Along with balancing teams by vehicle classes (artillery, light tanks, and tank destroyers) and Platoons, the matchmaker now looks into the intended roles each tank plays in combat and ensures each side has a similar number of vehicles that play the same role. Of course, their exact number might differ, but this difference is one vehicle at the most.

Essentially, the newly-added parameter balances out the number of autoloaders, well-protected TDs, and assault heavy tanks across teams. By distributing them evenly between the two camps, the improved matchmaker addresses another frequent concern of yours. Medium and heavy tanks are no longer distributed randomly. With classes split into smaller groups that unite vehicles with a district play style, medium tanks with a certain role are pitted against each other. The same with heavies. So you can forget about one-sided matchups with, let’s say, five Bat.-Chats duking it out with five Mauses on Steppes.

We put in extra effort to make sure balancing by a vehicle’s role does not affect the overall speed of matching. So worry not, the wait time won’t change. What should improve is the overall quality of matches as vehicle roles lower the chance of a team gaining the upper hand through sheer luck. At the same time, team setups aren’t mirrored, so every battle is a unique experience where the final outcome depends largely on tactics and teamplay.

Finally, the matchmaker tries to ensure teams are evenly assembled regarding the number of Platoon players and their vehicle tiers—its primary goal. However, it currently doesn’t balance Platoon vehicles by roles. Instead, it evens out the matchups by adding standalone vehicles to teams—if the current queue composition allows for it with no increase in the wait time. For example, if a team has a Platoon of autoloader medium tanks, the matchmaker places it against a Platoon of medium tanks. Then, it tries to add standalone autoloader tanks to the other team to even out their chances at victory. If there are no autoloaders in the queue, it will create a battle to avoid longer wait times.

If you look at the way light tanks and arty fight, there’s no immediate value in breaking these two classes into smaller packs grouped around a certain role. Light tank gameplay is built around scouting, and that’s the role they all share, regardless of whether they remain completely still to spot enemies or zoom around the map. A particular set of LTs won’t make the enemy team superior to yours as long as both of you have them in similar numbers, and the matchmakers ensure you do. It’s the same story with SPGs: they all play as long-range support vehicles.

TDs, medium and heavy tanks are a whole other story. Let’s take medium tanks with powerful guns and moderate armor, for example. These are designated support vehicles. Their peers, with strong protection but average mobility and firepower perform best in an attack role. There’s a whole bunch of medium tanks sporting autoloader guns, and they can dismantle an enemy in no time. Finally, others perform equally well in more than one role, which makes them fairly universal.

Having analyzed the key parameters and combat performance of TDs, medium and heavy tanks, we outlined primary roles for each class at tiers VIII–X. The structure you see below is not final. We want to hear your thoughts on the classification and criteria we put at its core (armor, firepower, and mobility). Following your feedback, we might revise it and consider introducing roles for mid to lower tiers.

Tier:

VIII IX X ALL

WZ-132

Bat.-Châtillon 12 t

M41 Walker Bulldog

LTTB

HWK 12

leKpz M 41 90 mm GF

AMX 13 90

WZ-132A

T-54 ltwt.

T49

Spähpanzer Ru 251

WZ-132-1

AMX 13 105

T-100 LT

XM551 Sheridan

Rheinmetall Panzerwagen

Tier:

VIII IX X ALL

T69

LORRAINE 40 T

T54E1

BAT.-CHÂTILLON 25 T AP

ŠKODA T 50

BAT.-CHÂTILLON 25 T

TVP T 50/51

Tier:

VIII IX X ALL

T-54 FIRST PROTOTYPE

T26E4 SUPERPERSHING

CENTURION MK. I

FV4202

PRIMO VICTORIA

T-54

OBJECT 430 VERSION II

E 50

OBJECT 907

OBJECT 430

E 50 AUSF. M

T-22 MEDIUM

M48A1 PATTON

Tier:

VIII IX X ALL

STG

STG GUARD

PANTHER II

PANTHER MIT 8,8 CM L/71

M26 PERSHING

T95E2

M46 PATTON KR

T25 PILOT
NUMBER 1

CHIEFTAIN/T95

59-PATTON

TYPE 59

T-34-3

T-44

T-44-100

T-34-2

M46 PATTON

CENTURION MK. 7/1

WZ-120

T 55A

M60

T95E6

CENTURION ACTION X

T-62A

OBJECT 140

121

121B

1Group 1

2Group 2

3Group 3

4Group 4

Tier:

VIII IX X ALL

OBJECT 416

Indien-Panzer

Panzer 58 Mutz

M4A1 Revalorisé

AMX Chasseur de chars

STA-1

STA-2

TVP VTU Koncept

LEOPARD
PROTOTYP A

AMX 30 1ER PROTOTYPE

TYPE 61

LEOPARD 1

AMX 30 B

STB-1

Tier:

VIII IX X ALL

T69

LORRAINE 40 T

T54E1

BAT.-CHÂTILLON 25 T AP

ŠKODA T 50

BAT.-CHÂTILLON 25 T

TVP T 50/51

Tier:

VIII IX X ALL

T-54 FIRST PROTOTYPE

T26E4 SUPERPERSHING

CENTURION MK. I

FV4202

PRIMO VICTORIA

T-54

OBJECT 430 VERSION II

E 50

OBJECT 907

OBJECT 430

E 50 AUSF. M

T-22 MEDIUM

M48A1 PATTON

Tier:

VIII IX X ALL

STG

STG GUARD

PANTHER II

PANTHER MIT 8,8 CM L/71

M26 PERSHING

T95E2

M46 PATTON KR

T25 PILOT
NUMBER 1

CHIEFTAIN/T95

59-PATTON

TYPE 59

T-34-3

T-44

T-44-100

T-34-2

M46 PATTON

CENTURION MK. 7/1

WZ-120

T 55A

M60

T95E6

CENTURION ACTION X

T-62A

OBJECT 140

121

121B

1Group 1

2Group 2

3Group 3

Tier:

VIII IX X ALL

KV-4

KV-5

VK 100.01 (P)

M6A2E1

CHRYSLER K GF

AMX M4 MLE. 49

O-HO

OBJECT 252U

OBJECT 252U DEFENDER

KV-4 Kreslavskiy

ST-1

VK 45.02 (P) AUSF. B

E 75

MÄUSCHEN

TYPE 4 HEAVY

IS-4

MAUS

E 100

PZ.KPFW. VII

VK 72.01 (K)

TYPE 5 HEAVY

Tier:

VIII IX X ALL

AMX 50 100

EMIL I

AMX 50 120

EMIL II

T57 HEAVY TANK

AMX 50 B

KRANVAGN

Tier:

VIII IX X ALL

T32

T34

T34 B

FCM 50 T

CAERNARVON

IS-3

IS-6

IS-5 (OBJECT 730)

IS-3A

TIGER II

VK 45.02 (P) AUSF. A

LÖWE

T26E5

WZ-111

110

112

M103

CONQUEROR

T-10

WZ-111 MODEL 1-4

WZ-111 MODEL 5A

FV215B

IS-7

OBJECT 260

T110E5

Super Conqueror

113

1Group 1

2Group 2

3Group 3

Tier:

VIII IX X ALL

ISU-152

SU-101

AMX Canon d'assaut 105

WZ-120-1G FT

FERDINAND

JAGDPANTHER II

8,8 CM PAK 43 JAGDTIGER

T28

T28 PROTOTYPE

AT 15

WZ-111-1G FT

ISU-130

JAGDTIGER

OBJECT 704

T30

T95

TORTOISE

WZ-111G FT

SU-122-54

OBJECT 268

T110E4

T110E3

WZ-113G FT

OBJECT 263

Tier:

VIII IX X ALL

RHM.-BORSIG WAFFENTRÄGER

RHEINMETALL SKORPION G

CHARIOTEER

UDES 03

STRV S1

WAFFENTRÄGER AUF PZ. IV

FV4004 CONWAY

STRV 103-0

GRILLE 15

STRV 103B

Tier:

VIII IX X ALL

AMX AC MLE. 48

AMX 50 FOCH

AMX 50 FOCH (155)

AMX 50 FOCH B

FV215B (183)

JAGDPANZER E 100

FV4005 STAGE II

Tier:

VIII IX X ALL

SU-14-2

M40/M43

Lorraine 155 mle. 51

FV207

G.W. Tiger (P)

212A

G.W. Tiger

FV3805

Bat.-Châtillon 155 55

M53/M55

T92 HMC

Object 261

G.W. E 100

Bat.-Châtillon 155 58

Conqueror Gun Carriage

Tier:

VIII IX X ALL

T69

LORRAINE 40 T

T54E1

BAT.-CHÂTILLON 25 T AP

ŠKODA T 50

BAT.-CHÂTILLON 25 T

TVP T 50/51

Tier:

VIII IX X ALL

T-54 FIRST PROTOTYPE

T26E4 SUPERPERSHING

CENTURION MK. I

FV4202

PRIMO VICTORIA

T-54

OBJECT 430 VERSION II

E 50

OBJECT 907

OBJECT 430

E 50 AUSF. M

T-22 MEDIUM

M48A1 PATTON

Tier:

VIII IX X ALL

STG

STG GUARD

PANTHER II

PANTHER MIT 8,8 CM L/71

M26 PERSHING

T95E2

M46 PATTON KR

T25 PILOT
NUMBER 1

CHIEFTAIN/T95

59-PATTON

TYPE 59

T-34-3

T-44

T-44-100

T-34-2

M46 PATTON

CENTURION MK. 7/1

WZ-120

T 55A

M60

T95E6

CENTURION ACTION X

T-62A

OBJECT 140

121

121B

Improvements to the matchmaker don’t end with the introduction of vehicle roles. Along with adding them, we addressed some of your most vocal requests:

• Better chances of getting ranked at the top of the list for Platoon players: Initially, their chances of playing at the top were reduced to avoid upsetting scenarios with Platoons singlehandedly deciding the battle outcome. In direct response to community feedback, we’re raising them slightly so that you and your Platoon mates can fight at higher tiers once in a while. This won’t cause any drastic changes to the state of Random Battles, but offers a more varied experience to Platoon players.
• Equal chances of getting ranked in the top/middle/bottom of the list for different vehicle classes: You might have noticed that heavy and medium tanks would end up in single-level battles way too often, while arty and TDs tended to get ±2 and ±1 setups. We tweaked the matchmaker, evening out the odd for all vehicle classes.
• Optimized team assembly logic: After some extra tuning, you’ll see more 3/5/7 and 5/10 teams, which should provide for a more enjoyable experience.
• More Grand Battles: We increased the chance of getting matched in a Grand Battle, so that more players could playtest the new format.