Public Test of Update 0.10.4: Round 1 + Developer Bulletin for Update 0.10.4

Captains, welcome to the Public Test of Update 0.10.4!

The Battle of the Beasts event, new German Destroyers collection, and other new features await you. Take a look at the Developer Bulletin, and welcome to the Test!


[h2]Round 1 Schedule[/h2] Starts: Thu. 22 Apr. 18:30 CEST (UTC+2) Ends: Tue. 27 Apr. 07:30 CEST (UTC+2)

[h2]Special Features of the Test[/h2]

The rewards for activities on the Public Test Server may differ from those on the Live Server.

[h2]Combat Missions and Rewards[/h2]

One Wargaming container provides 1 day of Premium Account.

[h2]Starting Bonuses[/h2]

• The research prices for ships and ship modules will be substantially discounted.
  
• Players will be able to reset Commander skills free of charge.

If you're joining the Public Test for the first time since Update 0.10.2, you'll be awarded the following additional bonuses:

• At the start of the Public Test, every participant will have all researchable Tier VI and VIII ships, helmed by Commanders with 19 skill points, credited to their PT accounts.
  
• 500,000,000 Credits; 30,000 Doubloons; and 90 days of Premium Account.
  
• 50 signal flags of all types (except special signals) will also be added to your PT account.

[h2]How to Enter[/h2]
https://steamcommunity.com/games/552990/announcements/detail/2716184589232191867

IMPORTANT! Because the update is still being tested, the information in this Bulletin is tentative and reflects the state of game development at the time of its publication. Some changes and new features may be removed entirely or implemented differently by the time the update goes live. Screenshots, specific values of certain characteristics, and details of in-game mechanics will not necessarily be relevant after the update is released.

Please note: the rewards for activities on the Public Test server may differ from those on the Live Server.

[h2]

Battle of the Beasts[/h2]
Our new update brings a new temporary event called "Battle of the Beasts, " which is inspired by Germanic mythology.

• The event lasts 4 weeks. Once a week, you can stand up for one of four teams:
  
  • Welthund: a huge black dog with a sole big eye on its forehead.
    
  • Feuerputz: a demon that can take various guises but most often appears as a flaming horseman.
    
  • Glühschwanz: a night ghost in the guise of a dragon.
    
  • Lindwurm: a wingless creature with a dragon's head and a serpentine body.
• Complete personal missions that are issued daily to everyone who participates in the event.
  
• The missions can be completed throughout the day in Random, Co-op, and Ranked Battles.
  
• The mission results count towards your personal and team's progress.
  
• Achieve certain personal and team milestones in order to obtain rewards as you progress through the event.
  
• Rewards include themed patches, flags, Commanders, and Beast Tokens—a new temporary resource.

[expand] [/expand]

You can exchange the Tokens in the Armory for various rewards, including containers with items from the "German Destroyers" collection.

[h2]

"German Destroyers" Collection[/h2]
Another feature of the event dedicated to the release of German destroyers in Early Access is a brand-new collection that tells the story of those warships, highlighting their outstanding features and armaments—and the men of courage who served on them.

The collection consists of four sections, with four elements in each.

[expand] [/expand]
The reward for completing each of the sections is 1 day of Premium Account.

The rewards for completing the entire collection include the Iron Cross permanent camouflage for VIII Gustav Julius Maerker and a commemorative flag.

Elements of the collection can only be obtained from German Destroyers containers.

[h2]

Auction[/h2]
As part of Update 0.10.4, we’re adding a new method by which you can obtain in-game items. We call it the "Auction"—a place where you can find rare goodies. The Auction will feature rare collectibles, and offers another way of replenishing supplies of resources and other in-game valuables.

[h3]Key Rules[/h3]

• Each Auction has a limited duration.
  
• It comprises the following stages:
  
  1. A lot that is offered in an Auction is announced with details of its starting price and the number of possible bid winners.
     
  2. The Auction begins, and bids can be placed.
     
  3. The results of the Auction are summed up; bids are no longer accepted.
     
  4. The Auction winners receive their rewards, while the other Auction participants receive their bids back.
• You can change your bid amount at any time, as long as bidding for that lot is still available.
  
• Players will only be notified of the starting bid for a lot and the number of possible winners.
  
• Depending on the lot, you can use various in-game resources for your bid.
  
• The number of lots is limited; the highest bids win; the winning bids will be used as payments for the lots.
  
• It's a no-risk adventure! Any bid that doesn't win will be returned to the bidder when the Auction closes.

For example, if there is a lot for 500 commemorative flags, the 500 players with the highest bids will receive one flag each.
[h2]

Changes to Commander Skills[/h2]
In Update 0.10.4, we've enhanced the following skills:

• Survivability Expert (cruiser skill)
  
• Extra-Heavy AP Shells and Fearless Brawler (destroyer skills)
  
• Enhanced Reactions (aircraft carrier skill)
  
• Super-Heavy AP Shells (battleship skill)

The parameters of these skills were inferior to other "same-price" skills in terms of combat efficiency, which affected their popularity.

For battleships, the Dead Eye skill is replaced with the Swift in Silence skill, giving battleships a 10% increase in speed while the ship remains undetected. This way, we add more options for battleships in terms of positioning, allowing them to engage in combat or change position in a skirmish faster. When Update 0.10.4 goes live, all Commanders with the Dead Eye skill mastered will have their battleship skills reset free of charge. Skills related to the other ship types will not be reset.

[h2]The Next Steps[/h2]
Further changes to Commander skills should be expected in autumn at the earliest, because it takes time for such enhancements to be designed and tested. We’re going to focus on balancing a number of skills as well. The least popular skills will either be improved or removed from the game entirely.

Once Update 0.10.4 and the changes it brings hit the servers, we'll continue monitoring the balance of specific ships that are most affected by the Commander skill changes, based on incoming statistics and your feedback. We'll make selective fixes if needed. When making these changes, we’ll make it possible for all players to reset Commander skills free of charge during the second stage of tweaks in autumn.

[h2]

Updated Achievements Interface[/h2]
We've updated the interface to make navigating through the Achievements section and tracking progress in the game more convenient:

• Updated the appearance of the Achievements screen.
  
• Added categories and updated the sorting of achievements.
  
• Updated pop-up tooltips in the Port and for the post-battle statistics.

We have disabled the rewards that were previously issued for earning achievements. On the Live Server, they will be replaced by special chains of combat missions for Base XP in victorious battles. You can complete the missions in Operations; Brawls; and Ranked, Random, and Co-op Battles. This means that you can replenish your stocks of signal flags in the majority of battle types. The mission conditions take into account the varying difficulty of their completion depending on which type of battle you choose. For example, you can be a frequent winner in Co-op Battles, but receive less XP per battle, or you can quickly obtain the rewards by earning more XP per battle in a smaller number of victorious Random or Ranked Battles. The available rewards include More Signals containers and Gift containers.

The updates to this section will allow us to add more achievements to the game in the future.