Guide to CoH3 Veterancy Mechanics
What is Veterancy?
A poorly explained mechanic in the Company of Heroes games is a mechanic known as veterancy.
Simply put, veterancy is essentially 'levels' for all your units in a typical skirmish match. Each unit that is produced or otherwise created in a match starts at level 0.
One can view each unit's veterancy level/status by looking at the unit card (bottom of the UI, below the unit description text), which will display hollow stars representing their veterancy level, as well as a bar that gradually fills with yellow as they gain experience (XP).
By dealing damage to enemy units as well as receiving damage from enemy units, veterancy XP is gained. As a unit gains more veterancy XP, they may pass certain thresholds/requirements in order to 'level' up, ascending to a higher veterancy level. This requirement is seen in the bar as it fills with yellow.
Once the yellow bar is completely filled (enough XP is gained to reach the requirement), the unit will level up from 0 to 1, and a yellow star is filled to indicate level 1. The bar then resets to indicate how much XP is needed for the next requirement.
This can be repeated to go from level 1 to 2, and 2 to 3. There is only a maximum of 3 veteran levels for each unit.
Why is veterancy important?
Part of what makes CoH games unique is their emphasis on unit preservation. Rather than players making a huge quantity of units that are expected to retain the exact same functions as well as are expected to die constantly, CoH units are more complex individually and ideally are to be kept alive as long as possible.
In short, the veterancy mechanic rewards players for keeping their units alive and active in skirmish matches.
As units gain veterancy levels, they gain useful stat bonuses which then obviously translates to a superior unit compared to the same lower level default unit. However, they also gain a new ability at veterancy level 1, which is very significant to gameplay (see more details below). More levels mean more cumulative bonuses, and so it is very rewarding to be able to keep a unit alive long enough to reach level 3 as they are objectively much stronger than before.
To see tooltip descriptions in-game, one can highlight the veterancy UI with their mouse (such as hovering over the stars) to see what stat bonuses are gained at each level. Remember, these are cumulative, so a unit at level 3 has all the bonuses including the ones they get from level 1 and 2.
Support Veterancy
Some units do not have weapons at all, or they are more specialized support units. These units may have the Support Veterancy passive, which allows them to gain veterancy XP by simply being near friendly units that are damaging or taking damage from enemy units (in other words, by being close to friendly units fighting enemies).
If multiple units with Support Veterancy are near each other, the XP gain generated from this passive is distributed evenly among said units with this passive.
What kind of bonuses do units get?
The bonuses are individually tailored to each unit, so it is not the same for every unit. However, there are patterns in the bonuses of each unit type.
Nearly all combat units will gain some sort of offensive bonus, typically to accuracy, though many can also gain additional rate of fire, reduced cooldown/reload times, additional penetration, etc.
Vehicles often gain mobility bonuses with levels, including bonuses like increased speed, acceleration, and rotation rate.
Many indirect fire (artillery) units gain bonuses to their ability cooldowns, allowing them to barrage more often.
Specialized units like the Wehrmacht
Many units across the board may also gain defensive bonuses such as increased health at higher levels.
Veterancy Level 1 Bonus: New Abilities
Unique to CoH3 that was not in the previous CoH games is that nearly all units unlock a new ability upon reaching veterancy level 1. This means gaining a new ability they simply could not use and could not access until they reached minimum level 1. Uniquely, nearly all USF units gain a choice between picking one of two new abilities at level 1, allowing USF players to better adapt their units for what they need.
This is important as veterancy level 1, aside from stat bonuses, adds important functions to the vast majority of playable units in skirmishes. These can be useful passive bonuses, or can be powerful active abilities that add interesting gameplay dynamics all players should be aware of. These vary greatly - some abilities simply enhance what they're already good at, perhaps giving some stat bonuses. Others are active abilities that grant previously inaccessible utility to certain units, allowing them to do something quite different than what one may be used to.
Some examples of said significant veteran abilities include the UKF
Normally Commandos do not have any access to smoke grenades. At veterancy level 1 however they gain the Concealment Smoke ability. This drops smoke at their feet and immediately removes current suppressed/pinned status. As one can see, this ability changes dynamics significantly. Now, the player has options, as this ability can be used as an emergency defensive tactic to save the squad if they are suppressed or in danger of dying. It could also be used to block line of sight in order to stall and neutralize/capture an objective, as another example.
The Stummel normally acts as a sort of relatively short ranged artillery unit that is not too effective against vehicles. Upon reaching veterancy level 1, it gains the Blinding Shot ability. This allows it to fire a direct shot at a targeted enemy vehicle, dealing damage while also debilitating it with vision and speed penalties as well as disabling its weapons temporarily. As one can see this changes dynamics quite a bit, as now a unit that is normally not to be used in anti-vehicle measures, can now actually aid the player's anti-vehicle efforts through this unique ability.
No new abilities are gained at veterancy level 2 and 3, although the stat bonuses are stronger at higher levels. As such, it is more difficult but certainly much more rewarding to continue keeping a unit alive and leveling up. Remember the bonuses are also cumulative, so again a vet 3 unit has all the available bonuses it can gain, making them objectively stronger than earlier levels.
The bigger they are, the more they are worth...
Damaging and killing veteran units will reward significantly more experience. As of the 1.6.0 patch, these values were increased.
Level 1/2/3 units are worth 20%/40%/60% more veterancy XP compared to level 0 units.
Increasing Veterancy Gain (Upgrades and Battlegroup Perks)
Now that the mechanics of it has been explained, one might wonder if there is a way to better increase the scaling of units through faster veterancy gain. Each faction has their own ways to improve veterancy gain, typically through heavy resource and time investment although there are some specific Battlegroup perks too.
Note that upgrades that grant veterancy XP or levels will apply to current and future applicable units (in other words it will affect units the player already has on the field, as well as new ones deployed in the same match).
USF:
The
houses an upgrade called Advanced Logistics. This upgrade will allow squads reinforced from Medical Station casualties to gain a small amount of veterancy XP. The
squad (exclusively available only with the Infantry Support Center) has the passive Leadership, which increases the veterancy XP gain of the player's nearby infantry units. The Armored Battlegroup contains the Veteran Crews perk which grants veterancy level 1 to all of the player's vehicles.
Wehrmacht:
Each of the Wehrmacht's production structures houses a "... Officers Quarters" upgrade. Each upgrade will grant veterancy level 1 as well as +25% increased XP gain to specific units associated with the building as well as specific Battlegroup units.
UKF:
The
houses "... Training" upgrades. Each upgrade will grant a flat amount of veterancy XP as well as combat bonuses to specific units. The Heavy Armor Battlegroup contains the Rigorous Vehicle Training perk, which increases all vehicle veterancy XP gain by +25%.
DAK:
The
houses the Veteran Squad Leaders upgrade, which will grant combat bonuses and +25% veterancy XP gain to all of the player's infantry units except the Panzergrenadier squad (which instead gains an extra squad member).