News

Developer Diary: T-15 Kinzhal Nerf

Commanders!

We’re continuing to address the hottest balance and community issues with a topic that’s been coming up rather often these days – the firepower of the T-15 Kinzhal Tier 10 Premium Tank Destroyer.

scr1

The Kinzhal’s been in our sights for a while now due to its extremely high damage output and its module damage so let’s start with the changes that are coming in the next update. We considered overhauling the gun completely but it’s the gun that makes Kinzhal rather unique. That is why the gun will stay in its current burst-firing form. However:

  • Burst rate of fire will be reduced from 1400 to 500 rounds per minute (the nominal damage per minute value drops roughly to 19k)
  • The penetration buff from its special burst ability will be reduced from 25% to 17.5%
  • Module damage will be reduced by 53%

Thanks to the fact we are not adjusting the overheat rates, the vehicle will still be perfectly viable and will still retain its sustained fire capability as well as the ability to eliminate lightly armored vehicles with ease. However, the ability to devastate MBTs from the front will be significantly reduced.

Now, you might be wondering – what took so long? The truth is that we were super careful because we really wanted to avoid another CATTB situation where series of gradual nerfs created the impression that the tank was – and still is – nerfed to the ground. In reality the tank is statistically more than fine and has for example an above average winrate of 52%. But the rumor is out there and it’s not something we want to repeat – hopefully no further adjustments for the Kinzhal will be needed.

The same goes with ZTZ-20 where we were able to adjust its performance early on, now its result are far more along the intended lines and Kinzhal outperforms it in both the damage output and winrate. Needless to say, that’s not great but we’re finally getting to the point where we can step by step address some rather old issues, such as:

  • Type 99 series ammo racks (also buffed in the next update)
  • Returning Cerberus to the PvE rotation (unrelated but hopefully welcome)
  • Soviet MBT series missing side ERA (not in the next update but coming)

And many others. Not all at once, mind you, but we’ll get there. And that’s all for today’s article. We hope that you enjoyed it and, as always:

See you on the battlefield!

Go up

Join the action