WoWS – Developer Bulletin 0.8.5

Can you survive the Post-Apocalypse and stay alive to the end of the fight between four teams? Test the updated shell penetration mechanics and take part in a Ranked Battle Sprint!

IMPORTANT! Because the Update is still being tested, the information in this Bulletin is tentative and reflects the state of game development at the time of its publication. Some changes and new features may be removed entirely or implemented differently by the time the 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.

Rogue Wave

The power of a once great civilization is now its history, and the glorious city lies in ruins, destroyed and flooded. These toxic seas are all yours now: join the battle and become a top combatant in the fight for Fuel Tokens!

Battles will be played in an uncommon format for World of Warships: four teams will fight on the same battleground. The small team size will allow you to enjoy the battle playing either alone, or as a part of Division. Be cautious and don’t take risks without good reason—only the last team standing will win the fight.

The Savage Battle commences on the outskirts of the destroyed city. At the start, your ship has no consumable charges because the world is on the brink of collapse, meaning that everyone is forced to fight for the limited resources. Activate zones that contain bonuses, and collect the charges to replenish your stock of consumables, but watch out, as the opposing teams are on high alert and can attack you from any direction!

Besides your enemies, you also need to watch out for the Wild Fire that’s steadily engulfing the arena. Any ships that linger inside the Wild Fire will continuously lose their HP.

We have specially modified nine destroyers for the Savage Battle, divided into three classes.

Octopus

Ships with low detectability, armed with powerful torpedoes to pulverize everyone who would stand in their way. Their main guns function similarly to secondary batteries and are operated by the artificial intelligence that was passed to us from the great ancients. It’s noteworthy though, that the main battery is not the Octopuses’ best card. X Z-52, X Shimakaze, and X Daring served as the prototypes for this ship class.

Moray Eel

Rely on maneuvering! Ships of this class will ideally suit fans of aggressive close quarters brawls. Their major advantage is their maneuverability and powerful propulsion. Powerful main guns are operated by artificial intelligence, while the torpedoes deal moderate damage and are, in fact, slow. Destroyers X Yueyang, X Gearing, and X Kléber (a French Tier X destroyer that’s undergoing tests at the moment and will appear in game in the near future) were taken as the basis for the Moray Eel-class ships.

Barracuda

Take control over the ruinous winds! Expect high speeds, direct operation of their main battery guns, and torpedoes with moderate characteristics. While designing these ships, the engineers had their eyes on X Harugumo, X Grozovoi, and X Khabarovsk.

To get access to the next ship of the class, win several battles with the previous ship.


Armory

The rules of Rogue Wave are similar to those of the previous in-game events: there is one Stage available consisting of four Directives, with each containing ten missions. You’ll earn Fuel Tokens, various in-game items, and a new expendable camouflage for completing special combat missions and Directives in the new game mode.

Fuel Tokens are a new temporary resource that you can earn by playing Savage Battles, intended specifically for the Rogue Wave event. You can exchange your Fuel Tokens in the Armory for Post-Apocalyptic camouflages, credits, Premium Account, and a special reward—a new Premium ship. Which one, you ask? We prefer to keep the suspense until the last minute, and will share the details with you shortly before the upcoming Update’s release!

If the Post-Apocalypse catches your fancy then you can keep the permanent camouflages for the following Tier X destroyers as souvenirs: Z-52, Shimakaze, Daring, Yueyang, Gearing, Grozovoi, Harugumo, and Khabarovsk. These camos can be purchased with doubloons.

Please note that new content is distributed on the Public Test server differently from the main server.


Ranked Battle Sprints

Get ready for two new seasons of Ranked Battle Sprints, played in a 6 vs. 6 format with Tier VII ships. Season 5 battles will be played in Domination mode, and Season 6—in Epicenter mode.

As before, ten ranks are divided into two leagues: the Second League includes ranks 10–6 and the First League, ranks 5–1. Prepare your Tier VII ships and fight together with your friends in Divisions!


Other Changes

The look of the markers notifying players about new contents or news has been updated. Now, for new items of collections, insignias, campaigns, and news, a new icon with a counter is used. We’ve also updated the look of notifications seen on the banners in the Port.

Game Mechanics Improvements

The Public Test will include the updated mechanics for damage infliction to ships’ anti-torpedo bulges, secondary battery, and torpedo tube modules, as well as to any completely destroyed parts.

Now, when a shell penetrates a secondary battery module, a torpedo tube module, or a completely destroyed part of the ship, the dealt damage will be 10% of the maximum shell damage value. 100% of this damage can be restored using the Repair Party consumable.

Have you ever noticed that you received a “Penetration” ribbon for hitting an enemy ship’s bulge, but caused no damage to the enemy’s HP? Now we’re introducing a new ribbon in order to avoid deceiving our players. For penetrating the torpedo bulge without penetrating the next layer of armor, a special ribbon will be given to players—for shells, bombs, and rockets.


Other Changes

The look of the markers notifying players about new contents or news has been updated. Now, for new items of collections, insignias, campaigns, and news, a new icon with a counter is used. We’ve also updated the look of notifications seen on the banners in the Port.

In Update 0.8.5, new technology will be utilized for the Minimap which will allow the developers to introduce improvements to the game faster and in a more efficient way. The following changes have been introduced:

  • Coordinates of the squares are now located along the left and upper boundaries of the Minimap.
  • The Minimap rotation option has been moved to the in-battle Minimap settings.
  • Last known position markers of the enemy are now automatically enabled for all players.
  • Only long-range AA defense action radius is displayed on the Minimap.

Now, the Minimap displays only the necessary information, allowing players to use the displayed data in a more effective way, and not to lose oneself in the large number of indicators.