Waterline May 2021 - Submarines in Ranked - Super-Battleships Satsuma and Hannover - Commander Skill Changes - Attack Aircraft Changes
MrConway and Crysantos share some info about new content that will be landing in-game in the near future.
All videos have been edited to the timestamps of each topic.
First stage of All of the Changes:
- In update 0.10.4 WG will remove the "dead eye skill" in the way it works right now and replace it with the "Swift and Silence" skill,
There may be some minor changes to other skills.
- Because of the significant impact to battleships trained with "Dead Eye Skill", there will be an automatic reset to your battleship tab of that commander with that update for free.
The Next Stage:
- There will be a set of balance changes in Autumn, with the focus on skills that may be too strong or too weak and also especially skills that are unpopular, and also skills that are currently not picked, they will either have to receive a buff or possibly in some cases they will be changed.
This will be accompanied with a free commander skill reset for all players, so you can take full advantage of the changes under the new system.
Submarines in Ranked
Submarines have come a long way: Since the announcement in the summer of 2019, we've gone through three tests, a temporary "Submarine battle" event on the main server, and again a test on a separate server in October 2020. During this time, a lot of feedback and statistics were collected, on the basis of which changes have been made to almost all the mechanics associated with the new ship type:
- Oxygen meter replaced by battery charge;
- Updated sonar ping;
- Added Anti Submarine Warfare (ASW) capabilities to a number of battleships and cruisers;
- Changed diving mechanics.
These and many other improvements have been made based on test results, but work is ongoing, and today we will share further plans and upcoming changes.
Submarine Changes:
Regarding the latest stage of submarine test, the following changes have been applied:
- Battery power is now limited in duration and cannot be normally recharged. Depending on the nation and Tier of the sub, the battery will allow for 5-11 minutes of being submerged per battle.
- If a submarine is detected, the battery charge is expended faster.
- With a depleted battery, the submarine can only be on the surface and will no longer be able to dive for the rest of the battle. Battery charge will be an important resource for the submarine commander and will allow for only a limited time underwater, giving other ships the ability to counter submarines.
- The submarine's detectability radius now decreases linearly with depth. This will avoid situations when the submarine instantly disappeared from the enemy's sight.
- Added an underwater environment for most of the maps, including seabed relief and the underwater parts of islands. This innovation will help submarines navigate the battlefield while submerged.
- Due to changes in the mechanics of detecting submarines and methods of countering them, the hydrophone has been removed from destroyers.
- The Commander skill tree for submarines has been added, and the skills of the other classes will be amended to counter submarines. Along with these changes, players will have access to a free skill reset.
- A new type of torpedo for submarines has been added. We will publish details about the new weapons and other new features later.
Further Plans with Submarines in a Public Test:
The next step in submarine testing will be another "sandbox" test and following that, submarines will appear in the Public Test of a future Update.
Adding a new class to the game is a serious step that requires detailed preparation and many testing stages. Last year we conducted several tests for submarines, including the "Submarine battle" event in Update 0.9.4. The results were positive, but we have not collected as much data as we planned, because such modes have less incentive to play for a long period of time compared to Ranked or Random battles.
Therefore, if the previous two testing steps would be successful, submarines will appear in a special season of Ranked Battles on the main server: in general, players spend a significant number of battles in Ranked, so we hope this will allow us to collect enough statistics and gradually prepare submarines for implementation into other battle modes.
Super-Battleships Satsuma and Hannover
In one of this summer's Updates, a new temporary event with super-battleships will take place. These are ships that hypothetically could exist if naval doctrine had historically continued the trend of using artillery ships instead of giving pre-eminence to carrier-based aircraft.
Two new battleships will be available in the event:
- Satsuma - a project based on battleship Yamato with an increased main caliber up to 510 mm guns in four twin turrets.
- Hannover - a version of the project "H-42" with 483 mm artillery in 4 twin-gun turrets and a secondary battery replaced with 127-mm universal artillery.
During the event, players will fight on Tier IX-X ships and get a special resource that is necessary to go into battle on super battleships - intelligence reports.
A new Adjustment Firing mechanic will be added specifically for new super-battleships:
- An Adjustment Fire progress bar will be gradually filled by each salvo that hits a locked-on target or lands within a certain radius from it;
- When the bar is full, a certain gameplay bonus (for example, a boost to main battery reload speed) is activated for a limited period of time;
- This can be repeated several times during battle;
- If the ship does not fire at enemies for some time, the progress bar is reset.
Thus, the commander of a super-battleship will be able to receive a boost in battle, but for maximum efficiency, players will need to plan their actions and positioning in battle in advance, which will make gameplay more interesting and varied.
Attack Aircraft Changes with a chance to Test on the Public test Server
WG plan to improve the interaction between ships with attack aircraft of aircraft carriers, as a result, the rocket launch mechanics will be updated.
Now, before launching rockets, attack aircraft will fire machine guns in the direction of the subsequent rocket launch. At this moment, it's planned that machine guns won't cause damage to ships, but will simply indicate where the rockets will land.
Information about the location of rockets hits, along with increased attack time, will allow commanders of manoeuvrable ships, such as destroyers, to react in time to the enemy rockets, determine the location of the upcoming hit, and engage in evasive manoeuvres, reducing the possible damage.
A public test of this mechanic will take place in the near future.
Follow the news, participate in testing, and leave your feedback.
Please note that all information in the development blog is preliminary. Announced adjustments and features may change multiple times during testing. The final information will be published on our game's website.
Please note! that all information in this post is preliminary. Announced adjustments and features may change multiple times during testing. The final information will be published stated as FINAL on our WGB website.
