The developers of World of Tanks add bots at low levels. Is it that bad?

Beginners are not always able to easily get used to the game, learn the basic mechanics and show decent results, especially if they are fighting against experienced tankers. To give new players the opportunity to improve their skills, the load balancer will create a separate queue for them in random battles. The innovation will appear with the release of update 1.12.1 WOT.

Help for beginners

New players in random battles on the equipment of I–V levels will find themselves in more comfortable conditions, because most of the fighters in their turn will most often be the same beginners.

* A player is considered a beginner if they have not played a single battle on the researched technique of level VII or higher in any game mode. If such a player shows a decent result in a series of fights with other newcomers, then he will receive the status of "regular player"for the balancer.

If a new player has purchased premium Level VII–VIII vehicles, but continues to fight in Level I–V vehicles, they will still be considered a new player.

If, after the release of update 1.12, a new player enters the battle on a low-level technique (I–V levels), the balancer will select teams in a separate queue, in which only beginners will be present. However, if there aren't enough new players to put together two full teams, the load balancer will add regular players. If, as a novice, the player enters the battle on a level VI car, he will get into the standard queue of random fights with ordinary players.

In battles with new or regular players, as well as against equipment controlled by artificial intelligence (AI), you will have access to a limited list of five maps for fighting on machines of I—III levels: "Mines", "Himmelsdorf", "Monastery", "Ruinberg" and "Steppes". All other cards will be available depending on which players the load balancer sent into battle: if the battle is going with only beginners, the remaining cards will be available from level V, if with regular players — from level IV.

AI-controlled vehicles at low combat levels (bots)

Our main goal is to make sure that newcomers play with the same newcomers. This will help new players get used to the game faster and more comfortably. However, depending on the server, the time of day, and the current state of the queue, the load balancer may not have enough players to form equal teams in level I—V battles, so the waiting time may increase significantly. The addition of AI-controlled equipment will help players to go into battle faster, and the load balancer to form teams. On full servers, you will be less likely to encounter AI-controlled opponents, but this can still happen from time to time.

** We want the presence of AI-controlled vehicles in combat to be completely transparent, and you can always easily distinguish such vehicles. For AI-controlled equipment, the game nickname is always marked with parentheses (...) in the team lists.

Separately, we note some points that should be paid attention to in battles with AI-controlled equipment:

1. Dealing damage and destroying the enemy under the control of AI will bring you the same amount of experience as for dealing damage and destroying the equipment of real players.
2. As in normal battles, you will be able to receive rewards and achievements, as well as perform combat tasks.
3. After the battle, you will not be able to view the statistics of players under AI control.

*** AI-controlled equipment (bots) will only be present in those rare level I—V battles for new players, for which the load balancer will not be enough for beginners and/or regular players.

According to our calculations, battles involving AI-controlled vehicles should be relatively rare: it depends on the time of day and the number of tankers in the game.

Improve your gaming experience

These improvements to the load balancer are beneficial for both beginners and regular players. They will help to preserve the competitive moment, as well as:

• Reduce the difficulty of mastering World of Tanks and motivate beginners to play and win their first victories.
• Allow more experienced players to fight against equal opponents and improve their gaming skills.
• Reduce the battle waiting time for all players, especially on low-load servers.

We will closely monitor how the system works and make adjustments if necessary.