The Panzer Elite faction's Veterancy system is very flexible. When a Panzer Elite unit rises in Veterancy, the player may choose whether the unit receives a Defensive Bonus package, to increase the unit's survivability, or an Offensive Bonus package, to increase the unit's firepower. This allows specializing units in one form of combat or another, as required by the strategic situation. Panzer Elite units also share combat experience with each other, so larger groups will gain Veterancy much faster than individual units.
Experience Accumulation[]
Panzer Elite units accumulate veterancy based on the Panzer Elite Shared Veterancy System. In this system, each unit receives experience for its own kills, and shares some experience with each unit in its vicinity.
When a Panzer Elite unit kills an enemy unit, it receives 100% of that unit's experience value.
Additionally, an extra 50% of that experience value is passed to all other Panzer Elite units within 35 meters. This means that the more units are grouped together, the more experience is generated from each kill.
Example[]
- The M4 Sherman is worth 10 experience points. If a single Panzer Elite Marder III Tank Hunter engages and kills this Sherman, it will receive those 10 experience points for itself.
- Now imagine 3 Marder III Tank Hunters attacking that same M4 Sherman. When the Sherman is destroyed, it will give 10 experience points to the Marder III that destroyed it, and an extra 5 experience points to the two other Marders - assuming they are within 35 meters of the killing unit at the time.
- This totals 20 experience points (10+5+5 = 20) - twice as much as the Sherman is normally worth!
- With 5 Marders attacking in unison, the total value is increased to 30 experience points (10+5+5+5+5 = 30), and so on.
- Therefore, Panzer Elite units tend to gain Veterancy faster when they operate in larger groups. Solitary units will only gain experience for their own kills.
Veterancy Upgrade Packages[]
Once a Panzer Elite unit accumulates enough experience points to take it to the next level, it will "Level Up" immediately, but gain no immediate bonuses.
Instead, the unit now has two upgrades available for purchase: a "Defensive Bonus" upgrade and an "Offensive Bonus" upgrade. These upgrades may be purchased free of charge.
You must choose only one of these two upgrades; they are mutually exclusive. The choice needs to be made for each Veterancy level the unit acquires. Therefore, you get to choose one upgrade at Veterancy Level 1, one upgrade at Veterancy Level 2, and one upgrade at Veterancy Level 3, totalling 3 upgrades.
It is possible to choose a different upgrade at each level. Therefore, a unit can end up with two Defensive Upgrades and one Offensive Upgrade, if you so desire.
Defensive and Offensive upgrades bestow completely different bonuses on the unit. Defensive upgrades are meant to ensure its survivability, generally by increasing Maximum Health and Damage Resistance. Offensive Upgrades are meant to augment the unit's firepower, by increasing firing rate and accuracy.
Infantry and Vehicles receive different bonuses from each of these upgrades as well.
Finally, note that the bonuses acquired at each Veterancy level may be different from one another. For example, the Defensive Bonus 1 package for Vehicles is significantly better than Defensive Bonus 2 or Defensive Bonus 3. This means if you're only going to acquire one Defensive Bonus upgrade for a unit, you'd better do so at level 1. On the other hand, Infantry benefit more from the Defensive Bonus 3 than they do from the others. Knowing which bonuses are best can help you decide which ones to acquire at each level.
Infantry Bonuses[]
The following bonuses are applied to infantry units, depending on the type of Veterancy Upgrade they acquire, and the level at which they purchase the upgrade. These are cumulative with one another, though the calculation is complex and explained in more detail below.
Level 1 Veterancy: | ||||||
|
Or |
|
Level 2 Veterancy: | ||||||
|
Or |
|
Level 3 Veterancy: | ||||||
|
Or |
|
As mentioned above, these bonuses do not stack right on top of each other, because most of them are based on multiplication. The actual bonuses given for each combination of Veterancy Upgrades is as follows:
Note again that infantry benefit more from Defensive Bonus 3 than they do from the other Defensive Bonuses. Therefore, if you intend to only acquire one Defensive Bonus, it should be at the third level.
Vehicle Bonuses[]
The following bonuses are applied to vehicle units, depending on the type of Veterancy Upgrade they acquire, and the level at which they purchase the upgrade. These are cumulative with one another, though the calculation is complex and explained in more detail below.
Level 1 Veterancy: | ||||||
|
Or |
|
Level 2 Veterancy: | ||||||
|
Or |
|
Level 3 Veterancy: | ||||||
|
Or |
|
As mentioned above, these bonuses do not stack right on top of each other, because most of them are based on multiplication. The actual bonuses given for each combination of Veterancy Upgrades is as follows:
Note again that vehicles benefit more from Defensive Bonus 1 than they do from the other Defensive Bonuses. Therefore, if you intend to only acquire one Defensive Bonus, it should be at the first level.
Non-Combat Units[]
Several Panzer Elite units have little or no combat weaponry, serving only in a support role. As a result, they have no use for Offensive Bonuses.
Fortunately, the game does not allow you to pick Offensive Bonuses for these units. In fact, it does not ask you to pick any bonuses at all: these units will automatically receive the appropriate Defensive Bonus package whenever they gain a new Veterancy level.
Additional Bonuses[]
A few Panzer Elite units receive an extra bonus when they level up, that is not given to other units.
This additional bonus is given at a specific level, and does not care whether you choose a Defensive or Offensive bonus package. In fact, the bonus is applied as soon as the unit levels up, even before either of the bonus packages is selected.
The best example of such bonuses is the Panther. At level 2, it will automatically gain a gunner for its turret MG, and at level 3 it will be outfitted with Armor Skirts. These two bonuses are applied automatically, immediately upon gaining the appropriate levels, and completely regardless of which bonus package you choose.
These bonuses are listed on the unit article pages where appropriate.