[ S T ] Heavy tank rebalances!

KRZYBooP: Howdy Boom Jockeys!  Here is a bunch of text:   About a month ago we summed up the outcome of the Sandbox test for the general balance changes. Back then, we also mentioned the adjustments to certain vehicles, which had been postponed as trying out the sweeping changes to the balance was a more pressing issue. Now the time has come to tell you about our plans regarding these specific tanks. Today we’ll touch upon three top-tier vehicles: the IS-4, the E 100, and the T110E5. Every one of them has its own playstyle and role, and the projected changes are to further enhance and flaunt their uniqueness. Along with our heroes, a range of high-tier tanks will be reviewed, such as the KV-4, the King Tiger, and the T32. Let’s take a closer look. Please keep in mind that all changes listed below aren’t set in stone yet. The Soviet heavyweights We’ll begin with the IS-4. One of the perks of this heavy is its outstanding all-round protection. The vehicle was created to shine in close combat and to break through defensive lines, and the coming changes will make it even better at this. It’ll have improved frontal protection; several vulnerabilities are gone with the upper glacis plate and the turret top reinforced. Less powerful guns will now have problems penetrating the IS-4 head-on, and the tank’s survivability in Random Battles will improve. At the same time, we’ve made the gunplay more pleasant by upping the gun’s stabilization and rate of fire. This will make hitting the enemies’ weak spots easier at close range. Together with increased turret and hull traverse speed, this will let the IS-4 deal more consistent damage when it has to maneuver to hide its own softer patches. Any opponent who dares challenge the IS-4 in a short-range maneuverable battle will face adequate retaliation. Together, all of the adjustments to the IS-4’s stats will transform it into an extremely dangerous brawler. The list of changes of IS-4 (with top configuration): •           Improved stabilization (changed gun dispersion during movement and on hull traverse from 0.25 to 0.18, changed gun dispersion during turret rotation from 0.08 to 0.06); •           Changed the suspension traverse speed from 26 deg/s to 30 deg/s; •           Changed the turret traverse speed from 22 deg/s to 25 deg/s; •           Changed the reloading time from 12 s to 10.5 s; •           Changed the aiming time from 2.9 s to 2.5 s; •           Changed the gun accuracy from 0.38 to 0.42; •           Improved the frontal armor; •           Improved the armor of the turret roof. The D-25T gun will be equipped with other shells that will improve the game comfort of the IS-4 tank: •           The standard Armor-Piercing shell with 175 mm penetration will be replaced with the Armor-Piercing Composite Rigid shell with 217 mm penetration; •           The special Armor-Piercing Composite Rigid shell with 217 mm penetration will be replaced with the High-Explosive Anti-Tank shell with 270 mm penetration. The vehicles before IS-4 will receive similar changes aimed at improving their performance in close combat. The list of changes for CT-1: •           The M62-T2 gun: •           Changed the reloading time from 13.3 s to 12 s; •           Changed the gun accuracy from 0.38 to 0.4; •           The D-25T gun: •           Replaced the shells: the standard Armor-Piercing shell with 175 mm penetration will be replaced with the Armor-Piercing Composite Rigid shell with 217 mm penetration, the special Armor-Piercing Composite Rigid shell with 217 mm penetration will be replaced with the High-Explosive Anti-Tank shell with 270 mm penetration; •           Improved gun stabilization. The list of changes of KV-4: •           The D-25-T gun: •           Replaced the shells: the standard Armor-Piercing shell with 175 mm penetration will be replaced with the Armor-Piercing Composite Rigid shell with 217 mm penetration, the special Armor-Piercing Composite Rigid shell with 217 mm penetration will be replaced with the High-Explosive Anti-Tank shell with 270 mm penetration; •           Changed the gun reloading time from 12.1 s to 12 s; •           Changed the gun aiming time from 3.4 s to 3 s; •           Changed the gun accuracy from 0.46 to 0.44; •           The ZiS-24 gun: •           Changed the gun reloading time from 10.3 s to 9 s; •           Changed the gun aiming time from 2.9 s to 2.3 s; •           Changed the gun accuracy from 0.38 to 0.36; •           Improved gun stabilization; •           Improved the gun mantlet armor. The list of changes of KV-3: •           The D-25T gun: •           Changed the gun aiming time from 3.4 s to 3.1 s; •           Changed the gun accuracy from 0.46 to 0.44; •           Improved the gun mantlet armor. The German giants Now on to the next one, the E 100. This is a superheavy assault vehicle combining great protection with great firepower. Yet currently this tank relies less on its armor and more on its HP pool as the means of survival: due to a high alpha, it has a favorable ‘exchange rate’ when it trades its health for that of its enemies. To set the things right here, we’ve boosted the frontal protection of the E 100’s turret. From now on, piercing that armor plate will be a harder task for an adversary—especially if the turret is angled. Faster aiming (for the 15-cm gun) will help the E 100 spend less time with its turret’s weaker spots exposed to enemy fire, improving its overall survival rate on the battlefield. The improvements to the 12.8-cm gun are ‘inherited’ from the lower-tier vehicles in the branch and make the smaller boomstick a more efficient alternative to the 15-cm one. It should be noted that currently a similar 12.8-cm gun is mounted on multiple German tanks but only those from the E 100 branch (including lower-tier ones) are getting the alpha boost—by having more powerful shells. The list of changes of E 100: •           The 12,8 cm Kw.K. 44 L/55 gun: •           Changed the damage with shells from 490 to 530; •           Changed the reloading time from 13.3 s to 12 s; •           Changed the gun aiming time from 2.3 s to 2.5 s; •           Changed the gun accuracy from 0.36 to 0.39; •           Slightly improved the gun stabilization; •           The 15 cm Kw.K. L/38 gun: •           Changed the gun aiming time from 2.9 s to 2.7 s; •           Improved the frontal armor of the turret. The vehicles before E 100 will receive mainly similar changes. There will be increased the single-shot damage, firing performance; armor will be improved for particular vehicles. The list of changes of E 75: •           Changed the damage characteristics with standard and special shells of the following guns: •           8,8 cm Kw.K. 43 L/71—from 240 to 280; •           10,5 cm Kw.K. L/52—from 320 to 360; •           10,5 cm Kw.K. L/68—from 320 to 360; •           12,8 cm Kw.K. 44 L/55—from 490 to 530; •           Changed the total hit points of the following turrets: •           E 75 Ausf. A—from 1,820 to 1,850; •           E 75 Ausf. B—from 1,920 to 1,950; •           Changed the hull traverse speed: •           Е 75—from 36 deg/s to 28 deg/s; •           E 75 verstärkteketten—from 39 deg/s to 30 deg/s; •           Improved the frontal armor of the turret. The list of changes of Tiger II: •           The 8,8 cm Kw.K. 43 L/71 gun: •           Changed the damage with standard and special shells from 240 to 280; •           Changed the gun reloading speed from 6.7 s to 7.8 s; •           Changed the gun aiming time from 2.7 s to 2.5 s; •           The 10,5 cm Kw.K. L/52 gun: •           Changed the damage with standard and special shells from 320 to 360; •           The 10,5 cm Kw.K. L/68 gun: •           Changed the damage with standard and special shells from 320 to 360; •           Improved the armor. The list of changes of Tiger I: •           The 8,8 cm Kw.K. 43 L/71 gun: •           Changed the damage with standard and special shells from 240 to 280; •           Changed the gun reloading speed from 6.7 s to 7.8 s; •           Changed the gun aiming time from 2.7 s to 2.5 s; •           Improved the gun mantlet armor. The list of changes of VK 36.01 (H): •           The 8,8 cm Kw.K. 36 L/56 gun: •           Changed the gun accuracy from 0.38 to 0.36; •           Improved the gun stabilization; •           Changed the reverse speed from 12 deg/s to 14 deg/s; •           Changed the total hit points of the following turrets: •           VK 36.01 (H)—from 1,000 to 1,100; •           Pz.Kpfw. VI H Ausf. H2—from 1,060 to 1,200; The American fighters And finally, here comes the T110E5. Being a jack-of-all-trades, it has decent mobility, survivability, and firepower. Yet its overall combat efficiency is lacking (as of right now) so it’s getting a range of improvements. The firepower will positively increase with gun stabilization and the rate of fire upped. Better protection on the sides will prevent the T110E5 from getting some disheartening penetrations. The list of changes of T110E5: •           Changed the 120 mm Gun M58 gun reloading time from 10 s to 8.8 s; •           Improved stabilization (decreased gun dispersion during movement and on hull traverse from 0.18 to 0.14, decreased gun dispersion during turret rotation from 0.08 to 0.06); •           Improved the side armor in the area of front rollers. Other vehicles in the branch will be improved in terms of firepower and firing comfort. The list of changes of М103: •           The 120 mm Gun M58 gun: •           Changed the gun reloading time from 11.2 s to 10 s; •           The 105 mm Gun T5E1 gun: •           Changed the standard shell penetration from 198 to 208; •           Changed the gun reloading time from 10.6 s to 8.7 s; •           Changed the gun aiming time from 2.3 s to 2.1 s; •           Changed the gun accuracy from 0.41 to 0.4; •           Improved gun stabilization; •           Improved the turret armor. The list of changes of T32: •           The 105 mm Gun T5E1 gun: •           Changed the standard shell penetration from 198 to 208; •           Changed the gun reloading time from 10.6 s to 8.7 s; •           Changed the gun aiming time from 2.3 s to 2.1 s; •           Changed the gun accuracy from 0.41 to 0.4; •           Changed dispersion on turret traverse from 0.14 to 0.1. Summary We promised to review certain vehicles quite a while ago, but we needed time to check the hypotheses related to the balance rework. So, we had to postpone testing the changes to individual vehicles. We do understand that the community as a whole has issues with a larger number of tanks than mentioned above but for now, we’re going to concentrate on making these concrete vehicles more fun to play. We intend to deal with the rest in the future and will inform you when the time comes for that. We would like to express our gratitude to the players who have been pointing out the problems with these (and some other) vehicles to us. We appreciate your involvement, passion, and concern very much. Please take note that the changes we’ve talked about aren’t final (as is always goes with proposed adjustments to the vehicles). We can’t wait to hear your opinion on this batch. SummaryWe promised to review certain vehicles quite a while ago, but we needed time to check the hypotheses related to the balance rework. So, we had to postpone testing the changes to individual vehicles.We do understand that the community as a whole has issues with a larger number of tanks than mentioned above but for now, we’re going to concentrate on making these concrete vehicles more fun to play. We intend to deal with the rest in the future and will inform you when the time comes for that.We would like to express our gratitude to the players who have been pointing out the problems with these (and some other) vehicles to us. We appreciate your involvement, passion, and concern very much.Please take note that the changes we’ve talked about aren’t final (as is always goes with proposed adjustments to the vehicles). We can’t wait to hear your opinion on this batch.Check out some pictures!