Development blog

The year isn't over yet, Captains! As you know, we still have plenty of exciting activities waiting for you across our virtual seas this Holiday season. But while the fireworks go off in the background, we continue hard at work on exciting innovations for the coming year—and right now we're ready to lift the curtain on a few of them!

 

Special Operations

With the new year, it's time for some updates to Operations! For the duration of Update 14.0, temporary versions of high-tier Operations will be added, featuring special "Flagships" leading the enemy fleet. Flagships feature new mechanics and will apply various effects to their nearby allies, adding extra depth and difficulty to Operations.

Here are the details:

• Special Operations will run alongside standard Operations and will be available as a separate battle type for the duration of Update 14.0. The following is a list of Operations which will have a special version:

• You can go into battle against Flagships while playing Battleships, Cruisers, Destroyers, and Aircraft Carriers of Tiers IX-X.
• Flagships boast increased HP and apply effects to nearby allies within a certain range. Additionally, each Flagship will have a key vulnerability to a certain type of damage.
  • For example, features of a Flagship may include:
    • Increasing nearby allies' shell penetration
    • Increasing nearby allies' speed
    • The Flagship itself is vulnerable to AP and SAP shells
    • If a certain amount of damage is dealt to a bot with AP and SAP shells and it is destroyed while within a Flagship's area of effect, it will detonate, dealing damage in a larger radius.
• Flagships will be highlighted in battle with a special marker.
• Players will face a total of three Flagships with unique attributes throughout Update 14.0. In the first three weeks of the Update, one of the Flagships will lead the enemy fleet in Special Operations. They will rotate weekly, and you will know which Flagship you will encounter in each week's battles. In the final week of the Update, players will face all three Flagships simultaneously. Note that Flagships will not apply effects to each other.

New Ship Concept

We also have something special prepared to enter testing with 14.0. Three new ships, based on existing hulls, will enter testing with new gameplay concepts compared to their original counterparts.

The three ships, planned for one of our future temporary events, are:

French Cruiser Metz, Tier VIII (Based on Toulon)

The unrealized design of a 17,500-ton battlecruiser (“Navire de ligne de 17500 t”) which was developed in France in the mid-1920s—one of the forerunners of the Dunkerque-class battleships.

The ship bears the name of the city in Lorraine, an important region for France in its rivalry with Germany.

Soviet Cruiser Vyazma, Tier IX (Based on Borodino)

A “Small battleship” (“Malyi linkor”) design, which was developed in the U.S.S.R. in the early 1950s. Such kind of ships were expected to operate in groups, being able to confront a full-fledged battleship.

The battleship’s name comes from the battle of Vyazma—a Russian victory during the 1812 French invasion of Russia.

American Battleship Oregon, Tier X (Based on Georgia)

A "fast battleship" design that preceded the Iowa-class. The ship's primary armament consisted of 457 mm guns in twin turrets developed in 1938, simultaneously with the design of the ship itself.

The ship is named after the 33rd state of the U.S.

 

We'll share images and the parameters of these ships, as well as details about how they will be made available in later publications. For now, let's go over their unique features!

These ships like to live life on the edge. They will get increased accuracy and reduced main battery reload time based on how many hitpoints they've lost. These ships will begin battle with a partially depleted health pool. Players may choose to repair—at the cost of reducing these bonuses—or play dangerously and attempt to make the most of them. Additionally, all modifiers that depend on hitpoint percentage, such as the Adrenaline Rush commander skill, will function normally, giving these ships even more of a punch.

Also, Captains will enter battle with access to a limited stock of improved Armor Piercing ammunition, which can be used via the Burst Fire Mode. It will feature double salvoes with much higher damage per minute than standard firing, but the drawback is that it has a limited range that cannot be increased. The improved characteristics of these shells will include but are not limited to ballistics, ricochet angles, and fuse time. This ammunition can be thought of like a consumable; captains will always enter battle with the same number of shells each time and will need to choose the proper moment to make use of their limited supply. After running out, only regular Armor Piercing shells with normal characteristics will be available.

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.