I can't read the names above the tanks on my screen. They're kind of blurry.

I guess because of the double crystals the cheaters are out in force. Here's what I've been seeing: Bouncing tanks: Used to hop over tanks that are blocking a flag carrier's exit. There's nothing quite like a dictator hopping over a Viking like it wasn't there. Auto balancing: Tank always rights itself when jumping. I've watched tanks land upside down and then suddenly flip a second later too many times to chalk it up to a timely weapons blast. Enemy lag generator: Creates lag for enemy to either destroy them or get around them. I thought at first it was just lag, but it always seemed to occur in a very timely way for particular tanks. You might want to do something about this. If the cheaters are staying ahead of you too easily, there are some ways to discourage it. Deliberately create cheats and put them on the cheater forums, but have it flag you that the cheat is being used and nab them that way. Set up the game so that cheaters get very low scores. Mess with the cheats in a subtle way so that the players don't catch on right away that their cheat has been hacked by the devs. Anyway, it's a royal pain in the behind to play with that going on. There's certainly no chance of me getting a gold box if other tanks can effectively fly.

Now that I've played a couple of days I have some more comments. I'm a Viking/Ricochet guy. Before the update, Wasps and Hornets ruled the day. In the hands of experienced players their speed and maneuverability allows them to dodge while doing damage. This is particularly useful with the railgun, which does massive damage and is very effective provided you can stay out of harm's way between shots. That's why the Wasp/Railgun is so popular among players who have learned to maneuver and turn their turret, dodge and hide and all the rest. A drugged railgun could one shot a medium tank, which usually loses the battle for the first shot with wasps due to its slower speed and lack of maneuverability. If you drugged for armor, then it took two shots to kill you. Not worth using supplies most of the time. Viking armor was inadequate for larger battles. Too big a target and not enough armor. You had to get really lucky to survive. The biggest change of the update was that it now takes three railgun shots or two drugged to kill a viking. It has forced wasp/railgun players to be more careful and less aggressive, which they understandably hate. They can no longer survive a fight in the open with a medium tank. I imagine that this is the most difficult thing for them to get used to. The change has not affected what light tanks are supposed to be good at, which is speed and maneuverability, but it has nerfed their ability to stand up to medium and heavy tanks, which they are not supposed to be good at. What this update really does is turn causal players, who don't have the time to spend learning the secrets of Wasp/railgun magic a chance to be meaningful contributors to the game. You grab a heavier hull, focus on base defense and you'll do OK. This change prevents those players from becoming cannon fodder. It has also introduced new tactics for medium hull players. With a bit of drugging I can now wade through several enemy tanks, take the flag and bring it back on small maps. Speed is not the only tool in the box now. This change is good.

All in all, a good update. As a Viking and riccochet user, this was a long time in coming and I don't think this is the end of it. They'll need to speed up these tanks as well and/or give them more armor to make them as popular as the hornet/railgun combo. As it stands now it is better. It is harder now to CTF because light tanks are having a harder time getting through the heavier tanks, as it should be. A drugged wasp/rail can no longer one shot a viking or hunter. That's also a good thing. Why have a medium tank if it dies quickly or instantly? What's the point? In the hands of a skilled experienced player, the wasp/railgun combo has been way overpowered. I have left battles where there are many of them because I'm just cannon fodder at that point. The fact that hornet players hate this update is to be expected. No one wants to lose a good thing. It will be balanced when the hornet/railgun loses it's popularity and light tank players in general need help from heavier tanks to CTF because they can't take on the heavier tanks on their own. I think we have a ways to go yet for that to happen.

Flash bang would be a useful offensive tool for CTF. Blind the people shooting at you while you grab the flag and go. You can grey out the screen and the slowly fade in over four seconds. You can also blind people following you if they're close enough. I do think that it should automatically trigger by running over it OR by remote detonation. Whichever comes first.

I like the Viking and use it, but it has some disadvantages that are going to outweigh the advantages for most people. It's understandable. The Viking is one of the heavy tanks. The maps do not accommodate it well. Ramps and alleys are generally too narrow for easy movement leading to precious seconds lost correcting for running into things or even turning around. The narrow ramps make it every bit as easy to flip as a wasp without the advantage of being able to turn itself back over. It is slow and big, meaning that it is practically impossible to dodge incoming fire. It does not have much torque and can barely push a wasp around. It has no firepower advantage over smaller, faster tanks to offset the lack of speed or maneuverability, which gives smaller tanks a large advantage in battles with room to maneuver. (speed + maneuverability = armor) It can be one shotted by a drugged rail gun or thunder on a wasp which completely negates the armor advantage. For a heavy tank, it sure gets knocked around a lot by incoming fire. It is pretty useless on large maps where it must traverse long distances as a large slow target under enemy fire to get to the fight. It is also useless on small maps where small fast tanks can close quickly. These problems mean that it is not an all around tank adaptable to every situation. I generally do well with it by loosely doing the following: 1. Stay away from the middle of the action. It's horrible in the middle of a scrum where you can't turn and maneuver fast enough to keep up with things. 2. Stay away from large maps and very small ones. The Viking is only good at middle distance and will get creamed otherwise. 3. Play the edges and other positions where you'll survive pot shots long enough to take out shafts and get opportunity hits on other unwary tanks and be able to use your armor to your advantage in one on one battles. 4. In CTF it can effectively delay several tanks from pursuit of a flag bearer. 5. Focus on shafts. If they're too far away, don't play that map. If it's not sitting still you probably aren't going to kill it. The Viking isn't all that great tracking moving targets and it can't really pursue. 6. It is Ok, but not great at camping with the flag to protect it. It is easily flanked and doesn't have the armor or firepower to fend off multiple tanks. 7. Take opportunity shots whenever possible. You never know when you'll get the kill shot and in team games, you're weakening the enemy for someone else to kill.