World of Tanks – Kharkov: A City of Military Glory

~ Sebastianul

Do you remember Kharkov, a map introduced in Update 0.9.1? Kharkov was the first historical map in World of Tanks — a detailed reproduction of the combat situation in Ukraine’s second-largest city during World War II.

This locale seemed unusual for players and received positive feedback only from those who played it in well-armored vehicles or medium tanks with decent guns. Kharkov had some flaws that prevented players from unleashing the combat potential of different tank classes, such as:

  • The two main zones, the urban part and the open area, weren’t well connected to each other. There was no clear front line on the map, so your adversaries could turn up in the most unexpected locations, and surprise you with a devastating shot.
  • Due to the height differences on the terrain, TDs and other sniper vehicles couldn’t fire on the city from the open area, and vice versa.

As a result, it was convenient to play heavy vehicles on this map, but the players who preferred fast and lightly-armored vehicles felt a bit out of place. Many of you have asked us to reconfigure and bring back this epic locale, so it will be returning in Update 1.5.1 with significant changes.

Key Balance Improvements   

First of all, we reworked Kharkov in stunning HD. We tried to preserve its trademark features as much as possible, and at the same time recreate the city’s winter landscape accurately. The key balance revisions are as follows:

  • The size of the reworked map has grown to 1 km2
  • We changed the location of bases and rotated the map 45 degrees to give players more space for different tactical maneuvers
  • We made some changes in the configuration of urban areas and completely reworked the western zone where the suburbs are located, providing more comfortable gameplay for medium and light tanks, as well as for tank destroyers. TDs will also be able to support their teams from two hills situated in the left part of the map
  • The urban and the open part of the map are separated by an anti-tank ditch; it also serves as a direct route between both bases

Map Bases

NOTE: Kharkov will only be available for Standard Battles for tankers in Tier IV-X vehicles!

The Reworked Soundtrack

Following your feedback, we decided not to replace its soundtrack with a new one and instead remastered the existing melody so familiar to many World of Tanks veterans. We’ve kept Kharkov’s legendary leitmotif from the 2014 soundtrack, and enriched it with modern arrangements.

The main highlight of the soundtrack is the melodic lines performed by the accordion, one of the main instruments in the Soviet Union and a symbol of music during World War II. Just listen to this, it’s really amazing!