Winter Balance Preview Changelog

Godawful patch

Not sure if it is a bug, but: T-70 doesn't get self-repair ability from the doctrine.

Just to make sure we understand ourselves - now , with the gun getting nerfs against infantry and LVs getting better armour, the performance of the gun agaist ground target may be questionary.

Having that in mind I'm not agaist quad being best AA in the game, actually I think that is what it deserves if the nerfs are here to stay. Just wondered, if it is really the case and if it is intended to be like that. So if it is going to get any AA nerfs, I would like it to still be top notch of its class, especially as it is one of the most expensive and doesn't get much more than AA now.

Absolutely. IMO, the intended design is find the right value that will make it shoot down planes in the first pass more than 80% of time, before the planes can shoot the AA HT down. It just doesn't need to shot planes down in a blink of an eye.

Not sure if it is a bug, but: T-70 doesn't get self-repair ability from the doctrine.

Good catch. It's a bug.

The T-70 never received this doctrinal ability, because it already had a better one. Now that the stock self-repair is gone, it should receive the doctrinal self-repair.

Another thing is that now with the removal of penal flamers, nerf to performance of guards and quad AI nerfs, soviets may find themselves in a munition floaty position once again, possibly in a scale we are yet to observe.

Of course, the munitions can be spent on mines or demos before the late game off maps come into play but there should be an equal strategic choice between mines and something else. Penals, guards and quad were in fact 3 other choices that are either disappearing or becoming situational.

I think I did not explain myself well before, but half track with flamer wipe team weapons in garrison.

Another thing is that now with the removal of penal flamers, nerf to performance of guards and quad AI nerfs, soviets may find themselves in a munition floaty position once again, possibly in a scale we are yet to observe.

Of course, the munitions can be spent on mines or demos before the late game off maps come into play but there should be an equal strategic choice between mines and something else. Penals, guards and quad were in fact 3 other choices that are either disappearing or becoming situational.

Do note that the Quad will still instantly suppress (almost even pin) squads if you hit stop at the right time. The nerf only makes it so that you can't yolo-rush through the enemy line suppressing everything.

I think I did not explain myself well before, but half track with flamer wipe team weapons in garrison.

It's an issue we are aware of. It doesn't seem that high-priority yet, but we would like to address this along with all flamer vehicle inconsistencies.

always talking about startegic diversity, but i cant see this in this patch.

penals nerfing to the ground only brings people back to maxim-spam again.why should i build expensive penals without flamthrowers, no upgrades and suffer less mapcontrol by building t1
+penals?
same with the sniper-nerf. they are very dangerous to play.
so why should people build soviet t1 now?
maxims into partisans is much more effective.

same with OKW:
actual meta is t1, t3. buffing the flak-ht only manifests the status quo. why should people build t2 in 1vs1? because medical supplies are cheaper now? dont think so.

and my biggest thing: why the hell do we need a sniper nerf? i really cant see why....

I thought I’d share my thoughts, as an okish 1v1 player, (ranked top 50). Over all I have to say I really feel this patch is very solid, and is moving in the right direction. You can definitely tell this patch is largely influenced by community members because it addresses so many of the key issues that we all experience frustration over. I also understand that it’s impossible to address everything in one patch, so while this does accomplish a lot there still is much that needs to be addressed, (people need to remember this and be patient).

KEYPOINTS:

Aspects I LIKED: (The most)

-T70 got a nerf, thank god. That murder machine has been op for way too long.
-Penal lost their flamers. Good, having mainline inf with a weapon that denied cover was absurd.
-Stuart , while I never felt the Stuart was insane, but it definitely needed to be toned down a bit in light of all the pressure usf had early game.
- AEC I felt like its AI was a bit strong so I like this nerf.
- USF mortar/mortars. USF mortar getting reworked again is great, its accuracy and rof was still nuts. Also in general removing the range increase at vet3 to mortars autofire works for me.
- The final aspect that I enjoyed about this balance patch preview was more standardization. Making the flak- track smoke cost munitions and the SU 76 barrage cost munitions as well just makes sense. I could never figure out why they were free. No duel 1919’s added to this list as well.
- Left vehicle rework in general seems good.

Aspects I AM A BIT CONCERNED ABOUT
-Guards. They needed a rework for sure but I feel they got hit a bit hard. I feel like just increasing their cost to 360 would have been sufficient.
- Penals. I feel that removing their flamethrower would have been enough.
-SOV tier 1. I’m a little worried that we won’t see tier 1 used much anymore, though maybe for the sniper?
-I do not love the new piats. They kinda feel lazer guided to me.
-I’m a little worried about UC Wasp abuse paired with auto repair?
-SOV is going to have an interesting matchup vs OKW, losing a lot of AI might be a balance issue.
-OKW sturm meds feel very strong. I’m not really sure why I would go med truck now.(buff med truck)

MOVING FORWARD (Thoughts)

I’m very happy with how the patch is moving forward. A few key issues for me that come to mind now though. Addressing the pak howie and isg. Both need a rework, howie costs to much and needs a crew size decrease. Isg needs smoke, or a buff vs garisions. I’ve always thought that the mortar for usf should be attached to LT tier. This would mean you could choose between the pack howie or Mortar for inderiectfire. I like the light vehicle rework for the most part, I don't want to see them go away as I've found them to be one of the highlights in terms of play. In my opinion you should be rewarded for good light vehicle play, just not fed squad wipes. Overall nice job, these are just my thoughts take or leave them.

and my biggest thing: why the hell do we need a sniper nerf? i really cant see why....

Because sniper abuse (immediate recloak after fire)

Because sniper abuse (immediate recloak after fire)

seriously.....

Good.

Apologies if this has already been mentioned somewhere (the comments on this patch are predictably accumulating fast), but I wanted to know whether improving mine suppression is something you are allowed to do?

Most notably, the OKW schu mine still does not suppress at all (as raised in TheMachine's stream yesterday), and is probably the mine in most desperate need of it given that it can now only kill 2 members of the 5 and 6 man squads OKW commonly faces. This is compounded by OKW's inferior suppression options, and heavy munitions sinks. It pretty clearly falls under the 'bug' category, so I assume you'd be allowed to rectify it?

I've also noticed inconsistent suppression values by soviet mines in the past, so they could probably be higher, although munition costs aren't as penalising for them, and the 2 model kill rate is much more rewarding against German squads.

The formation changes fix squad spacing when squads are out in the open, it is quite noticeable. Unfortunately, given the limitations of the mod tools, there is nothing we can do to fix the way that squads clump when they enter and exit cover.

So ya'll aren't given any more access to the game outside of mod tools?

That's... Kind of dooming the effort to fail. Or at least undermining it to say the least.

When the problems that need fixing (and people want to see fixed) aren't allowed to be fixed, there's not going to be the best of receptions for all your efforts.

So ya'll aren't given any more access to the game outside of mod tools?

That's... Kind of dooming the effort to fail. Or at least undermining it to say the least.

When the problems that need fixing (and people want to see fixed) aren't allowed to be fixed, there's not going to be the best of receptions for all your efforts.

They are getting possibility to propose changes that make it to the live game. That is their access. They surely won't ever see games code, as it is top secret in every programming company. All employees who ever had access to it most probalby have huge punishments for revealing any of it in their contracts.

Aspects I AM A BIT CONCERNED ABOUT
-Guards. They needed a rework for sure but I feel they got hit a bit hard. I feel like just increasing their cost to 360 would have been sufficient.
- Penals. I feel that removing their flamethrower would have been enough.
-SOV tier 1. I’m a little worried that we won’t see tier 1 used much anymore, though maybe for the sniper?
-I do not love the new piats. They kinda feel lazer guided to me.
-I’m a little worried about UC Wasp abuse paired with auto repair?
-SOV is going to have an interesting matchup vs OKW, losing a lot of AI might be a balance issue.
-OKW sturm meds feel very strong. I’m not really sure why I would go med truck now.(buff med truck)

- Guards are a multipurpose, highly survivable unit. They veterancy made them way too effective even against the most expensive axis AI specialists.
- Penals. Their veterancy made them omnipotent. Only accurate indirect fire or the sturmtiger were capable of countering them.
- Piats are already a big problem in the live game. True, they didn't need such crazy buffs.
- WASP too is a fuel-free higly versatile Min0 vehicle. It didn't need those stupid overbuffs.
-SOV vs OKW was always in SOV's favor. Just having a balanced match up now doesn't mean they will lose to OKW.
- Medical supplies were ridiculously overpriced and didn't heal fully. Using them makes more sense now.

I think I did not explain myself well before, but half track with flamer wipe team weapons in garrison.

There is a very good reason it arrives at the same time as the T70/AEC/Stuart.

Maybe Vickers> BOFORS> Comet strat isn't the best strat after all. Or maxim >T70>T3485s.



The flame halftrack is one of the few OST units which is performing just right.

It's an issue we are aware of. It doesn't seem that high-priority yet, but we would like to address this along with all flamer vehicle inconsistencies.

Acknowledging every rant and calling it an issue doesn't seem to be the right path.

Honestly, dunno. It is great that they nerfed ptrc damage but why they increased guards cost? Penals are nerfed - good, flamethrower was too op, but why they nerfed thier rifels? Why they touched sniper invisability, but didnt nerf pupchen and other shit? Mortar and stuart nerfs - good, but why they nerfed m20? It was okay. Pioneer damade buff? What? Why? It is better to nerf thier cost. Aek nerf? Why? There are a lot of disputable changes which needs to be tested

theres no reason for the m20 nerf or the guards nerfs....ptrs needs high dmg cuz it always mises...don't make sense...

the aec already got nerfed.....its anti inf isn't even that god for having to tier up to buy the tank and not being able to buy bofors. it seems like all the Light Tanks/Vehicles, Squad Formations & Clumping, USF Mortar, Penals & Guards, and Wehrmacht Infantry Scaling changes that the community guys changed were just off and wrong and to much. dunno how ima feel about this game if all this get implemented

Acknowledging every rant and calling it an issue doesn't seem to be the right path.

A one-line sentence is never an example of a rant.

A one-line sentence is never an example of a rant.

It can be as short and simple as "HT OP. I would call that a short , one sentence rant.


Let's stay on topic though. I just pointed out that the flame halftrack is OK and is the intentional counter to HMG camping.