Research Bureau

Revision as of 17:48, 14 January 2021

The principle of player progression in World of Warships is moving from lower tier to higher tier ships up to the apex of each branch — the Tier X ship. However, in doing so, players often leave intermediate-tier ships behind. These ships offer game play experiences that are equally interesting as those of Tier X ships. And often, a now-more experienced player will discover that his lower-tier ships seem to play better than when he was first grinding through them.

Qualification

Any player with five (5) unlocked tech tree Tier X ships automatically qualifies for the Research Bureau.^[1] Obtaining Research Points in other ways, e.g. through Daily Missions or Dockyard events, also qualifies one for the Research Bureau.

Immediately on qualifying, a player is awarded 10,000 Research Points (RP) that can be redeemed in the Armory.

Merely qualifying does not enable the resetting of ship lines; that still requires at least five (5) unlocked tech tree Tier X ships.

In the qualified player's Armory, a Research Bureau page is enabled that describes the loot for which RP can be exchanged. See below.

Earning Research Points

Although small amounts of can continue to be obtained from such as Daily Missions and Dockyard events, the primary source is by resetting lines of tech tree ships, then re-earning and playing them. A line is defined as those ships that must be unlocked consecutively to obtain a Tier X ship. (In the case of split lines, e.g. the USN CL and CA cruiser lines, each line includes the ships that are common to both (in this case the Tier II-V USN cruisers)). Gunship lines consist of 10 ships each; aircraft carrier lines consist of 4 ships each.

In order to earn Research Points, a line is "reset" as described below. The ships of the line must then be unlocked again. When each of the six ships Tiers V ^[2] to X of the line is in port, winning a battle^[3] in it earns Research Points. Each higher tier ship earns progressively more RP. Gunship lines earn a maximum of 10,200 per reset. Carrier lines earn less: 8,000. More than one line may be reset at the same time.

Resetting a line

Each tech tree line with a Tier X ship will display, in the Tech Tree panel in Port, a button below the line to reset the line. Pressing this button will cause:

• all ships in the line, Tiers II through X, to be sold for credits (at the normal Sell price),^[4]
• all modules for those ships, mounted or saved in Inventory, to be sold for credits,
• all Upgrades on or for those ships to be de-mounted to Inventory at no cost,
• all mounted camouflages and signals to be de-mounted, including permanent camos and skins,
• all Commanders on those ships to be moved to Reserve.
• all Elite XP on those ships is transferred to the Tier 1 ship, where it may be used to unlock the Tier II ship.

Seasons

Each Research Bureau season lasts three months.^[5] In each season, the first line reset becomes eligible for double (2x) Research Points when the Tiers V-X ships in the line are played to a win. Season end dates may be viewed by scrolling to the bottom of the tech-tree.

• Season 4 - 17 May 2020 to 15 Aug. 2020
• Season 5 - 16 Aug. 2020 to 13 Nov. 2020
• Season 6 - 14 Nov. 2020 to 12 Feb. 2021 (est.)
  

Note that the 2x season bonus does not depend on the first line reset being unlocked or played first. The second line reset may be completed and played first, but it will earn only the base Research Points.

Regrinds do not need to be completed within a specific season to obtain the 2x RP bonus.

RP Loot

Research Points can be exchanged in the Armory for items, most notably the unique ships X Colbert (57,000), X Ohio (62,000), X Slava (63,000), IX Paolo Emilio (43,000), and IX Siegfried (47,000), Unique Upgrades, and signal flags. In the future more items will become available for. See the Armory page for updates and details.

Techniques

There are several ways to use the Research Bureau, understanding that there are two goals: acquire Research Points (RP), and enjoy playing low- and mid-tier ships again.

Play It Your Way

This is the longest and may be the most rewarding way to earn back the ships of a reset line. Start with the Tier I ship of the line and play it to earn enough XP to unlock the Tier II ship. Buy it. Repeat through Tier X.

As with the first time you did it, no extra experience or credits are required; the ships earn it themselves. Oh, you might toss in a little FXP to get over a hump or two, but the play's the thing.

Blowing By

Free XP will unlock any tech tree ship, so with enough you can unlock the whole line, selectively purchasing and playing ships as desired. This technique certainly saves time, but you might miss discovering that that long-hated ship is actually pretty good in your now-skilled hands.

Level up to Six

The ships of Tiers II through V are inexpensive to unlock  and inexpensive to purchase . Some players will immediately FXP past them to Tier VI, and some will use them to earn credits for those expensive high-tier ships.

Doing A Split

Some tech tree branches split into two lines:

• the Soviet destroyer branch splits after Tier VII.
• the Japanese destroyer branch splits after Tier IV.
• the American cruiser branch splits after Tier V and the battleship branch after Tier VII.

The splits make resetting and re-grinding those lines a little easier. Resetting both sides of a split line can save a fair amount of time or Free XP over re-grinding two full lines separately.

Using the Soviet tree as an example, a player who has unlocked both Khabarovsk and Grozovoi can reset both at the same time and need unlock the Tier II-VII ships only once to complete both destroyer lines. (In this case, although they are common to both, unlocking and winning in Podvoisky, Gnevny and Minsk earns RP for only one line.)

Stacking resets

For a player rich in Free XP, this is the easiest way to accumulate Research Points (RP). The Tier V-X ships of a reset line need not be played to qualify for RP at an eventual first win.

A player can reset, then unlock an entire line using without purchasing or playing a single ship, and the Tier V-X ships will "remember" that they are due those at the first win. Then the player can reset, then unlock the same line without purchasing or playing a ship, and the Tier V-X ships will "remember" that they are due more at the first win. When those ships eventually are purchased and played for a win, the accrued Research Points are awarded.

Example

1) In Season 1 a player unlocks his fifth tech tree Tier X ship and immediately receives 10,000.

2) He resets his KM cruiser line. All Tier II+ KM cruisers in port etc. are sold. Then he spends (roughly 650,000) FXP to unlock all nine ship through Tier X yet purchases none of them. His Tier V through X ships thus gain the ability to play for double (the Season 1 bonus) at any future time — 20,400 for all five.

3) In the same season, the player resets his KM cruiser line again, and again unlocks all nine ships. His Tier V through X ships thus can play for another RP award — an additional 10,200 for all five.

4) As his first reset of Season 2, the player resets his KM cruiser line for the third time, and again spends to unlock all nine ships. His Tier V through X ships thus accrue access to yet another double award (the Season 2 bonus) — 20,400.

5) He then purchases his five Tier V-X ships and plays five Co-op games, all wins, thus earning a total of 51,000 to add to the 10,000 qualifying bonus, giving him 61,000 — enough to buy Colbert (57,000).

He has spent roughly 2M, (assuming he buys no modules) ~51M, and played 6 games. Elapsed time, about 2 hours total.

Achievements

The following achievements have been added celebrating milestones in the number of lines reset:

•   Junior Shipbuilder (10 resets),
•   Senior Shipbuilder (50 resets),
•   Shipbuilding Inspector (100 resets), and
•   Chief Shipbuilding Inspector (150 resets).

Notes

Original News Article
News Article with 0.9.9 updates
Forum Game Guide

1. ↑ The Research Bureau was introduced with Update 0.8.7. At first, five Tier Xs was the only way to qualify.
2. ↑ With Update 0.9.9, Tier V ships earn 200.
3. ↑ Recognized game modes are Random, Co-op, Scenario, Ranked. Wins in Clan Battles or in the Training Room are not counted.
4. ↑ Tier I ships have no unlock or purchase cost so are not sold, nor are upgrades and signals de-mounted or the commander sent to reserve.
5. ↑ So far, the seasons appear to end on the closest Friday to the 15th and the next start on the following Saturday.