Waterline - What to Expect during Summer and Autumn/Fall 2023
WG have given us a basic example of what to expect for Summer and Autumn/Fall 2023, showing the new features and developments which should appear in the game during the second half of this year.
Summer 2023
Summer Plans
Spanish Cruisers
12.6 A New Beautiful Ocean Port and Gaudi Permanent Camos for Castilla, Andalucia and Cataluna.
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| Nation/Tier/Ship | Class | Dev Status | Ship Page Link |
  X Castilla |
Cruiser | Testing | Ship Page |
| IX AndalucÃa |
Cruiser | Testing | Ship Page |
| VIII Cataluña |
Cruiser | Testing | Ship Page |
| VII Asturias |
Cruiser | Testing | Ship Page |
| VI Baleares |
Cruiser | Testing | Ship Page |
| V Galicia |
Cruiser | Testing | Ship Page |
| IV Almirante Cervera |
Cruiser | Testing | Ship Page |
| III Navarra |
Cruiser | Testing | Ship Page |
| II Méndez Núñez |
Cruiser | Testing | Ship Page |
| I Jupiter |
Cruiser | Testing | Ship Page |
Superships
X Conqueror and 
Petropavlovsk, respectively.Activities and Improvements
Strategic Operations
In the upcoming updates, WG are going to introduce Strategic Operations, a new activity that WG plan to deploy in various events in addition to combat missions; Personal Challenges; and various competitions, such as Industry Titans.
Players will participate in Strategic Operations individually; they will not involve competing against other players. Strategic Operations unfold on a virtual map that's divided into regions.
How it works: Players select one of the regions and start earning capture points by completing combat missions. Once a region is captured, the player obtains a reward and can proceed to capture the adjacent regions. Three types of regions will be available, each differing in terms of the types and complexity of their combat missions. The final reward for each region type will also differ.
Lüshun in the Dockyard
The construction of 
X Lüshun will commence at the Taikoo Dockyard this summer. The main reward of the event will be Pan-Asian Tier X destroyer Lüshun. Ship Page
X Lüshun is armed with four 130 mm main battery guns with flat-trajectory ballistics that make it easy to fire over long ranges. The damage per minute, however, isn't the highest.
X Lüshun is equipped with two quintuple-tube torpedo launchers with standard torpedoes, distinguishing her from the researchable Pan-Asian destroyers and their deepwater torpedoes. She can launch a decent number of torpedoes per salvo, but their range is mediocre. Lüshun also boasts good concealment.
Even though she has no Engine Boost, the ship has a pretty decent set of consumables: Hydroacoustic Search, Smoke Generator with a short smoke dispersion time, and Torpedo Reload Booster in separate slots.
Mechanics for new Aircraft Carriers
As WG mentioned in the previous edition of Waterline, they are planning to bring back the aircraft carriers that were removed from the game in Update 0.8.0, but they will return with a changed concept and new mechanics for their squadrons.
Minefield Mechanics
Concord Bridge Bombers will be able to call a special airstrike that will drop the mines.
By activating the "Air-dropped Minefield" consumable, a circular area is created in the current coordinates of the squadron that is then filled with mines. Minefields consist of a large number of separate mines that can't deal damage immediately – they need some time to become activated. They explode on collision and have a high chance to cause flooding. They remain active for several minutes and are mainly used as a zoning tool. Mines can be destroyed with Depth Charges and Depth Charge Air Strike – when a player destroys a set number of mines, the whole minefield will disappear.
Airborne Smoke Screen Mechanics
"Smoke Curtain Generator" works the same as with regular ships. The regular attack aircraft will be replaced by tactical ones which will help Kikaku to use Smoke Curtain Generator more effectively. Tactical attack aircraft are equipped with boosters and consist of only one attack flight, and they do not return to the aircraft carrier.
One of the summer updates will bring a special temporary battle type in which players will be able to try out the new mechanics on analogues of aircraft carriers that are already represented in the game. This will enable us to test the mechanics on the Live Server with numerous participants and without affecting other battle types. Based on the results, WG will decide how to implement these mechanics for the new aircraft carriers into the game in the best way possible.
Visual and Audio Enhancements
WG state they are constantly working to improve the audio and visual components of our game. They are planning to implement the following improvements in the near future:
- The maps will get new inhabitants, including birds and underwater fauna, and players' ships will even sometimes be accompanied by schools of dolphins.
- The New Dawn, Polar, and Islands maps will get new high-detail textures.
- They are going to improve the visual effects for water, shell hits, shell tracers over long distances, and shadows.
- They are also going to animate the unfolding of antennas and funnels on aircraft carriers, as well as the movement of funnels to correspond with the rotation of the main battery guns on a number of French battleships that have this feature incorporated into their designs.
- The quality of most sound effects in the game is going to be improved; the sound effects of explosions and shells fired far from the player will receive specific attention.
Upgrade Recommendation System
WG plan to improve the Equipment section in the Port. WG originally planned to do this in spring, but we delayed it until summer for various reasons.
WG are going to add an upgrade recommendation system for each ship, similar to the Commander Skills window. You'll also be able to pre-install upgrades. This will allow you to assess their effects in the Ship Specifications section before approving your choice.-------------------------------
Distinctive Insignia Updates
WG are going to update the Distinctive Insignia menu in late summer. Ready-made patches and emblems will be complemented by a Patch Constructor tab. This will help you create your personal insignia by combining different available in-game elements, the symbol, patch shape, border colour, background colour, and texture.
You'll also be able to generate a random patch from the available symbols, backgrounds, colours, etc. Moreover, the rendering technology will be improved patches+, including existing ones, will look more realistic.
Other Changes
Warship Strike Returns
In Update 12.6, an Armory mini-game will see its return! Sea Battles are inspired by the Battleship puzzle, a guessing game which is played in 1 vs. 1 format with the main goal to sink the entire fleet of the opponent. In this mini-game you will play against an AI. We changed the reward system in Sea Battles – now winning a battle can bring one of the random rewards, including valuable rewards such as doubloons or a ship. So, to participate, players will now need a special resource — Entry tickets. Entry tickets will now be purchased in the armory. Players can obtain only a limited number of tickets for in-game resources and can purchase tickets unlimitedly for Doubloons — 250 each.
Entry tickets prices
- 5,000 Coal, a maximum of three tickets can be purchased with Coal.
- 30,000 Free XP, a maximum of three tickets can be purchased with Free XP.
- 2,000,000 Credits, a maximum of three tickets can be purchased with Credits.
Rewards distribution will be changed as well:
Rewards for sinking the ships
- Destroyer - 2 common economic bonuses of each type.
- Cruiser - 3 common economic bonuses of each type.
- Battleship - 5 common economic bonuses of each type.
- Aircraft Carrier - 6 common economic bonuses of each type.
Rewards for winning the battle
- 350 Doubloons 4.50%
- 11 Special economic bonuses of each type, 15% for each type.
- 6250 Free XP 12.50%
- 18750 Elite XP 12.50%
- Almirante Abreu with level 3 commander 3.50%
- Vampire with level 3 commander 3.50%
- Ning Hai with level 3 commander 3.50%
If you already have all the ships that can be obtained by winning a Sea Battle, you will instead receive 1 Entry Ticket.
Sea Battles will be available in both the in-game and web Armory.
Settings Improvements
The settings window will be completely redesigned with significant interface changes.
All available options are divided into 8 tabs: Display, Graphics, Sound, Combat UI, Mouse, Camera, Keyboard, and Other.
Some of the settings will be removed while some settings will be merged with others.
The new interface will make it easier and more convenient to configure the game the way you like it and we'll be able to make technical improvements and add new settings more easily in the future, thanks to some under-the-hood improvements.
Almost all combat missions will include Operations in their completion criteria. A special coefficient will be applied to your progress in missions with requirements that are easier to meet in this battle type (e.g., "inflict a certain amount of damage" or "earn certain ribbons"). This way, completing missions in Operations and other battle types will present a similar level of challenge.
Twitch Drops
This summer, all Twitch viewers can expect improved Twitch Drops. Rewards will be credited in-game as soon as they're awarded to the Twitch account, eliminating the need to restart the game if it's already running.
Autumn/Fall 2023
Autumn/Fall Plans 2023
Soviet Submarines
A branch of Soviet submarines will arrive in Early Access in fall:
| Nation/Tier/Ship | Class | Dev Status | Ship Page Link |
 X K-1 |
Submarine | Testing | Ship Page |
| VIII L-20 |
Submarine | Testing | Ship Page |
| VI S-1 |
Submarine | Testing | Ship Page |
WG currently view these boats as a counter to other submarines. Their acoustic homing torpedoes deal moderate damage but have a decent range and are quite fast. Their alternative torpedoes deal heavy damage and have a long range. In addition to torpedo tubes, all submarines of this branch are equipped with player-controlled main battery guns.
Japanese Battleships
In the middle of autumn, a second branch of Japanese battleships will appear in the game. It consists of:
| Nation/Tier/Ship | Class | Dev Status | Ship Page Link |
 X Bungo |
Battleship | WIP | Soon |
 IX Adatara |
Battleship | WIP | Soon |
| VIII Yumihari |
Battleship | WIP | Soon |
These ships are battlecruisers equipped with the trademark "Japanese" long-range and accurate main battery guns. The main caliber is represented by 410 mm guns at Tier VIII, while Tiers IX and X ships feature 457 mm guns. The ships also have good concealment but average (in comparison to other ships of the same type) speed and mediocre survivability. A highlight of their consumables is an improved variant of Repair Party. For more details about the new Japanese battleships.
As a gesture of gratitude to all participants who contributed their incredible designs to the Yumihari camouflage contest, WG will grant them Early Access to the winning entry implemented in the game as a permanent camouflage.
Superships
Autumn will see two new superships added to the game:
- Italian Super Cruiser
Piemonte. - American Super Battleship
Maine.
They will follow the concept of X Venezia and 
X Montana, respectively.
Seasonal Events and Improvements
Anniversary and Black Friday
Traditional seasonal activities await players in autumn. The game will be turning eight, and WG are getting ready to celebrate the Anniversary with a bang! The event will be held in a retro style. A sea of rewards and new content is heading your way, including a new collection!
One of our most stylish events, "Black Friday" is also on the cards. Is there anything better than taking the helm of a luxurious black ship and sinking your opponents? Now add some epic music to that image! The legendary song "Back in Black" is a perfect match.
You can expect more details to come on the ships that will join the "black" fleet later this year. WG also invite you to their platforms to share your thoughts on what ships you would like to see "all in black."
Airship Escort in Random Battles
WG previously told you that we regarded Airship Escort as one of the candidates to be added to Random Battles. It received a good response in the last round of testing, so this fall, they are going to add Airship Escort to Random Battles as a permanent mode, after making some improvements and bug fixes. It represents the next step in its development after it appeared as a temporary battle type several times.
Halloween
For Halloween this year, WG are planning a new "Nightmare Operation" it will be the final chapter in the confrontation between Intania and the ships of the "Twilight Fleet". This grand and epic event will include a couple of very interesting new mechanics, WG will share more details about them later.
Commanders
Animated Commanders first appeared in Trouble in the Hot Tub and received a lot of positive feedback. It's time to admit: It's been a pleasure for us to work on them as well. We're happy to tell you that we're currently working on improving the animated Commanders, and we're planning to include this feature in our game in connection with different activities for future updates.
