Old player returns after hiatus

[spinax22]

I'm a bit of an old player returning after a hiatus for personal reasons, and I'm looking to get back into the game. I think i left at about the same time that the British Heavy Cruisers were being announced, approximately. Any advice on important news since then, or Any advice for a below-average skilled player in general, would be much appreciated. 

Thank you in advance! 

[Slammer58]

To start, subs are coming and the Captain Skills are being totally reworked. 

[spinax22]

2 minutes ago, Slammer58 said:

To start, subs are coming and the Captain Skills are being totally reworked. 

SUBS are coming?! My god, I HAVE been away for a long time it appears.   Also Captain skills being reworked? i hope they provide refunds.

[Otago_F111]

just jump in and sink as many as you can...and have fun doing it 

[Col_Nasty]

If I came back right now and saw all that's going on I would be like...............................

[Skpstr]

1 minute ago, spinax22 said:

SUBS are coming?! My god, I HAVE been away for a long time it appears.   Also Captain skills being reworked? i hope they provide refunds.

I believe respecs will be free for a month.

 

[spinax22]

7 minutes ago, Otago_F111 said:

just jump in and sink as many as you can...and have fun doing it 

I mean that works, but your teammates won't like you for it Imho 

[Slammer58]

Took me a bit trying to find a link to the Captain Skills changes, but here it is:

https://blog.worldofwarships.com/blog/70

Say hello to 21 point captains.

[spinax22]

2 minutes ago, Col_Nasty said:

If I came back right now and saw all that's going on I would be like...............................

What do you mean, exactly? you mean the christmas event stuff?

[spinax22]

1 minute ago, Slammer58 said:

Took me a bit trying to find a link to the Captain Skills changes, but here it is:

https://blog.worldofwarships.com/blog/70

I see, it's like each class of ships will have their own "unique" build, kinda like how WoT has revamped the equipment system to make unique builds more viable. Now you won't have "required" skills to get regardless of commander, like Priority target for example.

[MidnightPhoenix07]

First of all, if you haven't played any games since returning, make sure to get an invite code if you haven't already. As far as advice, I'd recommend looking through the old changelogs posted on the wiki for a better overview of the different new lines as well as some changed mechanics (including a rework of IFHE and plating over the summer). While you're waiting for the updates to install (if you haven't already updated the client), I'd recommend checking out iChase's How to get good at WoWS series (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoRQa0D7yVpc4bTSbXYZ8uHw-CSKvhvbp) and the various How it Works videos on the official WoWS YouTube channel.

 

Some new lines in the past year:

Italian cruisers - Decently fast and agile, with very slow torpedoes, SAP instead of HE, and full speed smokescreens. SAP is a kind of HE/AP hybrid shell, in that it can't set fires like AP and has a higher damage but can ricochet (although with much higher bounce angles), but has a set armor penetration like HE (which varies by caliber, and is higher than HE penetration of the same caliber). The full speed smoke is exactly what it sounds like.

UK heavy cruisers - Somewhat tanky with an improved heal, and strong HE at all tiers but especially once you get to the upper tiers.

Pan EU destroyers - Fast destroyers with fast torpedoes (that do less damage), a heal, quick reloading guns, and decent (for a destroyer) AA for their tier, but no smoke screen. The mid tiers are somewhat of a mixed bag, but the higher tiers are pretty strong.

Russian heavy cruiser split - Moskva and Kirov were removed from the tree and became premium ships, and were replaced with Kotovsky and Nevsky, and a heavy cruiser line splits off the t7. The main (light) cruiser line has a higher rate of fire but lower caliber guns (152 until t8 and then 180s on Donskoi and Nevsky), while the split line has larger caliber guns (180 at t8 and then 220 at t9 and 10) with slightly improved AP pen angles (but not as much as the US improved angles) and a dispersion curve similar to the RU BBs with good accuracy at close range and worse accuracy at long range.

German carriers - Like Graf Zepplin, they all have improved secondaries (although none are as improved and accurate as GZ). Instead of HE rockets, they have AP rockets, AP bombs (like the IJN line but with less consistent drops but slightly higher alpha), and fast torpedoes that do less damage. The torpedoes are their primary weapon against DDs, hence the higher speed and lower damage.

Italian battleships were recently announced, and like the cruisers they will have SAP instead of HE and a full speed smokescreen.

 

Subs were tested in a separate mode this summer, and will be tested again in a separate open test client early next year. Nothing has been announced regarding a release, but I'd expect them to be back on the live server sometime in 2021.

As already mentioned, the captain skill system is being completely reworked, with the max level being increased from 19 to 21 and separate trees for each of the ship types. Slammer58 posted the original dev blog article for them, but there was an updated one released a few weeks ago (https://blog.worldofwarships.com/blog/104). The rework will be going live in 10.0 (expected to release late January), and commander skills will be redistributed as best as possible automatically, with a period of free respecs if you want to change to other skills.

The Christmas events will be spread across two updates (9.12 releasing on the 23rd, and 10.0), with snowflakes (same rewards as last year, coal for t5-7, steel for 8 and 9, and santa crates for t10), a campaign for a t7 French BB Strausborg (t7 Dunkerque with reload booster), and another dockyard event for a t9 IJN BB (Hizen, an Izumo hull with four triple 410 turrets, two in front and two behind instead of the all forward layout of Izumo). The dockyards are no longer points per minute, but instead done as a token per level, and for the last two the directives were substantially less insane than for PR. However, you will need to buy at least four (in the case of Hizen) stages with doubloons at a cost of 1950 per stage, although there will likely be two packs you can buy at the beginning of the event at a discounted rate for a certain number of stages.

Five ships are being removed from sale in 10.1 (expected to release mid February) - Massachusetts, Georgia, Alaska, Thunderer, and Smaland - so if you don't have any of them and want to get them you need to start grinding now.

 

[Col_Nasty]

13 minutes ago, spinax22 said:

What do you mean, exactly? you mean the christmas event stuff?

Nah , I bought plenty of crates and I'm not unhappy.  So many great ships nerfed by IFHE changes... Skills re-work in the making.. no one really knows what it means but by all accounts its not exactly designed to make 19 point commander having people happy.  

In short , what I have seen just about everything I worked hard for 2 years to accomplish here has been reset si o never got to the finish line.

Nerfing premiums to me is the worst... If (IRL)I buy a 8 cyl  400hp car for a PREMIUM price , don't sneak into the garage and take back 2 cyls and 100 hp and tell me it's raining.

[spinax22]

13 minutes ago, MidnightPhoenix07 said:

~snip~

Thank you SO much for the extra-informative run-down over the last year, You've made a mediocre player very much happy!

 

7 minutes ago, Col_Nasty said:

Nah , I bought plenty of crates and I'm not unhappy.  So many great ships nerfed by IFHE changes... Skills re-work in the making.. no one really knows what it means but by all accounts its not exactly designed to make 19 point commander having people happy.  

In short , what I have seen just about everything I worked hard for 2 years to accomplish here has been reset si o never got to the finish line.

Nerfing premiums to me is the worst... If (IRL)I buy a 8 cyl  400hp car for a PREMIUM price , don't sneak into the garage and take back 2 cyls and 100 hp and tell me it's raining.

IFHE changes? Could you clarify?

[Slammer58]

9 minutes ago, spinax22 said:

Thank you SO much for the extra-informative run-down over the last year, You've made a mediocre player very much happy!

 

IFHE changes? Could you clarify?

Let's let LWM explain.  Of course, her info could change with the incoming Captain skill changes.

 

 

[MidnightPhoenix07]

11 minutes ago, spinax22 said:

IFHE changes? Could you clarify?

Here's the original dev blog (https://medium.com/@devblogwows/changes-to-ifhe-and-plating-3378e52ea772), the update patch notes (https://worldofwarships.com/en/news/public-test/bulletin-092/) and a few forum threads discussing the changes including one from LWM (https://forum.worldofwarships.com/topic/213298-ifheplating-changes-made-simple-t10/ and https://forum.worldofwarships.com/topic/213359-ifhe-all-night-long/).

Effectively, HE pen for 155mm and lower guns was changed around and varies by tier as well as caliber now so you can penetrate plating of the same tier and type without needing IFHE anymore (the only exception being DD caliber armed cruisers). However, IFHE now cuts your base fire chance in half. Above t8, 152mm guns pen 30mm (caliber divided by 5), while at t7 and lower it only pens 25 (caliber divided by 6), but pen is how less than or equal to rather than always less than. Because of the pen changes, platings on a lot of ships were reworked as well, so you still need IFHE to pen the plating of the next type/tier up (DDs need it to pen cruisers, CLs need it to pen same tier BBs), but CLs below t8 lost their ability to pen the 32mm of high tier BB plating.

 

[iDuckman]

1 hour ago, spinax22 said:

Any advice on important news since then

Free Consumables have been removed and previously costy consumables are now free.  Upgrades have had a number of changes.  Research Bureau has been established and expanded. The Soviet Navy now rules the waves. Many new ships and lines added.  The CV/AA rework?  How long were you gone? 

 

[Crucis]

4 minutes ago, iDuckman said:

Free Consumables have been removed and previously costy consumables are now free.  Upgrades have had a number of changes.  Research Bureau has been established and expanded. The Soviet Navy now rules the waves. Many new ships and lines added.  The CV/AA rework?  How long were you gone? 

 

Indeed, the mighty Soviet Navy that ruled the waves and won WW2.  

 

Oh, wait.....

 

Never mind.  

[spinax22]

11 minutes ago, iDuckman said:

Free Consumables have been removed and previously costy consumables are now free.  Upgrades have had a number of changes.  Research Bureau has been established and expanded. The Soviet Navy now rules the waves. Many new ships and lines added.  The CV/AA rework?  How long were you gone? 

 

that consumable change is HUMONGOUS, thank you so much for telling me. I know that soviet BBs are meme-tier, and can just demolish anything they look at. I know about the CV rework, but am not sure about AA.

I said in my original post, i left at about the time European DDs were in testing, and British heavy cruisers were just released.

31 minutes ago, MidnightPhoenix07 said:

~snip~ 

So in short, HE spam CLs and to a lesser extent DDs got nerfed, because their HE spam doesn't pen as consistently and sets fires half as much. Oh well, can't say I'm surprised tbh.

[LunchCutter]

Wow... 18 replies and no one complaining about CV's WrEcKiNg tHe GaMe...

[iDuckman]

6 minutes ago, spinax22 said:

am not sure about AA.

https://wiki.wargaming.net/en/Ship:Anti-Aircraft_Fire

[spinax22]

1 minute ago, LunchCutter said:

Wow... 18 replies and no one complaining about CV's WrEcKiNg tHe GaMe...

Could you clarify? are you being funny, or serious?

[spinax22]

2 minutes ago, iDuckman said:

https://wiki.wargaming.net/en/Ship:Anti-Aircraft_Fire

Oh, the priority sector stuff. Yeah i know all about that.

[iDuckman]

Just now, spinax22 said:

Could you clarify? are you being funny, or serious?

There is a very vocal faction that viscerally hates CVs.  He's probably being serious.

[spinax22]

5 minutes ago, iDuckman said:

There is a very vocal faction that viscerally hates CVs.  He's probably being serious.

I mean, they can be a pest sometimes, sure, but very rarely do i get supremely enraged at them like i can at say, artillery in WoT.

[Captain_Rawhide]

My advice would be to just think  of this as a practically new game.  Allot has changed.  I won't even go into whether it's bad or good.  I just know the game I played two years ago is not the same one I'm playing now.  Don't spend any money, until you are sure you have a good handle on the new game.  Welcome back.