Genre: Real Time Strategy (RTS), Strategy, Turn-based strategy (TBS), Tactical
Company of Heroes 3
Hot Fix 1.6.7
Fixed an issue where Flamethrowers were causing performance and framerate issues. This was more notable when playing with other players.
The enemy A.I. was using an incorrect artillery option in defense missions causing unintended difficulty spikes.
Fixed the Night Fighters Kettenkrad cosmetic so it appears correctly.
Fixed a black screen that was appearing after missions in the North African Operation.
Additional crash fixes.
Community Event - Drawing the Victory
Drawing the Victory, our latest community event, starts NOW and runs until May 13th. We're calling on all Company of Heroes 3 players to play 400,000 matches on community-made maps over the next week. This includes all community maps in the official automatch map pool for Quick Match and Co-op vs A.I. and any Steam workshop maps played in Custom Games.
If the community can rally together and achieve this goal, we will unlock an exclusive Epic Banner, Badge and Title for all players to use on their Player Profile.
Enlist your friends for our latest community event! Drawing the Victory starts now!
1.6.6 Hot Fix Patch Notes
OVERVIEW
This hot fix focuses on resolving GPU related crashes and introduces additional logging so we can get our crash rate down even further. We have also fixed the matchmaking queue estimations being stuck at 50/50. We are still investigating a few outstanding issues. You can find our Known Issues thread here and the previous 1.6.5 patch notes here.
GENERAL
Fixed matchmaking queue estimations. Not all players were receiving accurate information based on which match type they were queueing for.
Improvements in GPU related crashes where GPUs on a hardware level report as missing, lost or hanging. These are often referred to as D.R.E.D. crashes.
Fixed an issue that caused the Semovente's barrage to go on cooldown when using smoke launchers.
Fixed an issue where modded maps that had the same filename as maps in the quick match pool could cause the Map Preference dialog to show duplicates.
The names of cosmetics for the Dark Brown and Charcoal units in the store have been fixed. Localized names will be fixed in a future update.
1.6.5 Patch Notes
The 1.6.5 Patch following our Coral Viper update includes several multiplayer balance changes that focus on improving some of the infrequently used Battlegroup choices to create a wider variety of effective strategic paths. This patch also includes highly requested quality of life improvements such as Map Preference voting and reduced input latency.
As always, we will update our Known Issues thread with any issues we are tracking.
1.6.5 Mission Briefing
Overview
The 1.6.5 PC Patch following our Coral Viper update will be available for Company of Heroes 3 this week. Here's a quick rundown of what's coming. This patch includes notable quality of life improvements as requested by our players, such as Map Preference voting and improvements to input latency. Based on player feedback, our team has also implemented several multiplayer balance adjustments, matchmaking improvements, and refreshed the in-game store with requested cosmetics and bundles, and as always, addressed many pesky bugs. Let’s get to the good stuff!
New Features
Map Preference
Map Preference makes its debut in Company of Heroes 3 with a simple yet effective tool to define a list of maps you would prefer not to play on. This will be present in all Automatch modes (Quick Match and Co-op vs A.I.).
Through a dedicated map selection screen, you will be able to downvote the maps you would prefer not to play on. These votes will be saved until they are changed again, and a recap of all voted on maps will be available in the Automatch Search Screen.
It is important to note that votes are not vetoes, they simply reduce the priority of a map.
The matchmaking system will first form games and match together players based on several factors related to ELO, wait time, ping, servers, and more. In this phase, Map Preference votes are not considered.
After groups are formed, the matchmaking system will analyze each player's votes, collecting all the maps with the lowest number of (or zero) votes and then randomly pick a map between them. Therefore, it is still possible to play on downvoted maps, if they are one of the least voted on. This is more likely in larger team games, where the number of players and votes can be high enough for that to happen.
Map Preference will also work together with the map weighting system introduced in late 2023. After the downvotes are applied and the possible map pool is generated, map weight will be factored to increase the chances of a new map being picked if it is in the generated map pool list.
The number of votes has not changed compared to Company of Heroes 2, equaling 30% of the maps rounded down. However, different from CoH2, the vote pool is per Map Type, meaning that votes are separate across 1vs1, 2vs2, 3vs3 and 4vs4 instead of being all in one big pool.
For parties, all members will copy the votes of the Party Leader.
Unit Responsiveness
Units will be much more responsive in 1.6.5, with input latency for both offline and online matches being reduced by approximately half. Commanding units and issuing move orders should now feel snappier and more fluid. This change may affect visual smoothness, but we will be monitoring the change for future adjustments if need be. You can find a video showcasing the before/after comparisons, along with a technical write up from our team here.
Animation
Several improvements have been made to unit animations so that their gameplay affecting behaviors are less prone to breaking the immersion of our players. This includes things like infantry not aiming at their target properly and fixes for units that have their animations glitch or become stuck. These are only some of the behaviors that we have corrected, and we hope the result is a more immersive experience for all our players. We have additional fixes to known animation issues coming in subsequent patches.
Matchmaking
Now, while looking for a game in Automatch modes, the game will display the percentage of players queuing as Allies versus Axis. This will help you make an informed decision about which faction to choose from, while improving the overall matchmaking experience. For example, in the image below, it would likely be faster to find a match as the Allies.
Another highly requested improvement coming in 1.6.5 will put an end to the days of spawning away from party members. Should a player be in a game mode where their party does not fill all the available slots (for example a party of two in a 4v4 match), they will now always be placed next to one another. This means friends can now play together regardless of their team size, allowing for better strategy and communication.
Finally, we introduced a quality-of-life improvement to automatically save Match Types and A.I. difficulty settings between matches and sessions, effectively requiring you to set them only once.
Cosmetics
The in-game store is being refreshed with new cosmetic sets. Previously, all items in a cosmetic set might not be available at once, or a player would need to acquire multiple bundles to complete the set.
Based on player feedback, we have decided to release all items in a set at once instead of releasing them in smaller bundles over time. Many items can be acquired now individually, along with “Ultimate” bundles that contain everything included with a set. We have also repackaged several previous sets to match this new model.
We are still planning on supporting our rotating offers as well, so stay on the lookout for those!
Multiplayer Balance Changes
The multiplayer balance changes in 1.6.5 are focused on improving some of the infrequently used Battlegroup choices to create a wider variety of effective strategic paths. We previewed many of these changes two weeks ago and have made a few adjustments based on your feedback. Find all the final balance changes in the patch notes on release day.
Community Event
Keep an eye out for our next community event starting next week! Once again, we will be challenging all our players to work towards a common goal to earn new exclusive items for their profiles. Get your friends together and prepare for Drawing the Victory!
The 1.6.5 Patch is releasing in the next couple of days! Be sure to jump into our official forums or Discord to discuss the update, find others to play with, and to leave us your thoughts.
1.6.1 Coral Viper Hot Fix
We've updated our licences as a result of going independent. You should no longer see a warning pop up upon booting Company of Heroes 3.
[Preview] 1.6.5 Balance Changes
The 1.6.5 PC patch following our Coral Viper update will be releasing in the first week of May, and our team wants to give you a preview of the planned multiplayer balance changes so we can get your early feedback. Overall, we’ve found that the win rates are tightening up with the last round of balance changes (though win rates are only one of several factors we consider in our decision making). Our focus with this update is to buff the lesser used Battlegroup choices to create a wider variety of effective strategic paths.
We did a similar preview with our last hot fix and were blown away by the quality of feedback you provided! Just like last time, please review the changes below and let us know what you think. Some feedback we may be able to address before the release of 1.6.5, and everything else we’ll take into consideration for the future.
Anything else you feel the power level is too low on? Other critical multiplayer balance issues you would like us to consider? Take a look below and please let us know!
- The CoH3 Design Team
Planned Changes
General Changes
Healing and Camouflage
Forward healing and camouflage are powerful tools that were able to re-activate too quickly once the unit had left combat. We are increasing the out of combat duration to make it more difficult to receive healing immediately after encountering the enemy and harder for units to re-camouflage after engagements.
Time before they can be retriggered increased from 6 seconds to 10 seconds
Healing now only happens when the entire squad is out of combat
Airborne and Breakthrough Smoke Runs
Projectile Speed increased from 0 to 15
Recharge times standardized to 60 seconds
BL 5.5-inch Howitzer, Obice 210, and M2A1 105mm Howitzer
Howitzer emplacements saw minimal use due to their low durability, particularly in artillery duels against mobile artillery. We are partially reverting the health nerf to allow emplaced howitzers to better survive counter-barrage fire from on-map artillery and give players more time to react if they are being raided.
Health increased from 480 to 600
US Forces
Rearm and Retrofit
Because of the high barrier to entry that had the opportunity cost of delaying light vehicles, this upgrade was generally purchased in late-game scenarios where resources were less of a concern. To allow for easier integration with light vehicle builds, we are reducing the cost of this upgrade.
Rearm and Refit cost reduced from 150 manpower and 30 fuel to 125 manpower and 20 fuel
Engineer Squad
The US Forces tend to struggle more against defenses and garrisons than other factions as they start with the Scout Squad rather than a unit with access to flamethrowers. While we want to keep this asymmetry, we do want standard Engineers to be a viable option. To facilitate this change, we are making Engineers more accessible by reducing their cost and giving them Satchel Charges as part of their kit, granting the US more tools to demolish early garrisons, defenses, and obstacles.
Manpower cost reduced from 200 to 180; does not affect Assault Engineer squads.
Reinforce time reduced from 6 to 3.75; matches Assault Engineers
Now have access to Satchel Charges; costs 45 munitions per use.
Riflemen Pour it On ‘Em
Now properly cancels on retreat like other timed-based abilities
Designate Assault Position
Designate Assault Position is an under-utilized ability that we want to be a viable option against forward retreat and healing. To emphasize the ability’s role in supporting infantry pushes, we are granting suppression resistance to all units affected.
Now provides +50% suppression resistance in addition to current bonuses
Spec Ops Mark Vehicle
We are boosting the duration of Mark Target to give the player more time to focus down enemy units that are affected by this ability. The plane is also receiving a significant health increase as it was too easy to shoot down.
Duration increased from 35 to 45
Plane health increased from 1000 to 2000
Recharge time increased from 30 to 60 seconds
Free Fire Drills
Free Fire Drills did not offer enough reward to the player when they built their howitzers closer to the front-line where they could be attacked by the enemy if the line was pushed. We are significantly increasing the rate of fire to encourage putting the howitzer closer to the front-line when this Battlegroup ability is selected.
Command Point cost reduced from 3 to 2
Reload speed decreased from 15 to 10 seconds
Ready-aim time reduced from 2 to 1
Ammunition Storage
Ammunition Storage has languished due to a combination of opportunity cost, extremely low durability, and inability to support front-line forces. We are increasing the health and radius to give the Ammunition Storage increased survivability against direct and indirect fire while the bonuses have also been increased to solidify this structure’s role as a major force multiplier.
Ability recharge, weapon cooldown, and reload bonuses increased from 25% to 33%
Health increased from 280 to 480
Aura radius increased from 30 to 35
Infantry Assault
The cost of Infantry Assault was a little too high, both in opportunity cost against the passive bonuses of Ranger Weapon Training and how quickly the ability could be shut down in certain circumstances. We are reducing the Command Point and munitions costs to increase accessibility given the high munition costs already required by the Advanced Infantry Battlegroup in the form of its Rangers.
Command Point cost reduced from 4 to 3
Munitions cost reduced from 120 to 100
Wehrmacht
Grenadier Squad
We want the decision of Merge to be more of a calculated choice, rather than a player immediately using Merge to reinforce combat squads every time it takes a single casualty. The delay will force players to decide when they want to Merge during combat situations.
Merge now has a 15 second cooldown
2.5 Tonne Cargo Truck
Cost changed from 240 manpower and 15 fuel to 250 manpower
Now only provides resources to the owning player. Set at +8 munitions or +5 fuel depending on the point.
Only one truck can be active at a signal resource point.
Call the Reserves!
We are reducing the cost of ‘Call the Reserves!’. While the ability is powerful, the requirements to set it up in advance, and the opportunity cost with the passive Bulwark ability made its current price too high.
Munitions cost reduced from 125 to 100
British Forces
Requisition Stuart Unlock
With the reduction in the Stuart’s power, the fuel cost of the Stuart unlock can now be reduced.
Fuel price decreased from 30 to 25
Crusader 6-pounder Gun Conversion Upgrade
We are increasing the point-blank penetration of the 6-pounder Crusader to make this unit stronger once it has closed the distance with enemy vehicles.
Point-blank penetration increased from 180 to 220
Foot Guards Section
While Foot Guards could be powerful in the right circumstances, model losses affected them disproportionately compared to other infantry squads due to their Bazookas. We are further increasing the damage done by their SMGs to remedy their fast loss in DPS when taking casualties.
Thompson SMG damage increased from 4 to 5
Requsition Grant Unlock
We want to maintain the Grant’s role as a very powerful tank once it has been unlocked that is more in line as a tier 4.5 tank, but it still comes too early, outcompeting other options even with the current costs.
Fuel cost increased from 35 to 50
CMP 15cwt Supply Run
The CMP 15cwt Supply Run was too risky for what it offered despite it being a core ability to the Battlegroup. We are improving the ability by slightly reducing the cost and increasing the speed of the truck when it is returning to base.
Loaded speed penalty decreased from 66% to 56%
Manpower cost reduced from 150 to 125
Indian Artillery War Cry We are reversing the Command Point cost of War Cry and Valour.
Command Point Cost from 2 to 1
Munition cost reduced from 125 to 100
Indian Artillery Valor
Command Point cost increased from 1 to 2
Deutsche Afrikakorps
Goliath
Rotation speed increased from 45 to 55
8- Rad Commander Mode – both Wehrmacht and Afrikakorps variants
The bonuses provided by the 8-Rad's Commander mode were far too powerful in addition to the 8-Rad being able to spot targets from afar. The following change puts the 8-Rad's Commander mode to where its intended power should be.
Reload and accuracy bonuses set to 20% from 30/40%
Italian Infantry Sound the Alarm
Command Point cost reduced from 2 to 1
Propaganda War
Munition cost reduced from 150 to 120
1.6.1 Coral Viper Hot Fix
Today’s hot fix includes some minor multiplayer balance adjustments along with several crash fixes and bug fixes. This is our first set of multiplayer changes following the 1.6.0 Coral Viper update, with additional changes planned for subsequent hot fixes and patches.
General
We have implemented a server-side change to alleviate the issue of Automatch Cooldown false positives on PC. We will continue monitoring this system, but please let us know if you encounter further false positives in the days ahead.
Fixed several issues that were leading to crashes.
Multiplayer Balance
US Forces
Improved M9 Bazooka Rockets – As this tech is intended to have lower impact than the Browning Automatic Rifle upgrade, we wanted a cost that is closer to the intended power level of this technology.
Fuel cost reduced from 40 to 30
Wehrmacht
Grenadier Squad – In general we feel the buffs given to this unit were a bit too much, especially with the power spike timing of their assault package. As such, we are reverting the cost change from 1.6.0 and standardizing the upgrade timing to match other units more closely.
Assault Package munition cost increased from 45 to 50
Assault Package research time increased from 20 to 30 seconds
Sprint now prevents the unit from firing on the move.
Infanterie Kompanie Officer Quarters – The Infanterie Kompanie Officer Quarters is having its price and research time increased to slow down the momentum of Wehrmacht players going this research, and to give Allied players more time to get tools to counter veteran Axis infantry.
Fuel cost increased from 25 to 35
Research time increased from 30 seconds to 45 seconds
Breakthrough – This battlegroup has been performing a bit too well and we have identified this ability as one of the most egregious ones.
Duration reduced from 90 to 60
British Forces
Australian Light Infantry – The Australian Light Infantry are having their short and mid-range power increased to better reflect their early-game role as aggressive, anti-infantry combatants.
Accuracy increased from 65/55/35 to 72/61/35 (short/medium/far).
Increased Sharpshooter penetration from 1 to 2.
Archer Tank Destroyer – For this unit to hit the field in time to counter big tanks, we’re slightly reducing the Command Point cost.
Reduced command point cost from 7 to 6
Bofors Emplacement – As it is pretty expensive and immobile, we wanted to give the Bofors some more presence on the map and increase its general effectiveness versus infantry.
Health increased from 600 to 720
Reload time sped up from 4 to 3 seconds
Area of effect increased from 1 to 2.5
Area of effect far damage increased from 0.25 to 0.4
Area of effect distance increased from 0.5/0.75/1 to 0.5/1.25/2
Area of effect penetration increased from 1 to 5
Angle scatter increased from 2 to 5
Angle scatter max increased from 2 to 4
Deutsche Afrikakorps
250/3 Funkpanzerwagen - The Funkwagen being able to hide tanks, medical trucks, and Tigers was too powerful. We are removing the ability to camouflage vehicles to make the Funkwagen more infantry and team weapon focused and create less overlap with Operation Skorpion.
Can no longer camouflage vehicles within its aura.
Afrikakorps Tiger Deployment Call-In – We love that this unit is seeing more play! However, it is hitting the battlefield too quickly and does not allow enough time for the proper counterplay. We are increasing the cost to make this unit a bit less cost effective. This will also make teching straight for it riskier.
Fuel cost increased from 180 to 220
Panzerjeager Squad – We wanted this unit to function similarly to other units in this role like the British Anti-Tank (AT) rifles.
Panzerbuchse AT Rifle now deals 50% less damage to buildings; except bunkers.
Panzerbuchse AT Rifle deals 75% less damage to destructible ambient objects.
Bug Fixes
Changed the visual effects of the Australian Light Infantry Sharpshooter ability to distinguish it from their standard attack.
Fixed an issue where certain Team Weapons could not be targeted by infantry or vehicles.
Fixed an issue where other players could benefit from the Afrikakorps’ Vehicle Awareness ability, allowing them to detect in the Fog of War.
Fixed an issue where Anti-Tank Grenades and Panzerfaust abilities would trigger/finish their animation and then fire once the target has exited the unit's weapon range.
Fixed several localization text errors.
Fixed an issue where the incorrect menu options would appear during a match.
Fixed an issue where duplicate surrender prompts could appear during a surrender vote.
Fixed an issue where the Continue button would not appear in the post-match stats screen of the tutorial.
[PREVIEW] Coral Viper Hot Fix Balance Changes
Our team wants to share a preview of potential multiplayer balance changes for Company of Heroes 3 on PC. Often with balance patches, things get tighter over time, and then new content will cause turbulence. We’d like to address this turbulence with a hot fix coming soon! As always, this hot fix will address some technical issues, however, we also want to get a jump on multiplayer balance feedback. This is why we’re sharing this with you today. We would like to get some feedback from you about our current planned direction.
This first set of changes is on target for our next hot fix (1.6.1), with additional changes planned for subsequent hot fixes and updates as necessary (release dates to be determined).
Please review the below changes and let us know what you think. Your feedback will help us determine if we should proceed with these changes as planned (with or without minor adjustments), or if we need to address larger concerns in our next hot fix or update.
Are there any critical changes you’d like to see added to an upcoming balance hot fix or update? Is there anything on this list that you think might cause issues? Please provide us with all your feedback! Keep in mind, that these changes are planned for a hot fix, so it is not targeting large sweeping changes. There are still longer-term initiatives we are working on when it comes to gameplay and multiplayer balance.
- The CoH3 Design Team
Planned Changes
Grenadier Squad – In general we feel the buffs given to this unit were a bit too much, especially with the power spike timing of their assault package. As such, we are reverting the cost change from 1.6.0 and standardizing the upgrade timing to match other units more closely.
• Assault Package munition cost increased from 45 to 50
• Assault Package research time increased from 20 to 30 seconds
Infanterie Kompanie Officer Quarters – Cost of this is increasing to account for the increased power level it provides to Grenadiers.
• Fuel cost increased from 25 to 40 fuel
Breakthrough – This battlegroup has been performing a bit too well and we’ve identified this ability as one of the most egregious ones.
• Duration reduced from 90 to 60
Afrikakorps Tiger Deployment Call-In – We love that this unit is seeing more play! However, it’s appearing a bit too quickly on the battlefield and doesn’t allow enough time for the proper counterplay. We’re increasing the cost to make this unit a bit less cost effective and makeg teching straight for it more risky.
• Fuel cost increased from 180 to 220
Panzerjeager Squad – We wanted this unit to function similarly to other units in this role like the British Anti-Tank (AT) rifles.
• Panzerbuchse AT Rifle now deals 50% less damage to buildings; except bunkers.
• Panzerbuchse AT Rifle deals 75% less damage to destructible ambient objects.
Improved M9 Bazookas Rockets – As this tech is intended to have lower impact than the BARs, we wanted a cost that’s closer to the intended power level of this technology.
• Fuel cost reduced from 40 to 30
Australian Light Infantry – The Australian Light Infantry are having their short and mid-range power increased to better reflect their early-game role as aggressive, anti-infantry combatants.
• Accuracy increased from 65/55/35 to 72/61/35 (short/medium/far).
Archer Tank Destroyer – For this unit to hit the field in time to counter big tanks, we’re slightly reducing the Command Point cost.
• Reduce command point cost from 7 to 6
Bofors Emplacement – As it’s pretty expensive and immobile, we wanted to give the Bofors some more presence on the map and increase its general effectiveness versus infantry.
• Health increased from 600 to 720
• Reload time sped up from 4 to 3 seconds
• Area of effect increased from 1 to 2.5
• Area of effect far damage increased from 0.25 to 0.4
• Area of effect distance increased from 0.5/0.75/1 to 0.5/1.25/2
• Area of effect penetration increased from 1 to 5
• Angle scatter increased from 2 to 3
• Angle scatter max increased from 2 to 4
Coral Viper (1.6.0) - Patch Notes
You can find the full patch notes here and the Mission Briefing here. Enjoy the update!
