Approved. ty for advice now i can get more tanki gf :blush:

As a special paint user, I must protest. This idea is rubbish. Let me explain why. B͚̱ec̛͉̞̩̣̖̟ͅa̭͓u̠̙̪̼̳̱̘͠s̛̤̝͓̼̞͓e ̜͈i͇͕͙̤t҉s̲ ̹̙͎͖r̷̗ù̘̮b̖͙̦̥ͅb̮̜̝́i̟͎̝̬͡s̙̠ͅh̠̹͓ͅ. Everyone knows that special paints are just so much cooler than noob normal paints. Changing the battle pictures would make the maps seem common, cheapskate and disposable. The special paints in the pictures offer a premium feel for the respectable clientele among Tanki's playerbase. For everyone else (including yourself), they provide hope. Hope for the masses. Something to look up to and admire. These pictures must stay. #We'reNotCheapskate #NoYisroel #WeAreThe1%

We have run such contests in the past, but having a regular feature for clans and/or parkour clubs sounds like a good idea for us to consider implementing. Thanks!

It's not the opposite. I initially thought it was, but in actual fact, the fall in the "Freezing level of hull (%)" statistic from 0.3 to 0.1 means opponents go from 0.3x speed to 0.1x speed when frozen, which is indeed a freeze effect that's three times more powerful than before. So the reduction of the statistic from 0.3 to 0.1 is a buff of the freeze effect, not a reduction.

I was unaware such software was being used in checking articles - in light of this, such software will not be used from now on. Thanks for raising valid issues with the checking of your article, missingknight!

A little something to complement this article: here's an album from the ''Special Event — Photoshoot with Cedric", taken using our Newspaper Spectator account to provide our readers with a fun look into how the event went. Click the picture below to view the entire album of 68 high-quality and exclusive Newspaper Spectator pictures. Enjoy!

Thanks! As for the rest of your post, very well-phrased. I suppose the only specific counter-argument I could present is that one could argue the development's motivations are to improve the game for the players and for their own progress, so if they're not having a beneficial effect as you say, it isn't 'malicious' as such. The more general counter-argument would be just to refute your entire point, but I think there's value to be gained in heeding and being understanding of the perspective you've provided here, regardless of the 'sides' we all personally take in this debate. The ignoring of opinions can lead to some of the greatest setbacks against real progress. Cheers, and that's great to hear. Thanks for sharing your insight too, you make a fair point there :P I never said I denied that... In cases where it makes sense, then Helpers (not 'staff', that implies we're somehow employed in a position of superiority when we're just volunteers for the game's projects) do know some things in advance. However, the motives for this are never 'defiance' or being 'above players' as you've implied - whenever that happens, it's simply to aid us in helping to perform our voluntary roles. Thanks for clearing that up! The article will be changed to reflect this point.

This is false - we found out on Friday, and I wrote this article on Sunday. Helpers are players, we just volunteer to help in the community too.

Welcome, readers! In this article, CoIIIaILeHu9I (formerly known as Solace), an experienced player who has been involved in top-level eSports, will be giving you tips on how to win an XP Duel in the map Garder. Introduction: Dueling. Everyone's tried it at least once in their Tanki career, whether you're among the lower or higher ranks. While there are many tankers out there who take duels seriously, others prefer to enjoy the more diverse team battles, although this doesn't mean we should just push dueling to one side. When a friend asks you for a quick duel, it really comes in handy to know several tactics in a select few maps. Experience in duels is also useful for XP/BP battles as you may end up in a 1v1 situation - for example, if you are holding the flag and there is no one to assist you, you would have some tricks up your sleeve to fend off the attacker. For my first series, I'm going to focus on Garder XP duels. Garder's a pretty simple map: relatively small, easy to learn, and great for parkour, right? Wrong! (Well, maybe not about the parkour! ^_^ ) The Duel: In Garder, it is common for a player to start either behind one of the covers or on the flag. If you decide to start on the flag, you need to be extremely careful when going down the ramp or even sitting behind the cover, as the enemy can still shoot through the small gap in the cover if they have a good aim: The diagrams below show you the correct and incorrect way of hiding behind the cover: Correct: Incorrect: OK, so now you've gotten off to a great start; the enemy is 1 shot and you've picked up the flag. Now what? Well, the most obvious thing you need to do is try and not get shot. Aim to close down the enemy in your base, so you only have a short distance to travel to return the flag. When you manage to kill him, the short distance from the flag means you can capture quickly and then go back into the enemy base and damage him as he spawns. But what if the enemy has taken your flag and you are spawning, then what do you do? Your main priority at this point is to make sure the enemy doesn't capture. If this means getting shot in the process, so be it, let him shoot you but just be sure to kill him and return the flag, so then similarly to before, you can wait in his base to make him 1 shot. However, if you get a good spawn and the enemy is leaving the base close to where you spawn, try and 'ghost' in his tank, or use your brief period of invincibility to merge with his tank, and follow him as long as possible. When he is about to capture, just come out and kill him but if he wastes a shot while you are still ghosting, you'll be able to finish him off and go for another flag. Awesome! So now you've got the advantage and the current position is similar to that of the start. As said before, make sure you pull the flag and take it back to your base so your enemy has a long way to travel to get the return. But what if the enemy manages to damage you and take your flag without getting hit? At this point, you need to be extremely careful as one mistake can turn the scores upside down as Garder is pretty small in comparison to other dueling maps, so the pace of capturing flags is much quicker. The best chance of preventing the enemy from capturing in this situation is by dropping the flag in your base and going immediately to the enemy's base to make him 1 shot. You then have enough time to spawn and pick up the flag; even if he hits you on the way, you've made him 1 shot as well so you can drop the flag again and go for the return. However, there are several things you need to do to ensure this works. The first thing is dropping the flag. Do not drop the flag anywhere on the lower part of the map or on the ramp: Correct: Incorrect: The reason for dropping the flag on the flag base is so that you don't have to drive any extra distance. If you returned the flag and you had dropped the flag in the tunnel, you would have to go through the tunnel and then back to base. Also, make sure that when you go to capture, you don't jump up into the base immediately, as you could get shot and die if you are 1 shot or flip if you are 2 shots (unless you're lucky unlike me in which case you will land perfectly <_< ). So far, I've mentioned a lot to do with tactics around the flags but I haven't mentioned the tunnels much. Could be a problem, as most of the map consists of tunnels. The tunnels in Garder are tricky to get your head around at first, but when you get used to playing here often, shooting through the tunnels will become second nature. One of the things that makes a great Garder player is having the ability to see from one end of the tunnel to the other and also being able to dodge the enemy's shots through them, so I will explain how to do it below. If you look carefully, the width of the tunnel is slightly bigger than the Railgun's turret. This means that if you position your tank side on to the tunnel, moving left or right slightly will let you shoot past the edges of the tunnels with ease. However, it's not quite that simple because if your enemy loads up before you and you load up a fraction of a second after him, while side on, your chances of flipping are high. Is there a way to prevent this happening? Of course, you should avoid positioning yourself side on to the enemy's shot as by doing this, you make yourself a bigger and therefore easier target for the enemy. You can turn yourself side on to your enemy only if you are planning on shooting first as shown below. If the enemy rushes towards you, you have two options. You can either attempt to shoot him before he shoots you, which is slightly risky but works well if you are experienced in Garder: Or on the other hand, you can let him shoot you first. If you choose to do this you must make sure you land a shot on him or you've given him a free capture theoretically. To increase the likelihood of the enemy missing, position your tank so you are directly facing the enemy. Stand-offs: Stand offs in this map are relatively simple, but things can take a turn for the worse if you don't time things correctly. Let's say you are 1 shot and your opponent is 2 shots and you are both holding each other's flag in the base. My main rule for when this happens is to drop the flag and drive straight to the opponents base to ideally make him 1 shot. When he then kills you, you will be able to respawn with full health and pick up the flag again. However, he may try to exert the same tactic, in which case you must not kill him. Instead, you should aim to run away from him and avoid getting shot, even if it means circling around your base a few times - eventually if he doesn't choose to go back and pick up the flag, it will return automatically allowing you to kill him and capture. Flags take about 30 seconds to return so when you drop the flag, be sure to count 30 seconds either in your head or by using the battle timer so you can make a judgement to either go for the return or go back to base. Camera Angles: Garder is admittedly a "weird" map due to the several tunnels which can be quite tricky to see through, especially when you are trying to shoot your enemy through them. By changing the camera angle, it makes it easier to look through the tunnels, but the question remains: where is the best place to position your camera? The answer is to choose the best angle for you, as it varies from person to person. For example, I raise my camera slightly higher than normal for shots like this and lower it for shots like this. Tricks: As Garder is unique in its own way, there are several tricks you can try. These tricks are really useful to be able to use, as many of them are great for preventing captures at the most crucial points in the game. Knowing these tricks will not only allow you to perform some of these shots, they can also make you aware of what the enemy can do as well. The key in the spoiler is an explanation of what the lines mean. The image below is a bird's eye view of some of the tricks: 1.) Near-cap: This is my favorite shot to be able to do in this map, mainly because I know my opponent will be on the verge of smashing their keyboard after you make this shot! If the score is 4-4 and your enemy is about to cap, this shot can be a life saver if the enemy is too hasty. As well as taking this shot from the sides of the tunnel, you can take it from pretty much anywhere in the center of the map as long as you tilt back far enough. 2.) The Shot Past the Tunnel: This shot is a bit harder to do than the original shot as you only have a small area to shoot through. To perform this shot, use the flag the opponent is carrying as a "marker" to see roughly where his tank is and time your shot accordingly. If your enemy is not carrying the flag, it makes life much harder but the shot is still possible. The birds eye view of Garder above shows the different positions in which you can take the same shot (marked as a red line.) 3.) Making your Opponent Miss: When you are leaving the enemy base with the flag, the enemy can sometimes spawn behind you. If he does, continue driving towards your own base and turn you turret to face where he is hiding. Wait till you are about to turn the corner and load up your Railgun. If he tries to shoot you, he runs the risk of missing. 4.) High to Low: This shot is perfect for when your enemy takes the flag through the middle of the map. All you have to do is drive to the side of your flag base and shoot. However, Railgun's auto aim is less effective than some other weapons like Vulcan, so when trying to shoot from a height downwards, you need to make sure you tilt your tank forward depending on the height of the shot. 5.) Sideways Jump: Not only is this trick extremely effective if your enemy is beneath your flag, it can also be applied to other areas in the map such as around the edges. For this shot, make sure you let your tank seem as if it's about to flip and when the enemy is beneath you, load up your Railgun and take the shot - Railgun's recoil should keep you on your tracks. 6.) Blocking: Probably the most simple but effective trick, blocking. When you are one shot and your enemy is about to kill you, drive onto a wall and your corpse should delay your enemy from returning. Garder is a great map to do this in as there are several effective places to do this as shown below. 7.) Hard-to-reach: Similarly to blocking, the concept of this trick is to delay your enemy from returning the flag - for example, by taking it into a hard-to-reach spot such as behind the flag, giving you time to kill him or take his flag and prevent the capture. 8.) Over the Rainbow: This shot is an extremely useful shot, as you can perform it in both your own base and the enemy base. You might find yourself on one side of the ramp with your enemy on the other side. The best thing to do from here is to nudge back and forth to try and trick your opponent into wasting their shot. If this happens, just follow him and shoot him. If he doesn't, you could try jumping straight over the ramp. Be careful though, this shot requires a fair amount of practice to be able to pull off, so just practice in a private battle. The way to do this shot is by accelerating up the ramp and as soon as your airborne, hold the down arrow and the turret should tip downwards and hit your enemy, like so: That's it tankers for this Garder episode. I hope you enjoyed this duelist advice, and I look forward to bringing you more advice on another map next time! ~ CoIIIaILeHu9I *Special thanks to Ben, BestHope and Luffy1559 for helping me with the images.

The Newspaper is seeing a lot of change at the moment, and I hope players enjoy the inaugural Issues of the new Hindi and Arabic Newspapers! Along the lines of change, it's worth highlighting the following... Departures: @Remaine @Phoenix-Warbird @tweezers Arrivals: We're sad to see some great Reporters leave our team this Issue due to real-life commitments and a lack of time, but we're equally happy to have some new recruits on board. I'm sure you'll join us in wishing them the best of luck as they start writing articles as part of our Newspaper team. Finally, make sure not to miss this exclusive post!

Thanks to the recently-announced game balance update, we've had to pause part-way through the next instalment of the Mid Ranker's Handbook and scrap it, since there's a high chance it would just become irrelevant in the very near future if published. This means there isn't any Mid Ranker's Handbook article in this Issue, but it'll be making a comeback as we work on a different idea for next Issue. Sorry about that, we hope you understand! In the meantime, here are the results of the mini-contest from last Issue. Mini-Contest: Results The results are here! We saw quite a few high-quality entries, but here are our winning picks... 1st place (20,000 crystals): @Viking4s 2nd place (15,000 crystals): @NewbieCupcake 3rd place (10,000 crystals): @zaydie_boy2000 Consolation prizes of 5,000 crystals (in no particular order): @jwimmer2 - entry (if the link doesn't work: post #46 on the 3rd page) @FaceOfEvil - entry (if the link doesn't work: post #79 on the 4th page) @sre123 - entry (if the link doesn't work: post #71 on the 4th page) @AlexanderCrete - entry (if the link doesn't work: post #89 on the 5th page) Congratulations to the winners, and a very well done to all the entrants for writing engaging and informative pieces! Prizes will be given out on Monday 10th October. As previously mentioned, we hope to make a return with the next instalment of the Handbook next Issue. Until then, make sure you read our other exciting content!

The results are out! After sifting through many, many entries, we've judged the best captions of all. In light of the competition and quality of entries, we've also decided to give out a couple consolation prizes for each picture on top of the 3 main prizes. Enjoy! Picture 1 1st Place (20,000 crystals): "Even my own followers are DESERTing me" 2nd Place (15,000 crystals): "...And if you look to the end, you will see the deadliest cha cha line ever made." Honorary Joint 2nd Place: @TriNitroToIuene "And an assassination attempt already. NEVER underpay your employees." Editors' Note: TNT won't be winning any crystals on grounds of fairness, since he's a Reporter. Oh, the irony... :lol: 3rd Place (10,000 crystals): @anti-tanker-GT "Hey! Dude at the back! Don't shine that torch at me...There's still some daylight left!" Consolation prizes of 5,000 crystals also go to... @austen_pierce: "There's nothing worse than an itch you just can't scratch..." @zaydie_boy2000: "When Bloody Mary follows you, your death is soon to come" Picture 2 1st Place (20,000 crystals): "*When the flag is right there but you and your saboteur friends decide to have some fun*" 2nd Place (15,000 crystals): @dunes555 "Aw, quit showing off, BP. Everyone already loves you." 3rd Place (10,000 crystals): "Huh? Flying tanks?! Okay, no more Vodka for me..." Consolation prizes of 5,000 crystals also go to... @TheContractKiller_GT: "Fly for resurrection." @Guanlong999: "Trust me, the gold box is here!" Aaand now for the most overused cliché in this contest... "I believe I can fly!". Anyway, congratulations to the winners, and well done to everyone who entered for some great entries! Crystals will be given out to the winners on Monday 10th October.

Nope, you're right with your assessment. I've just had a chat with @Issho_Fujitora to follow up this matter, and he's confirmed your correction is valid, so that row of the table will be changed to green. However, I would say that while it sounds like a huge buff, I'm not sure the buff is actually that huge. The turret's Freeze effect is currently pretty weak, so I think that buff is at least intended to make it more effective rather than overpowered. Although in practice, it may turn out to be a bit over-the-top - Freeze used to be OP back in the ol' days when its freeze effect was much stronger, for example! But we'll have to wait and see, really. Either way, at least its somewhat balanced out be reduced ammunition and slower turret-turning. Thanks again for pointing this out!

More responses coming up...

Agreed, that would be fair if implemented as an optional feature, mhm. And thanks!

Hm. What if what you claim I'm trying to say isn't true, and what I actually said there was what I wanted to say? I can confirm that this is the case. I mean, you can always then claim that I'm lying and that really the words you've put into my mouth there are more accurate - but with no evidence to support this, your post is an amusing conspiracy theory and nothing more. As I discussed above, I seem to recall that a large scale, game-wide refund isn't actually possible anymore in terms of implementation, though I would sympathise with the reasoning behind such an idea.

Thanks for all the positive feedback, guys! Text wall of responses beneath the spoiler:

Welcome, tankers! In this special review, I'll weigh up the potential effects of the upcoming global update of game balance, focusing on the impact upon players and gameplay. Hopefully, this article sheds some light on the major changes to Tanki's gameplay. Read on to find out more! Recently announced in Episode 108 of the V-LOG, this update will involve numerous changes to statistics for hulls, turrets and supplies, as well as changes to unlock ranks at M3 level. A good summary of the changes can be found here on the TO Wiki, and I've chosen to structure this article around the bullet points listed there. So, without further ado... Almost all characteristics of all hulls and turrets, including XT versions, changed ► General changes to turrets *If a characteristic is not mentioned, assume that it remains the same.* Firebird: It will take twice as long to fully burn opponents using the heating effect, but base damage remains similar, max. damage can be dealt at slightly further range and reload time is more than halved. The maximum range and temperature is reduced a little for M3 Firebird. Turning the turret may feel 'heavier' than previously - the turret can now rotate faster, but will take much longer to increase in speed as it rotates. One-sentence summary: Firebird is likely to become less of a 'hit-and-run' weapon and more of an all-out assault tool, with an ability to attack more frequently balanced out by the need to douse opponents in flames for a bit longer. Freeze: Damage remains similar to before, but max. damage can be dealt at slightly further range and reloading times are decreased significantly. The rotation acceleration falls drastically, slowing down Freeze's famously light and nimble turret-turning. The effective ammunition falls, meaning the reload bar will empty 20% faster. Opponents can now be frozen almost instantly as opposed to taking half a second to freeze, and the freeze effect becomes three times more powerful. One-sentence summary: Overall, Freeze is likely to become more of a 'hit-and-run' weapon, with its ability to attack opponents more frequently and freeze more quickly/effectively balanced out by less ammo and slower turret-turning requiring more skill to use. Isida: The healing rate is significantly decreased, the damage rate and range is slightly decreased and the self-healing feature is 'nerfed' down from 30-40% to a constant 10%. As with Firebird, turret-turning may feel heavier due to higher max. rotation speed but lower turning acceleration. However, the reloading speed is slightly increased and the ammunition increases by 25%. One-sentence summary: Thanks to a large reduction in Isida's self-healing ability, its effectiveness as an offensive weapon is significantly reduced; although more, faster-replenishing ammunition means the weapon's ability as a defensive/midfield support weapon is somewhat improved despite the nerf. Hammer: The damage rate is very slightly decreased along with a moderate fall in both impact force and recoil. The reload time between shots has been increased a little, but this is more than compensated for by a fall of between 0.4s (M3) and 1.5s (M0) in the clip reload time. Changes to turret rotation speed/acceleration are small, though turning may be slower. The max. damage range has fallen significantly, but 'weak damage' of 10% will allow a small amount of damage to be dealt beyond the normal damage range. One-sentence summary: With these changes, Hammer is a more balanced weapon than previously, continuing to be effective at short-to-mid ranges with less impact force in return for better reload times. Twins: The damage per shot is increased by a small amount, and the recoil is much more bearable. However, the impact force is a little lower, reloading between shots is now slower for lower modifications and the rotation acceleration is greatly reduced, slowing down turning speed. The max. damage range has seen an increase in upgrades beyond M0, and weak damage (small damage dealt just out of range) has been standardised at 10%, an increase for M0/M1 but a reduction for further modifications. One-sentence summary: At lower modifications, the firing rate of Twins is reduced - but this reduction becomes less significant as Twins is upgraded and is compensated by improved damage stats, meaning the weapon remains an effective mid-range choice. Ricochet: Notably, minimum damage is decreased while maximum damage is increased, meaning the damage rate is likely to be similar but damage-per-shot may vary more than previously. The reloading rate is somewhat worse, the projectile speed is made slower and the max. damage range is cut by around 40%. Both impact force and recoil also see a reduction. On the other hand, Ricochet gains more ammunition, weak damage of 25% (meaning it can deal a small amount of damage at a longer range) and is the only turret which will turn quicker at all modifications after these changes. One-sentence summary: Ricochet is now arguably a more short-ranged weapon with these changes than before, and perhaps gains in effectiveness when attacking at closer ranges while losing out when it comes to midfield, mid-ranged play. Smoky: Minimum damage is decreased very slightly while maximum damage is increased by a little more, meaning that the average shot will deal a little more damage overall. The impact force and recoil are reduced, but the reloading speed is a little better for M0-M2 and a little worse for M3 and beyond. Turret-turning may be more sluggish and the overall min. damage range is reduced, though the closer-combat max. damage range is increased. The chance of critical hits is significantly increased, but the damage per critical hit is significantly reduced. One-sentence summary: At closer ranges, Smoky will be more effective than before, with a bit more damage per shot and less powerful but more frequent critical hits leading to a better distribution of damage - though the weapon is no longer able to fire as far as previously. Vulcan: The damage rate is very slightly higher and the time needed to start (and stop) firing is cut to the prior M4 level of 1 second for all modifications. Conversely, the impact force is greatly reduced and the overall min. damage range is decreased, while the max. damage range is increased and weak damage at the furthest ranges is doubled. Importantly, the self-heating rate is increased to M4 level for all modifications, and the turret turning slowdown when firing is now a constant 50% for all, the prior M2 level. The base turret turning speed and acceleration are also lower on the whole. One-sentence summary: Vulcan users can now react and fire more quickly than before, but are prone to the turret self-heating and slowing down more as well as reduced impact force, counter-acting the powerhouse of the pre-update Vulcan. Thunder: Damage per shot is significantly decreased across M0-M2, only remaining similar at M3. However, the rate of reloading is reasonably faster, the recoil is lower and the impact force is higher. Continuing the trend across turrets, Thunder is likely to rotate a little slower when compared with pre-update statistics. Apart from this, Thunder's other statistics largely remain constant. One-sentence summary: This weapon now has a faster firing rate and better impact force, balanced out by lower damage-per-shot at M0-M2 - which is likely to change the playing style towards a more dynamic and fast-paced approach. Railgun: The damage dealt by each shot sees a significant fall of 30-40% across modifications, alongside a small reduction in impact force and recoil. In contrast, the reload time is decreased by roughly 30% at the same time and the penetrating power is boosted, especially for lower modifications. Other statistics, including the firing delay and the turret rotation speed, are not significantly changed in comparison with before. One-sentence summary: The gameplay with Railgun is quite altered under the new statistics, with more frequent and lower-damage shots alongside better penetration power probably making XP/BP battles even more intense while making the turret more offensive in nature overall. Shaft: Overall, the damage dealt in sniper mode is notably decreased - while the damage dealt in arcade mode is now constant (and approximately equivalent to the pre-update average damage) and the reload between arcade shots is decreased. The energy per shot in both modes is lower, which after 'research' (thanks Issho and TKP, Shaft stats are complex!) I determined means that in theory, shots can be fired more frequently since each shot takes up less of the yellow 'energy' (ammo) bar. Both the horizontal and vertical aiming speeds when sniping are hugely improved, often by 1.5 to 3 times the previous speeds, as well as a 10% increase in rotation acceleration in this mode. The recoil is effectively halved, while the 'consumption' rate is set at a constant 333 (prior M4 level) regardless of upgrade level, which effectively means the charging-up rate in sniping mode is now as fast as prior M4 for all Ms. One-sentence summary: With a more effective arcade mode, lower reload times for both modes but with a lower level of damage per sniping shot, my colleague and Shaft-expert Thekillerpenguin summarised that "Shaft will become more of a designated marksman rifle than a sniper". ► General changes to hulls The changes here are less specific to each piece of equipment than those with turrets, and so can be summarised in a number of general points. Firstly, with the exception of Hornet which sees some HP decreases, the three lightest hulls gain in health while the medium and heavy hulls lose health. Apart from at the M3 level (which I'll address later), these changes are relatively proportional between the hulls. In other words, the 'order' of hulls by health remains the same at each modification, with the exceptions of M2 Wasp having more health than M2 Hornet and M1/M2 Titan edging over M1/M2 Mammoth in health points. Both of these cases seem to be at least partly due to earlier unlock ranks for Hornet and Mammoth than Wasp and Titan, and the slight advantages of the former hulls in terms of other statistics. Overall, the aim of this change just seems to be to narrow the gap between the health points of different hulls. In terms of speed, Wasp and Hunter both become slower while Hornet, Viking, Dictator, Titan and Mammoth have increased top speeds. Hornet is an exception to the trend, and actually becomes more like Wasp while the other hulls become more 'moderate' in both speed and health. With the exceptions of Wasp/Hornet (which remain the same) and Dictator/Mammoth (which both increase), the changes to acceleration statistics tend to be the opposite of the changes to top speeds. For example, Viking's top speed increases while its rate of acceleration decreases across all modifications; the same is largely true for Hunter but in reverse (lower top speeds and higher acceleration rates). Essentially, apart from Hornet as previously explained, the faster hulls become slower and the slower hulls become faster - especially more unwieldy hulls like Dictator and Mammoth - in an attempt to further balance out the hull statistics. There are some notable tweaks to the other statistics too, including a fall in turning acceleration for Wasp and an increase in turning speed for Hunter, Viking, Titan and Mammoth. Furthermore, apart from Hunter and higher modifications of DIctator, hulls have lost quite a bit of weight on average (they must have gone on a diet). All hulls can now accelerate much faster when making turns, meaning more similarity to the style in which Wasp turns when pressing the left/right arrow keys. Finally, a big one - Hornet's 'drifting' ability is slightly reduced. I've highlighted these changes in another colour just because they're so sneaky and easy to miss under the tables of data, but it's true - Hornet and many other hulls will drift a bit less than before, affecting the feel of these hulls when they're used. It also now has the same turning speed and acceleration as Wasp... and weight... oh weight (ba dum tss)... BREAKING NEWS: Ignoring the unimportant 'reverse acceleration' statistic and the drifting ability, the stats for Wasp and Hornet under this update will become identical. The only exceptions are acceleration rates (which Hornet has a slight edge in at M1, M3 and M3+), top speeds (which Wasp always wins) and health points (where Hornet only really wins at M0). From M1, Wasp always has better top speeds and health points than Hornet, and only slightly lower acceleration rates. In fact, at M2, Hornet has lower acceleration, top speed and health than Wasp while the other stats are identical! In other words... Hornet has been decidedly nerfed. Yes, even more than Isida. (And by the way, Hornet/Isida happens to be the 'dream tank' M4/M4 combination I chose after winning the Supplies Tutorial Contest, which may make this is a particularly entertaining turn of events <_<). Not sure how else to put it, heh, and I'm intrigued as to the thinking behind this unique approach to Hornet's statistics. Perhaps it's time for the most popular hull in the game to fall from its status of disproportionate battlefield glory? ► For M3 turrets and hulls: Rank aligned to Marshal All M3 turrets and hulls are now unlocked at the rank Marshal, with equipment that unlocks earlier pre-update receiving improvements to their stats and later-unlocking equipment made less powerful. This is an attempt to ensure that at the M3 level, all equipment remains effective and competitive on the battlefield. While this will widen the gap between obtaining M2 and M3 equipment, it is largely likely to have a positive effect on M3 gameplay from the rank of Marshal and beyond, and will probably result in a wider variety of equipment being used at the latest ranks. Prices of items, prices of MU steps, prices of MU speed-ups and delay time changed A picture taken from V-LOG 108, in which this update was announced: It would seem that mostly, price changes are largely in-line with the rank-changes upwards and downwards to Marshal. However, Twins and Hammer have inexplicably become quite cheap - and Smoky has fallen in price even though its unlock rank was exactly Marshal before, too. The large price increased for both Freeze and Isida should also be noted. Hulls have actually become cheaper on the whole, with Wasp seeing a price fall even though its unlock rank is less than Marshal. However, the major exception to that rule is Hornet, the price of which has been drastically increased, meaning it's now the second most expensive hull after Mammoth. It's up to you to compare these changed prices with the analysis of their changed statistics that I've offered above, but it would seem to me that hulls/turrets such as Firebird and Wasp will enjoy some quite advantageous positions in the game after this update. On the flipside, Hornet's definitely in even more trouble considering its staggering nearly-70,000 crystal increase in price on top of its dubious statistical changes, and Freeze and Isida don't come out of this one looking too happy, either! Notably, the cost of fully MUing each turret is now a constant 911,750 crystals (the same as Smoky and Twins used to be, though more than the prior total MU costs of most of the other weapons). Equally, the cost of fully MUing each hull is now 776,500 crystals across the board, which is actually a better 'average price' than before considering that 4 hulls have pre-update MU costs that are higher than this amount. This standardisation of MU prices may be seen as a good thing since it removes 'discriminatory pricing' between the turrets once M3 level has been bought, allowing the turrets to be MUed at the same cost. At the same time, in practice, it's likely that some M3+ turrets will be better than others on the battlefield... so choose your MUs wisely! As for the changes to MU speed-up prices and delay times, this data has yet to be released, and so unfortunately we can't provide an analysis for you just yet. We might take a more detailed look at MUs once the update is actually released to make up for this; but in the meantime, we can only hope along with our readers that these changes are positive, whatever they are! M3 and M3+ hulls within the same category (light, mid, heavy) have the same protection This might be the most radical and controversial change of the game balance update, along with shifting all the M3 equipment unlock ranks to Marshal. Essentially, Wasp and Hornet (light hulls) will both now have a protection figure actually a tiny bit higher than Hornet's pre-update health - Hunter, Viking and Dictator (medium hulls) will have protection similar to Viking's pre-update health - and Titan and Mammoth (heavy hulls) will have a health amount that's a fair amount lower than Titan's former health. The same 'standard health' applies for M3+ level, for which maximum protection figures are 2000, 3000 and 4000 health points respectively (factoring in the 10x increase in all health and damage stats). This not only removes HP differences within the hull classes, but also has the effect of greatly reducing the variation in health points between the classes. As for what effect this will have on the battlefield, this is a change so drastic that I think we'll need to experience it to fully find out. However, there's already been criticism of what this might mean for some hulls, such as Hunter and Dictator, which may be out-competed by the stronger hull in their class (in this case, Viking). In fact, the general consensus seems to be that Wasp, VIking and Titan will pretty much be the strongest hulls now, considering that hulls within the three classes have the same health and those hulls will also enjoy the highest top speeds out of their hull classes. However, the development contends that the changes to other statistics are important and will provide sufficient reason to choose the other hulls in each class. I've covered these statistics above so (once again) it's up to you to decide - but to me, it seems Wasp also beats Hornet hands down in other areas and that the other hulls don't really have too much that sets them apart. Although to be fair, considering the sheer number of unknowns in this equation of change and how it could turn out to be different in practice, I'd surmise that it's probably best to keep an open mind on this matter. After all, apart from statistics, one has to consider the variations in unlock ranks for the modifications below M3, as well as the pricing variations from M0-M3. These may very well make hulls such as, say, Hunter or Mammoth more attractive options than the stats on paper give them credit. ► Values of damage (for turrets) and protection (for hulls) are multiplied by 10 As mentioned about 6 minutes into V-LOG 102, the reason for this change is because visible damage counters may be added to the game, and multiplying damage values (and so necessarily multiplying health point values) by 10 would avoid any confusion when these counters are displayed. The use of visible damage counters would perhaps make the game interface 'cooler' in terms of looking more high-spec and allowing greater precision when dealing damage. However, the general consensus among Reporters is that this would unnecessarily clutter a game interface that's already more complex thanks to the protection modules display shown by pressing the R/V keys, as well as removing an element of strategy from the game. As a result, while the multiplying of values by 10 doesn't really have any positive or negative consequences, we're personally not so keen on the subsequent proposed update it could lead to! Characteristics of supplies are also changed ► Effects of DA, DD and SB now last for 40 seconds ► Speed Boost now increases the tank’s speed by 40% The decrease from 45 seconds down to 40 seconds of active time for the three supplies doesn't have a huge impact, except to bring the duration of effect of the supplies in-line with the more significantly reduced cooldown times. As for Speed Boost, this will make the use of the supply increase speed by a third more than previously. Although, it should be kept in mind that the highest top speeds in the game (those of Wasp) have been reduced - but even then, this would still allow for the fastest speeds the game has ever seen. So it's a reasonable boost to the effectiveness of the Speed Boost supply, and will definitely help to make gameplay with the use of this supply more fast-paced than ever before! ► Supplies now reload faster, except for Mine In short, all cooldown times have been reduced by 5 seconds, except the cooldown time between Double Damage and Double Armor which has seen a fall of 10 seconds and the removal of the cooldown time between Mines and Repair Kit (more on that below). This basically means that there'll be less of a wait between the use of all supplies, and will likely allow players to have more supplies activated at once for a slightly longer period of time (despite the drop of active time to 40s), as well as to make use of more rapid supply-activating tactics. However, the increase of cooldown between planting successive Mines from 20s to 40s has brought the cooldown time in line with that of using successive Repair Kits. This will help to prevent the 'spamming' of Mines on the battlefield, making the use of mines more difficult and require more skill. ► Mine and Repair Kit now don’t lock each other’s activation The final change to smart supplies is the removal of the 10-second cooldown time between the use of Mines and Repair Kits. Considering the relatedness of the two in defensive play within smart supply batt;es, this reduces the complexity of having to juggle these two supplies along with activating any of the other three. Basically, this makes it easier to make full use of the entire range of supplies during gameplay. Since the cooldown time between the two has hindered my own use of smart supplies in the past, this is arguably a welcome change for many supply users. Overall conclusion From an objective point of view, this game balance update actually isn't all that bad. The predicted effects I have described above seem to be largely positive for turrets and hulls from M0-M2 and at M3+, and the M3 unlock rank change to Marshal for all equipment also seems to be a good idea. The more dubious aspects in terms of potential consequences are some specific statistics (such as the changes to Hornet and the nerfing of Isida's self-heaing ability), and the 'standard health' idea for the three classes of hulls - although equally, we'll have to wait and see whether the theoretical consequences unfold as I've discussed. The changes to the overall cost of MUs at the M3+ level seems to be an example of standardisation that makes sense, and the characteristics of supplies are decidedly improved. This isn't based on my emotions, but rather is an opinion based on the factual ins-and-outs of the update that I've explored and analysed above. To me, this seems to indicate that in many areas, the development has the right idea with the game balance update. There's no denying that there are some parts which definitely have the potential for bad effects, and I'll be as interested as anyone to see how these bits unfold and whether there are further tweaks to try and make improvements on this. However, on the whole, I would have to say that an assessment of the facts and information we've been presented with produces a positive assessment of the game balance update. How do you think this balance update will affect the game? What's your assessment of the facts and the data that have been released? Feel free to leave your own analyses of the update below, as well as any reactions you might have to what I've uncovered here. Until then, take care and see you on the battlefield!

The reports concerning certain posts on this topic have been dealt with, and the relevant parties will be contacted very shortly to close this matter. Back on topic now please. It's not helpful at all if discussion keeps straying away from the actual article, and instead becomes argumentative!

I did justify what I said, y'know. It is stable and working on mobile platform. Trust me, I've done a lot more with the mobile version than most normal users would want to, and it's worked out fine. Perhaps you could suggest some specific improvements for ease of use - but in terms of functionality, it functions quite well as it is!

I find the mobile version of the forum very usable as it is - and I've used regularly it for intensive tasks such as writing and formatting articles over the past few years. You just need to know how to do what you want to. Any extra features would just unnecessarily clutter the interface.

The article is plagiarised. You already tried to apply with this article, and I specifically told you it was too similar to the source material. Topic closed.

Thanks, I was thinking along the same lines! As for Firebird protection - it's not necessary, but I've chosen it with good reason considering its rate of damage and therefore the difficulty in facing it on the battlefield. Rail and Fire are the two weapons I'd most like to have protections from.