Maintenance Start: 30/03/2017 @ 05:00 UTC+8
Maintenance End: 30/03/2017 @ 07:00 UTC+8

Please view the patch notes below for further information.

Patch Notes

Carrier Control Changes

With the release of Update 0.6.3, an alternative control mode based on a two-button approach popular among Real Time Strategy fans will be added for aircraft carriers. The new mode will be disabled by default and can be enabled in the game settings.

The alternative control mode differs from the standard one in the following ways:

By enabling the alternative mode, the controls of the other types of ships will change too:

• Priority targets for secondary/Anti-Air armament are set using the right and left mouse buttons for all ships.
• Autopilot waypoints are added and can be changed by hitting the right mouse button.

Aircraft Carrier Related Changes

The new update will bring other changes related to aircraft carriers as well:

• The ALT-attack feature will be disabled for Tier IV and V carriers. This change is aimed at bringing more balance to carriers at lower tiers where the majority of warships come with weak AA defences. Information on the availability of the manual squadron attack feature (ALT-attack) for a particular aircraft carrier is displayed in the Flight Control module and in the ship parameters in the “Aircraft” section.
• Fighters may now disengage from an air battle against another squadron by means of a manual attack (ALT-attack). In case of a withdrawal from the air battle via the ALT-attack, squadrons of all carriers withdrawing from the battle will lose one aircraft—this rule will not apply to Saipan whose squadrons will not lose aircraft as it has only 3 fighters in squadron.
• During a battle, the game interface will not hinder the camera’s zooming in and out, with the only exception being the game chat where the mouse will continue to be used for scrolling through chat messages.
• Squadrons of division mates will be displayed in yellow.
• Enhanced the system of mouse-click target acquisition. This change is aimed at increasing the accuracy of target acquisition when multiple game elements are clustered at one point.
• Once a carrier is destroyed, its squadrons will maintain their position after fulfilling a particular order rather than head for the carrier’s final (sinking) location.
• Now, fighters with a speed higher than that of their targets will slow down as necessary without discontinuing their attacks. By doing so, they will be able to constantly keep their target under attack and avoid situations where strike aircraft under attack could drop bombs or torpedoes with no increase in dispersion.
• Added a contour line encircling key areas instead of buoys in the aircraft camera view.

U.S. Carrier Torpedo Bomber Changes

The following values were changed for automatically-released torpedoes from U.S. carrier planes:

• For Martin T3M torpedo bombers, the torpedo release distance was decreased by 32% while the approach radius was reduced by 24%.
• For Martin T4M torpedo bombers, the torpedo release distance was decreased by 32% while the approach radius was reduced by 25%.
• For Douglas TBD torpedo bombers, the torpedo release distance was decreased by 28% while the approach radius was reduced by 24%.
• For Grumman TBF torpedo bombers, the torpedo release distance was decreased by 26% while the approach radius was reduced by 21%.
• For Grumman TBM-3 torpedo bombers, the torpedo release distance was decreased by 24% while the approach radius was reduced by 20%.
• For Douglas AD1 torpedo bombers, the torpedo release distance was decreased by 22% while the approach radius was reduced by 15%.
• For Douglas BTD-1 torpedo bombers, the torpedo release distance was decreased by 20% while the approach radius was reduced by 16%.
• For Douglas XSB2D torpedo bombers, the torpedo release distance was decreased by 20% while the approach radius was reduced by 16%.

Aircraft Carrier Bug Fixes

Fixed the following bugs that affected aircraft carrier gameplay:

• The Minimap and Tactical Map will now always display the initial part of the course for squadrons.
• Fixed a bug which made enemy squadrons appear on the Minimap during Cyclone while remaining invisible in the aircraft camera view.
• Fixed bugs related to the differentiation between a single and double mouse clicks. This change will prevent situations when an “Attention to Sector” order given using the Minimap resulted in a selected squadron heading that way, too.

Other Interface Changes

We have added a smokescreen timer which will be displayed in the right corner next to the “Detected” icon. The timer is visible to the player only and only works for the player’s own smokescreen.

The timer will have several statuses:

• Neutral: The timer counts down the time remaining until the first smoke “circle” starts to fade away.
• Warning: The timer goes into the ‘Warning’ status 10 seconds before the first circle of the smokescreen starts to fade away.
• Dispersed: The timer will show the time remaining until the last circle of the smoke screen completely fades away.

• Added an indicator to the game showing the maximum speed at which a player’s ship will be effectively hidden by the smoke. If that speed limit is exceeded, the indicator displays a warning.
• Battle chat will now save all chat communications for the entire battle. Players will be able to access chat messages by hitting ENTER or by clicking in the chat box.
• Improved the control key assignment system: we fixed the display of keys in the game and added an option to assign commands to certain previously unavailable keys. Now, commands may be assigned to all keyboard keys except Enter and Esc.
• Clarified the text showing the number of battles until the Team Killer status is removed.
• Streamlined the system of Commander ranks used in the game by fixing a number of rank inconsistencies.
• Added new images for British Commanders.
• Clan tags will now no longer be displayed in clan chat.
• In the player’s statistics, an “OLD” mark will be added to ships that continue to exist in the game for the sole purpose of gathering statistics only—for example, the Tier VII destroyer Hatsuharu.
• For all ships in testing, “Test Ship” is displayed in place of the ship’s combat characteristics when the ship is in Port. For ships that the player does not have in Port, the “Soon” label will continue to be displayed.
• Added an option to change user sound tracks by pressing < > – to go to the next track, and > < to return to the previous one. The keys may be reconfigured in the Controls tab of the Settings menu.
• Fixed a bug which made it impossible to give a quick command by pressing F3 in the aircraft camera mode.
• For ships carrying torpedo armament, when switching from torpedoes to the main guns, the selected type of shell remains unchanged regardless of the key pressed. To switch to the required type of shell, it is necessary to press the button assigned to that type of shell again.

NOTE: With the release of Update 0.6.3, all customised keyboard and mouse settings will be reset to the standard ones. After the update, players will be able to change the settings to suit their preferred style.

Balance Corrections and Ship Changes

In Update 0.6.3, we upgraded the concealment feature. Update 0.6.3 will make the detectability range of a ship after firing its main guns equal to the ship’s maximum firing range. This change will eliminate situations where ships with low detectability range could fire at enemy ships in sight while remaining invisible to them. Detectability range will not be affected when the using obstacles like terrain and smokescreens; they may still be used to gain an advantage over opponents.

This decision is based on a thorough review of the feedback from our players and the combat tactics used in the game. From careful study of your feedback, we have come to the conclusion that stealth firing—i.e. shooting from invisibility while in open water—makes gameplay dull and painful. Its exclusion will make the game more enjoyable to play and fairer for all.

Concealment will still provide advantages for low-observability ships, but in order to inflict damage with impunity you will need to use smokescreens, the terrain, and your ability to manoeuvre like a pro.

In addition to the changes to the mechanics of detectability, we introduced the following changes:

• The “Concealment System Modification 1” upgrade will receive an additional effect “+5% to the maximum dispersion of enemy shells that fire on your ship”.
• Cruisers Ibuki, Zao, Baltimore, Des Moines, Neptune, Minotaur, Roon, Hindenburg, Dmitry Donskoy and Moskva will receive an increase in accuracy for main caliber artillery (tighter grouping of shells inside the dispersion ellipse (sigma increased from 2.0 to 2.05).

This change will give additional protection to destroyers and cruisers which choose the upgrade and previously relied exclusively on camo for protection. It’ll be most noticeable when under fire from large-caliber guns at long ranges, when the dispersion ellipse (which defines the scatter of shells) is quite large. This means when you enter a melee, for control of a point, for example, you’ll need to worry more about the nearest enemies, and less about more passive foes that prefer to stay further from the action.

Improving the accuracy of tier IX and X cruisers is aimed at strengthening their role as universal ships, with guns that can threaten any target.

We will closely monitor the situation after the update is released, and if the combat effectiveness of individual ships becomes insufficient, we will make the necessary changes to their combat characteristics.

Apart from that, there will be no increase in detectability for ships after firing secondary battery or AA guns.

Please note that this change will affect only the visibility mechanics as applied to detection by sea and will not affect the visibility mechanics between ships and aircraft. Ships will be detected from the air the same way they were detected in version 0.6.2.

To make sure our players feel comfortable about the new concealment mechanics, with the release of Update 0.6.3 we’ll offer a 95% discount for resetting Commander skills for Elite Commander XP as well as Combat Missions to earn Elite XP for resetting Commander skills.

One victorious battle with ships Tier V or above will bring 30,000 Elite Commander XP points.

Apart from that, players will be able to earn 10,000 Elite Commander XP by completing one of the following tasks:

• Win a battle with a Tier VIII destroyer or above
• Win a battle with a Tier IX destroyer or above
• Win a battle with a Tier X destroyer
• Win a battle with a Tier VIII cruiser or above
• Win a battle with a Tier IX cruiser or above
• Win a battle with a Tier X cruiser

Therefore, by winning a battle with a Tier X destroyer and a Tier X cruiser, players will earn a total of 90,000 Elite Commander XP, enough to retrain nine Commanders with 19 skill points.

In addition, we took into account the fact that certain ships have been upgraded to increase the range of fire and enhance concealment (cruisers and destroyers). Two such upgrades are available in the game:

• Gun Fire Control System Modification 2.
• Concealment System Modification 1.

With the release of the new version, we’ll be offering a 50% discount for all upgrades that can be installed in the same slot in place of the ones mentioned above:

Slot 3:

• Main Battery Modification 3.
• Secondary Battery Modification 3.
• AA Guns Modification 3.
• Torpedo Tubes Modification 3.

Slot 5 and 6:

• Target Acquisition System Modification 1.
• Steering Gears Modification 3.

This will allow players to sell the upgrade that was installed earlier to get a concealment or firing range bonus, and install any other upgrade without losses in credits.

We’d like our players to feel comfortable with trying new tactics. Therefore, the above-mentioned changes coming with Update 0.6.3 will be followed by the possibility of selectively redistributing skills for several Сommanders free of charge and changing any of the related upgrades.

Both special offers will be available for 10 days from the Update release date.

For the following ships, the normal firing range of the main guns was increased to make them more enjoyable:

• Nassau: Increased the normal firing range of the main guns from 9,208 m to 10,820 m.
• Kaiser: Increased the normal firing range of the main guns from 13,308 m to 14,540 m.
• König: Increased the normal firing range of the main guns from 14,544 m to 14,990 m.
• König Albert: Increased the normal firing range of the main guns from 10,840 m to 11,860 m.
• Hermelin: Increased the normal firing range of the main guns from 7,790 m to 8,960 m.
• Dresden: Increased the normal firing range of the main guns from 8,110 m to 9,920 m.
• Kolberg: Increased the normal firing range of the main guns from 8,272 m to 10,080 m.
• Emden: Increased the normal firing range of the main guns from 8,920 m to 9,930 m.
• Kawachi: Increased the normal firing range of the main guns from 8,872 m to 9,880 m.
• Myogi: Increased the normal firing range of the main guns from 13,880 m to 16,950 m.
• Ishizuchi: Increased the normal firing range of the main guns from 12,900 m to 15,300 m; reduced the normal detectability range by sea from 16,560 m to 15,200 m.
• Mikasa: Increased the normal firing range of the main guns from 9,510 m to 11,820 m.
• Furutaka: Increased the normal firing range of the main guns from 11,790 m to 12,620 m.
• Kuma: Increased the normal firing range of the main guns from 11,235 m to 11,670 m.
• Tenryu: Increased the normal firing range of the main guns from 9,981 m to 11,240 m.
• Tachibana: Increased the normal firing range of the main guns from 6,720 m to 8,030 m.
• Umikaze: Increased the normal firing range of the main guns from 6,720 m to 8,030 m.
• Isokaze: Increased the normal firing range of the main guns from 8,309 m to 9,730 m.
• Minekaze: Increased the normal firing range of the main guns from 6,927 m to 8,110 m.
• Tachibana Lima: Increased the normal firing range of the main guns from 6,720 m to 8,030 m.
• Bogatyr: Increased the normal firing range of the main guns from 10,335 m to 10,340 m.
• Krasny Krym: Increased the normal firing range of the main guns from 13,510 m to 14,040 m.
• Weymouth: Increased the normal firing range of the main guns from 9,763 m to 10,580 m.
• South Carolina: Increased the normal firing range of the main guns from 10,218 m to 14,240 m.
• Wyoming: Increased the normal firing range of the main guns from 10,965 m to 14,380 m.
• New York: Increased the normal firing range of the main guns from 14,162 m to 16,400 m.
• Arkansas Beta: Increased the normal firing range of the main guns from 12,060 m to 14,380 m.
• Texas: Increased the normal firing range of the main guns from 15,580 m to 16,420 m.
• Albany: Increased the normal firing range of the main guns from 8,470 m to 9,170 m.
• St. Louis: Increased the normal firing range of the main guns from 9,500 m to 11,320 m.
• Omaha: Increased the normal firing range of the main guns from 11,500 m to 13,830 m.
• Phoenix: Increased the normal firing range of the main guns from 12,463 m to 13,880 m.
• Marblehead, and Marblehead Lima: Increased the normal firing range of the main guns from 12,650 m to 13,880 m.
• Fūjin, Kamikaze, and Kamikaze R: Increased the normal firing range of the main guns from 7,620 m to 8,680 m.
• Mutsuki: Increased the normal firing range of the main guns from 6,927 m to 8,110 m.
• V-170: The angles of the forward torpedo tubes were made more symmetrical by reducing the sector by 1° for the left torpedo tubes and by increasing the same by 1° for the right tubes.
• Chester: Increased the normal firing range of the main guns from 8,420 m to 9,240 m.

To improve their combat effectiveness and make the gameplay more enjoyable, we changed some parameters on the following ships:

• New Mexico: Increased the normal firing range of the main guns from 13,580 m to 14,620 m.
• Colorado: Increased the normal firing range of the main guns from 15,180 m to 17,120 m.
• Dunkerque: Improved the characteristics of the ship-borne aircraft. The Aircraft’s Tier was changed from Tier VI to VII and its hit points were increased from 1,180 to 1,350. Its average damage per second was also increased from 45 to 51.
• Fubuki: Increased the normal firing range of the main guns from 9,054 m to 10,470 m.
• Akizuki: Increased the normal firing range of the main guns from 9,236 m to 11,330 m.
• Hatsuharu: Increased the normal firing range of the main guns from 8,436 m to 9,850 m.
• Shimakaze: Increased the normal firing range of the main guns from 9,810 m to 11,370 m.
• Yūgumo: Increased the normal firing range of the main guns from 10,050 m to 10,950 m.
• Grozovoi: Reduced the reload time for the SM-2-1 guns from 5 sec to 4.2 sec; increased the normal firing range from 10,330 m to 10,970 m.
• Udaloi: Set the maximum firing range for the main guns more precisely.
• Z-52: Reduced the normal detectability range by sea from 8,100 m to 7,740 m.

The increase in the normal firing range affects the ultimate firing range with all modifiers, including the Gun Fire Control System, upgrades and Commander skills.

Fixed the operation of the Manual Fire Control for AA Armament skill on the following ships—the skills now funtions properly:

• Arizona
• Karlsruhe
• Prinz Eugen
• Furutaka

Economic Changes

Based on the analysis of collected statistics concerning profitability of all ships and having reviewed feedback received from players, we decided to adjust the reward system for aircraft carriers for greater consideration of individual achievements in combat. Now, fans of carriers who perform well in battle will earn more credits and XP as compared with Update 0.6.2. On average, a decent battle should bring 10%-25% more XP and credits as compared with the economics in effect previously, while a poor battle should bring on average 10%-25% fewer rewards in XP and credits.

Example performance results for a good battle and a poor one:

• Poor battle: deal less than 30% damage to one enemy ship.
• Good battle: deal at least a total standard HP of 300% of damage and sink at least three enemy ships.

Apart from that, we decided to increase the XP and credits earning ratios for the following ships:

XP:

• Erie: +10%
• Black Swan: +10%
• Hermelin: +10%
• Hashidate: +5%
• Danae: +5%
• Karsruhe: +5%
• Emerald: +5%

Credits:

• Hermelin: +5%
• Danae: +5%
• Karsruhe: +10%
• Svietlana: +5%

A Surprise Gift

April Fools’ Day is a holiday celebrated in many places around the world. There’s no way we could go without celebrating that, so we’ll be offering you an unusual gift! You’ll find it in the Port immediately after the update is released.

All players who enter the game during the week immediately following the release of Update 0.6.3 will receive a unique gift: a Shchuka-class submarine with a Commander.

• The submarine may not be sold but may be hidden away in the Port by applying filters.
• Players will not be able to enter battle in any mode with the submarine.
• It is impossible to dismiss the existing Commander or recruit a new one for the submarine. The Commander that will be added to the player’s account along with the submarine will be removed with it too. It will be impossible to level up or retrain the Commander.
• It will be impossible to mount camouflages, upgrades or consumables but signals and flags will be allowed. When the submarine is removed from a player’s account, all flags and signals taken off it will be transferred to the player’s Inventory.
• The armour layout will not be available.

With the release of the update following 0.6.3, the submarine will be removed along with its Commander, but the port slot will be available for use by the player even after the event.

Ship Appearance Changes

We improved the appearance of Premium Tier II and III ships using a special technology for high-quality rendering of thin elements (mostly the ship’s rigging). This correction will not affect performance. The following ships have been improved:

• Albany
• Smith
• Emden
• Mikasa
• Tachibana
• Diana
• König Albert
• Campbeltown
• Aurora
• Oleg
• Katori

Fixed minor visual artifacts that were present at low and medium graphics quality settings for the following ships:

• Okhotnik
• Anshan
• Akizuki
• Fletcher
• Podvoisky
• Des Moines

Dunkerque: Added practice guns to the main gun turrets. This change will not affect the combat performance of the ship.

Akizuki: Fixed the intersection of a torpedo tube with the crane beam and added a range finder.

Indianapolis: The Mk33 Director now works with the main battery guns.

Reworked the visual display of armour on the following ships in the Port:

• Tachibana
• Albany
• Yūbari

Added a permanent camouflage for Ryujo:

• -3% to detectability range by sea
• +4% to maximum dispersion of shells fired by the enemy attacking the player’s ship
• +30% to XP earned in battle

Camouflage cost: 1,000 Doubloons.

Technical Updates

Important: With the release of this version, we are officially discontinuing support of the Windows XP and Vista operating systems. Beginning with Update 0.6.4, these operating systems will cease to be supported by the game client. This decision is based on the fact that the operating systems have become outdated and are no longer supported by Microsoft. This will allow us to optimise the game client for a more convenient and faster operation on modern operating systems, and integrate new graphics technologies in the future.

Test Ships

The following French cruisers were added to the game client for testing by developers and supertesters: Bougainville, Jurien de la Gravière, Friant, Duguay-Trouin, Émile Bertin, La Galissonnière, Algérie, Charles Martel, Saint Louis, Henri IV and the Italian cruiser Duca d’Aosta.

These ships are not available for purchase and research but players may encounter them in battle.