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Emerald Bear 1.2.0 - Patch Notes 2/2


This is part 2/2 for the Emerald Bear patch notes due to hitting the character limit allowed for these posts.
It includes:
  • Faction balance changes
  • Bugfixes

Find part 1/2 here
  • New content, features & improvements
  • Gameplay improvements
  • Ability balance changes


Factions balance changes

[h2]US Forces [/h2]
US Forces has been powerful in 1v1 and weak in larger team modes. These changes will be toning down the Easy Eight while improving underperforming units like Elite Infantry and support units.
¼-ton 4x4 Truck
  • Lethality for mid to far range increased by 10%
Air Support Center
  • Damaged aircraft no longer increases the recharge time of Air Support Center abilities.
  • Double Sortie fuel cost decreased from 50 to 40.
  • P-47 Dive bomb cost decreased from 90 to 70 munitions.
  • P-47 Dive Bombs now deal +50% bonus damage to vehicles.
  • P-47 Strafing Run cost decreased from 60 to 50 munitions.
Bazooka Team
  • Bazookas reload and wind down adjusted for a rate of fire increase from 4.75/5.5 to 4.25/4.75 seconds.
  • Health increased from 90 to 95.
Captain Retinue
  • Now gains Shared Veterancy.
  • Off-Map mortar barrage can now be used when suppressed.
Engineers
  • Engineer health increased from 80 to 85. This change does not impact health when upgraded to Assault Engineers.
M1 81mm Mortar
The Delayed Fuse ability is primarily meant to demolish emplacement bunkers. However, its current power allows it to devastate team weapons when abilities such as Airburst are meant to be the premiere anti-infantry ability of the mortar.
  • Area of effect damage distances significantly reduced from 1/1.5/5 to 0/0.5/5.
  • Delayed fuse mid-range damage reduced from 33% to 25%.
  • Delayed fuse radius increased from 4 to 5 (to better match the effect).
  • Delayed Fuse Shells cooldown between shots increased from 0.75 to 1.5 seconds.
  • Delayed Fuse Timer from 1.25 to 3 and now properly displays a timer.
M1919 Machine Gun Team
  • Manpower cost reduced from 240 to 220; does not affect the Airborne variant.

M29 Weasel
  • Machine guns can no longer target aircraft.
M3 75mm Gun Motor Carriage
  • Direct-fire range increased from 45 to 50
M4A1 76mm Conversion Upgrade
  • Fuel cost reduced from 50 to 40 fuel.
M4A3 Sherman Bulldozer
  • Bunker-buster deals +100% bonus damage to emplacement.
  • Frontal Armor increased from 195 to 240.
  • Population decreased from 14 to 12.
  • Scatter angle decreased from 9 to 5.
  • Scatter distance scatter ratio decreased from 1 to 0.
Weapon Support Center
  • Cost decreased from 120 manpower and 15 fuel to 100 manpower and 10 fuel.

[h3]Armored Battlegroup[/h3]
M4A3 Sherman Easy 8
The following change puts the Easy 8’s area of effect and accuracy on-par with the standard Sherman 76mm. This is meant to significantly reduce the E8’s power against infantry.
  • Accuracy increased from 0.075/0.0563/0.045 to 0.1/0.0563/0.047.
  • Area of effect mid-range decreased from 2 to 0.75.
  • Area of effect model limit decreased from 4 to 3.
  • Area of effect radius increased from 4 to 4.5.
M8 Scott
  • Auto-fire and barrage fire-aim time decreased from 1 to 0.5.
  • Fuel cost decreased from 50 to 45.

[h3]Special Operations Battlegroup[/h3]
SSF Commandos
  • Bazooka reload and wind down adjusted for a rate of fire increase of 3.6/4.5 to 3.5/4 seconds.
  • Population decreased from 10 to 9.
  • SSF Commando health increased from 95 to 110.
Whizbang
  • Rockets per barrage increased from 10 to 15
  • Range increased from 70 to 80
  • Rocket area of effect mid-range distance increased from 1.5 to 2
  • Rocket area of effect far damage increased from 0.175 to 0.3
  • Rockets now deal 50% deflection damage

[h3]Airborne Battlegroup[/h3]
Carpet Bombing Run
  • Now drops 2 additional bombs per bomber; bombs dropped now fill the entire reticule correctly.
HMG Paradrop
  • Manpower cost reduced from 240 to 220.
  • Recharge time increased from 30 to 75 seconds.
P-47 Rocket Strafe
  • Damage to buildings reduced by 75%.
  • Damaged against infantry reduced by 75%.
  • Delay before the 2nd plane attacks increased from 1 to 2.
  • Rocket count from 6 to 5.
Paratroopers
  • ‘Cooked’ Frag Grenade fuse time decreased from 1.6 to 1.
  • Bazooka reload and wind down adjusted for a rate of fire increase of 3.6/4.5 to 3.5/4 seconds.
  • Carbine short-range lethality increased by 8%.
  • M1919A6 Light machine gun mid-far lethality increased by 15%.
  • Population decreased from 10 to 9.
Supply Drop
  • Cost decreased from 150 to 125 manpower.

[h2]Wehrmacht[/h2]
The Wehrmacht has been overperforming and these changes are meant to tone down overall performance. To promote a more diverse gameplay, some units that have been underused have been improved.
221 Armored Car
  • Machine gun mid-far lethality increased by 10%.
  • Sight increased from 35 to 45.
2cm Flak 38 AA Gun Team
  • Manpower cost decreased from 320 to 280.
Flakpanzer IV Wirbelwind
  • Bonus damage to aircraft decreased from +50% to -25%.
  • Cost decreased from 360 manpower and 70 fuel to 320 manpower and 60 fuel.
Grenadier
  • MP40 Submachine gun mid-range lethality decreased by ~15%.
  • MP40 Submachine gun near lethality decreased by 5%.
Marder M III
  • Long-range accuracy from 0.045 to 0.04.
  • Long-range accuracy reduced by 12%.
MG 42
  • Suppression against suppressed targets from 0.5 to 0.35.
  • Suppression applied to other squads increased from 88% to 93%.
StuG III (All Variants)
  • Machine Gun burst length reduced by 15% at mid and far.
  • Machine Gun can no longer target aircraft.
  • Machine Gun far accuracy reduced from 45% to 33%.
StuG III G
  • Point-blank Blast area of effect limit decreased from 4 to 3.

[h3]Luftwaffe Battlegroup[/h3]
Luftwaffe Strafing Run
  • Command Point cost decreased from 2 to 1.
  • Cost reduced from 75 to 50 munitions.

[h2]British Forces[/h2]
The Training Center changes impacted the British Forces more than anticipated. To adjust, some core units are gaining increased performance and the Training Center will now be available from the start. We are planning to continue making further improvements to the British in the future.
17-pounder Anti-tank Gun
  • Weapon range increased from 70 to 80.
CWT 15CMP Truck
  • 20mm AA gun cost reduced from 75 to 60 munitions.

Dingo Armored Car
  • Machine gun can no longer target aircraft.

Foot Guards
  • Bazooka reload and wind down adjusted for a rate of fire increase of 3.6/4.5 to 3.5/4 seconds.
Infantry Section
  • Bren Weapon lethality increased by 4-6%.
  • Lethality at all ranges increased by 3%.
  • Population decreased from 8 to 7.
Forward Observer Base Howitzer
  • Fog of War scatter increased from 1.25 to 2.5.
  • Ready-aim time reduced from 2 to 0.5.
  • Rotation rate increased from 25 to 45.
  • Scatter max decreased from 15 to 6.
M3 Stuart Light Tank
  • Self-repair ability speed increased from 0.66 to 1.2.
  • Stuart Utility package cost reduced from 60 to 40 munitions.
Training Center
  • Now immediately available at the start of the game and does not need to be purchased.
  • Training upgrade experience for infantry, team weapons, and light vehicles increased from 500 to 800.
  • Training upgrade experience for medium and heavy vehicles increased from 500 to 1250.
Vickers Heavy Machine Gun Team
  • Mid and far range lethality increased by 5/7.5%.

[h3]Air and Sea Battlegroup[/h3]
Commandos
  • ‘Cooked’ Mills Bomb fuse time decreased from 1.6 to 1.
Commando LMG Section
  • Now use unique Lee Enfields that have increased accuracy and damage over the standard Infantry Section at all ranges.
  • +31% increased lethality at short-range, +34% at mid-range, +20% at long-range.

Incendiary Carpet Bombing Run
  • Now drops 2 additional bombs per bomber; bombs dropped will now fill the entire reticule correctly.
  • Munitions cost increased from 110 to 150.
Naval Blockade
  • Command Point cost decreased from 2 to 1.
Supply Surplus
  • Now provides a 25% discount on built Resource caches to the player by Royal Engineers or those built directly on territory points.
  • Field Infirmaries cost decreased from 200 manpower to 150.

[h2]Deutsches Afrikakorps[/h2]
The DAK is receiving adjustments to address key weaknesses in early game options. This is meant to open options for different styles of play.
8 Rad Armored Car
  • Scatter angle and Scatter max increased from 2 to 3.5.
250 Light Carrier
  • Cost decreases from 280 to 260.
  • Now gains shared veterancy.
Armored Reserves
  • Cost decreased from 200 manpower and 150 fuel to 100 manpower and 75 fuel.
  • Requires only the Panzerarmee Kommand to be purchased.
  • Tiger fuel cost increased from 180 fuel to 240 fuel.
Assault Grenadiers
  • Grenade Assault cost decreased from 45 to 35 munitions.
Combined Arms Ability
  • Now triggers on the 250-mortar half-track, 254 Reconnaissance Tractor, and the Walking Stuka Halftrack
Flak 36 Anti-Tank Gun Team
  • Fire-aim time increased from 0.125 to 1.
  • Ready-aim time from 0.125 to 0.25/5.
  • Reload time increased from 2.125 to 2.5/2.75.
Flakvierling Halftrack
  • Bonus damage to aircraft decreased from +50% to -25%.
  • Weapon range increased from 40 to 45.
Le.IG 18 Howitzer
  • Barrage recharge times decreased from 30 to 20.
Marder III
  • Long-range accuracy reduced by 12%.

Panzergrenadiers
Panzergrenadiers will now be more powerful without Combined Arms while retaining the same overall strength. This was to help address the significant difference in viability of the unit in small vs large games while still incentivizing Combined Arms play.
  • Base Lethality at mid and long-range increased by 10%.
  • Combined-Arms accuracy bonus decreased from +30% to +20%.
  • MG42 LMG accuracy increased by 10%.
StuG III (All Variants)
  • Machine gun burst length duration multiplier from 1/0.95/0.7 to 1/0.8/0.6.
  • Machine gun can no longer target aircraft.
  • Machine gun far accuracy from 45% to 33%.
Tiger
  • S-Mines Launcher now deals significantly less damage to infantry but now will suppress and pin them.
Walking Stuka Rocket Launcher
  • Rockets now deal 40% deflection damage.

[h3]Italian Infantry Battlegroup[/h3]
Booby Traps
  • Increased health on the booby trap from 20 to 140.
  • Now uses the demo charge model.
Guastatori
  • Reinforcement cost from 40 to 35.
  • SMG moving burst increased from 35% to 100%.

[h3]Italian Combined Arms Battlegroup[/h3]
Semovente 75/18 Assault Gun
  • Barrage recharge time decreased from 90 to 45 seconds.
  • Barrage reload decreased from 3.5/4 to 3 seconds.
  • Ready-aim delay on HEAT Shell ability removed.
Strafing Run
  • Bonus damage to vehicles decreased from +225% to +200%.
  • Damage increased from 10 to 15.

[h3]Armored Support Battlegroup[/h3]
Vehicle Awareness
  • Command Point cost increased from 1 to 2.


BUGFIXES
  • Fixed a low chance for the game to crash while hovering over the minimap icon of a squad that is currently in combat.
  • Fixed a memory leak in the reflection system that resulted in the leaking of speech data. Players should see a more stable experience match over match.
  • Fixed a synchronization issue in the replay launch argument where if the teams were uneven or there were unused slots in the match, errors could occur - units not spawning from production buildings or friendly teams showing as enemy.

[h2]Audio[/h2]
  • Added Barb Wire cut sounds effects.
  • Added Naval Blockade siren sounds effects.
  • Added Propaganda bomb sound effects.
  • Added sound effects to Custom Game context menus.
  • Fixed Navy Bombardment sounds effects to adjust with volume settings.
  • Updated audio treatment for the War Cry ability; the sound effect can now be heard by all factions when active.

[h2]Art/Animation[/h2]
  • Large explosions are now more likely to rend infantry and small explosions are more likely to create ragdolls.
  • Churchill Black Prince's right-side treads are now playing the correct animation.
  • Deutsches Afrikakorps Tank Traps now use the same model and stats as the Wehrmacht version.
  • Five pounder crew no longer t-poses when aiming at extreme angles.
  • Fixed an animation issue when infantry entered the Deutsches Afrikakorps 2.5-Tonne Medical Truck.
  • Fixed an issue where the infantry were incorrectly positioned inside the Deutsches Afrikakorps 250 Light Carrier.
  • Fixed numerous issues with floating objects when destroyed.
  • Fixed the Wehrmacht Command Panzer IV coaxial Machine Gun visual effects not being hooked up correctly.
  • Heavy Mortar Teams animations now sync up to the barrage timing.
  • Improved Half-track animations and soldier positioning.
  • Improved idle and driving poses on the Kettenkrad crew.
  • Improved missing terrain details.
  • Improved the visibility of visual effects when points are captured.
  • Increased Tanks/Vehicles particle visual effects when an engine is critically hit.
  • Reduced camera clipping through the terrain on several maps.
  • Reduced cloud density to improve visuals on the Foggia map.
  • Resource cache improvements now properly play construction animation.
  • Corrected some of the wrong pintle mounted weapons.
  • The pivot animations of loader and gunner are now matching the tracking fire angle.
  • US Hellcat tarps will now match their cosmetic themes.
  • Weapons will no longer float when the unit is hit by explosive type weapons.


[h2]Dynamic Italian Campaign[/h2]
  • Adjusted firing cone range of campaign map howitzer emplacements to better match the ranges of its bombardment ability.
  • Commander XP is now correctly awarded for off-map abilities.
  • Consistency work done on all Campaign Company's active ability icons/titles/descriptions in the RTS to better match what was described in the Company unlock page.
  • Enabled the ability to save during our Gela tutorial so players can take additional time to complete it without being reset.
  • Fixed a camera issue in the intro mission Gela where the camera could get locked at one of the map borders.
  • Fixed a rare issue on the campaign map where transport ships could complete the “Assist the damaged destroyer” objective.
  • Fixed an issue that made it difficult to click on some of the towns in the Italian Dynamic Campaign.
  • Fixed an issue to prevent emplacements on the campaign map from shooting through mountains.
  • Fixed an issue where British Armored Company Crusader AA tanks would not benefit from suppression when upgraded with the 'Rapid-Fire' campaign ability.
  • Fixed an issue where saves sometimes failed to load if the save was made while the American recon aircraft ability was in use.
  • Fixed an issue where the “Repair damaged equipment” objective would be completed during the enemy turn.
  • Fixed an issue where the sniper could use their Medkit ability when uninjured.
  • Fixed an issue where the US Airborne and Spec Ops support ability passives were selectable in the campaign.
  • Fixed Assassinate Baumann target being killable without completing the mission.
  • Fixed attack and load commands not working correctly when issued from a company that was already within another city/town. Units automatically unload from the city and go to attack the enemy.
  • Fixed British Forces owned capture points flying the Wehrmacht flag instead of the British Forces flag in Italy.
  • Fixed detachments dying the moment they are purchased if they were purchased while inside the enemy's emplacement cone of fire.
  • Fixed excessive fog in the Italian Dynamic Campaign when the camera zooms out while paused.
  • Fixed Partisan capture ability not removing capture resistance pip when used on capture point with just 1 pip while having Valenti Local Relations upgrade.
  • Fixed Partisan Explosives ability not dealing any damage.
  • Fixed stance change being available while having no action points.
  • Fixed the US Airborne company in the campaign being able to requisition the M3 Armored Car before unlocking it.
  • In the Gela tutorial mission, the retreat command for the first objective should no longer fail.
  • Save & Load is now accessible in the Gela & Calabria prologue to the Italy Campaign.
  • Standardized tooltip description and help text for the Company support ability passives.
  • Updating consistency for the Italian campaign map and the Italian campaign map tutorial objective transitions. Voice over and banners now follow a predictable pattern.
  • Updating consistency for the tutorial mission objective transitions. Voice over and banners now follow a predictable pattern.


[h2]North African Operation[/h2]
  • Improvements in convoy movement and behavior in the Desert Village Ambush mission.


[h2]Gameplay[/h2]
  • Adjusted collisions so buildings cannot be built too close to rocks.
  • Adjusted resource points and Heavy Machine Gun Base Bunkers on skirmish maps so that units capturing the point do not get shot at.
  • Airborne Company Heavy Machine Gun Paradrop ability can now be used in the Fog of War.
  • Brummbar sight decreased from 50 to 35 as intended.
  • Certain variants of the CWT truck no longer fall through bridges as if the bridges weren't there.
  • Cleared rubble from various building entrances on (6) Mignano Summit to enable better access and reduce pathfinding issues.
  • CMP 15cwt Anti-Air Trucks can now Prioritize Aircraft.
  • Evaluated Italian buildings to ensure they hold an appropriate number of squads.
  • Fixed ability cancellation timing exploit that allowed the first shot of an ability to still go off, even after both the ability cost and recharge have been refunded.
  • Fixed an issue where Deutsches Afrikakorps reinforcing the 88 used a different crew rather than those found upon the unit spawning.
  • Fixed an issue where 2.5-tonne Utility Trucks did not have a veterancy ability; they now use the Field Supplies ability found on the medical variant.
  • Fixed an issue where builder units would run on the spot and not complete construction.
  • Fixed an issue where cancelling the Destroy Obstacles ability would cause the ability to go on cooldown.
  • Fixed an issue where certain units could cause their primary weapon to permanently swap to a barrage weapon.
  • Fixed an issue where Engineers that were affected by the Assault Engineer upgrade would not get extra health.
  • Fixed an issue where Panzerjager Squads did not have the Prioritize Vehicle ability.
  • Fixed an issue where paratroops would freeze in midair when reacting to explosions.
  • Fixed an issue where Pioneers did not get their construction bouses from veterancy.
  • Fixed an issue where Precision Shot and Precision Barrage were affected by Indian Artillery's Artillery Saturation ability.
  • Fixed an issue where Sherman Dozer Delayed Fuze did not have a delay before detonating.
  • Fixed an issue where Smoke Canisters on the Stuka could trigger the cooldown on the unit's barrages.
  • Fixed an issue where specific non-garrisonable structures stated they could be garrisoned.
  • Fixed an issue where Stosstruppen Shock Assault bonuses did not stack with other modifiers such as veterancy.
  • Fixed an issue where team weapons could get destroyed when receiving explosive damage in a structure.
  • Fixed an issue where the Deutsches Afrikakorps Flak 88 could only be reinforced up to a maximum of 4 models rather than 6 after being recrewed.
  • Fixed an issue where the 254 Reconnaissance Tractor was not affected by Emergency Repair Kits.
  • Fixed an issue where the Bazooka team's White Phosphorous rocket would refund its cost.
  • Fixed an issue where the M1 Anti-Tank Gun and Pak 38 needed to accelerate and decelerate like a vehicle.
  • Fixed an issue where the Mortar Half-tracks Smoke Barrage and Self-Repair abilities overlapped.
  • Fixed an issue where the Pathfinder Icon was used on the Recon Group for the M8 Scott's upgrade path, not the Scout Icon.
  • Fixed an issue where the Received Accuracy bonus from the Training Center would not apply to reinforced infantry entities.
  • Fixed an issue where the Scout Squad's utility package used a different icon in the build queue.
  • Fixed an issue where the Semovente HEAT Shell could create an invisible smoke cloud.
  • Fixed an issue where the StuG D could not rotate when using the Firing Positions ability.
  • Fixed an issue where the White Phosphorous Rocket could instantly destroy destructible objects like bridges.
  • Fixed an issue where there was no requirement text for paradrop abilities when attempting to paradrop units over unsuitable terrain.
  • Fixed an issue where there was no UI reticle when deploying M31 Recovery Vehicles or the Mechanized Assault Group from the German Breakthrough Battlegroup.
  • Fixed an issue where units cannot vault after picking up a team weapon.
  • Fixed an issue which allowed mortar barrage abilities to be used while pinned.
  • Fixed collision on wooden fences to prevent units from clipping through them.
  • Fixed inconsistent setup time for mortar crews.
  • Fixed an issue that would cause mortar crews to sometimes get stuck on setup.
  • Fixed player not losing the capture point when choosing to retreat from the battle.
  • Grenadier Med Kit regeneration set to restore 8 HP per second for 10 seconds during its duration.
  • Guastatori can now build resource caches.
  • Hellcat now uses a direct-fire line rather than an arcing projectile.
  • Improved pathfinding to allow infantry units to use the stairs behind hospitals.
  • Increased speed of Stuka bomb, fixed lingering bomb visual effects trail, and increased ground crater.
  • Improved the A.I.'s early game capture point order when on a team. Bugs were causing the A.I. to excessively prioritize VPs and fuel at the start of the game, these have been fixed.
  • The A.I.'s preference for capture points that are closer to its base than its teammates' bases has been increased.
  • Fixed an issue where the A.I. would sometimes send 2 squads to capture a single safe neutral point early in the game. They will now only send 1 squad for safe early game captures.
  • Issuing multiple repair commands on the same target will no longer restart the repair.
  • M1 Anti-Tank Gun Focused Sight ability now has a 10 second delay between toggling the ability on and off.
  • M3 Grant Medium Tank Prioritize Vehicle ability now functions correctly.
  • Pack Howitzer smoke barrage no longer shares a cooldown with other barrages.
  • Semovente now properly gains reload bonuses for veterancy.
  • Smoke clouds deployed by a player no longer trigger mines.
  • Team weapons no longer tear down when pinned.
  • Text for the Crusader's Heroic Charge is now standardized between when the ability is triggered and it's passive.
  • The Deutsches Afrikakorps's Flak 88 Truck and the British 17 Pounder trucks give consistent population that matches their cost, once acquiring and upon death.
  • The A.I. is no longer capable of ignoring the boundary lines of the skirmish map to move their units outside of the playable space.
  • Units should no longer get stuck when retreating from Passenger Train Cars.
  • Units should now be easier to select with and without box selection.
  • Updated HQ bunkers to prevent enemy access without drawing fire.
  • Using Smoke canisters while Point-blank ability is active shouldn't result in infinite grenades anymore.


[h2]UI/UX[/h2]
  • A buff indicator will now appear over the 3-Inch Mortar team when the Zero-In veterancy ability is triggered.
  • Assault Package for the Grenadiers now uses the correct icon when it is in the upgrade queue.
  • Controls profile text now properly aligns in all languages.
  • Fixed a naming issue with the Paratrooper Grenade ability.
  • Fixed a ping message visual effect for friendly players.
  • Fixed a tool-tip issue where the text 'NOT' would appear when attempting to build base structures too close to other buildings.
  • Fixed a UI issue where several British tanks did not have portraits or UI when selected during the Desert Raid Mission.
  • Fixed a UI issue with the Panzer Armee auto-build ability.
  • Fixed an issue where the Deutsches Afrikakorps passive Self-Repair used a healing icon rather than a repair icon.
  • Fixed an issue where ability requirement text is sometimes blank.
  • Fixed an issue where Airborne Spirit displayed the wrong buff icon.
  • Fixed an issue where British Heavy Machine Guns and Mortars showed the incorrect mini-map icon.
  • Fixed an issue where the Flak emplacement did not display the text for veterancy awards.
  • Fixed an issue where the Guastatori Demo Charge displayed a placeholder image when selected.
  • Fixed an issue where the M29 Weasel with Towed 57mm Anti-tank call-in tooltip was incorrect and stated the weapon was unmanned.
  • Fixed an issue where the Recovery Half-track's Salvage and Rapid Advance ability icons overlapped.
  • Fixed an issue where the Stuart Ace was missing its portrait in the victory splash screen.
  • Fixed an issue where the Stuart's Mark target displayed double requirements.
  • Fixed an issue where Wehrmacht team weapons had incorrect portraits and text when de-crewed.
  • Fixed missing and inconsistent key names in View and Remap Controls tab.
  • Fixed Refresh button in Browse Custom Games Lobby.
  • Fixed the missing portrait on the 25-Pounder.
  • Improved the Command Tanks coordinate ability tooltip.
  • Improved the majority of in-game tips to correct the disparity between functionality and ability. Tooltips now also provide greater clarity across the board.
  • Improved unit production prerequisites not being properly displayed/communicated.
  • Made the Exclusive Control Groups setting enabled by default.
  • Self-Repair and Smoke barrage on the 250 Mortar Half-track no longer overlap with each other.
  • The mouse cursor will now show the build icon when placing a new construction or hovering over a partly built construction.
  • Updated the design for the team-weapon set-up bar.
  • Updated visual style of action bars that appear on the decorator.
  • Players can now toggle the tab navigation on and off from the Settings screen's Accessibility's General section.

Emerald Bear 1.2.0 - Patch Notes 1/2



The Emerald Bear update (1.2.0) is packed full of gameplay improvements and balance adjustments. We are also introducing two new maps and the first version of our player profile. Be sure to review all of the changes and fixes below or check out our Mission Briefing for an overview.

This is part 1/2 for the Emerald Bear patch notes due to hitting the character limit allowed for these posts.
It includes:
  • New content, features & improvements
  • Gameplay improvements
  • Ability balance changes

Find part 2/2 here
  • Faction balance changes
  • Bugfixes


NEW CONTENT, FEATURES AND IMPROVEMENTS


[h2]Multiplayer Maps [/h2]
  • Added 3v3 Benghazi map to Automatch, Co-op vs A.I., Skirmish and Custom game modes.
  • Added 4v4 Monte Cavo map to Automatch, Co-Op vs A.I., Skirmish and Custom game modes.

[h2]Player Profile[/h2]
  • Added a new Player Profile feature. The Player Profile displays information about ranked match rating, player rank and additional statistics about matches. You can find a Q&A and our full write-up on this new feature here.

[h2]Menu Improvement – Social interaction options[/h2]
  • Players can now find all social interactions by clicking the "..." button next to a player’s name.

[h2]Challenges [/h2]
  • Ace of Spades (Build 5 US Forces Fighting Positions in a match) - reduced completion count from 5 to 2
  • Buzzsaw (Deploy 5 Wehrmacht MG42 Machinegun teams in a match) - reduced completion count from 5 to 2
  • Death or Glory (Deploy 5 British Forces M3 Grant or Crusader tanks in a match) - reduced completion count from 5 to 2
  • Edelweiss (Kill 5 infantry with Jäger squads upgraded with Reconnaissance Packages in a match) - reduced completion count from 5 to 2
  • Eighty Eight (Kill 8 Allied vehicles with an Afrikakorps FlaK36 Anti-tank gun in a match) - reduced completion count from 8 to 1
  • Eyes and Ears (Upgrade 3 US Forces Scout squads with a Utility package in a match) - reduced completion count from 3 to 2
  • Fieldworks (Build 3 Wehrmacht Fighting Nests in a match)- reduced completion count from 3 to 2
  • Gun Carriage (Kill 5 vehicles with the US Forces M3 75mm GMC in a match) - reduced completion count from 5 to 1
  • Gustav Line (Build 5 Wehrmacht Concrete bunkers in a match) - reduced completion count from 5 to 2
  • Hanomag Scrap (Kill 5 Wehrmacht or Afrikakorps trucks or Half-tracks in a match) - reduced completion count from 5 to 1
  • Hedgehogs (Build 20 tank traps with British Forces Royal Engineers) - reduced completion count from 20 to 10
  • High Velocity (Kill 10 infantry with Wehrmacht or Afrikakorps FlaK anti-aircraft guns in a match) - reduced completion count from 10 to 5
  • Infantry Anti-tank (Kill 3 vehicles with infantry squads in a match) - reduced completion count from 3 to 2
  • Jerry Surprise (Build 5 Modified AT mines with British Forces Royal Engineers in a match) - reduced completion count from 5 to 3
  • Loudmouth (Kill 3 vehicles with US Forces Bazooka teams in a match) - reduced completion count from 3 to 1
  • Making Tracks (Deploy 5 US Forces M3 Half-tracks in a match) - reduced completion count from 5 to 1
  • Mechanized Support (Call-in 3 Afrikakorps Mechanized infantry or team weapon groups in a match) - reduced completion count from 3 to 2
  • Panzerarmee (Kill 5 vehicles with Afrikakorps panzers in a match) - reduced completion count from 5 to 1
  • Panzerkorps (Kill 5 vehicles with Wehrmacht panzers in a match) - reduced completion count from 5 to 1
  • Purple Heart Boxes (Kill 5 US Forces trucks or Half-tracks in a match) - reduced completion count from 5 to 1
  • SAW Upgrade 5 US Riflemen squads with additional BARs in a match) - reduced completion count from 5 to 4
  • Stonk (Kill 5 Afrikakorps infantry with any British Forces artillery in a match) - reduced completion count from 5 to 1
  • Stupafied (Kill 5 team weapons with the Wehrmacht SturmPanzer IV) - reduced completion count from 5 to 1
  • Supply Depots (Build 3 Resource Caches in a match) - reduced completion count from 3 to 2
  • Too Much 20mm (Upgrade 3 Afrikakorps Half-track carriers to the 250/9 autocannon variant in a match) - reduced completion count from 3 to 2
  • Transport Mess (Kill 3 British Forces CMP 15CWT trucks in a match) - reduced completion count from 3 to 1
  • Wooden Shoes (Build 5 Schu-Mine 42s with Afrikakorps Panzerpioneers in a match) - reduced completion count from 5 to 3



GAMEPLAY CHANGES


[h2]Vehicle Mobility & Pathfinding [/h2]

[h3]End of Movement[/h3]
  • Added a new functionality for vehicles to end their movement order at a set distance before a blocker.

[h3]Infantry and Vehicle Blocking[/h3]
  • Infantry units no longer ignore moving vehicles and try to path around them.

[h3]Front-Facing Movement Preference[/h3]
  • Vehicles now use their original facing direction for most movement orders.

[h3]Formation Movement[/h3]
  • Vehicles now adhere to their formation as expected when performing formation movements instead of converging to the same point.

[h3]Phasing Through Units[/h3]
  • Vehicles are now allowed to phase through each other and through enemy vehicles that are moving, although they will still prefer to move around if possible.

[h3]Preference to not go around even if path is blocked[/h3]
  • Vehicles will no longer go off the path while chasing enemies. This change was made to address unpredictable vehicle behavior when the vehicle path is blocked in chases.

[h3]Road Preference[/h3]
  • To prevent vehicles from responding unpredictably and often veering to roads instead of taking the shortest route to the order location, road preference was turned off.

[h3]Turning[/h3]
  • Vehicle turning has been improved to prevent them from pivoting on the spot or losing too much momentum while turning. This change is meant to improve responsiveness with vehicles, especially during flanks.

[h3]Changes to Vehicle Speed[/h3]
All the vehicles in the game had their speed, acceleration and rotation rates adjusted. This change helps improve the responsiveness of a number of vehicles and creates a differentiation between all vehicle classes.
[expand]
US Forces


Vehicle

Speed

Rotation rate

Acceleration

Deceleration



4X4 Truck

9.75

70

8.75

10



M29 Weasel

8

65

5.5

7



M3 Armored Personal Carrier

7.2

50

2.5

5



M16 Quad Half-track

6.9

50

2.5

5



M3 75mm Gun Motor Carriage

6.9

50

2.5

5



M8 Greyhound Armored Car

6.75

50

4.5

6



M24 Chaffee Light Tank

6.5

40

3.5

5.5



M8 Scott SPG

6.75

40

3.5

4.5



M31 Recovery Vehicle

6

45

3

5



M4A1 Sherman Medium Tank

5.5

35

2.3

4



M4A3 Sherman Bulldozer

5.5

34

2.3

4



M4A3 Sherman Easy 8

5.75

36

2.5

4



M18 Hellcat

6.6

38

3.5

4.5

Werhmacht


Vehicle

Speed

Rotation rate

Acceleration

Deceleration



Kettenkrad

10.5

85

8.5

10



221 Armored Car

8.4

50

6

7



251 Half-tracks & variants

7.2

50

2.5

4



Marder III M

4.6

28

2.25

4



StugG II G & StugG III D

5

28

2.25

4



Flakpanzer IV Wirbelwind

5.75

35

2.3

3.5



Panzer IV

5.25

32

2

3



Panzer IV Commander Tank

5.5

34

2.5

3



Brummbar

4.25

28

1.9

3.25



Wespe SPG

5.4

30

2

3.5



Panther Heavy Tank

5.2

34

1.8

4



Tiger Heavy Tank

3.8

25

1.5

2

British Forces


Vehicle

Speed

Rotation rate

Acceleration

Deceleration



Dingo Scout Car

8.5

60

7

8



CMP 15CWT Truck & variants

7.5

55

3

5.5



Humber Armored Car

8.1

50

5

7.1



Stuart Light Tank

6.5

45

3.75

4.5



Crusader AA Tank

6.5

35

3.5

4.4



Bishop SPG

5.2

30

1.8

3.1



Crusader II & III

6.7

38

3.75

4.8



Centaur

6.3

35

3

4



M3 Grant Medium Tank

5

28

2.1

4



Matilda Heavy Tank

3.85

22

1.75

2



Churchill Heavy Tank

3.5

25

1.5

2



Churchill Black Prince Heavy Tank

3

25

1.5

1.5

Deutsches Afrikakorps


Vehicle

Speed

Rotation rate

Acceleration

Deceleration



Kradschutzen Motorcycle Team

11.5

75

10

12



250 Light Carrier & Mortar variant

7.35

75

4.5

7.5



250/9 Halftrack (2cm autocannon)

7.6

75

4.5

7.5



Flakvierling halftrack

6.9

50

3.25

7.5



2.5 Tonne Trust & Medical variant

7.4

55

3.25

6



L6/70 Light Tank

7.5

50

4.25

7



8 Rad Armored Car

6.75

50

4

5.5



Marder III

4.6

28

2.25

4



254 Reconnaissance Tractor

6.8

40

2.6

4



Famo Recovery Halftrack

6.3

50

3.5

7



M13/40 Light Tank

6.6

45

3.5

6



Semovente 75/18 Assault Gun

6.5

35

3

5



Panzer III & variants

6.25

40

3

4.5

Refer to Wehrmacht for the unit speed for the StuG IIIs, Tiger, and Panzer IVs
[/expand]
[h2]Event Cues[/h2]
  • All event cues have received an Art pass and will now look more cohesive with one another.
  • Event cues have been further adjusted to reduce how often they appear on the player’s screen.

[h2]End of Match Results[/h2]
  • Damage Dealt and Damage Taken stats no longer include environmental damage or friendly fire.
  • Kill stats such as Soldiers Killed and Vehicles Killed no longer include friendly fire.
  • Squads Lost stat at the end of the match now shows the correct number.
  • Unit Efficiency fixed and changed from percentage to a ratio Efficiency Factor.

[h2]Minimap & Tactical Map[/h2]
  • The animation for out-of-supply sectors has been updated to be in line with previous Company of Heroes games, flashing between two different tones of blue (or red for enemy territories).
  • Territory lines will no longer disappear in out-of-supply sectors.

[h2]Modding[/h2]
  • To ease the work of modders who might want to approach the tuning of flight and off-map systems for the first time, we have created archetype abilities in the Attribute Editor to look at and use as an inspiration source, full of detailed comments on how to correctly set them up.

[h2]Off-Map Abilities - Multiplayer [/h2]
  • The intent of the changes to off-map abilities is to deliver a more robust, reliable and responsive system, while also improving the experience by providing more tells from both a visual and audio standpoint.

[h3]Off-Map Audio[/h3]
  • Added projectile sounds to off-map abilities that vary with the type of ability.

[h3]Flares[/h3]
  • Both off-map and flight abilities will now use an expanded set of flares, which will indicate the danger level of an ability.
  • Added yellow-colored flares for low threat abilities like unit mortar barrages abilities. Added orange-colored flares for medium threat abilities like strafing runs and standard off-map abilities with medium caliber weapons. The existing red-colored flares will now announce heavy threat abilities, like bombing, rocket runs, loiters and high caliber off-map abilities.
  • The green-colored flares will be kept for paradrop related abilities.

[h3]Sector Off-Maps[/h3]
  • Added sector highlight on both the minimap and tactical map that will inform players which territories are being covered by a sector ability. Sector abilities used by the player or allies will highlight the affected territories in yellow, those from opponents will turn them orange.

[h3]Ability Reticles[/h3]
  • Adjusted various reticles for abilities to match the effective radius or the ability type.

[h3]Ground Deformation[/h3]
  • Off-map ability projectiles now do ground deformation damage.

[h3]Off-map changes by faction[/h3]
[expand]
[h3]US Forces[/h3]
Special Operations Battlegroup Raiding Flares
  • Considerably reduced the ability delay.
  • The ability will now correctly spawn a flare on the highlighted territories.

[h3]Wehrmacht[/h3]
Breakthrough Battlegroup Zeroing Artillery Barrage
  • Shells will initially drop more scattered and in fewer number, increasing in number and accuracy over time.

[h3]British Forces[/h3]
Indian Artillery Battlegroup Off-Map Airburst Barrage
  • Adjusted ability to be significantly more reliable.
  • Reduced the ability effectiveness against neutral buildings
Perimeter Monitor
  • Perimeter Monitor will feature three separate artillery that will individually target any visible unit with heavy artillery, followed by a delay before new targets are acquired.
  • Perimeter Monitor now shows area of effect on the covered sectors for both the minimap and tactical map. Sectors affected will be yellow to the player team and orange to the enemies.
British Armored Battlegroup Recon Artillery
  • Now usable anywhere on the map except on HQ areas.
  • Recon artillery airplane call-in now gives vision for artillery to be dropped on visible enemy units.
  • Ability will now end if the recon airplane gets destroyed.
  • Enemy units inside their HQ sectors will not be targeted by artillery, even if inside the ability area of effect.
  • Munitions cost reduced from 180 to 150.
  • Plane health increased from 240 to 640.
British Air and Sea Battlegroup Assault Flares
  • Frontline sectors will be highlighted on the minimap and tactical map, and recon flares will be dropped to provide vision of the area.
  • Rate of fire bonuses decreased from +50% to +25%
Naval Bombardment
  • Ability reworked to be significantly more lethal and reliable.
  • Cost increased from 200 to 225
  • Heavily increased the number of projectiles fired.
  • Near AOE damage distance decreased from 4 to 2
  • Reduced damage from 440 to 280

[h3]Deutsches Afrikakorps[/h3]
Italian Infantry Battlegroup Propaganda War
  • Ability will now correctly work only on squads capable of retreating.
  • Slightly reduced the delay after which units are retreated.

Obice 305mm Barrage
  • Ability reworked to be significantly more reliable.
Registered Artillery
  • Ability can now be cast on player owned Victory Points independently by the owner of the resource sector on which they are located.
  • Shells will initially drop more scattered and in fewer number, increasing in number and accuracy over time.
  • Updated projectiles Area of Effect profile to be more effective.
Italian Combined Arms Battlegroup Artillery Cover
  • Enemy units inside their HQ sectors will not be targeted by artillery, even if inside the ability area of effect.
  • Radius increased considerably.
  • The ability will feature three separate artillery that will individually target any visible infantry, team weapon and vehicle, dropping flares before each barrage.
  • When the ability is used, it will now highlight the covered area and start looking for possible enemy targets.
[/expand]

[h2]Team Weapons[/h2]
Aim while on reload/cooldown cycles
  • Team weapons can now move the barrel to acquire a new target while the reload or cooldown phases of the team weapon are happening. They will no longer wait for these phases to be completed before acquiring a new target.
Idle state
  • Team weapons are now able to track and start the setup process much better when the weapon is not set up and an enemy moves into range. Previously it was possible that the team weapon would indefinitely try to follow the center of a squad as it moved.

Prioritization
  • Team weapons now only start to teardown if ALL entities of the targeted enemy squad are out of the arc of fire. Previously it was possible that entities from the enemy squad were still targetable, but the team weapon chose to teardown

Teardown
  • Team weapons now teardown much faster. Barrels now snap to the center quicker to allow the team weapon to start the teardown process. This makes team weapons more responsive.

Turn in place range
  • Team weapons now have a range around them at which giving a re-face order won't make them move to the location. Most of the time, when doing a proximity click near a team weapon with a re-face order, the intent of the player is to pivot and not move, which adds extra delay.

[h2]Unit Selection[/h2]
  • Increased the selection boxes for infantry. This will help when selecting infantry, both the player’s and the opponent’s.
  • Retreating units no longer remain selected or selectable.
  • When re-selecting units, the game will now reset any previously opened menus such as construction.


ABILITY BALANCE CHANGES


[h2]Auto-Reverse [/h2]
Anti-tank guns and all vehicles
  • Auto-reverse range is now reduced to 40 from 60.

[h2]Camouflage Ambush Bonuses [/h2]
  • All infantry squads now use the same camouflage ambush bonus. +40% accuracy and +25% damage for 5 seconds when firing from camouflage.

[h2]Casemate Tank Destroyers [/h2]
Marders, StuG IIIs, Brummbars, Semovente, 75mm Halftrack Gun Motor Carriage
  • Casemates will now center themselves when a target is outside its arc.
  • Casemates gun now tracks their target without moving their hull.
  • Casemates guns now traverse, target and fire within their arc without needing to be perfectly centered.

[h2]Cover Combat[/h2]
  • The range where small-arms weapons ignore cover is increased from 7 to 10 meters

[h2]Hazard Removal Package[/h2]
US Forces, British Forces, and Wehrmacht
  • Hazard Removal Package is now standardized across the board for all factions to increase the repair rate by 2.5 for a total of 10 health per second when repairing.

[h2]Heavy Howitzers/Artillery[/h2]
  • BL 5.5 Inch, Cannone da 105
  • Barrage recharge times from 60 to 45.

[h2]Infantry-Based Timed and Passive Healing Abilities [/h2]
  • Squad based timed combat abilities such as sprints and passive squad healing abilities are now disabled when the unit is retreating.

[h2]Medium Anti-Tank Guns[/h2]
M1, 6-Pounder, Pak 40, Pak 38
  • Increased the pack-up time from 1.3 to 1.75 seconds. However, anti-tank guns are now more responsive.

[h2]Medium Artillery[/h2]
Pack Howitzer, 4.2-Inch Mortar, Le.IG 18
  • Barrage recharge times from 30 to 20.

[h2]Projectiles[/h2]
  • Direct-fire projectiles such as direct-fire tank guns, anti-tank guns, autocannons, and flamethrowers were reviewed. These changes will increase the reliability of vehicles when firing over low obstacles and prevent exploits when firing through objects.
  • All projectiles will immediately collide with obstacles when they miss their target and roll scatter.
  • Projectiles will now use 3D paths to their targets. This prevents them from auto-colliding with low obstacles in their way such as mines and walls if the shooter would normally be able to fire over the obstacle.

[h2]Recon Loiters [/h2]
  • Airborne Recon Loiter plane health increased from 240 to 480.
  • Recon Artillery plane health increased from 240 to 640.

[h2]Repairs[/h2]
  • Repair abilities will now have increased speed when they are affected by modifiers. Bonuses will stack to grant faster repair speeds.

[h2]Suppression[/h2]
  • Units that are suppressed now take a +33% penalty to weapon scatter on missed hits. This change is meant to increase the chance of weapons such as grenade launchers no longer landing directly on their target when the unit wielding it is suppressed.

[h2]Uncrewed Machine Guns and Mortars[/h2]
  • Target size increased from 1 to 20 to facilitate force-attacks on de-crewed weapons.

[h2]Snipers[/h2]
  • Build time decreased from 50 to 40 seconds.

Emerald Bear Mission Briefing



Our latest 1.2.0 update, Emerald Bear, will be coming to Company of Heroes 3 on PC on Tuesday, July 25th. This update will include two new maps, several system improvements, new player profiles, bug fixes, and changes to multiplayer balance. This summary of the update won’t cover everything coming in Emerald Bear, so be sure to review the full patch notes releasing tomorrow.

For now, you can find all the details below on the changes coming in Emerald Bear, or you can check out this quick recap.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

As we laid out in our Road Ahead post, our team is hard at work on additional improvements and content for Company of Heroes 3, and we hope to have more news on those long-term plans in the near future. We originally planned on releasing a Roadmap in July, but we are taking additional time to readjust and make sure our roadmap reflects priorities that will improve the player experience and that our team is confident to deliver on.

Our team has had to realign a few priorities, and that will mean some changes we wanted to introduce to the Italian Dynamic Campaign and to the friends list / party invitations needed to move out of this update. We have introduced some fixes that we think will improve those experiences, however, we hope to include more substantial changes in a future update.

[h2]New Content[/h2]

Emerald Bear will see the introduction of two new maps for all game modes, including PvP Quick Match, Co-op vs A.I., Skirmish, and Custom games.

First up, we have Benghazi, suitable for 3vs3 battles. This port city features deadly urban combat through narrow streets and industrial complexes. Benghazi represented a critical location along the North African coastline. Broad ports and defensible positions made it an inevitable battlefield in Rommel's campaign. Ultimately it changed hands five times in the course of the war.



Benghazi

Next, we have Monte Cavo, suitable for 4vs4 battles. This map features a nighttime raid on a mountaintop military facility, surrounded by dense forest and rocky escarpments. This was the final mountain that stood between the Allied forces and Rome. Nearly twice the height of Monte Cassino, the foothills and summit of this landscape proved vital for securing communications and visibility in Western Italy.



Monte Cavo

[h2]Features & Improvements[/h2]

[h3]Player Profile [/h3]
Player Profiles are the new hub for all the information about your rank, statistics and matches. You can find all the details and some additional previews of this feature here.



[h3]Pathfinding [/h3]
Our team has begun overhauling pathfinding to ensure units move and react in a more immersive way. We have several changes coming in this update to address that; however, this work is ongoing, and we’ll have additional improvements down the road. In this update you’ll see changes to how vehicles turn, end their movement, move in formation, deal with blocked paths and more. You can see some examples of these improvements here, here and here.

[h3]Team Weapons [/h3]
Team weapons have been updated to make them more responsive and self-sufficient. They can now acquire new targets while reloading or on cooldown, can track enemies and setup from an idle state more efficiently, and will teardown much faster. They will also now more accurately respond to reface orders instead of packing up and moving.

[h3]Off-Map Abilities[/h3]
Off-map abilities have been reworked for multiplayer so that they are more robust, reliable and responsive. They will also provide more information, or tells, both visually and through audio. Projectile speed, acceleration, angle, height and offset have all been tweaked to accomplish this. They’ll now use different flare colors to indicate the danger level of an ability, and we’ve also added ground deformation to really shake up the battlefield. You can find the full list of changes in the patch notes. Some examples of off-map changes can be seen here and here.

[h3]Tooltips [/h3]
Many of our in-game tooltips have been updated to provide greater clarity and to alleviate any confusion when learning the game.

[h3]Challenges [/h3]
Several Challenges have been adjusted to make them easier to complete and to more closely align with how players would typically engage in a Company of Heroes 3 match.

[h2]Game Balance[/h2]

[h3]Vehicle Mobility [/h3]
All vehicles have had their speed, rotation rate, acceleration and deceleration adjusted. This work should improve vehicle responsiveness and also create a better distinction between types of vehicles and their classes.

[h3]Tank Destroyers [/h3]
Casemate tank destroyers will now be better at tracking and destroying targets. Their guns will now traverse and track targets, meaning there should be less points of frustration where your tank destroyers continually try to reposition themselves letting your enemy get away.

[h3]Projectiles [/h3]
Direct-fire projectiles such as tank guns, anti-tank guns, autocannons, and flamethrowers have all been reviewed to increase their effectiveness. This change will increase their reliability and prevent them from firing through certain blockers. This also means projectiles will no longer impact low obstacles like mines.

[h3]Factions & Units [/h3]
Each faction has received moderate balance adjustments to tone down some oppressive strategies and to improve other aspects of the factions that were either under picked or underperforming. We’ll leave the specifics for tomorrow’s patch notes! As a preview, we’ve toned down the US Forces Easy Eights, while improving their Elite Infantry. The Wehrmacht are seeing some changes to minimize their dominance right now, while also improving a few underused units. The British Forces will be getting some general improvements as the changes we made to the Training Center impacted them more than we anticipated. And finally, the Deutsches Afrikakorps will be getting some adjustments to address their key weaknesses in the early game to encourage different styles of play.

[h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]

As with every update, we have several bug fixes coming to all areas of the game. Those include:
  • Performance
  • Audio
  • Art & Animation
  • General Gameplay
  • Singleplayer – Italian Dynamic Campaign and North African Operation
  • User Interface & User Experience (UI/UX)

Some notable bug fixes include:
  • The end-of-match statistics screen is now more accurate and will improve players’ understanding of what happened during the match.
  • Players can now save during the Gela tutorial, that gives players the option to take additional time to complete the tutorial without being reset.
  • Fixes to prevent certain ability cancellation exploits.
  • The A.I. will no longer be able to ignore the boundary lines of the map to move units outside of the playable space.

You can review the rest of the bug fixes tomorrow in the full patch notes!

Get ready for Emerald Bear releasing tomorrow on PC! We’re looking forward to hearing your feedback and seeing you dig in to all the changes coming in this update. Be sure to jump into our official forums or Discord to discuss the update with other players and to leave us your thoughts. To tide you over in the meantime, be sure to check out our Emerald Bear deep dives with the Design team!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Wire Report - July 21, 2023



Just a few days left before the Emerald Bear PC Update! This Wire Report is meant to catch you up and cover the news from the last couple weeks, along with showcasing content our players have been sharing with us.

[h2]NEWS[/h2]

[h3]Emerald Bear – Preview Livestream [/h3]
Last Friday, we had the chance to host a preview of the content coming in Emerald Bear in July. Hosted by John and gameplay designers Miguel and Marco, this preview covers changes coming to:
  • Pathfinding
  • Vehicles
  • Weapon Traverse
  • Team Weapons
  • Post Match Results
  • Unit Selection
  • Off Map Abilities
  • Balance Adjustments
  • Follow Camera & Building Selection
  • Daily / Weekly Challenges
  • Player Profile
  • Maps


[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h3]Emerald Bear Release [/h3]
We previously announced that the Emerald Bear update will release on PC on July 25th. for a late July release. There is no release date for consoles for this update yet, though we intend to get the Console Edition additional updates in the coming months.



[h3]Next Console Release [/h3]
As we’re getting closer to the Emerald Bear PC Update, we’ve seen more questions about the next console update. We plan on catching console up to the 1.1.6 update (Brass Leopard) in the Fall. This update will not include the in-game store or Challenges, but will bring over all gameplay changes, balance, bugfixes and quality of life improvements that have come to PC up to 1.1.6.

[h3]Sneak Peeks [/h3]


[h3]Player Profile Information [/h3]
Player Profiles are coming in the Emerald Bear (1.2.0) PC update. The Player Profile displays information about ranked match rating, player rank and additional statistics about matches. You can find a Q&A and our full write-up on this new feature here.



[h2]DEVELOPER SITREP[/h2]

[h3]Next Livestream [/h3]
Next Thursday July 27th our Community Managers will be hosting a play session and having casual chats with their guests. Tune in for a laid-back gameplay session.



[h3]Mission Briefing [/h3]
You don't have time to catch up on our news and live showcases, but you still want to know what’s coming in Emerald Bear? Next Monday, July 24th we are releasing a Mission Briefing video and blogpost for Emerald Bear that will cover all the important update information.

[h3]Emerald Bear Patch Notes [/h3]
Patch notes are planned to be released on the day of the Emerald Bear update, July 25th. These notes will be detailed and extensive, so make sure you carve out some time to review them.

[h2]PARTNER CONTENT[/h2]

[h3]Master League Support [/h3]
We are happy to announce that Relic will be contributing $1,000 to support the prize pool for the Master League 2023 Finals. The Master League is a community run tournament series hosted by AE, and this year's finals will be held on the first three Saturdays of August. Catch up on the CoH3 Master League action here.

[h2]COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT[/h2]

[h3]Memes [/h3]
Allied players when their off-map abilities get buffed – by Viceroy

[h3]Sherman Fields[/h3]
Arteliese has released their latest map to the workshop. Check it out!







That's it for this week. Remember to hydrate and get ready for next week’s Emerald Bear PC update!

You can submit your content for consideration by using the hashtag #CoHCommunity or by sharing screenshots, links and videos on our Discord or Forums.

[h2]LINKS[/h2]

Play CoH3 Official Forums Steam
Technical Support
YouTube
Twitch
Discord
Facebook
Twitter Instagram

Introducing Player Profiles



Player Profiles are coming next week in the Emerald Bear (1.2.0) PC update. They can be accessed by clicking on your own portrait at the top of the screen in the main menu, or by clicking the portrai of another player. You can also find it by clicking the “...” next to the name of a player in several different menus.Player Profiles will contain information about ranked match rating, rank (a.k.a. rank level for those familiar with the web leaderboards), and some statistics about matches.

Like our web leaderboards, elo (a rating system measuring sill level) is per faction per match size, meaning that you have a separate rating and rank for 4v4 American and 1v1 American. The reason for this is to encourage players to experiment with different factions and strategies without impacting their score for the others. We understand that you may have a favorite and don't want you to lose standing for switching it up once in a while!

Overview of the Player Profile

Example statistics from 4vs4 Quick Match

Your profile will also contain info about Co-op vs A.I. although this mode does not have a rating. You can still measure your wins and losses and track hours played per faction.

Example statistics from the Co-op vs A.I. selection

You can jump directly to the web leaderboards from the player profile, which we hope helps the visibility of our competitive community and also helps new players join in the competition.

Some additional changes coming along with Player Profiles include:
  • Players now have ranking for their quick match elo rating (see below).
  • Updated artwork for faction icons.
  • Added elo rating, rating change, and rank icons to the post match stats screen. Only the current player's change will be shown, but all players' elo and rank is displayed.


The updated Match Stats will show ELO loss and gain

Ranking System


Multiplayer quick match rating now gives players a League and Tier rank based on their elo as follows. This corresponds with the "rank levels" previously displayed on the leaderboard.

Placement -- New players start here! Play a few matches and you will move into a specific league and tier. You will need 10 matches for each faction in a specific game mode to earn a rank.

Brass III: 0-299 rating
Brass II: 300-599 rating
Brass I: 600-799 rating

Bronze III: 800-999 rating
Bronze II: 1000-1049 rating
Bronze I: 1050-1099 rating

Iron III: 1100-1149 rating
Iron II: 1150-1199 rating
Iron I: 1200-1249 rating

Silver III: 1250-1299 rating
Silver II: 1300-1349 rating
Silver I: 1350-1399 rating

Gold III: 1400-1499 rating
Gold II: 1500-1599 rating
Gold I: 1600+ rating, but not in the top 50 players per leaderboard

Challenger V: 1600+ rating, top 50 players
Challenger IV: 1600+ rating, top 25 players
Challenger III: 1600+ rating, top 10 players
Challenger II: 1600+ rating, top 5 players
Challenger I: 1600+ rating, current top player.

Player Profiles FAQ


Q: Ranking? I thought this was an unranked mode!

A: This was a difficult choice for us. While we would love to have a separate ranked mode, we also want to support players who queue for Co-op vs. AI plus all the different combinations of faction and match size for both Multiplayer PvP and Co-op. Each queue splits the player base and has the potential to lengthen queue times. We know that you value shorter queue times and don't want to lengthen them by splitting the queues even more. In addition, we are currently sticking to the historical realism of enforcing Axis vs. Allies, so it is possible for one side or the other to have a longer wait time. Adding a separate queue would put more pressure on this. Instead, we've opted to keep a single set of multiplayer queues and changed the wording in-game to remove references to "unranked" as this was misleading.

We already have web leaderboards for the quick match queue, and we intend to maintain that. It made more sense to expose the fact that quick match is ranked in a way that is easily accessible in the game, rather than it being a feature that players discover through the community.

Q: Will you reset the leaderboards?

A: This was another tricky one. We've decided not to reset the leaderboards at this time. Although there was not an in-game ranking system before, members of our competitive community worked hard to top the web leaderboards and we don't want to reset progress without a reason such as changing the underlying way that ranks are calculated. Since the release of player profiles does not change the underlying system, only expose it, it did not make sense to reset everyone's progress.

Q: Ranks? Leagues? Does this mean there will be seasons or seasonal resets?

A: Currently, no. We were focused on adding player profiles as soon as possible, as this was one of the big community requests we've been getting since the game launched. It was more important to us to get this into players' hands sooner rather than develop a more complex seasonal system. This means that for now elo is persistent and does not reset. It also means that placement is a one-time status per leaderboard.