Update 0.7.2

Vive La France! — Continued

Update 0.7.1 took the players to the sunny French Port of Marseille, with the opportunity to get their hands on several new French Tier V – VIII battleships before general release.

French battleships are now open to everyone who wants to research the branch. Besides this, Update 0.7.2 will bring a new Scenario into World of Warships titled "Operation Hermes", and a limited-duration campaign named "The Gold of France".

French Battleships

Now the whole branch is available for everyone, and all ships of the new branch can be researched. French battleships are very diverse, and what's more — starting from Tier V they are also very atypical. The three starting low-tier ships are "conventional dreadnoughts", while Normandie boasts three quadruple main turrets (3x4), and Lyon carries four (4x4) such turrets!

Tier VIII to X French battleships can use a consumable which is very unusual and unique for these types of ship — Engine Boost . Please note France has been renamed République.

After the release of Update 0.7.2, French battleships that were given for completing personal combat missions will be replaced with the same researchable ships. Their XP, upgrades, signals, camouflages and statistics will be transferred to respective ships. No items that were earned by the player will be lost. Nevertheless, if the Commanders of the new ships were re-assigned from other ships (but didn’t undergo retraining), such Commanders will need to be retrained. New battleships had a ‘Special’ status in Update 0.7.1, that’s why Commanders reassigned to them kept their original specialization. For example, if you reassigned a Commander from Dunkerque to Lyon, this Commander needs to undergo retraining in Update 0.7.2. Those Commanders who were recruited for the new ships will not need to be retrained.

Operation Hermes

The new Scenario charges players with the task of escorting a ship loaded with gold while fighting German patrols. The Scenario is made up of several stages:

• Fight against the coast-based aviation.
• Repel attacks of enemy destroyers and cruisers.
• Finally, engage German battleships which receive powerful support from mighty aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin.

Operation 'Hermes' is extra special as it features 'Thunderstorm Front' - a brand-new game mechanic - that decreases the detectability and spotting ranges in certain areas of the active zone. To make the atmosphere more realistic, Operation Hermes will have restrictions not only on ship tier but also on nations:

• Ships are restricted to French Tier VII-VIII battleships, and Tier VII Allied cruisers (USA, France, and Britain).
• When Update 0.7.2 is released, Operation Hermes will be available for the 14 days afterward, and will be on the rotation list of the existing scenarios after this.

Campaign: "The Gold of France"

Besides the Operation, players can complete a new limited-duration campaign, "The Gold of France". This campaign will be available for four weeks starting from the day of Update 0.7.2's release until Update 0.7.3.

It consists of three missions, each mission including four tasks. All missions are available for completion from the very start. Some tasks can have unusual ship restrictions, they can be French battleships of different tiers, as well as destroyer Aigle. Players will be awarded valuable rewards for successful completion of the tasks. By completing the final tasks, the players can receive unique camouflages for battleships Dunkerque, Gascogne, and Richelieu. Three French themed patches are also up for grabs.

Visual Effects

• As requested by many players, the speed at which water drops fall back onto the surface was changed. In the heat of the battle, when a lot of shells are hitting the ship and the water surface around it, the view of the ship's silhouette can be obscured by water drops on the screen. It can take quite a long time for these water drops to settle down. This can stop you from taking an accurate aim at a ship. This effect is very noticeable when several ships deliver concentrated fire at the same target. In combination with explosions and smoking ships, this can result in losing the target from sight altogether. That is why the speed at which water drops settle back down to water surface was increased, which should result in better aiming at targets, and more effective co-ordinated salvos fired by several allied ships at the same enemy target.
• Other visual effect changes include:
  • The visual effects of the ship's wake were improved: enhanced the details of the wake on the water, and its interaction with light sources.

The visualization of all types of water effects and foam was improved: all types of foam (created by wind, breaking waves, ship’s wake) received more detailed texture, micro-relief; interaction of various types of foam (their mixing, conversion of one type into the other type) was improved as well.

Map Changes

As requested by our players, we are improving the game locations. In Update 0.7.2, three more maps were reworked. We enhanced the balance between ship types on "The Atlantic" and "Warrior's Path" maps. These maps are now more playable, as more shelters allow the players to feel more confident while fighting at different distances, and offer more tactical options to choose from. The changes for the map "Northern Lights" makes this map unique when compared to the map "North".

• We enhanced the "The Atlantic" map:
  • For Domination mode, the two utmost key areas were moved closer to each other, while the central key area was kept in its original position
  • A group of islands in the south-western part of the map was moved closer to the center, and the length of the central island located between key areas A and B was shortened slightly.
  • The positions of the islands in the north-eastern part of the maps were revised.
  • Now key area C has two small islands that can be used as a shelter.
• We also updated the map "Warrior's Path":
  • Two islands were added inside key area A.
• We revised the map "Northern Lights":
  • In Domination mode, the two key areas were moved to the left. Each team starts the battle having control over one of the respective key areas.
  • Now, the team scores 4 points for every 9 seconds when holding a key area (instead of 3 points per 6 seconds).

Optimization of Game Mechanics

• The explosion of a ship's magazine (detonation) now can happen only if the ship's remaining HP is 75% or less. This value used to be 100%, which sometimes caused embarrassing situations when the ship could be destroyed with the very first hit if it didn't have Signal Flag 'Juliet Charlie' mounted. Now, the probability that you can suddenly lose your ship when you don't mount this signal has been significantly reduced.
• We enhanced the interaction between the shells and ship's armor during contact. We also fixed bugs that caused uncommon situations in battle, namely:
  • Citadel penetration caused by an HE shell in the areas where penetration is not possible.
  • Battleship detonation as a result of an HE hit from a destroyer.
  • Abnormally low damage caused by torpedoes to a destroyer with full HP.
  • The passing of a standard (not a deep-water) torpedo under a destroyer's hull without exploding.

Change of Camouflage Colors for Japanese Ships

• The players who completed sub-collections 'Uniform', 'Uniform Items', 'Awards', and 'Ships' of the Yamamoto Isoroku collection will be able to use additional color schemes not only for standard expendable camouflages ('Type 1', 'Type 2', 'Type 5', 'Type 6') but also for permanent camouflages on Japanese ships.
• Sub-collection 'Uniform' unlocks the ability to change the color scheme for destroyers, 'Uniform Items' for cruisers, 'Awards' for battleships, and 'Ships' for Aircraft Carriers. The alternative color scheme is the same for both permanent and standard camouflages, and it's also nation-specific (unique for each nation).

Tier X Rental Ships for Clan Battles

Just a reminder that the players who played a Random or Clan battle with Tier VIII–X ships in Update 0.7.1 will have received a set of three tier X rental ships for temporary use: Zao, Grozovoi, Montana. In Update 0.7.2 these ships will be removed from the player’s account and replaced with three new tier X rental ships: Hindenburg, Shimakaze, and Yamato.

Remember:

• In order to receive these ships on your account, you need to play a Random or Clan battle in Update 0.7.2 with a Tier VIII–X ship. When this requirement is met, you will find all three ships in your Port.
• The ships are given for temporary use and will be removed in Update 0.7.3.
• You can play these ships only in Clan Battles.
• A special countdown timer located next to the ship’s image in the Port will notify you about the time this ship will be removed.
• You cannot mount any camouflage on the rented ships.
• You can reassign Commanders to the rented ships without any penalty.
• The credits and XP earned by the rented ships are calculated the same way as for ordinary ships.
• When the ship is removed, her Commander is sent to the Reserve. All upgrades, consumables, and signals are demounted and stored in the Inventory. * The XP earned with the rented ship is transferred to the starting ship of the respective nation.
• If a rented ship has alternative modules (for example, Shimakaze’s torpedoes), they can be mounted free of charge.
• If you recruited a new Commander for a rented ship, this Commander’s specialization will be changed to the starting ship of the respective nation.
• If a Commander was first recruited for a rented ship, and then re-assigned to another ship, then his specialization will be automatically changed to the ship he is assigned to when the update is released. The Commander’s skills will not be reset.
• Ships are added together with a Port slot. The Port slot will be removed simultaneously with the ship removal.

New Content and Changes

• Added Premium German Tier VIII destroyer Z-39 for testing by developers and supertesters.
• Our collaboration with Steven Seagal ends with the release of Update 0.7.2. We're removing all mentions and depictions of Seagal from the game, and replacing them with Commander John Doe, while also changing the Commander's portrait and removing the relevant animation from Missouri, and applying the standard U.S. voice over to the new Commander. John Doe retains the same enhanced skills ("Expert Loader" and "Expert Marksman") and keeps all commander skill points earned with Seagal.
• The Operation Narai scenario will become unavailable for an indefinite amount of time. We plan to make a series of improvements to make it more unique and riveting.
• When Update 0.7.2 goes live, Missouri will become unavailable for purchase for an undefined period. We added Musashi that can be obtained with Free XP - two ships in this niche are too many at the moment.

Balance Changes

• HSF Harekaze: Turret rotation speed increased from 6 deg/s to 6.9 deg/s for the hull "Harekaze 1-4". This will allow the destroyer to deal more damage with her main battery while actively maneuvering and avoiding enemies' salvos.

Other Improvements and Fixes

• When using the alternative UI mode (Adaptive or Full in the corresponding drop-down menu in the Settings>Controls tab), the current detection range of the ship is now displayed right underneath the aiming distance by the crosshairs. The value will change depending on:
  • How recently a shot from main batteries was fired.
  • Whether the ship is in a smokescreen.
  • Or if the enemies are using Hydroacoustic Search  or Surveillance Radar .
• In the default UI, players will be able to view their current detection range by pressing the "H" key (Show ship status) button. Upon pressing the "H" button the ship status table will now be displayed to the right of the ship's basic info. This will prevent the table window from appearing outside the game screen at lower resolutions and it will no longer cover the minimap.
• Improved geometry and textures of:
  • Iron Duke
  • Henri IV
  • Atago
  • Hood
  • Finer details of USA ships.
  • Unique HSF camouflage for Musashi.
• Improved the ship destruction effects for:
  • Erie
  • Fuso
  • Graf Zeppelin
  • Karlsruhe
  • Kaga
  • Kawachi
  • Lyon

Clan Interface Improvements

• Clan statistics screen now shows clan season number in addition to its title.
• Invites and applications interfaces are now combined.
• When searching for a Clan Battle, players will now see time zone-corrected days of the week for "days the battles are played" graph.

Other Fixes

• Fixed the bug that made it impossible to take aim when firing Type 93 torpedoes at the maximum range on Shimakaze.
• Slightly redistributed the HP for the hulls of battleship Lyon, the ship’s total HP value remains unchanged:
  • Hull A: bow compartment HP was reduced from 1,500 to 1,400, casemate HP was reduced from 7,900 to 7,800, the aft compartment HP was increased from 1,500 to 1,700.
  • Hull B: casemate HP was reduced from 9,200 to 9,000, service compartment HP was reduced from 1,100 to 1,000, aft compartment HP was increased from 1,700 to 2,000, and the superstructure HP was decreased from 2,400 to 2,300.
• Fixed the bug that caused the game to crash when the player dismissed a Commander after re-logging into the game.
• Fixed the ship type icon in the tips on the battle loading screen (for example, when you entered the battle on Fuso, an icon for a cruiser was displayed instead of a battleship).
• Fixed the bug that made it impossible to set a priority target for the aircraft carrier’s AA guns if fighter squadrons were engaged in a dogfight immediately above the carrier.
• Fixed the bug that prevented applying the Port view camera setting when the player viewed the ship they hadn't purchased yet.
• Fixed the bug that caused the auto-pilot point being set on the aircraft carrier if the player clicked on the game window in order to go to this window after first minimizing and then maximizing this window again.
• Returned the information about the action range of the Hydroacoustic Search  and Surveillance Radar  consumables to windows popping up upon hovering over the consumable icons in battle.
• Fixed the bug that caused the game client to freeze when the player dismissed the last Commander of any nation on the ‘Personal file’ screen. Now, the first Commander is selected, or the window closes if it was the last Commander.
• Fixed the bug that caused the progress bar still being displayed as fully completed at Level 15 in the Account Level.
• Fixed the bug that caused the game client to freeze when the player clicked too many times on the ‘Yes’ button in the duplicates exchange window
• Improved the behavior of the Port view camera. Now, it doesn’t "fly" out of the ship when you enter the port after exiting the battle.
• Fixed the bug that caused the game client to crash when the player attempted to initiate the manual attack (alt attack) at the moment when all planes of this type were destroyed.
• Fixed the bug that caused the Co-op Battle being set as a default battle type after exiting the Training Battle.
• Fixed the bug that manifested in the camouflage being not displayed after the player mounted this camo, or being still mounted on the ship after the player demounted it.
• Fixed the bug that caused the word ‘Undefined’ being displayed when the player hovered over an emblem or a patch in the Port.
• Fixed the bug that sometimes caused wrong plural forms of nouns in the combat mission descriptions.
• Added missing messages for the HSF voiceovers modification.
• Fixed the bug that caused a failure to add rewards earned by the player for completing a collection to their account, if the connection with the transaction server was unstable or lost at the moment of the reward addition.