Public Test of Update 0.11.6: Round 1+Developer Bulletin for Update 0.11.6

Captains!

Earn Community Tokens and exchange them for containers, permanent and expendable camouflages, and other valuable items. All information on how to join the Public Test is available on a dedicated page of the official website.
https://steamcommunity.com/games/552990/announcements/detail/2716184589232191867
Update 0.11.6 brings British battleships to Early Access; separates the visuals of ship exteriors from economic bonuses; enhances the models of the American Tier II–VI destroyers; and adds other new features! Take a look at the Developer Bulletin and welcome to the Test! See you on the Public Test Server!


[h2]Round 1 Schedule[/h2] Starts: Thu. 23 Jun. 18:30 CEST (UTC+2) Ends: Tue. 28 Jun. 07:30 CEST (UTC+2)

[h2]Combat Missions and Rewards[/h2]
Earn Community Tokens by progressing through combat missions on the Public Test Server. You can then exchange these Tokens for various rewards in the Armory, including rare permanent camouflages, containers, and other in-game items.

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

Each Wargaming container drops 1 day of Warships Premium Account, 3x Papa Papa signals, and 3x Juliet Charlie signals.

[h2]Starting Bonuses[/h2]

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

If you're joining the Public Test for the first time since Update 0.11.5, 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; 250,000 Coal, and 90 days of Warships Premium Account.
  
• Sets with expendable economic bonuses.

If you fought at least one battle on the Public Test Server during the 0.11.5 Public Test, your account will be copied from the Live Server to the Public Test Server.

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.

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[h2]

British Battleships[/h2]
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Update 0.11.6 launches a whole new branch of Tier III to X British battleships into Early Access. Equipped with powerful torpedoes and main guns that don’t have a particularly long reach, the new sea giants will show their worth at medium- to knife-duel distances. The Repair Party consumable they have on board regenerates a decent chunk of any lost HP.

The battleships carry HE shells with standard penetration capabilities, their accuracy is fairly average, and the AP shells they fire have a typically British fuse time. Their main batteries are solid enough, with calibers reaching up to 457 mm at Tier X. Ships of Tiers V and above can take advantage of Engine Boost. Starting from Tier VI, these battleships will be a bitter bite for aircraft as they get Defensive AA Fire; starting from Tier IX, Repair Party is swapped for Specialized Repair Teams.

The new British battleships won't be available on the Public Test server.

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[h2]

Industry Titans[/h2]
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One of the key new features of the update is a temporary event called Industry Titans. The Chatham, Elswick, and Clydebank shipyards will compete for the right to be called the best shipbuilder serving the needs of the Royal Navy.

Make your choice and lend your support to one of the shipyards! Keep in mind that each shipyard will be offering its own unique reward—a British Commander with 6 skill points and a researchable British Tier V ship ( V Hawkins, V Emerald, or V Acasta).

The Titans of Industry event is similar to previous events that we’ve held, including the New Year's Eve, Aircraft Bureaus Rivalry, Battle of the Beasts, and Clash of Courage events.

Dive into the event on the Live Server to earn British Tokens that you can be exchange for Early Access ships, permanent camouflages, and other items.

The Port of London has been updated to celebrate the event.

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[h2]

Separation of Exterior Visuals and Economic Bonuses[/h2]
Update 0.11.6 kicks off a major overhaul of the economic component of the game by separating the visual element from economic bonuses.



While working on the update, we aimed to achieve several goals:

• Offer an option to select economic bonuses and visual elements (camouflages) separately.
  
• Simplify management of economic bonuses.
  
• Make sure the transition from the old system to the new one is as comfortable as possible.
  
• Maintain the current state of the in-game economy in terms of costs and earnings.

We’ve improved the interface, bonus management, Inventory display, and much more! The key principle behind this effort is that you as players do not lose in your overall earnings. In certain scenarios, you actually gain even more than before.

Below is a brief list of the key changes. For a deeper look into the separation process, please refer to our Development Blog.

[h3][h3]List of Changes[/h3][/h3]

• Economic bonuses will now act as individual in-game entities that are separate from camouflages and signals. Camouflage patterns will change a ship's exterior only and will be applied separately from these bonuses.
  
• Bonuses to XP will have no effect on Free XP and Commander XP. To compensate for this, we have changed all permanent and expendable economic bonuses.
  
• Basic Free XP earnings are now twice as large.
  
• Economic bonuses from permanent camouflages are purchased separately, and their effect will be applied towards a ship's economy on a permanent basis. Expendable bonuses can also be added on top of permanent ones.
  
• Only one economic bonus can be applied towards each of the resources (Credits, combat XP, Free XP, and Commander XP) at the same time. This limitation serves to simplify the way the system works. The values of these bonuses are designed in a way that they can cover even the most profitable combinations from the current system.
  
• Instead of reducing the post-battle service cost, permanent camouflages will provide a bonus to Credits so that your average earnings either remain unchanged or grow.
  
• The service cost for Tier IX and X researchable ships has been reduced from 120,000 to 115,000 and from 180,000 to 150,000 Credits, respectively.
  
• To account for the changes to bonuses applied towards service costs, the current service cost in Co-op Battles will be additionally reduced by 13.3% while Credits earnings will grow by 12.5%.
  
• We want camouflages to affect ship exteriors only, so we’re removing all the combat bonuses they used to offer. The bonus that provided a 3% reduction in the detectability range by sea is now included in all ships' tech specs by default. We also removed the bonus that increased the dispersion of incoming enemy shells by 4%.
  
• At present, the number of signals and camouflages displayed in the Exterior tab does not include those currently mounted on your ships. When this change goes live, you will always know the exact number of reserves you have in stock—the total number of signals and camouflage patterns you have on your account will be displayed.

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This change, along with the addition of the new in-game entity, entails a revision of all rewards in the game. In combat missions, campaigns, Operations, and collections—economic and special signals will be replaced with bonuses. Camouflages will also be supplemented with bonuses.

The contents of all containers that drop signals or camouflages will also change.

Apart from that, the following two account access levels are going to be added to support the upcoming changes:

• Level 5, unlocking combat bonuses for a ship
  
• Level 7, unlocking economic bonuses for a ship

It means that we’re increasing the total number of access levels to 17. At the same time, the total number of battles that need to be played to unlock the access levels will not change. All of your current progress toward unlocking access levels will be retained, meaning that you won't lose any progress and will still get any due rewards.
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[h2]

AI Updates[/h2]
In Update 0.11.6, we've substantially upgraded the AI behind our bot ships in Training and Co-op Battles.

• We’ve enhanced the AI responsible for bots moving, firing, and using consumables in Training Battles.
  
• In Co-op Battles, AI-controlled aircraft carriers will now move to the nearest Key Area if only a few surviving allies are left in battle.
  
• Bots will now be less likely to ram one another or strike islands in Co-op Battles.

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[h2]

Updates to U.S. Destroyer Models[/h2]
In Update 0.11.6, we’re continuing to update the American destroyers. This time, new models are being added for VII Sims, VII Sims B, II Sampson, III Wickes, IV Clemson, V Nicholas, and VI Farragut.

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[h2]

Interface Changes[/h2]
With Update 0.11.6, we’re changing the user interface for opening containers on the barge. You will now be able to view all available containers, grouped by type. You can open containers of the selected type all at once. For a number of containers, information will be available about the probability of getting the various in-game items those containers can drop.

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We're going to enhance the Spectator Mode interface that launches when your ship is sunk. It will be more informative and user friendly. We'll update the hotkey block and add new hints for camera controls and the battle exit confirmation window.

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We'll continue working on the interface of the Minimap and Tactical Map. An option will be added to use quick commands by clicking on icons in the Minimap and Tactical Map. The Settings menu of the Tactical map will also be updated.
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