Noone is here to read long introductions so let's get straight to it.
There have been several posts about infantry (especially elite infantry) being in a weird position because basic infantry could often perform better and by the time the CP-locked infantry hit the field, the "baisc" infantry often had veterancy levels and so the performance difference between the basics and elites was also lower and it was harder for the elites to make themselves worth their cost. There have been several suggestions on how to fix this and im the end we decided to change the veterancy bonuses based on the "tier" of each squad. In this beta, every squad belongs into one of these three tiers: basic, semi-elite or elite. Here is the list of squads in each tier and the veterancy changes for these:
Tier A (Vet bonuses for each level lowered by 50%):
US: Engineers, Riflemen (also the 7-men call-in)
CW: Sappers
WM: Pioneers, Volksturm, Volksgrenadiers
PE: Panzergrenadiers
Tier B (vet bonuses same as before):
US: 101st, AB Engineers, Combat Engineers
CW: Rifle Section, Canadian Infantry, Assault Squad, RE Sappers
WM: Grenadiers, Grb39 squad
PE: Assault Grenadiers, Assault Pioneers, Sabotage Squad, Luft Pioneers, SS squad
Tier C (Vet bonuses for each level increased by 50%):
US: Rangers (also the Infiltration and MG squad), CQB, 82nd
CW: Commandos (Sten, Enfield, PIAT, HMG, Marines), SAS squad
WM: Stormtroopers (all types)
PE: Fallshirmjägers, Gebirgsjägers
(Squads that are not listed here have bonuses still same as before, so practically they are in the "semi-elites" group for now)
This means that basic infantry gets less bonuses from their veterancy and so if you get for example a fresh Stormtrooper squad and have to face Vet3 Riflemen, the Riflemen won't have as high advantage over the Storms as they used to have. This also means that unlocks that give "free" veterancy level are now more valuable than before and commanders can be more valuable too because with their Vet2 aura, they usually give more XP to infantry around, so they can help the infantry with getting their stronger bonuses faster.
There have been quite a lot of discussion around the Airborne doctrine and their HQ squad. We said in the discussion that we're not bringing back the old version of the squad but there are some changes coming nonetheless.
The squad is not intended to be a front line single-unit infantry stomper but rather a useful utility unit. During the 5.2.0 update the HQ squad was given larger aura radius but we forgot to also increase the range at which the HQ squad can get XP from units. So now the HQ squad can get XP from squads that farther away. We also increased the amount of XP they get by a little bit so it should be a little bit easier to reach the higher Vet levels with this squad and so access the higher-level aura bonuses for your AB infantry.- Increased the range at which the AB command squad can gain XP from other squads' kills to 55 (from 35)
- AB command squad gains 60% of other squads' XP within command range (from 50%)
- Removed the "Medikit" ability from the HQ squad
- Removed the option from HQ squad to paradrop Medic squads
- The HQ squad automatically heals soldiers nearby as long as the medic in the squad is alive
- HQ squad provides +15% extra XP to AB infantry around at Vet0
- HQ squad provides +10% extra XP to AB infantry around at Vet2 (from +25%)
The squad medic (he must be alive!) now also heals automatically soldiers around without the need to manually activate the healing ability every time. This should remove a little bit of the micro-requirement of this squad. The squad heals automatically so the healing ability is now removed. The same way the ability to drop the medic team has been removed because the HQ squad now does the same thing as the medic squad. The medic squad can still be paradropped from the AB HQ in case you need it (e.g. to provide a mobile healing to your team mate).
Last but not least, HQ squad now has its XP boost divided into two parts so it provides more XP to surrounding squads from the start but instead of providing +25% at level 2, it provides +15% from the starts and later at level 2 adds another +10% to the approximate total +25% as before.
There are also other changes connected to teh Airborne doctrine in general:
It has also been mentioned that the AB unlock tree is too restraining so now you have the option to go from 101st either to 82nd squad or the HQ squad.- Changed the unlock position of 101st and 82nd so now afrer unlocking the 101st you can either unlock the 82nd or the HQ squad
- Changed the cost of Resource Paradrop ability to 75 fuel (from 200MP) and provides 150 ammunition (from 200)
- Lowered Straffe damage against targets in green and yellow cover but significantly increased suppression against targets in this cover type (applies to Luft Straffe too)
We've also tried to come up with some way of utilizing the fuel reservers that the AB doctrine always had and had no use for it. There were again several suggestions but in the end we decided to go with simply changing the "Ammo drop" cost from MP to fuel. This should provide some usage for the doctrine's fuel reserves and at the same time it will leave you more MP to invest into your infantry. There is still the upgrade that lowers the ammo costs of AB infatry weapon upgrades so these changes in along with the veterancy changes should help with maintaining the AB infantry in the field for longer time.
Because the infantry is now more capable of dealing with enemy infantry and the doc will have more MP available for more squads/reinforcing the "squad-wipe power" of the Straffe plane has been lowered, or at least against infantry in cover. It should deal now less damage but provide strong suppression effect against them - but only in green and yellow cover, infantry without cover is just as vulnerable as before.
There has also been quite a few posts saying that bombs directly hitting a tank and dealing too little damage is stupid/reidiculous/uNrEaLiStIc and what not so here comes a change for the heavier bombs:
One more thing for the US faction:- Increased direct-hit damage of bombs (Stuka and P-47) to x2 (from x1.6)
You can now build the Supply Yard whenever you want. This was also suggested here on the forum some time ago along with suggested lower cost of the building. The costs will stay the same to prevent too much snowballing in the early game.- Supply Yard no longer requires other buildings to be built
Another relatively big change for certain doctrines is the functionality of "howitzer" tanks:
Since the 95mm Churchill is a similar unit and can fire direcly with relatively good accuracy, these other units now behave the same way. Please test specifically the performance of these units and provide feedback about them.- Scott, 105 Sherman, StuH and StuPa can now attack targets directly with more accuracy but bigger spread and longer reload times (similar to 95mm Churchill)
Last but not least, some general fixes and improvements:
Just kidding, I know you're here mostly because of the Panthers! This topic has been talked about A LOT. Many of you expressed your opinions here on the forum, even more people participated in the survey that kwok created. In the end the results of the survey were pretty much 50:50 and so this one goes pretty much down to personal preferences. About half of you wants the Panthers to change and about half of you wants to keep them the way they are. It doesn't matter what we do, someone will always be pissed about this. The discussion was revolving around whether or not to lower the armor of Panthers (and so lower their durability) in exchange for lower prices. The changes are as follows:- Luftwaffe Straffe should no longer penetrate and destroy unintended tanks
- All weapon crews are now armed with rifles (Kar98 for Axis, M1 Carbine for US)
- Lowered the barrage cooldown on the 75mm howitzer halftrack to 90 seconds (from 120)
- 2-inch mortar no longer gets bonuses to its shots fired from camouflage
- "Mine throw" ability now has to be used on a specific target (so no longer on the ground)
- Fixed a bug where the emplaced 76mm AT gun couldn't use AP ability
- Fixed a bug where the T48 halftrack couldn use AP ability without getting the upgrade first
- "Mark Artillery Target" can now be used on weapon crews too
- SE Firefly will now deal proper damage to Jumbo Shermans
Panthers were basically "better Tigers" with a bit better gun, about the same armor, but also a high speed. Their only bigger downside was their rear armor which was significantly weaker than that of Tigers. However, due to their speeds, hitting the rear armor was harder to achieve than it might seem and even if you got to take a shot at the rear armor, the tank often managed to survive the hit and retreat anyway. These changes keep the armor strength as it was, but lower the speed and acceleration a bit (they are still faster than Tigers) and also lower their HP. This way the armor protection will the same as before but if you manage to penetrate the armor, the chance of one-shotting the tank is now higher (especially for 90mm guns and 17 pounders). On the other hand the Panthers are now a lot cheaper - even more than they were before the last update and their fuel upkeeps are the same as before.Panther D in BK doc:
- lowered the max speed to 4.5 (from 5)
- HP of Panthers dropped to 650 (from 800)
- cost lowered to 650MP 95F (from 780MP 130F)
- fuel upkeep lowered back to 2.88 (from 4)
Panther A:
- lowered acceleration to 2 (from 2.5)
- lowered the max speed to 4 (from 4.4)
- HP lowered to 650 (from 800)
- cost lowered to 700MP 110F (from 850MP 155F)
- fuel upkeep lowered back to 2.88 (from 4)
- added the same rec.pen. modifier as other Panthers have (x0.9)
Panther G Ace:
- increased acceleration to 2.2 (from 2)
- lowered the max speed to 4 (from 4.4)
- HP lowered to 700 (from 800)
- cost lowered to 1100MP (from 1400MP)
- fuel upkeep lowered back to 2.88 (from 4)
Panther G (TS doc):
- increased acceleration to 2.2 (from 2)
- lowered the max speed to 4 (from 4.4)
- HP lowered to 650 (from 800)
- fuel upkeep lowered back to 2.88 (from 4)
Keep in mind that this is a beta and many things here were impossible to predict the correct value and so we had to give it our best guess. Many of these things might, or most likely will, change based on the feedback we'll get from you. So please, play some matches, post your feedback (after you've played some games, please) and try not to freak out only based on some numbers listed here
.EDIT:
I actually forgot to mention that there are also several path-finding changes for light vehicles in this update. It is rather technical so I won't be listing the actual value changes but keep an eye out on vehicle movement (the "dancing" of scout cars for example) and let us know if you feel any difference.
EDIT II:
There was a request to list here the infantry veterancy bonuses, so here are the bonuses as they have been untill this update (the current "semi-elite" tier still has this):
I got an idea where we would change the Veterancy bonuses of infantry based on their "status". Currently the vet bonuses are:
Vet1:
Accuracy x1.05
Rec.Accuracy x0.95
Rec.Suppression x0.95
Vet2:
Accuracy x1.05
Rec.Accuracy x0.95
Rec.Suppression x0.95
(Some squads get here more range on their throwables)
Vet3:
Accuracy x1.05
Rec.Accuracy x0.94
Rec.Suppression x0.94
Max Health x1.05
Sprint replaced by "Improved sprint/Fireup"
Vet4:
Accuracy x1.05
Rec.Accuracy x0.94
Rec.Suppression x0.94
Max Health x1.07
Health regeneration +0.011
Vet5:
Accuracy x1.05
Rec.Accuracy x0.94
Rec.Suppression x0.94
Max Health x1.07
Health regeneration +0.011
Changed armor type from "infantry" to "infantry_heroic" (some weapons have lower accuracy, damage or suppression against this type)
