Update 9.18: Common Test

eekeeboo: Still not got the free xp/gold working on the test client but the credits are there. The free exp and gold are "loading" continuously    edit 1-Just come up and online.    edit 2 - And now it's fluctuating up and off.    edit 3 - Free exp and gold is definitely now offline and the ping to the server/packet loss is absolutely dire.    edit 4 - Apologies I can't keep trying to monitor this when testing new vehicles even arti is impossible with 250 ping and packet loss 50+% of the time. The free xp and gold is still not online sometimes it will pop up for a second but even waiting for that to ninja purchase/research does not work. I will be back when things are stable and working.    edit 5 - So things are working and seemingly stable after trying again early hours of the next morning to a queue for 5k people for 2 hours. From what I can tell the trick for people is to make sure that you not only have the tier 8 lights researched but also purchased. The crew will remain at tier 8 as will any earned experience. I owned all tier 8 lights except the chinese and that was the only tier 9 light I didn't have researched or purchased. All other lights I had the tier 8 and 9 fully researched and purchased. One Thing i suggest if you have the time is for you to start training a secondary crew now (at least you can do it 1 crew at a time) and then retrain them when the patch is released so that you have crew with some camo/sixth sense.    Arty changes... the reload feels quite long for the damage you do and the area of effect stun is great if the enemy team stacks but this only works on high radius arty like the conq GC, the fv304 you are just as well direct hitting. Also as a tier 10 scout I was able to take a point blank face hit from an object 261 and lose less than 1/4 hp (yes crew were stunned) and fire twice before the poor guy could reload. Knowing tactics of salty people letting the enemy team straight through to kill your arty, this reduced capability of self defence moves arti further into the RNG/Team dependency that will make this class difficult to find rewarding.    I also suggest taking things with a grain of salt so far on the test serve as I played the scouts I did aggressively and in ways that tested them in unique situations, and there's just too many around on the server right now stacked with gold consumables etc but not playing in a realistic fashion.    One thing i will say the ground resistance on the tier 10 french scout is a pain in the arse when it comes to climbing and on rocks etc, you will just slide right back down. The tier 10 Chinese has a strong tendency to roll/flip and seems to use every bump as a ramp for trying to reach space. The tier 10 German light has a very nice gun and depression while being easy to control with no drama like the aforementioned 2. The tier 10 Russian is flat stable and the best way I can describe it is as a perfectly balanced performance race car with it's ability to maintain speed and turn without tilting/rocking or sliding. The gun is extremely effective but I feel will struggle at rapid active scouting compared to the German and Chinese ones. The tier 10 American I'm not sure on yet... it doesn't feel right to me so far being so large and easy to see that anything with a decent aim like a grille will tear you a new one.