Update 13.0

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Developer Bulletin & Public Test Update News article

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Update 13.0: New American Aircraft Carriers

Update 13.0 delivers the following:

Early Access to U.S. Aircraft Carriers

Early access to the upcoming U.S. aircraft carrier line begins in Update 13.0. The three ships being added are VI Independence, VIII Yorktown, and X Essex. In addition to these three historical vessels, we're adding camouflages for VIII Yorktown and X Essex plus a commemorative flag to the game.

These aircraft carriers feature distinctive game play that's unique among the existing ships of this type. They only have access to one standard squadron (torpedo bombers) but are supplemented with two tactical squadrons consisting of attack and dive-bomber aircraft. Starting from Tier VIII, these tactical squadrons get access to the new Smoke Curtain Generator consumable, so you can use them to provide cover for teammates in need.

U.S. Aircraft Carriers Event Pass

Starts: Jan 10, 01:00 AM Central (UTC-6)
Ends: Feb 7, 01:00 AM Central (UTC-6)

Update 13.0 brings an Event Pass with 20 levels that you can progress through by completing a series of daily and weekly missions. VI Independence stands as the most prized reward in the first progression line, and she's accompanied by the U.S. Aircraft Carriers commemorative flag, the Freedom permanent camouflage for VIII Baltimore, a Flags Premium container, a Wings of Freedom container, and other valuable rewards. Wings of Freedom containers can also be obtained as rewards for completing extra levels after you have completed the initial 20.

You can unlock the second progression line for  Doubloons. Much like the first line, this one also comprises a total of 20 levels, but where it stands out is in the rewards, including VIII Yorktown, a bonus package for VIII Yorktown, Commander Statue of Liberty with 6 skill points and an individual voiceover, the Freedom permanent camouflage for X Des Moines, and other valuable rewards. American Tokens are the reward for completing extra levels after you complete the initial 20.

We'll be testing a few variants of the U.S. Aircraft Carriers Event Pass, meaning that progression will be different for different players, but the overall pool of rewards will remain unchanged.

American Tokens

Starts: Jan 10, 02:00 AM Central (UTC-6)
Ends: Feb 28, 01:00 AM Central (UTC-6)

You can exchange your American Tokens for X Essex with a 10-skill-point Commander and Port slot, permanent camouflages for VIII Yorktown and X Essex, Wings of Freedom Premium containers, and  Credits. Obtain them either via random bundles for  Doubloons or by completing extra levels of the second progression line of the U.S. Aircraft Carriers Event Pass.

Besides American Tokens, the random bundles also hold special and rare economic bonuses of all types,  Coal,  Free XP,  Elite Commander XP,  Credits, and American battleship X Rhode Island, which can only be obtained via this route. The option to purchase the new battleship will become available in a future updates.

You'll find more detailed information in a separate article.

Sestri Ponente Dockyard Continues

The construction of cruiser IX Michelangelo continues at the Sestri Ponente Dockyard in Update 13.0.

During the first 3 weeks of the new update, players will be able to complete combat missions and advance through Dockyard construction phases to obtain the main reward — IX Michelangelo herself.

• The construction process comprises 32 phases, 27 of which can be progressed through by completing Dockyard combat mission groups.
• You can also complete shipbuilding phases by spending  1,750 Doubloons per phase and purchasing Starter Packs: 10 shipbuilding phases in exchange for  10,000 Doubloons and 5 shipbuilding phases in exchange for  6,000 Doubloons.

IX Michelangelo is armed with eight 320 mm main battery guns with limited firing angles due to the turrets being positioned in the middle part of the ship. She also has numerous secondary guns armed with SAP shells that can deal good damage, thus compensating for her relatively weak main battery guns.

Her torpedo armament is represented by two triple-tube torpedo launchers with wide launching angles. The torpedoes are fast and deal high damage, but their range is short and there are only a few torpedoes per salvo.

The ship has a large HP pool and good armor, as well as access to Repair Party to further boost her survivability.

The Dockyard will remain in your Port until the release of Update 13.1.

Bounty Hunt Event

Starts: Feb 1, 07:00 AM Central (UTC-6)
Ends: Feb 4, 04:00 PM Central (UTC-6)

Update 13.0 also includes a new iteration of the Bounty Hunt event together with changes that were previously announced in Update 12.8.

• Four new achievements:
  • Elusive Bounty — win and survive 5 battles as a Bounty ship.
  • Dangerous Bounty — destroy 4 enemy ships in a single battle as a Bounty ship.
  • Hunter Bounty — destroy an enemy Bounty ship while being a Bounty ship yourself.
  • Decoy Mission — receive 1,000,000 potential damage and finish in the top 3 of your team by Base XP earned. Allied Bounty ship must survive the battle.
• Ability to remove Bounty role after it's assigned to a player.
• The conditions for obtaining the Bounty Hunter achievement have been changed — the achievement is now unlocked if a player that is not a Bounty ship destroys an enemy Bounty ship.
• Markers for allied Bounty ships added.

The Bounty Hunt event will be available in Random Battles; when taking on the Bounty role, players need to helm Tier VI–X battleships, cruisers, or destroyers in battle.

Both players with Bounty role and regular players will be able to earn Star Tokens, which they will be able to spend in the Star Emissaries Armory category. The main rewards are Bionic permanent camouflages for X Des Moines, IX Buffalo, and VIII Baltimore. Players will also be able to obtain  Coal, common (grey) bonuses containers, and signals.

Star Tokens can only be earned in the Bounty Hunt event.

Regular players will be able to obtain Star Tokens by destroying a Bounty ship in battle or earning the Decoy Mission achievement. Players with Bounty role can obtain Star Tokens by earning "Elusive Bounty", "Dangerous Bounty", and "Hunter Bounty" achievements as well as by completing special combat missions.

After the announcement of the Bounty Hunt event, players will be able to apply on our portal and be among the randomly selected participants. After registration time ends, there will be a selection process which will determine the players which will receive the Bounty role. After selection period is over, Bounty Event can start!

More information about the Bounty Hunt event activity can be found in a [ separate article].

Star Emissaries

Starts: Jan 24, 03:00 AM Central (UTC-6)
Ends: Feb 7, 03:00 AM Central (UTC-6)

Besides the previously mentioned Bounty Hunt event and rewards, more goods can be found in the Star Emissaries Armory category!

As part of the event, you can use Doubloons to buy random bundles that hold IX STAR Kitakaze, VIII STAR Edinburgh, Commanders Andromeda and Triangulum with 10 skill points and individual voiceovers, expendable economic bonuses, and other valuable rewards.

The main feature of these ships is their permanent camouflages, which dynamically change their appearance in the midst of battle depending on whether the ship is detected.

IX STAR Kitakaze and Commander Andromeda with 10 skill points and a unique voiceover, as well as VIII STAR Edinburgh with Commander Triangulum with 10 skill points and a unique voiceover, will be available via separate Admiral bundles in the Premium Shop. These bundles also hold Credits, expendable economic bonuses, and signals.

Display Ship Parameters in Battle

We've added a feature that enables players to see various ship parameters while in battle! Essentially, players will be able to click on opposing and allied ships in the Team window before or during a battle (press/hold the Tab key to access this window). A tooltip will appear providing information on the selected ship, such as hit points, armament ranges, movement speed, and possible consumables, among other parameters. This feature also allows players to hover their mouse over attributes such as shells, torpedoes, and consumables in-battle and check the data for those items, similar to the functionality in Port.

It's important to note that this mechanic will show only the best possible parameters for opposing and allied ships that have not been spotted by your ship. For allied ships that your ship has spotted, actual parameters and chosen consumables will be displayed in the tooltip. As for enemy ships, the reason for showing only their best possible parameters is to not reveal their equipment and actual parameters, which would reveal too much about their overall strategy. As a result, enemy ships may have lower or different specifications in actuality than what's displayed in the tooltip.

The best possible parameters include any possible bonuses from Commanders, upgrades, signals, and modules. This feature will not include factors such as unique Commander talents; weather conditions; dynamic effects; or triggerable skills such as Dazzle, Adrenaline Rush, or Fearless Brawler.

Armory

IX DD USN Halford

With the release of Update 13.0, IX Halford will become available in the Armory for  228,000 Coal.

Six destroyers of the Fletcher-class were planned to receive an aircraft catapult instead of a stern torpedo launcher and No. 3 turret, according to plans put forward by the leadership of the U.S Navy. In this configuration, these ships could launch Kingfisher reconnaissance aircraft, and formations consisting of only destroyers — without having to rely on cruisers and aircraft carriers — would receive their own "eyes."

IX Halford is the first hybrid destroyer in our game, and the ship carries an attack aircraft tactical squadron equipped with the Engine Cooling consumable. The aircraft are armed with powerful Tiny Tim rockets with high damage and armor penetration characteristics.

IX Halford's four 127 mm main battery guns have a good rate of fire and arcing shell ballistics, and the ship is armed with a quintuple-tube torpedo launcher with long-range torpedoes. She also has great maneuverability. IX Halford's consumable loadout is represented by a choice between Engine Boost or Defensive AA Fire in one slot and Smoke Generator in a separate slot.

Unique Upgrades

In Update 13.0, two ships will receive new unique upgrades: X Elbing and X Gouden Leeuw are each getting a unique upgrade that can be used in Modification Slot 6.

X Elbing

For X Elbing, the unique upgrade is designed to give her more speed and a better ability to use her guns in open water in exchange for a longer reload time compared to the Main Battery Modification 3 option in the same slot.

Unique Upgrade cost: 19,200 Research Points.

• Modification Slot 6
• Effects
  • Main battery reload time: –6%
  • Maximum ship speed while the Engine Boost consumable is active: +12%
  • Main battery traverse speed: +100%

X Goudon Leeuw

The unique upgrade for X Gouden Leeuw will give her expanded game play that leans more heavily into her Airstrike armament, adding a charge and reducing its cooldown time.

Unique upgrade cost: 19,200 Research Points.

• Modification Slot 6
• Effects
  • Airstrike armament charges: +1
  • Airstrike cooldown time: –25%

Ranked Battles

Update 13.0 brings Ranked Battles Season 15.

Starts: Jan 10, 01:00 AM Central (UTC-6)
Ends: Mar 12, 05:00 PM Central (UTC-6)

Bronze League

7 vs. 7; Tier VI ships

No more than one aircraft carrier, one submarine, three battleships, four destroyers, and six cruisers

Silver League

6 vs. 6; Tier VIII ships

No more than one aircraft carrier, one submarine, three battleships, and four destroyers.

Gold League

6 vs. 6; Tier X ships

No more than one aircraft carrier, one submarine, three battleships, and four destroyers.

In Season 15, 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 keeps a Star.

Brawls

Update 13.0 will see three Brawls unleashed in different formats.

The First Brawl starts: Jan 15, 10:00 AM Central (UTC-6)
The First Brawl ends: Jan 22, 03:00 AM Central (UTC-6)

Round 1

2 vs. 2; Tier VII ships

No more than one battleship

Maximum Division size: 2

Round 2

5 vs. 5; Tier X ships

No more than one submarine, one aircraft carrier, three battleships, and four destroyers

Maximum Division size: 3

Round 3

4 vs. 4; Tier VIII ships

No submarines allowed

No more than one aircraft carrier, two battleships, two destroyers and three cruisers

Maximum Division size: 4

YouTube Memberships

We've updated the benefits of our YouTube memberships program!

Rewards for Different Membership Levels in Update 13.0

Level	Cost*	Combat Mission	Reward
WoWS First Mate	$0.99	Earn 15,000 Base XP. Battle types: Random, Ranked, Co-op, Brawls and Operations. Tiers: V–X ships and  superships.	1,500 Community Tokens
WoWS Admiral	$1.99	Deal 600,000 damage. Battle types: Random, Ranked, Co-op, Brawls, and Operations. Tiers: V–X ships and  superships. You'll also be able to complete the previous level's combat mission and receive any due rewards for it.	5x Golden Age of Industry containers + the reward from the previous level
Naval Historian	$2.99	Earn 15 "Destroyed" ribbons. Battle types: Random, Ranked, Co-op, Brawls, and Operations. Tiers: V–X ships and  superships. You'll also be able to complete the combat missions from the two previous levels and receive any due rewards for them.	4x Wings of Freedom containers + the rewards from the two previous levels + historical content. **

* Currency and membership fees may vary by country.

** Historical content includes posts on the official World of Warships channel about the naval history of different countries and is only available to Naval Historian members, regardless of whether they have completed combat missions or not.

The special combat missions for our YouTube members can be claimed until the end of the current update, and you have until the end of the next update to complete them.

We're expanding this program to the channels of our contributors so that more Captains can support the content they like. This means that, in addition to the three levels of membership on our official channel, you can now purchase the WoWS Commander membership level from our contributors. Check all the details here.

Hololive Collaboration

Update 13.0 brings back the heroes of hololive production. Popular Japanese VTubers are ready to fill the ranks of Commanders and plunge into the heat of naval battles back-to-back with players! Welcome back the hololive commanders with individual voiceovers! Players can also obtain hololive production expendable camouflages and a memorable flag during the event.

But that's not all! Players can also complete combat missions to choose between Commander Fubuki Shirakami, with six skill points trained for I Hashidate, or Commander Moona Hoshinova, with six skill points trained for I Chengan as the final reward. Ⓒ 2016 COVER Corp.

Content Additions and Changes

Update 13.0 will bring back the previously decorated Kure Port! We saw a lot of interest in this Port during our Early Access event for the recently released Japanese battleships, so we wanted to bring this incredible Port back with a few changes. The dragons present for the Early Access event will be removed, together with other small details. The stormy weather as well as the music and ambient sounds will remain. This Port will be available for the next couple of Updates, and we will once again evaluate player feedback to decide how this Port will look beyond that.

Furthermore, the Eat Play Talk flag and Wiki Team patch will also be entering the game with the release of this update.

Finally, we will be introducing content* to the game as a part of a collaboration with YouTuber and Twitch Streamer TheRussianBadger. Among the content introduced will be a commemorative flag, a TheRussianBadger commander with individual voiceover, and a permanent camouflage for New Mexico.

* This content will be distributed for free in one of the upcoming Updates and additional information for this collaboration will be announced at a later date.

Commonwealth cruisers Sutlej (Tier I), Port Jackson (Tier II), Caradoc (Tier III), Dunedin (Tier IV), Hobart (Tier VI), Auckland (Tier VIII), Encounter (Tier IX), Cerberus (Tier X); German cruiser Wiesbaden (Tier VIII) and Spanish battleship Victoria (Tier IX) were added for testing by developers, volunteers, and community contributors, while Commonwealth cruisers Delhi (Tier V) and Uganda (Tier VII) will be included in one of the later Updates.

Future Changes

Battle of the Java Sea containers and Battle of the Java Sea Premium containers will be added to the game.

Each Battle of the Java Sea container includes (the percentage indicates the drop rates for each group of items):

5x special economic bonuses of each type — 16% for each type
3,000 Free XP — 20%
2x Early morning camouflages — 7.7%
2x Union Jack camouflages — 7.7%
One of the following ships ( VII Yūdachi, VI Perth, VII Jupiter '42, IX Minegumo ) — 0.6%

If you already have all the ships from the list, you will instead receive 3,000 Free XP.

Each Battle of the Java Sea Premium container includes (the percentage indicates the drop rates for each group of items):

14x rare economic bonuses of each type — 16% for each type
32,000 Free XP — 16%
2x Early morning permanent camouflages — 7%
2x Union Jack permanent camouflages — 7%
One of the following ships ( VII Yūdachi, VI Perth, VII Jupiter '42, IX Minegumo ) — 6%

If you already have all the ships from the list, you will instead receive 32,000 Free XP.

Other Changes

• Fixed the textures of VII Hyūga and VII Maass.
• Fixed textures of the Polar Ice Caps permanent camouflages for IX Georgia, VII Algérie, and IX Alaska.
• Fixed Commander skill recommendations for II Nino Bixio, III Taranto, IV Giussano, V Montecuccoli, VI Trento, VII Zara, VIII Amalfi, IX Brindisi, X Venezia, ★ Piemonte, VII Gorizia, and V Genova.
• Fixed an issue that caused the activated Helmsman skill not to be displayed after a quick reconnect to battle.
• Fixed an issue with the camera not keeping up with the selected target when diving deeper than periscope depth while playing as a submarine in the Binocular view.
• Fixed a bug that caused squadrons to visually reappear after having been destroyed if they had managed to launch their armament beforehand.
• Fixed an issue with the Chinese language voiceover in Operation Defense of Naval Station Newport.
• Removed the standard voiceover when enemy submarines are spotted for Arpeggio and High School Fleet Commanders, as well as Commander Dasha Perova.
• Introduced a limit to quick command playback sounds.
• Fixed a rare bug that sometimes caused the game to crash in the Arms Race mode.
• Fixed a bug that mixed the consumable order in the Equipment window when using the "Restore to Default" option.
• Returned the ability for players to ping on mini-map before battles start.
• Fixed a rare bug that sometimes cause players not to receive their rewards after completing a progression level.
• Fixed a visual bug with the Gun Fire Control System module in VIII Yumihari's Equipment window.
• Fixed issues with the individual voiceovers for Santa Commanders.
• Fixed a rare visual bug that changed the water texture.

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

• Fixed a bug that caused the mouse cursor to sometimes freeze after turning off the autopilot.
• Fixed the text of the button to exit a replay.
• Disabled the sound of clicking on the Tactical Map and Minimap while in Observer mode.

Notes

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