Update 0.5.3 is Live!

Pilots!

The next update to World of Warplanes is here! This is a big update, too, with the introduction of British planes being the most significant addition. Also notable are numerous changes made to existing tech trees, crew setups, weapon sets, and more. On top of that, everybody gets several new planes, on the house, for testing purposes. 

Read on for the full list of updates being made in version 0.5.3!

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0.5.3 Update Notes

Contents

• Notable New Features
• Players' Aircraft and Items
• Gameplay Changes
• Equipment & Crew
• Achievements, Medals & Ribbons
• New Content
• Upgrade Changes
• Research Tree Changes

 Notable new features

• Tech trees were finalized and brought to the release version.
• The British tech tree has been introduced.
• A number of new planes have been given to all players for testing!
• A special plane is available to be purchased with Tokens. This plane, if acquired, will stay in the hangar after the release wipe.
• Advanced settings for mouse control have been introduced.
• Considerable work has been done to optimize the game client.

See below for all the details!

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Players' Aircraft and Items

• Owners of the following planes: F5U, 109TL, LBSh, J4M1, or Me.609 will receive compensation equal to the purchase price of these aircraft. These planes will be still in players’ hangars, but they will be removed from tech trees and will be unavailable for further purchase.
• All equipment and consumables, both mounted on planes and stocked in the depot, will be sold for their purchase price.
• All types of ammo belts will be deleted from planes and from the depot. Default ammo type will be set for all planes, and each plane in the hangar will get 10 ammo belts of each available type for every weapon installed on the plane.
• Modules tree was changed for some planes (listed below). 
• If all or some of the listed planes were researched, all modules will also be researched for them.
• If all or some of the listed planes were acquired, they will receive top configuration (and get 10 belts of each available type for their top weapons).
• All remaining goods will be removed from the depot.
• 10 new planes were given to all players for testing purposes (eight "gift" planes and two new premium planes), and an additional hangar slot was given for each plane. ATTENTION: most of these planes cannot be reacquired if sold (only two of them can be purchased, but you will have to spend your own tokens to purchase them).
• All planes that became obsolete after this update (such as old premium planes and planes from tech trees) will remain in the hangar until the release of the game. Such planes, if sold, cannot be reacquired.

More detailed information with a list of changed planes can be found further below.

Gameplay Changes

General gameplay:

• Tech trees were finalized and brought to the release version.
• A pilot's vulnerability to damage was increased for all planes (i.e., pilots will be wounded more often).
• Shooting was made a bit more accurate while turning or climbing, and a bit less accurate when shooting from above to below. Reduced dispersion for machine guns of low-tier planes.
• Durability of planes and weapons was rebalanced to reduce the gaps between tiers.
• Increased minimum damage dealt by hits of certain plane parts (wing or tail penetrated, for instance).

Controls:

• New controls settings were added for the "Mouse" profile. The Settings presets sets allow you to switch between "Standard", "Vector" (similar to "0.4.1") and "hybrid" (similar to "0.3.5") mouse presets.
• Advanced Settings window allows you to configure your mouse control, making it more flexible.
• Control profile "Mouse 0.4.1" was removed, as it is currently included as an option for "mouse" control type.

Battle Balancing:

• Battles of tiers II-III and III-IV were added. In such battles, tier II planes will not meet tier IV planes.
• Battles of tiers III-V and above still exist, so tier III planes can still meet tier V planes in battles.

Battle levels changed for certain maps:

• National Park was made available for planes of tiers III to VI
• Pacific Ocean was made available for planes of tiers III to VII
• Arctic Region was made available for planes of tiers IV to IX
• Lighthouse was made available for planes of tiers V to X
• Plateau was made available for planes of tiers V to X
• Bay was made available for planes of tiers V to X

Physics:

• Behavior was changed for autopilot that moves the plane back from the map border (the “red line”). Autopilot was made more sensitive to the topographic features. In autopilot, the camera will be aimed in the flight direction.
• Stall effect is made more intense, i.e., planes will drop faster when stalled.
• Planes can climb more effectively.
• Maneuverability and altitude performance of fighter planes were adjusted as follows: 
  • Japanese and U.S.S.R. fighters have high maneuverability and are better suited for low-altitude turning engagement. 
  • American and German fighters are better suited for vertical-maneuvering battles and have better performance at high altitude. 
  • British fighters are better suited for maneuvering at medium altitude. 
• Maneuverability of U.S.S.R. ground attack planes at low altitudes was improved slightly.
• Speed characteristics were slightly reduced for all planes when not using engine boost. Difference in speed characteristics between stock and top engines was reduced.
• Fixed the bug that caused "twitching" of other planes.

Sound:

• The sounds of all engines were changed to new ones.
• Weapons sounds were adjusted.
• Overall sound balance adjustments.
• Music tracks were added for the Eastern Front and Fjords maps.

Tutorial:

• The game pauses when key tips of tutorial lessons are displayed.
• Second stage of the second lesson was simplified.
• Third stage of the second lesson was simplified.
• Battle messages were added to the third lesson.
• Single battle mode was removed.

Game Locations:

New maps were introduced:

• Fjords: a mountain map for planes of tiers V to X.
• Eastern Front: a great city battle of WWII for planes of tiers IV to VIII.

• Anti-aircraft guns were placed differently in Port, Lighthouse, and Arctic Region.
• Rendering distance parameters were optimized for game and static objects.
• Water display was re-worked and optimized for some locations (Port; Pacific Ocean; Lighthouse; Arctic Region; Bay).
• Lighting and post-processes were changed for the Lighthouse location.

Optimization:

• Large-scaled CPU optimization was implemented, resulting in significant FPS boosts on Medium and lower settings for most systems.
• Rendering of planes and dynamic objects was optimized, resulting in less FPS drops during battles.
• A number of post-processes were optimized, allowing a small increase in FPS for High and Very High graphics settings.

Plane Rendering:

• "Materials" were improved for number of planes: Yak-3, Yak-7, Yak-1, Yak-9, Il-2-2, I-16(l), La-5, La-7, P-40, F4U, F4F, Ar.65, Type-91N.
• Parameters of planes' LODs rendering distance were optimized.

Choosing Targets:

• A button is assigned to lock the target in the center of the screen (middle mouse button by default)
• Targeta in the center of the screen can be locked at a distance of up to 3 km.
• When player has no target locked in the target window, clicking "next target" button for the first time locks the target without switching to the next one. If a target was locked, clicking "next target" button will switch the selection to the next target.

Camouflage:

• Camos will be reset to default for all planes.
• Camos with camouflage bonus for different locations can be acquired in the "Exterior" window. Values of camouflage bonuses will be adjusted further in future versions of the game.

Effects:

• Mechanics of high-altitude AA fire display was reworked.
• Background effects outside the battle area were added for some maps.
• Parameters of the tracer displays were modified.

Weapons:

• The list of available cannons and machine guns was expanded, including a number of American and Japanese cannons of various modifications.
• Tiers of some cannons and machine guns were changed.
• Prices of ammo for some cannons and machine guns were changed.
• Calculation of the "Firepower" hangar characteristic was corrected.
• Damage radius for high-caliber bombs was decreased.

Battle Interface:

• Radar increased in scale; ground targets are not displayed on radar.
• The target point (a circle in which player must shoot to hit the target) is now calculated and shown for the plane's most powerful weapon.
• Bombsight is made visible through the plane.

Interface:

• Ammo belts can now be purchased and sold at the Store.
• Mouse Advanced setting window was added.
• Barracks can now be expanded.
• Crew penalty is shown correctly when crew is transfrerred from one plane to another without re-training.
• "Carrier-based fighters" have been renamed to "fighters."
• Turret characteristics are now displayed in the hangar.

Chat:

• Timestamps for chat messages.
• Ability to check other players' achievements through a context menu.
• Contact filter was added to the list of channel participants -- you can now find a player by his nickname.
• All chat UI elements re-skinned.

Equipment & Crew

Equipment:

"Aircraft Polishing" divided into:

• Tier IV-V - " Aircraft Polishing I" - 150,000
• 6-8 tier - " Aircraft Polishing II" - 250,000

Instead of "Reinforced Fabric Covering", "Reinforced Wooden Covering" and "Reinforced Metal Covering," the following types of reinforced covering were introduced:

• Tier I-III - "Reinforced Covering I" - 25,000
• Tier IV-VI - "Reinforced Covering II" - 125,000
• Tier VII-VIII - "Reinforced Covering III" - 350,000
• Tier IX-X - "Reinforced Covering IV" - 500,000

"Armored Plexiglass" divided into:

• Tier IV-V - "Armored Plexiglass I" - 75.000
• Tier VI-VIII - "Armored Plexiglass II" - 250,000
• Tier IX-X - "Armored Cockpit" - 400,000

"Additional Armor Plates" divided into:

• Tier II-IV - "Additional Armor Plates I" - 50,000
• Tier V-VII - "Additional Armor Plates II" - 200,000
• Tier VIII-X - "Additional Armor Plates III" - 500,000
• Equipment "Fuel Tank Inerting System" (tier VI-VII; 250,000) made removable (non-complex)
• Equipment "Fire Extinguishing System" (tier VIII-X; 300,000) made removable (non-complex)

New equipment:

• "Improved Reflector Sight II" (Tier VII-VIII, U.S.S.R., Japan, 450,000)
• "Gyroscope Sight II" (Tier IX-X, U.S.S.R., Japan, Germany, 550,000)
• "Fuel Tank Protection" (Tier IV-V, 150,000), removable (non-complex)

Crew:

“Navigator” crew profession is removed. If the navigator of Fw-57 was in a plane or in barracks, he will be dismissed without compensation.

Crew skillsets are as follows:

• Pilot skills: 
• Stamina, Increased View Range, Firefighting - can be learned after 100% training of pilot's profession
• Crack Shot, Engine Guru, Veteran, Bomber - can be learned after 100% training of at least one skill from the list above
• Gunner skills: 
  • Stamina, Increased View Range, Firefighting - can be learned after 100% training of gunner's profession
  • Tutor, Long Reach, Sharpshooter - can be learned after 100% training of at least one skill from the list above

All ten 0.5.3 Premium gift planes, as well as three original tier I planes will receive a full crew with 100% training qualification.

Polikarpov I-5
Boeing P-12
Gloster Goldfinch

Premium Gift Planes:

 Polikarpov I-5 SHKAS
Ilyushin IL-2 (mod)
Messerschmitt Bf.110C-6
Supermarine Type 224
Miles M.20
XF4F-3 
Curtiss Model81A-1
Curtiss Р-36С
Chance-Vought XF4U-1
Mitsubishi Ki-33

For planes in the list below (should be in the hangar), the crew was removed replaced with a new crew with 700,000 experience per member. This is enough for a 100% training qualification, two 100% additional skills and the choice of one third additional skill:

USSR	Germany	USA	Japan
Tomashevich Pegasus	Ar.65	F2A	A4N
I-16 (early)	Ar.68	F4F	A5M
TSh-3	Fw.56	F4U-1	A6M1
I-16 (late)	AGO Ao.192	P-51A	A6M5
I-17	Ar.80	P-51D	A7M
LBSh	Fw.57	F2G	J4M1
LaGG-3	Bf.109B	P-51H	J7W1
Yak-1	Bf.110B	F5U	J7W2
Yak-7	Bf.109E	FJ-1
IL-2	Bf.110E
La-5	Bf.109F
Yak-1М	Me.410
Yak-9	Bf.109G
IL-2(d)	Bf.109Z
La-7	Me.609
Yak-9У	Me.209A1
Yak-3	Me.262
IL-10	Me.P.1092
IL-8	Me.109TL
La-9
IL-20

The crews of all the other airplanes go unchanged.

Achievements, medals and ribbons

General:

• Ribbons are now awarded for achieving long streaks of certain accomplishments in the game. Ribbons show your record for the longest streak in the Achievements window.
• Certain achievements that required the destruction of a set number of ground targets now require the player to amass a certain number of ground attack points instead. This amplifies the importance of HQ destruction, which grants 3 of such points at a time.
• Changed requirements for "Destroyer", "Wrecking Crew" and "Ground Pounder" medals:
• "Destroyer" is now awarded to players who managed to bring down 4 and more enemy planes and earned no less than 3 points for ground object destruction.
• "Wrecking Crew" now requires a squad to bring down at least 5 planes, earn a minimum of combined 15 points for ground object destruction, and have the entire squad survive. All squad members are awarded the achievement.
• "Ground Pounder" now requires at least 30 points earned for destroying ground objects during 1 or multiple battles. The sequence is broken if the player gets shot down.

Added new medals:

• "Thunder" - Requires no less than 15 ground attack destruction points earned in a single battle.
• "Rechkalov medal" - Awarded to a player, who managed to bring down 5 or more enemy planes on his own without teammates’ assistance.
• "Sakai medal" - Awarded to a player, who managed to bring down 8 or more enemy planes on his own without teammates’ assistance.
• "Kozhedub medal" - Awarded to a player, who managed to bring down 10 or more enemy planes on his own without teammates’ assistance.
• "Marseille medal" - Awarded to a player, who managed to bring down 8 or more enemy planes in a single battle.
• "McCampbell medal" - Awarded to a player, who managed to bring down 10 or more enemy planes in single battle.
• "Closterman medal" is now awarded to players who managed to bring down 7 and more enemy planes and earned no less than 3 points for ground object destruction.
• "Gabreski medal" is now awarded to players who managed to bring down 9 and more enemy planes and earned no less than 3 points for ground object destruction.
• Achievements "Sky Knight", "Ground Pounder" and "Golubev medal" are now moved to medals. This essentially means that you may earn them once per battle, not just once overall.

Added new achievements:

• Pilot 2nd Class - Awarded to players, who won in standard battle.
• Pilot 1st Class - Awarded to players, who won in standard battle, and ranked in the Top 5 of their team in terms earned XP.
• Rocketeer - Awarded to a player, who destroyed an enemy plane with a rocket.
• Sniper - Rocketeer - Awarded to a player who destroyed 2 enemy planes with rockets in one single battle.
• Ace - Rocketeer - Awarded to a player who destroyed 3 enemy planes with rockets in one single battle.
• Expert (Attack Aircraft) - Awarded to players who got 10 "Thunder" medals flying Attack Aircraft.
• Virtuoso (Attack Aircraft) - Awarded to players who got 100 "Thunder" medals flying Attack Aircraft.
• Legendary (Attack Aircraft) - Awarded to players who got 1000 "Thunder" medals flying Attack Aircraft.
• Virtuoso (Fighter) - Awarded to players who got 100 "Ace" medals flying Fighter planes.
• Legendary (Fighter) - Awarded to players who got 1000 "Ace" medals flying Fighter planes.
• Achievement of 10 "Ace" medals now is called "Expert".
• Due to the fact that Carrier-based aircraft are now considered Fighters, they will lose certain achievements that were present before.
• Virtuoso (Heavy Fighter) - Awarded to players who got 100 "Destroyer" medals flying Heavy Fighters.
• Legendary (Heavy Fighter) - awarded to players who got 1000 "Destroyer" medals flying Heavy Fighters.
• Achievement of 10 "Destroyer" medals now is called "Expert" (for Heavy Fighters).
• Legendary (Carrier-based Fighter) – will not be compensated (i.e. it will not count for the Legendary (Fighter) achievement)

Achievements, medals and ribbons

General:

• Ribbons are now awarded when establishing a new record in the series. Ribbons display the max length of the series in the achievements window.
• Conditions that previously included the destruction of certain number of objects are now ruled by the specific number of points earned for it. This is quite important when headquarters are destroyed.
• Changed conditions of getting "Destroyer", "Wrecking Crew" and "Ground Pounder" medals:
  • "Destroyer" is now awarded to players who managed to bring down 4 or more enemy planes and earned no less than 3 points for objects' destruction.
  • "Wrecking Crew" now requires a squad to bring down at least 5 planes, earn at least 15 points for objects destruction, and all squad members must survive. All squad members are awarded.
  • "Ground Pounder" - requires at least 30 points earned for destroying enemy ground objects within one to several battles. The sequence will be canceled in case player lost his plane.

New medals added:

• "Thunder" - requires no less than 15 destruction points earned in a single battle.
• "Rechkalov medal" - awarded to a player who managed to bring down 5 or more enemy planes without teammates' help.
• "Rechkalov medal" - awarded to a player who managed to bring down 8 or more enemy planes without teammates' help.
• "Kozhedub medal" - awarded to a player who managed to bring down 10 or more enemy planes without teammates' help.
• "Marseille medal" - awarded to a player who managed to bring down 8 or more enemy planes in a single battle.
• "McCampbell medal" - awarded to a player who managed to bring down 10 or more enemy planes in a single battle.
• "Clostermann medal" is now awarded to players who managed to bring down 7 or more enemy planes and earned no less than 3 points for objects' destruction.
• "Gabreski medal" is now awarded to players who managed to bring down 9 or more enemy planes, and earned no less than 3 points for objects' destruction.
• Achievements "Sky Knight," "Ground Pounder" and "Golubev medal" are now moved to medals. Essentially, this means that you may earn them once per battle, not just once forever.

New achievements added:

• Pilot 2nd Class - awarded to players who won in a standard battle once.
• Pilot 1st Class - awarded to players who won in a standard battle, ranking in the top 5 by the XP earned.
• Rocketeer - awarded to players who destroyed an enemy plane with rocket.
• Sniper Rocketeer - awarded to a player who destroyed 2 enemy planes with rockets in a single battle.
• Ace Rocketeer - Now given for destroying 3 enemies with rockets in a single battle.
• Experienced (Attack aircraft) - awarded to players who got 10 "Thunder" medals flying ground-attack planes.
• Virtuoso (Attack aircraft) - awarded to players who got 100 "Thunder" medals flying ground-attack planes.
• Legendary (Attack aircraft) - awarded to players who got 1000 "Thunder" medals flying ground-attack planes.
• Experienced (fighters) - awarded to players who got 10 "Ace" medals flying fighter planes (achievement name changed!).
• Virtuoso (fighters) - awarded to players who got 100 "Ace" medals flying fighter planes.
• Legendary (fighters) - awarded to players who got 1,000 "Ace" medals flying fighter planes.
• Experienced (heavy fighters) - awarded to players who got 10 "Destroyer" medals flying fighter planes (achievement name changed!).
• Virtuoso (heavy fighters) - awarded to players who got 100 "Destroyer" medals flying heavy fighter planes.
• Legendary (heavy fighters) - awarded to players who got 1,000 "Destroyer" medals flying heavy fighter planes.
• Due to the fact that naval aircrafts are now considered fighters, their special achievements were removed.

New Ribbons:

• "Irrepressible" - for winning 10 battles in a row.
• "Die Hard" - for winning 5 battles in a row. The sequence is broken if the player's plane is lost.

New Content

New Planes

• British planes added:
  • Gloster Goldfinch
  • Bristol Bulldog
  • Hawker Demon
  • Bristol Type 13
  • Blackburn Skua
  • Bristol Type 14
  • Bristol Blenheim F
  • Supermarine Spitfire I
  • Bristol Beaufighter
  • Supermarine Spitfire V
  • De Havilland Mosquito
  • Supermarine Spitfire IX
  • De Havilland Hornet 
  •  Supermarine Spitfire XIV
  • Westland P. 1056.
  • Supermarine Attacker
  • Gloster P. 228.
  • Supermarine Swift
  • Gloster Javelin
• New gift and premium planes added:
  • Polikarpov I-5 SHKAS 
  • F2A-1
  • Mitsubishi Ki-33 
  • Messerschmitt Bf. 110C-6 
  • Grumman XF4F-3 
  • Curtiss Р-40А 
  • Curtiss Р-36С
  • Miles M.20 
  • Chance-Vought XF4U-1 
  • Iliyushin Il - 2 (field modification, with rear gunner) 

Special Premium Plane for Beta Testers

• A special tier III plane, the F2A-1, is available to be purchased in the in-game Store.
• This plane's Token price is equal to the level of post-release prices in Gold for premium planes of the same tier.
• If this plane is purchased during the beta test (and is in one’s hangar at the moment of the game release), it will be saved in the hangar after post-beta release.
• This plane will not be available for purchase after the game release.

New levels of detail on maps

• It is now possible to set ground targets and ships on fire.
• Reworked the mechanics of displaying the status of gameplay objects; particularly ground objects when on fire.
• Background combat action has been added to Bay and Pacific Ocean.
• Visual overhaul of Asian Border.
• Slight rework of light effects and post-processing on all maps.
• Changed the shader for ground objects, allowing to optimize the texture collection and reduce necessary memory space.
• Simplified display of ground targets on long distances.
• Edited the altitude above sea level for El Halluf and National Park.

Effects

• Reworked afterburning effects for jet engines.
• Reworked shot impact effects on planes, ground targets, earth and water.
• Changed the algorithm for the generation of visual effects on ground and water.
• Partially reworked explosion and destruction effects on ground targets.
• Slight modification of how tracers are displayed.

Upgrade changes

Changes to plane trees:

U.S.S.R.:

• TSh-1: renamed to TSh-2.
• Pegasus: moved to tier II. 12.7-mm BS machine gun replaced with 12.7-mm UB machine gun.
• I-17: Yak-7 cannot be researched from this plane.
• Yak-1: Yak-7 can now be researched from this plane.
• LaGG-3:Upgrade "37-mm NS-37 hub-mounted canon” is replaced with "37-mm ShFK hub-mounted cannon." Yak-7 can now be researched from this plane.
• La-5: upgrade "8 х RS-82 rockets" is removed.
• Yak-9U: upgrade "Hub-mounted canon 45-mm NS-45M" added
• LBSh: reclassed to Premium planes; was replaced in research tree with BSh-2.
• Il-2 (single-seat): a pair of wing-mounted 7.62-mm ShKAS machine guns was replaced in stock configuration with a pair of 20-mmShVAK cannons.
• Il-10: upgrade "23-mm NR-23" is removed.
• Il-20: upgrade "8x RS-132 rockets" is removed. Upgrade "TRS-82 rockets" is added. 23-mm NR-23 replaced with 23-mm NR-23K cannons.
• I-5 SHhKAS, I-15 bis DM-2, I-16 (early mod.), TSh-3, I-17, I-16 (late mod.), BSh-2, LBSh, BSh-1, Sh-Tandem: 7.62-mm ShKAS machine guns replaced with 7.62-mm ShKAS (1933).
• LaGG-3, Il-2-1, Il-2 (mod.), Yak-1, Yak-7, Il-2-2, Yak-1M, Il-8, Il-10: 7.62-mm ShKAS machine guns replaced with 7.62-mm ShKAS (1941).
• I-17, I-16 (late mod.), BSh-2, LBSh: 20-mm ShVAK cannons replaced with 20-mm ShVAK (1936).
• LaGG-3, Il-2 (single-seat), Yak-1, Yak-7, Il-2 (two-seat), La-5, Yak-9, Yak-1M, La-7, Yak-9U, Yak-3: 20-mm ShVAK cannons replaced with 20-mm ShVAK (1941).
• Yak-1M, Yak-9, Yak-3, Yak-9U: 12.7-mm BS machine guns replaced with 12,7-mm UBS machine guns.
• Il-2 (single-seat), Il-2 (two-seat): RS-82 rockets replaced with ROFS-82 rockets.
• Il-8, Il-10: RS-132 rockets replaced with ROFS-132 rockets.

Germany:

• Ao. 192: Two machine guns are added to Fuselage guns slot. 
  • In stock configuration 7.92-mm MG-30 turret replaced with 7.92-mm MG-29 turret. 
  • 7.92-mm MG-15 turret upgrade removed.
• Fw.57: 2 х 7.92-mm MG-17 machine guns replaced in stock configuration with 2 х 20-mm MG-FF. 
  • Upgrade added: "2 х 20-mm MG C/30L cannons."
  • Navigator crew member removed.
• Bf. 110E: upgrade "2 х 500-SC bombs" removed.
• Bf. 109G: upgrade "Bf. 109K airframe" added.
• Me. 410: upgrade "2 х 500-SC bombs" replaced with "2 х 250-SC bombs."
• Bf. 109Z: moved to tier VII. 
  • Can be researched from Me. 410 and Bf. 109F. 
  • Upgrade "250-SC bombs" is removed. 
  • 2 х 20-mm MG-151/20 outboard cannons added to the stock configuration with optional mounting.
• Me. 609: removed from the research tree.
• Me. 109TL: replaced in German heavy fighters tree with Me. 262HG II.
• Ar. 65, Fw. 56, Ar. 68, Ao 192, Ar. 80: 7.92-mm MG-17 machine guns replaced with 7.92-mm MG-17 (1934) machine guns.
• Bf.109B, Bf. 110B: 7.92-mm MG-17 machine guns replaced with 7.92-mm MG-17 (1936) machine guns.
• Bf. 109E, Bf. 110E, Bf. 109F, Me. 410, Bf. 109G: 7.92-mm MG-17 machine guns replaced with 7.92-mm MG-17 (1940) machine guns.
• Bf. 110E, Bf. 109F, Me. 410, Bf. 109G: 20-mm MG-151/20 cannons replaced with 20-mm MG-151/20 (1941) cannons.
• Bf. 109Z, Me. P. 1092: 20-mm MG-151/20 cannons replaced with 20-mm MG-151/20 (1944) cannons.
• Me. 410, Bf. 109G, Bf. 109Z: 30-mm MK-108 cannons replaced with 30-mm MK-108 (1942).
• Me. 209, Me. 262A, Me. 262HG II: 30-mm MK-108 cannons replaced with 30-mm MK-108 (1944).

USA:

• P-51D, P-51H: weapon configurations of 4 x 12,7-mm machine guns removed.
• F4U-1: upgrades added: "R-2800-5, 1850 h.p. engine". 
  • Upgrades removed: "R-2800-8W, 2250 h.p. engine"
• F4U-4: moved to tier VII instead of F2G.
• F2G: moved to tier VIII instead of F5U. 
  • 12.7-mm MG-53-2 machine guns in stock configuration replaced with 20-mm М2 cannons.
• F5U: removed from the research tree.
• FJ-1: 12.7-mm MG-53-2 machine guns replaced with 12.7-mm MG-53HB machine guns.
• P-51A, F4U-1, P-51D: 12.7-mm M2 machine guns replaced with 12.7-mm AN/M2 machine guns.
• F4F, F4U-1, F4U-4, P-51D: HVAR rockets replaced with HVAR Mk. 4 rockets.
• F2G, P-51H: HVAR rockets replaced with HVAR Mk. 25 rockets..

Japan:

• A6M1: upgrade "Type 99-1 wing-mounted cannons" replaced with "20-мм Type 99-1 model 1 wing-mounted cannons."
• A6M2: added to tier V instead of A6M5.
• A6M5: moved to tier VI instead of A7M. Modules research tree changed.
• Upgrade removed: "Sakae 21, 1130 h.p. engine".
• Upgrade added: "Kinsei 62, 1560 h.p. engine". 
• Upgrade removed: "20-mm Type E wing-mounted cannons". 
• 20-mm Type 99-1 wing-mounted cannons replaced with 20-mm Type 99-1 model 1 wing-mounted cannons. 
• 20-mm Type 99-2 cannons replaced with 20-mm Type 99-2 model 1 wing-mounted cannons. 
• "А6М3 airframe" replaced with "А6М5 model 52 airframe". 
• "А6М5 airframe" replaced with "А6М5 model 52 Hei airframe".

A7M: moved to tier VII instead of J4M1. 

• Upgrade removed: "MK9C, 2250 h.p. engine". 
• Upgrade added: "MK9E, 2550 h.p. engine". 
• 13.2-mm Type 2 wing-mounted machine guns replaced with 13.2-mm Type 3 wing-mounted machine guns. 
• 20-mm Type 99-1 wing-mounted cannons replaced with 20-mm Type 99-2 model 4 wing-mounted cannons. 
• 20-mm Type 99-2 wing-mounted cannons replaced with 20-mm Type 99-2 model 5 wing-mounted cannons.

J4M1: removed from the research tree.

J7W1, J7W2: 20-mm Type 99-2 cowling-mounted cannons replaced with 20-mm Type 99-2 model 5 cowling-mounted cannons.

A4N, A5M: 7.7-mm Type 97 machine guns replaced with 7.7-mm Type 97 model 1 machine guns.

A6M1, A6M2, A6M5: 7.7-mm Type 97 machine guns replaced with 7.7-mm Type 97 model 2 machine guns.

Premium aircraft

• All old premium aircraft are now unavailable for purchase in the Store.
• Players who had purchased them earlier will have them in the hangar until the end of Open Beta.

Research Tree Changes

If a player has the first aircraft researched (left), he’ll also get the second aircraft (right) with all its upgrades:

U.S.S.R.:

• LBSh - BSh-2
• Yak-7 - Yak-1

Germany:

• Bf. 109Z - Me. 410
• Me. 109TL - Me. 262HG II

USA:

• F2G - F4U-4
• F5U - F2G

Japan:

• A6M5 - A6M2
• A7M - A6M5
• J4M1 - A7M

Changes to players' hangars

For this version, all players receive the following airplanes and a slot in hangar for each plane, for testing purposes:

• (II) Polikarpov I-5 SHKAS
• (III) Mitsubishi Ki-33
• (III) Supermarine Type 224
• (IV) Messerschmitt Bf. 110C-6
• (IV) Grumman XF4F-3
• (IV) Curtiss P-40A
• (IV) Curtiss P-36C
• (V) Miles M. 20
• (V) Chance-Vought XF4U-1
• (V) Ilyushin Il-2 (field modification with gunner)

U.S.S.R. research changes:

• If the following planes were researched, all their modules will be researched also. If the following planes were in players’ hangar, they will receive top configurations: 
  • LaGG-3
  • La-5
  • Yak-9U
  • Il-20
  • I-16 early
  • TSH-3
  • I-17
  • I-16 late
  • Il-2-1
  • Yak-1
  • Yak7
  • Il-2-2
  • Yak-1M
  • Il-8
  • Il-10
  • Il-2 (two-seat)
  • Yak-9
  • La-7
  • Yak-3

Germany research changes:

• If the following planes were researched, all their modules will be researched also. If the following planes were in players’ hangar, they will receive top configurations: 
  • Ao. 192
  • Fw. 57
  • Bf. 109Z
  • Ar. 65
  • Ar. 68
  • Ao 192
  • Ar. 80
  • Bf. 109B
  • Bf. 110B
  • Bf. 109E
  • Bf. 110E
  • Bf. 109F
  • Me. 410
  • Bf. 109G
  • Me. P. 1092
  • Me. 209
  • Me. 262A
  • Me. 262 HG II
  • Me. 609
  • Me. 109TL

USA research changes:

• If the following planes were researched, all their modules will be researched also. If the following planes were in players’ hangar, they will receive top configurations
  • P-51A
  • F4U-1
  • P-51D
  • P-51H
  • F4U-1
  • FJ-1
  • F4F
  • F2G
  • F5U

Japan research changes:

• If the following planes were researched, all their modules will be researched also. If the following planes were in players’ hangar, they will receive top configurations
  • A6M1
  • J7W1
  • J7W2
  • A4N
  • A5M
  • A6M5
  • A7M
  • J4M1