It's been a looooong time...

[Das_Schlippo]

...since I played this game.  I don't think I've logged in since well before Thanksgiving (U.S. version).  I hit a level of burnout that caused me to flip out one night, uninstall the game and never look back.

 

Now here I am, looking back.  I've heard there have been a lot of changes, and that has kept me away even longer.  I don't have nearly as much time these days to read up on the forums (50-hour work weeks, oof), and the idea of learning to play all over again was not appealing.  Still, I kind of miss the game and the fun I had with several of my division buddies.  I reinstalled WoWS, but haven't quite mustered up the courage to launch it and dive back in.

 

What has changed in the last several months?  I know captain skills were overhauled, but I have no idea to what extent?  I know new lines have been added (some of which I tested).  Have there been any other major changes?  Should I remain cowering in the shadows, or just suck it up and play?

 

EDIT:  Hmm, Warships Today must have broken at some point.  I don't have nearly that many battles played, nor have I played a single game in the last 120 days.

[Wulfgarn]

Yeah, it's been a bit since I've seen you on here. WB!

 

That's a good bit of ground to cover. If you don't get any good answers, I'd go through all the update vids from Notser on Youtube.

 

EDIT: The latest VMF split might be causing you issue with the number of games. I really haven't looked at it, but I lost like 300+ battles with the IJN split.

[Das_Schlippo]

I'd go through all the update vids from Notser on Youtube.

Not a bad idea at all.

[Khafni]

Yes, welcome back! Those vids should bring you up to speed nicely. No matter the changes it is still WoWs. You will have a respec of all your captain skills but you missed out on the week or so that they made it 1 dub per point to respec and get settled in with them. Nothing is earth-shattering in any of the changes. So don't cower but get wet and enjoy some more...

[Sventex]

There are a ton of new destroyers out, though nothing really of note.  Oh and the Mutsu is a premium Nagato class at tier 6 armed with torpedoes and the Missouri is a Iowa with Radar, and the Graf Spee turned out to be "meh" at damage.  That's the gist of it since Thanksgiving.  Oh, and the commanders skills have been completely redone, you'll probably need to read up on it since all your captains have been reset.  The meta currently favors Battleships mildly.

[Aduial]

The captain skill rework was pretty significant. All of the old standard builds are now obsolete, and if you're a naturally indecisive person like me, you're going to have a very hard time choosing. 

[Triela50]

omg I thought you were dead

[Chien_Lu_Anderman]

Welcome back !   As they said the Commanders Skill reset is probably going to be the biggest change you will have to deal with .  However I think it is a very good change for the better ; one of the things you can do now is retrain a Capt. for 20K credits and then use Commanders Elite xp to finish the retraining (Elite xp is one of the new things ; sort of like crew acceleration in WoT) .  

Again welcome back !    

[LittleWhiteMouse]

The biggest change for you will have been the captain skill reset.  There's a lot of new skills -- some winners, some overhyped nonsense and some drivel.  Overall, this was a largely positive change for the following reasons:

 

• Ships able to acquire key skills much sooner.  Concealment Expert is available when a Captain reaches their 10th skill point which is a godsend for destroyers and some cruisers.
• Players have to choose a specialization rather than relying on a single "cookie cutter" build.  For example, Battleships often have to choose between 1.) Optimal AA power, 2.) Enhanced Durability. 3.) Secondary Armament specialization.  They can take skills from each but they won't be as strong as ship that focuses specifically on one thing.
• You'll max out a Captain much more quickly.  19 skill points is now reasonably obtainable (it's still a grind, though). 
• Once you reach 19 skill points, any further Captain Experience that commander gains will be dumped into a communal pool that can be spent on training up other captains for free!  Tell me that's not pretty cool.  This can be used to increase a lesser trained Captain's skill points or to reduce the retraining cost when you move a Captain from one ship to another.
• The biggest winner in terms of the new skills is Inertial Fuse for HE Shells at tier 4 for 150 to 155mm armed, tier 6+ cruisers.  This allows these cruisers to penetrate up to 32mm of armour instead of struggling to penetrate 25mm of armour.  This 32mm value is key because it matches the extremities of tier 8+ Battleships.  Simply put, though this skill hurts your chance to start fires, it allows these cruisers to do direct damage to a large number of enemy ships they face instead of having to constantly target their superstructures.
• My second favourite skill that was added was Priority Target at tier 1.  This lets you know how many ships are aiming their guns at you.  Very helpful.
• You can test out builds over at shipcomrade.com using their Captain Skill tool.  You can find it here.

 

In terms of new ship lines, there have been two since you left.  As you were leaving, the IJN Destroyers were getting their line reshuffled and split.  The changes haven't exactly been popular.  Their HE shell damage got nerfed as did their fire chance per shell, but their DPM and fires per minute generally increased with a buff to their rate of fire.  The real winners out of this line at the Shiratsuyu (tier 7) and Akizuki (tier 8) from the alternate line.  I've linked reviews of each for you to read.  The Soviet destroyers just got a similar treatment, reshuffling their line and splitting it in two.  They also got their HE shells buffed (for some reason), returning their damage back up to 1,900 from 1,600.  So yeah, they're healthier than ever.

 

In terms of new premiums, we've seen the following since Thanksgiving of 2016 in no particular order. Alabama and Black haven't been issued yet.  Reviews are provided:

• Okhotnik, Tier 5 Soviet Destroyer  A limousine of a destroyer -- ridiculously long and armed to the teeth with 7 guns and 12 torpedo tubes.  Very slow turning.
• Shinonome, Tier 6 Japanese Destroyer.  An almost-stock Fubuki-class Destroyer but with three, slow firing turrets instead of two.  Her torpedo armament has an 8.0km range.
• Black, Tier 9 American Destroyer.  A reward-version of the Fletcher-class Destroyer with Radar.
• Oleg, Tier 3 Soviet Cruiser.  A stock Bogatyr-class protected cruiser.
• Katori, Tier 3 Japanese Cruiser.  The original tier 1 Japanese cruiser with her historical armaments restored, bumping her up to tier 3.  Slow, fragile, under gunned, but armed with torpedoes, a float plane fighter and given access to the Aiming Systems Modification 0 module to compensate.
• Admiral Graf Spee, Tier 6 German Cruiser.  A Cruiser with Battleship caliber guns.
• Mutsu, Tier 6 Japanese Battleship.  A faster Nagato-class Battleship with less armour, less efficient AP shells and almost no AA power whatsoever.  She does get deck mounted torpedoes, though.
• Alabama, Tier 8 American Battleship.  A Fast-Battleship with good handling and speed, excellent firepower and anti-aircraft protection.  She suffers from a very large citadel placed high over the waterline.
• Missouri, Tier 9 American Battleship.  A modified Iowa-class Battleship with reinforced forward and rear citadel protection, a radar consumable and tremendous credit earning potential. 

 

In terms of events, you've missed some fireworks.  USS Alabama was announced and originally Wargaming was only going to give it to select Supertesters as a reward for their service.  The community had a meltdown about it.  WGNA stepped up to the plate for the community and made sure that our concerns reached St.Petersburg.  Alabama should be released "soon" to the general public.  There was a second meltdown about the new Captain Skill changes, particularly about one skill:  Radio Direction Finding (RDF) which provides a general direction indicator towards the closest, unspotted enemy ship.  Several people (including some famous personalities) predicted that this would break the game and doom destroyers to being non-entities.  Very few players actually take it and its impact has been almost non-existent.  So that was fun.  Season 6 of Ranked Battles is winding down, with the USS Black announced as the reward for anyone that can hit Rank One for five seasons.

 

The big news that's coming is the removal of stealth firing.  The exact mechanics haven't been finalized or disclosed (to my knowledge), but pretty much, if you shoot your main batteries in open water, you're going to get spotted.  Predictably, some people are saying this will be the end of destroyer game play, while those of us who actually remember being able to play destroyers quite well without Concealment Expert know this is just more hyperbole.

 

And there, I think that catches you up!  Any questions, feel free to ask!

 

 

[Aduial]

The big news that's coming is the removal of stealth firing.  The exact mechanics haven't been finalized or disclosed (to my knowledge), but pretty much, if you shoot your main batteries in open water, you're going to get spotted.  Predictably, some people are saying this will be the end of destroyer game play, while those of us who actually remember being able to play destroyers quite well without Concealment Expert know this is just more hyperbole.

 

IMO, the bigger change is the removal of manual attacks from T4-5 CVs. That will certainly be the end of T4-5 CVs in the eyes of most people, and the CV population in general. 

[Das_Schlippo]

The biggest change for you will have been the captain skill reset.  There's a lot of new skills -- some winners, some overhyped nonsense and some drivel.  Overall, this was a largely positive change for the following reasons:

 

• Ships able to acquire key skills much sooner.  Concealment Expert is available when a Captain reaches their 10th skill point which is a godsend for destroyers and some cruisers.
• Players have to choose a specialization rather than relying on a single "cookie cutter" build.  For example, Battleships often have to choose between 1.) Optimal AA power, 2.) Enhanced Durability. 3.) Secondary Armament specialization.  They can take skills from each but they won't be as strong as ship that focuses specifically on one thing.
• You'll max out a Captain much more quickly.  19 skill points is now reasonably obtainable (it's still a grind, though). 
• Once you reach 19 skill points, any further Captain Experience that commander gains will be dumped into a communal pool that can be spent on training up other captains for free!  Tell me that's not pretty cool.  This can be used to increase a lesser trained Captain's skill points or to reduce the retraining cost when you move a Captain from one ship to another.
• The biggest winner in terms of the new skills is Inertial Fuse for HE Shells at tier 4 for 150 to 155mm armed, tier 6+ cruisers.  This allows these cruisers to penetrate up to 32mm of armour instead of struggling to penetrate 25mm of armour.  This 32mm value is key because it matches the extremities of tier 8+ Battleships.  Simply put, though this skill hurts your chance to start fires, it allows these cruisers to do direct damage to a large number of enemy ships they face instead of having to constantly target their superstructures.
• My second favourite skill that was added was Priority Target at tier 1.  This lets you know how many ships are aiming their guns at you.  Very helpful.
• You can test out builds over at shipcomrade.com using their Captain Skill tool.  You can find it here.

 

In terms of new ship lines, there have been two since you left.  As you were leaving, the IJN Destroyers were getting their line reshuffled and split.  The changes haven't exactly been popular.  Their HE shell damage got nerfed as did their fire chance per shell, but their DPM and fires per minute generally increased with a buff to their rate of fire.  The real winners out of this line at the Shiratsuyu (tier 7) and Akizuki (tier 8) from the alternate line.  I've linked reviews of each for you to read.  The Soviet destroyers just got a similar treatment, reshuffling their line and splitting it in two.  They also got their HE shells buffed (for some reason), returning their damage back up to 1,900 from 1,600.  So yeah, they're healthier than ever.

 

In terms of new premiums, we've seen the following since Thanksgiving of 2016 in no particular order. Alabama and Black haven't been issued yet.  Reviews are provided:

• Okhotnik, Tier 5 Soviet Destroyer  A limousine of a destroyer -- ridiculously long and armed to the teeth with 7 guns and 12 torpedo tubes.  Very slow turning.
• Shinonome, Tier 6 Japanese Destroyer.  An almost-stock Fubuki-class Destroyer but with three, slow firing turrets instead of two.  Her torpedo armament has an 8.0km range.
• Black, Tier 9 American Destroyer.  A reward-version of the Fletcher-class Destroyer with Radar.
• Oleg, Tier 3 Soviet Cruiser.  A stock Bogatyr-class protected cruiser.
• Katori, Tier 3 Japanese Cruiser.  The original tier 1 Japanese cruiser with her historical armaments restored, bumping her up to tier 3.  Slow, fragile, under gunned, but armed with torpedoes, a float plane fighter and given access to the Aiming Systems Modification 0 module to compensate.
• Admiral Graf Spee, Tier 6 German Cruiser.  A Cruiser with Battleship caliber guns.
• Mutsu, Tier 6 Japanese Battleship.  A faster Nagato-class Battleship with less armour, less efficient AP shells and almost no AA power whatsoever.  She does get deck mounted torpedoes, though.
• Alabama, Tier 8 American Battleship.  A Fast-Battleship with good handling and speed, excellent firepower and anti-aircraft protection.  She suffers from a very large citadel placed high over the waterline.
• Missouri, Tier 9 American Battleship.  A modified Iowa-class Battleship with reinforced forward and rear citadel protection, a radar consumable and tremendous credit earning potential. 

 

In terms of events, you've missed some fireworks.  USS Alabama was announced and originally Wargaming was only going to give it to select Supertesters as a reward for their service.  The community had a meltdown about it.  WGNA stepped up to the plate for the community and made sure that our concerns reached St.Petersburg.  Alabama should be released "soon" to the general public.  There was a second meltdown about the new Captain Skill changes, particularly about one skill:  Radio Direction Finding (RDF) which provides a general direction indicator towards the closest, unspotted enemy ship.  Several people (including some famous personalities) predicted that this would break the game and doom destroyers to being non-entities.  Very few players actually take it and its impact has been almost non-existent.  So that was fun.  Season 6 of Ranked Battles is winding down, with the USS Black announced as the reward for anyone that can hit Rank One for five seasons.

 

The big news that's coming is the removal of stealth firing.  The exact mechanics haven't been finalized or disclosed (to my knowledge), but pretty much, if you shoot your main batteries in open water, you're going to get spotted.  Predictably, some people are saying this will be the end of destroyer game play, while those of us who actually remember being able to play destroyers quite well without Concealment Expert know this is just more hyperbole.

 

And there, I think that catches you up!  Any questions, feel free to ask!

 

 

 

Thank you sooooo much for that, LWM!

 

And no, I didn't die.  I was unemployed for 5 months and played the game waaaaay too much. 

[LittleWhiteMouse]

I totally forgot the German Destroyer line!  Derp!

[aethervox]

WB. Just suck it up & play, OP.

 & btw, I will division with you anytime you & I are on at the same time (just send an invite)

[aethervox]

The captain skill rework was pretty significant. All of the old standard builds are now obsolete, and if you're a naturally indecisive person like me, you're going to have a very hard time choosing.

 

LOL. (it's not that bad or hard to choose)

[aethervox]

Yes, welcome back! Those vids should bring you up to speed nicely. No matter the changes it is still WoWs. You will have a respec of all your captain skills but you missed out on the week or so that they made it 1 dub per point to respec and get settled in with them. Nothing is earth-shattering in any of the changes. So don't cower but get wet and enjoy some more...

 

As an Alpha player & Supertester who was away you might get Customer Service to allow you the 1Db Cpt skill resets. One can submit a ticket & see what they say.

[aethervox]

 

IMO, the bigger change is the removal of manual attacks from T4-5 CVs. That will certainly be the end of T4-5 CVs in the eyes of most people, and the CV population in general.

 

I need to learn this skill myself & this change, as you infer, Aduial, will be counter-productive.

I like CVs the way they are now (tho the US CVs are being somewhat discriminated against).

[aethervox]

I totally forgot the German Destroyer line!  Derp!

 

A small oversight. What you did for Das Schlippo is very commendable. Closing my eyes cause your moving Avatar hurts them & giving you a big HUG (& a +1).

[Sventex]

I totally forgot the German Destroyer line!  Derp!

 

Totally understandable. Despite so many new destroyers that came out, none of them really stand out as reinventing the wheel (like the German BBs did).  There was that RU Destroyer Leader that had OMG Stealth AA, but that was nerfed before release, so eh...

[Khafni]

 

I need to learn this skill myself & this change, as you infer, Aduial, will be counter-productive.

I like CVs the way they are now (tho the US CVs are being somewhat discriminated against).

 

Wouldn't you think this change to T4 and T5 CV's benefits the newbies who are trying to learn CV's? I don't drive CV's but I do see them at that tier. You can tell a seal clubber is present because of their effectiveness. I imagine those new CV captains get pretty demoralized having just started out in CV's, learning the limiting UI, and then get abused by "tricks" (manual drops) from the clubbers. There is a lot of salt thrown at the newbie captain if they can't match the performance of the clubber. Why continue on in CV's after a few rounds of that? I think the change provides a learning/proving ground for them. Not everyone is an ace CV player out of the gate...

[MrDeaf]

 

Wouldn't you think this change to T4 and T5 CV's benefits the newbies who are trying to learn CV's? I don't drive CV's but I do see them at that tier. You can tell a seal clubber is present because of their effectiveness. I imagine those new CV captains get pretty demoralized having just started out in CV's, learning the limiting UI, and then get abused by "tricks" (manual drops) from the clubbers. There is a lot of salt thrown at the newbie captain if they can't match the performance of the clubber. Why continue on in CV's after a few rounds of that? I think the change provides a learning/proving ground for them. Not everyone is an ace CV player out of the gate...

 

I still manage to cross drop BBs in T4 with Hosho, using auto

[Phoenix_jz]

 

I still manage to cross drop BBs in T4 with Hosho, using auto

 

That's because none of them pay any attention to anything that isn't another BB or a cruiser

[atPrick__]

If you do decide to pick up the game again I would suggest playing USN DDs, they are essentially the same and if anything have only grown stronger. They play the same and have the same capabilities as they did during Open Beta with some minor improvements but most importantly they haven't been nerfed, like...at all. 

Cruisers are in a good place imo right now and that would be another good line to play, really any of them. IJN is as good as ever, USN has finally been improved, RU are still fire monsters, RN Cruisers are the new kids on the block and are tricky but very rewarding (specifically in Divisions) and KM Cruiser are still relevant though imo the weakest line right now.

 

Stay away from CVs.

 

Only BB line worth grinding imo at the moment is the KM line, they can do pretty much anything in game and have completely replaced the USN line.

 

Anyways WB and I hope to see you playing ingame, which would mean I would have to actually play also...