80 years ago this June, Allied forces undertook the largest amphibious operation in military history. Totaling nearly 7,000 ships and vessels of all types, a massive invasion fleet drawing from the naval forces of eight nations transported thousands of troops in a head-on assault on Fortress Europe. In honor of this incredible military operation, three new operations are coming to World of Warships in a new event battle type!
Each operation makes up a part of our own retelling of the D-Day events. These scenarios will last two weeks each, include battleships, cruisers, and destroyers of tiers V-VII, and will accommodate up to 6 players in a division. Don't have a suitable ship? We have you covered - rental ships will be available to all players for these operations.
For the first operation in Update 13.4, take command of the Allied vanguard spearheading the landings on Utah Beach; you'll have to fight through enemy naval forces and suppress coastal defenses to ensure the safe arrival of your landing craft. Command a battleship, cruiser, or destroyer with ship options from U.K., U.S.A, Commonwealth, France, Netherlands, or some of the ships of European navies.
In the second operation, taking place from the start of Update 13.5, experience the desperate defense of Omaha beach; you'll take command of a German destroyer squadron and face off against superior Allied naval power to buy enough time for the preparation of shore defenses and the arrival of reinforcements. Utilize all the tricks up your sleeve to guarantee success, including minefields!
In the last two weeks of Update 13.5, the final operation will once again be from the Allied perspective. Witness the aftermath of your success in the previous operation and launch a daring rescue operation of critically damaged Allied vessels and crews - then get payback by destroying defenses and securing a landing zone for Allied forces.
Unlike previous thematic operations, with several difficulty options to choose from, the D-Day operations will only have a single level, and completing the primary objective will not be the hardest part. However, we've brought back stars for completing additional missions for the duration of D-Day event. These missions will grant you extra stars and increase the overall difficulty of the operation.
Earning these extra stars will enable quick progression through a special rewards track in the Port. There are three parts to the reward track with each one unlocking as each new operation becomes available. The rewards for all three parts of the main track include new content like historical Commanders Robert Jaujard and William Tennant, as well as new permanent camouflages "Force of Liberation" and "Invasion Stripes" for Jervis and Baltimore. Additionally, finishing each part of the track in good order will unlock extra levels and rewards - "More Signals" and new "D-Day" containers. D-Day containers are unique to this event and may even drop a variety of premium vessels, including a few brand-new ones! Be sure to check out the container contents below.
Intelligence
As part of the Operations commemorating D-Day, we'll be introducing a special event mechanic called "Intelligence". Intelligence will give bonuses against specific types of enemies, with three different levels: Confidential, Secret, and Top Secret, with additional bonuses for each level. For example:
- Intelligence on enemy coastal defenses may provide increased armor penetration against these structures at Confidential level, reduce the chance that they set you on fire at Secret level, and increase your own accuracy against them at Top Secret level.
- Intelligence on enemy destroyers may increase your gun accuracy when firing on them at Confidential level, while reducing damage taken from their torpedoes and increasing the damage they take from your shells at Secret and Top Secret levels, respectively.
Note that Intelligence modifiers will only affect the interactions of your own ship with enemy ships and structures; they will not assist allies directly and bonuses are not shared with teammates. They'll have to bring their own!
There will be a total of twelve unique options available to choose from - 6 for Allies and 6 for Axis. Captains may choose up to 3 to bring into battle at once and may even modify their choices for a short duration after the start of the battle! Mix and match your choices to best fit your playstyle and each operation - in case you can't decide, you will automatically receive suitable options.
One Intelligence option each for Allies and Axis will be available from the start of the event; earn additional choices by acquiring "Classified Documents" envelopes from the event rewards track. Since each Intelligence option only needs to be acquired once, progressing deeper into the rewards track will increase the likelihood of obtaining Secret and Top Secret levels. Finishing the rewards track also guarantees access to all available Intelligence; we hope you'll enjoy discovering combinations that fit your playstyle just right!
New D-Day Content Additions
In addition to the above content, we have a number of new items that will be added to the game in honor of the 80th anniversary of D-Day.
First, as mentioned above, we have two brand new containers that include a chance to acquire some brand new ships such as Montcalm, Orion '44, and the legendary Rodney! You can see their contents as well as their drop percentages in the tables below.
- D-Day container
5x Special economic bonuses of the same type - 21% for each type
1x Revolutionary permanent camouflage - 3.90%
1x Union Jack permanent camouflage - 3.90%
1900 Free XP - 7.80%
0.3% chance to receive one of the following ships:
Belfast '43
Stord '43
Nelson
0,1% chance to receive one of the following ships:
Rodney
Montcalm
Orion '44
If you already own all the ships from this container, you will instead receive 1900 Free XP.
*29.04.2024 Fixed an error in the description of the container: You will receive Free XP if you have all the ships that can drop from it.
- D-Day Premium container
14x Rare economic bonuses of the same type - 12% for each type
1x Revolutionary permanent camouflage - 20%
1x Union Jack permanent camouflage - 20%
19,000 Free XP - 8%
3% chance to receive one of the following ships:
Belfast '43
Stord '43
Nelson
1% chance to receive one of the following ships:
Rodney
Montcalm
Orion '44
If you already own all the ships from this container, you will instead receive 19,000 Free XP.
*29.04.2024 Fixed an error in the description of the container: You will receive Free XP if you have all the ships that can drop from it.
Players will also be able to purchase Rodney Montcalm or Orion'44 in the Premium shop.
Moreover, we have a variety of other items being added with the purpose of recognizing D-Day and the brave souls who took part in it.
- We've added 4 different patches and 1 new flag commemorating the anniversary of D-Day.
- Lastly, we're excited to announce that we are adding a new port into the game for this event. During the D-day event, you'll be able to access the new Port by clicking the D-Day banner in Port or by selecting the D-Day battle type. Your previous Port in the Port selection window will not be affected by this change and you can easily return to it at any time.
We hope you will join us in saluting those who fought on D-Day (and beyond) with this special event!
You can also check the D-Day video on our Youtube channel.
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.