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Hi All! - Hangglide42 here w/ a quick convenience update - Over the past year, I've published a number of forum articles in the "WOWS Enjoyment" series which were intended to assist newer players w/ various aspects of the game. These included items such as describing the currency model (to earn enough silver to play higher tiers), flagging in-game challenges so a player can have suitable ships in their port to reap the rewards - to strategic articles that outline what to do w/ various cap strategies and why - and tactical articles on shooting and maneuvering. Over time, these articles have spread down the forum article list so this is a compilation of links to all of these articles so new users can have a single summary link page to any of this info, if desired. Recently, I've also added helpful links to Youtube vids and other posters who have very good insight on various topics for newer players. I've also now added a Table of Contents since the number of links & articles have grown tremendously - browse this to see which article may be of interest, then the link section gives a quick summary of the article in greater detail. Table of Contents General Progressing Faster Currency Model Changing # of Replays to save (As of 7.0 - training rooms now auto-enabled & accessible from the In-Game UI. Since 8.X Replays are autoenabled & defaulted to 30) Happiness...the Hope of Rewards...and the Meaning of "Git Gud" WOWS - Great Mix of History as an Arcade Shooter Clans - Why Join One? Matchmaking (Everyone has an opinion but here's what the math says...) YouTubers List Instructional/Advanced Advanced Gameplay/Informational/Entertaining Ship Reviews Game Heads Up (What's upcoming - so you can prepare) Knowing WG's Patterns/Promos Prepares You to Participate! PSA - Opportunities for December 2017 Puerto Rico... 2020 - Dates/Events to be aware of (i.e. overview of what to expect, when) Game Optimizations - Achieving In-Game Goals Faster When Lines Split.... (having the right ships affected by a line split earns you free ships as compensation) Getting Ships/Captains to Maximize Rewards Ships to have in port to Participate in In-Game Goodies [ Posting from Edgecase ] Stacking Flags & Cammos to Maximize Free XP Collection (Principles apply to XP and Commanders XP as well) Accelerating Captains Training - Getting More 19 pt. Captains Quicker Evolving Your Captains Skills Getting more XP per Game Strategies for a Campaign (How to more efficiently earn game Rewards) Becoming a "Legend" Faster Game Tactics/Mechanics Skills to Learn as you start the game and move thru the Tiers Ships and Shooting Shooting at Angled Targets DD Guns - When to use HE & AP & Why Maneuvering Tactics (Using Cover, Masking Turns, Flanking, Kiting) Advantages of a Retreating Fight & Why Maneuvering your Cruiser for survivability Brawling 101 [ Link from iChaseGaming ] Captains Academy #41 - Definitive Guide to Dispersion [ Link from Notser ] Shells - Penetration Mechanics & Formulas [ Links from Flamu ] Advanced Tactics - Flamu's Tactical Analysis Series of Videos Critiquing Games from his Subscribers [ Stuntman9630 ] 0.8.0 CV Rework - Premium CV Summaries (as of last Public Test sequence) [ Links from Farazelleth ] Fara Carrier Guide Series/Ship Configs - (Must video section for Aspirational CV Players) Game Strategy Cap Strategies & Lemming Trains Lanchesters Law & its implication on WOWS Strategies Tech Tree Progression Assessments Which IJN Tech Tree DD Sub-Line? Go down one line or many simultaneously? Bugs Replay Bug - Replays don't play & are stuck in the login screen forever Just for Fun... April Fools!....(Subs)... General WOWS Enjoyment - Progressing Faster Currency Model New players will find (depending on their skill threshold and whether they hold a Premium account) that the higher tier gameplay becomes "silver earnings negative". This article explains the WOWS currency model and strategies of working around this so you can afford playing your Tier Xs. WOWS Enjoyment - Increasing the number of Replays to Save [ Update: As of Release 7.0, Training Rooms are autoenabled and accessible thru the in-game UI and the configuration procedure described in the article is no longer necessary. As of Release 8.X the XML Configuration file structure has changed and replays are defaulted to capture up to 30 replays - this article now reflects how to change the number of saved Replays to a larger number ] One of the most common requests for newer players - how to increase the number of Replays to save (so I can send my fantastic battle to my favorite YouTuber or post it for viewing) and how do I enable Training Rooms (so I can practice where to shoot what, or play practice Co-op games I construct or work w/ my Clan/Division). WOWS Enjoyment - Happinness...the Hope of Rewards...and the Meaning of "Git Gud" This is a self-assessment article meant to match up those unhappy w/ their results in WOWS w/ articles and vids which, hopefully can raise the bar on any parts of your game which you'd like to see improvement on to help you achieve your WOWS goals. WOWS Enjoyment - Great Mix of History as an Arcade Shooter General article describing the nature of how WOWS balances being a compelling arcade shooter w/ a respectful nod to actual history (and generating interest for it). WOWS Enjoyment - Clans - Why Join One? Outlines some of the benefits of the new Clan feature - the Naval Port. This is presented in a "Why I Joined My Clan PROJX" reasoning since there are a plethora of new clans which have been formed due to the 6.11 feature. It also touches on the Clan Application process which may intimidate some, but if you find the right match for a clan w/ your play priorities and needs, it can be easy and enjoyable. WOWS Enjoyment - Matchmaking (Everyone has an opinion, but here's what the math says...) Many players have a least an opinion on WG's Matchmaking (MM) algorithms. They range from "it's fine" to "this is some broken MM!". This article describes the math behind the current state and some of the reasons for the MM algorithms as they are today. It also explains some of the implications of trade-offs that would need to be made for some of the forum suggestions for "Improved MM" to be implemented. Some Youtubers/Twitch streamers who may be of interest to you: A number of these YouTubers also have Twitch streams and are occasionally supported by Patreon contributions. This is by no means a full list of popular YouTubers, but just a few that I've found most entertaining/useful if you're interested in WOWS. Instructional/Advanced Femennenly (NA), Farazelleth (EU) - Very good CV instructional & entertaining Flamu (most servers, but primarily EU) - Advanced Tactical/Instructional/entertaining iChase (NA) - KnowYourShip series, Game Mechanics Analysis Aerroon (EU) - CV gameplay, overall entertaining/instructional Stuntman 9630 (EU) - Comparative ship stats analysis, What the Ship? series, Ship Trial series Flambass (EU) - Entertaining videos but w/ advanced tactics particularly evident in his "SPESHUL" video series Advanced Gameplay/Informational/Entertaining Jingles (EU), NoZoupforYou (NA), Notser (NA), Yuro (SEA), Mejash (NA), Qckslvrslash (NA), HughJass (NA), PointyHairedJedi (EU) Ship Reviews LittleWhiteMouse (NA) - (Technically not a Youtuber, but a forum poster) - Hands down in a league of her own wrt comprehensive reviews of a specific ship in WOWS Stuntman 9630 (EU) - When a new ship is released, posts videos which compares its stats on a 1-to-1 basis w/ other ships in its Tier Game Heads Ups These postings give you a heads up in what may be coming down the pike so you can execute missions to gather XP, FreeXP, silver or doubloons/cash for purchase opportinities or chances at free ships, etc. WOWS Enjoyment - Knowing WG Patterns/Promos Prepares You to Participate! If you've ever kicked yourself because you didn't have the right ships in port, enough FreeXP, not enough ports, etc. to participate in WOWS Missions/Campaigns and nice promos when they arrive - this article outlines what to expect and look for in the near future and going forward into 2018 so the next time, you'll be enjoying your reward ship for completing that mission! (or having enough FreeXP to purchase it)! WOWS Enjoyment - PSA - Opportunities for December 2017 December 2017 offers opportunies to boost FreeXP collection (for the early 2018 FXP Ship release), certain desired promos and ship sales. WOWS Enjoyment - Puerto Rico The controversial Dec 2019 Mission to build this ship - explains the "trick" to get the Puerto Rico + Gorizia for the price of a T8 Premium, under a achievable mission structure...and still have a normal Holiday w/ your friends & family. 2020 - What to expect - WG's General Release/Promo patterns How do you not miss out on events/swag? Here is a general pattern of WGs release patterns and events throughout the year so you can get a heads of of what will likely be offered and the approximate timeframe based on past historical WG business patterns. If you want to have an idea of what will happen during what month and when you can restock your supply of flags/camos or get Premium ships or when lines drop - Game Optimizations - Achieving Goals Faster In-Game WOWS Enjoyment - When Lines Split... WG has a very Player-friendly policy when a Tech Tree Line splits. Players are generously compensated new ships depending on what ships they have in port at the time of the split. This article explains the mechanics of what happens as of the 1st 2 line splits that occurred and what is anticipated for the 2018 USN Cruiser Line split in specific detail. If you want to know what ships to have in your port to net some free ships w/o the grind, this post is for you. (This post will be kept current re: WG Policy as to what happens.) WOWS Enjoyment - Getting Ships/Captains to Maximize Rewards General overview of what Missions, Campaigns and other in-game challenges require so you can position yourself w/ the right mix of ships in your port to be able to participate in these and reap the rewards. Also outlines what WG typically does when lines are split so that you can position yourself for some (potentially) free ships in the tech tree when this happens. WOWS Enjoyment - Ships to Have in Port to Participate in In-Game Goodies Expands on the previous article going into specifics regarding Missions, Campaigns, Challenges and Scenarios and the type of task activities required. Knowing this allows you to have the right types of ships in your port to more efficiently achieve the task rewards while minimizing the number of games played. [ Posting from Edgecase ] Stacking Flags and Cammos to Maximize Free XP Collection Edgecase provides a fantastic explanation of how stacking of your flags and cammos work in WOWS. If you're trying to collect your remaining Free XP to purchase the Missouri before it's removed, this is the article for you. The posting describes both the mechanism and the moving pieces that allow you to earn the maximum Free XP per game. This mechanism/strategy can also be applied to the following situations (by just changing the flags and cammos to the other bonus types): If you want to speed up the XP grind for your next ship in the tech tree (substitute the XP flags and Cammos w/ XP bonuses) If you wan to speed up 19-pt Commander Training or Elite Commander XP farming (substitute the Commander XP flags and Cammos w/ Commander XP bonuses) WOWS Enjoyment - Accelerating Captains Training (Getting More 19 pt Capts Quicker) Getting a 19 pt. captain seems daunting - but if you set up your ships & play strategy efficiently, once you get one, you'll find you can get more much faster - here's how. WOWS Enjoyment - Evolving Your Captain's Skills As you gain more experience in the game, you'll find you may want to change your Captain's skills to maximize the advantage of your Ship/Commander pairing. This article goes over the opportunies WG gives you to respec your Commander's skills and a general overview of a "before and after" experience of what a typical skill progression may be for each ship type and why. WOWS Enjoyment - Getting More XP per Game If you've ever had trouble getting past the threshold for Campaign Tasks & Missions of the nature "Earn X Base XP in one Game" (the number is usually 1500/1600), this article explains the XP scoring sources. Understanding this can help boost the amount of XP you earn for these types of missions and turn them from a challenge to a piece-of-cake. There is also one source of XP that is generally not recognized that, if acted upon, can help address many forum complaints about static play and back-of-the map sniping BB tactics (and help you earn more XP as well)! WOWS Enjoyment - Strategies for a Campaign (How to More Efficiently Earn Game Rewards) Uses the "Hunt for Bismarck" Campaign as an example showing step-by-step the way to overlap tasks, choose the most efficient tasks and pick the right ships in your port to execute the tasks to minimize game time to reap the campaign rewards (since all of us have other priorities as well)! Also covers the general odds and strategies re: collectibles and chances for receiving them in game (for RNG container based collections) - the strategy for skill based collections as in the Anniversary Collection will follow the principles used to chose your campaign tasks if you want to find the minimal game strategy to get your collection finished. WOWS Enjoyment - Becoming a "Legend" Faster (how to minimize games needed to get your Legendary Upgrade Modules) Legendary Modules are highly specialized upgrade modules for 20 of your T10 vessels (Daring & Harugumo don't yet have them). The missions to obtain these modules are roughly equivalent to doing a Tier grind at T10 in your ship. Because the Mission Sequence can be very long and grindy (and expensive since you're doing them in your T10 ships), the following suggestions are meant to help you get thru them in the fewest games possible. Game Tactics WOWS Enjoyment - Skills to Learn as you Start the Game & Move thru the Tiers WOWS has a phased introduction of ship/game capabilities that you get exposed to as you play different ship types, from different nations, as you progress up thru the tiers. This is a short summary (as the response to a new player questions) of the type of skills that will help you become a better player as you encounter them as you move up thru the tiers. This is why it's not often recommended to hop into a T8 Premium, if you haven't yet been playing at T8 in the Tech Tree (i.e. the reason the Tirpitz got it's unflattering nickname). WOWS Enjoyment - Ships & Shooting Ever wonder how a weaker tier ship can take on a higher tier? A DD or CL/CA kill a BB? This tutorial covers Captains Skills & Ship Upgrades to specific shooting strategies. Also includes detailed sections on what to shoot in what circumstances and where to aim and why, to inflict increased damage on your enemy. WOWS Enjoyment - Shooting at Angled Targets When you have to shoot at angled targets, here are some quick tips to adjust your lead properly to increase your changes of hitting. WOWS Enjoyment - DD Guns - When to use HE & AP Describes the situations when using HE or AP for DD caliber guns is preferrable and why. WOWS Enjoyment - Maneuvering Many newer players run into problems once they initially engage an enemy and can't safely cover themselves as they need to turn away. This article covers various maneuvering strategies and cover strategies to mask turns. It also describes various strategies such as bow-tanking, kiting, flanking and other maneuver related strategies and counter strategies. WOWS Enjoyment - Advantages of a Retreating Fight (and Why) A common tactic for Fire Spamming Cruisers is to "kite" away from an opponent (often a BB or BB Group - while burning them down). Here's why you have an advantage in a retreating fight and why this tactic gives you an edge even in a 1 vs. 1 even matchup. (Note: this is not to advocate always using a retreating tactic. You should always prioritize the actual tactical situation to determine how you play your ship - but if you have to survive and inflict more pain than received on your chasers, here's why this tactic works). Maneuvering Your Cruiser for Survivability to Influence a Game Uses a game replay to illustrate techniques in kiting & shell dodging and using maneuverability to aid in turret traverse (what may look like chain fire in this video is actually maneuvering to align guns for a ship w/ slow turret rotation). Cruisers don't have BB armor, but w/ the right maneuver tactics of kiting, baiting shots & dodging - you can survive & even bring your team back from a 3-8 ship deficit [ Thanks to Notser for posting my game & providing commentary ]. WOWS Enjoyment - Brawling 101 Q: If you're a German BB (w/ secondary build) and are attacked by a DD, CA, BB on 3 sides of you, what do you do? A: Point your nose (slightly offset) at the BB, put your Secondaries on the DD & 1 or 2 salvo the CA 1st before addressing the BB & DD This article is answers how to do this and why you are doing this to successfully Brawl and the tactics to come out of this type of fight successfully. [ Link from iChaseGaming ] Captains Academy #41 - Definitive Guide to Dispersion iChase provides a detailed explaination of the differences between Horizontal and Vertical dispersion and Sigma and how this affects your aim and shell hit results. Understanding this clearly will help you get more hits on your intended targets on your target ship. [ Link from Notser ] Shells - Penetration Mechanics & Formulas Notser presents an easy to understand overview of the formulas WG uses to calculate penetration for AP & HE shell types. These are the simple rules that are needed to be applied when you determine which parts of an enemy ship you want to shoot to inflict maximum damage from your salvo. The damage types (citadels, penetration, over-pen and bounces) are also covered and the damage formulas to apply for each type. [ Links to Flamu YouTube Videos ] Advanced Tactics - Flamu Tactical Analysis Videos This section contains links to a YouTube Video Series recently started (Dec 2017) by the EU Unicum & CC Flamu that analyzes and comments on tactics improvements for games submitted by his subscribers. More advanced tactical and strategic concepts such as better/best ship positioning (for safety & firing angles), map awareness, efficient/timely consumable usage, optimizing/anticipating gun direction, firing into smoke, leveraging ship strength/weakness are revealed during actual gameplay to illustrate how to use/captain your ship better. Flamu - Replay Analysis #1 - Minotaur, Akizuki, Prinz Eugen, Scharnhorst Flamu - Replay Analysis #2 - Hipper, Des Moines, Kagero, Missouri Flamu - Replay Analysis #3 - Missouri, Charles Martel, Atago (includes Ranked Game) Flamu - Replay Analysis #4 - Chappayev, North Carolina, Lo Yang, Amagi, North Carolina (includes Ranked Games) Flamu - Replay Analysis #5 - Amagi, Atago, Akizuki, Amagi (Ranked Games) Flamu - Replay Analysis #6 - Yamato, Leningrad, Izumo Flamu - Replay Analysis #6A - Hindenburg, GroBer Kurfurst Flamu - Replay Analysis #7 - North Carolina, Hindenburg, Akatsuki, Grozovoi Flamu - Replay Analysis #8 - Hindenburg, Fletcher, Harekaze Flamu - Replay Analysis #9 - Maass, Pensacola, Monarch, La Galissonniere Flamu - Replay Analysis #10 - Clan Battles Flamu - Replay Analysis #11 - Grozovoi, Khabarovsk, Zao 0.8.0 CV Rework - Premium CV Summaries (as of last Public Test sequence) Stuntman9630 is a CC who recently posted a series of vids on the 4 Prems & what the changes are under the CV rework - Those who own these CVs and want a feel for the new play mechanics on your specific premium, attack group sizes, consummables, etc. may find this useful to get a quick heads up on what's in store for your Premiums. Be aware, it is still a week prior to the CV Rework Drop and there is one more test cycle in progress - so treat this as a Work in Progress subject to possible last minute change. [ Links to Farazelleth YouTube Videos ] Fara's CV Guides - CV Configuration and Play [ Release 0.8.0 will result in a complete rework of CV gameplay into a new 1st person meta - these article links should be considered legacied after the release 0.8.0 ] For those interested in CV Gameplay - this section contains links to very detailed instructional and informational videos from the EU Unicum CV Player Farazelleth's YouTube Series Fara Carrier Guide. This series explains tactics and strategies when playing CVs which will help you get the most out of your CV (including gameplay examples). Farazelleth has also posted a Configure Your CV series which covers each CV in the Tech Tree including: Ship Upgrade Recommended Progression Module Upgrades Captains Skills Overall ship playstyle and information Play examples in Random Battles The links below represent a sampler of basic CV information contained on his channel - if you find the information useful, please consider subscribing to his channel. Fara Carrier Guides Series What Makes a Good CV? Introduction Ep 1 - General CV Information Ep 2 - Commander Skills Overview Ep 3 pt1 - IJN Commander Setup Ep 3 pt2 - USN Commander Setup Ep 4 - Basic Tactics Ep 5 - Plane Control Ep 6 pt1 - Advanced Bombing Ep 6 pt2 - Neutralizing Enemy AA Ep 6 pt3 - Advanced Fighter Control Ep 6 pt4 - Advanced Scouting Ep 6 pt5 - Flight Deck Management Ep 6 pt6 - Carrier Sniping Ep 6 pt7 - Dealing w/ Air Superiority Ep 6 pt8 - Dealing w/ Being Bottom Tier Ep 6 pt9 - What to do when everything goes bad Ep 7 - Differences betwenn Random, Ranked & Competitive Gameplay IJN CVs Hosho (T4) - Starter CV Zuiho (T5) - Limited to Auto-drops and Click Engagements - May encounter enemy T6 CVs that have access to Strafe and Manual Drop mechanics Ryujo (T6) - 1st CV that permits Manual Drops and Strafes Hiryu (T7) Shokaku (T8) Taiho (T9) Hakuryu (T10) USN CVs Langley (T4) - Starter CV Bogue (T5) - Limited to Auto-drops and Click Engagements - May encouter enemy T6 CVs that have access to Strafe and Manual Drop mechanics Independence (T6) - 1st CV that permits Manual Drops and Strafes Ranger (T7) Lexington (T8) Essex (T9) Midway (T10) Premiums Kaga (T7) - Features strong Strike Groups Saipan (T7) - Features T9 Aircraft Enterprise (T8) - Features strong (numerically) Fighter Presence Game Strategy [ Stay tuned! - There is a new series of articles planned for this section that will be added to it throughout 2018! Due to recent updates that are in-progress w/ many of the maps (some significant modifications), this Map Strategies section will be delayed until the map changes have been rolled out ] WOWS Enjoyment - Cap Strategies & Lemming Trains Explains the primary cap strategies one finds in game, the overall strategic intent for each, expected goals/actions, your responsibilities to your team for each strategy and why. Also covers the concept of Lemming trains, their serious risks and responsibilities if you engage in this tactic (including fallback upon failure). WOWS Enjoyment - Lanchester's Laws & WOWS Strategies Expands on the previous article (tho a precursor) by introducing an actual series of Military Studies which resulted in Lanchester's (Square) Law which has solid implications in strategies you use in WOWS. The base concept is explained and how it factors into specific suggestions for tactics you can use in WOWS to be more successful and win more games. Map Strategies [ Currently Under Construction ] A Map-by-Map breakdown of specific strategies that are useful or will be encountered on specific maps and modes in WOWS. Will include a general overview of the strategic elements presented by the maps for various ship types including: General strategic overview of map - generally good vs bad strategic moves and why Illustrated tactics and strategies of specific map features Firing arc opportunities Radar Cruiser Hiding Places Maneuvering turn points General contest point & cover points DD tactics and counters on the map Tech Tree Progression Assessments IJN DD Main Line vs. Alternate Line (post-Split) If you're trying to make a decision on which IJN DD line to go up from the T5 split, this response offers a brief summary of each ship in the IJN DD lines from T5-T10 (T8 in Alternate line). Play points, strengths and weaknesses of each ship are noted to help you make your decision. Play One Line/Ship Type or Many? This article gives you the pros and cons of whether you may want to play only a single line of ships to T10 before going on to the next or multiple lines/ship types simultaneously. Since this question is one of how you allocate valuable free time for gaming - the summary gives you an idea of tradeoffs you make to participated in game events, missions, develop your skills faster, etc. Bugs Replay Bug - Attempts to run a replay result in being stuck in the login screen forever & the replay never plays WG hasn't yet caught up w/ this bug w/ a fix so here is a summary of what gets you into hitting this bug & a workaround if you do so you don't lose the ability to run your replays. Just for Fun... WOWS Enjoyment - April Fools! (Subs!) Meant as an April Fools thought exercise (for fun!) re: how potentially Submarines could be introduced into the game mechanic. Not all responders took it as such and there is a passionate and vehement response every time Subs are mentioned as an in-game vehicle!

I know that "Short range" AA also has an "accuracy" stat but I also know that Flamu is never wrong so I don't know what to think anymore... Somebody in the comments wrote this: ...what development blog?

Seriously take a second in between your howlings of treachery and pain to think of those who made videos, wrote extensive reviews and spent time on the Wiki. Almost all now is worthless. My favorite YouTube warrior Flamu now has to redo his entire collection of videos. The video is of essentially an old ship. The Captain perks, recommendations for consumables and even whether it is a good ship or a bad boat may have changed. A sizable slice of income is now doubtful. Update 8.0 may annoy you. But at least your business did not just tank! Also, FLAMU, Little White Mouse, Notser, Soup Nazi, I Chase Banking.... GET TO WORK....I got a limited time for free Captain respec and I don’t know what to do!!!! o

We all know that Naysayers say nay, ice cream melts and DD players cry (...okay, all WoWS classes cry) - but since the dawn of radar we have heard the sorrowful cries to repent b/c the end was near..., and here we are. Let's all give a big thumbs up and hearty backslapping to anyone willing to count how many times Flamu uses the word 'radar': Happy hunting season, I dreamt Ranked would be T9 some day!