After analysing the effectiveness of aircraft that have new FOX-3 missiles and the number of game sessions involving top aircraft, we’ve decided to carry out decompression at Battle Ratings 10.0 to 13.0 and raise the maximum Battle Rating to 13.7. By doing this, we look to solve several problems at once: to separate the very best aircraft with the most advanced weapons currently in game from earlier 3rd and 4th generations of aircraft, and to also separate attack aircraft with all-aspect missiles from many opponents who don’t have these weapons and effective ways of countering them.
Please note that these Battle Rating changes will only apply to Air Battles and do not impact combined battles. It’s also worth noting that these are unscheduled Battle Rating changes, so they only include changes to the Battle Ratings of higher-ranking aircraft associated with an increase to the maximum Battle Rating. Changes for other types of vehicles, as well as changes for lower Battle Rating aircraft, will be made as part of the planned Battle Rating changes that we do at a later date. Regarding the individual spawn points for subsonic attack aircraft with all-aspect missiles, we’ll monitor the statistics of these aircraft after decompression and your reaction and feedback will help us decide whether this change is needed at a later date.
As Battle Rating decompression will also affect Simulator Battles, we’ll also make changes to the rotation of the available Battle Rating ranges in Air Simulator Battles.
Along with the Battle Rating changes, we’re also planning to change the stock weapon loadouts of Rank VIII aircraft, which are available to you without unlocking modifications. Since high-ranking battles are often decided by the presence of medium-range missiles and the battle often begins at distances inaccessible to short-range IR missiles, we’ll issue two medium-range missiles to all Rank VIII aircraft without the need to research the corresponding modification. For aircraft that can carry just 2 of these missiles, the modification for them will be removed and any Golden Eagles, Silver Lions and Research Points spent will be refunded. However, there are also several vehicles that don’t have medium-range missiles as part of their armament. For those particular cases, we’ll supplement the stock set of missiles available with another pair of improved short-range missiles. For those particular aircraft, if an opportunity exists during its research path, four IR missiles will be immediately available without researching any modifications.
These changes will come to the game in an update next week. You can see all of the changes in the table through the link below.