game to crash
• Returned the true Fullscreen option to the graphics settings
• Lieutenant bot vehicles are now spawning correctly in PvE missions
• Bonus rewards for long queues are now working correctly
• Fixed several localization issues

• This update originally contained notes regarding TOS-1M Buratino's changes, including a new weak spot, limiting hard kill APS to frontal arc only, and adding convergence back to 122mm rockets. However, it appears that the changes did not actually go live, and so the said notes have now been removed from the page.

Source:

https://armoredwarfare.com/en/news/general/development-xm2001-crusader

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Today we’d like to tell you more about a vehicle that’s coming to Armored Warfare this December – the American XM2001 Crusader Tier 10 Self-Propelled Gun.

But first, a bit of history as usual.

The Crusader program was conceived in the 1980s as a replacement of the old M109 series of 155mm self-propelled howitzers. The original goal was to create a modern SPG that would outmatch anything the Soviets could field but the breakup of the Soviet Union halted the plans until roughly 1994 when the development began in earnest.

The vehicle was supposed to be cutting edge and featured many innovations. The crew was safe in its armored hull while the turret was unmanned with the gun automatically fed by an autoloader. This allowed it to set up and fire several times faster than the M109A6 Paladin. It was also very fast thanks to its 1500hp gas turbine engine.

It did have numerous drawbacks though because the loading mechanism was extremely complicated, the proposed liquid shell propellant had to be dropped and the turret could not traverse more than 20 degrees from the vehicle’s axis.

But the biggest issue turned out to be the fact that by the end of the 1990s, the U.S. Army was planning to switch to lighter units and the Crusader was just too heavy. The weight therefore had to be reduced from 60 to 40 tons, which, along with other overhauls, caused additional delays. Two prototypes were built around 2001 (along with a single XM2002 resupply vehicle) and were tested.

The results were quite promising but with the onset of the War on Terror, the Crusader became one of the budget cut victims of the era. The program was cancelled in the May of 2002 and the single surviving prototype can be seen in the U.S. Army Field Artillery Museum in Lawton.

As was stated above, in Armored Warfare, the Crusader will be a Tier 10 Premium SPG.

In many ways, the Crusader will be very different from most other vehicles in Armored Warfare. As self-propelled guns go, it’ll be very fast and agile with high maximum speed (67 km/h) and high reverse speed (39 km/h).

It’ll be somewhat armored too as its frontal hull and the roof are covered with composite armor elements. In reality, however, most of its frontal armor will be vulnerable to armor-piercing ammunition of the same Tier.

And then there’s the 155mm gun with a three-round magazine with 2 seconds between shots (and 10 second of full magazine reload). The ammunition is a standard set of HE and HEAT rounds with some pretty nasty traits. Add to it its excellent gun depression (-6/+75 degrees) and little accuracy loss from moving the hull.

But there will be some drawbacks. Perhaps the most important one is that, just like in real life, the Crusader’s turret offers limited traverse only – 20 degrees to each side. This doesn’t make aiming that much inconvenient due to the abovementioned low accuracy loss with hull traverse, but it does mean that the Crusader is a very poor brawler. In other words, you have to stay out of close combat to survive.

The second major drawback is that while the Crusader does have soft-kill APS, it cannot deploy smoke grenades – unlike the vast majority of higher-Tier vehicles, it only has a smoke generator. In other words, careful gameplay is required.

The Crusader is effectively an equivalent of an assault gun relying on high mobility and excellent firepower to deal as much damage as possible and then quickly retreat under the cover of your own smoke. Using its high reverse speed is critical in this regard, as is situational awareness because catching even a Main Battle Tank off-guard will allow you to destroy it really quickly. For aggressive, skilled players, it’s the perfect vehicle.

• This will be the first tier 10 premium SPG, and the first premium SPG since Msta-S from Echoes of War BP in late 2020.
• It will be a direct fire vehicle as with most other SPGs. SS: "The existing artillery gameplay as big boom TDs is staying"
• There are plans to include SPGs in BP repeatable missions in the future

Source:

https://armoredwarfare.com/en/news/general/update-0240-now-available

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We are happy to announce that the Update 0.240 is now available!

 

List of Update 0.240 Changes

 

Seahawks Battle Path

We are rolling out a new four-month-long Battle Path featuring a lot of exciting content, including the following prizes:

• XK3 Tier 10 Premium MBT (with a special Ambush ability)
• VN20 Tier 10 Premium TD (with a special Turret Deployment ability)
• Cheonma-2 Tier 10 Premium MBT (featuring multiple weapons systems)
• Several other Premium vehicles
• Three commanders
• Epic skins
• Numerous camouflages

And much more! The prizes can be explored in this article and you can read about the entire Battle Path in our dedicated article.

American Vehicle Improvements

We have substantially improved the performance of a number of American vehicles, including:

• The Abrams Main Battle Tank series (armor, mobility and firepower buffs)
• M1128 Stryker (major mobility and firepower buff)
• Bradley Fighting Vehicle (major mobility and firepower buff)

The list of improvements is extensive and you can read about it in our dedicated article.

Commander Improvements

We are updating three commanders to make them much more usable. These commanders are:

• Joshua Seagrove
• Kathryn Grey
• Fyodor Sokolov

You can read more about these updates in our dedicated article.

Additional Vehicle Fixes and Updates

With each patch we continue (and will continue) to update vehicles based on your feedback and fix them. In this update, we have the following changes for you:

• All Abrams tanks: Fixed the mantlet appearance so that it no longer has a big hole under the gun
• BTR-82A: Fixed the missing headlights and rear lights
• KTO Rosomak: AP shells no longer unintentionally behave like PELE
• PLZ-89: Fixed the incorrectly working HESH round
• T-64BV Mod.2017: Improved the gun depression to -6 degrees
• T-90M: First person mode camera no longer depresses below the gun depression angle
• Type 74: Fixed an issue where the ammo rack was located in the engine area
• XM1A3: Fixed the ERA camouflage and color (includes skins)
• XM1A3: Fixed an issue where the Supercharged APS ability was available without unlocking the appropriate module

General Changes

• Fixed an issue that caused the game to crash when applying decals on certain vehicles
• Certain garage walls no longer flicker
• Several other stability improvements

However, please note that the game can still be crashing under certain circumstances as we continue to work on addressing the issue.

• VN20's deployable turret has no positive gun elevation
• Unlike previous commander changes in the past, the devs decide not to give out free resets to affected commanders.
  • SS's argument:

    Well, there is a free reset option too. And XP these days is really cheap.
    You grind much faster than you used to.
    Also, this is completely preferred to accidentally deleting all commander progress for all players or other fun stuff like that

• Thorpe is said to get his overhaul later, though his skill field already has undergone some unannounced changes.
• M1 Abrams's new M833 gets the wrong calibre (120mm instead of 105mm)
• A lot of autocannon HE shells now have much improved splash penetration stats

Seahawks Battle Path is now live.

https://armoredwarfare.com/en/news/general/seahawks-battle-path-now-available

https://armoredwarfare.com/en/news/general/battle-path-info-and-preorder

Related thread:

• BP is planned to last for approx. 122 days.
• Each rank now costs 4500 Battle Coins to progress
• If you already have the following commander, skin, or vehicle upon reaching the required rank to obtain them, you'll get 2000 coins each as compensation (without in-game notifications):
  • Joshua Seagrove
  • Kathryn Grey
  • Fyodor Sokolov
  • Zhalo-S Black Eagle skin
  • Merkava 2D Black Eagle skin
  • T-72 Victory (T-72 Ural reskin premium vehicle)
  • BMD-2 Black Eagle skin
  • Stingray 2 Black Eagle (reskin premium vehicle)
  • Object 640 Black Eagle skin
  • Sabre
• If you already have the AGDS before claiming another as a mission chain reward, you will get 19,000 gold instead.
• The current BP UI does not allow players to go back on previous diary entries, but you can view them on the website and change numbers to see different pages: https://armoredwarfare.com/en/diary1
• M1A3 Aces skin only unlocks and allows the use of Trophy APS, but not the Trophy NG APS.
• Upgrades for this BP's vehicles do not cost credits, which can cause confusions when you try to unlock them after using XP to unlock them. You have to click on the said nodes again in order to actually equip them.

Source:

https://armoredwarfare.com/en/news/general/developer-diary-battle-path-commander-changes

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In the Seahawks Battle Path article, we mentioned that the three commanders featured as prizes in the Seahawks Battle Path would be getting an update.

These commanders are:

• Joshua Seagrove
• Kathryn Grey
• Fyodor Sokolov

Without further ado, here’s what we’ve done.

Joshua Seagrove is and always has been intended as a wheeled Tank Destroyer commander since his vehicle is canonically a Stryker by the name of Avenger (featured as a skin in the Battle Path prizes).

His focus should be on firepower, module destruction and camouflage. Therefore:

• Joshua Seagrove’s main skill is now static (available in full state right from the initial rank) and provides 7% reload speed buff at the expense of 25% hitpoints
• Two Tier 3 skills providing 3.33% bonus to rate of fire after destroying a module) got improved to 5% and moved to the corners of the field
• Two Tier 3 skills providing 6.89% camouflage penalty reduction for firing a gun got improved to 8% and moved to the corners of the field
• The entire vicinity of the main skill is now filled with Eagle Eye skills (increasing the ability to see through foliage)
• Two Marksman skills (improving accuracy) are also above and below the main skill

Kathryn Grey is supposed to be an effective Abrams commander given her canonical lore choice of driving an M1A3 Abrams (also featured as a skin in the Battle Path).

Once again, her focus is on MBT firepower. Therefore:

• Kathryn Grey’s main skill was upgraded and received a new name, Warfighter. It now scales with ranks and provides up to 8% reload time improvement as long as you drive an MBT
• The not-so-useful Track and Destroy skills in lower right corner were replaced by two fields of skills providing 15% chance to deal maximum damage (30% in total)
• We have removed various condition skills triggering whenever an enemy is within 50m and replaced them with hull traverse skills without this condition
• In the center of the field (that was previously empty) there is a new skill providing reload time improvement as long as there are no enemies present within 50m (regardless of class)

And, finally, Fyodor Sokolov is getting a set of smaller changes. His essence remains the same – he will provide an XP bonus, making him highly suitable as a commander for new players.

However:

• The top rank XP bonus is increased from 40% to 50%
• Replaced the Texas Duel skill (increasing accuracy) on the left side with another third rank repair skill
• On the left middle side, the ATGM and accuracy skills were replaced by Motivation skills (increasing crew statistics)

Please note that Maximilian König (previously a “clone” of this commander skill-wise) is not getting this overhaul and from now on will be different. As for Samuel Thorpe (who’s not connected to the Battle Path), he will receive a deeper overhaul that will be described in a separate article.

• Thorpe's overhaul is supposed to come at the same time as the other three commanders, as mentioned in a previous article. However, SS states preparing for this upcoming BP and Shockwave mode at the same time was too much, but his changes should come "soon".
• Seagrove's main skill is intended to have a 25% HP cost instead of 20%, i.e. article text's statement stands true over what's stated in screenshot
• Some other skill changes are not mentioned, such as Kathryn Grey's Camo Net II skill being replaced by some kind of repair speed improvement skill.

Source:

https://armoredwarfare.com/en/news/general/developer-diary-us-vehicle-changes

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The Seahawks Battle Path is right around the corner and along with it come the American vehicle buffs we have announced in the article. So let’s take a look at them together.

American vehicles have long been the “baseline” of Armored Warfare in the sense they aren’t really good or bad in any particular aspects. They are just “there” and with the introduction of more and more specialized vehicles, they got pushed into the background a bit. Well, no more, because in the next update, they are becoming awesome.

Let’s start with the M1128 Stryker, Joshua Seagrove’s favorite Tank Destroyer. It’s becoming a really mean vehicle on the battlefield with the following changes:

• For the autoloader configuration we are changing the reload time within magazine from 3.54s to 2s
• Added new HEAT-MP round with 855mm penetration and 610 damage
• Added new APFSDS round with 760mm penetration and 470 damage
• Significantly increased the vehicle’s agility

Next is the Bradley Fighting Vehicle, the workhorse of the Seahawks. This vehicle’s performance has so far been mediocre, which is why we have made the following changes:

• Added the 600hp VTA-903T engine (this significantly increases its mobility)
• 30mm and 40mm variants of the same gun are now separate modules with the 40mm gun having a new HE round
• Added a new tandem HEAT warhead ATGM (with the same penetration and damage as the previous one but improved flight characteristics)
• Added a new thermobaric warhead ATGM

In other words, the Bradley’s becoming faster and hard-hitting. But the main part of the changes concerns the Abrams MBT series.

For starters, most of the Abrams tanks are getting a frontal armor overhaul. It’s an overall buff to the frontal armor, but some parts are actually becoming thinner. Simply put, the Abrams frontal armor’s about to behave differently and it’s up to you to learn how to deal with the nasty beasts that are the new Abrams tanks. It’s certainly possible, just not a matter of a single button push.

Next, let’s discuss the specific vehicles, starting with the Tier 10 XM1A3, which hasn’t been performing great as of late. On the contrary, it needed a serious buff, which is why we made the following changes:

• ARAT-2 ERA is now working correctly against tandem warheads (this was more a bug fix than a buff and is a mechanical change rather than a value increase, feel free to test it in game)
• Added a new Trophy Next Gen APS module with Supercharged APS ability
• Increased the initial acceleration for both engines
• 120mm gun now has a new M1147 AMP remote detonation HE round
• 120mm M829E4 APFSDS damage increased from 600 to 650
• 140mm gun reload time improved from 9.8s to 9s
• 140mm gun accuracy of APFSDS and HEAT shells increased

With the frontal armor buff, the XM1A3’s bound to become one of the best MBTs in Armored Warfare, period.

Next, the Tier 9 M1A2C (and its Hades variant). Aside from the frontal armor buff, we are making the following adjustments:

• Fixed an issue where the properties of ARAT-2 ERA didn’t change properly with this module installed
• ARAT-2 ERA is now working correctly against tandem warheads (same fix as for XM1A3)
• Added a new M1147 AMP remote detonation HE round
• Increased the initial acceleration for both engines
• Reload speed improved from 6.7s to 6s
• Significantly increased hull traverse from 33 deg/s to 44 deg/s

For the Tier 8 M1A2, aside from the frontal armor buff as usual, we are making the following changes:

• Added a new M908 HE round (840 damage, 50mm penetration)
• Increased the initial acceleration of the engine
• Reload speed improved from 6.7s to 6s
• Significantly increased hull traverse from 33 deg/s to 44 deg/s

Following is the Tier 8 Premium M1A1 AIM, previously one of the most mediocre tanks of Armored Warfare. We checked its statistics and decided it finally deserves a proper buff. Therefore, aside from the frontal armor improvement, we have made the following changes:

• APFSDS round changed from M829A1 to M829A2 (740mm penetration, 540 damage)
• Added new XM943 STAFF top-attack HEAT round
• Added new M908 HE round (840 damage, 50mm penetration)
• Increased the initial acceleration of the engine
• Significantly increased hull traverse from 33 deg/s to 44 deg/s

The Tier 7 M1A1 can’t be left out either. You know the drill by now – frontal armor upgrade. But also:

• Added new M908 HE round (840 damage, 50mm penetration
• Reload speed improved from 6.7s to 6s
• Increased the initial acceleration of the engine
• Significantly increased hull traverse from 33 deg/s to 44 deg/s

We’re coming to an end now. What’s left is the Tier 6 M1 with the frontal armor adjustment but also:

• Added a new armor module that improves the frontal turret and hull armor even further
• Added a new APFSDS round (690mm penetration, 430 damage)
• Increased the initial acceleration of the engine
• Reload speed improved from 5.8s to 5.4s
• Significantly increased hull traverse from 25 deg/s to 41 deg/s

The rest of the Abrams tanks (XM1, M1A1 Storm) performed well enough in order not to warrant major buffs but we didn’t forget them either:

• XM1 (and XM1 Fox): APFSDS round changed to M833 (690mm penetration, 430 damage)
• M1A1 Storm: Increased the initial acceleration of the engine (this will help nicely with your ramming maneuvers)
• M1A1 Storm: Significantly increased hull traverse from 32.9 deg/s to 44 deg/s

And that’s about it, commanders. The Abrams tanks should retain their jack-of-all-trades characteristics but at a significantly higher level now. We hope that you’ll enjoy devastating your opponents with them and, as always:

See you on the battlefield!

• When asked if Storm will get armour upgrade just like progression M1A1 will, SS said no.

Source:

https://armoredwarfare.com/en/news/general/seahawks-battle-path-prize-highlights

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The Seahawks Battle Path is coming in November and we’d like to take a moment to tell you more about its prizes.

 

 

As you know already, the Battle Path will retell the story of the Seahawks, their odyssey across half of the planet and their fate – in other words, what happened before the Rate of Decay and Lone Star Special Operation. The story will be told via fifty diary entries (one per Battle Path level as usual) and the prizes of each level will be tied to their respective entries as in the previous story-driven Battle Paths.

The main prizes are, of course, the vehicles. There are three:

• Cheonma-2 Tier 10 Premium MBT
• VN20 Tier 10 Premium AFV
• XK3 Phantom Tier 10 Premium MBT

You can see them on the images below:

The VN20 will have, as announced earlier, a unique ability to deploy a turret targeting nearby enemies:

 

 

But that’s not all. You’ll have the opportunity to also win the following items:

• Abrams AGDS Tier 9 Premium TD (or its full price in Gold)
• T-72 Victory Tier 5 Premium MBT
• Sabre Tier 6 Premium AFV
• Stingray 2 Black Eagle Tier 7 Premium LT
• Three recently upgraded commanders (Joshua Seagrove, Kathryn Grey and Fyodor Sokolov – we’ll tell you more about later
• Rest of Black Eagle skins (including the one for Object 640)

But what you’re here for are the new skins and camouflages, right? Let’s take a look at them.

The most interesting is the M1A3 Aces skin for the XM1A3 (which is getting a major buff and will be quite a powerhouse).

In the world of Armored Warfare, the M1A3 is the ultimate version of the Abrams. Four vehicles from the initial production run were all undergoing trials in the desert when the order to return to the USA came and they were left behind along with most of the other equipment used by the U.S. forces.

The prototypes were soon after seized by scavengers and sold to the highest bidder within days due to the concern that Uncle Sam might be coming for his lost toys. The highest bidder turned out to be none other than Clayburn Industries with Andrew Clayburn allegedly taking personal interest in acquiring these feasome machines. One of these Abrams tanks, “Aces”, became the personal vehicle of Kathryn Grey who used it to great effect in Clayburn Industries service.

The skin covers the XM1A3 with a camouflage kit similar to that of another skin, War Pig, although the XM1A3 one is somewhat different. It unlocks the hard-kill APS as well as the upgraded ERA kit on the vehicle and it can change colors as well based on the base paint you use.

The Avenger skin for M1128 Stryker is based on Joshua Seagrove’s personal Stryker.

Like the Aces skin, the Avenger too unlocks the top armor configuration (in this case the ERA one) and allows you to change its color based on the selected base paint.

The Deathstalker skin is based on a real-life Sheridan that was used during Operation Desert Storm (3rd Battalion, 73rd Armor Regiment). After its decommissioning, it was sold off to a private collector by the name of Jacques Littlefield, whose collection became one of the most famous in the world and perhaps the largest in the USA.

Mr. Littlefield unfortunately passed away in 2009 and his collection was partially auctioned off in 2014 to finance the creation of a new museum that would house the rest. And that’s where the real-life Deathstalker resides today – the American Heritage Museum in Hudson, Massachusetts.

And, last but not least, there’s the Sentinel skin for AMX-30 BRENUS. Its appearance is based on a real-life French “opposing force” (FORAD) vehicle. After their retirement, the obsolete AMX-30 tanks served simulated enemy vehicles at CENZUB, a special French military facility near Sissonne for training urban combat.

The unique camouflage it’s covered in is specific to this service and consists of three shades of grey and black rectangles. It likely first appeared around 2010. The vehicle bears the name “Sentinel” and, in the world of Armored Warfare, it was sold off and used by mercenaries in Africa.

We naturally have other prizes for you that are all tied to the story, such as the epic camouflages:

Some new camouflages can change their color based on the base paint:

And, of course, there will be plenty of avatars, flags and decals waiting for you as well:

These are just examples and there will be many more prizes in this Battle Path. We hope that you’ll enjoy this event that is coming soon and, as always:

See you on the battlefield!

The XK3 will be called "XK3 Phantom" in the game.

Source:

https://armoredwarfare.com/en/news/general/xk3-contest-results

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Thank you all for voting in our XK3 naming contest. We are now ready to announce the results.

After a disqualification of one of the leading entries, it was the name Phantom that received the most votes. The same name was submitted several times (in fact, 22 times) but the first player to submit it was Pasta_Senpai.

He will receive his prize upon the launch of the Seahawks Battle Path and the vehicle will be renamed to XK3 Phantom momentarily. Thank you all who have participated in the contest and, as always:

See you on the battlefield!

On a side note, SS posted a message regarding the results in Discord on the day before:

Quote

Commanders, we'll post the XK3 results officially but for now, I'd like to say that the winning vote is the "Phantom". Furthermore, I'd like to apologize to TitaniumNA because while the top submission "Yi Sang" was fairly clearly rigged, there is no evidence he personally is responsible and we should adhere to the classic principle of innocence presumption. According to his explanation, it might have been the fans of another video game with a similar character who somehow got the wind of it and wanted to have a bit of fun. Who knows.

BP has been extended until 21st November.

Source:

https://armoredwarfare.com/en/news/general/update-0236-now-available

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We are happy to announce that the Update 0.236 is now available!

 

List of Update 0.236 Changes

 

Commanders, regarding the reduction of income, this concerns Battle Coins, this is a tuning decision based on actual experience from testing. Season 0 of Shockwave is intended to just that and our analysis has determined that such a measure is necessary in order to preserve the integrity of in-game economy so that the game can stay with us for years to come. We will keep an eye on the income in the near future and will adjust it further (in either direction) if required.

• Tales from the Dark Battle Path extended until November 21
• Fixed an issue that prevented the game from launching
• Fixed several issues causing the game to crash
• Shockwave: AI vehicle wrecks now disappear correctly
• Shockwave: Player vehicle wrecks now disappear after one minute
• Shockwave: Reduced the size of the base circle
• Removed the unintentionally added missiles from AS21
• New player starter pack can now be purchased correctly in the EU clients of the game

There are reports of Shockwave mode causing crashes after the patch.

Source:

https://armoredwarfare.com/en/news/general/shockwave-ceos-letter-community

Quote

Several days ago, we released the single largest update to Armored Warfare in years, “Shockwave.”

Following the transfer from MY.GAMES to our platform, this was another major milestone for us when it comes to addressing the future of Armored Warfare and putting the development on the right tracks.

However, with that being said, we are aware of your feedback regarding the update and especially the Shockwave game mode. Rest assured that we are committed to listening to it and are already processing it in order to improve the experience in the future. Most notably:

• The mode forces players into close combat inside the capture circle, soon resulting in incredibly difficult and hectic melee suitable for only a handful of vehicles (this is definitely something we’ll address)
• Some AI opponents are clearly too toxic and not fun to fight, be it those dealing unavoidable damage (AbramsX, Boxer RIWP) or capable of destroying player vehicles with one shot (T-15 Lieutenants)
• Performance issues do exist for many players, especially during later waves
• The base layout is not ideal and makes defense more difficult than intended
• The amount of some rewarded currencies is clearly a bit too high
• Ammo does not refill outside of the base
• Mode statistics (losses) count towards general player statistics and are spoiling them

We’ll definitely address all of these, some very soon and some a bit later. Additionally, we’ll launch a survey regarding the mode to get as much feedback as possible.

But feedback is one thing; another is the scope of our plans for the mode’s proper Season 1 release next year. What we are planning to do is:

• Improve the gameplay to offer more viable vehicle and tactic choices
• Comprehensively overhaul the prize system so that you can earn not just Credits and XP during the mode but also additional visual cosmetics and more
• Integrate the mode into future Battle Path so that it can be used to complete various tasks and objectives
• Add a seasonal ladder tab so that the best teams can compare their results and the best-performing ones are able to earn legendary prizes

In short this is only the beginning of the road for Armored Warfare’s future development and we’re incredibly excited to show you what else we have in store for the rest of the year, 2025, and beyond.

• Alexey Larionov, CEO, Wishlist Games

Related thread:

In short - Shockwave is a survival mode where hordes of enemies come in waves. Players start around the control point and have to defend it from enemy capture. There is no respawn available (intentional by design), but you can use field repair kit to replenish HP. Ammo refill comes periodically.

Standard enemy vehicles usually don't have camos, but some come with star symbols on their name tag (e.g. ★T-15 Kinzhal★) and can sometimes be identified by their special vehicle skins. These starred variants can hurt a lot with increased penetration as well as a slightly boost to HP pool (but not as much as typical lieutenant vehicles in other PvE modes).

New enemy vehicles include but not limited to:

• Bradley AAWS-H
• CV90 Mk.IV
• Harimau (including Kaplan MT starred variant)
• Stalker
• BMPT 2017 (including RSP starred variant)
• Centurion AVRE
• Otomatic (including Candymatic starred variant)
• T-80BVM
• AbramsX
• Boxer RIWP
• Strv 2000
• T-15 Kinzhal (including Weeb's Revenge starred variant)
• Type 99B (including Gung Ho starred variant)

A new wave (more like "levels") comes every 2 minutes, with auto ammo resupply for all vehicles near the control point every 3 waves. There is no known winning condition (or at least it's not yet found if there is one), and the highest known wave is at 26; the "next wave" countdown timer stops afterwards. Performance stats count towards PvE, including losses. As for those who worry about losses affecting stats, SS said the devs will do something about it in future iterations. Leaderboard / ladder is also being planned.

Season 0 is launched on 29th October 2024 and will last for one month.

Source:

https://armoredwarfare.com/en/news/general/shockwave-update-now-available

Quote

As announced earlier, the Shockwave update (Update 0.235) is now available in Armored Warfare.

 

 

Here’s what it’s bringing.

 

Shockwave Mode

 

The Shockwave mode is an endgame survival mode for advanced players in which a team of five fights of waves of ever-increasing difficulty. The longer you survive, the higher the rewards. Do you have what it takes to become the best team in Armored Warfare? Because that’s pretty much what’s at stake here – this is the endgame mode of Armored Warfare.

The mode is available during all hours for both platoons and solo players who can join the queue to be matched with others. This mode is initially available for one month only (“Season 0” launch) and will therefore temporarily go away somewhere along the launch of the upcoming Seahawks Battle Path which is planned for November.

You can enter Shockwave battles by using the dedicated panel in the PvE UI.

As for the mode details:

• This mode is available for Tier 10 vehicles only (no vehicles are excluded)
• There is no time limit per match, you need to hold on for as long as you can
• There are no respawns but you can use your consumables to repair
• Enemy vehicles spawn in waves and each wave arrives from one of several different directions (the types of enemies and directions are randomized so no two matches will be identical)
• Enemy vehicle wrecks despawn immediately upon destruction and therefore cannot be used for cover
• New enemy types appear in this mode (vehicles that cannot be seen in any other mission)
• Ammunition replenishes automatically (periodically, with a sound indicator)

Please do be also aware of the following:

• You currently cannot complete contracts or Battle Path missions in this mode
• Some performance and bot behavior issues do exist and we are aware of them

The launch of the mode is accompanied by the Shockwave Event where you can earn exclusive Season 0 rewards (including camouflages, Gold and an animated avatar) by playing the Shockwave mode every day and destroying enemies.

 

Shockwave Prizes (Click to Open)

 

 

Pipelines Map Overhaul

 

We have overhauled the visuals of the Pipelines PvP map to improve the graphics of Armored Warfare. You can read more about it in our dedicated article.

 

New Pipelines Screenshots (Click to Open)

 

 

Dynamic Decals

 

The in-game decals can now be moved, rotated (by holding Alt and scrolling your mouse wheel) and their size can be changed (by holding Shift and scrolling your mouse wheel).

Video demonstration of the system:

 

 

Please note that the system still has some limitations:

• This system only applies to decals, not to battalion emblems
• There still are just two decals per vehicle
• Decals cannot be placed on ERA or other additional armor plates, they will always appear on the base hull of the vehicle

 

New Engine and Gun Sounds

 

The T-72 series and several other vehicles are getting new engine sounds as the first step in the announced sound overhaul. You can hear a demonstration of the sound in the following video:

 

 

This affects the following vehicles:

• T-72 Ural
• T-72A
• T-72AV
• T-72B
• T-72B3
• T-72M1
• T-90
• Object 787 Gadyuka
• Msta-S
• M-95 Degman
• Seon’gun-915
• Type 96
• Type 96A

We have also added a new 125mm gun sound to the following vehicles:

• T-72 Ural
• T-72A
• T-72M1

You can hear a demonstration of the sound in the following video:

 

 

 

PELE Overhaul

 

In this update, we are overhauling all PELE shells to use a modified HESH mechanism. What it means is that these shells will be very useful against sloped surfaces and thinly armored targets, dealing tremendous damage in situations where regular AP shells would not be as useful. The vast majority of PELE shells belong to autocannons and will therefore serve either as an upgrade or an alternative shell to the already existing ones. Regarding the full caliber PELE shells:

• Wilk’s PELE shells will become considerably more powerful
• Arjun already has HESH rounds and PELE (PCB) shells will serve simply as an upgrade to them

You can read more about it in our dedicated article.

 

Friendly Fire Adjustments

 

We have had situations before where players would be kicked out of the match for inadvertently dealing friendly fire damage to their teammates. This most notably affected artillery (dealing damage with large caliber HE blast wave) and ammo rack explosions (which count as “your” damage when an enemy tank explodes but the blast wave from the explosion deals damage to a friendly target).

In this update, dealing damage to friendlies will no longer kick you from the match but will simply result in your ability to deal damage to friendlies being disabled. Your vehicle will be marked blue and dealing damage to it will not result in any punishment.

 

Other Changes

 

New Crew and Commander Upgrades

We are adding the sixth crew training level to the game. Alongside it you will be able to choose a third skill from those already available. Additionally, it’s now possible to easier unlock Commander levels with a single button by purchasing the required XP.

• New player accounts are now receiving 2-day version of the Armata 152 MBT
• Starter pack for new players can now be bought and activated correctly
• Fixed the requirement for the Death to the Enemy Battle Path mission
• Retrofits no longer get removed from the vehicle when clicking and dragging them to a different slot in the Garage
• Fixed the mobility model for the entire T-series of the vehicle (aside from T-80) so that they no longer have difficulties traversing ditches and slopes
• Fixed the track visual model for the entire Abrams series of vehicles
• AS90: Fixed the missing gun part on low graphics settings
• AS90: Fixed the armor’s material to a correct one
• CV90120T Ghost: Fixed an issue where the hard-kill APS worked with a limited angle (now it destroys missiles all around the vehicle)
• BMP-2M: Double ATGM launch module now correctly only works for the Kornet ATGMs (and not Atakas)
• BMP-2M: Fixed the grenade launcher sound
• BMP-2M: Fixed the empty shell case visual model
• EMBT: Fixed a small unintended weakspot on the bottom of the hull
• EMBT: Small visual fixes of the vehicle’s destroyed model
• Challenger 2 Streetfighter II: Fixed the flying flag pole
• M1A2C: Fixed the SEP v3 PL textures and camouflage
• M60A2 Starship: Fixed the drive sprocket texture
• Puma: Fixed the incorrect dirt appearance on the hull
• Puma: Fixed numerous visual issues on the Panzergrenadier skin
• T-62M: Fixed the low visual settings inscription on the Rusalka skin
• T-64BV Mod.2017: Fixed the turret ERA appearance
• T-72M2 Wilk: Fixed the destroyed ERA not attached to the vehicle
• T-80BVM: Improved the gun depression from -5 to -7
• T-80BVM: Turret machinegun now has a belt visual model
• T-80BVM: Fixed the gun mantlet tarp texture
• T-80BVM: Fixed several low resolution textures on the hull and numerous other smaller issues of the model
• T-80BVM: Fixed the incorrect dirt appearance on the hull
• T-80BVM: Tracks no longer sometimes clip through the mudguards
• T-90A: Fixed the broken ERA models
• T-90A: Fixed the broken ERA model on the T-90SA skin
• T-90M Proryv: Added a spaced armor layer behind the Relikt ERA (this improves the vehicle’s side protection)
• T-90M Proryv: Shells no longer fly through destroyed APS and optics models
• T-90M Proryv: Fixed the excessive hull dirt
• VBR: Fixed an issue where missiles were flying through closed covers of the launcher
• Rate of Decay Special Operation: Fixed the indestructible poles at C2
• Rate of Decay Special Operation: Wall at I2 no longer makes vehicles stuck
• Added numerous assets for future events
• Fixed a number of localization issues

Bugs or other unmentioned changes:

• Machine gun is added to several vehicles, including but possibly not limited to the following:
  • IT-1
  • K21 XC-8
  • Object 287
• AS21 has an inaccessible ATGM called "AS21_ATG_SC_BossShip", which has only 35mm penetration, 600 full damage, 500 partial damage, and 250 non-penetrating damage.
• Stalker and Shadow now have Drone Jammer ability.
• M1A2C's SEP v3 PL skin now has incorrect desert-like ERA texture.
• XM1A3 Sentinel skin has black ERA texture.
• Commanders' XP bar now continue to fill up after reaching the Colonel rank. This is only found on the interface where you change commander on a selected vehicle. However, SS said there is no plan for additional ranks past Colonel.
• Lieutenant vehicles are not appearing in a lot of the standard PvE maps, such as Desert Viper, Ghost Hunter, Harbinger, Rolling Thunder, and Wildfire. Desert Fox and Hydra are reported to be unaffected.
• 2 of the secondary objective trucks in Harbinger are missing - they are invisible and invincible (no hitbox), but keep their collision in their original position.
• Despite what the patch note suggests, the new 125mm gun sound does not actually apply to the 3 tanks.
• There are multiple reports of crashes and disconnections. SS says it will be hotfixed soon.

Source:

https://armoredwarfare.com/en/news/general/shockwave-mode-plans-and-details

Quote

Today we’d like to tell you more about the upcoming Shockwave Mode release plan and about the way it is coming to Armored Warfare.

As you know from the trailer and the past articles, the mode will be released on October 29, 2024 along with the rest of the update and will be available exclusively for Tier 10 vehicles. Players will be able to join either alone or in standard platoons. The mode uses a heavily modified version of the Al Dabbah map where the central base was completely overhauled in order to accommodate the intended gameplay.

The currency rewards will be comparable to Special Operations and, additionally, we’ll be launching a simple event where playing the mode daily will be rewarded with exclusive camouflages, gold and other valuable items, including an animated avatar.

The mode will be initially available during all hours but for one month only and will therefore go away somewhere along the launch of the upcoming Seahawks Battle Path which is planned for November.

During this initial “Season 0” period we’ll be gathering your feedback in order to improve the mode for the next season as much as we can. We’ll be opening special feedback-gathering polls as well as paying close attention to all our official channels. After that, we’ll let you focus on the Seahawks Battle Path (as well as other events we have prepared for December) and will focus on improving the Shockwave experience for proper Season 1, which is planned for 2025.

Since creating an entire new mode is a huge undertaking, there certainly will be some things we’ll only be able to address for Season 1 and that we are aware of. Most notably:

• Ladder mechanism and a more elaborate reward system are still being worked on
• Additional mode-specific items, events and other things are yet to be added (we’ll discuss them later on, for now we want to focus on the pure experience)

We hope that you’ll enjoy what we have built and will continue building as the ultimate endgame mode of Armored Warfare and, as always:

See you on the battlefield!

More notes from Discord server:

• Shockwave Mode is intended to be permanent, not a time-limited mode like the Christmas-themed Holiday Mode.
• Leaderboard is in the plans
• SS: "It is generally not a good idea to funnel new players into this mode, it is really unforgiving. However, marketing thought it would be good for new players attracted by the update advertisement to at least try it out so we'll be handling out 2 day Armata 152 for new accounts."

Source:

https://armoredwarfare.com/en/news/general/xk3-name-contest-voting

Quote

As you already know, we are running a contest to give the XK3 MBT a proper name. We have gathered your submissions and would now like you to vote for your favorite one.

Please use this link to vote for your submission until October 27, 2024.

• SS already regrets making this contest. "That XK3 contest was a bad idea. So many retarded submissions... Just a huge waste of my time at the busiest time of the year."
• He disagrees making the poll available on Discord only. "Discord is very limited. Also, much easier to process the data from google."
• "I think the deciding factor will be the Korean community. For one, it's relatively numerous. Second, they want a Korean name and it appears they are voting for one."

Source:

https://armoredwarfare.com/en/news/general/development-pele-overhaul

Quote

As you already know from the Shockwave announcement, we’ll be overhauling the mechanism of all PELE shells in the game.

The reason for that is that, currently, PELE shells internally use no fewer than three or four separate mechanisms and their variants. That is why there are PELE groups that behave consistently while other PELE shells seem to not work at all. In the Shockwave update, we’ll be unifying them all under one mechanism.

The core mechanism in question is that of the HESH shells. Some of the older players might remember that this is how the PELE shells first started before being changed several times. This represents a compromise between realism and usefulness which we tested several times (both internally and by selected groups of players). We developed several variants but in the end, this one had the best feedback and offered the most utility while being sufficiently different from armor-piercing shell mechanics.

The difference was important as PELE shells are inert in real life and a fully realistic introduction would just turn them into AP shells with potentially higher damage but considerably lower penetration and that just doesn’t work very well based on your feedback. Most PELE shells in the game belong to autocannons and pretty much each of those already has its own AP shells. We wanted to introduce something different that would be more usable than simple AP in certain situations. The mechanics are, of course, somewhat modified compared to the standard HESH rounds in order to accommodate higher rates of fire and other aspects.

There are two rather special cases when it comes to PELE shells – high-caliber PELE rounds of the Arjun (Penetration Cum Blast) and Wilk XC-8. Here’s how we dealt with them.

• Wilk’s PELE shells will become considerably more powerful, no way around it. Given how fragile the Wilk is, we don’t feel it’s that big of an overkill to return the powerful PELE rounds it was once known for
• Arjun already has HESH rounds and PELE (PCB) shells will serve simply as an upgrade to them

Overall the article is rather vague, so here are some of SS's response from official Discord server:

• PELE will basically work like HESH in-game
• The mechanics went through several iterations based on supertesters' feedback
• Warrior's APSE shell has not been taken into account for PELE overhaul. Possibly an oversight as the devs do not know how it works. It's not known if Scimitar's APSE works the same way or not.
• The idea of lower pen but very high module damage won't work well, because players would simply pick AP instead for better reliability.

The new game mode will be called Shockwave.