Round 2 of the Public Test will run from 21 February at 17:30 CET until 26 February at 14:00 CET (UTC+1).
Round 2 Changes
All public test accounts will be wiped for Round 2. Please see below for the updated missions and rewards.
- On “Northern lights” map, the outer control areas have been moved to the western part and are under control of respective teams from the start of the battle. The amount of points gained by holding the areas is now 4 points every 9 seconds. These changes are designed to reduce the number of quick battles and further differentiate the gameplay on this map from that of ‘North’.
- Fixed bugs which caused shells to explode against invisible obstacles near islands on the map “Atlantic”.
- When national voiceovers are enabled in the Scenarios mode, voice orders will now be issued in the voiceover language selected in the game client, bypassing the national voiceover modifier.
Operation Hermes balance-related changes:
- Made the additional task to destroy aircraft harder.
- The rewards for completing Operation Hermes were changed: you will get 50 Doubloons for 3 stars, 100 Doubloons for 4 stars, 150 Doubloons for 5 stars. Also, ambient lighting on the map was tweaked towards lighter tones.
- Fixed a bug which required a double mouse click to set priority targets for the secondary/AA battery.
- Removed the Service Record level and patch picture from being displayed when the mouse is hovered over a player’s nick in the post-battle statistics and in battle.
- Fixed a bug which caused Ship Status data that pops up when the “H” key is pressed to overlap with the Minimap interface.
- Fixed a bug which in certain cases could cause the game client to freeze when switching to an allied ship in the Free Camera mode after the player’s own ship was destroyed.
Round 1 Changes
French Battleships
Don’t miss your chance to test out two new French battleships – 
VII Lyon and VIII Richelieu – during the Public Test by completing a dedicated combat mission.
VII Lyon can riddle an enemy ship with shells by firing her 4×4 turrets for a salvo of 16 340mm guns, which is more than any other Tier VII ship. VIII Richelieu carries both of her 380mm main gun turrets on her bow and is equipped with “Engine Boost”, a consumable not typically found on a battleship. You’ll be able to put the ships to good use in Operation “Hermes” and “The Gold of France” Campaign.
Operation “Hermes”
In the new Operation, you will need to escort French ships laden with gold at the start of their journey to American shores. You will encounter numerous German patrol boats that will stop at nothing to take the gold away.
Operation “Hermes” will be subject to particular limitations on ships that will let you plunge deeper into the atmosphere of the event. To be eligible, you need any of the Tier VII Cruisers of the Allied nations (U.K., U.S.A. and France) or French Tier VII-VIII Battleships. Once Update 0.7.2 goes live, Operation “Hermes” will be available for 14 days as the “Operation of the Week”. Afterwards, it will be added to the pool of Operations for weekly rotation.
To defeat superior German forces, take advantage of a thunderstorm front, a new in-game mechanic that will at certain stages of a battle give your ship a concealment bonus, cap ships’ line of sight, and reduce the duration of the increased ship detectability period after firing a main gun shell to 5 seconds (by default: 20 sec). Shell dispersion will be increased too, but only for ships affected by the violent weather.
Primary task:
- Escort the “Flagship” to her ultimate destination point.
Please note that the rewards granted during the Public Test may differ from those issued after Update 0.7.2 releases.
“The Gold of France” Campaign
Update 0.7.2 ushers in a new campaign called “The Gold of France”. This is a limited-duration campaign that will only be available until the release of Update 0.7.3. The missions of the campaign will be subject to certain theme-specific restrictions:
- The first task of each mission can be tried with any ship of Tier V and above in Random Battles
- The second one will require a French ship of Tier VI and above
- Third one will be available for the French destroyer
VI Aigle - For the fourth task you’ll need a French Battleship of Tier VIII or above.
Please note that during the Public Test, all task conditions will be noticeably simplified while the number of stars awarded for performing each task will be increased. Some tasks may be unavailable.
Completing the entire campaign on the test server will let you check out the new permanent camouflage for VIII Richelieu and the French-themed patches, rewarding you with a nice bonus on the live server.
New Camouflage Colours for Japanese Ships
Update 0.6.9 brought in a new collection called “Yamamoto Isoroku”. As you progress through the collection, you unlock various features like being able to add an alternative colour for standard camo patterns (“Type 1”, “Type 2”, “Type 5” and “Type 6”). Now you can do the same with permanent camouflages as well. By joining the Public Test, you’ll get a chance to check out the new “Japanese” palette by participating in a single battle. We added this option in response to numerous requests from players and we’re hoping it will add colour to World of Warships.
Once the Update is live, players will be able to obtain new colour patterns by completing the corresponding “Yamamoto Isoroku” subcollections:
- “Uniform” for destroyers
- “Uniform Items” for cruisers
- “Rewards” for battleships
- “Ships” for aircraft carriers
If you have already completed all subcollections, the colour patterns will become available automatically. An alternative colour pattern for permanent camouflages will have a uniform design and be exclusively applicable to Japanese ships.
Content Changes
We regret to inform you that our collaboration with Steven Seagal has come to an end. For that reason, all references to, and visuals of, Steven will be removed from the game. With the release of Update 0.7.2, we’ll replace Steven Seagal with Commander John Doe, change the Commander’s portrait, remove the relevant animation from 
IX Missouri, and apply the standard U.S. voiceover to the new Commander. John Doe will retain the same enhanced skills (“Expert Loader” and “Expert Marksman”), and keep all skill points earned with Steven Seagal.
Please note that once Update 0.7.2 is rolled out, the IX Missouri will be unavailable for purchase for Free XP in the game client.
Map Updates
In response to players’ requests, we continue to enhance in-game maps, and this time we focused on re-tweaking the “The Atlantic” and “Warrior’s Path” maps.
We made quite a few changes to “The Atlantic” map: we shifted the key areas in the Domination mode closer to each other. The islands initially located in the southwest were moved closer to the centre; we reduced the size of the central island, reworked the islands in the northeast and added extra cover (concealment) points. By introducing these changes, we aim to diversify combat tactics at different distances and further enhance the balance between various types of ships on this map.
On the “Warrior’s Path” map, we added two islands that may serve as a cover. We hope this change will make the gameplay on this map more enjoyable.
Optimisation of Game Mechanics
We continue to keep a close eye on how our in-game mechanics operate and have fixed several omissions which could cause confusion, for instance when a ship’s citadel could be penetrated by a HE shell at a point where no such penetration is supposed to occur. We have also fixed bugs to do with abnormally low torpedo damage inflicted to full-HP destroyers, or when standard (as opposed to deepwater) torpedoes could pass under destroyers causing no damage at all, plus other frustrating technical glitches.
From now on, a ship’s magazine can detonate only if the ship has 75% or less of her HP pool remaining. Previously, this indicator equalled 100% which could result in highly frustrating detonations right in the beginning of a battle after the very first hit on the ship. From now on, ships with full HP will not detonate.
Visual Effects
We’ve received a lot of feedback about difficulties with aiming at ships which come under massive fire due to a large number of accompanying visual effects. To make aiming easier, we’ve tweaked water splashes rising after a shell hits the water, making them fall down faster. This will increase the visibility of a ship which falls under massive crossfire.
We enhanced the visual display of the effects of a ship’s wake tracks and all types of sea foam: we enhanced texture detail; added microtexture to the seafoam surface; and improved transition between, and the mixing of, various types of sea foams (near-shore sea surface foam, wind-induced foam, and foam in a ship’s wake tracks).
Other Improvements
- The Campaigns interface is now even more comfortable! Pop-up hints for a campaign’s tasks now inform players of the possibility to complete tasks again (anew).
- Good news for 4K fans! We’ve added additional Minimap zooming steps for the 3840×2160 resolution.
