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Ranked Battles: the Sixteenth Season


[h2]Key Rules of the Season[/h2] Starts: Wed. 20 May 11:00 CEST (UTC+2) Ends: Tue. 16 Jun. 10:30 CEST (UTC+2)

Format: 7 vs. 7 playing Tier VII ships

Maps: Archipelago, Ring, Big Race, New Dawn, Trident, Neighbors, and Riposte

  • Players earn the Stars needed to climb the ranking ladder by winning battles. For most ranks, a defeat means a lost Star. However, if you finish first on your team by XP earned, you get to keep your hard-earned Star.
  • Those who are new to Ranked Battles will start the Season from Rank 18. Those who participated in the previous Season will receive bonus Stars after the first battle of the current Season: one for each rank attained last Season.

[h2]Rewards[/h2]
The available rewards, as well as the formats of Ranked Battles, differ from season to season. For the current Season, victories can bring you up to 4,700 Steel; 2,750 doubloons; one Ranked Token; and many other rewards.

League flags reduce the cost of servicing your ships by 10% and 20% until the end of the Season. Any flags awarded for entering the Leagues will be removed from player accounts once the Season ends.

Free Goodies in our news Articles!

Captains!

How thoroughly do you read the news on our website? We’re announcing a great opportunity that will give our most attentive readers the chance to stock up on in-game items. You’ll find a special button hidden in specific articles published between May 11 and June 5 on our website. When reading the articles, you’ll be able to claim the rewards these buttons offer. Each button will remain active for 10 days—clicking it will reward you with a Trophy camouflage as well as 5 Soviet Tokens which you can save towards unlocking Early Access to the new Soviet cruisers!
    Let’s get started—click the button below!

Have you clicked already? Now try to find the three buttons we’ve already placed in other articles published since May 11. Once you’ve found all three, keep reading and stay on the lookout for the next ones!
    Be sure to check the website regularly—it isn’t just a useful source of the game news, it's also a place where you can take part in fun and rewarding contests, learn about naval history, watch video marathons, and get gifts just for reading our publications!

Streaming with a Special Guest! + Stream Rewards Guide for 0.9.4

    What a special week it is for us at Wargaming!

The World of Warships team has the phenomenal opportunity to host retired Navy Captain, Bob Batterson, for our weekly NA Twitch stream this Friday at 21:00 UTC. Captain Batterson is a Pearl Harbor survivor who flew F6F Hellcats during WWII.

He served his country for 26 years, and he continues his service as a volunteer on board the USS Lexington museum since it opened in 1992! 
Stream starts: Fri. 15 May 23:00 CEST (UTC+2)



Captain Batterson recently celebrated his 99th Birthday May 8th, and we all wish him a very happy belated birthday and thank him for his years of service.

We understand many of you may want to ask Captain Batterson a question, however, with a limited amount of time during the event we may not have the chance to share everyone's question.
    If you would like to share your question with us ahead of time, please feel free to respond to the forum thread below.
See you on stream!



Stream Rewards Guide for 0.9.4
Top up on Soviet cruisers early access containers this month when watching World of Warships on Twitch.
[h3]What can you get this month just for watching World of Warships on Twitch?[/h3]
  • Up to SEVEN Soviet Containers, which will greatly help you on the path to unlocking Soviet cruisers in early access;
  • The chance to receive this Update's Twitch Epic Drop – Premium Soviet cruiser V Krasny Krym!


Get all the details below!

Twitch Drops ● Where and How ● Official Stream Schedule



Twitch | Follow


[h2]Twitch Drops[/h2]
[h3]Twitch Challenges[/h3]
Throughout the duration of Update 0.9.4, a weekly combat mission will be unlocked directly in your Port when watching streams. There are a total of 4 combat missions that are activated every Thursday during the official English stream, becoming available for all stream viewers.

From Moskva with Love
Starts: Thu. 14 May 07:00 CEST (UTC+2) Ends: Thu. 28 May 07:00 CEST (UTC+2)
Over any number of battles, earn 7,500 Base XP

Reward: 3x Soviet containers

Ship restrictions: Soviet, Tier V–X

Battle type restrictions: Random, Co-op, Scenarios

    You can complete this combat mission only once.
Measure seven times, cut once!
Starts: Thu. 21 May 07:00 CEST (UTC+2) Ends: Thu. 04 Jun. 07:00 CEST (UTC+2)
Part 1

Over any number of battles, earn 777 "main battery target hit" ribbons

Reward: 2x Soviet containers

Ship restrictions: Tier V–X

Battle type restrictions: Random, Ranked

    You can complete this combat mission only once.
Part 2
Over any number of battles, Earn 7 "Captured" or "Assisted in Capture" ribbons

Reward: 3x Victory camouflages

Ship restrictions: Tier V–X

Battle type restrictions: Random

    You can complete this combat mission only once.
    Final Reward: 2x Soviet containers
One Ping Only
Starts: Thu. 28 May 07:00 CEST (UTC+2) Ends: Thu. 11 Jun. 07:00 CEST (UTC+2)
Part 1
In a single battle, earn 1,000 base XP

Reward: 1x Resources Container

Ship restrictions: Tier VI Cruisers

Battle type restrictions: Random, Submarine battles

    You can complete this combat mission only once.
Part 2

In a single battle, earn 1,000 base XP

Reward: 1x Resources Container

Ship restrictions: Tier VI Battleships

Battle type restrictions: Random, Submarine battles

    You can complete this combat mission only once.
Part 3

In a single battle, earn 1,000 base XP

Reward: 1x Resources Container

Ship restrictions: Tier VI Destroyers

Battle type restrictions: Random, Submarine battles

    You can complete this combat mission only once.
    Final Reward: 1,000 Coal
World Ocean Day
Starts: Thu. 04 Jun. 07:00 CEST (UTC+2) Ends: Thu. 18 Jun. 07:00 CEST (UTC+2)
Win 10 battles

Reward: 5x Ocean Soul camouflages

Ship restrictions: Tier V–X

Battle type restrictions: Random, Ranked

    You can complete this combat mission only once.

[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 Update 0.9.4. Contains:
  • 100,000 credits
  • Assorted signal flags 


[h3]Twitch Epic Drops[/h3]
Rare – A chance to win a Premium ship, delivered straight to your Port when watching streams. Can be obtained only once per viewer. This month, You can get Soviet cruiser V Krasny Krym!

[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

[h2]Official Stream Schedule[/h2]
The official World of Warships Twitch channel goes live as a general rule every Tuesday and Thursday at 16:00 UTC.
  • Tuesday streams alternate between our five European languages. 
  • Thursdays are reserved for our weekly English streams. 
  • On Friday you can view our Russian streams. 

Soviet Cruisers: Two Bogatyrs


[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Subscribe to the Channel

[h3]Previous episodes[/h3]
[h3]Detective Kléberot in Action! Murder in the Western Sea[/h3]
"Battleship X Montana will no longer ride the waves—her guns have fallen silent forever," was what Detective Kléberot thought after arriving at the crime scene and finding the battleship’s hull full of holes. Poor X Midway was off to one side, suffering in a state of shock from the ghastly sight.

“This accident is more than strange—it’s inconceivable… Absurd… Unmotivated... or perhaps it only seems so?” Detective Kléberot continued his line of thought: “either no one, or anyone, could be suspected of the crime...Or perhaps someone else at least had something to do with it?”
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[h3]Hayate: the Shinobi’s Way[/h3]
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Update 0.9.4: Soviet Cruisers


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.

14.05.2020 05:00—8:00 UTC+8

2020-05-13 21:00—23:59 UTC

13.05.2020 05:00—10:00 MSK (UTC+3)

2020-05-13 02:00—07:00 UTC

14.05.2020 07:00—10:00 CEST (UTC+2)

2020-05-14 05:00—08:00 UTC

13.05.2020 03:00 AM—06:00 AM PT (UTC–7)

2020-05-13 10:00—13:00 UTC

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]
Soviet Cruisers ● Submarine Battle ● Enhanced Consumables ● Ranked Battles ● Interface, Graphics, and Audio ● Game Maps and Modes ● Other Changes


[h2]Soviet Cruisers[/h2]


Soviet Tier VIII–IX heavy cruisers are coming to Early Access!

[h3]Features of the new Tech Tree branch[/h3]
  • Effective AP shells with excellent armor penetration capabilities, good ballistics, fewer over-penetrations, and enhanced ricochet angles.
  • A relatively long reload time and special accuracy settings: the ships of the new branch have a larger dispersion ellipse at long distances in comparison to other cruisers.
  • The combination of their accuracy settings and the Surveillance Radar consumable they carry, which has a 12 km operating range, makes the new cruisers most efficient in medium-range encounters.
    With the release of Update 0.9.5, X Moskva and V Kirov will be replaced in the Tech Tree by X Alexander Nevsky and V Kotovsky, respectively. VIII Tallinn, IX Riga, and X Petropavlovsk will become available to research in Update 0.9.6.
  • V Mikoyan, Early Access Soviet cruisers VIII Tallinn and IX Riga, and the Soviet permanent camouflage will be available in bundles that can be exchanged for Soviet Tokens. The bundles are opened in sequential order.
  • You’ll find Soviet Tokens in event containers that can be obtained by completing Directives or received from Daily Shipments. You can also earn Soviet Tokens by gaining victories playing cruisers VIII Pyotr Bagration, VIII Ochakov, and V Mikoyan.
  • Completing all four Directives will reward you with the Soviet permanent camouflage for V Mikoyan.
  • VIII Pyotr Bagration and VIII Ochakov are available in the Armory in exchange for doubloons.

https://steamcommunity.com/games/552990/announcements/detail/2176872191802681945
[h3]Novorossiysk Port[/h3]
The Black Sea Port has been updated and renamed Novorossiysk Port.



[h2]Submarine Battle[/h2]
Starts: Wed. 27 May 06:00 CEST (UTC+2) Ends: Wed. 24 Jun. 06:00 CEST (UTC+2)

Submarines are arriving and will be playable in a separate battle type! This will enable us to continue testing the new ship type while we adjust the balance and mechanics on the live server by involving more participants, and won’t affect the other battle types. Only once we're done with all these steps will we be able to decide on the final fate of the new unit type.
    Players will be able to enter Submarine Battles playing submarines and Tier VI ships.

Submarines are fragile but stealthy hunters, capable of traveling not only horizontally, but also diving into the depths. The diving depth of a submarine affects her detectability, viewing range, and range of possible interactions with other submarines and ship types.

The main armament carried by submarines is acoustic homing torpedoes. You can launch an attack from any depth, and submarine-specific mechanics—sonar pings—will help you increase the potential effectiveness of your torpedo salvos. Keep an eye on your battery charge and use sonar pings wisely. Torpedoes can ascend from the depths and hit an enemy only with the help of an active effect from a sonar ping. If you run out of battery charge, reduce your speed to 1/4 or ascend to the surface level to recharge it.

Keep an eye on enemy destroyers and cruisers. All destroyers, as well as cruisers VI Dallas, VI Budyonny, VI Leander, and VI Perth carry depth charges. These are an effective weapon that can hit submarines hiding underwater.
    You will find more details about the new event, features of submarines, and ways to counter them in a dedicated article.


[h2]Enhanced Consumables[/h2]


Enhanced consumables are set to become free, while standard consumables will be removed entirely. Consequently, all battles will be fought with ships utilizing enhanced consumables, and players no longer need to spend credits on them.
    Enhanced consumables mounted on ships and kept in the Inventory will automatically be exchanged for credits at a rate of 1:22,500. “More Consumables” containers will no longer be obtainable, and any such containers that you already have on your account will each automatically be exchanged for 160,000 credits. For other rewards, enhanced consumables will be replaced with signals.

Since aircraft carriers have no enhanced consumables, their parameters won't change, and the cost of servicing aircraft carriers has been adjusted to make it equal relative to other ship types. For example, the cost of servicing Tier X aircraft carriers will be reduced from 240,000 to 180,000 credits.

[h2]Ranked Battles[/h2]
Start: Wed. 20 May 11:00 CEST (UTC+2) End: Tue. 16 Jun. 10:30 CEST (UTC+2)

Format: 7 vs. 7 playing Tier VII ships
Rewards: up to 4,700 Steel and many additional rewards
Maps: Archipelago, Ring, Big Race, New Dawn, Trident, Neighbors, and Riposte
    The Season’s details will be published in a dedicated article.

[h2]Interface, Graphics, and Audio[/h2]
  • The design of the Modules tab has been updated. Under this tab, you can now view all upgrades and consumables for any ships that you haven't yet obtained.
  • Ships can be researched and obtained via the Tech Tree screen. Click on a ship once to open the Spec Sheet with Purchase/Research buttons. Click on a ship twice to open the Modules tab. Clicking on an empty area of the Tech Tree will hide the Spec Sheet.
  • The consumable and armament icons have been updated.
  • The Northern Lights, Shatter, Sleeping Giant, Loop, Greece, and Crash Zone Alpha maps have been reworked to accommodate the new lighting model and enhanced HDR technology.
  • A special animation is now displayed when a shell ricochets off armor.
  • We’ve enhanced the visual display of boat handrails, as well as rigging, in Ports and on maps.
  • Updated the national voiceovers for Polish, Dutch, and Austro-Hungarian ships. The presence of any unique Commander voiceovers is now taken into account when the "National+" voiceover is selected.

[h2]Game Maps and Modes[/h2]


The following maps have been reworked:
  • Loop: the location of islands has been updated. This will make approaching Key Areas and maneuvering within them easier.
  • The Atlantic: an island located in square A7 at the map border has been removed.

[h3]The starting number of points in Domination mode in Co-op Battles has been increased:[/h3]
  • from 300 to 400 points in the mode with 3 Key Areas.
  • from 200 to 300 points in the mode with 4 Key Areas.
This will help reduce the number of battles that end due to one of the teams reaching zero points.

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

[h3]Game Balance Changes[/h3]


In Update 0.9.4, we've made changes to the parameters of certain ships based on our analysis of their battle efficiency and feedback from players. Such changes were required in order to carefully adjust the balance of selected warships. Further changes may follow, should they be required, in future updates.

[h3]Tier VIII European destroyer Öland:[/h3]
  • Standard torpedo tube reload time reduced from 70 to 59 s.

[h3]Tier VIII U.S. cruiser Cleveland:[/h3]
  • Fighter consumable added to the slot with Surveillance Radar.

[h3]Tier IX Seattle and Tier X Worcester U.S. cruisers:[/h3]
  • Fighter and Spotting Aircraft consumables added to the slot with Surveillance Radar.

[h3]Tier VIII U.S. battleship North Carolina:[/h3]
  • Deck armor thickness increased from 37 to 38 mm.

[h3]Destroyers Nicholas, Farragut, Mahan, Benson, Fletcher, and Ognevoi:[/h3]
  • Defensive AA Fire consumable is now available for mounting on any hull.

[h3]Tier III Soviet cruiser Aurora:[/h3]
  • Gun traverse speed increased from 5.3 to 5.5 deg/s.

[h3]Tier IV Soviet battleship Gangut:[/h3]
  • Base main battery firing range increased from 12.3 to 12.4 km.

[h3]Tier III U.K. destroyer Valkyrie:[/h3]
  • Main battery reload time increased from 5.4 to 5.6 s.

[h3]Tier IX U.K. destroyer Jutland:[/h3]
  • Main battery reload time increased from 4.2 to 4.3 s.
  • Torpedo tube reload time increased from 124 to 125 s.

[h3]Tier X U.K. destroyer Daring:[/h3]
  • Main battery reload time increased from 2.7 to 2.8 s.
  • Torpedo tube reload time increased from 124 to 125 s.

[h3]Tier II U.K. cruiser Weymouth:[/h3]
  • Added the Repair Party consumable.
  • Main battery reload time increased from 8.57 to 8.9 s.

[h3]Tier V U.K. cruiser Hawkins:[/h3]
  • Main battery reload time reduced from 13.5 to 13 s.

[h3]Tier V German destroyer Т-22:[/h3]
  • Hydroacoustic Search consumable added in a separate slot.

[h3]Tier VI German destroyer Ernst Gaede:[/h3]
  • Hydroacoustic Search consumable is available for mounting on a standard hull.

[h3]Aircraft:[/h3]
  • The spotting range of all aircraft has been reduced from 17 to 16 km (spotting range being a parameter that determines the distance at which an aircraft can detect a hostile target).
[h3]Content Additions and Changes[/h3]


The Armory now offers containers with elements of the "Resolute and Rapid" collection. The containers can be obtained in exchange for 6,000 Coal. The reward for completing the entire collection is the unique Italian historical Commander, Luigi Sansonetti.
    With the release of Update 0.9.4, all European Tokens will be exchanged for credits at the rate of 1:7,500.

The Victory Day permanent camouflage, which is available in exchange for doubloons, has been added to the Camouflage tab of the Exterior section for the following ships: VIII Alabama, V Texas, VII New Orleans, VII Duke of York, VIII Implacable, VI Aigle, VII Minsk, and V Oktyabrskaya Revolutsiya.

The following expendable camouflages have been added: Recruiting Station, Trophy, Awarded, Deserved, and Triumphant.

More details on how to get these items will be announced later.

The following ships have been added for testing by developers, supertesters, and community contributors: IV Rhein, VI Weser, VIII August von Parseval, X Manfred von Richthofen, VIII Z-35, and VIII V. I. Lenin.

[h3]Other Changes and Improvements[/h3]
  • Increased the game client loading speed when a large number of Commanders are present in the Port.
  • Account Levels have been renamed Access Levels. Reaching a new level is now accompanied by a voiceover.
  • A ship’s detectability range by air is now equal to the firing range of the ship's AA guns for a period of two seconds after her AA guns cease firing. This affects detectability only in situations where enemy aircraft are within the range of your AA defenses.
  • Updated the algorithm that selects recommended Clans and updated the design of the Recommendations tab in the Clans section.
  • Reworked the animation of the torpedo-aiming cone. Now the aiming cone moves more smoothly near the target position.
  • The word “Flag” has been removed from the names of flags.
  • Fixed bugs in the descriptions of the features of ship branches in the Tech Tree.
  • Fixed a bug due to which the fore and aft athwartship bulkheads of VIII Graf Zeppelin and VIII Graf Zeppelin B had a thickness of 20 mm. Now the thickness of part of the bulkheads is 60 mm.
  • Small corrections have been made to textures and models of the following ships: VIII Mainz, VI Guépard, VII Skåne, X Småland, X Venezia, VIII Vladivostok, X Daring, X Hayate, X Ohio, IX Brindisi, I Eritrea, X Halland, VI Trento, IX Georgia, VII Sims, VIII Amalfi, VII Zara, X Minotaur, V Visby, VIII Siliwangi, V Raimondo Montecuccoli, X Marceau, II Enseigne Gabolde, VIII Lightning, and IX Östergötland.
  • Fixed a bug that caused a string of lights of the New Year permanent camouflage on aircraft carriers to be lit up from bow to stern, when they should light up from stern to bow.
  • Fixed a bug that caused X Smolensk to be displayed as a Premium ship, and not as a special one.
  • Fixed bugs on maps Archipelago, Estuary, Polar, Haven, and Tears of the Desert; and in Ports New York, Marseille, and Fjords.
  • Fixed a bug due to which, when inserting text with characters <, >, or ^ into a chat message in the Port, cause the text to be cut off. Now these characters will be removed.
  • Fixed a bug that caused players to not automatically be disconnected from the server after 3 hours of inactivity.
  • Fixed the display of tooltips when hovering over the “Ready” and “Not Ready” buttons in the Training Room and on the Division screen.
  • Fixed a bug that caused battle modes in the Training Room to be called "Battle Type."
  • Fixed a bug that caused the sizes of windows to be changed incorrectly when the value of the Increase UI Scale setting was higher than 100%.
  • Fixed a bug that caused the game client to shut down when pressing the ESC button while opening the window displaying patches.
  • Fixed a bug that caused talent and skill icons to overlap each other in the Personal File window of Commander Günther Lütjens.
  • Fixed a bug that caused the reticle to show incorrect information about the readiness of guns for firing with the Reduce GUI Refresh Rate option enabled.
  • Fixed a bug that caused autopilot to switch off when dragging autopilot waypoints on top of each other.
  • Fixed a bug that made it impossible for the overview camera in the Port to switch from one gun to another gun of the same type.
  • Fixed a bug that caused the interface text to be partially blurred.
  • Fixed a bug that caused the secondary/AA guns indicator, information about fixing guns, and fire and flooding timers to not be displayed after reentering a battle.
  • Fixed a bug that made it impossible to plot an autopilot route on a specific area of the Tactical Map.
  • Fixed a bug that caused the reload timer to reload for a second longer when the reload time was longer than 1 minute.
  • Fixed a bug that caused the icon of a completed mission of a Campaign to move down if the mouse was hovered over it.
  • Fixed a bug where secondary guns could shoot at the enemy through allied ships.
  • Fixed a bug that made it possible to confirm the "Ready" status in a Division for Clan Battles with an unsuitable ship selected.
  • Fixed a bug where the torpedo alarm indicator, collision alert indicator, and the Radio Location indicator didn’t allow players to select a priority target for their secondary battery guns.
  • Fixed a bug that caused the buoys indicating the boundaries of Key Areas to be displayed only at close range.
  • Fixed a bug where a squadron’s reticle before the start of an attack was not displayed in the spot where it was fully aimed.
  • Fixed a bug that prevented players from mounting the Ship Consumables Modification 1 upgrade on VII Belfast and VII Z-39.
  • Fixed the incorrect naming of the AA guns on III Romulus.
  • Fixed a bug that caused the names of items in collections to be written in capital letters.
  • Fixed a bug that caused a marker above a torpedo to appear before the torpedo was armed.
  • Fixed a bug due to which, when switching to another ship, ships with the “Coming Soon” field displayed the “Test Ship” field.
  • Fixed a bug that prevented a squadron from attacking immediately after taking off.
  • Fixed a bug due to which, with the 1366x768 resolution selected, icons of unavailable missions were displayed incorrectly in the Campaigns window.
  • Fixed a bug that caused aerial bombs to deal damage later than the point when they hit the target.