Update 12.5

Waterline Update 1 Feb 2023 for Winter and Spring. Developer Bulletin Public Test News article

Due to the installation of the update, the server will be unavailable
from: Wed. June 21 5:00 AM Central
until: Wed. June 21 8:00 AM Central

Update 12.5: Asymmetrical Battles

Update Navigator! Click on the buttons to go to the related activities.

Introducing the Update Navigator! (above) This new feature will help you keep track of what's new in World of Warships. Complete simple missions to obtain rewards!

Each signal light of the Navigator is associated with a specific activity that's available in the current update. The signal lights will turn red on the Navigator when you can start completing the connected activities, and they'll turn green once you've completed them. Turn all the signal lights green to unlock a combat mission that will deliver you the main reward!

In Update 12.5, the main reward is 2x Picnic by the Sea containers.

Update 12.5 delivers the following:

Asymmetric Battles ● European Destroyers ● The Battle Pass ● U.S. Independence Day ● The Conquest of the Mediterranean Adventure ● Technical Improvements ● Ranked Battles ● Brawls ● Content Additions and Changes ● Game Balance Changes ● Other Changes

Asymmetric Battles

Asymmetric Battles are back! In Update 12.5, players will face a numerically superior team of bots with inferior firepower.

This time, you can expect the Domination and Standard Battle modes. Format: Five players helming Tier IX–X ships versus 12 bots controlling Tier VII–VIII ships. All players who have Tier IX and X ships in their Ports will be able to participate. Divisions are not allowed.

XP and Credit earnings in Asymmetric Battles are higher than Co-op Battles but lower than Random Battles.

The bots have become smarter in the new iteration: They will now take up more advantageous positions on the map, rush into close combat less often, and distribute themselves more optimally around Key Areas.

All details about Asymmetric Battles are available in a dedicated article on our website.

Achieve a victory in Asymmetric Battles to turn the second signal light green.

European Destroyers

Early Access to European destroyers is ongoing in Update 12.5.

• V Muavenet, VI Stord, and VII Grom are available in sequential bundles for European Tokens.
• IX Lambros Katsonis can be obtained via random bundles available for  Doubloons.
• X Gdańsk is available to purchase for  Doubloons at the end of a sequential bundle chain.

The new European branch is represented by artillery destroyers armed exclusively with HE shells that can inflict decent damage per salvo. Starting from Tier VIII, the shells have flat-trajectory ballistics.

The high-speed torpedoes of the new European destroyers should be considered as secondary armament in most situations due to their low damage and rather short range.

The destroyers' consumables consist of Smoke Generator and Engine Boost, while Surveillance Radar with a large action range but short action time complements them in a separate slot from Tier VIII upward.

When Update 12.6 goes live, the European destroyers will become available for all players to research.

The Battle Pass

As usual, the update delivers a fresh Battle Pass. Earn BP Points by completing daily and weekly combat missions, advance through the BP progress bar, and earn awesome rewards!

The final rewards of the Free Battle Pass are 7x Rare Bonus containers and 1,250 Summer Tokens. You can exchange the latter for some excellent bundles during the Summer Festival event. The Premium Pass delivers even more valuable items, and the final reward for completing it is Commander Dusty Rodes with 12 skill points and 3,750 Summer Tokens.

Also in this update, we've changed the post-progression rewards for the Premium Battle Pass. After completing all of its levels, players will now receive 1x Rare Bonuses container and 50 Summer Tokens for each additional level. Among the seasonal bonuses this time are additional combat missions to earn BP points and progress through levels; a +100% bonus for the first daily victory; and a +5% bonus to  Coal,  Steel, and  Research Point earnings.

More details about the Battle Pass in Update 12.5 is available in a dedicated article.

Complete the first mission of the daily combat mission chain of Battle Pass 12.5 to turn the first Update Navigator signal light green.

U.S. Independence Day

The U.S.A. celebrates its Independence Day on the 4th of July. To commemorate the occasion, we've prepared a special event for players to participate in themed activities.

New content dedicated to the holiday will arrive in the Armory in a week. You'll be able to earn Independence Tokens by completing combat missions and then exchange these Tokens for various rewards. Among them: VI W. Virginia '41 with the West Virginia permanent camouflage; the Gold Eagle permanent camouflage for IX Minnesota; Commander Statue of Liberty with 6 skill points; and Wings of Freedom containers, as well as the Premium version. Besides, during the event, players will be able to purchase IX Halford and VII West Virginia '44 with the Thunderbird and RIsen From the Ashes permanent camouflages, respectively.

Halford

A U.S. Fletcher-class destroyer equipped with a catapult for launching reconnaissance aircraft. During World War II, she covered landing operations in the Solomon Islands, New Guinea, and the Philippines, and she also fought in the Battle of the Philippine Sea and the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Over the course of the war, the ship earned 13 battle stars.

West Virginia '44

A U.S. Colorado-class battleship — a version as of 1944; she received a second life after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The sunken ship was raised from the bottom, repaired, and seriously upgraded. In fall of 1944, the battleship resumed service and excelled in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Later, she participated in the Battle of Iwo Jima and the landing operations on Okinawa. During the course of World War II, West Virginia earned five battle stars.

Full details about the U.S. Independence Day celebrations will follow in a separate article.

The Conquest of the Mediterranean Adventure

Starts: Fri. Jul. 07 5:00 AM Central
Ends: Mon. Aug. 07 5:00 AM Central

Two weeks after the release of Update 12.5, a themed event is scheduled to get underway. This time, the events will unfold in an alternative setting dating back to World War I, where you'll take on the role of an Austro-Hungarian commander.

During the event, you'll be able to complete special combat missions and earn a new temporary resource — Austro-Hungarian Tokens. Among the main rewards of the event are IX Jäger plus special Commander Felix von Paar with 6 skill points, as well as the Perpetuum Mobile permanent camouflage for this ship. In addition, players will be able to obtain the Conquest of the Mediterranean commemorative flag and patch for completing special chains of combat missions.

IX Jäger is a project for a destroyer leader developed by the Austro-Hungarian Naval Technical Committee and presented in 1917. The end result was a 2000-ton torpedo ship with 6-inch main battery guns; however, the project was never implemented due to the end of World War I and the collapse of Austria-Hungary.

During the event, IX Jäger will only be available in exchange for Austro-Hungarian Tokens.

Full details of the adventure will be released in a dedicated article.

Complete the first chain of combat missions of the new adventure to turn the fourth signal light green.

Technical Improvements

"Cool-off" Period

The end of battle and the transition to the post-battle statistics screen will now be a smoother experience.

At the end of each battle, a message with the battle results will appear on-screen. After that, players will have a few additional seconds in which they can perform different actions in the battle environment. These actions won't affect the outcome of the battle, but they will be taken into account in the final results. For example, players can deal damage to opponents, destroy ships, and earn achievements in this period.

These changes will help avoid situations where battles end too abruptly, which can be especially annoying during exciting engagements.

Bot Improvements

Bots in the Training Room have had their AI improved: They will now take up more advantageous positions on the map, rush into close combat less often, and distribute themselves more optimally around Key Areas.

Bot AI in Co-op and Training Room Battles will also receive additional improvements:

• Improved collision avoidance system against islands: Bots in Co-op Battles will reverse in case of a collision — similar to the Training Room bots.
• Bots will try to ram enemy ships less often.

Matchmaker Changes

The matchmaker settings for battles featuring Tier I–V ships have been changed. Now, the matchmaker restrictions will be eased sooner, and bots will be added to battles earlier. This will allow battles with ships of the mentioned tiers to assemble faster.

An updated Domination mode with three Key Areas has been added to Random Battles in Update 12.1. The new settings will reduce the number of extreme situations where battles were too long or too short. Having made these changes, we've increased the chances of the updated Domination mode being selected in Update 12.5, and we’re also going to add it to Co-op Battles.

Changes in the Armory

All features of the in-game Premium Shop have been moved to the Armory. The Armory is now accessible starting from Access Level 1.

Ranked Battles

Ranked Battles Season 12 starts in Update 12.5. Ships of all types are allowed to participate. Battles in all leagues will be fought with Tier X ships in a 6 vs. 6 format. Like in Season 11, the rule for keeping a Star in the event of a loss is the same for all leagues — only the top XP earner on the losing team will keep a Star.

Starting with Update 12.5, similarly to Brawls and Clan Battles, restrictions for ship types and specific ships will be supported in Ranked Battles, and the restrictions can be added or changed throughout the season. The restrictions won't be introduced at the start of Season 12.

All details about Ranked Battles Season 12 are available in a dedicated article on our website.

Brawls

Update 12.5 will feature three Brawls in different formats.

Starts: Mon. Jun. 26 10:00 AM Central
Ends: Mon. Jul. 03 5:00 AM Central

Brawl 1

Tier VIII cruisers, battleships, and destroyers in a 2 vs. 2 format. No more than one battleship per team. You can participate in a Division.

Brawl 2

Tier X cruisers, battleships, and destroyers in a 1 vs. 1 format.

Brawl 3

Tier VIII ships in a 3 vs. 3 format. No more than two battleships, two cruisers, two destroyers, and one aircraft carrier per team. You can participate in a Division of up to three players.

Details about this and other Brawls will be published in a [ separate article] on our website.

Content Additions and Changes

Additions to the game:

• Commanders Leo Gradwell for British ships and Grigory Spiridov for Soviet ships
• Canada Day, Marine Day, and Chamomile flags
• Star Ornament permanent camouflage for VII Minsk and PQ-17 expendable camouflage
• Eight-Pointed Star and PQ-17 patches
• New images for Pan-Asian, German, Italian, and Spanish Commanders

Details on how to get this new content will be announced later.

Update 12.5 also delivers two new European Commanders with unique appearances and individual voiceovers:

• A Polish Commander whose name and portrait will be revealed at a later date.
• Greek Commander named Nikos Thalassinos.

These Commanders will be obtainable during Update 12.5 by completing a special chain of combat missions. We’ll share more details with you on June 22. Stay tuned.

The old World of Warships logo has been removed from the Valentine's Day expendable camouflage, as well as from the Mod Maker permanent camouflage for VIII Alabama VL; the Blazing Tropics permanent camouflage for VII Atlanta; the Octodroid permanent camouflage for IX Alaska; the Ice and Flame permanent camouflage for VIII Lexington; the Epoch permanent camouflage for Tier IX ships; and the New Year permanent camouflage for VI Nürnberg, VI Hatsuharu, VI Icarus, VI Dallas, and VI Normandie.

Ships VIII Numancia and X Ruggiero di Lauria were added for testing by developers, volunteers, and community contributors.

Changes to Containers

The Firepower Premium container has expanded its drops to include three new additions: X Tromp, X Malta, and X Álvaro de Bazán.

Distant Voyages Premium containers will now offer a selection of new permanent camouflages:

• Special camouflages: Enlightenment for VII Toulon, Orca for VII Huron, and White Swan for V Rio de Janeiro.
• Rare camouflages: 1776 for VIII San Diego; Dawn Harmony for VIII Shimanto; Industrial for VIII Hawke; Johnston Atoll for VIII Salmon; Newfoundland for VIII U-190; the Legend of the Oceans for VIII Anhalt; Liberation for VIII Cherbourg; and Seven Seas for VII Sinop, VII Eendracht, and VII Mahan.
• Unique camouflages: Cloud Privateer for VIII Hampshire, Dawn Harmony for IX Takahashi and X Yodo, Greek Trireme for IX Velos, Industrial for IX Duncan and X St. Vincent, Liberation for IX Brest and X Marseille, Silver Swirl for X Conqueror and X Halland, and Sui Generis for IX Black.

The game now includes two new additions: Picnic by the Sea containers and Captain's Holdall Premium containers. We'll reveal the contents of these containers on our website with the release of Update 12.5.

Game Balance Changes

We’re tuning the balance of certain ships based on our analysis of their combat effectiveness and your feedback. The changes will affect Italian ships, German destroyers, Japanese cruisers, and some other ships, as well as the Smoke Generator Modification 1 upgrade and X-Ray Papa Unaone signal.

Smoke Generator Modification 1 Upgrade

• Bonus to this consumable action time reduced from 30% to 20%.
• Removed –5% penalty to smoke screen dispersion time.
• These upgrades are now available for Tier V–X ships that use the Exhaust Smoke Generator consumable.

X-Ray Papa Unaone Signal

• Bonus to Smoke Generator consumable action time reduced from +15% to +10%.

VI Perth, VI Huanghe, VI Mysore, VII Haida, IX Hector, X Vampire II

• Crawling Smoke Generator consumable action time increased from 90 to 102 seconds.

The Smoke Generator Modification 1 upgrade will be available for Italian ships with the Exhaust Smoke Generator consumable. The previous parameters of this upgrade, as well as the X-Ray Papa Unaone signal, gave Italian ships a significant advantage, which is why these parameters have been changed.

So as not to affect the overall efficiency of ships that use the Crawling Smoke Generator consumable, its basic action time has been increased.

Italy

V Conte di Cavour

• Sigma value increased from 1.6 to 1.7.

VI Leone

• The number of Smoke Generator consumable charges has been increased from 2 to 3.
• Reload time of the ship's torpedo tubes has been reduced from 60 to 50 seconds.

VI Duca d'Aosta and VII Duca degli Abruzzi

• The number of depth charges released per one armament charge has been increased from 2 to 4.

VII FR25

• Main battery reload time reduced from 6.6 to 5.8 seconds.
• Torpedo range increased from 6 to 7 km.

IX Adriatico and X Attilio Regolo

• The Gun Fire Control System Modification 2 upgrade can now be mounted in slot 6.

Commonwealth

VI Perth

• The number of depth charges released per one armament charge has been increased from 1 to 2.

IX Hector

• Torpedo range increased from 10 to 12 km.
• The wide torpedo launching angle has been replaced with a narrow one.
• The recovery of citadel damage HP has received a significant boost—from 10% to 50%.

Germany

II V-25, III G-101, IV V-170, II Dresden, II Emden, III Kolberg, V T-22

• The penetration of HE shells fired by 105 mm main battery guns has been increased from 18 to 26 mm.

V T-22

• Reload time of the ship's torpedo tubes has been reduced from 68 to 61 seconds.
• Main battery reload time reduced from 4 to 3.6 seconds.

VII Z-31, VIII Gustav-Julius Maerker, IX Felix Schultz, X Elbing

• Engine Boost consumable added in a separate slot.

VII Z-31

• Main battery reload time reduced from 8 to 7 seconds.

VIII Z-35

• Turret 180-degree traverse time reduced from 22.5 to 10 seconds.
• The parameters of the Hydroacoustic Search consumable have been changed: They are now the same as for cruiser VII Yorck's Hydroacoustic Search consumable.

France

V Bretagne

• Sigma value increased from 1.8 to 1.9.
• Main battery gun 180-degree traverse time reduced from 60 to 45 seconds.

Europe

V Viribus Unitis

• Sigma value increased from 1.8 to 1.9.
• Main battery reload time reduced from 30 to 29 seconds.

VIII Öland

• Main battery reload time reduced from 2.5 to 2.3 seconds.

U.K.

V Hawkins

• Detectability range by sea reduced from 12.2 to 11.5 km.
  • Other detectability values have been reduced accordingly.
• Main battery reload time reduced from 11.7 to 10.5 seconds.

VI Repulse

• Main battery reload time reduced from 27 to 25 seconds.
• The Repair Party consumable has gained an additional charge.

VI Leander

• Main battery reload time increased from 8.5 to 9 seconds.

VIII Hampshire

• Main battery reload time reduced from 10.5 to 10 seconds.
• Detectability range by sea reduced from 12 to 11.5 km.
  • Other detectability values have been reduced accordingly.

U.S.A.

VII Indianapolis

• Armor plating thickness of the bow and stern have been increased from 16 to 25 mm.

VIII Anchorage

• The Hydroacoustic Search consumable has been moved to a separate slot.

VIII North Carolina and VIII North Carolina CLR

• Sigma value increased from 2.0 to 2.05.

Pan-Asia

VIII Siliwangi

• The number of depth charges released per one armament charge has been increased from 2 to 10.
• Main battery gun 180-degree traverse time reduced from 18.6 to 9 seconds.

VIII Wukong

• Reload time of the ship's torpedo tubes has been reduced from 107 to 85 seconds.

IX Sejong

• Main battery reload time reduced from 5.2 to 4.8 seconds.
• Reload time of the ship's torpedo tubes has been reduced from 133 to 125 seconds.

USSR

V Kotovsky

• Detectability range by sea reduced from 11.6 to 11 km.
  • Other detectability values have been reduced accordingly.
• Main battery reload time reduced from 9 to 8.2 seconds.

V Podvoisky

• Detectability range by sea reduced from 7.5 to 7.1 km.
  • Other detectability values have been reduced accordingly.

VIII Kiev

• Detectability range by sea reduced from 8.7 to 8.5 km.
• Detectability range by air increased from 3.6 to 3.9 km.
• The ship's visibility when firing from the smoke screen has been reduced from 3.5 to 3.4 km.

IX Tashkent

• Detectability range by sea reduced from 9.1 to 8.9 km.
• Detectability range by air increased from 4 to 4.3 km.
• The ship's visibility when firing from the smoke screen has been reduced from 3.7 to 3.6 km.

Japan

V Mutsuki

• Torpedo reload time has been reduced from 73 to 65 seconds.

VI Fubuki

• Main battery reload time reduced from 8 to 7.5 seconds.

VIII Mogami

• Main battery researchable module reload time reduced from 15 to 14 seconds.

IX Ibuki

• Main battery reload time reduced from 13.7 to 13 seconds.

X Zaō

• Main battery gun 180-degree traverse time reduced from 36 to 30 seconds.

VII Omono

• Main battery reload time reduced from 13 to 11.5 seconds.
• Main battery gun 180-degree traverse time reduced from 36 to 30 seconds.

VIII Shimanto

• Rudder-shift time when shifting fire from side to side reduced from 15.1 to 11.3 seconds.
• For the researchable hull, rudder-shift time when shifting fire from side to side reduced from 10.8 to 8.1 seconds.

IX Takahashi

• For the stock hull, rudder-shift time when shifting fire from side to side reduced from 16 to 12 seconds.
• For the researchable hull, rudder-shift time when shifting fire from side to side reduced from 11.4 to 8.5 seconds.

X Yodo

• For the researchable hull, rudder-shift time reduced from 12.1 to 9.0 seconds.

Other Changes

Summer Festival

The Armory and the Premium Shop are going to host the Summer Festival event. Containers with Premium ships, as well as Captain's Holdall and Picnic by the Sea containers, await you! As part of the event, a special combat mission chain will become available. Complete it to receive some Picnic by the Sea containers!

Complete the first combat mission of the special chain dedicated to the Summer Festival event to turn the fifth Update Navigator signal light green.

Convoy PQ-17

This summer marks the 81st anniversary of the events that unfolded in the Barents Sea, where the Kriegsmarine carried out a successful operation against the Allied PQ-17 Arctic convoy. To commemorate the occasion, we've prepared a special combat mission chain.

Complete the first mission of the chain dedicated to convoy PQ-17 to turn the third Update Navigator signal light green.

Fixes

• Fixed an issue where rewards for post-progression levels failed to be credited after purchasing the Premium Battle Pass.
• Fixed an issue that caused the "New" markers to be incorrectly displayed when re-entering the game.
• Fixed the incorrect display of notifications about Warships Premium Account operations.
• Fixed an issue that made it impossible to retrain Commanders for ships of branches that had been reset.
• Fixed an issue that caused the animation and sound of AA defenses to continue playing for destroyed ships.
• Updated the historical descriptions of German ships.
• Fixed the geometry and structures of the following ships: VIII Graf Zeppelin, X Zaō, and IX Santander.
• Fixed errors in the armor of cruiser X Marseille.
• The armor layout of X Zaō has been updated to accommodate the new technology we covered in detail in our article about Update 0.10.9.
• Added parental controls in the UK and Cyprus to be compliant with local legislation.
• Fixed visual bugs in the Fjords and Zipangu Ports.
• Fixed visual bugs on the Hotspot and Seychelles maps.
• Fixed an issue that caused submarine torpedoes to sometimes fail to hit opponents that were near islands.
• Fixed an issue that caused aircraft engine boosters not to reset after reducing speed in some cases.
• Fixed an issue in Operation Hermes where Ruan wasn't taken into account in the additional mission to save allied battleships.
• Fixed a bug in the characteristics of IX Delaware's Depth Charge Airstrike—the number of available flights has been increased from 1 to 2.

For a complete list of changes, please refer to Player Support.

• Added the display of Submarine Surveillance area to the Minimap.
• Fixed a bug in the characteristics of the Depth Charge Airstrike armament for Delaware—the number of available flights has been increased from 1 to 2.
• Fixed bugs in the display of informational messages.
• Fixed the features of a number of ships in the Armory.
• Fixed a bug that prevented players from getting notifications about receiving Oil when obtaining containers.
• Fixed a bug that caused the aiming point of Airstrike to be displayed incorrectly on the Minimap.
• Fixed the description of rockets in a tooltip in the Port.
• Fixed a bug in the names of torpedo tube groups in a tooltip.
• Fixed a bug that caused the numbers indicating the amount of damage dealt to a squadron or ship to sometimes not be displayed upon its destruction.
• Damage caused by depth charges has been added to a separate category in the pop-up window displaying information about the damage caused to a ship.
• Fixed a bug that caused incorrect conditions for combat missions to be displayed in some cases.
• Fixed a bug that caused tips for superships not to be displayed on the battle loading screen. The list of tooltips for hybrid ships has also been updated.
• Fixed a bug that caused the ship icon in the carousel not to change when receiving Elite status.
• Fixed an error that led to the Promo Reward modal window not being shown in some cases after the end of a battle.
• Fixed the display of all torpedo type names in the pop-up window describing a torpedo launcher with two types of torpedoes.
• Fixed the problem that caused the tooltips to be displayed at a smaller size than they should be.
• Fixed the incorrect color indication of the difference in Torpedo Detectability Range in a ship's technical parameters tooltip when previewing a module.
• Fixed bugs related to the display of the icing effect on some permanent camouflages.
• Fixed the mast animation when using the Legend of the Oceans permanent camouflage for Anhalt.
• Fixed visual bugs for Colorado and her permanent camouflages, as well as for Kléber CLR.
• Updated the icon for the Japanese Lacquer permanent camouflage.
• Fixed the visual effects of shell damage.
• The exterior of the Distant Voyages container has been slightly updated.
• Fixed visual bugs for "The Hunt for Bismarck" and Rogue Wave Premium containers.
• Fixed the display of camouflage icons when opening containers.
• Fixed a bug that sometimes caused the client to crash when closing the browser.
• Fixed a bug that resulted in the client crashing when closing the game on the loading screen.
• Fixed a bug that sometimes caused the client to crash before the start of a battle.
• Fixed a bug that caused the main battery reticle to disappear if the gun was unable to fire and did not move.
• Fixed a bug where the aiming sectors of the main battery and torpedo tubes could not be fixed when aiming outside the map.
• Fixed the behavior of the camera when the "Restore the camera position when exiting Free Look mode" option is disabled.
• Fixed the order of automatic selection of the next torpedo tube after firing.
• Fixed a bug that affected the animation for AA guns during firing.
• Fixed an issue that affected telegraph operation when sequentially pressing two keys.
• Fixed a bug that caused the main battery turrets of ships Alsace and Wujing to turn in different directions.
• Fixed a bug that caused main battery guns to move differently in replays compared to the actual battles.
• Fixed a bug that resulted in an error in the carousel when selling a ship.
• Fixed a bug that caused the cost of shells for Alabama VL to be different from other versions of Alabama.
• Fixed a bug that caused the ship cost to be displayed incorrectly in the tooltips for un-researched ships.
• Updated visual effects on the Battle Pass screen.
• Fixed the sound effects that are triggered when viewing ships in the carousel.
• Fixed bugs in the description of Conqueror.
• Fixed a bug that caused the "Open container" and "Open all containers" buttons to become inactive.
• The display of squadrons on hybrid ships is now identical to their display on aircraft carriers.
• Fixed a bug that caused special Commanders received as rewards to be displayed incorrectly.

[transmission ends]