0.4.1 News from EU!

[orci]

http://worldofwarships.eu/en/news/common/game-update-041-pt-announcement/

 

http://worldofwarships.asia/en/news/announcements/announcement-public-test-041/ Also has more info not listed below!

 

Ranked Battles: Get more serious!

In Update 0.4.1, those players who wish to find the right match, both among allies and rivals with no extra effort, will find what they are looking for in Ranked Battles.

Ranked Battles is a season-long event available to all players not enlisted in divisions, with Tier VI-VII ships and Level 9 accounts. All you need to do is pick a ship, select “Ranked Battles”, and join the Battle! Ranked Battles are slightly different from their standard counterparts: each team can have no more than 7 players, and the maximum number of aircraft carriers and battleships is limited to one and two respectively.

In addition to XP and Credits, all Ranked Battles participants will earn stars for every victory. When a player gets a certain number of stars, they move to the next rank, which demonstrates their ongoing achievements. All ranks are divided into three groups. The first group is intended for beginners taking the first steps on their way to naval glory. It has milder conditions for reaching higher ranks.

As opposed to the two senior groups where each defeat results in losing a star and, perhaps eventually, a whole rank, the first group doesn't threaten the player's progress. The second and third groups involve higher competition among players, reaching its climax in the top ranks. Speaking of competition...

Players get into battles only within their group of ranks. In fact, players are grouped based on victories. When players achieve certain ranks, they are awarded in-game resources. In future, the development team is planning to introduce some unique awards for earned stars.

It goes without saying that the first season of Ranked Battles, which is scheduled for a couple of weeks after the update release, will be a test run. We will scrutinise the gathered statistics and feedback from participants, follow their progress and plan further development of Ranked Battles.

New maps: Jungle calling!

As if the summer this year wasn’t hot enough (at least in most parts of the European continent), in update 0.4.1. we are taking you and your fleet to even warmer climes in two new great maps that are being introduced into the game.

• The Strait map was inspired by the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern Theatres: here you can enter the battle near the Italian coast where the British Fleet defended Malta and carrier planes led the first ever swarm attack against heavy ships.
• The second map, Solomon Islands, is a representation of part of the archipelago of the same name, which saw one of the major military campaigns of World War II—the Battle of Guadalcanal.

While exploring the new maps, you might have noticed that the landscape in World of Warships has become more vivid – now there are trees on islands! Forests and jungles will grow on all maps with a suitable climate and in the vicinity of the Port if you set Graphics Quality to at least Medium settings.

Aviation: No more single-click commands

While bombers and torpedo bombers are more effective with skilful manual control, fighters are mainly used by players on a “launch and forget” basis. Update 0.4.1 fundamentally changes this approach. Now you can order your fighters to use barrage fire by specifying an exact zone on a map, just the way you do for bombers and torpedo bombers. By using this technique your fighters will spend most of their ammunition but, if used properly, this will significantly thin out the enemy formation and help you get the upper hand.

Matchmaker: On the way to equality

The matchmaker is responsible for assembling teams for battle, so it is little wonder that any shortcomings of the matchmaker receive negative feedback from players who might find themselves in a disadvantageous position from time to time. Now that we have received enough statistical data to resolve some issues with the matchmaking, you will be able to see the first results of our work in this update.

For example, aircraft carriers are now distributed in the teams strictly symmetrically, both by quantity and by Tiers, which will significantly even the balance.

Ship balance changes and other improvements

Balance corrections are undoubtedly one of the most important and sensitive subjects of any major update. They always provoke a hailstorm of both positive and negative emotions from players, depending on changes made to their favourite vessels. Be that as it may, these corrections are vital for polishing the gameplay. The development team can't afford to simply "leave it alone" just to please a small fraction of their audience. Below you will find a list highlighting the most important upcoming changes - stay tuned for detailed notes in the future!

• The precision of Battleship’s primary guns have been considerably increased at a range of up to three kilometres.
• The Premium pre-order vessels Sims and Yubari have been improved. The former gets a new set of torpedoes (slower, but with a longer engagement range) and the latter receives a “Defensive armament” consumable boosting its anti-aircraft capabilities.
• Many Japanese and American ships have been rebalanced - more information coming soon!

The developers have also improved different parts of the game, such as game client performance (it requires less disk space now), sound, music, the interface, and some controversial gameplay techniques – the drift enthusiasts using the map’s edge to their advantage will now be targeted properly.

Stay tuned for a more detailed and structured list of all the major (and minor, less visible) changes in the upcoming release (patch) notes.

 

 

Rank Battles: Healthy Competition

It is common knowledge that team effort is very important in World of Warships. Effective cooperation between allies affects the outcome of a battle no less than the individual accomplishments of each player. It is great when the matchmaker puts us together with strong allies: we can move through the battle like a steel wave smashing enemy ships. On the other hand, it can be very disappointing to win a few medals, cause some serious damage, and still face defeat. To play with seasoned players, you can always create a division or even apply to a tough clan. But not every player is ready to make such a commitment to experience a great game. In Update 0.4.1, those players who wish to find their match, both among allies and rivals, with no extra effort will find what they are looking for in Rank Battles.

Rank Battles is a season-long event available to all players not enlisted in divisions with Tier VI-VII ships and Level 9 accounts. All you need to do is pick a ship, select Rank Battles, and click Battle! Rank Battles are slightly different from usual battles: each team can have no more than 7 players, and the maximum number of aircraft carriers and battleships is limited to one and two respectively.

 

In addition to XP and Credits, all Rank Battles participants will earn stars. A star is awarded to each player on the winning team. When a player gets a certain number of stars, they move to the next rank which demonstrates their ongoing achievements. All ranks are divided into three groups. The first group is intended for beginners taking the first steps on their way to naval glory. It has milder conditions for reaching higher ranks. As opposed to the two senior groups where each defeat results in losing a star and, consequently, another rank, the first group doesn't threaten the player's progress. The second and third groups show higher competition among players, reaching its climax in the top ranks. Speaking of competition... Players get into battles only within their group of ranks. In fact, players are grouped based on victories. When players achieve certain ranks, they are awarded in-game resources. In future, the development team is planning to introduce some unique awards.

 

New Maps: Jungle Calling

In Update 0.4.1, the reach of naval battles will expand significantly, allowing players to lay their hands on two new maps.

The Strait map was inspired by the Mediterranean and Middle East Theater: here you can enter the battle near the Italian coast where the British Fleet defended Malta and carrier aviation led the first ever swarm attack against heavy ships.

 

The second map, Solomon Islands, is a representation of part of the archipelago of the same name which saw one of the major military campaigns of the World War II—the Battle of Guadalcanal.

 

While exploring the new maps, you might have noticed that the landscape in World of Warships has become more vivid—now there are trees on islands. This is another change that will notably improve the look of the game. Forests and jungles will grow on all maps with a suitable climate and in the vicinity of the Port if you set Graphics Quality to at least Medium.

 

Improved graphics on familiar maps is not the only thing that will make players happy. New Dawn and Fault Line were modified significantly.On Hotspot, the diagonal team arrangement and the Domination mode with five bases were removed.

 

Aviation: No More Single-Click Commands

Many would agree that the aircraft carrier is the most original and rare ship type in World of Warships. Their gameplay is reminiscent of a real time strategy rather than of a tactical shooter. However, not all their squadrons are fun to control. While bombers and torpedo bombers are more effective with skillful manual control, fighters are mainly used by players on a “launch and forget” basis. Update 0.4.1 fundamentally changes this approach. Now a player can order their fighters to use barrage fire by specifying an exact zone on a map just the way they do it for bombers and torpedo bombers. 

 

The moment fighters approach the “attack window”, they will make a strike spending the major part of their ammunition and causing damage to all aircraft coming their way. When properly used, this technique will help players thin the enemy formation, even with only a few fighters. Also, the risk of being caught under barrage fire will make players control their squadrons more carefully and use them separately.

In addition, we have tried to resolve another dogfight issue, that is a great disparity in the effectiveness of fighters in adjacent tiers. Fighters have long found themselves in an unfavorable situation when facing enemy counterparts of higher tiers. Sometimes, it would seem that enemy “hawks” reign supreme in the air by destroying their rivals from inferior tiers and getting away with it. For Update 0.4.1 we have collected the necessary data and rebalanced parameters of all fighters. Now the damage they can cause increases more evenly depending on their level. Researching your aircraft is still important, but fighting off enemies from the next tier has gotten easier.

 

Rear gunners on many bombers and torpedo bombers have also been affected: the damage they cause has been recalculated upward.

However, fighter lovers might be saddened by the balancing of Japanese aircraft carriers of medium tiers. According to research, they demonstrate abnormally high battle performance even when used by less experienced players. This is why we increased the aircraft servicing time for squadrons and reconsidered the structure of air groups: now each air group has at least one fighter squadron.

 

Matchmaker: on the Way to Balance

The matchmaker is a component of the game that is responsible for assembling teams before a battle. No wonder that any shortcomings of the matchmaker get very negative feedback from players, who, from time to time, find themselves in a disadvantageous position and have to make great efforts to survive in battle. With the launch of the Open Beta Test, we could finally receive mass statistical data and continue working on identified problems. You'll be able to see the first results of our work in this update. Now, the aircraft carriers will be distributed by teams strictly symmetrically, both by quantity and by tiers. Thus, it will become impossible for one of the teams to have the only aircraft carrier in the battle or a more powerful air group. We also introduced an algorithm that will forcibly put a player on an optimally comfortable tier of battles (equal to the tier of their ship), if they played several battles in a row with higher tiers. This decision will undoubtedly increase the general comfort of gaming and powerleveling for all. By the way, you can read more about battle tiers in this article.

 

Finally, we improved the distribution mechanics of destroyers and cruisers in teams for a better balance. This change may not be global, but is still very welcome.

 

Balance Corrections: Back in Commission

Balance corrections are undoubtedly one of the most important and sensitive subjects of any major update. They always provoke a hailstorm of both positive and negative emotions from players, depending on changes made to their favorite combat machines. Be it as it may, these corrections are very important to polish the gameplay. We can't afford to "leave it alone" just to please part of the audience. However, other than worsening parameters of some Japanese aircraft carriers that we discussed earlier, Update 0.4.1 mostly brings good news.

According to the plan that was described in a separate article, we considerably increased the primary armament's precision at a range of up to three kilometers. Battleships that are most affected by this change, now have a reason for joy. They are not turning into sniper rifles of course; however, your guns will have a greater precision during exchanges at point blank range. Further tests and research will show the impact of this change on the gameplay.

Premium warships Yubari and Sims,game veterans, which many of our captains purchased together with the pre-order package, will receive some nice improvements.Destroyer Sims, which was looking a bit weak compared to her counterparts, can now boast two versions of torpedoes. She becomes the first Premium ship to have a variable module. New torpedoes will allow the old girl not to risk too much by engaging in close quarters combat. They have an enhanced range at the expense of speed and inflicted damage. Cruiser Yubari known, among others, for her good AA armament, can now prepare even warmer welcomes for enemy squadrons thanks to the Defensive Fire consumable. While we are on the subject of consumables, the action time of Hydroacoustic Search was increased for all cruisers, because many players considered it a controversial benefit.

 

Of course, not only Premium ships were improved in this update. Cruiser Omaha will get an increase in firing range when equipped with the most advanced hull to match her to the other ship of the series—Murmansk. Cruiser Furutaka, which taught many Japanese Navy enthusiasts coolness and peace of mind, now shifts the helm faster, and turns to the enemy more rapid-firing and agile primary armament turrets together with updated torpedoes. By the way, the same torpedoes are installed on the top configuration of destroyer Mutsuki, which provides a good opportunity to save on research. The Japanese Navy enthusiasts will most certainly appreciate another improvement: the rotation speed of primary armament turrets of Wakatake, Minekaze, and Mutsuki was increased. The latter also received a bonus to the reload time of torpedo tubes.

The changes of U.S. destroyers deserve a more detailed description. In general, we registered some decline in popularity and battle performance for these warships, which were always famous for excellent primary armament guns and their ability to both act as part of the team and hunt light enemy ships on their own. Low-tier destroyers Samspon and Wickes will get increased fire rate and gun rotation speeds. Their colleagues starting from Tier V will have two variants of top hulls. The alternative variant will have additional AA armament at the expense of the main battery. At the same time, the Engine Boost consumable will be replaced by Defensive Fire. Undoubtedly, these improvements will allow the Americans to fully use their versatile primary armament guns against enemy aviation. However, captains who want to concentrate their efforts on hunting down enemy destroyers can select main top hulls equipped with Engine Boost and standard artillery armament that are now necessary in order to get to the following level. Apart from that, the action time of Smoke Screens of all U.S. destroyers was increased.

Still, we had to do some fine-tuning. Minekaze, a too effective, elusive, and dangerous Japanese destroyer, will lose her top torpedoes and three kilometers of range with them.The traversing angles of her torpedo tubes were reduced a little, while the detection distance was increased by almost one kilometer. It's cool to be a ninja, but it's time to draw a line. Mutsuki's concealment was modified in the same way. Our research showed that the Japanese national bonus to the chance of causing fire with high-explosive shells needed to be balanced, that's why it was reduced depending on gun caliber. Cruiser Mogami, the terror of Tier VIII, will have to be more careful now, as the reserve durability of her primary armament turrets was decreased, while the previous Japanese cruiser Myoko will have a lower rate of fire. As for the U.S. Fleet, the test results showed that the rate of fire and the primary armament turrets’ rotation speed of battleship Wyoming needed to be reduced a little.

 

Other Changes

Gameplay

After long reflections and several tests we are ready to introduce a solution to the map edge problem. Here is a reminder for those of you who didn't encounter this issue: in the current version of the game, a ship that is set against a map's edge starts to slide along it at an unconventional angle, which makes targeting it difficult. Many players use this peculiarity to their advantage, but Update 0.4.1 will render this kind of behavior useless. From now on, any ship contacting a map edge will be correctly processed by the targeting system. You can set the usual target lead and fire at will. We believe this feature will stop drift enthusiasts in World of Warships as it no longer provides any advantage.

 

Game Client Performance

The optimization was for architecture and the data storage mode this time. We reworked the game client and now it requires about 50% less disk space, thanks to archiving a multitude of small files.

 

Interface

We made the first steps towards updating performance and integral characteristics of ships in the Port. We added several important performance characteristics, such as parameters for aviation torpedoes. The best thing is that the interface will now display changes to characteristics depending on installed upgrades and consumables on the base level. For now, there will be no preview, nor separation between base values and modifiers. Last, but not least, we updated the player statistics summary in the profile and made it much more informative.

 

Sound

The sound changes are aimed at improving the game experience, as usual. We updated the sound in general, changed the sound of flying shells fired both by you and by the enemy. We added sounds for jet planes and recorded several new music tracks.

This concludes our preview of Update 0.4.1. Dear testers, let's discuss it right here in this topic. My colleagues and I will be happy to speak to you and answer your questions.

Thanks for being with us!

 

[JRonnie]

The notice on the Asia website goes in to a bit more detail:

 

http://worldofwarships.asia/en/news/announcements/announcement-public-test-041/

[PelicanHazard]

Hey everyone:

 On Hotspot, the diagonal team arrangement and the Domination mode with five bases were removed.

 

 

[orci]

The notice on the Asia website goes in to a bit more detail:

 

http://worldofwarships.asia/en/news/announcements/announcement-public-test-041/

 

You're right! There's a few more tidbits there. Thanks for the link!

[orci]

One of my favorite pieces of info is as follows:

 

Rear gunners on many bombers and torpedo bombers have also been affected: the damage they cause has been recalculated upward.

However, fighter lovers might be saddened by the balancing of Japanese aircraft carriers of medium tiers. According to research, they demonstrate abnormally high battle performance even when used by less experienced players. This is why we increased the aircraft servicing time for squadrons and reconsidered the structure of air groups: now each air group has at least one fighter squadron.

 

 

Sounds like we'll be seeing 1 less TB or DB squadron in the air at minimum for IJ Carriers!

[Argh_My_Liver]

Between the yubari and furutaka buffs I Am pretty happy as far as ship changes are concerned for this patch! The MM balances are also quite welcome 

 

[StoneGullet]

It looks like a step in the right direction. May by the Wyoming again to check its changes. I am also happy about mm being altered and ranked matches. Though I am excited about BBs getting an accuracy buff I thought it was gonna be at 5km and not 3km. But ill take what I can get.

[teamoldmill]

Omaha range increase.... oh good lord.... that ship is a terror as it is

 

BB accuracy at less than 3 km increased. Talk about a token useless buff.

 

Good MM changes.

 

Interesting US DD changes.

[Dah_Bears268]

Posted this in the other 0.4.1 thread

Interesting news on the ship balance front:

 

Of course, not only Premium ships were improved in this update. Cruiser Omaha will get an increase in firing range when equipped with the most advanced hull to match her to the other ship of the series—Murmansk. Cruiser Furutaka, which taught many Japanese Navy enthusiasts coolness and peace of mind, now shifts the helm faster, and turns to the enemy more rapid-firing and agile primary armament turrets together with updated torpedoes. By the way, the same torpedoes are installed on the top configuration of destroyer Mutsuki, which provides a good opportunity to save on research. The Japanese Navy enthusiasts will most certainly appreciate another improvement: the rotation speed of primary armament turrets of Wakatake, Minekaze, and Mutsuki was increased. The latter also received a bonus to the reload time of torpedo tubes.

The changes of U.S. destroyers deserve a more detailed description. In general, we registered some decline in popularity and battle performance for these warships, which were always famous for excellent primary armament guns and their ability to both act as part of the team and hunt light enemy ships on their own. Low-tier destroyers Samspon and Wickes will get increased fire rate and gun rotation speeds. Their colleagues starting from Tier V will have two variants of top hulls. The alternative variant will have additional AA armament at the expense of the main battery. At the same time, the Engine Boost consumable will be replaced by Defensive Fire. Undoubtedly, these improvements will allow the Americans to fully use their versatile primary armament guns against enemy aviation. However, captains who want to concentrate their efforts on hunting down enemy destroyers can select main top hulls equipped with Engine Boost and standard artillery armament that are now necessary in order to get to the following level. Apart from that, the action time of Smoke Screens of all U.S. destroyers was increased.

Still, we had to do some fine-tuning. Minekaze, a too effective, elusive, and dangerous Japanese destroyer, will lose her top torpedoes and three kilometers of range with them.The traversing angles of her torpedo tubes were reduced a little, while the detection distance was increased by almost one kilometer. It's cool to be a ninja, but it's time to draw a line. Mutsuki's concealment was modified in the same way. Our research showed that the Japanese national bonus to the chance of causing fire with high-explosive shells needed to be balanced, that's why it was reduced depending on gun caliber. Cruiser Mogami, the terror of Tier VIII, will have to be more careful now, as the reserve durability of her primary armament turrets was decreased, while the previous Japanese cruiser Myoko will have a lower rate of fire. As for the U.S. Fleet, the test results showed that the rate of fire and the primary armament turrets’ rotation speed of battleship Wyoming needed to be reduced a little.

 

So IJN Cruisers:

Furukata gets better ship and turret turn rate + Better(ranged) torps that are shared with Mutsuki

Myoko gets a ROF nerf( no turret rotation buff to compensate, glad I finished grinding that ship already)

Mogami gets weaker turrets that could get destroyed more easily(down to Cleveland level I assume).

Disappointed there is no Ibuki buff and didn't address Myoko(T7) have 30% better AA than Mogami(T8).

Fire Chance was nerfed across the board( I assume 203 shells now will now have the same chance as USN 203 =16%->14%, Mogami's 11% on 155 probably drops to 9-10%).

 

USN Cruisers

So their solution to the Murmansk > Omaha issue was to just buff Omaha range to Murmansk level, predictable

 

IJN DDs

Wakatake,Minekaze and Mutuski's 120mm gun gets better rotation rates, Mutuski got a reload boost.

 

USN DDs

Sampson and Wickes gets better ROF and rotation speed, T 5+ USN  cruiser destroyer could mount additional AA and Defensive Fire consumable(carrier beware!!!). All ships gets longer lasting smoke.

 

Minekaze loses her top(10km) torpedo and will have to use its stock 7km fast torpedo instead(+13 knots faster) along with increased detection range(+1km), Mutuski got the same detection increase.

 

[SilverforceX]

One of my favorite pieces of info is as follows:

Sounds like we'll be seeing 1 less TB or DB squadron in the air at minimum for IJ Carriers!

 

No more 0 Fighter setup, so instead of Zuiho getting 0/3/1, it will probably get 1/2/1, which will make it slightly more effective against cruiser launched Fighter and other CV.

 

Ryujo with 0/3/2 should be 1/2/2 or the likes. 

 

I've no problems with that.

 

The biggest change will be CV equal tier, equal number on both team. That will make CV play much more enjoyable already.

 

Minekaze just got neutered. 7km torps only with 6.9km detection range! O_o

 

Isokaze will be better with its 7km torps and 6.1km detection range.. and faster turret rotation. Basically instead of peaking at Minekaze, the IJN DD line peaks at Isokaze. meh. 

 

DDs dont need any nerfs, they are already the lowest damage dealing classes based on stats. Buff other DDs, don't nerf one of the few good DDs.

[Dah_Bears268]

 

No more 0 Fighter setup, so instead of Zuiho getting 0/3/1, it will probably get 1/2/1, which will make it slightly more effective against cruiser launched Fighter and other CV.

 

Ryujo with 0/3/2 should be 1/2/2 or the likes. 

 

I've no problems with that.

 

The biggest change will be CV equal tier, equal number on both team. That will make CV play much more enjoyable already.

 

There are 4 ships affected by this possibly:

Zuiho 0/3/1-> 1/2/1

Ryujo 0/3/2-> 1/2/2

Hiryu 0/3/3-> 1/2/3?

Shokaku 0/3/3-> 1/3/2?

 

Top tier Taiho and Hakuryu were alreadyed nerfed in 0.4.0 to be forced to carry fighters in their strike config, so I forsee the rest of the line  following suit.

[Hillslam]

Potentially NICE update

 

Although the BB accuracy buff only to 3km is kind of hilarious/worthless and clearly a fake appeasement

[ScoutinArbiter]

- No more uneven tiering for CV against CV.

- No more 2v1 or 2v0 CV.

- CV bum rushes against other CVs significantly weakened.

- Fighters get their own 'manual drop' that decimates other planes.

- Ridiculous tier differences between fighters eliminated.

 

My God....its Perfect...

[Hillslam]

Omaha range increase.... oh good lord.... that ship is a terror as it is

 

 

Long time coming - considering premium Murmansk same guns more range was undefendable

[SilverforceX]

 

There are 4 ships affected by this possibly:

Zuiho 0/3/1-> 1/2/1

Ryujo 0/3/2-> 1/2/2

Hiryu 0/3/3-> 1/2/3?

Shokaku 0/3/3-> 1/3/2?

 

Top tier Taiho and Hakuryu were alreadyed nerfed in 0.4.0 to be forced to carry fighters in their strike config, so I forsee the rest of the line  following suit.

 

It's not really a nerf. 

I actually prefer that setup because of the frequency of running into ship launched Fighters, they ruin drops so the effectiveness of 3 squadrons are less. With a Fighter squad, at least we can kill those solo Fighter before a drop.

 

But its funny the USN CV have strike setups without Fighters, from the Bogue to Ranger. O_o

[Dah_Bears268]

 

Long time coming - considering premium Murmansk same guns more range was undefendable

 

The more prudent approach would be drop Murmansk range to Omaha level, if the company don't have a Russian Bias'

Even with the Furukata buffs, Omaha now outranges it significantly(+2km, further with Captain skill) and have better DPM, Furukata's citadel is still easily and frequently penned by Omaha's 6" gun. The situation for Furukata captains didn't really get much better.

[SilverforceX]

- No more uneven tiering for CV against CV.

- No more 2v1 or 2v0 CV.

- CV bum rushes against other CVs significantly weakened.

- Fighters get their own 'manual drop' that decimates other planes.

- Ridiculous tier differences between fighters eliminated.

 

My God....its Perfect...

 

Yup, I was about to give up CV play due to crap MM and tier differential mechanics. 

 

Might be enjoyable again to play. But having too much fun in Fuso..  also want to get the New Mexico.. 

[Quaffer]

Here's an early version of Solomon Islands:

 

[JSFWRX85]

im really liking the idea of the U.S. Destroyer choices for the top hull

[LifePilgrim]

 

Balance Corrections: Back in Commission

Balance corrections are undoubtedly one of the most important and sensitive subjects of any major update. They always provoke a hailstorm of both positive and negative emotions from players, depending on changes made to their favorite combat machines. Be it as it may, these corrections are very important to polish the gameplay. We can't afford to "leave it alone" just to please part of the audience. However, other than worsening parameters of some Japanese aircraft carriers that we discussed earlier, Update 0.4.1 mostly brings good news.

According to the plan that was described in a separate article, we considerably increased the primary armament's precision at a range of up to three kilometers. Battleships that are most affected by this change, now have a reason for joy. They are not turning into sniper rifles of course; however, your guns will have a greater precision during exchanges at point blank range. Further tests and research will show the impact of this change on the gameplay.

Premium warships Yubari and Sims,game veterans, which many of our captains purchased together with the pre-order package, will receive some nice improvements.Destroyer Sims, which was looking a bit weak compared to her counterparts, can now boast two versions of torpedoes. She becomes the first Premium ship to have a variable module. New torpedoes will allow the old girl not to risk too much by engaging in close quarters combat. They have an enhanced range at the expense of speed and inflicted damage. Cruiser Yubari known, among others, for her good AA armament, can now prepare even warmer welcomes for enemy squadrons thanks to the Defensive Fire consumable. While we are on the subject of consumables, the action time of Hydroacoustic Search was increased for all cruisers, because many players considered it a controversial benefit.

Of course, not only Premium ships were improved in this update. Cruiser Omaha will get an increase in firing range when equipped with the most advanced hull to match her to the other ship of the series—Murmansk. Cruiser Furutaka, which taught many Japanese Navy enthusiasts coolness and peace of mind, now shifts the helm faster, and turns to the enemy more rapid-firing and agile primary armament turrets together with updated torpedoes. By the way, the same torpedoes are installed on the top configuration of destroyer Mutsuki, which provides a good opportunity to save on research. The Japanese Navy enthusiasts will most certainly appreciate another improvement: the rotation speed of primary armament turrets of Wakatake, Minekaze, and Mutsuki was increased. The latter also received a bonus to the reload time of torpedo tubes.

The changes of U.S. destroyers deserve a more detailed description. In general, we registered some decline in popularity and battle performance for these warships, which were always famous for excellent primary armament guns and their ability to both act as part of the team and hunt light enemy ships on their own. Low-tier destroyers Samspon and Wickes will get increased fire rate and gun rotation speeds. Their colleagues starting from Tier V will have two variants of top hulls. The alternative variant will have additional AA armament at the expense of the main battery. At the same time, the Engine Boost consumable will be replaced by Defensive Fire. Undoubtedly, these improvements will allow the Americans to fully use their versatile primary armament guns against enemy aviation. However, captains who want to concentrate their efforts on hunting down enemy destroyers can select main top hulls equipped with Engine Boost and standard artillery armament that are now necessary in order to get to the following level. Apart from that, the action time of Smoke Screens of all U.S. destroyers was increased.

Still, we had to do some fine-tuning. Minekaze, a too effective, elusive, and dangerous Japanese destroyer, will lose her top torpedoes and three kilometers of range with them.The traversing angles of her torpedo tubes were reduced a little, while the detection distance was increased by almost one kilometer. It's cool to be a ninja, but it's time to draw a line. Mutsuki's concealment was modified in the same way. Our research showed that the Japanese national bonus to the chance of causing fire with high-explosive shells needed to be balanced, that's why it was reduced depending on gun caliber. Cruiser Mogami, the terror of Tier VIII, will have to be more careful now, as the reserve durability of her primary armament turrets was decreased, while the previous Japanese cruiser Myoko will have a lower rate of fire. As for the U.S. Fleet, the test results showed that the rate of fire and the primary armament turrets’ rotation speed of battleship Wyoming needed to be reduced a little.

 

 

 

 

Minekaze is going to lose her torpedo upgrade 

[teamoldmill]

 

Yup, I was about to give up CV play due to crap MM and tier differential mechanics. 

 

Might be enjoyable again to play. But having too much fun in Fuso..  also want to get the New Mexico.. 

 

NM best BB in game in my opinion. And with proper MM balance, might be a real hoot, especially in your hands.

[Hillslam]

 

 

But its funny the USN CV have strike setups without Fighters, from the Bogue to Ranger. O_o

If you consider Dive Bombers a "strike" setup. I consider it more a worthless "make harmless splashes in the water" setup lol.  USN CVs will still struggle to generate meaningful XP compared to IJN by a long shot.  I read somewhere by one of the devs the tier grind was like 30% slower in USN CVs than IJN. doesn't look like this addresses that. MAybe an upcoming plane shootdown xp buff will help them.

 

As it is I can't see anyone not in a BB getting all that excited by AA buffs: it doesn't net you any meaningful XP or credits. And if you're in a CA or DD CVs aren't a major threat. so to me... meh.  I guess for CV v CV its a big deal.

 

-----

As for the Minekazi nerfs.  Its about frakking time. that ship has been far too ninja for far too long. The dev notes said it best imo. Good riddance.

[PelicanHazard]

Quick summary for those who like bullet points:

 

Modes and Maps

• new mode: Ranked Battles
• two new maps, The Strait and Solomon Islands
• trees on islands (Graphics Quality set to Medium minimum)
• New Dawn and Fault Line updated "significantly"
• Hotspot 5 cap Domination and diagonal team spawns removed

 

Carriers

• Fighters get manual aim "barrage mode", expending most of their ammo in exchange for greatly increased damage against other planes
• Fighter damage rebalanced to give lower tier fighters a better chance in dogfights
• Rear gunners of torp and dive bombers give more damage
• Mid-tier Japanese carriers replace one bomber group with a fighter group and see increased servicing time

 

Matchmaking

• Carrier matchmaking is now totally symmetrical. Both teams will have the same number and tier of carriers
• Matchmaker algorithm added to force a comfortable matchup if you are placed in higher tier games several matches in a row
• Matchmaker distribution of cruisers and destroyers tweaked

 

Ship Tweaks

• Battleship accuracy under 3km range improved considerably
• Sims premium destroyer gets a choice of a longer range, but slower and less damaging torpedo.
• Yuubari premium gets Defensive Fire consumable
• Hydroacoustic Search for cruisers active for longer
• Omaha C hull increases gun range to match Murmansk
• Furutaka gets reduced rudder shift time, faster rate of fire, and faster turret traverse
• Turret traverse speed increased for Wakatake, Minekaze, and Mutsuki
• Mutsuki's torpedo reload time improved
• Sampson and Wickes get increased turret traverse speed and rate of fire
• Tier 5 and up US DDs get an alternate hull that trades worse primary armament for better AA, also trading Engine Boost for Defensive Fire. The new hulls are not required to progress to the next tier.
• All US destroyers get a buff to the action time of their smokescreens
• Minekaze and Mutsuki lose their upgraded torps, have the torpedo turret traverse angles narrowed a little, and have an increase to detection range of 300m
• Japanese national bonus to HE fire chance reduced depending on gun caliber
• Mogami has decreased durability of primary armament
• Myoko has lower rate of fire
• Wyoming has reduced rate of fire and turret traverse speed

 

Other Gameplay

• Map edge no longer confounds targeting system; lead as normal.

 

Client

• Game client requires 50% less disk space

 

User Interface

• Characteristics for aviation torpedoes added to Port UI
• Changes to characteristics due to upgrades and consumables now shown on UI
• Player statistics page updated

 

Sound

• General sound updates
• Changes to sounds of flying shells
• Added jet plane sounds
• Added new music tracks

[orci]

Even as a carrier player, the USA DDs getting better AA and Defensive Fire options is pretty crazy, and exciting. It will be interesting to see what the new gameplay will be like for carriers with this more even matchmaking.

[Dr_Venture]

The Myoko/Mogami got nurfed...but the Ibuki didn't get a buff.

 

No adjustment on repairs/income either...

 

Well so far I approve of the CV balances, the DD changes, and the nurf of the Minekaze ninja...but the beloved IJN cruisers got little if any love....

 

May go down the US DD line...sounds fun to run and gun!