It’s time for a follow-up of terrain handling stats for specific vehicle classes in Eras 2 (Escalation) and 3 (Détente). Learn more below!

Hello, Commanders!

For those who remember last year’s terrain handling (or terrain resistance) test for select Cold War vehicles, we’re happy to announce that we’ve looked at player feedback and discussed the results, and we’re ready to invite you to one more round of testing to help us refine our next moves!

For those who weren’t present for the previous tests or would like a refresher, let’s start with an answer to a helpful question:

What is terrain handling?

Terrain handling or terrain resistance is a vehicle stat that you might have seen updated in the past whenever tanks received balance changes. It tells you how easily your tank moves across the battlefield, over soft, medium, and firm terrain.

Generally speaking, terrain handling reflects how much friction (resistance) there is between a tank’s tracks and the terrain. The more resistance, the higher the friction, which slows down the tank. And the heavier a tank, the more resistance it experiences.

So, why adjust terrain handling?

When it comes to Cold War mode, we have several goals:

• Improve the Cold War gameplay experience, specifically in Eras 2 (Escalation) and 3 (Détente)
• Encourage more strategic gameplay
  • Reduce the occurrence of steamroll matches
  • Reduce large “wolf-pack” behavior
• Increase average match times

We plan to achieve these goals by having more parity in the terrain handling across all Cold War tank classes, specifically targeting average ranges of maximum speeds that stock and upgraded tanks should be allowed to hit while driving off-road.

Here’s a breakdown of our targets on a per-class basis:

We plan to update tank destroyers with terrain handling changes as well. However, their average speeds driving off road will be based on their tank weight, as we have many TDs in the game that vary in size. For example, if a tank destroyer is relatively light in weight, expect it to have similar off-road driving speeds as light tanks.

What will happen during the next terrain handling text?

For one week starting on January 27, we’ll implement temporary updates to terrain handling stats:

• Tank classes:
  • All heavy tanks
  • Select heavy tank destroyers
  • Few medium and light tanks
• Eras: Escalation (Era 2), Détente (Era 3)
• Dates: January 27 – February 2, ending with the server restart and update on Tuesday, February 3
• Maps:
  • Fisherman’s Bay
  • El Alamein
  • Swamp
  • Pearl River
  • Severogorsk
  • Dezful
  • Cao Bang
  • Mannheim
  • Fredvang
  • Nebelburg
  • Azure Coast
  • Vineyards
  • Karelia
  • Siegfried Line
  • Dukla Pass
  • Kaunas
  • Safe Haven

IMPORTANT NOTE! During this week only, the map rotations for Eras 2 and 3 will include only the maps listed above. This will help us get as much testing data as possible.

Here are the specific light tanks, medium tanks, and tank destroyers that will have their terrain handling adjusted (in addition to all heavy tanks for Eras 2 and 3) FOR THE DURATION OF THIS ONE-WEEK TEST:

After the test ends on February 3, we’ll look at the results and plan our next steps. We’ll also communicate the results to you through our social media channels, including Discord. We invite you to join us for all the questions, feedback, and conversations.

As always, thank you for playing and helping us shape this game. See you on the battlefield!