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Update 0.7.4

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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.

Please note that with the release of the Update, the status of all players will be reset to the "white status", giving each and every player a chance to start a new chapter in World of Warships.

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 40 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 Selection 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 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 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!

SEASON 9 STARTS: Friday, 27 April 2018, 9:00 AM Pacific Time SEASON 9 ENDS: Sunday, 3 June 2018, 10:00 PM Pacific Time

On April 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.

  • 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.

Ranked 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.

Maps and Locations

  • The coastline of the islands located in the North-Eastern corner of the "Tears of the Desert" map is moved beyond the map border. This provides equal opportunities for moving across the map for all players regardless of their team's spawn position.
  • We brought back the aurora borealis visualization effect to the "Northern Lights" map.
  • The "North" map receives a wider strait between the two large islands in order to make navigation there more comfortable.
  • In the Training Room, a tournament scenario is now available on the following maps:
    • "Tears of the Desert", Domination mode, three key areas (+2 points each 3 seconds)
    • "Haven", Domination mode, three key areas (+4 points each 9 seconds)
    • "Sleeping Giant", Domination mode, three key areas (+2 points each 3 seconds)
  • The following maps will now offer a common tournament scenario (Domination mode, three key areas (+2 points each 3 seconds):

Game Balance Changes

Let's start with the short version:

  • Shimakaze’s surface detectability is reduced to 7.11 km (5.59 km with all possible modifiers applied).
  • Admiral Hipper’s main gun reload is reduced from 13 to 11.5 seconds. Rudder shift time on hulls B and C is reduced from 10.7 to 9.2 seconds.
  • Prinz Eugen can mount the Repair PartyWhile active, restores a percentage of the ship's health points each second. consumable.
  • Midway’s hangar space is reduced from 136 to 116.
  • Hakuryu’s Type 10 mod. 2 Flight Control distribution has changed from 2-3-3 to 3-3-2.
  • 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, 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 Admiral Hipper and Prinz Eugen. These ships feature several unique advantages that make them remarkable among the ships of the same type, namely:

  • Hydroacoustic SearchWhile active, detects all enemy ships and torpedoes within the specified radius, without regard of obstacles such as smoke and terrain. with greater action range.
  • Enhanced HE shell armor penetration capability, that is equal to ¼ of the main battery caliber 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:

  • 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).
  • Prinz Eugen: The Repair PartyWhile active, restores a percentage of the ship's health points each second. consumable was added, similar to that of Atago cruiser.

For the US carrier 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, 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 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 skillful captain, 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 fulfill 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:
  • 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:


Economic Signal Flags

Players can now purchase economic signal flags in game for the following doubloon costs:

  • Zulu (🚫): 8Doubloons
  • Papa Papa (🚫): 8Doubloons
  • Equal Speed Charlie London (🚫): 16Doubloons
  • India Bravo Terrathree (🚫): 4Doubloons
  • Zulu Hotel (🚫): 6Doubloons

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.

Spaceport

The new Spaceport has won a wide popularity among players which is why it's here to stay! The Spaceport will be available via the Port selection menu. However, Space Camo will no longer be able to be purchased in Port.

Test Ships

We added the following new ships for testing by developers and supertesters: Dallas, Helena, Seattle, Worcester, Stalingrad, Cossack, Boise.

Victory Day Content

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. Earn the Commander by completing a chain of combat missions that will be available from May 4 to May 14.

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:

  • "Preventative 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 caliber of below 139 mm.
    • +1 deg/sec (Default: +0.7) to the traverse speed of the guns with a caliber of 139 mm and above.
  • "High Alert":
    • -20% (Default: -10%) to the reload time of the "Damage Control Party" consumable.

End of Clan Battles Season 2

With the release of Update 0.7.4., Clan Battles will no longer be available as the Second Season called "Islands of Ice" has come to an end. All ships rented earlier for taking part in Clan Battles will be removed from accounts. Those include Soviet cruiser Moskva, U.S. destroyer Gearing, and U.K. battleship Conqueror.

Important! When the rented ships are removed from accounts, their Commanders will be transferred to the Reserve.

All players that played at least one Clan Battle during the Season 2 will get a special bonus—a 100% discount for resetting Commander skills and demounting Upgrades. The discount will be available until May 5, 04:20 PT (07:20 ET). If you recruited a Commander for a rented ship, their specialization will be changed for the starting ship of the corresponding nation. Also, every player who participated in Clan Battles and fulfilled certain conditions will receive commemorative achievements:

Achievement Conditions
Islands of Ice Rank first the Clan Battles "Islands of Ice" season.
Hurricane Reach the "Hurricane" league in a Clan Battles Season.
Typhoon Reach the "Typhoon" league or higher in a Clan Battles Season.
Storm Reach the "Storm" league or higher in a Clan Battles Season.
Gale Reach the "Gale" league or higher in a Clan Battles Season.
Squall Reach the "Squall" league or higher in a Clan Battles Season.

As you can see, the conditions for obtaining achievements have been changed. E.g., to get the "Storm" achievement in the first season, you were to secure seven victories in the same-name league while in the second season you simply have to reach that league (i.e. play at least one battle in it). Therefore, all players and clans that met the updated conditions in the first season will also get their respective rewards. That is, players who won three battles in the Gale League or simply reached it and played one battle in it during Season 1, will get the "Gale" achievement credited to their accounts. All achievements can be obtained multiple times except the title achievements "Hotspot", "Islands of Ice" and "Hurricane" (unique achievements for each season).

The winning clan of the second season of Clan Battles will be honoured with its Clan tag being displayed in the loading screen of the "Islands of Ice" map. Clan achievements will be displayed on a clan's Rostral Column provided the clan has fulfilled all of the above-mentioned conditions and built a Rostral Column.

Though the current season of Clan Battles is coming to an end, we've made some changes to the clan's interface:

  • We added an image of the unique achievement to be displayed in the battle-loading screen on the map that a particular season is named after ("Hotspot", "Islands of Ice").
  • And Clan Battles statistics will now display the result for both previous seasons (the feature will be added before Update 0.7.5 hits servers).
  • We optimized game performance during the loading of the Naval Base.
  • Fixed a text issue in the notifications log which occurred at the bulk rejection of applications to join a Clan.