WoWS: [Round 2] Public Test 0.6.13

Source: WoWS Portal

We are pleased to present to you the Developer Bulletin for Update 0.6.13, which covers all the latest changes you can dive into in the latest Public Test! Read more about it in our Developer Bulletin below, and prepare to jump into the Public Test and try the changes out for yourself.

This update will be relatively small, and is mostly being implemented for maintenance purposes, though many of the changes were suggested by players in their feedback. We hope you like and appreciate the new changes!

Round 2 of the Public Test will begin on 1 November at 17:30 CET until 3 November at 13:00 CET (UTC +1). New resources will be provided for Round 2, with all resources from Round 1 being wiped.

Important! Because the version update is still being tested, the information in this Bulletin is tentative and reflects the state of game development at the time of publication. Certain changes and new features may be stripped or implemented in a different way by the time the final version of this update goes live. Screenshots, specific values of certain characteristics, and details of in-game mechanics will not necessarily be relevant after the update is released.

Round 2 Changes

Try out the Alabama, Lo Yang, and Prinz Eugen in Round 2! Here’s some more changes to expect:

• Fixed a bug that led to the icon of the air groups selection not displaying the waiting indicator in combat
• Fixed a bug where graphics settings might not be correctly set when the game is launched for the first time
• Fixed a bug causing the clan-tag of the player to overlap the player’s name in the lists of teams in battle
• Fixed a bug that resulted in incorrect display of visibility from aircraft when firing air defence by pressing the ‘H’ key
• Fixed bug where user-assigned control keys on ‘Num Lock’, ‘Caps Lock’, and ‘Insert’ were displayed with technical text, and not with the button icon
• Fixed a bug due to which the sale cost of the ship was not shown in the center of the system messages
• Fixed a bug that in some cases, the game client was not closed when you quit the game
• Fixed a bug where visibility was increased for some ships (visibility exceeded the parameter “MK fire range”), after a shot from main caliber
• Fixed a bug when a long name (nickname) of a player was not shortened in post battle statistics

Round 1 Changes 

Changes in AA Defences Mechanics

Update 0.6.13 bulletin introduces improved mechanics for AA guns. The ship’s detectability range is now always equal to the maximum AA guns’ firing range when they are firing at enemy aircraft. The detectability range algorithm when the ship is firing from AA guns is similar to the detectability mechanics of ships when they are delivering fire from their main guns, but is applicable only to the ship’s detectability by air.

This approach will eliminate situations when ships with low detectability range by air can fire at enemy aircraft, remaining undetected.

Fire Extinguishing Time

One of the major balance changes will be the reduction of time required to extinguish a fire on cruisers and destroyers. Extinguishing one source of fire will take 30 seconds at the most. With the ‘Damage Control System Modification 2’ upgrade and the signal flag ‘India Yankee’ mounted, and with the ‘Basics of Survivability’ skill mastered, the fire extinguishing time can be as short as 17.3 seconds!

This duration of fire extinguishing will help new players in World of Warships to improve their battle performance, and it will also help battle-hardened sea wolves to use the consumables in a more efficient way, reducing the excessive disparity between ‘Damage Control Party I’ and ‘Damage Control Party II’ consumables.

British Cruisers Smoke Generator

Smoke generator action time for British cruisers has been increased from 7 to 15 seconds. This change will help players to use the ‘Smoke Generator’ consumable in a more efficient way, and hide their British cruisers under the smoke screen even when the consumable is activated as the ship is moving at a high speed.

Other Balance Changes

In order to make playing some ships easier, the following parameters were modified:

• For the German Tier V destroyer T-22 in stock configuration: standard firing range is 9.1 km, detectability range by air is 2.96 km, and detectability range by sea is 6.52 km.
• For the Soviet Tier V destroyer Podvoisky, the main guns reload time was decreased from 9.2 seconds to 8.1 seconds. For the Soviet Tier V cruiser Kirov, the main battery reload time was reduced from 15 seconds to 13.5 seconds, and the shell velocity was increased from 800 m/s to 920 m/s.
• For all American and Soviet destroyers, the ‘Defensive Fire’ consumable effectiveness was improved. Now, activating this consumable makes the AA guns’ aura 4 times more efficient. Thus, the ‘Defensive Fire’ consumable becomes more competitive among other consumables in the corresponding slot.

Visual Changes

We added graphical tips to the battle loading screen. The tips the player sees on the battle loading screen depend on the type of the selected ship, its armament, and the player’s account level. The tips will provide the following information:

• Roles and goals of the selected ship type
• Ship control basics
• Ship manoeuvres
• Difference between HE and AP shells, etc.

In Update 0.6.13, we also changed the look of the tech tree. This latest innovation improves the elegance and informative nature of this section. Now all the ships that you have purchased are surrounded by a white frame, and for the rest, their value is shown in experience and credits directly on the icon.