Introducing the New Multirole Fighters

Pilots,

Now that the 1.6 Public Test is underway, the time has come to highlight yet another upcoming new feature. As you may have already seen for yourself, Update 1.6 will ntroduce a new class for a select group of planes: The Multirole Aircraft!

All of the other classes -- Fighters, Heavy Fighters and Attack Aircraft -- will remain in the game. The “new” Multirole Fighter class is (for now) composed of 28 aircraft which used to be designated as Fighters. However, before exploring the reason behind this change, let’s take a look at which aircraft are affected and how this will reshuffle each nation’s Tech Trees:

Update 1.6 Tech Trees

So why separate these fighters, you ask? The answer is simple: To better convey the universal nature of these special aircraft.

USSR	US	Japan

	UK	Germany

As you can see from the Tech Tree images above, Multirole Fighters are aircraft situated somewhere between Fighters and Heavy Fighters in terms of their roles. While they are fast and nimble enough to be considered Fighters, they also feature the option to carry higher-penetrating guns and/or explosive outboard weapons (rockets or even bombs). However, in order to show that these aircraft need to be played differently if you do decide to equip extra payload, our designers elected to put them in a class of their own, which will prepare you for the new game style from the start.

As such, every nation’s tech tree is now going to begin with a Multirole Fighter. By flying one of these new planes, new players will be able to experience the best of both worlds right from the start of their World of Warplanes journey. The new tier I Multirole Fighter will allow you to pursue enemies in air-to-air dogfights (albeit a bit less effectively than with a pure Fighter) or focus on enemy ground targets instead by using your superior variety of armament options – all without having to switch to a different plane!

New Multirole Fighters

A reworked set of Multirole Fighters: F4U-1 Corsair, Fw 190 D, Yak-9U.

In general, Multirole Fighters won’t be able to match regular Fighters in terms of manoeuvrability or speed. They also won’t be able to fly as high or gain altitude as fast as a Heavy Fighter. Compared to a classic Attack Aircraft, a Multirole Fighter will be less durable – making it more vulnerable to AA-flak. Therefore, it’s easy to characterize Multirole Fighters as all-rounders, capable of doing a bit of everything quite well, but not spectacularly.

Still, their versatility is what’s going to set them apart from the competition and make them interesting to fly both for newcomers and veterans who like to switch it up.

More Info

If you’d like to know more on this subject, head over to our Developers’ Blog, where Game Designer Kirill Gladsky dives deeper into the matter of the new Multirole Fighters, explaining the reasons behind their introduction by means of a gameplay and historical analysis.