Development blog

Operations & Commanders & Patches, oh my!

That's right, it's time to discuss some of the incoming content for Update 13.5. Strap in and read along about the continuation of our D-Day Operations as well as some other goodies being added into the game.

D-Day Operations

In our 80th Anniversary of D-Day DevBlog we outlined a total of three operations that were joining the game in acknowledgment of one of the most notable amphibious operations in military history. Two of those Operations are coming in Update 13.5, so read below as we provide some supplemental details on these exciting additions.

Atlantic Wall Defense

As the name of the Operation suggests, it's time to play a little defense. You will take control of Tier V-VII German Destroyers in an effort to stop or delay the Allied invasion force from destroying their coastal batteries. Don't own Tier V-VII German Destroyers? No worries! For those that don't own suitable ships, rental vessels will be provided. In fact, even if you DO own ships that are usable in this Operation, you'll still have access to these rentals, and for good reason: these rental ships will come in unique configurations. Some examples of these alterations include the addition of the Exhaust Smoke consumable and the Hydroacoustic Search consumable with an increased radius of ship and torpedo detection detection. 

The Allied fleet was spotted by German spy balloons and planes and will be composed of multiple waves, with the last wave comprised of powerful Battleships determined to destroy the coastal fortifications. German High Command has also warned you about at least one Aircraft Carrier present. Additionally, player-controlled destroyers will be outfitted with the Drop Mine Field consumable, which is the very same one used during the Pinata Hunt event. Once the Operation begins, you will have a couple of minutes to lay down as many minefields as you can. Once the Allied attack begins, Germain air forces will be pinned down by the British Cruiser Dido. As a result, the Drop Mine Field consumable will be blocked until the Dido is destroyed. Your main goal will be to deploy minefields to protect your forces and coastal artillery, with the bonus goals being to destroy the Allied Destroyers, destroy the Aircraft Carrier, defend as many coastal guns as possible, and to survive until reinforcements arrive. But that's not all! There will be 1 bonus objective that will be assigned randomly - either destroy enemy ships OR destroy enemy planes!

Finally, if you lose a player-controlled ally, all is not lost! Your ship will receive an extra buff each time you lose an ally, similarly to the last year's The Last Voyage of Transylvania Operation. However, this time you'll also get a passive health regeneration that will activate on the remaining ships to continue giving you and your companions a fighting chance!

Attack on Omaha Beach

In the last two weeks of Update 13.5, the Attack on Omaha Beach Operation will become active! Taking place on the same map and just mere minutes after the Atlantic Wall Defense Operation, you will play with Tiers V-VII ships from the U.S., U.K., Commonwealth, France, Netherlands and some ships from the European Navies. Several damaged Allied ships are in the area, unable to attack or move but protected by a smoke screen. However, that smoke is not going to last forever. Once the smoke dissipates, the German forces will persistently attack the disabled ships. It is your mission to reach these ships and rescue their crews by staying in the vicinity. It won't be as easy as it sounds, as swarms of German Schnellboots are rushing in to attack, supplemented by minefields as well as a tough final stand-off with the surviving German Destroyers still near the shore from the previous Operation!

As mentioned, the main goal of this scenario is to rescue the crews of damaged vessels. Additional tasks are to destroy all of the Schnellboots, escort the attacking force once it arrives and starts heading toward the beach, destroy all the shore guns, defeat the remaining Destroyers, and have half of your team still standing at the end of it all! 

Classified Documents and Operation Rewards

As with the first D-Day Operation, the two above Scenarios will include the use of Classified Documents! To recap, you can acquire these Classified Documents by unlocking the Intelligence Folders from the reward track in the Operation rewards. With the completion of each folder, you will be rewarded with a random Classified Document, with each document having three levels - Classified, Secret or Top Secret. These documents will give you different modifiers/buffs against certain enemy types with increasing bonuses depending on the level of document you have (Classified is the base level, and Top Secret is the highest level). Feel free to check out our 80th Anniversary of D-Day DevBlog for more information on Classified Documents and infographics of the rewards. 

In addition to Intelligence Folders, the second and third reward tracks will open along with the start of these operations! Some of the more notable rewards in the tracks will be:

• The Invasion Stripes permanent camouflage for the VIII US Cruiser Baltimore
• The Force of Liberation permanent camouflage for the VII UK Destroyer Jervis
• Commander William Tennant
• The Sword of Freedom patch
• The Ruse of War patch
• D-Day Containers (upon completion of extra levels)

 

Clan Battles Season 26 - "Vulture"

Format: 7 vs. 7 playing Tier X ships

Game Maps and Modes

North, Hotspot, Islands of Ice, Warrior's Path, Sleeping Giant, Crash Zone Alpha and Northern Waters. Battles on all maps are fought in the "Clans: Domination" mode.

The following rules apply for all maps:

• Number of Key Areas: 3
• Capture time: 30 seconds
• Scoring of capture points: 3 points every 4 seconds

Ship Restrictions

Just like in previous seasons, certain restrictions on the numbers of specific ships per team apply in Clan Battles.

The restrictions can be set for the entire duration of a season or for specific periods of time. For example, they might be set after the first 2 weeks of a season then replaced with different restrictions a few weeks later. This allows us to promptly react to the current state of the season.

Season 26 will begin with the following restrictions:

• Players will be able to go into battle aboard cruisers, destroyers, and battleships.
• No more than two battleships per team.
• There are no restrictions on cruisers or destroyers.
• Napoli, Petropavlovsk, Louisiana, or Alexander Nevsky cannot be taken into battles.
• Limited the number of certain ships. One team cannot have more than one ship from the following groups:
  - Kléber, Marceau and Marseille
  - Moskva, Stalingrad and Des Moines
  - Småland and Gdańsk
  - Ohio, Kremlin and St. Vincent

During the season, based on our statistical analysis, new restrictions may be applied and existing restrictions may be changed. We'll announce any changes separately on our Development Blog. Information about any changes will also be available in the game client.

More details about the new season of Clan Battles will be available on our website.

To celebrate the start of the new season we added two new achievements:

• The King Vulture achievement
• The Hurricane. King Vulture achievement

Content Additions AND Changes

Update 13.5 is bringing an abundance of items and small changes to the game, so we've outlined them below and sorted them by category for your perusal! 

Summer Days:

• Pan-American Commander Federica Estival with an individual voiceover
• Spanish Commander Martina Verano with an individual voiceover
• The Beach Party flag

• The Treasure of the Sea Premium container

• Changes to the Picnic by the Sea container:

Three Kingdoms:

• Tier VIII Pan-Asian Destroyer Zhu Que
• Tier IX Pan-Asian Battleship Xuan Wu

Note: The Zhu Que and the Xuan Wu are ships based on the Kidd and Iowa respectively, and thus have similar characteristics to them. However, if we ever make balance changes to these ships, they will be applied separately from the ships they are based on (and vice-versa). This is due to them not having access to the nation-specific features, such as unique commanders or upgrades.

• Pan-Asian Commander Zhuge Liang with an individual voiceover
• Pan-Asian Commander Zhou Yu with an individual voiceover
• Zhu Que — Fire Deity of the South, Xuan Wu — Water Deity of the North, and Big Dipper flags

• Three Kingdoms container
• Three Kingdoms Premium container

Note: The contents of these containers will be revealed at a later date.

Miscellaneous:

• The Global Sport flag
• The Battle of the Philippine Sea patch
• The Temper, Temper patch
• Four Commonwealth emblems
• New portraits for standard Spanish, Italian and Pan-Asian Commanders

Container changes:

With the start of Update 13.5 Distant Voyages Premium container, Wings of Freedom container and Wings of Freedom premium container contents will be changed. Due to these changes, starting with Update 13.5 all of the previously mentioned containers will automatically be opened for all players who have them available on their accounts, so players will obtain the current rewards from the container before any changes take place.

Distant Voyages Premium container:

 Wings of Freedom container:

Wings of Freedom Premium container:

Players will also be able to purchase Johnston in the Armory and Premium shop.

*13.05.2024. Fixed an error in the text regarding Johnston: Players will also be able to purchase Johnston in the Armory and Premium shop.

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.