Update 9.17: Release on Wednesday 14 December (EU)

~ Sebastianul

The time has finally come to let Swedish reinforcements loose on the battlefield. Along with the new Tech Tree which introduces some cool new mechanics, we’ve also buffed a number of Premium vehicles based on your feedback.

Here’s the final round of info you need to know before rolling out in 9.17.

World of Tanks servers will be down on 14 December from 2:00 to 8:00 CEST (UTC +1) to get everything in order. Also, we’ll be freezing the Global Map for 24 hours, temporarily closing the Clan portal and cancelling Strongholds battles (except skirmishes).

In the weeks leading up to release, we revealed details about the update’s new content in a series of posts. Click the images below to jump to more detailed coverage.
Current Premium players will be credited an additional 24 hours of Premium account time to make up for the maintenance period. If you’d like to make any in-game purchases, please wait until the servers are up and running again.

What’s New

Swedish Vehicles

The Swedish tree comes in two flavors: tank destroyers and a mixed branch.

The TDs are lightly armored, making them quick off the mark. They can bring the pain with their decent guns and stay safe with their low silhouettes. At tiers VIII–X, the TDs introduce Siege and Travel modes. The former considerably ramps up your ability to deal damage. The latter is for when you need to secure your position.

The mixed branch has light, medium and heavy tanks. Early-to-mid tiers have good elevation arcs and can slip into a number of combat roles. At the higher end, the EMIL I, EMIL II, and Kranvagn have the nation’s trademark gun depression and autoloaders.

Premium Vehicles

Thanks to your feedback, we’ve built on the first round of changes to several Premium vehicles, tweaking the combat parameters of the FV4202, STA-2, M4A1 Revalorisé, T26E4 SuperPershing, WZ-111, Löwe, Panther 8.8, T34, M46 Patton KR, and 112.

Improvements were also made to the French heavy tanks АМХ 50 В and АМХ 50 120.

Sounds

On the sound stage, we’ve made a few improvements:

  • Those of you with 5.1/7.1 surround systems now have associated presets in Settings
  • Locking onto a target is now followed by a sound notification
  • The option to turn on a mic is now available in the “Sound” tab
  • New sounds for hitting the ground and collisions with natural obstacles that signal the severity of the collision

Minimaps

9.17 refreshes the looks of seven more minimaps:
  • Karelia
  • Pilsen
  • Sand River
  • Mountain Pass
  • Tundra
  • Windstorm
  • Winter Himmelsdorf

HD Models

11 more vehicles now have HD models:
  • B1
  • Conqueror GС
  • Pz.Sfl. IVc
  • Sturer Emil
  • Pz.Sfl. IVb
  • VK 28.01
  • SU-85I
  • SU-122-44
  • KV-2
  • SU76I
  • Tetrarch

The revised overmatch and ricochet rules (initially planned for 9.17) were postponed. All the data and your feedback from the Common Test showed that their introduction could lead to some deeper changes to vehicles strong and weak spots. Just like you, we wouldn’t want that. That’s why we’re taking some extra time to fine-tune these elements. Until it’s all ready and meets our high standards of quality, we’ll stick to the old, time-proven mechanic for all vehicles, including the Swedish TDs. Head over to the 2nd Common Test article for more details.

As usual, your contributions during the test period were extremely helpful in making World of Tanks a better game. Head to the forums, talk to your fellow tankers, and let us know what you think about the final release!

See you on the battlefield.

Production: Changes in 0.9.17 vs 0.9.16
Game Features
  1. Added two vehicle branches in the Swedish Tech Tree:
    1. Light tanks at Tiers I-III, medium tanks at Tiers IV-VII, heavy tanks at Tiers VIII-X:
      • Strv fm/21
      • Strv m/38
      • Strv m/40L
      • Lago
      • Strv m/42
      • Strv 74
      • Leo
      • Emil I
      • Emil II
      • Kranvagn
    2. Tank destroyers. The distinctive feature of the Tier VIII-X vehicles is the mechanics of the “siege mode” and capability of aiming the gun using their hydraulic suspension:
      • Pvlvv fm/42
      • Ikv 72
      • Sav m/43
      • Ikv 103
      • Ikv 65 Alt II
      • Ikv 90 Typ B
      • UDES 03
      • Strv 103-0
      • Strv 103B
  2. Removed the Ranked Battles tab from the Missions window, since the mode is no longer available in the game.
  3. Added the first-person view for Spectators in Training Rooms.
  4. Increased the maximum number of participants (including Spectators) in Team Training and Special Battle modes to 20 players. The number of team members remains limited to 15 players.
  5. Sound-related improvements:
    • Implemented configuration presets for 5.1\7.1 surround systems that can be enabled by players in the Settings.
    • Reworked the system of collision with indestructible objects and other vehicles.
    • Added a sound for the Auto-Aim: the “locking on a target” event is followed by a sound notification.
    • Implemented an option that re-configures the Push-to-Talk button in the Sound tab (previously the button could be reconfigured only in the Controls tab).
  6. Enabled award windows for completed missions (previously award windows were enabled only for Personal Missions).
  7. Restored transition between related missions in the Missions window.
  8. Implemented the feature of saving the compared vehicles between game sessions.
  9. Fixed the issue of improper display of the solid aiming circle.
  10. Fixed the issue of driving to map areas that are not intended for playing on the following maps: Pilsen, Karelia, Serene Coast.
Vehicles
  1. Added the following vehicles for testing:
    1. Lorraine 40 t
    2. Chrysler K
  2. Reworked the following vehicles to HD quality:
    1. SU-85I
    2. Conqueror Gun Carriage
    3. Pz.Sfl. IVc
    4. Pz.Sfl. IVb
    5. VK 28.01
    6. KV-2
    7. Sturer Emil
    8. Tetrarch
    9. SU-122-44
    10. B1
    11. SU-76I
  3. Changed technical characteristics of the following vehicles:
    1. FV4202:
      • Increased top speed from 35 km/h to 40 km/h
      • Increased vehicle profitability by 10%
    2. Panther mit 8,8 cm L/71:
      • Increased traverse speed of the Panther mit 8,8 cm Kw.K. 43 L/71 from 38 to 40
      • Increased engine power of the Maybach HL 230 P30 engine from 600 h.p. to 700 h.p.
      • Changed the depression angle of the 8,8 cm Kw.K. 43 L/71 gun from -5 to -8 degrees
    3. Löwe:
      • Increased armor thickness of the upper front glacis from 130 to150 mm
      • Improved gun depression angle from -8 to -10
      • Increased engine power of the Maybach HL 230 engine from 800 h.p. to 1000 h.p.
      • Increased thickness of hull armor
    4. WZ-111:
      • Improved accuracy during movement for the WZ-111 model 2 suspension by 13%
      • Improved accuracy during hull traverse for the WZ-111 model 2 suspension by 13%
      • Decreased dispersion of the 122 mm D-25TA gun from 0.46 m to 0.44 m
      • Improved accuracy of the 122 mm D-25TA gun during turret traverse by 14%
      • Improved aiming time of the 122 mm D-25TA gun for the WZ-111 model 2 turret from 3.4 s to 3 s
      • Improved engine power of the NORINCO 12150L engine from 520 h.p. to 600 h.p.
      • Improved armor
    5. M4A1 Revalorisé:
      • Improved accuracy during movement for the M4A1 Revalorisé suspension by 11%
      • Improved accuracy during hull traverse for the M4A1 Revalorisé suspension by 11%
      • Decreased dispersion of the 105 mm D1504 L/51 gun from 0.36 m to 0.35 m
      • Improved accuracy of the 105 mm D1504 L/51 gun during turret traverse by 19%
      • Improved aiming time of the 105 mm D1504 L/51 gun for the M4A1 Revalorisé turret from 2.8 s to 2.4 s
      • Improved engine power of the Continental R975 engine from 460 h.p. to 550 h.p.
      • Changed the type of the Continental R975 engine from diesel to gasoline
      • Improved gun depression angle from -7 to -10
    6. STA-2:
      • Increased top speed from 45 km/h to 55 km/h
      • Changed chance of fire for the Mitsubishi 12HM20WT engine from 0.15 to 0.12
      • Increased engine power of the Mitsubishi 12HM20WT engine from 500 h.p. to 570 h.p.
    7. T26E4 SuperPershing:
      • Increased penetration of the AP M77 armor-piercing shell for the 90 mm Gun T15E1 gun from 170 to 192 mm
    8. T34/ T34B:
      • Decreased dispersion of the 120 mm Gun T53A1 gun during hull traverse from 0.32 to 0.28
      • Decreased dispersion of the 120 mm Gun T53A1 gun during movement from 0.32 to 0.28
      • Decreased dispersion of the 120 mm Gun T53A1 gun during turret traverse from 0.24 to 0.22
      • Improved aiming time of the 120 mm Gun T53A1 gun from 3.4 s to 3.2 s
      • Increased the view range from 360 to 380 m
    9. M46 Patton KR:
      • Increased thickness of the frontal turret armor
    10. 112:
      • Increased thickness of the lower sloped glacis plate in the side armor from 60 to 80 mm
    11. AMX 50 120:
      • Increased depression/elevation angles for all guns from -6..+6 to -9..+11
    12. AMX 50 B:
      • Increased depression/elevation angles for the 120 mm SA46 gun from -8..+12 to -10..+12
    13. Krupp-Steyr Waffenträger:
      • Increased vehicle profitability by 15%
    14. VK 28.01:
      • Increased gun depression angle from -5 to -10
    15. IS-3A:
      • Decreased repairs cost by 40%
Maps

Reworked visual quality of the following minimaps:

  • Karelia
  • Pilsen
  • Sand River
  • Mountain Pass
  • Tundra
  • Windstorm
  • Winter Himmelsdorf