Haswell

Damage on Magnus is entirely scripted, think of it as a hidden timer that keeps ticking down as long as the marked bots are alive. The faster you kill the bots early on, the more time you will have to deal with the later bot waves before Magnus runs out of health. On our successful try, we made it a priority to focus down the marked bots as soon as they appeared (almost like MC4 when protecting the guns), then we dealt with the turrets. I used thermobaric missiles because of its 6m splash radii, this let me severely damage several turrets in a short time span and made it far easier for others to shoot them down. The arty circles can be easily avoided by staying in 3rd person camera and moving whenever they pop up. The one hit kill cannons can also be blocked using terrain like crates and pillars. In the final phase on the ship, we realized we don't really need everybody down in there. One or two players staying up top to kill the bots that would come down makes the defense extremely easy, since the bots are scripted to move straight from their spawn into the caps and are entirely exposed to anyone shooting at them from behind. We ran with 4x T-15s and 1x T40, but that's because we were still inexperienced. A bit of theorycrafting suggests that you only really need 2x T-15s (maybe Termi 2s) to deal with Magnus, everyone else can play whatever they want as long as they are competent at staying alive. @Qbicle @Serpent have the replays, so I'm sure they can offer more tips and screenshots.

On the other hand, Chally 2 bots are going to be considerably easier to deal with until this gets fixed.

K2 now has mega HEAT. This might actually change it from being a worse Altay to a far superior Altay, maybe even rivaling the Leclerc in terms of effective DPM. Will have to see whether the single shot gun is more competitive now, since the K2 now is practically a Leclerc uptiered.

Posting the RU notes as well because the EN notes are missing a bunch of stuff. Remind me to always check RU before EN from now on. https://aw.mail.ru/news/6121.html

Looks awful... MT-LB with bigger rockets maybe? Because the MT-LB + Kitescu combo isn't enough for PvP, I heard it's basically breaks any semblance of balance when people can just rush and delete someone.

Small update: credit grinding is boring, the economy is really harsh towards low tiers even with the ongoing credit bonus. Had it not for the bonus I'd probably only barely breakeven or sometimes even lose credits in matches if I use the rebuild kit, or respawn too many times. On the plus side, I finished up all my tiers 1-2 vehicles, so I can focus solely on hardcore missions from now on. The credit payout difference between standard and hardcore missions is simply massive, I'm essentially doubling my payouts simply by playing hardcore missions. That said, it's pretty difficult to carry teams of mostly 4s and 5s when I'm in a puny tier 3, armor is nearly meaningless against all the missile spam. Also, fuck Yorks. Since I usually cherrypick my maps, it's usually not too bad that I can't solocarry. I actually lose credits in matches that I lose and respawned twice, so I'm really not that keen on throwing games just to jump into another one. Quality over quantity here. This, I agree with so much. Her vision control capabilities are unmatched in the whole game, nobody even comes close to her usefulness when it comes to staying unspotted which is a crucial part of playing squishy vehicles well. It's definitely a massive roadblock for anyone trying to play the vision control game without her even at low tiers, never mind the fact that it gets harder to do so at high tiers. If she has to stay as a premium commander, then a progression commander with similar capabilities should be added for the sake of free2play parity. As it stands she's practically the poster child of pay2win for vision control right now by virtue of having no equal. I'll definitely start using v1 retros once I hit tier 5-6, since even 200k is a lot for me right now when I'm trying to save up 2 million for the T-72. I won't lie, my difference in performance with and without retros are definitely showing here, I'm practically blind in tiers 3-4 without the extra view range they offer. I'm skipping smoke and some useless gunnery upgrades like max spread, they just aren't useful enough for me to justify spending my credits, and I don't plan on playing tiers 3-4 any longer than I have to. I realize I'm not saving too much by skipping upgrades, but every little bit helps here when I'm still poor.

An off-schedule update, nice. https://aw.my.games/en/news/general/maintenance-april-14 K2 will be less awful now, yay. 700 pen HEAT though... I guess I can make that work. Fatback having more armor, not sure how I feel about that. It's already extremely capable even without having armor, this is wholly unnecessary IMO. I swear because of this it will get nerfed in the future in some way. Buses are finally fixed, thank god. Time to suffer through SH4 and grind the raid thing.

https://aw.my.games/en/news/general/development-seongun-915 So basically BMD-2M missiles and a crappy gun on a T-72. Probably won't beat the Magach 7A in terms of overall usefulness due to the lack of DPM despite having missiles for spike damage. What's with the recent trend of not having HEAT? First the Harimau, then the K2, now the Type 74 and this bugger.

They already announced a tier 6 North Korean MBT, I really hope they don't release a 4th one. The MBT spam is already getting boring with everything only being slightly different, but the same in general gameplay. I honestly can't think of any candidates for tier 9-10 MBTs, so there might be a need to go to tier 8 and below in order for make room for variants. The Al-Khalid and some of the Type 59 variants all look fairly interesting, though they don't really have any gimmicks. But I'm sure someone somewhere can probably come up with a napkin drawing to make them special anyway.

I took Bumba's advice today and started going down the Magach line, in order to have a bit more variety in my life. I completely forgot about Kramer being unlockable through the Tiran, so I'll be using her instead of Washington for that proxy reload buff. Washington is now relegated to vision control in squishies, but since I still don't have free camo unlocked from the Magach line I'm at a severe disadvantage. I probably won't be playing squishies too much because of that, until I can get my +5% camo. Current crew skills: I also stopped using food and gas because they simply put too much of a dent in my credit income. Rebuild kit is still mandatory for me at tier 3 and above, because sometimes I simply have to stay alive in order to carry pubbies. Suiciding and tactical respawns are still a crucial part of my gameplay however, because I'm so desperately poor and need to start saving up for the T-72. I will probably pick up the Magach 5 and random tier 4s here and there before getting to the T-72 though, because I might lose my mind if I have to grind out over a million in the 80-II only. Magach 5 and AMX-30 are great tier 4s as well, though it might get a bit pricey for me if I buy too many of them. Anyone got any suggestions on which tier 4s I should invest in? 8% to the T-72, I'll get there in 2 weeks maybe. In other news, it's nearly impossible for me to play in any sort of respectable capacity when I get 900ms ping spikes every few minutes. I wonder if pubbies play badly not only because of their lack of skill, but also because of hardware limitations (high ping, low framerates). If I can't play well with high ping, neither could they. Kill me please.

I reckon a lot of casual players aren't really that invested in the game yet, so they won't bother playing every day and just forget about the daily login rewards. That's something I want to reflect in my grind, it may not be realistic but it will definitely make my suffering more entertaining. The problem with the T249 is that it's stupid expensive. I think it costs 23 million, which is more than a tier 10 already and will set me back a lot in terms of saving up to tier 10. As much as I enjoy playing it on my main account, I probably won't be able to afford it here until I start running heroics regularly with the 90MS at the very least. But that's still a long way away, I'll worry about it again when I get there. I first thought about going up the Israeli line as well, the extra XP at the lower tiers will really boost my progress. But then I realized I'll basically be locked into the Merk 4 when I start running heroics, and the Merk 4 is just meh at that. That said, I think I might grind up the Magach line at the very least for the free camos. Credit income will definitely be a big issue for me, but I'm hoping it wouldn't be too bad if I run spec ops regularly for those credit boosts every week. In terms of XP I'm definitely going to maximize my daily first wins, not only because it's more efficient but I also might go crazy if I have to play too many games in a limited selection of vehicles. I'm definitely suiciding a lot in order to respawn and save myself the rebuild kit costs, it's just not worth spending 12.5k for a rebuild kit when I can respawn for less than 5k at low tiers. I still keep the kit equipped in case I do need to use it in order to win a game, but so far I'm not really using it much. Food and gas are definitely cutting into my credit income, but I'm so used to using them already it feels unnatural to not have the extra buffs. I do agree that the tiny bit of extra performance I get from food probably isn't worth the cost, I'll have to make a note to get used to not using them.

I played 12 games so far and I want to kill myself already. Having to worry about credits is an awful feeling. I had to choose between using food/gas/rebuild kits, buying modules for vehicles that I'll likely never play again after I ground through them, and saving up for my next vehicle purchase. 12.5k for using rebuild kits isn't expensive, but every time I use them it's 12.5k more that I have to grind up. I'm lucky that there's a +50% credit bonus going on right now, otherwise I might actually lose credits at tiers 1-2 because standard PvE is absolutely horrible in terms of payouts. Imagine being so poor you can't afford rebuild kits. I also made a mistake by going down the PT-85 and T-62. Since the T-72 costs nearly 2 million credits (WTF!), the T-62 being a tier 3 is simply awful at grinding credits even with the ongoing special. I decided to switch to the Type 62 > Type 69 > Type 80-II line instead since they also lead to the T-72 (surprise!), and the 80-II is a whole lot better than the T-62 at grinding credits for two reasons: it's a tier 4, and it's actually a good tier 4. I actually completely forgot about cross-dealer unlocks. Don't be like me. Speaking of things I forgot, I realized I could get free credits simply by buying a crap ton of vehicles and playing them occasionally. These vehicle collection achievements are actually a great source of credit income early on, so buying up all the tier 2s and 3s I could afford is definitely a good idea. The vehicle ownership XP bonus also helps as well. Seriously, don't ignore these free credits. I also accidentally completed my daily contract missions, kill 1 enemy crew member and tag 10 bots for 10 matches. Those two also gave me a nice credit bonus, but I probably won't be chasing after them if they get too annoying. In terms of actual gameplay, I'm planning on using Washington exclusively for the foreseeable future. Module damage is always good no matter what I'm playing, and MBTs just don't really benefit much from the old commanders in general. Plus she came unlocked by default, and my only other alternatives are Holzklau (who just suck) and Kirsanov who I unlocked at tier 2. I really don't plan on taking damage, so the main benefit of Kirsanov, faster reload when after taking damage, is effectively useless. The lack of HEAT shells at stock on every vehicle I've played so far is simply dreadful. I cannot stress enough just how much more damage I can dump out simply by switching from AP to HEAT, even when I'm being matched with higher tiered pubbies. Time to kill (TTK) is an extremely important aspect in combat, merely having high DPM isn't enough when engagements typically never take longer than 30 seconds, which isn't enough time for your DPM to ramp up before your target is dead. TTK matters, as is burst alpha damage. The extra damage with HEAT allows me to comfortably destroy targets with less shots and far less time than it takes with AP. Also equally important is how to best take advantage of my first win bonuses. All the maps have different payouts, and since the first win bonuses are multipliers to the payouts I took full advantage of knowing the map rotations and cherrypicked the maps that I played on. Wasting the first win bonus on maps with garbage payouts like Hydra and Ricochet will hamper your progress significantly in the long run because you lose so much XP, so pick the good maps to play on at least for the first wins. I am shameless, I know. Other random thoughts that crossed my mind while I was suffering: Gun handling at low tiers is awful. Type 69 has a 2.65 aim time and 0.19 spread with HEAT, good lord. The quality of pubbies are terrible, I'm still performing way better than they do despite being gimped. Gameplay tips that keep popping up in the middle of the screen are so bloody annoying, and I can't turn them off. I wish I can get free camo without grinding up the Magach line. Food, food, food. Always run food if I have a human loader unless I'm playing something that burns easily like Merkavas. The +50% credit bonus and x3 first win are great, but I wish they weren't there so I can get a more normal experience. 12 games in, got my Type 80-II, now I need a break.

Having not much left to grind or achieve on my main account, I'm now bored and require distractions. So why not try to grind up a brand new account into heroic material? It would also give me a chance to experience just how badly the economy is skewed toward players who are already filthy rich, and perhaps to suffer just like all the pubbies do without commander skills and whatnot. In any case I'm going to document my journey from zero to hero every step of the way, so older players can experience the suffering of newbies, and new players can also read this to avoid any newbie traps. This pet project will be completely free2play and probably more destitute than normal. no premium time no insignias no boosters no opening boxes (including contract stuff) no daily login rewards no premium vehicles no gold usage no freebies from the store In short, I'm going to torture myself in the name of bad science. So here I go... Please welcome dima99ru, who will masquerade as a Russian pubbie. This is so depressing compared to my main account. My plan right now is to go straight up the T-90 line so I can get both the the 90A and Ramka, then the 90MS and Termi 2 for tokens and eventually the T-15 and T-14/ATDU. By skipping down to the through the T-90 to Ramka I can potentially save myself a good chunk of time since I won't have to grind up a whole new line. T-15 is good for pretty much everything so that's my goal for now. I'm opting for the 90A instead of the Ramka for now because I'm pretty sure I won't have enough free XP to get to the AP shells for the Ramka, and I don't want to suffer through HE-only. 90MS vs Termi 2 is still a toss up, both are good and I'll probably worry about it later. Here it goes... questions, comments and advice are welcomed!

But will it topple the Magach 7A to become the best tier 6 premium MBT? Those launchers look exactly the same as the BMD-2M's, so the stats will probably similar. Utter overkill for tier 6, the gun will probably be garbage because of this.

This is fine. Not even using v2 retros.

Interesting, I haven't thought of that synergy between Designate Target and the missiles before. Now that you put it this way it would be possible to flat out delete most things in PvP with a platoon of 1x K2 (for designating) and 2x Crap Jeep, which would be a major balancing concern. That said, it would still be somewhat meh in PvE because keeping things permaspotted is already fairly common. @TeyKey1 Have you tried this out before? I don't play PvP, so someone else should comment on PvP stuff instead of me.

Agreed, my hatred towards this thing will probably lessen significantly if it had a direct-fire option for its missiles. Heck, just give it two TOW missiles (the ones on the Bradley) but keep the reload the same, that would improve its performance by a lot without overshadowing the Crab. Come to think of it, most vehicles with top-down missiles only in the game right now would benefit massively from having a direct-fire option. The Shadow comes to mind.

Apparently all arties right now are bugged and cannot be upgraded, same goes for my Cent 155. Modules that you have already researched and purchased however can still be equipped and unequipped though, like the PLZ-05's two gun options.

Great suggestion, done! https://armoredlabs.net/index.php?/forum/43-in-game-bugs-support/

Because Discord is horrible for keeping records on existing game issues and searching for them, a place where issues and bugs can be reported and easily accessible to everyone seems like a nice alternative. Being able to quickly look up existing issues aside, players can also find and offer help in case there are workarounds for some issues. Please note that since ArmoredLabs is just an unofficial community forum, there are no guarantees that issues and bugs reported here will be fixed by the game devs. All this section does is to keep records on existing issues, and perhaps assist the game staff so they can reference specific details to be passed along, or possibly offer temporary solutions. Props to @Katsumoto for suggesting this section! To make things more organized and easier to read, please use the following format (or something similar) to report issues. The more info you include, the easier it will be for everyone to know exactly what you're referring to. You can copy/paste this format here, without all the explanations: OS: Game Version: Brief Description: Steps to Reproduce: Result: Expected Behavior: Fixes/Workarounds: Other Notes: Example issue: Some general tips for reporting issues: Before reporting a new issue, check to see if someone else has already reported it. Duplicate reports are annoying and will confuse people (like me!) If you encounter an issue similar to one already reported, comment in the existing report! Be as clear and concise as possible. The more accurate you are with your descriptions, the better the chances of someone else being able to find and replicate your issue and potentially produce fixes or workarounds. If nothing else, the game devs will like you more. The most important part of any report is the steps to reproduce the issue. If the issue can't be reliably replicated, it becomes hard for others to find the source of the issue, so please be as detailed as possible. Being detailed is good, but being too detailed is bad. Knowing what you ate for breakfast might be entertaining, but it probably didn't contribute to the issue. Remember to be clear and concise, stick to facts immediately relevant to the issue. If you know any fixes or workarounds to existing issues, please let everyone know! If the devs won't fix the issues, at least players can help each other out. I hope this will help everyone to make the game somewhat less frustrating to play, thanks!

I don't doubt its scouting potential at all, it's fantastic at vision control on par with the Sphinx in that regard. The problem is that it sacrifices far too much just for having top attack missiles, when its peers like the Crab and T249 are just as capable at vision control and are far better in terms of dealing damage. The Crab in particular can deal with unexpected Bradley rushes just fine to keep itself relatively safe; the Crap Jeep either has to reposition or otherwise spend far too much time to deal with one single Bradley. If this thing is destined to be a pure scout, at least let it designate targets so it can somewhat support everyone else a bit more in terms of damage. Here's a game where I "helped" by practically spotting everyone on the runway. Sure I got top XP, but I would be powerless to deal with all the bots had my pubbies suck so badly they can't manage to stay alive. The AS21 could have just as easily done my job at vision control as well, and deal damage all by itself to effectively carry everyone else. Crap Jeep is bad because it's great at vision control and barely anything else. The Crab and T249 in comparison are also great at vision control, and they are also great at dealing damage without having to rely on others.

I was going to call it the Meme Jeep, but it doesn't even produce enough memes to be worthy of that title. It's not even worthy of a screenshot because the basic HMMWV chassis is more respectable IRL. As far as I can tell, it tries hard to be a Kornet but fails miserably because top attack missiles are flat out awful in PvE, since unmanned turrets like Termis and PL-01s are everywhere and will make the missiles utterly ineffective. Being a dedicated scout in PvE simply doesn't work all that well, because your inability to deal damage yourself mean you are at the mercy of others to carry you, even if you keep targets permaspotted. It's like trying to farm spotting damage in other vehicles, except now you're forced to be useful only with spotting damage. It can't even designate targets because of whatever silly design decision put into this. Tell me why I would want to use the Crap Jeep please, because I can't think of any reason why I'd choose to subject myself to this sort of suffering. Even the Crab is a better vehicle because its missiles are actually useful.

K2 might actually be somewhat good now. Assume 700+ damage for HEAT (probably HEAT-MP), a 3 round burst will handily remove superior Bradleys. That is, assuming the accuracy isn't utter trash.

https://aw.my.games/en/news/general/development-type-74 So yeah, basically a Leo 1A5 but without HEAT. It's not too big of an issue at tier 5 because HESH can still go through most things frontally, but its practical DPM will probably be lower than the 1A5. Yeah, not too excited about it.

Fatback bacon is delicious. The PELE rounds are hilarious for digging into roof armors, this gives the Fatback the ability to deal with MBTs frontally provided it has an elevation advantage. This is actually a huge boon, because this lets you hit lots of ammo racks spots that are otherwise inaccessible to AP. Throw in module damage bonuses from commander skills and it becomes incredibly fun. I still tend to treat the Fatback just like every other squishy though, since its armor is deceptively useless against anything other than autocannons, but this also means the humongous size isn't too big of an issue as long as you're not getting shot at. As mentioned the Fatback has great vision control capabilities in terms raw view range and very low camo loss when firing the gun, so its only real downside is its poor mobility. It's just slow, even if you throw on filters and gas, meaning you have to be able to read the map and reposition far earlier than other squishies. Double mortars are fun, it's actually arguable now whether it's more useful than 5x AT infantry because of the raw DPM increase. On maps where bots tend to stand still the mortars are fantastic, but AT infantry are still more useful if they have good sight lines and positioning. Still, mortars are more useful than AT on certain maps and vice versa, so double mortars are definitely nice.