The free-to-play team-based warfare experience has reached a landmark 17 million registered players. To celebrate this, World of Tanks: Mercenaries has received a major new content update for Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Update 4.6 is rolling out right now, bringing all sorts of features and changes to the table, so let’s find out what they are.
The first major feature is a new Artillery camera – the ‘Trajectory’ view. Available alongside the existing birds-eye Artillery view, it brings the camera lower to the ground and rotates to follow the shell’s trajectory, with the tank used as the central pivoting point. This new view is immersive, gives more variety to playstyles and will no doubt bring players closer to the action than ever before.
Following a high level of demand from the community, health bar numbers have been added to enemy and ally vehicles. When these are switched on, this feature presents players an indication of the state of their own team, or how much health still needs to be knocked off their opponents’ health.
In the previous update the Mercenaries Tech Tree was introduced for the first time and these powerful new vehicles, captained by fierce Mercenary Crews, can be earned for free through ‘Contract’ missions. Update 4.6 is expanding this roster of powerful vehicles, with several vehicles available to earn right away. Here’s a little look at some of the Merc vehicles and Crews that could be heading your way…
- Thresher: A well-armoured Light Tank with an aggressive weapon. It’s operated by Dark Fox, a New Zealander who served under British command during World War II before going rogue and seeking revenge against Axis forces.
- Long Reach: A Heavy Tank that brings together the best of British, German, and Soviet engineering. It’s captained by Brutal Beast, a Swiss ex-spy who travels across Europe, liberating towns and their people from German rule.
- Sharpshooter: This Medium Tank combines machinery from Axis and Allied tanks, making for a nimble vehicle that packs a reliable shot. It’s under the command of Red Sentinel, an Italian soldier driven mad by the heat as he held his position against waves of Allied soldiers in a small Tunisian town.
And it’s not just the Mercenary Tech Tree that’s expanding because players can look forward to working towards brand-new Tier X vehicles in the Chinese and British Tech Trees. The WZ-111 5A is a fearsome new Chinese Heavy Tank that has excellent armour and speed, ensuring enemy tanks will struggle to get the jump on it. That’s joined by the British Heavy Tank, the Super Conqueror, with its all-round thick spaced armour providing top protection from every angle and its great handling that makes it a real menace to the slower enemies.
Two new maps have also arrived to try and shake up Multiplayer battles. There’s Caen – 1944, which is inspired by a real town in north-western France, liberated from German control during the Battle of Normandy. It was originally used as the basis for the epic finale of the War Stories campaign Operation Sealion, where the story’s heroes finally drove the amphibious German invasion out of wartime Britain. With undulating hills, a large central ridge and a vast beach to the east, this map is primed for some explosive showdowns. The peaceful Pearl River will also be joining the map rotation and that’s set in an idyllic valley bathed in golden sunlight, featuring rugged terrain that allows players to engage in ambushes and flanking manoeuvres.
To improve the quality of matches, teaming up with friends in Platoons with up to five participants will now be far easier and fairer. Players are only able to select tanks from the same tier as their Platoon leader, with a maximum of three Artillery vehicle allowed per Platoon to guarantee fairer matchmaking. The new Persistent Platoons also mean that friends and recent players you’ve fought alongside in battle will easily be able to join you or others through the player profiles.
There are even more new features and additions to discover in Update 4.6, so jump into World of Tanks: Mercenaries to get the latest version and check out all the new content for yourself!
