Development blog

Submarines return to testing after the break. See what’s changed since the last session.

For this next round of tests, we tried to address two main issues highlighted by the community: the difficulty for surface ships to detect and interact with submarines; and the inconsistent damage dealt by submarines themselves. As a result, we are hoping the interactions between subs and surface ships will become more intuitive and predictable for both sides. To help catch you up on all the tweaks, here’s a quick rundown of all the changes and their effects on submarine and anti-submarine gameplay:

In Summary

Anti-submarine changes

• Surface ships have new ways of keeping track of submarines:
  • Sonar pings emitted by submarines are now visible to surface ships and can be used to determine their approximate position.
  • When a submarine is hit, oil will leak and rise to the surface, giving opponents a more precise reading on its movements and location.

Since the version is currently under development, for now we are able to provide RU gameplay screenshots only. We apologize for the inconvenience

• The Depth Charge Airstrike now reloads faster, allowing ships to quickly and effectively react to the above two mechanics.
• Depth Charges from Airstrike now have a 100% chance to cause flooding on submarines, thus dealing major damage to submarines.
  • However, submarines can only have 1 active flood at a time, so a large number of airstrikes at the same time will not be very effective against a submarine.
• Surfaced submarines have the ability to detect a ship that is firing in/behind smoke, but submarines at periscope depth can only detect this ship at the assured acquisition range.

Submarine changes

• Submarines can now choose between 3 depths (surface, periscope, and maximum depth), thus making the decision simpler for the sub commander and easier to interpret for opponents. Subs still can choose at which depth they want to be.

• There are two types of torpedoes:
  • Acoustic (Homing) torpedoes — more consistent hits, but less damage
  • Conventional torpedoes — more difficult to hit, but higher damage
• The Damage Control Party now has a limited number of charges, forcing sub commanders to be more cautious.
  • Using all the charges at the beginning of a battle means that at the end you will have no answer to the oil leaks and flooding caused by depth charges.

Submarine Combat

There are 3 depth positions that a submarine can switch between: surface, periscope, and maximum depth.

The time a submarine can spend below surface depth is limited by its Dive Capacity meter. A submarine can only interact with key areas (for example, capture them for their team) when at surface depth.

This table briefly covers all the different possible interactions:

Consumables:

• Damage Control Party now has a limited number of charges.
• Hydrophone now has an unlimited number of charges and gives more frequent updates on enemy movements.
• Submarines can also use the Enhanced Rudder Gears or the Reserve Battery Unit consumables.

Acoustic Homing torpedoes and sonar pings:

• These torpedoes sacrifice damage for a better chance at hitting their target thanks to the homing mechanic. They also have a low chance to cause flooding.
• The first hit on target with a sonar ping activates homing, the second makes the homing more precise.
• Sonar pings are visible to opponents within 8 km. They can help determine the approximate location of the submarine.
• A torpedo will home in on the last ship pinged and remember its target. Further pings made after the torpedo is launched will not influence it.
• Each torpedo will respond to the last successful ping before its launch, or (provided there were no other active pings before launch) with the first successful ping after its launch. Also, the torpedo will still be able to improve its guidance parameters if the first ping hits a target before the torpedo launch, and the second — after the launch.
• A targeted ship can nullify an active ping by activating Damage Control Party. If a torpedo was already homing in on a target that activates DCP, it will continue without guidance and ignore any sonar pings on different ships. Once the ship’s DCP wears off and the submarine pings it again, the torpedo will remember that it was its original target and begin homing in on it again.
• This can be used to switch to a different target while maintaining the already launched torpedoes on their own target

• Sonar pings can be fired and stored on several targets at once. In this way, various options can be prepared for a subsequent attack.

Conventional torpedoes:

• The second type of torpedo available to submarines cannot home in on targets but deals higher damage (similar to destroyers).
• Their range and speed are decreased, while their arming distance and detection range by enemies is increased.
• Sonar pings do not affect them in any way, so pinging will only serve to give away your position.

Oil slicks:

• If a submarine is hit either at periscope or maximum depth, oil slicks appear on the water surface that are visible to enemies. They will help surface ships track the submarine's location and direction.
• An oil leak can be repaired either with the Damage Control Party consumable or by surfacing.

Dive Capacity:

• The Dive Capacity meter depletes at a lower rate when a submarine is detected than in previous iterations
• The Dive Capacity recharges at a faster rate than before, but the maximum charge has been lowered by around 25%

Anti-submarine combat

Sonar pings:

• Sonar pings emitted by subs are visible within an 8 km radius, approximately.
• Sonar ping detection works differently from torpedo detection — each ship can only see pings within its own detection radius.
• When a ping hits your ship, its location is indicated on the ship model and health bar.
• The active effect of a sonar ping can be nullified by using Damage Control Party.

Dealing damage to submarines:

• Shells, bombs, rockets, and torpedoes launched by ships or aircraft can only hit subs when at surface or periscope depths.
• Ships have either ship-mounted Depth Charges or the Depth Charge Airstrike armaments to combat submarines.
  • Ship-mounted Depth Charges are used at close range, while the range of the Airstrike depends on ship type and tier.
  • The Airstrike reloads quite fast and has a small drop area, with each charge dealing low damage and the drop area being small. This makes the charge impact density higher and allows, if used successfully, for multiple charges to hit a submarine at once.
  • Depth Charges from Airstrike now have a 100% chance to cause flooding, but submarines can only have 1 active flood at a time.

Anti-submarine consumables:

• Hydroacoustic Search can detect a submarine at any depth, though when a sub is at maximum depth, it can only be detected within a horizontal radius of 2 km.

• Surveillance Radar can only detect surfaced submarines.

Dealing with submarines hidden underwater:

• Submarines can only spend a limited amount of time underwater because of their limited Dive Capacity.

• When a submarine is hit, oil will leak and rise to the surface, unless the submarine does not take a countermeasure. Oil leaks will give a more precise reading on its movements and location, even when it’s hiding underwater.

These changes will be tested in Update 0.11.2. The exact numbers and values ​​are not final at the moment, so we’ve only shared approximate data. We invite you to try out the new changes on the Public Test or with the release of Update 0.11.2 on the main server. We are looking forward to gathering player feedback on this upcoming test iteration and will define further steps in the introduction of subs to the game based on the results of this test.

Please note that all information in the development blog is preliminary. Announced adjustments and features may change multiple times during testing. The final information will be published on our game's website.