Update 12.6

Waterline Update 13 Jun 2023 for summer & fall.
Developer Bulletin Public Test News article

Commanders! As we roll out the update, the server will be unavailable
from: Wed. July 19 5:00 AM Central
until: Wed. July 19 8:00 AM Central

Update 12.6: Spanish Cruisers

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 12.6, the main reward is Big Tactical container.

Update 12.6 delivers the following:

Early Access to Spanish Cruisers ● Battle Pass ● Concealed Maneuvers ● European Destroyers Are Available to Everyone ● Armory ● Azur Lane: Wave 5 ● Battle of the Somme Collection ● Economic Changes ● Brawls ● Division Star ● Technical Improvements ● Game Balance Changes ● Content Additions and Changes ● Other Changes and Improvements

Early Access to Spanish Cruisers

Update 12.6 delivers Spanish cruisers to Early Access.

• II Méndez Núñez can be obtained via free daily random bundles.
• III Navarra can be obtained via daily random bundles available for  Doubloons.
• IV Almirante Cervera, V Galicia, VI Baleares, VII Asturias, and VIII Cataluña are available in sequential bundles obtainable for a temporary resource — Gold Spanish Tokens.
• IX Andalucía can be obtained via random bundles available for  Doubloons.
• X Castilla is available to purchase for  Doubloons at the end of a sequential bundle chain.

These ships have main battery guns with an average range and damage per minute. They are also armed with short-range torpedoes.

Cruisers of Tier VII and higher feature the "Burst Fire" alternative firing mode, their shells follow a flatter trajectory, and their AP shells penetrate armor more effectively.

The newcomers are fast, but they have only average concealment and maneuverability.

Spanish cruisers boast a wide range of consumables to choose from:

• The Hydroacoustic Search consumable is available from Tier IV; starting from Tier VI, players can choose to mount Defensive AA Fire in the same slot instead.
• Starting from Tier VII, Repair Party is introduced, and players have a choice between Fighter or Spotting Aircraft in another slot.

We've updated the Ocean Port and added national emblems for Spanish ships to mark the event.

Gold and Silver Spanish Tokens will come in handy while the cruisers are in Early Access, and one way of obtaining them is via the Personal Challenges event that’s making a return in Update 12.6. Once again, you'll have to demonstrate your skill by achieving specific accomplishments while commanding ships of different nations and types.

This time, the event features an updated interface.

• We've added a section with information about earned rewards to the Personal Challenges page.
• A number of other visual changes and improvements have been made.

You’ll find more details about Early Access to the new Spanish cruisers in this dedicated article.

Battle Pass

As usual, the new 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 reward of the Free Battle Pass is 7x Rare Bonuses containers and 100 Silver Spanish Tokens. You can exchange the latter for sequential bundles that include bonus packages applicable to Tier V–VIII Early Access ships or for Gold Spanish Tokens.

The Premium Pass delivers even more valuable items, and the final reward for completing it is 500 Gold Spanish Tokens. Use them to obtain sequential bundles that hold Tier IV–VIII Spanish cruisers, permanent camouflages for Tier VIII–X ships, and other items.

More information on Spanish Tokens will be provided in this dedicated article that discusses specific details about Early Access to Spanish cruisers.

We've changed the post-progression rewards for the Premium Battle Pass: after completing all of its levels, players will receive 1x Rare Bonuses container and  1,000 Coal for each additional level.

The seasonal bonuses remain the same as they were in the previous iteration — 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.

Complete the first mission of the daily combat mission chain of Battle Pass 12.6 to turn the first Update Navigator signal light green.

More details about the Battle Pass in Update 12.6 are available in this dedicated article.

Concealed Maneuvers

Starts: Thu. Jul. 20 11:00 AM Central
Ends: Mon. Aug. 07 2:00 AM Central

Update 12.6 introduces the Concealed Maneuvers temporary battle type, which has been designed to test new mechanics for aircraft carriers.

We've added two new aircraft carriers to the game— VIII Kikaku and VIII Concord Bridge. They resemble VIII Shōkaku and VIII Lexington, except that they feature adjusted parameters and squadrons with unique consumables. These aircraft carriers can be rented for the duration of the event; however, you can't take them into battles of any other type.

What sets these new aircraft carriers apart are their squadrons' unique consumables — Smoke Curtain Generator and Air-Dropped Minefield.

VIII Kikaku's attack aircraft are equipped with Smoke Curtain Generator, which can set smoke screens just like ships with Smoke Generators.

VIII Concord Bridge's bombers are armed with the Air-Dropped Minefield consumable. When activated, it calls in another aircraft to deploy a minefield within a circular area below the position of the squadron at the point of activation. The mines don't arm immediately, but once they do, they deal damage to any enemy ships that collide with them, and they have high chances of causing flooding.

Format

• Tier VII–VIII aircraft carriers, cruisers, battleships, and destroyers in a 9 vs. 9 format.
• Eligible aircraft carriers aren’t limited to VIII Kikaku and VIII Concord Bridge; all classes are allowed.

Achieve a victory in Concealed Maneuvers to turn the second signal light of the Update Navigator green.

Full details of this battle type have been released in a dedicated article.

European Destroyers Are Available to Everyone

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

These newcomers are artillery destroyers that primarily rely on their main battery guns in battle.

• They are exclusively armed with HE shells; 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 highlight of this branch is the consumable combination of Smoke Generator and Surveillance Radar, the latter of which is available from Tier VIII and features a long range but a short action time. The destroyers are also equipped with Engine Boost.
• The new ships have mediocre speed and poor concealment, but higher-tier representatives boast large HP pools.

Armory

Warship Strike

Starts: Fri. Aug. 11 5:00 AM Central
Ends: Fri. Sep. 01 5:00 AM Central

Warship Strike is back in the Armory! You’ll again be tasked with fighting against AI in a 1 vs. 1 format. To participate in the mini-game, you'll need special Strike Passes. You can purchase them in limited quantities in exchange for in-game resources and in unlimited quantities for Doubloons. One Pass costs 250 Doubloons.

The rewards have also changed: this time, they are chosen at random and include ships and Doubloons, among other possibilities.

Rewards for Sinking Ships

• Destroyer: 2x common economic bonuses of each type
• Cruiser: 3x common economic bonuses of each type
• Battleship: 5x common economic bonuses of each type
• Aircraft carrier: 6x common economic bonuses of each type

Rewards for Gaining Victory

• 60% – 11x one of { , , , };
• 12.5% –  18,750 Elite Commander XP
• 12.5% –  6250 Free XP
• 10.5% – one of { II Almirante Abreu,III Vampire,III Ning Hai } plus a Commander with 3 skill points
• 4.5% –  350 Doubloons

If you already possess every ship that can be obtained through Warship Strike, you'll be rewarded with 1x Strike Pass.

Warship Strike can be played in the game client and on the Armory website.

IX Van Speijk

With the release of Update 12.6, IX Van Speijk will become available in the Armory for  46,500 Research Points.

In 1938, the Netherlands decided to strengthen their fleet, and new designs similar to Scharnhorst were introduced in 1939. The authorities were set on reducing the size of the ship for economic reasons. They favored a 16,000-ton cruiser with a projected speed of 33 knots and either 240 mm or 280 mm main battery guns; however, they eventually had to settle on a smaller caliber for the project.

The cruiser is armed with nine 203 mm main battery guns that don't have a particularly long range of fire. She also comes with HE Bomb Airstrike. This armament boasts an extensive action range but takes a lot of time to reload and is limited to only one flight. Other strengths of the ship include a well-armored citadel and decent concealment.

The cruiser has also access to Hydroacoustic Search, Defensive AA Fire, and Repair Party with a reduced reload time in separate slots.

Naval Community

With the release of Update 12.7, the following items will be removed from the Naval Community tab of the Armory:

• The Symbols of Yukon bundle
• The Leningrad Defense permanent camouflage for VII Leningrad
• The Japanese Castle permanent camouflage for VI Fusō
• The Stars 'n' Stripes permanent camouflage for V Texas
• The More Camouflages container

The following items will be added to the Naval Community tab:

• A bundle with "The Beautiful Game" flag and patch, available for  4,000 Community Tokens
• The Wings of Courage permanent camouflage, available for  2,000 Community Tokens
• The Bionic permanent camouflage for VI Pensacola, available for  4,000 Community Tokens
• The Orca permanent camouflage for VII Huron, available for  6,000 Community Tokens
• The Blazing Tropics permanent camouflage for VII Atlanta, available for  8,000 Community Tokens
• The Independence Day permanent camouflage for VII Colorado, available for  8,000 Community Tokens

Azur Lane: Wave 5

World of Warships and Azur Lane are joining forces again! Welcome the Fifth Wave of our collaboration! This time, the already impressive list of Azur Lane Commanders will be joined by three newcomers with individual voiceovers — Colorado, Cheshire, and Prinz Heinrich; moreover, two new ships will be added to the game — VIII AL Cheshire and VII AL Prinz Heinrich. What’s more, we're adding three new themed permanent camouflages for IX Roon, IX Saint-Louis, and IX Neptune. To top it all off, your favorite and familiar Commanders and ships are making a comeback!

Complete the first combat mission of the special chain dedicated to this event to turn the fourth Update Navigator signal light green.

©2017 Manjuu Co.,Ltd. & Yongshi Co.,Ltd. All Rights Reserved. ©2017 Yostar, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

More details about the collaboration will be announced later.

Battle of the Somme Collection

Starts: hu. Jul. 27 5:00 AM Central
Ends: Thu. Aug. 24 5:00 AM Central

A week after the release of Update 12.6, a new collection — Battle of the Somme — will become available. It commemorates one of the most immense battles of World War I, which took place from July 1, 1916 through November 18 of the same year on both banks of the River Somme. It was a confrontation between the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic on one side and the forces of the German Empire on the other side.

To complete this collection, you'll need 60 different elements that the new Battle of the Somme containers can drop. These containers can be obtained in the Armory in exchange for  Doubloons and in the Premium Shop. They are also rewarded for completing combat missions, and the number of containers you can earn this way will be sufficient to complete the entire collection. The exchange rate for duplicate elements is 2:1.

We'll reveal the contents of this container on our website with the release of Update 12.6.

The rewards for completing the collection are IX Somme, a ship that's kin to IX Jutland, with the unique "Lest We Forget" permanent camouflage and a Commander with 10 skill points.

We've prepared a combat mission group dedicated to the anniversary of that massive battle. Complete the first mission of the "Lest We Forget" chain to turn the fifth Update Navigator signal light green.

Economic Changes

Starting with Update 12.6, we'll be adding Operations to the majority of combat missions. Due to the specifics of this battle type, it's easier to fulfill the requirements of some combat missions in Operations; so as not to change the difficulty of missions in other battle types, results achieved in Operations will be reduced by a certain factor.

For certain metrics, the progress in combat missions and Personal Challenges will be halved when playing in Operations. For example, if a mission requires you to earn two "Destroyed" ribbons, you’ll need to earn four such ribbons if you decide to go for it in Operations. Another way to complete this mission would be by earning one ribbon in a Random Battle and two ribbons in Operations.

When the reduction factor is applied to combat missions, the Operations icon will display a special decorator.

Brawls

Update 12.6 features four Brawls in different formats.

Brawl 1

Start: Fri. Jul. 21 11:00 AM Central

Format: 5 vs. 5 playing Tier IX ships; no more than two battleships and three destroyers. You can participate in a Division of up to five players.

Brawl 2

Format: 4 vs. 4 playing Tier VIII submarines, destroyers, cruisers, and battleships; no more than one submarine, two battleships, and two destroyers. You can participate in a Division of up to four players.

Brawl 3

Format: 4 vs. 4 playing Tier X battleships. You can participate in a Division of up to two players.

Brawl 4

Format: 3 vs. 3 playing Tier X ships; no more than one submarine, one aircraft carrier, two destroyers, two cruisers, and two battleships. You can participate in a Division of up to three players.

Details about these Brawls will be published in a separate article on our website.

Division Star

The Division Star is a special event in which you can earn extra rewards by playing together with your Clanmates.

• You can earn a Division Star by playing in a Division with your Clanmates.
• Stars can be earned in all battle types, except for Training Battles.
• Certain numbers of earned Stars unlock access to various rewards.
• If you switch Clans, any Stars and rewards you previously received remain with you.

To see the roster of Clanmates you can team up with in a Division and the list of rewards you can get, navigate to the Division Star tab in the Clans section.

By playing together with your Clanmates, you can earn a total of up to three Stars — one for each fulfilled requirement:

• Winning a battle.
• Earning the "Shoulder to Shoulder" Division achievement.
• Earning the "Coordinated Attack" Division achievement.

Technical Improvements

Settings Menu Improvements

In Update 12.6, we've completely reworked the Settings menu interface.

All available parameters are now divided into eight sections: Display, Graphics, Audio, HUD, Camera, Mouse, Keyboard/Controls, and Other. Certain settings have been removed, while others have been merged together.

The interface changes introduced in this update aim to enhance user experience by providing a simpler and more convenient way to personalize the game to your liking! Furthermore, "under the hood" enhancements have been implemented so that we can seamlessly add new settings in the future.

Recruiting Station Combat Missions

Update 12.6 delivers missions with requirements specifically designed for Recruiters and their Shipmates. Team up in Divisions to progress through them and earn rewards!

Only Division members who are in a "Recruiter–Shipmate" relationship with at least one other Division mate will have their progress towards the Recruiting Station combat missions counted.

Replay Improvements

• We've added the post-battle statistics screen to the end of replays. [Hooray! - Ed.]
• We've also added a "Watch Again" button.

Twitch Drops

Twitch Drops are back in Update 12.6. We took advantage of this break to make a technical improvement that will allow users to request and receive Twitch Drops without the need to re-log into their accounts.

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 U.S. researchable hybrid battleships and British cruiser V Hawkins.

American battleships VIII Nebraska, IX Delaware, and X Louisiana

• The size of the bombers' reticle has been increased.
  • This will reduce the average damage they deal to destroyers.
• X Louisiana’s bombers now have the same reticle as the bombers of  VIII Nebraska and IX Delaware.

British cruiser V Hawkins

• The shell ballistics have been changed and are now characterized by a flatter trajectory.
• The armor penetration capabilities of AP shells have been improved.

Content Additions and Changes

The game will feature:

• Commanders José Prudencio Padilla and Pavel Nakhimov
• Commanders Fyodor Apraksin, Murat Serezli, and Hua Hu with individual voiceovers

• 200 Years of the Colombia Navy and Telnyashka flags

• 200 Years of the Colombian Navy patch

• Four Emblems for Pan-American ships

• Prince Dmitry Pozharsky permanent camouflage for VIII Dmitry Pozharsky

• An individual voiceover for Commander Minakami Shiori

In Update 12.7,  Ranked and  Clan Tokens will be removed from the game, and players will receive compensation in the form of  Steel. As long as that Update is live, camouflages that are available in exchange for Ranked and Clan Tokens will also be available for Steel. More info on these changes will follow at a later date.

Container Changes

The "Azur Lane: Battle Maidens of the Sea" Premium container has been added. The contents of Colorful Regatta Premium container have been updated: Colorful Tokens have been exchanged for Credits at the rate of 1:75,000. We'll reveal the contents of these containers on our website with the release of Update 12.6.

Other Changes and Improvements

Lantern Lights

We’ve prepared a chain of combat missions to celebrate the traditional Japanese Obon Festival.

Complete the first mission of the chain to light up the third signal of the Update Navigator.

Other Changes

• The starting number of points in the updated Domination mode in Co-op Battles has been increased from 150 to 200.
• Fixed the behavior of AI-powered bots in the following Operations: Aegis, Raptor Rescue, Narai, and Defense of Naval Station Newport. [Tell us more! - Ed.]
• Fixed an issue that caused the sonar indicator to be displayed incorrectly on a target that was hit by a sonar ping.
• Fixed an issue that caused the text input field in the game chat to stop working when switching between Armory tabs.
• Fixed an issue in Operation Killer Whale that could prevent a battle from finishing in defeat when all player ships were destroyed after completing the initial primary task but prior to receiving the second one.
• Removed visual artifacts on the following maps: The Faroe Islands, Fault Line, and Seychelles.
• Removed visual artifacts in the following Ports: Saint Petersburg, Zipangu, and Naval Base.
• Fixed the textures and models for the following ships: X San Martín, VIII Ignacio Allende, IX Sun Yat-Sen, VIII HSF Harekaze, VIII HSF Harekaze II, VII Tashkent '39, III Vicente Guerrero, X Kléber, and X Kléber CLR, as well as in the HSF ISOROKU permanent camouflage.
• Fixed an issue that affected the Epic Games Store overlay loading and the friend list display.
• Fixed an issue that made it impossible to switch to the Binocular View when opening the game menu or hovering over the Minimap while pressing Shift.
• Updated the historical descriptions of U.S. ships.
• Fixed an issue that caused Commander Michiel de Ruyter not to be marked as "Historical" in the Captain's Logbook.
• Fixed an issue that prevented players from getting a reward for completing a global mission chain.
• Fixed a bug that made it impossible to activate Combat Instructions with the Airstrike or torpedo armaments selected.
• We've added tooltips to the conditions of combat missions to be completed to earn certain achievements.
• Fixed an issue that caused excessive CPU load when loading the game.
• Fixed the incorrect display of deep-water torpedo tech specs when a Commander's skills were in effect or when equipment was active in combat.
• Fixed an issue that caused X Manfred von Richthofen's catapults to be misaligned.
• Fixed the incorrect sigma parameter for Hull B of VIII North Carolina. Now, it's the same as for Hull A and amounts to 2.05 instead of 2.0.
• Reduced the cost of shells for VIII Cheshire from 275 to 250 Credits.

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

• Fixed an issue that caused videos for collection items to be played in the wrong position, below the description screen.
• Fixed an issue that caused the "Receive invitations to join Divisions" checkbox not to get checked when clicked.
• Added separate 3D models to display flags and patches dropping from containers.
• Fixed a bug that caused the tooltips of squadron weapons to be displayed incorrectly after their aircraft carrier had been destroyed.
• Fixed an issue that caused popups to be displayed incorrectly in the Port after navigating from the Profile tab.
• Fixed an issue that caused team names to be displayed incorrectly in the Spectator Mode in the Training Room.
• Fixed an issue that caused the opposing team's lineup not to be displayed in replays.
• Fixed an issue that caused national flags on ships to be displayed incorrectly in battles and replays.
• Fixed visual bugs on the Rouen Atoll map in Operation Ultimate Frontier.
• Fixed an issue that caused the post-battle stats screen to display incorrect values for the number of bombers shot down.
• Fixed visual errors in the display of "The Hunt for Bismarck" Premium container.
• Fixed the display of tracers for secondary battery SAP shells.
• Fixed an issue that caused ship horns to continue sounding when pressing the "N" key while navigating from the Port to the Combat Missions tab.
• Fixed animation and sound effect inconsistencies that occurred when obtaining "The Hunt for Bismarck" containers and while opening Air Supply or Air Supply Premium containers.
• In the Arms Race mode, Key Area activation messages will no longer pop up at the end of battle.
• Fixed an issue that caused the animation of receiving a daily container to play if a player already had 100 containers of that type.
• Fixed a bug that caused some interface elements in Port to be unresponsive to clicks.
• Fixed a bug that made it impossible to enter text when creating a Clan/changing the Clan description.
• Changes the spawn points for ships on the Ring map.
• Fixed an issue that caused ships to disappear from the carousel when switching from the Campaigns tab to the Equipment tab.
• Fixed an issue that caused the Port to sometimes briefly interfere with the battle loading screen.
• Fixed an issue that could, in certain cases, cause the game client to crash while inspecting ships in the Armory.
• Fixed an issue that prevented observers in the Training Room from receiving system messages about the result of a battle after it was over.
• We've removed pop-up notifications about receiving Oil.
• Fixed an issue that prevented tooltips from appearing when hovering over achievements in the post-battle stats.
• Fixed an issue that prevented tooltips from appearing in the descriptions of rewards issued for completing collections.
• Fixed an issue that caused the Ranked Battles tooltip to incorrectly display information about that Ranked Battles season.
• The font size for the Victory/Defeat message displayed on the post-battle stats screen has been increased.
• We've added animations for signals and decorations for the War Paint permanent camouflage for Hizen.
• Fixed an issue that caused notifications to incorrectly display the receipt of Premium Account days.
• Fixed an issue that disabled the sounds of operating AA guns when a ship was clad in one of the Halloween camouflage patterns.
• Fixed an issue that caused a black screen to be displayed upon game loading.
• Fixed an issue that occasionally caused the game client to crash after confirming a player's account in the Microsoft Store.

Notes

[transmission ends]