World of Tanks Console Update 4.6 Celebrates 17 Million Registered Users

Following its rollout in June 2018, the console-exclusive World of Tanks: Mercenaries recently reached a huge milestone. The military-focused MMO has officially passed 17 million registered players, which is no small feat. To celebrate, developer Wargaming has rolled out a new update that adds a host of new features.

Lots of new vehicles are on the way to World of Tanks: Mercenaries. A total of eight vehicles will be added to the Mercenary Tech Tree in the coming weeks, though three are available now. They are the Thresher, a Tier III Light Tank, the Stinger, a Tier IV Light Tank, and the Sharpshooter, a Tier IX Medium Tank. Two new Tier X tanks, China’s WZ-111 5A and the British Super Conqueror, have been added. They are both available now in the Tech Trees for each country.

The 4.6 update also added a brand-new Artillery camera view. Unlike the birds-eye Strategic view, the Trajectory view is aimed lower to the ground and focused on your tank’s movement. This is coupled with the ability to see the exact amount of health both your enemies and allies have. Players can choose whether or not they want this feature enabled, though it is turned off by default.

Here are the full patch notes for this The World of Tanks: Mercenaries update, taken from the official website:

NEW FEATURES

8 New Mercenary Tech Tree Vehicles

As the war continues, so does the demand for Mercenaries. Discover eight new Mercenary Tech Tree tanks commanded by an unruly bunch of heroes! Keep an eye on the Mercenary Tech Tree and the portal for when their Contracts become available. These Mercenary Commanders are inspired by real Wargaming employees! Maybe you’ll recognise some familiar faces…

Thresher – Contract available now!

Sharpshooter – Contract available now!

Stinger – Contract available now!

Long Reach – Coming soon!

Thunder-Bucket – Coming soon!

Roundabout – Coming soon!

Deadbolt – Coming soon!

The Machine – Coming soon!

Arty Trajectory Cam

A popular player requested feature for Artillery vehicles has been added.

‘Trajectory’ view provides Artillery players with an alternative camera option, alongside the already-existing top-down Strategic view. This new camera view is lower to the ground, angled, and rotates automatically to simulate the direction of the shell’s travel, using the player’s tank as the central pivoting point.

Clear Camouflage has been added as an option for all tanks.

Dynamic battle music, with the option to toggle on/off via the audio options

menu has been added.

HP Bars with Values

A highly demanded player request has been added: the ability to see tank’s Health Bar numbers! This option can be toggled on or off through the game Options and will be off by default. With this option turned on, players will be able to see tank’s current health / total health.

Platoon Changes

The Platoon system has undergone several improvements which change the way players interact and join Platoons through the introduction of Persistent Platoons. We’ve also adjusted the platoon rules to improve the quality of matches for all players and prevent the formation of fail platoons!

Multiplayer:

Players can only select the same Tier tank as the Platoon leader.

Platoons are limited to only 3 Artillery vehicles per platoon.

War Stories and Co-op:

Any Tier tanks can platoon together.

Platoons are limited to only 3 Artillery vehicles per platoon.

Randomize Crew Name Button Added

Players can now select the ‘Dice’ icon to have a Crew name randomly generated while in Crew customization.

Tank Rebalancing

We have adjusted and re-balanced a large amount of the vehicles in-game.

Two Tier X Tech Tree additions

Two new heavy hitters representing UK and China have entered the game at Tier X!

Branching from the WZ-111 1-4, the heavily anticipated WZ-111 5A has been added to the Chinese Tech Tree at Tier X alongside the existing 113!

Branching from the Conqueror, the long-awaited Super Conqueror has been added the UK Tech tree at Tier X joining its fellow heavy tanks, the Chieftain and FV215b!

New Maps

Two maps have been added to rotation:

Caen – 1944

Pearl River

Other Improvements

New WGCB logo video added.

We have replaced the War Stories video during the login process with the new WGCB logo video.

War Stories video moved to the War Stories game mode.

The War Stories video has been moved and will play once per session upon entering the War Stories game mode.

Garage scenery updated.

We have updated the props in the garage with Mercenary-related props to improve the immersion, including:

Rusty Jeep, Tusk tank, and Mercenary personnel.

Improved the Spectator HUD.

When using the Spectator mode in Team Training, destroyed players’ information will now be grayed out and less distracting.

Improved Contract visibility.

While in the Mercenary Tech Tree, the Purchase display on the sidebar has been replaced with a Contract detail display.

Updated the UI for Supplies and Equipment with a new style.

The nation flag icons in the filter have been changed to rectangles to allow for more space for future nations.

Updated font and art for the following:

“Recruit a crew” is now in all caps, center-aligned, and smaller.

The camouflage name on the sidebar now uses Stencil for the owned camouflage display.

Equipment help screen updated with the new star icon.

Hero crew portraits in Crew Customize updated with hew star icon.

Star and checkmark icon positions adjusted on Crew Portraits in Crew Customize.

Select a portrait header text now uses Stencil font in Crew Customize.

Updated the wording for Contract details for unavailable Contracts.

Op icons have been updated with a new style.

Added Contract Help screens to the Tech Tree.

Improved all Radial menus.

We’ve adjusted the thumbstick deadzone for all radial menus to help address the accidental fixing of incorrect modules or issuing incorrect messages.

Improved balance for:

Dukla Pass – Assault: Attacking team spawn location has been moved.

Kasserine – Encounter: Spaced out the Team 1 spawns on west spawn area.

El Alamein – Encounter: Updated Team 1 and Team 2 Spawn locations.

Raseiniai – Assault: Updated Team 1 and Team 2 Spawn locations.

NorthWest – Team Destruction: Moved some of Team 2 Spawns further West.

Theipval Ridge – Team Destruction: Team 2 now has a greater number of players spawn on South Spawn zone, while Team 1 now has a greater number of players spawn at the North Spawn zone.

Siegfried Line – Encounter: Shifted Team 1 spawns west, and moved Capture point slightly east.

Siegfried Line – Team Destruction: Removed 1 spawn location for Team 1, and re-positioned spawn locations for both teams.

Malinovka Winter – Assault: Capture location moved.

Liberty Falls – Team Destruction: Moved Team 2 Spawn location.

Bug Fixes

General

Shells can no longer get stuck going in the opposite direction of the turret on tanks with limited turret traverse.

Shots with a damaged turret no longer go outside of the reticle.

Inverted reverse option now works correctly when using the handbrake.

War Stories: Background for the next chapter no longer flashes between popups.

Dynamic legend no longer overlaps elements in certain situations.

Co-op PvE: Mission objective texts are now aligned correctly.

Mini-game music now stops playing when leaving the mini-game.

RU: Base capture messages are no longer cut off.

RU: Crew rank abbreviations are now correct.

RU: Operations are now translated.

Voice chat now disconnects upon re-entry into the battle queue.

Map names now correctly display during the initial countdown before a match starts.

Stage rewards in Contracts are now properly aligned.

Nation flag is now present in the purchase prompts for Mercenaries.

Upgrade legend now correctly updates while platoon leader is in a battle.

Random reward icon now correctly displays in the Ops reward section.

Store notification ribbon will now vanish after player scrolls through all bundles.

The timer display for hours and days are no longer plural when only 1 hour or day remain.

Celebration screen no longer plays in the background when attempting to purchase more premium past the maximum limit.

Spotter medal now appears in the overall medals section.

Privacy setting is no longer blank when entering Coop Proving grounds while in a platoon.

Gold values are now correctly using gold font in all areas.

Platoon privacy settings are no longer affected by the initial selection being moved to the friends list.

Contracts widget in the garage no longer shifts when tabbing between Garage and Ops.

Store now correctly has a lock icon for new players that have no unlocked the Store yet.

Players no longer receive a second welcome screen in War Stories.

When changing privacy settings within Coop the proper notification now displays.

War Stories no longer displays a blank congratulations screen if the player did not complete the secondary objectives.

Selling tanks with equipment is now giving the correct amount of Silver.

Timers to enter drive mode and siege mode are now displaying the correct times.

Linked tanks in the package view now correctly stay darkened when locked.

Long store bundle names now fit properly in the display.

Previewed customization items no longer remain on the tank when tabbing to the Tech Tree.

Tanks

WZ-131G FT now uses the correct Engine audio.

AMX 13 75 now uses the correct Engine audio.

T-50-2 now uses the correct Engine audio.

Atomic Centurion camouflage now applies correctly in all locations.

Atomic Centurion no longer has a duplicate kangaroo emblem.

Pershing now has the flag correctly on the turret.

XM551 Sheridan now correctly becomes elite.

Maps

Himmelsdorf Night: Puddle splash FX is no longer too bright.

Himmelsdort All: Base tarp FX now matches wind strength.

Mines: Base tarp FX now matches wind strength.

Baja: Picnic table is no longer floating at F0.

Lakeville: Blocked access to an unintended location at E2.

El Alamein: Fixed rock collisions to match visual size of the rocks.

Liberty Fallen: Billboard at A8 now has the correct destroyed state when shot.

Stadt der Dunkelheit: Removed glowing objects at J7.

Sacred Valley War: Fixed floating fire at J2 on destroyed truck.

Sacred Valley War: Moved the invisible wall at J9 so it’s not in the playable space.

Panama – Assault: Spawn icons no longer overlap.