Ladies and Gentlemen, here it is, the final round of testing for the upcoming update 0.8.0. This third round was made to “polish” the aircraft carrier rework and it is indeed bringing quite a lot of changes.
Let’s look at it, shall we?
The Schedule
The public test will start on Tuesday 22 January at 17:30 CET (UTC+1) and will end Monday 28 January at 16:30 CET (UTC+1). As you can see, it is a fairly long round to be able to get as many data as possible on the changes.
Plane HP and AA efficiency have been rebalanced. AA efficiency now progresses more smoothly through the tiers. When up-tiered, CVs had almost no chance to cause damage because of the huge jump in the efficiency of AA. Now the difference is still noticeable but not so big.
Plane replenishment time increased for all tiers except tier X. This time was too low, and CVs could ignore their losses and just constantly keep using the same plane type. Now losing full squadrons has much more of an impact.
Tier IV Torpedo bomber characteristics have been corrected:
Fixed an issue and removed the “Fighters” consumable.
Torpedo aiming time increased from 2s to 3s. It was too easy to hit torpedoes on tier IV, causing constant flooding. Now you are required to stay in the AA zones longer to hit your target.
“Repair party” consumable transferred from dive bombers to torpedo bombers. It was anticipated that dive bombers would receive more damage than other planes types. But torpedo bombers have to fly straight for a long time, flying through AA explosions more often, taking more damage – therefore “Repair party” is better suited for them.
Priority AA sector increases DPS of all zones instead of number of explosions. Even dodging all the explosions can’t save you for long in the priority sector.
Sectors are now differentiated by AA tracers’ color. It makes it easier to understand the danger and to alter tactics accordingly.
CVs’ “Fighters” consumable is rebalanced: now it has 4 charges and 40s cooldown. Number of planes in a squadron has been reduced to 4. This still gives CVs decent AA defense, but now they aren’t invulnerable to enemy planes.
Number of planes called by “Catapult fighter” consumable lowered (4 instead of 6, 3 instead of 4). With AA rebalancing in mind, such a huge number of planes would be too powerful.
Lowered the efficiency of perks and modernizations affecting planes (not the AA). Some of them had a huge impact and could make planes nearly invincible.
Added a counter for damage dealt to planes. This can help you to understand AA efficiency even with a low count of downed planes.
Torpedo bombers aim point became more visible on bright maps to increase clarity.
Several ships’ characteristics altered. Details can be found in the “Dev Blog”. (for more details please check our article covering the said changes)
The sound of bombs dropping on isles is now louder.
Fixed an issue that caused the patch of an enemy, who destroyed the player, not to be displayed, and there was no transfer to spectator mode after your ship was destroyed.
Fixed an issue that caused the game client crashes
Fixed an issue that caused an incorrect display of Ryujo’s squadrons’ elevators.
[/su_box]
Some changes are quite welcomed like the change to the arming time for the torpedoes at tier IV that were terribly easy to drop due to this. There is also now the counter to the damage dealt to planes which is great to have an idea of the impact of our anti-air.
Anyway, let’s test all of this. Will see you on the Public Test Server captains!
On the 17th of January, Wargaming streamed a special developer Q&A with Crysantos, Lordofdroid and the Lead Game Designer for World of Warships, WellDone.
During this stream, lots of balance changes were revealed. Let’s go through them and discuss it a bit.
The ships buffs
A total of 12 ships are about to receive a buff with the update 0.8.0. Some buffs are more than welcomed but some others are… relatively unexpected.
[su_box title=”Japanese battleship Izumo, tier IX” style=”default” box_color=”#000000″ title_color=”#FFFFFF” radius=”0″]Sigma has been increased from 1.8 to 2.0.
The battleship will become more potent in battle by increasing the accuracy of the guns, which will compensate for the specific arrangement of the main battery.
[/su_box]
This is the third buff applied to the Izumo in a relatively short period of time. First, it was the concealment and the armor that received a buff. Then, they buffed her shells air drag which gave her a penetration on par with Yamato even at long range as you can see on the picture below:
Now, they are buffing her sigma to 2.0. Well, let’s simply say that if someone is still able to call the ship weak, I don’t know what this person will need more. She will have both the accuracy, the punching power, the ballistic and also the tanking capacity. The only thing she is truly weak at now is aesthetic.
Izumo will not be a weak and ugly ship anymore, it will be a strong and ugly ship.
[su_box title=”Japanese battleship Kii, tier VIII” style=”default” box_color=”#000000″ title_color=”#FFFFFF” radius=”0″]Main Battery reload time reduced from 31 to 30 seconds;
The torp stats have been changed: Range has been increased from 6 to 10 km;
Speed has been reduced from 63 to 62 kn;
Maximum damage has been increased from 14 600 to 17 233.
Thus, the battleship will have more opportunities for the use of its torpedo tubes, which will no longer be a ‘last ditch’ weapon, the use of which required to players to expose the broadside of the ship to enemy fire because of the restricted launch angles.
[/su_box]
The buff to the Kii is interesting as it’s more about the torpedoes rather than her gun power. Her main battery reload still remains longer than the reload of the Amagi but let’s be happy with this buff. I would just advise you if you see a friendly Kii near you to be careful to torpedoes. A teamkill can happen quickly.
[su_box title=”Japanese battleship Nagato, tier VII” style=”default” box_color=”#000000″ title_color=”#FFFFFF” radius=”0″]Main Battery reload time reduced from 32 to 30 seconds.
Reduced reloading time will emphasize the role of Nagato as a battleship with good maneuverability and a small number of accurate guns, at the cost of armour protection.
[/su_box]
Nagato getting buffed was relatively surprising as the ship is in my books a very strong battleship for the Tier VII but I will not question Wargaming’s choices. Then again, the buff itself isn’t groundbreaking so to say.
[su_box title=”American battleship Colorado, tier VII” style=”default” box_color=”#000000″ title_color=”#FFFFFF” radius=”0″]Sigma has been increased from 1.9 to 2.0.
The new Sigma will distinguish the battleship as a slow ship, with decent maneuverability, good armor and a small number of accurate guns.
[/su_box]
Funnily enough, Wargaming are going back on a nerf they applied recently. Now, it is quite welcome to make the slow brick that the Colorado is a bit more enjoyable.
[su_box title=”French battleship Dunkerque, tier VI ” style=”default” box_color=”#000000″ title_color=”#FFFFFF” radius=”0″]Main Battery reload time reduced from 28 to 26 seconds.
Reducing the reload time will compensate for the small caliber, making the battleship better balanced with other battleships on tier VI.
[/su_box]
The Dunkerque receiving a buff. It’s happening my friends! Now, a sigma buff or maybe a concealment buff would have been better but we will not spit on a reload buff. This will compensate for the ship’s dispersion that sometimes feels like the gunners drank a bit too much red wine.
[su_box title=”British battleship Hood, tier VII” style=”default” box_color=”#000000″ title_color=”#FFFFFF” radius=”0″]Sigma has been increased from 1.8 to 1.9;
AP fuse delay increased from 0.015 to 0.033 seconds
Due to the new fuse timings, armor-piercing shells will detonate more often in the citadel of the armored ships, but will result in more overpenetrations of lightly armored targets.
[/su_box]
A sigma buff is truly welcomed for the Hood but now, I’m split regarding the AP fuse. It was quite useful against cruisers especially the ones with very thin armor.
[su_box title=”French destroyer Aigle, tier VI” style=”default” box_color=”#000000″ title_color=”#FFFFFF” radius=”0″]Torpedo range has been increased from 7 to 8 km;
Increasing the range of the torpedoes will grant the French destroyer a larger window within which to launch torpedoes whilst remaining unspotted by the enemy, and will allow for more opportunities in battle to strike battleships.
[/su_box]
Le Terrible? Someone? No? Ok… Well, the Aigle is getting a buff to the range of her torpedoes. Not a buff that we will complain about but it wasn’t the most important. This buff will, however, allow her to use her torpedoes more often which can be nice as a damage source.
As a side note, WellDone did announce that Le Terrible will receive a buff but they still have to determine how they will address it.
[su_box title=”American destroyer Mahan, tier VII” style=”default” box_color=”#000000″ title_color=”#FFFFFF” radius=”0″]Main Battery reload time reduced from 4 to 3.3 seconds.
Despite the fact that the destroyer has one of the best damage per minute statistics at her tier, the specific ballistics of guns often does not allow this ship to realize this advantage when engaged with other destroyers. The new parameter, though it won’t change the features of the main battery ballistics, will significantly increase the efficiency in combat with enemy destroyers at close range.
[/su_box]
It’s again a buff that wasn’t really needed in my opinion but now the Mahan will be even more effective at fighting other DDs thanks to this improved damage per minute.
American destroyer Sims, tier VII
[su_box title=”American destroyer Sims, tier VII” style=”default” box_color=”#000000″ title_color=”#FFFFFF” radius=”0″]The base torp stats have been changed:
Range has been increased from 5.5 to 7 km;
The alternative torp stats have been changed:
Range has been increased from 9.2 to 10.5 km;
Maximum damage has been increased from 8500 to 9667.
Reload time been increased from 72 to 76 seconds.
Changing the characteristics of the base and alternative torpedoes emphasizes the difference between the two styles of gameplay available to Sims:
‘High Risk, High Reward’ game from torpedoes with a short range and good speed, causing a lot of damage;
comparatively safe option with a greater distance to the enemy, but with less damage and low speed torpedoes.
[/su_box]
Now, that’s an interesting buff. The torpedoes of the Sims have always been relatively questionable as you either had a very short range with good damage or a long range but with laughable damage. With this change, both types of torpedoes become interesting in their own way. I would be tempted to prefer the 7 km torpedoes but each person has his/her own opinion.
[su_box title=”Soviet destroyers Ognevoi, tier VIII and Udaloi, tier IX” style=”default” box_color=”#000000″ title_color=”#FFFFFF” radius=”0″]”Repair Party” consumable has been added to the extra slot:
Number of charges: 1 (Repair Party I) and 2 (Repair Party II);
Reload time: 120 (Repair Party I) and 80 (Repair Party II) seconds;
Duration: 28 seconds. The efficiency 0,5% of HP per second
[/su_box]
Here, it is a very welcomed buff for these 2 ships. Both are considered to be relatively weak at their respective tier so this repair party will certainly help them at being relevant. Time to grind towards the Grozovoi.
[su_box title=”Soviet destroyer Kiev, tier VIII” style=”default” box_color=”#000000″ title_color=”#FFFFFF” radius=”0″]”Repair Party” consumable has been added to slot with ”Smoke Generator”:
Number of charges: 1 (Repair Party I) and 2 (Repair Party II);
Reload time: 120 (Repair Party I) and 80 (Repair Party II) seconds;
Duration: 28 seconds.
The efficiency 0,5% of HP per second Adding the consumable “Repair Party” will allow for more effective fights with enemy destroyers and make the progression to tier X in this line more logical.
[/su_box]
Not that much to talk about here. This change will prepare you a bit better if you plan to grind Taschkent and Khabarovsk with the repair party instead of the smoke. To trade the smoke generator for the repair party, that is the question though.
In update 0.8.0, fire duration on certain large cruisers has been increased from 45 to 60 seconds. This change is systemic and affects the following ships: Kronstadt, Stalingrad, Azuma and Alaska.
The excellent armor of these large cruisers created an excessive advantage in survival during long battles. With the correct positioning of the ships, the only way to deal a lot of damage to them is through setting fires. Increasing the time required to extinguish the fire for these cruisers will improve their balance compared to conventional cruisers, keeping their distinctive features: high damage from the main battery salvo, good armored citadel and large amount of hit points.
[/su_box]
So yes. The Kronstadt, the Stalingrad, the Azuma and the Alaska are getting a small nerf on their fire duration. It is certainly not the end of the world considering the combination of tools that these ships have in their hands. At the same time, it will make fights against them a bit better by giving a better source of damage from fires.
The radar mechanic change
Well now, we are dealing with the big fish.
A lot of complaints were issued regarding the radar mechanic. Claiming that the consumable was unhealthy for the Destroyer gameplay out of everything else. Now, I can understand partially these complaints considering all the ships that can equip this consumable. However, I’m not a great fan of this.
Let’s now talk about the change itself. At the start, people talked about a line of sight system applied to the radar. The problem is that when Wargaming tested this system, they realized that it was rendering the radar pretty much useless.
Another idea was to create a delay between the time a player uses radar and the time his/her teammates can see the ship under the action of the radar. This is the idea that Wargaming seems to appreciate and that might end up on the live server.
Now, I have multiple concerns regarding this change.
First, the size of the delay applied to the radar.
In general, when you use a radar, it’s to be able to punish an enemy ship quickly and with him getting caught off-guard. With only one ship being able to shoot at the radared ship, it’s easier to handle the situation (angling, hiding, etc.). Also, there are very often situations when the ship using radar will not necessarily be in a position to shoot at the radared ship and will rely on his teammates to shoot at it. When playing Clan battles, this kind of situations happens quite often and if that the delay ends up being too long, some radars will simply be wasted as the ship will be able to get back to cover before anyone has the time to shoot.
Let’s take a wild guess and imagine that the delay is based on the percentage of the duration. That would mean that the US and British radars would become much less effective at early punishment and teamplay in general as they have the longest duration so the longest delay.
Another possibility is, of course, a fixed value. This value would need to be different for all radars because otherwise, the radar for the Pan-Asian DDs will become… relatively useless considering the already short duration.
Another problem is that, let’s face it, these past few weeks, destroyers received quite a lot of attention. AP mechanic change, Concealment expert nerf, the planes not able to spot torpedoes anymore with 0.8.0. and now the radar mechanic change. With all these buffs, I won’t say that destroyers as a whole were overbuffed but I’m not that far from saying it.
Overall, while I can see the point of this change, I’m just not a fan at all. It’s basically bringing back the old spotting delay issue as a feature and making it even bigger.
While we were expecting the update 0.8.0 as well as the Aircraft carrier rework to come next week, some changes in the schedule arrived.
How big is the delay?
The update 0.8.0 is delayed by a week. This means that it will hit the live servers on the 30/01 and 31/01 depending on which server you are playing on.
Why is the update delayed?
The update is delayed to allow a third Public Test session to occur. This Public Test will be used to test the following changes to the Aircraft Carrier rework:
Addition of more visual effects for AA fire when the ‘Defensive AA Fire’ consumable is activated.
Creation of a visual priority AA sector, showing where AA fire is concentrated.
Removal of the patrol zone of a fighter for destroyers, cruisers and battleships from the minimap as this information is of little use and can confuse and pollute the minimap. In this case, the fighters will still be displayed in the game world, allowing players to use them as a cover from enemy aircraft;
Changing the mechanics of the priority sector: now it will not increase the number of explosions, but the constant average damage per minute.
The visual changes are quite welcomed because currently, the slight color change applied to the flak clouds when Defensive AA Fire is active can be troublesome to spot especially for the people suffering from color blindness.
Extension of the activities of the 0.7.12
Due to the delay applied to the 0.8.0, the activities of the 0.7.12 are also extended by a week. This includes:
Fighting in Clan battles.
“Knocking off” your remaining snowflakes.
Completing the event “In the Name of His Highness!” and receiving the premium battleship tier VI Prinz Eitel Friedrich.
Participating in the “Mighty Prinz” Campaign, earning yourself the five researchable Tier VI ships with permanent New Year-inspired camouflage.
All I can say is thank you Wargaming on this.
Anyway, that’s all for this article Ladies and Gentlemen!
3 years ago, World of Warships was launched for the PC. It is now time for the game to conquer the PlayStation®4 and Xbox One with World of Warships: Legends!
World of Warships: Legends will open its gates for the first Closed Beta weekend starting on December 21. If you want to have a first taste of this game, don’t miss the opportunity to play it before its official release (planned for 2019) and to receive extra rewards.
What is World of Warships: Legends exactly?
First thing first, it is not a direct carbon copy of the World of Warships we all currently know. World of Warships: Legends will bring its own unique content and the most notable one, Legendary Commanders. These commanders will all have their own characteristics that will influence your approach to combat.
As of now, there are 8 different unique commanders:
U.S.A.: Norman Scott, William Halsey and William Sims
Japan: Raizõ Tanaka, Isoroku Yamamoto and Tõgõ Heihachiro
Poland: Jerzy Świrski
Germany: Maximilian von Spee
There will also be a few differences and improvements in terms of UI designed specifically for consoles.
Screenshots of the game for Xbox One and PlayStation®4
[su_spoiler title=”World of Warships: Legends Gallery” style=”fancy” icon=”plus-circle”]
Xbox One
PlayStation®4
[/su_spoiler]
If you are interested in taking part to the Closed Beta, you can sign up right here: Closed Beta Registration
For the third season of this community hosted tournament that runs both on the EU and the NA servers, the battles will be fought between teams of 3 ships. The team formation must respect the following rules :
1 Tier VIII ship and 2 Tier VII ships
1 Battleship
1 Cruiser
1 Destroyer
Premium ships that can only be obtained through doubloons, limited-
time events, through the premium shop, or through crates, are not allowed
Organization:
The tournament will be divided into 3 stages:
The first one will be a Swiss system of eight rounds in which the different teams of 2 groups will face each other in Best of 1 matches. Only the 4 best teams of each group will come back for the next day.
The second stage will be a Round Robin in 3 rounds of Best of 1. The best 8 teams of both the EU and the NA server will clash in this round but only the best team of each 4 groups will move up to the last stage.
This last stage, let’s talk about it! This stage will englobe the semi-finals and the final with 2 rounds of Best of 3 matches.
Dates:
Before thinking about taking part to a tournament, it is indeed better to know when the different phases of the said event will occur.
Registrations: December 3 – December 9
Tournament: December 15 – December 16
The first stage will be on the 15th and the second and last stage on the 16th.
Winners’ Announcement: December 18
All Prizes Paid/Shipped Out by: December 21
Rules:
Nobody should ignore the rules! This is why the [RQL] clan brings to you the full ruleset available through this link:
Ever since the start of The Daily Bounce I’ve supported various World of Tanks and World of Warships streamers and at the beginning of 2018, the Featured Streamer was replaced by Streamer of the Month.
The idea is to make readers aware of new Streamers and at the same time, give these fantastic guys an opportunity to get more exposure. To further improve the Streamer of the Month, I will now be performing and publishing a small interview with the selected Streamer.
October Streamer of the Month for the Daily Bounce readers is a fellow World of Warships Community Contributor: Flambass.
Harkonnen: To start, can you please tell us a bit more about you?
Flambass: Well I’m 29 years old, born and live in Croatia. Been playing games since I was a kid when my dad got me one of those Nintendo consoles…you know what I talking about, the Super Mario one of course…
After that, it all took a natural path of switching to Nintendo64, Playstation 1 and 2 and eventually a PC. I got Internet really late, so I was super out of the loop for a long time and I’m still learning and adjusting to the whole thing because Internet was not somethingI needed, as my parents would say and I kind of agreed at first. But with University this changed, got Internet an soon after that I started playing World of Tanks. I’ve heard about it totally by random from one of my friends. I had to go and check it because I was a massive WWII and tanks in general fan.
After a while, I actually started getting good at the game and I wanted to take it to a new level but I was always stopped by people around me that weren’t that much into pro-gaming.
Then World of Warships happened, I watched Jingles himself play it in CBT and I knew I had to get it and been playing WoWS ever since. Eventually became a Community Contributor so now I get involved in game development itself which is an amazing experience.
In the meantime, I’ve finished University, History and Philosophy in case you were wondering and started streaming which is currently my job. I wouldn’t change it for anything, I’ve got an awesome community full of very friendly people and I love it.
Why did you start playing World of Warships? How long have you been playing and streaming?
I got tired of World of Tanks after a while and the whole situation with the game, World of Warships was at the horizon and I kept an eye out for it. After seeing some videos about it I got really hyped for it, mainly because I’m a massive WWII fan and secondly there just wasn’t any good warship game out there.
There were plenty of submarine games like Silent Hunter and Hunter Killer, but me and my father always imagined how awesome it would be to be a captain of a surface warship, such as Bismarck. When we saw that Wargaming is making exactly that, we were lined in and ready.
I’ve started playing World of Warships during the Closed Beta Test and will continue indefinitely. I was also a part of the competitive team that won WoWS biggest tournament, the “King of the Sea” most times and it will probably stay like that for a while. I streamed some of it but then I discovered a whole new dimension of competitive gaming, which is casting it and I really enjoy it. I’ve been streaming WoWS for about 18 months now, every day around 15:00 CEST/CET and will continue to do so.
What do you like the most about the game?
Well if we put aside all the nice graphics, the fact that you are in charge of a massive warship that’s armed to its teeth, the awesome sound effect, the great immersion… if we put all that aside (laughs), then it’s the strategic and tactical side of it.
I was always a fan of WWII strategy games and strategy games in general that required a lot of thinking and not just your reflexes to defeat the opponent. In WoWS there is a lot more of that if you compare it with WoT for example. Games last longer and mistakes are punished a lot slower and painfully, which really gives you time to regret making them. A lot of aspects about this game are awesome, of course, it has its problems like all games do but there are a lot more plusses than minuses.
What would be the number one thing you would improve if you had the chance?
Well, after more than 3 years playing the game and having experience in every single aspect of it, from super crazy shenanigans to top-notch pro-gaming competitive parts of it, I would probably go for +1/-1 Matchmaking. It would make a lot more ships enjoyable, unfortunately, I don’t think that’s gonna happen.
What’s your favourite ship?
It used to be Tirpitz, but since most of the time you end up in bottom tier games you just don’t get to enjoy it that much anymore. There is this new baby coming on the horizon, the Tier X Alsace, known as Bourgogne. Absolute beauty and a beast, suites my playstyle perfectly. Move around and flank the enemy and then break ’em.
Submarines…?
I was asked about my opinion of submarines in WoWS many times and it was always the same answer: “HELLZ NO”, but I have to admit that it changed. The game has changed quite a lot since and after seeing them live in action I think that they might work, but they won’t be easy to play as most people think, I can tell you that already.
I’m very curious to see what kind of impact they are going to have in the game itself if they ever make it to Random Battles in live servers. I really hope they don’t break the game as most of us fear, because if they do then I’ll be first in line to take them down. However, I do like diversity and this will bring a whole new dimension to the game.
I am a destroyer man after all and I can’t wait to start hunting them down, I’m looking forward to the hunt of subs a lot more than being one.
Tell us a bit more about your stream, thinks like what makes it different, what you enjoy the most, etc.
I enjoy streaming and talking to my audience, I try to read everything in chat and answer as much as I. There are days where I will try hard and other days where I will do the craziest setup I can think of, for example, mid-rush on Two Brothers, or triple Shimakaze with 20 km widespread torps only and still come top on experience.
Sometimes HANS will take over, if you want to find out who he is you have to tune in, and probably sink my ship. I love to (attempt to) talk other languages, and still get hyped about good and crazy games and I hope that never changes.
What to expect for the future of World of Warships?
Well, 2019 is gonna be a year of changes. Total overhaul of CVs is happening, we’re maybe getting submarines, consumables are getting changed, the way AA works is getting changed, radar might get a change, o course new ships, new maps, more tournaments and entertainment, as you can see a lot to look forward.
Anything else you would like to add?
Well, I’d just like to thank you for the opportunity and say that everyone is more than welcome to join me on Twitch/Youtube. I hope we can make this game grow bigger and better together and what’s most important, have fun doing it.
We hope you enjoyed the article, please don’t forget to give a visit and follow Flambass on his official channels and please do let us know your opinion in the comment section!
Jean Bart was a French battleship of World War II, named for the 17th-century seaman, privateer, and corsair Jean Bart. She was the second Richelieu-class battleship. Derived from the Dunkerque class, Jean Bart and her sister ship Richelieu were designed to fight the new battleships of the Italian Navy. Their speed, shielding, armament, and overall technology were state of the art, but they had a rather unusual main battery armament arrangement, with two 4-gun turrets forward and none aft.
Jean Bart was incomplete when France surrendered to Germany in June 1940. She sailed from Saint-Nazaire to Casablanca just before the Armistice. She was sunk in harbour in 1942. After the war she was re-floated, completed with an updated anti-aircraft battery, and entered service in 1955. She had a very short career: Jean Bart was put into reserve in 1957, decommissioned in 1961, and scrapped in 1969.
Jean Bart will be a Tier VIII Premium battleship in World of Warships and the following stats are listed without crew and upgrade modifiers but with best available modules. The stats are subject to change during the testing.
The Mackensen class was the last class of battlecruisers to be built by Germany in World War I. The design initially called for seven ships, but three of them were redesigned as the Ersatz Yorck class. Of the four ships of the Mackensen class, Mackensen, Graf Spee, and Prinz Eitel Friedrich were launched, and Fürst Bismarck was not, but none were completed after wartime shipbuilding priorities were redirected towards U-boat and the ships were broken up in the early 1920s.
Prinz Eitel Friedrich will be a Tier VI Premium battleship in World of Warships and the following stats are listed without crew and upgrade modifiers but with best available modules. The stats are subject to change during the testing.
EU Region: Apr. 26, 07:00 CEST (UTC+2) – 09:30 CEST (UTC+2)
APAC Region: Apr. 26, 05:00 UTC+8 – 07:00 UTC+8
Unsportsmanlike Conduct Prevention System
In the upcoming Update 0.7.4, we’re taking the efficiency of our system used to counter unsportsmanlike conduct and unfair play to a whole new level. From now on, players acting disrespectfully toward teammates by attacking them, being inactive in battle, or fleeing a battle will get a foul conduct warning first and will be banned from certain types of battles (except Co-op and Clan Battles) in case of repeated violations.
The status of a player’s account will be indicated by the color of their nickname:
WHITE color meaning lack of violations.
PINK color meaning the player has received a warning.
ORANGE color meaning the player is under penalty and is restricted from entry to certain types of battles.
Any penalty will be “served” in Co-op Battles, where each battle played without violations is one step on the way back to the “white” status. The exact penalty will depend on the number of violations and the frequency of their recurrence. Repeat offenders will “go pink” faster and face an ever increasing penalty for repeated acts of unsportsmanlike conduct. This significantly reduces the chance for all players to be matched in a battle with a “hardcore” offender.
Improved Matchmaking
We’ve taken the next step in enhancing the work of the matchmaking algorithm. This time, in Random Battles. Now, for a period of three minutes after the first player in the queue for battle pressed the “Battle” button, teams will be matched to mirror each other’s lineup. It means that the lineups of opposing teams will be identical by ship types and tiers. This change is expected to produce maximum effect during the day and in the evening when there are enough players in queue for battle. To avoid long queue times during a lower server population time, the matchmaker will revert to the previous operation should the waiting time exceed three minutes.
Changes in Ribbons and Achievements
Your final results, as well as your contribution to the team’s victory, do not depend entirely on the amount of damage you’ve dealt to enemy ships. They depend on a variety of other factors ranging from base capturing and the number of spotted enemy ships, to the success of your efforts to draw away enemy fire from allies and the amount of damage inflicted by teammates using reconnaissance data you share, etc. With the release of Update 0.7.4, players get a slightly upgraded battle interface that will provide more detailed info on their actions and achievements in combat.
Among the new features, you get two new counters—one for potential damage and the other for damage dealt upon your spotting, which may be enabled in the Settings menu.
Damage dealt upon your spotting means damage dealt by your teammates on targets you’re spotting. Damage is credited only if you’re spotting an enemy ship (i.e. you are within that ship’s detection radius) that your teammate is dealing damage to, but is unable to spot themselves. In this case, the damage will be credited to all such “spotters” in full.
Potential damage (taken by the ship and blocked by armor) means the maximum damage caused by any shell/bomb/torpedo that landed on, or passed nearby, your ship (a 700 m radius roughly equals 1.5 times the length of Yamato’s hull because in the game the ships are drawn at a scale of 2:1). And, yes, that means your epic “torpedo beats” count towards potential damage!
For example, if a player decides to distract the opposing forces on a given flank, the potential damage counter will show how fruitful their efforts are. The other counter showing the amount of damage dealt to enemy ships a player has spotted will come in handy for the majority of destroyers or ships using consumables which allow spotting enemy ships with low detection radius, those hiding behind islands, or camping in smoke.
These counters will give players a hint as to how well they perform in battle. The display of the counters in the post-battle statistics screen will not change.
Besides that, we made the AP bombs “hitting mechanics” clearer to players. Since AP bombs are quite a novelty in the game, their effectiveness is not always easily understood. To make their mechanics more transparent to the players, we added more information to the Detailed Ribbons for all types of bombs. This will indicate how efficiently the bombs were dropped: with a ricochet, a penetration, or over/non-penetration.
In Update 0.7.4, the “Clear Sky” achievement will be removed from the game. With the introduction of the “Direction Center for Catapult Aircraft” Commander skill and increase in the number of aircraft in the hangars of some battleships and cruisers, it became nearly impossible to earn this achievement. So, we replaced it with two new honorary achievements:
“King of the Air” (made specifically for aircraft carriers).
“AA Defense Expert” earned by playing only a battleship, cruiser, or destroyer.
Both achievements are issued for knocking down a fixed number of aircraft in a single battle: 55 enemy aircraft for “King of the Air” and 50 for “AA Defense Expert”. The reward for earning each of these two achievements will be 10 “November Echo Settesvent” flags that will be issued no more than once a day. The new achievements will replace “Clear Sky” in Campaigns tasks. You’ll need to earn any of these two new achievements to complete a respective task. If a player has already made some progress on these tasks, it will be kept. If the tasks were completed earlier, they will remain completed.
The “Detailed Ribbons” checkbox will be removed from the Settings menu. Now, the battle performance ribbons will always be displayed in the detailed view.
Naval Flag Seletion for Pan-Asia and the Commonwealth
Now you can choose between different Naval Flags for the ships of Pan-Asia and the Commonwealth.
Example If a player enters a battle with VII Gadjah Mada and selects an Indonesian Navy Flag, this player will see other destroyers of this type flying the same flag. Other representatives of the Pan-Asian tech tree will be displayed for the player in accordance with their choice for each of the ships. However, the player’s choice of flag won’t affect the display of the ship’s flag for teammates and opponents because VII Gadjah Mada will be displayed as carrying the flag they chose for this ship in their own Port.
At present, it is possible to select a naval flag only for ships from multi-regional branches of the Tech Tree.
The naval flag selection option is available in the “Flags” section of the “Exterior” tab in the Port. By default, the game client will display flags that are common for the tech tree.
Improvements to Port Interface
In response to numerous requests from our players, we’ve reworked the UI elements related to Commander skills, upgrades, signals and flags to make them more intuitive. Now, all characteristics will be displayed in a particular color: green if they produce a boosting effect and red if their effect is negative. In addition to the use of color-based indication for various characteristics, we’ve also shifted the descriptions of camouflage, skills, signals and flags a bit to make them more readable.
Apart from that, enhanced Commander skills like Jean-Jacques Honoré’s “Adrenaline Rush” and “Expert Marksman”, as well as special upgrades, will all carry a dedicated icon, making it easier for players to understand which upgrades, exterior changes and Commander skills best fit their style of play.
We’re also hopeful there will be fewer questions about Commander skills and ship modules which give a boost to one characteristic while nerfing another as it will now be clear what changes will be made and why, for instance, the overall efficiency of a ship’s torpedo armament with the “Torpedo Acceleration” skill selected will, in fact, go down.
Season 9 of Ranked Battles
Ranked Battles are back!
On April 26th/27th, players can start their triumphant progress up the Ranked ladder. This time, they will plunge into the combat playing Tier VIII and X ships on their way to the League of Sea Wolves. The proud holders of Rank 1 will be able to continue their fight with worthy fellow commanders with Tier VII battles.
Show your mastery in pursuit of Rank 1!
Season duration is 38 days.
Participation in Ranked Battles requires Service Record Level 14.
There is a total of 23 ranks. For the sake of simplicity, the ranks were combined into the Third League, the Second League, the First League, the Premier League, and the League of Sea Wolves.
Two teams of 7 players each fight against each other. By winning battles, players earn stars needed to climb up the ranking ladder. In the majority of ranks, a defeat means a lost star.
Novice players will start the season from Rank 23. Those who participated in the previous season of Ranked Battles will get bonus stars: one for each of their ranks reached.
Ranks 23 to 17 as well as Ranks 15, 10 (instead of Rank 12 in the previous season) and 1 will be irrevocable. At Ranks 23-20, players do not lose a star for a defeat. Be the first on your team by XP earned and keep your hard-earned star, even for a lost game.
At Ranks 23-11, a bonus star is given when you progress to the next rank.
At Ranks 23-11, battles will involve Tier VIII ships only. At Ranks 10-2, battles will require ships of Tier X. Commanders who achieved Rank 1 can, of course, continue playing with each other with ships of Tier VII.
Team line-ups are mirrored in terms of ship types and tiers.
Map Pool
Tier VIII Battles:
Neighbors, Domination mode, three key areas (+2 points each 3 seconds)
Northern Lights, Domination mode, three key areas (+2 points each 3 seconds)
Hotspot, Domination mode, three key areas (+2 points each 3 seconds)
Sea of Fortune, Domination mode, three key areas (+2 points each 3 seconds)
Mountain Range, Domination mode, three key areas (+2 points each 3 seconds)
Tier X Battles:
Warrior’s Path, Domination mode, three key areas (+2 points each 3 seconds)
North¸ Domination mode, three key areas (+2 points each 3 seconds)
Hotspot, Domination mode, three key areas (+2 points each 3 seconds)
Sleeping Giant, Domination mode, three key areas (+2 points each 3 seconds)
Tears of the Desert, Domination mode, three key areas (+2 points each 3 seconds)
Mountain Range, Domination mode, three key areas (+2 points each 3 seconds)
Tier VII Battles in the League of Sea Wolves:
Shatter, Domination mode, three key areas (+2 points each 3 seconds)
Sea of Fortune, Domination mode, three key areas (+2 points each 3 seconds)
Upgrade of Ship Spotting System
As a part of our Public Test we tried out two solutions to the ships’ 3D rendering and their coinciding minimap appearance issue. Based on your feedback, we chose the more popular solution that should cater to most of our players. It only partially deals with this issue, yet it has no unwanted side-effects. We’re planning to introduce the next round of fixes in a few Updates.
In the Update 0.7.4, ship detection will work as following: 3D model rendering and visual effects will happen simultaneously, while the minimap icon will be displayed just like it was in the 0.7.3 version.
Game Balance Changes
Let’s start with the short version:
X Shimakaze‘s surface detectability is reduced to 7.11 km (5.59 km with all possible modifiers applied)
VIII Admiral Hipper‘s main gun reload is reduced from 13 to11.5 seconds. Rudder shift time on hulls B and C is reduced from 10.7 to 9.2 seconds
VIII Prinz Eugen can mount the Repair Party consumable
X Midway‘s hangar space is reduced from 136 to 116
X Hakuryu ‘s Type 10 mod. 2 Flight Control distribution has changed from 2-3-3 to 3-3-2
IV Orion‘s shell grouping has been spread out from a sigma of 1.8 to 1.6
Air detectability range of torpedoes is reduced by half.
As the game progresses and introduces new ships, X Shimakaze must also adapt and continue to be capable of completing her primary combat objectives. In Update 0.7.4 we enhance the combat performance of this destroyer and reduce her standard detectability range by sea to 7.11 km (5.59 km with all possible modifiers applied), which lets her spot most of her same-tier adversaries while staying undetected.
The upcoming Update 0.7.4 will also affect German cruisers VIII Admiral Hipper and VIII Prinz Eugen. These ships feature several unique advantages that make them remarkable among the ships of the same type, namely:
Hydroacoustic Search with greater action range.
Enhanced HE shell armour penetration capability, that is equal to ¼ of the main battery calibre value.
Higher damage dealt by AP shells.
Good armor protection.
Impressive firing range.
Even with such a long list of advantages these ships don’t always demonstrate performance great enough for their tier, that’s why we decided to improve the following parameters:
VIII Admiral Hipper —for hulls B and C, the standard rudder shift time was reduced to 9.2 seconds (used to be 10.7), and the main battery loading time was reduced to 11.5 seconds (used to be 13);
VIII Prinz Eugen—the ‘Repair Party’ consumable was added, similar to that of Atago cruiser.
For the US carrier X Midway, the hangar space was reduced, making the ship’s air group count 116 instead of 136. Midway has the same deck distribution as before: 2 squadrons of each type 6 planes in each. Reserve planes are: 23 fighters, 29 torpedo bombers and 28 dive bombers.
At the same time, X Hakuryu Type 10 mod.2 flight control now contains 3 fighter squadrons, 3 torpedo bomber squadrons and 2 dive bomber squadrons with 4 planes in each one, instead of the previous 2-3-3 distribution, while her reserve now contains 18 fighters, 28 torpedo bombers and 22 dive bombers. These changes will place both carriers in similar positions in terms of combat efficiency regardless of how long a battle lasts.
British battleship IV Orion‘s main battery salvo density was decreased (sigma parameter 1.6 instead of 1.8). Orion often appeared to be a very dangerous weapon under the command of a skilful Commander, that’s why we had to give more chances to direct counterparts of this ship from the opposing team.
As well as this, the detectability range of torpedoes by air is reduced by half. This will let the “torpedo destroyers” to fulfil their roles more efficiently, especially in battles with aircraft carriers.
Active Bots in the Training Room
Public Test results show that the majority of players welcomed the appearance of active bots in the Training Room with open arms so we’re rolling this feature out on the live server. To “activate” bots, open the “Filling the team with targets” menu of a Division and check the following boxes: Target is moving and Target is armed. Set the AI level if required. The AI level determines the fire efficiency of your targets. All parameters may be set individually for each target. Train to boost your skills!
Other Improvements and Fixes
It is now impossible to enter a Ranked Battle or Clan Battle with a test ship.
Starting from Update 0.7.4, you can go to the Distinctive Insignia interface by clicking on the distinctive insignia icon received in a container.
The geometric textures of the following ships were improved:
VII Atlanta
X Conqueror
VIII Gascogne
IX Izumo
The display of fine elements on Japanese and U.S. aircraft was enhanced
Fixed an issue with a ship’s elements continuing to fly around after the ship is destroyed.
Fixed an issue which could cause the menu item “Enable ship horns” to malfunction.
Fixed an issue which distorted the sound played when switching to the Binoculars view after firing or recharging guns or switching to a different type of shells.
Fixed the description of the special features of IX Missouri.
Fixed a rare issue that caused incorrect display of the descriptions of Operations after exiting from the Training Room.
The parameter values of consumables will now be rounded to two digits after decimal point.
Fixed an issue which made it impossible to display the AA engagement area on the Minimap for ships carrying small-calibre AA guns.
Fixed the text description of HE shells carried by VIII North Carolina.
Fixed an issue which caused misplacement of the “BACK TO PORT” and “BATTLE ON!” buttons on the post-battle stats screen after changing from “windowed” to “fullscreen” mode and back.
Fixed an issued which made it impossible to get back to Port with the “BACK TO PORT” button in the post-battle stats screen while in the Port.
Fixed an issue with the “Chief Naval Architect” achievement not being issued.
Fixed an issue affecting the “National voiceover+” sound mod used with Commanders that have their own voiceovers. Now, quick commands broadcast by other players will be reproduced in the language of the nation that their Commanders belong to while the special voiceover will be applied to the Commander of the player’s own ship only.
Fixed an issue which hampered the manual squadron attack feature (ALT-attack) for aircraft carriers when the “Alternative mouse controls” option was enabled.
Fixed a bug which caused the game client to crash after pushing the “Battle” button.
Fixed an issue with the lack of system notifications about invoices issued during offline time.
On the Hotspot map, battleships will now spawn closer to the rest of the team.
For battleships, fixed an issue with the main gun reload bell ringing even when not all of the guns were reloaded.
Fixed an issue with game client crashes which occurred when the configuration (preferences) file got corrupted. The parameters of the file will be reset to default ones, and an error notification will be displayed on exit from the game.
Fixed an issue that replaced the flag selected in the Port with the flag of the Space Battles event on ships wearing a space camo.
Game Engine Optimization
To enhance an enhanced overall game performance, especially in a battle, we’ve adopted an algorithm for preloading effects. In the past, all effects were stored in video memory irrespective of whether they were, in fact, used in a given battle or not. By adopting that strategy, we achieved good GPU performance but positive effects were visible only for a fixed number of effects used.
As the number of different effects in the game is growing, we decided to optimize the use of video memory by preloading only those effects that will actually be used in combat, thus saving several percent of video memory capacity. A further increase in performance may be achieved by disabling the display of certain special camo patterns.
Community Contributor Support
We’ve added a number of fascinating rewards to be issued to popular video bloggers and their subscribers. First of all, it’s a brand new camouflage with a dedicated design for content creators, and a special camouflage that they will be able to offer as a bonus for their watchers. Apart from that, a new container will appear in the game for winners of contests along with a tailored patch and emblem. But on top of all that, the most popular bloggers will get a special flag so that you could easily identify your heroes (or anti-heroes) in battle.
We’ll be sharing more details on when and where those items will up for grabs in a dedicated article coming soon!
Content Changes and Additions
Sale of Special Ships and Commander Dismissal
In response to your numerous requests, we’ve added an option to dismiss nearly all Commanders and sell all ships available in the Game.
If you aren’t happy with Commanders helming the Dragon, ARP and HSF fleets, or if you have duplicates, you are now free to dismiss any of them. Unique Commanders Jean-Jacques Honoré or Jack Dunkirk—obtained for completing campaigns, can be “sent ashore”, too. However, please note that once these Commanders have been dismissed, you won’t be able to get them back to your account any more. So make a wise decision. The only Commander that can’t be dismissed is Yamamoto Isoroku.
Besides the Commander dismissal option, we’ve made it possible to sell ARP ships for credits right in the game client. The selling price of ships will be as follows:
Players can enable auto-resupply of these signals for Doubloons as necessary. If the auto-resupply feature is already on when the Update is released, it will remain so but the “Resupply using in-game currency” feature will be disabled.
To mark the Victory Day, a festive port called “Kronstadt” (that can be selected using the “Select Port” tab), and a unique Soviet Commander will be introduced into the game.
The Kronstadt Port was recreated on the basis of historical images from the late 1930s. Enter it to see the daunting view of Fort “Peter the Great” and Fort “Alexander”, with Fort “Konstantin” rising up a little farther. On the opposite side, you can see Fort “Kronslot”, and at a distance, two more forts stand out—Fort “Emperor Paul I” and Fort “Count Milyutin”. Try and pick out the silhouette of the city and the Naval Cathedral! The new Port will be lit with fireworks launched at regular intervals, and an air squadron that will be conducting an honorific flyover across the sky.
Besides the new Port, you may get your hands on a unique Soviet Commander Viktor Znamensky. This Commander will be specialized for cruiser Orlan and will come with 10 undistributed skill points and the following enhanced skills:
“Routine Maintenance”:
-45% (Default: -30) to the risk of incapacitation of modules.
“Expert Marksman”:
+3 deg/sec (Default: +2.5) to the traverse speed of the guns with a calibre of below 139 mm.
+1 deg/sec (Default: +0.7) to the traverse speed of the guns with a calibre of 139 mm and above.
“High Alert”:
-20% (Default: -10%) to the reload time of the “Damage Control Party” consumable.
Two French battleships were leaked by mistake, by Wargaming itself! It’s confirmed Richelieu will be at Tier VIII and Lyon at Tier VII. Unfortunately the images aren’t of great quality, because they are a screen grab on a mobile phone. The original post was deleted a short while after it was accidently posted! We might get some more information soon. A massive thanks to Capitan_JodePartidas for sending these to me over email.
[/su_lightbox]
[/su_lightbox]
“King of the Air” (made specifically for aircraft carriers).
“AA Defense Expert” earned by playing only a battleship, cruiser, or destroyer.
that will be issued no more than once a day. The new achievements will replace “Clear Sky” in Campaigns tasks. You’ll need to earn any of these two new achievements to complete a respective task. If a player has already made some progress on these tasks, it will be kept. If the tasks were completed earlier, they will remain completed.
consumable
Site Title 
