15.2 - Changes to Carrier Mechanics
Some time ago, wG shared our view on the current problems with aircraft carriers and related mechanics, as well as a draft of the required changes to rectify them. The goals WG set were to reduce aircraft spotting overall, remove unintentional spotting by aircraft, and make AA more impactful while ensuring aircraft carriers remain viable in battles. WG conducted several Public Tests for different tweaks in this direction in 2024 and 2025.
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Initially, we planned one large rework that would resolve all the issues at once. However, as the core changes moved into the next iteration of testing, we released (in Updates 14.7 and 15.0) some of the smaller changes, which improved the game on their own and moved us closer to achieving the mentioned goals. This approach worked well, so we’re applying it to the whole process of aircraft carrier improvements. WG are switching to an iterative approach where we focus on delivering significant improvements targeted at resolving issues one at a time, rather than all at once.
This means we’ll be gradually releasing changes that have proven viable during internal and external testing on a cadence of several Updates during this year. However, the scope of changes that will make it into the game may differ from what was tested before. The process will continue until we achieve the set goals, and after that, we can pause the introduction of new changes to aircraft carriers for a while to see how the ship type settles.
WG have more things cooking in our development kitchen for carriers and related mechanics, but we will only be ready to share the details closer to their release. Today, we will focus on the changes that are coming in Update 15.2:
Patrol Fighters Changes
Recently, we refined the tactical role of Fighters by removing their ability to spot enemy ships while increasing their defensive capabilities. In light of these changes, we can now expand how carriers use Fighters. With the release of Update 15.2, we are going to change Patrol Fighters so that aircraft carrier commanders will be able to send them to a selected area of the map. This will expand a carrier's ability to counter other carriers and support teammates positioned far away from it without the need to fly all the way there to do so. This allows a carrier commander to focus on pursuing their primary combat goals, such as attacking enemy ships. It will also give carrier players an additional way to meaningfully influence the battle during their flight toward enemy positions.
How will it work?
- You will be able to activate this consumable while controlling a squadron equipped with Patrol Fighters.
- When you activate the consumable, the Tactical Map will appear, and you can select an area within a certain range from the current position of your aircraft where you want to deploy the fighters.
- It takes some time for the Patrol Fighters to reach the chosen area, and the farther it is from the launching squadron, the longer it takes for the fighters to get there.
- Once you launch Patrol Fighters, a counter will display how long it will take for them to reach the designated area.
- The consumable’s tooltip shows the time required to reach an area located at the Patrol Fighters' maximum range.
- In the designated area, a smoke signal and an icon will appear, serving as a marker of the area for other ships to see.
- This marker will display the time remaining until the Patrol Fighters arrive.
- Enemies will also be able to see them.
- Once the fighters arrive in the chosen area, they will start patrolling, acting the same way as the old Patrol Fighters.
- All Commander skills related to Patrol Fighters (Search and Destroy, Patrol Group Leader, Interceptor and Enhanced Reactions) will still apply to the consumable.
- Enhanced Reactions will also increase the time it takes Patrol Fighters to reach the selected area.
- Similar to how it works now, the cooldown of Patrol Fighters will still begin after the squadron either leaves the battlefield or is destroyed.
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Evasive Maneuver
Currently, some aircraft squadrons in the game are equipped with the Repair consumable, which increases their survivability. In most cases, the consumable fulfills its purpose quite well. However, its usage is not clearly indicated to the surface ship players, which can make AA defenses appear ineffective, since it seems that enemy aircraft do not receive sufficient damage during an attack, when in reality they are simply repairing themselves. To make such interactions more consistent, we are replacing the Repair consumable with another one—Evasive Maneuver. Surface ships will be able to notice when an enemy squadron is using Evasive Maneuver by the change in the color of their AA damage, as well as by the series of maneuver animations performed by the planes.
The second issue with the Repair consumable is that it partially restored a squadron’s HP pool, meaning its effectiveness depended on how many aircraft remained intact. In contrast, Evasive Maneuver will provide the same chance to avoid damage regardless of how many aircraft remain in the squadron. In other words, even if your squadron is down to just a few aircraft, activating this consumable will significantly increase the chances of reaching the enemy and carrying out an attack. But, in exchange, and unlike the Repair consumable, the new consumable won't be able to repair aircraft retroactively. Overall, following the introduction of Evasive Maneuver, the survivability of aircraft will remain roughly the same, however proper timing when using the consumable will be even more critical.
How will it work?
- By activating the consumable, an aircraft squadron will be able to avoid a significant percentage of incoming AA damage as well as damage from enemy fighters. With standard parameters, Evasive Maneuver allows aircraft to avoid 80% of incoming damage, though the exact values may vary by aircraft carrier.
- Squadrons that previously had the Repair Squadron consumable with non-standard parameters will also receive the Evasive Maneuver consumable with non-standard parameters.
- The Repair Specialist skill, which increased the action time of the Repair consumable and the number of its charges, will be replaced with a new skill—Maneuvering Specialist, with the following parameters:
- Reload time for the Evasive Maneuver consumable: -5%
- Charges of the Evasive Maneuver consumable: +1
- The India Delta signal will be changed to increase the action time of the Evasive Maneuvers consumable by 20%.
Manually Controlled Carrier Consumables
Last year, we introduced the ability to manually control aircraft carriers’ secondary guns, giving captains commanding them additional tactical options and ways to defend themselves. At the same time, we improved carriers' fire resistance and reduced both the duration and cooldown of their Damage Control Party.
In Update 15.2, we’re further expanding your control over aircraft carriers in battle by adding the option to disable automatic activation and use of the Damage Control Party and Fighters. This will give experienced captains the opportunity to use the consumable at the optimal moment, depending on the combat situation. This is how these consumables will work on Aircraft Carriers:
- You can switch between auto and manual modes by pressing Shift + the key bound to the corresponding consumable.
- The game will remember your last settings for a particular ship and use them in future battles.
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Note that in light of the incoming changes, during one week of Update 15.2 you will be able to retrain your aircraft carriers' Commanders with a 100% discount. More details will be available on the World of Warships official portal.
WG also have a bonus code gift for you. Activate the bonus code below to immediately receive 1x More Signals container as well as 40 Progress Points for 15.1 Event Pass, which you will get once as the Update releases.
Code: EVENTFULDEVBLOG
