8.2 Update Notes

The 8.2 Update went live on the NA server December 13th, 2012.

Table of contents:

• New content
• Game mechanic changes
• Graphic and technical improvements
• User interface
• Vehicle rebalancing and changes
• Fixes

New content:

• New line of American tanks: light Т21, light Т71, medium Т69, medium Т54E1, heavy T57 (one can start researching this line from the medium М7 tank).
• New premium tanks available for purchase: British heavy tank TOG-2 (Tier VI), British TD АТ-15А (Tier VII), French heavy tank 1945 FCM 50t (Tier VIII).
• The following maps been reworked to take advantage of the new rendering system: Prokhorovka, Redshire, Erlenberg, Ruinberg
• Added the "Patton Valley" achievement for the destruction of 100 M46 Pattons or M48A1 Patton IIIs. After the update's release, all previously destroyed tanks (of this type) will be counted.
• Added "Commemoratives" -- achievements without a grade, which can be granted to a number of players several times per battle:
  • 'Lucky' -- Witness the destruction of an enemy vehicle by an enemy team player. You must be 10 meters or less from the enemy vehicle at the moment of its destruction.
  • 'Cool-Headed' -- Survive at least 10 ricochets and non-penetrations in a row from enemy players.
  • 'Spartan' -- Survive a ricochet or non-penetration from an enemy team player. Your vehicle must have less than 10% of its hit points left, and you have to survive in the battle.
  • 'Ranger' -- Destroy all enemy light tanks (at least three) in the course of one battle.

• New sounds for when shells hit various landscape objects
• New sounds for low-caliber guns.
• Increased the radius at which guns can be heard.
• Changed the characteristics of gun sounds at greater distances.
• Noise of fans was removed from Premium Hangar.
• Added Jordanian flag to emblems.
• Reworked minimap for Dragon Ridge.

Game mechanic changes:

• Fallen trees are counted as masking cover (like bushes) for the visibility system (fallen trees were previously excluded from the calculation of visibility).
• Reduced or completely removed tank vibration when traveling over ruins, rails, and small objects.
• Decreased the time of tank stabilization on hillsides.
• Patrol Duty achievement is now counted in the Kay's Medal achievement.
• The Panther M10 is added to the Hunter achievement.
• Steel Wall medal is no longer granted after a death due to suicide.
• Brothers In Arms perk now gives a bonus to Mentor perk.
• You are no longer able to retrain crewmen to tanks which are researched but are not present in the Garage.

Graphic and technical improvements:

• Draw distance (settings/graphics/draw distance) increased for minimum graphics quality settings from 400 to 600 meters, and from 1000 to 1400 meters for maximum graphics quality.
• Improved rendering performance of trees and vegetation -- this should reduce loss of FPS in sniper mode when one has a large amount of vegetation on the screen.
• Low performance fixed for some configurations (mainly for Radeon VGAs) for the following maps: Steppes, South Coast, Highway, Mines, Widepark, Abbey.
• Reworked and optimized some destruction effects for buildings and objects.
• Added shadows for vehicles in the garage.
• Decreased brightness and density of emblems and inscriptions while in postmortem mode.

User interface:

• Module icons will now have an animated repair progress indicator while in battle.
• The tank tech tree will be condensed to better fit on the screen.
• On the tank tech tree, a flag icon will allow you to return to the nation specific tree from the tank specific tree. This replaces the 'Back to Tech Tree' link.
• On the tech tree, the research and credit/gold cost of tanks and their modules will be displayed regardless of whether they've been purchased.
• On the tech tree, if there is a shortage of resources or experience, a pop up will show how much experience or credits is still necessary.
• On the tech tree, vehicle specific experience has been made more prominent.
• Changed armor thickness display (without changing the armoring itself) of the SU-5, T-46, КV-13, SU-85B, SU-101, Object 268, KV-2, KV-3, IS-3, KV-4, IS-8, IS-7, ISU-152, VK 4502 A, PzV Panther, Centurion, Centurion Mk3, FV4202, Covenanter, Cruiser MkI, Valentine, Caernarvon, Centurion, M6.
• Restructured the visualization British tank names.
• Fully reworked the design of the tank selling window.
• Removed display of damage to allies from after-battle statistics.
• For postmortem mode:
  • Fixed drowning indicator display.
  • Added the display for an 'empty ammo rack'.
  • Added to the a display for status of tank modules and crew members.

• The login message "Cannot connect. Connection is blocked by firewall" has been changed to "Unable to connect to the server. Either the server is down for maintenance, or a connection settings check is required."
• The old message received when attempting to login with an older version of the client has been changed from "The login packet sent to the server was malformed" to "Error in authorization game server. Your game client version may be outdated or damaged."
• The '0' character has been removed from the kill counter displayed on the battle HUD. Instead, a blank space will appear when a player has no kills.

Vehicle rebalancing and changes:

• Fixed small error in armoring (mainly observation devices and settings of TDs and SPGs open turrets/hulls) of the following vehicles:
  • France: AMX 38, AMX 40, ARL 44, D1, Hotchkiss H35, RenaultFT, Lorraine 39 L AM, Lorraine 40t, AMX 13F3AM, AMX 105AM,
    AMX 13-75
  • Germany: PzKpfw B2 740 (f), E-100, PzKpfw 38H735 (f), Löwe, Leichttraktor, Panther-M10, PzKpfw 38 nA, PzKpfw 38 (t), PzKpfw III/IV, PzKpfw V-IV, PzKpfw VI Tiger, T-15б T-25, VK 1602 Leopard, VK 2801, VK 3001 (H), VK 3001 (P),
    VK 3002 (DB), VK 3601 (H), Wespe, Gw Panther, Grille
  • USA: M18 Hellcat, M36 Jackson, M46 Patton, M48A1 Patton, M5 Stuart, M6A2E1, M26 Pershing, Ram II, M4A3E2, T25/2, T49, T92
  • USSR:  А-32, М3 Light, IS-6, SU-85I, Т-50-2, Т-34-85, Tetrarch, Object 212, Object 704, S-51
• The following tanks have been moved to a 16 group armor system: PzKpfw 35 (t), PzKpfw II, PzKpfw III Ausf. A
• Renamed the M36 Slugger to M36 Jackson.
• Renamed the Churchill premium tank to Churchill III.
• Reduced the research cost of the 2x Leyland E164 engine for Matilda tank to 310 experience points.
• Increased the research cost of the Churchill tank after the Matilda tank to 11,500 experience points.
• The Lowe has been rescaled according to historical references: height increased by 21cm and gun barrel length increased by 10cm.
• Load capacity of FV221A suspension of Caernarvon tank changed from 62,000kg to 63,000kg.
• Armor penetration of  British APDS Mk. 1T shell of OQF 77mm Gun Mk. II decreased from 226mm to 208mm.
• HE Mk. 10T shell added as compatible with Matilda Black Prince tank gun.
• The price of M103 tank Continental AV-1790-5B engine changed from 65,500 to 80,000 credits.
• Load capacity of T25/2 suspension T25/2T1 suspension chanced from 43,800kg to 43,805kg.
• Price of SU-122-44 camouflage patterns decreased by 12%.
• SU-101 repairs cost decreased by 9%, profitability increased by 10%.
• Fixed the armoring of Matilda tank sides. Now damage is not necessarily dealt upon penetration of spaced armor.

Type 59:

• Increased the traverse speed from 45 to 46 deg/sec.
• Reduced the gun dispersion during vehicle rotation by 5%.
• Reduced ground resistance by 10%.
• Changed the Norinco 12150L engine tier from IX to VIII.
• Repair cost of Norinco 12150L engine has been increased by 22%.
• Weight of the hull increased from 15,400kg to 16,478kg.
• Armoring of the Type 59 turret increased from 104mm to 130mm.
• Armoring of the Type 59 hull sides decreased  from 65mm to 60mm.
• Reloading time of the Type 59 100mm gun increased from 8.0 sec to 8.7sec.
• Increased the aiming time for the 100 mm Type 59 gun from 2.86 sec to 2.9 sec.
• Increased the damage value of the Chuan bei-412 shell from 230 to 250 points.
• Increased the penetration value of the Chuan bei-412 shell from 175mm to 181mm.
• Increased the damage value of the Chuan chao-412 shell from 230 to 250 points.
• Increased the penetration value of the Chuan chao-412 shell from 235mm to 241mm.
• Increased the tower traverse speed from 45 to 46 deg/sec.

Type 62:

• Load capacity of Type 62 suspension increased from 21,850kg to 24,000kg.
• Turning time of Type 62 suspension increased from 45 to 54.
• Gun dispersion on move or turning of Type 62 decreased by 16%.
• Maneuverability on hard soils decreased on 34%.
• Maneuverability on medium soils decreased on 32%.
• Maneuverability on hard soft decreased on 23%.
• Tier of Norinco 12150L-3 engine changed from VII to V.
• Repair cost of Norinco 12150L-3 engine decreased by 56%.
• Weight of the tank increased from 7400 to 7860 kg.
• Type 62 moved to Tier VII.
• Max speed increased from 50 km/h to 60 km/h.
• Armoring of the lower front part of Type 62 turret decreased from 50mm to 45mm.
• Armoring of Type 62 gun mantlet decreased from 90-115mm to 45mm.
• Armoring of Type 62 turret rear side decreased from 32-36mm to 20mm.
• Armoring of the top part of Type 62 hull front increased from 25mm to 35mm.
• Armoring of the low part of Type 62 hull front increased from 25mm to 30mm.
• Armoring of Type 62 hull sides decreased from 25mm to 20mm.
• Armoring of Type 62 hull rear increased from 16mm to 20mm.
• Armoring of Type 62 suspension increased from 10mm to 25mm.
• Aiming time of Type 62-85TS increased from 2.29 sec to 2.3 sec.
• Reloading time of Type 62-85TS decreased from 5.71 sec to 5.7 sec.
• Dispersion of Type 62-85TS decreased from 0.39m to 0.37m.
• Damage dealt by Po-365 shell increased from 160 to 180.
• Armor penetration of Po-365 shell increased from 205mm to 250mm.
• Damage dealt by Chuan bei-367 shell increased from 160 to 180.
• Armor penetration of Chuan bei-367 shell increased from 130mm to 145mm.
• Damage dealt by Sha bao-367 shell increased from 280 to 300 mm.
• Rotation speed of Type 62 turret increased from 46 degree per second to 48 degree per second
• Turret weight increased from 3,000kg to 5,000kg.
• Durability increased from 690 to 880.

FV215b:

• Load capacity of FV215b suspension increased from 68,000kg to 73,000kg.
• Gun dispersion on move and rotation increased by 25%.
• Weight of tank hull increased from 35,270kg to 37,358kg.
• Armoring of FV215b turret front increased from 152mm to 254mm.
• Armoring of FV215b turret 'cheekbones' increased from 112-130mm to 203-228mm.
• Armoring of FV215b turret gun mantlet increased from 200mm to 254mm.
• Armoring of FV215b turret sides increased from 89mm to 152.4mm.
• Armoring of FV215b turret rear increased from 70mm to 101.6mm.
• Commander's hatch armoring increase from 70-112mm to 101.6-152.4mm.
• Armoring of top of hull front increased from 130mm to 152.4mm.
• Armoring of top sloped side of hull front increased from 51mm to 101.6mm.
• Armoring of hull sides increased from 130mm to 152.4mm.
• Armoring of hull rear increased from 51mm to 76.2mm.
• Reloading time of 120mm Gun L1A1 increased from 7.5 sec. to 8.7 sec.
• Dispersion of 120mm Gun L1A1 increased by 14%.
• Dispersion of 120mm Gun L1A1 on turret rotation increased by 60%.
• Dispersion of 120mm Gun L1A1 increased from 0.32m to 0.33m.
• Turret weight changed from 13,800kg to 16,500kg.
• Durability decreased from 2,600 to 2,500.

IS:

• Armoring of sides and rear of IS-122 and IS-85 turrets decreased from 100mm to 90mm.
• Armoring of gun mantlet of IS-122 and IS-85 turrets decreased from 100mm to 60mm.

KV-1S:

• Armoring of sides and read of KV-85 turret decreased from 100mm to 90mm.
• Armoring of gun mantlet of KV-85 turret decreased from 100mm to 60mm.
• Armoring of commander's hatch decreased from 100mm to 90mm.

Т-34:

• Armoring of T34 mod. 1942 turret front and gun mantlet decreased from 60mm to 52mm.
• Armoring of T34 mod. 1942 turret sides increased from 45mm to 52mm.

Fixes:

• Fixed some hints in the Store.
• Fixed incorrect auto-detect of the Texture Quality in the Graphics quality menu.
• Fixed some errors in models and textures for the following vehicles: Object 268, Т-46, IS-8, T2 med, FV215b, M36 Jackson, Grille, Tiger II.
• Fixed some names for American vehicles.
• Fixed mechanics for receiving the "Sniper" achievement. Now shots on platoon mates, which caused no damage, are not counted.
• Fixed sudden camera angle change when interacting with other objects (e.g. tanks).
• Fixed the bug causing some shells to vanish after penetrating the mantlet striking the gun but not damaging it.
• Fixed the bug causing shells to vanish after penetrating spaced armor and rebounding from the main armor.
• Fixed "flying" tanks at high ping and significant loss of data packets.
• Fixed the display and collision models discrepancy with some buildings and objects.
• Fixed displacement and "tugging" of aim in the sniper mode.
• Fixed an abnormally high damage from ramming in certain cases.
• Fixed a low cost of repair of the tank after drowning.
• Fixed the blocking of tank for CW after drowning.
• Fixed a bug allowing a destroyed tank to continue gathering XP for spotting enemy vehicles.
• Fixed camouflage errors of the Pz V/IV, A-32, M6A2E1 tanks.
• Fixed inscriptions and emblems of the KV-5, M5 Stuart tanks.
• Fixed incorrect displaying of hit/penetration marks on the KV-1S, Т110Е4.
• Fixed incorrect shot effects of the 8.8cm KwK43 L/71 gun for the Tiger tank, 120 mm Gun T122 and 120 mm Gun M58 for the M103 tank.
• Fixed incorrect exhaust effect of the В-2К engine for the KV engine.
• Fixed the description of the "Top Gun" and "Sniper" achievements requirements.
• Fixed the description of the "de Langlade's Medal" achievement.
• Fixed the rare issue causing players to be placed into excluded game modes.
• Fixed the disappearance burning effects on nearby vehicles.
• Fixed the collision models for some buildings and objects.
• Fixed the problem of entering 'pre-battle UI' during special battles, which one could leave afterward.
• Fixed the discrepancies of W/L ratio percentage in different statistics windows.
• Removed the damage dealt to own vehicle form the battle efficiency tab.
• Fixed the rare occurence of an ammo rack critical hit not being counted in the after-battle statistics.\
• Fixed the erroneous display of an SPG as a Tank on the mini map.
• The sniper reticule settings no longer influce the arcade reticule settings.
• Fixed some errors in the complaints list of the after-battle statistics.
• Fixed an issue with the connection indicator.
• Fixed the rare bug allowing a high-speed aim while using auto-aim during a full-stop of the vehicle.

Update 8.1 release notes can be found here