WoWS: Commander Skills Update

From WoWS Portal.

World of Warships is constantly evolving. New mechanics and ships with unique gameplay appear in the game on a regular basis. To ensure that Commander skills correspond to the current state of the game, we’re carrying out a large-scale update by adding new skills and changing the old ones.

Changing the Commander skill system will make it more flexible and convenient, and give you a choice between several effective loadout options instead of one ultimate go-to option. This will enable you to customize your ship to more precisely suit your playstyle. In addition to updating the Commander skills, we’ve revamped the interface and made it more comfortable to use the Commander system, as well as retrain and level up Commanders.

Summary

• We’ve added new skills and changed some of the old ones.
• Each Commander now has a separate skill section for each ship type. The skill section corresponding to the played ship type is active in battle.
• As skills have become more specialized and their total number has increased, the maximum possible number of Commander skill points has been increased from 19 to 21.
• We’ve added a skill recommendation system depending on the selected ship.
• Commanders with less than 21 skill points will additionally bring you Elite Commander XP in the amount of 5% of the Commander XP gained per battle.
• We’ve added a new method of obtaining Elite Commander XP—by demobilizing unused Commanders.
• We’ve revamped the interface of the Commander skill, recruitment, re-assignment, and dismissal system.

With the release of Update 0.10.0, all skills will automatically be redistributed using a recommendation system. This will give you a standard ship-specific skill build in the new system. You can take advantage of the opportunity to reset Commander skills free of charge in Update 0.10.0. Make sure to try out different combinations and find the ones that suit your playstyle!

If a Commander is in the process of retraining, their retraining will automatically be completed with the release of Update 0.10.0. If a Commander is not tied to a ship of their specialization, they will be assigned to a ship of their specialization with the release of Update 0.10.0. This only applies to researchable ships.

Reasons for the Changes

• For many ships, there was often only one skill build that worked effectively. By adding new skills and changing the old ones, we want players to have a choice between several different effective builds to accommodate different playstyles.
• Skills for all ship types were previously presented in the same skill tree. Because of this, some of them were ineffective for particular ships, or had different effects on different ship types. The new format allows us to create more specialized skills for each ship type and provides space for future development.
• The old skill system interface was not very user-friendly. We’re updating it by adding the following features:
  • A recommendation system that simplifies the selection of skills.
  • The ability to dismiss Commanders you no longer need in exchange for Elite XP.
  • The ability to select skills and evaluate their effect first, and only then approve your selection.

Discounts and Bonuses in Update 0.10.0

To help you get familiar with the new Commander skill system in Update 0.10.0:

• Commander skills can be reset free of charge.
• Upgrades can be demounted free of charge.
• The cost in Doubloons of Commander retraining has been reduced by 90%—from 500 to 50 Doubloons.

In addition, to help you experiment with retraining Commanders for different ships:

• Players with Access Level 8 and above will receive 500 Doubloons when they first log in to the game during Update 0.10.0.
• Update 0.10.0 features six special combat missions, one for each nation with more than one ship branch: U.S.A; Japan; U.K.; U.S.S.R.; Germany; and France. To complete each mission, you’ll need to earn 1,100 base XP in any number of battles, playing a Tier VII–X ship in any battle type, except Training Battles. The reward is 100 Doubloons.

In total, you can obtain up to 1,100 Doubloons. This amount will be enough to retrain your Commanders 22 times in Update 0.10.0.

Discounts and combat missions are available

Skills

Almost all skills in the new skill system have been updated, and many new ones have been added. Among those are:

Special skills that are activated by fulfilling certain conditions. Among the activated effects are:

• Close Quarters Expert: reduces the reload time of the battleship’s main battery after an enemy has been spotted within the firing range of your ship’s secondary battery. This skill is especially useful for specialized secondary battery battleships, but due to the increase in the secondary battery firing range in Update 0.10.0, the skill will also be suitable for other battleships.
• Dead Eye: reduces the dispersion of the battleship’s main battery shells if there are no visible hostile ships within your ship’s standard detectability range. Complement this skill with Concealment Expert and Concealment System Modification 1 to make it even more effective.
• Top Grade Gunner: reduces the reload time of the cruiser’s main battery after an enemy has been spotted within your ship’s standard detectability range.

• Outnumbered: reduces the dispersion of the cruiser’s main battery shells, and increases the ship’s maximum speed if there are more visible hostile ships than allies within the standard firing range of your ship’s main battery. The skill is useful both when pushing through the flanks and capturing Key Areas.
• Swift in Silence: increases the destroyer’s speed while she remains undetected. The skill is especially suitable for stealthy torpedo destroyers.
• Fearless Brawler: reduces the reload time of the destroyer’s main battery after the ship has been detected by the enemy. The skill is especially useful for artillery destroyers—French and Soviet—as well as when fighting for Key Areas.

If you know all the strengths and weaknesses of your ship and have fought dozens of battles playing her, consider applying skills that give you a large bonus along with a noticeable penalty, for example:

• Superheavy AP Shells: increases the maximum damage of the battleship’s armor-piercing shells by 5%, but also increases the fire extinguishing and flooding recovery time by 30%.

• Heavy HE and SAP Shells: increases the damage of the cruiser’s HE and SAP shells by 10%, but also increases the detectability of ships with a main battery caliber of 149 mm and above by 15%.

Special skills for aircraft carriers that enhance fighters:

• Interceptor: the Patrol Fighters consumable is replaced by Interceptors. The aircraft called in are invulnerable to hostile fighters, do not attack hostile fighters, and do not spot hostile ships. Their patrol zone is increased by 10%. Thus, your fighters will only hunt enemy strike squadrons.
• Enhanced Reactions: the fighters you call in attack hostile aircraft not after 5 seconds, but after 1 second spent in the patrol zone. However, it takes them longer to arrive at the patrol zone, and they stop their patrolling faster.
• Use these two skills together: Interceptor will protect your fighters against enemy fighters and increase your patrol zone area, while Enhanced Reactions will speed up your fighters’ reactions to enemy squadrons. When combined, these skills will enhance your ability to counter enemy aircraft and defend your allies.

We’ve also revamped the interface:

• Click on a Commander, then click on the “Change Commander” button to view all available Commanders of a single nation. For this purpose, you can also select a ship without a Commander and click on the “Assign Commander” button. Commanders are divided into two lists— those assigned to ships and those in the Reserve.

• You can now first select skills and evaluate their effects in the parameters section, and only then approve your selection.

• Recommended skills—standard skill options for a particular ship—are marked with a special sign. These skills are selected based on the ship’s strengths.
• Click on the “All Skills” button to view skills for all ship types. You can distribute skills only for the ship type to which the Commander is assigned, but they are saved for each type separately.

Game Balance Changes

We’re making changes to some ships and parameters to better fit the new skills system. With the release of Update 0.10.0:

• Standard firing range of VII Atlanta‘s main battery has been increased from 11.1 to 13.3 km
• X Colbert‘s acceleration and deceleration dynamics have been improved

When a ship’s engine is critically damaged, it now continues to function at 20% efficiency instead of stopping entirely.

The secondary battery firing ranges of battleships and cruisers have been increased.

New range (km):

If a ship’s standard secondary battery firing range was originally higher, it will not be decreased. A ship’s detectability is another limiter—the maximum possible range of its secondary battery should not exceed its minimum possible detectability.

We’ll keep a close eye on all ships and on how the updated skill system affects them. We will pay special attention to VII Flint, X Smolensk, and secondary battery battleships.

Elite XP, Retraining, and Recruitment

Elite Commander XP

Elite XP can be used to level up Commanders, accelerate Commander retraining for other ships, and redistribute skill points, and can also be converted into Free XP by using Doubloons.

When dismissing a Commander, you can convert some of their Commander XP into Elite XP:

• Up to 25% of the Commander XP, at the cost of 10 Credits for 1 XP.
• Up to 100% of the Commander XP, at the cost of 1 Doubloon for 110 XP.

For example, if a Commander has 10,000 XP, then upon dismissing this Commander, you can receive 2,500 XP for 25,000 Credits, or 10,000 XP for 90 Doubloons.

Commanders with less than 21 skill points will additionally bring you Elite XP in the amount of 5% of the Commander XP gained per battle. For Commanders with 21 skill points, any XP earned is converted into Elite XP; the additional 5% is not credited.

Retraining and specialization

• The ability to accelerate Commander retraining in exchange for Credits has been removed from the interface, but now it is “built” into the game and has been made free of charge. The amount of XP required for retraining has been halved.

• Skills will not work until a Commander’s retraining is complete.
• A Commander without a specialization for a ship can’t be assigned to that ship without retraining. This rule doesn’t apply to Premium and special ships.
• The skill section for each ship type is redistributed separately from the others. The cost of redistributing skills remains the same.
• You can enter battle playing a ship without an assigned Commander. In this case, Commander XP will not be credited to your account. This will allow you to receive combat performance bonuses without reassigning Commanders, or to try out a new ship without having to retrain a Commander for her.

Recruiting Commanders

The cost and number of skills for recruited Commanders will change so that, if necessary, a player will be able to recruit a Commander with more skill points.

• Commander without skills: recruited free of charge.
• Commander with 6 skill points: available for 900,000 Credits.
• Commander with 10 skill points: available for 1,500 Doubloons.

Do you have a large number of Commanders and want to reset all their skills at once?

Starting from January 21, after Update 0.10.0 is released for all regions, you’ll find a link to a special page here where you can automatically reset all of your Commanders’ skills free of charge.