World of Warships News

Captains!

Today, we’re having a small celebration. We want to share our festive mood with you, because it was you who made it happen! In March 2018, we launched our global YouTube channel, which united the Captains of three regions—North America, Europe, and Asia.

We're happy to announce that the channel's audience has reached 500,000 subscribers! Thank you for taking an interest in our videos and sticking with us, and thank you for your "likes" and comments—we're happy to deliver the best content for you!

To celebrate this occasion, we've prepared a special video with a gift inside. Hurry to watch it!
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Captains, welcome to the Public Test of Update 0.9.10!

The "U.S. Battleships: Part 2" event, a new collection, and Key Battles. Take a look through the Developer Bulletin, and welcome to the test.


[h2]Round 1 Schedule[/h2] Starts: Thu. 08 Oct. 18:30 CEST (UTC+2) Ends: Tue. 13 Oct. 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. The new U.S. battleships are not available to research on the Public Test server.

The first ship for Key Battles will immediately be available in the Port with her stock modules. New modules and ships can be obtained by completing combat missions. A description of the combat missions is available in the game client.

[h2]Combat Missions and Rewards[/h2]

One Wargaming container provides 1 day of Warships Premium Account.

[h2]Starting Bonuses[/h2]

• Every participant of the Public Test will have all researchable Tier VIII ships, helmed by Commanders with 15 skill points, credited to their PT accounts.
  
• 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 0.9.9, you'll be awarded the following additional bonuses:

• 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.

[h2]U.S. Battleships: Part 2[/h2]

Please note: the rewards for activities on the Public Test server may differ from those on the live server. The new U.S. battleships will not be available to research on the Public Test server.

The event in Update 0.9.10 comprises combat missions, Daily Shipments, and a new collection dedicated to the U.S. Navy. It will inform you about the main batteries of battleships, admirals, medals for service in World Wars, and the main uniform types of enlisted men of the U.S. Navy during World War II.
For the purpose of standardization, the Directives have been renamed into combat mission groups.
"Always Courageous!" containers can be obtained by completing combat mission groups in the "U.S. Battleships 2" section and opening Daily Shipments. Each container holds one element of the new collection, as well as other rewards.
The "Always Courageous!" collection consists of four sections, with four elements in each.



The rewards for completing each section are five expendable Stars'n'Stripes camouflages and such patches as Wings, Stars, and Stars'n'Stripes.

Completing the entire collection will bring you V Oklahoma in the Military camouflage and a Commander with 6 skill points.

V Oklahoma won't be available on the Public Test server.

Elements of the collection can only be obtained from event-related containers.

We've also updated the Naval Base Port.

When Update 0.9.11 goes live, VIII Kansas, IX Minnesota, and X Vermont will leave Early Access and become available for all players to research.

[h2]Big Hunt: The Key to Victory![/h2]
A new temporary battle type—Key Battles—has been added to celebrate Halloween. A new themed Port emphasizes the event's atmosphere. Demonstrate your skills in an exhibition competition of the future by assuming command over a ship representing one of three corporations!


The new battle type pits 16 players against each other and AI-controlled monsters on a gigantic Polygon map. The main objective is to exit the Polygon through a portal located at the center of the map. In order to do so, you need to destroy one of the special monsters and obtain a key. The monsters will initially be quite weak, but they will become more dangerous as you get closer to the portal.



Instead of the usual rectangular Minimap, the new battle type features a round one with the player's ship at its center. It shows everything within the spotting range of your ship.

You start out alone, but you can gather a team of up to three ships directly in battle. Only one player can use the key, which is why you'll face a choice—go all the way with your allies, or turn your guns against them and escape as a lone wolf via the portal. To invite a player to your team, aim at them and press F.



The number of keys is limited. After the last key has been used, the remaining ships will be transported to a special area—the Octagon. The final battle takes place in a gradually shrinking combat zone. The last surviving ship will also leave the Polygon successfully.

For destroying monsters and other players, you'll get a temporary resource—Battle Points. Having accumulated a certain number of Battle Points, you can reinforce your ship directly in battle. For example, you can reduce incoming damage or increase the damage dealt by your guns. Once you earn a certain number of Points, a window will appear. This will allow you to select one of the two improvements. Use Ctrl+1 and Ctrl+2 to select. You don't need to spend any Points to make your selection.



Any Points you earn can be exchanged for various rewards in the Armory. Successfully escaping the Polygon will bring you additional Battle Points. Please note: exiting through the portal will get you more Points than winning in the Octagon.

The rewards for activities on the Public Test server may differ from those on the live server.

A total of three ships are available for this battle type in Update 0.9.10. Each of them offers a wide variety of modules that can have a significant impact on gameplay. For example, you could replace standard torpedoes with a type that temporarily disables all the main armaments of an enemy, but deal less damage. The choice of weapons is not limited to simple guns—lasers, plasma torpedoes, wavecasters, and mortars are all at your disposal. For example, wavecasters can destroy torpedoes in the water, while plasma ammunition heats up the target's armor and temporarily increases the damage dealt by subsequent hits of plasma shells and torpedoes to the same area. New modules are unlocked by completing special combat missions.

The first ship will be available immediately, while the second and the third are obtained by completing a chain of combat missions.

[h2]Rules[/h2]
Gaming sessions are available on: Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday
Format: 7 vs. 7 playing Tier X ships
Restrictions: only one aircraft carrier per team. Up to two battleships per team. If a team has one aircraft carrier, it can have no more than one battleship.
Rewards: up to 11,000 Steel and many other rewards
Maps: Islands of Ice, Sleeping Giant, Warrior's Path, North, Greece, and Northern Waters, in Domination mode



The following rules apply for all maps:

• Number of Key Areas: 3
  
• Capture time: 40 seconds
  
• Scoring capture points: 3 points every 4 seconds

On the days of any update releases, Clan Battles are held only during the Prime Time of your server.

Please note: upon the reversion to standard time, the Prime Times for the EU and NA servers will move one hour forward.

[h2]Season Features[/h2]
During the new Season, all maps may feature a cyclone.

• Players will be made aware of the incoming cyclone at the very start of a battle, and should choose the most appropriate tactics in response to the weather conditions.
  
• The cyclone immediately reduces the viewing radius of aircraft to 8 km.
  
• Upon the fourth minute of a battle, the viewing radius of ships also starts to shrink. After 30 seconds, it gets reduced to 14 km.
  
• Fifteen and a half minutes into the battle, the cyclone will start to fade away. Its effects will vanish completely after a further 30 seconds.

The cyclone is designed to reduce the reconnaissance potential of aircraft carriers in Clan Battles. The option to add a maximum of two battleships, or replace one of them with one carrier, will make team lineups and battle tactics in the upcoming Season more diverse. For example, it's possible that destroyers might prove to be a popular choice.

[h2]Mercenaries[/h2]
Division Commanders now have the option to invite mercenaries, i.e. players who do not belong to any Clan or players from other Clans, to join their Divisions for Clan Battles.
The new feature will allow Clan leaders to test candidates who want to join their Clans in real combat scenarios, or fill roster gaps without having to actually accept new players into the Clan.

During the "Northern Waters" Season of Clan Battles, only one mercenary can be invited to a Division.
The following rules apply for mercenaries:

• To add a mercenary to the team, simply invite them to join your Division. You can search for players via the "Divisions" tab in the game client.
  
• After a battle, the mercenary receives rewards based on the current league of the Clan they went into battle with.
  
• The mercenary may also receive achievements and emblems for Clan Battles, based on the current league of the Clan they went into battle with.
  
• However, the mercenary will not receive the associated economic bonuses provided by the Clan Base structures of the Clan they fought for.
  
• A mercenary from a different Clan will be able to enter battle during the Prime Time of the inviting Clan. The Prime Time of the mercenary's own Clan will not change.

[h2]Rewards [/h2]

Detailed information about the task completion criteria and rewards can be found in the game client.

[h2]Clan Treasury[/h2]
Clans with Ranks 1–50 in the Global Rating will receive from 5,000 to 25,000 Steel.
*Each following step brings 250 Steel less

Clans that don't enter the top 50 will receive Steel and Coal for their Treasury. The amount depends on their League and Group.

[h2]Clan Ships[/h2]
From October 5, any player who fights in a Clan, Co-op, or Random Battle playing a Tier VIII–X ship will be given a set of three special Tier X ships for temporary use: X [Großer Kurfürst], X [Zaō] and X [Grozovoi]. From October 21, those ships will be replaced with X [Montana], X [Moskva] and X [Shimakaze]. The ships of the final set—X [Yamato], X [Hindenburg] and X [Gearing] — will arrive in your Ports on November 4.

[h3]Commanders![/h3]
We're happy to announce that the new Gothic permanent camouflage for VIII Bismarck will be available via a mission that’s guaranteed to drop for viewers of our official World of Warships Twitch channel! Besides this, keep an eye out for this month's Epic Drop—VI Arizona!

Twitch | Follow

[h2]Gothic Camo Channel Drop[/h2]
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Instead of our usual Twitch Challenges, for Update 0.9.9 there will be a special mission that will drop only from the official World of Warships Twitch channel. All you need to do is watch one of our live streams for at least 45 minutes, and the mission is guaranteed to drop. The main reward for completing the mission is the new Gothic permanent camouflage for VIII Bismarck.

Official Stream Schedule Starts: Thu. 01 Oct. 07:00 CEST (UTC+2) Ends: Mon. 09 Nov. 07:00 CEST (UTC+2)

Final Reward: the Gothic permanent camouflage for VIII Bismarck

[h2]Twitch Rewards[/h2]
[h3]Twitch Epic Drops[/h3]
Rare — a chance to win a valuable gift, delivered straight to your Port when watching streams. Can be obtained only once per viewer. This month, you can get American battleship VI Arizona!
[h3]Twitch Drops[/h3]
A special Twitch container delivered straight to your Port when watching streams⁠—no strings attached! You can receive up to five of these during the Update. Includes:

• 100,000 credits
• Assorted signal flags 

[h2]Where and How[/h2]
Twitch Drops, Challenges, and Epic Drops can be earned by watching the Official World of Warships channel's livestreams, or those of any other Twitch streamer who is playing World of Warships with Drops enabled. Take care to ensure that your Twitch account is linked to your Wargaming Account, else it won't work!

Find out how exactly to link your account via the link below:

Instructions

Official Stream Schedule

Please note that the servers will be temporarily unavailable due to the release of an update. The schedule is available below.
Maintenance times are tentative and subject to change. Please accept our apologies for any inconveniences.

The new update will go live some time after it's been downloaded because the client and server sides are updated separately. While the client begins to update immediately, it takes time for the servers to be updated across all regions.

If there are problems with downloading or launching the update—please perform files integrity check.
Subtitles can be enabled in the video player separately.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]


[h2]U.S. Battleships: Part 1[/h2]

American battleships VIII Kansas and IX Minnesota have arrived in Early Access!

VIII Kansas can be obtained by completing all the Directives, while IX Minnesota can be obtained from random bundles that are available in the Armory in exchange for doubloons.

American Tokens: a new temporary resource that can be earned by progressing through Directives of the event and by completing special chains of combat missions. They will also be available for Recruitment Points in the Armory, and via random bundles that will be available in exchange for doubloons.

Rewards available in exchange for American Tokens: sequentially available bundles and other rewards that can be found in the Armory.

Rewards from the sequentially available bundles: signals; expendable camouflages; Gold Eagle permanent camouflages for VIII Kansas, IX Minnesota, and X Vermont; VII Florida with a Gold Eagle permanent camouflage and commemorative flag; days of Premium Account; and Coal.



[h3]Features of the New Branch[/h3]

• Numerous main battery guns with a solid salvo weight and firing range, which come at the expense of longer gun reloading times.
  
• Great maneuverability for the ship type and good anti-torpedo protection, but they are rather slow.
  
• Decent AA defenses, additionally reinforced by access to the Defensive AA Fire consumable.

When Update 0.9.11 goes live, VIII Kansas, IX Minnesota, and X Vermont will be available for all players to research.

Read more>>>

[h2]The Dockyard and "Strong-Willed" Campaign[/h2]


Any remaining Dockyard Directives will be available for completion until October 26. Complete all the shipbuilding phases in time to get a brand-new U.S. cruiser—VIII Anchorage!

Read more>>>

Update 0.9.9 brings an end to the "Strong-Willed" temporary Campaign, which kicked off with the release of Update 0.9.3. Hurry to obtain the unique historical Commander, Jerzy Świrski, and other rewards!
End date and time: Sat. 10 Oct. 08:00 CEST (UTC+2)

Read more>>>

[h2]Clan Battles: "Northern Waters" Season[/h2]
Starts: Wed. 07 Oct. 13:30 CEST (UTC+2) Ends: Mon. 23 Nov. 06:30 CEST (UTC+2)

Format: 7 vs. 7 playing Tier X ships
Restrictions: up to two battleships, or one battleship and one aircraft carrier per team
Rewards: up to 11,000 Steel and many other rewards
Maps: Islands of Ice, Sleeping Giant, Warrior's Path, North, Greece, and Northern Waters, in Domination mode
Season features: in the new Season, all maps may feature a cyclone

• The cyclone settles over the sea at the very start of a battle. Players should choose the most appropriate tactics in response to the conditions.
  
• Cyclones reduce the viewing radius of aircraft to 8 km.
  
• At the fourth minute of a battle, the viewing radius of ships starts to shrink, too. After 30 seconds, it gets reduced to 14 km.
  
• After 15 and a half minutes of battle, the cyclone will start to fade away. Its effects will vanish completely after a further 30 seconds.

Essentially, the cyclone is designed to reduce the reconnaissance potential of aircraft carriers in Clan Battles. The option to add a maximum of two battleships or replace one of them with one carrier will make team lineups and battle tactics in the upcoming Season more diverse. For example, it's possible that destroyers might prove to be a popular choice.

Full details of the Season will be released in a dedicated article.

[h2]Mercenaries[/h2]


Division Commanders now have the option to invite "mercenaries," i.e. players from outside their Clan or from other Clans, to join their Divisions for Clan Battles.

The new feature will allow Clan leaders to test candidates who want to join their Clans in real combat scenarios, or fill roster gaps without having to actually accept new players into the Clan.

[h3]Rules[/h3]

• To add a mercenary to the team, simply invite them to join your Division. You can search for players via the "Divisions" tab in the game client.
  
• After a battle, the mercenary receives rewards based on the current league of the Clan they went into battle with.
  
• The mercenary may also receive achievements and emblems for Clan Battles, based on the current league of the Clan they went into battle with.
  
• However, the mercenary will not receive the associated economic bonuses of the Clan they fought for.
  
• A mercenary from a different Clan will be able to enter battle during the Prime Time of the inviting Clan. The selected Prime Time of the Clan that the mercenary belongs to will not change.

During the "Northern Waters" Season of Clan Battles, only one mercenary can be invited to a Division.

[h2]Research Bureau[/h2]

• We've added a victory bonus of 200 Research Points for Tier V ships.
  
• The following achievements have been added: Junior Shipbuilder, Senior Shipbuilder, Shipbuilding Inspector, and Chief Shipbuilding Inspector. The achievements will be issued for 10/50/100/150 ship branches that you have reset.

• Only ship branches that you reset after Update 0.9.9 goes live will count towards your progress for the new achievements and the bonus for Tier V ships.

More details about the Research Bureau will appear in a dedicated article.

[h2]Changes to Game Mechanics[/h2]


We've updated the mechanics behind the interactions between shells and main battery barbettes / turrets.

Previously, when a shell hit the main battery turret, damage was dealt only to the module itself, and the player received a "Penetration" ribbon without any actual damage having been dealt to the enemy ship. Now, hitting the main battery turret also entails a reduction in the ship's hit points.



The change will significantly reduce the number of no-damage penetrations.

• Any damage dealt to a main battery turret also entails damage to the ship in the amount of 1/10 of the maximum damage of the shell.
  
• The amount of damage dealt to the main battery turret modules in case of a penetration has been reduced 3.3 times.
  
• The number of hit points for main battery turret modules has been reduced by half.
  
• Damage affecting a ship's HP from a shell hitting any of the ship's main battery turrets can be restored completely using the Repair Party and Specialized Repair Teams consumables.
  
• The barbette models have been updated.

[h2]Visual Improvements[/h2]

• We've improved the sea rendering quality for all graphics settings. Sun glare on the water's surface now looks more realistic; the horizon is now rendered at a higher quality; and water will now appear in a range of different shades, depending on the map. This change will improve game client performance. The changes will be most visible at low and medium graphics quality settings.
  
• The Spaceport has been updated to accommodate the new lighting model and enhanced HDR technology.
  
• We've changed the visual appearance of the aiming reticles for carrier squadrons, and also reworked the aircraft camera performance. This change will affect only the visual component of a squadron's interface, making it easier to aim with all types of armament without affecting gameplay.
  
• Aircraft aiming reticles will no longer adjust to changes in the terrain of islands. A special indicator will notify you that your armament is about to hit terrain, and the reticle will become slightly more transparent. The new feature will also help prevent scenarios when a player is fully aimed at a target ship, but there are still terrain obstacles in the path of the payload release trajectory.
  
• Aircraft operating as part of a squadron will now change positions in a smoother way; the trajectory of bombers moving in on a target will change slightly, and any damage taken by the aircraft in the process will cause it to shake.
  
• The visibility of aircraft aiming reticles on sunlight-reflecting water has been improved.

[h2]Technical Changes and Improvements[/h2]


With the release of Update 0.9.9, players will be able to play on all World of Warships servers within a single game client, without the need to install separate game instances for each region. The game server will be determined by the currently selected account in the Wargaming Game Center.

We recommend that you delete all additional game instances installed on your computer before the release of Update 0.9.9. Please note: you will still need a separate game client for Public Tests.

We've seen drops in game client performance and aiming reticle distortions on devices with graphics cards that don't support DirectX 11 features. For this reason, we are discontinuing support for graphics cards that don't meet the minimum system requirements.

• NVIDIA: all graphics cards older than the GeForce 400 series.
  
• AMD: all graphics cards older than the Radeon HD 5000 Series.
  
• Intel: all graphics cards older than Intel HD 3000.

Support for the macOS operating system will cease with the release of Update 0.10.0. We made this decision due to the low popularity of this OS among our players. Supporting macOS restrains our ability to improve the visuals of the game and its overall performance.

More details are available in this article.

[h2]Content additions and changes[/h2]


[h3]Armory[/h3]
The following ships will become available in the Armory with the release of the Update:

• X Franklin D. Roosevelt—available in exchange for 33,000 Steel. A Midway-class aircraft carrier that can boast of having solid armor protection. The extensive HP pools of her aircraft and large squadron size allow her to carry out continuous powerful attacks, even when her aircraft, which lack the Repair consumable, fall under heavy AA enemy fire.

• IX Paolo Emilio—available in exchange for 43,000 Research Points. This destroyer was initially designed as light cruiser intended for use in reconnaissance operations of the Italian Navy. She's fast, and equipped with good artillery that's capable of firing SAP and HE shells, all at the cost of a long reload time. The ship's powerful torpedo armament, coupled with access to the Emergency Engine Power and Exhaust Smoke Generator consumables, make her ideal for lightning-fast attacks at short ranges.

[h3]Other changes[/h3]
We're continuing our work on enhancing the Daily Shipments: two new options will be added in Update 0.9.9. We'll test the new mechanics as the Update goes live. To ensure that we get credible test results, some players will collect their rewards via the "old" version of Daily Shipments, while others will receive the new ones. This research will also require a random reference group, which is why certain players will unfortunately not have access to Daily Shipments during this Update.

A "Gothic" permanent camouflage for VIII Bismarck has been added to the game. Details on how to get it will follow a bit later.

VIII Mainz has been added to the Tech Tree, and will be available for 11,000 doubloons.

VIII Tirpitz has temporarily been removed from the Tech Tree. However, she will still be available via the Armory.

The following ships have been added for testing by developers, supertesters, and community contributors: IX Hizen, IX Z-44, VII Strasbourg, X Plymouth, and VI Mysore.

[h2]Other Changes[/h2]
Check under the spoiler for more information regarding balance-related changes, content changes and additions, and other improvements.

• We've re-enabled the option to jump to the Combat Missions section by clicking on the icon of a combat mission that drops from a container.
  
• A list of combat missions that you've scrolled down will now automatically scroll back up when switching between tabs.
  
• A combat mission hint that pops up on the post-battle results screen will now show the progress you've made towards the conditions of that mission in a battle.
  
• When navigating to the Directives tab, the currently active Directive will be selected by default.

In Update 0.9.9, we've made changes to the parameters of several ships based on our analysis of their combat efficiency and feedback from players. These changes were required in order to carefully adjust the balance of selected warships. Further changes may follow in future updates, should they be required.

[h3]Tier V British cruiser Hawkins[/h3]

• Main battery reload time reduced from 12.6 to 12.1 s

[h3]Tier VIII U.K. aircraft carrier Implacable[/h3]
Changes to HE bomb characteristics:

• Maximum damage increased from 4,700 to 4,900
  
• Chance to cause fire on a target increased from 27% to 28%

[h3]Tier X Soviet cruiser Petropavlovsk[/h3]

• Detectability range by sea increased from 14.9 to 15.4 km. Other detectability values have been increased accordingly

[h3]Tier IX Soviet cruiser Riga[/h3]

• Main battery reload time reduced from 15.0 to 14.5 s
  
• Detectability range by sea increased from 14.74 to 15.04 km. Other detectability values were increased accordingly

[h3]Engine Boost Modification 1 upgrade[/h3]

• Bonus to the action time of the Engine Boost and Emergency Engine Power consumables reduced from +40% to +30%

Please note: running Overwolf application may cause World of Warships client collapse. To fix the issue, update Overwolf to the latest version. If the issue still persists, please contact the Customer Service Center.

• Fixed a mistake in the description of Task 6 of Mission 4 in the "Five Epochs of the Navy" Campaign.
  
• Fixed a bug in the autopilot voiceovers for the following Commanders: Kaguya, Chang'e, and Hou Yi.
  
• The names of modules of attack aircraft now contain an HE or AP designation for their rockets.
  
• Reduced the frequency of a situation that caused the game client to crash during authorization.
  
• Reduced the frequency of a situation that caused a ship with autopilot enabled to leave her charted course.
  
• Fixed an issue that caused the Expert Marksman skill to provide incorrect bonuses to the traverse speed of main battery guns.
  
• Fixed an issue that caused the game client to crash after navigating to the Dockyard before the ship being built appeared.
  
• Fixed an issue that, in certain cases, made it impossible to authorize in the game after minimizing the client window and then maximizing it again.
  
• Other improvements and changes. For a complete list, please refer to Player Support.