WoWS: CHANGES TO SUBMARINES AND ASW, EXTERIOR SYSTEM UPDATE, AIRSHIP ESCORT AND MORE – CLOSED TEST 13.1

Update 13.1 is rapidly approaching, and we are ready to share information about the upcoming features!

Changes to Submarines and ASW
We’re excited to unveil some additional details about our previously announced changes to submarines and ASW! With these changes, we are aiming to create more consistent interactions between submarines and surface ships while still maintaining the current level of combat effectiveness of submarines.

First, we are making a few changes to surface ship ASW, which are outlined below:

  • The Venezia and Hindenburg lines (except Tier V Raimondo Montecuccoli), as well as Prinz Eugen and Admiral Schröder, will receive Depth Charge Airstrikes instead of Depth Charges that they currently have.
  • Tier V-VII battleships will receive an increase in the Depth Charge Airstrike range. Both Tier V-VII battleships and cruisers will have their Depth Charge Airstrike cooldown reduced. To balance this, the bomb damage for Tier V-VI ships will be slightly reduced. This means that you will be able to use Depth Charge Airstrike more often but with a lower damage output per use.
    • Ships that currently have special ASW settings will not be receiving any changes unless specifically noted.

Depth Charge Airstrike parameters for all Tiers

Class/Tier Range Reload Charges Bomb Count Bomb Damage
Tier V Cruisers 5km 20s 1 1 2,900
Tier VI Cruisers 6km 20s 1 1 2,900
Tier VII Cruisers 6km 25s 2 1 3,400
Tier VIII Cruisers 7km 30s 2 2 4,200
Tier IX Cruisers 7km 30s 2 2 4,200
Tier X Cruisers 8km 30s 2 2 4,900
Supership Cruisers 8km 30s 2 2 4,900
Tier V Battleships 8km 20s 1 1 2,900
Tier VI Battleships 8km 20s 1 1 2,900
Tier VII Battleships 9km 25s 2 1 3,400
Tier VIII Battleships 10km 30s 2 2 4,200
Tier IX Battleships 10km 30s 2 2 4,200
Tier X Battleships 11km 30s 2 2 4,900
Supership Battleships 11km 30s 2 2 4,900

 

Commonwealth cruisers  Range  Reload Charges Bomb Count Bomb Damage
Delhi, Tier V 8km 20 2 1 2300
Hobart, Tier VI 8km 20 2 1 2300
Uganda, Tier VII 9km 25 3 1 2700
Auckland, Tier VIII 10km 30 3 2 3400
Encounter, Tier IX 10km 30 3 2 3400
Cerberus, Tier X 11km 30 3 2 3900

Ships with special ASW parameters

 

Ship Range Reload Charges Bomb Count Bomb Damage
Cruisers Canarias 6km 20s 1 3 1600
Siegfried 7km 30s 2 3 1600
Ägir 7km 30s 2 3 1600
Mengchong 7km 30s 2 3 1600
Battleships  Guilio Cesare 4km 20s 1 1 2900
Massachussets 5km 30s 2 2 4200
Musashi 5km 30s 2 2 4200
  • Depth Charge Airstrike range will be increased for Ohio, Thunderer, Jean Bart, and Jean Bart B. It will become similar to the ranges for other battleships at their tiers.
  • The Venezia, Zaō and Yodo lines, as well as the upcoming Commonwealth line, will receive the Submarine Surveillance consumable in a separate slot.

Parameters of the Submarine Surveilance consumable

Tier Range Reload Charges Action time
Tier V-VI 5km 120s 3 20s
Tier VII-VIII 6km 120s 3 20s
Tier IX-X 7km 120s 3 20s

 

Commonwealth cruisers  Range  Reload  Charges  Action time 
Delhi, Hobart 6km 120s 3 20s
Uganda, Auckland 7km 120s 3 20s
Encounter, Cerberus 8km 120s 3 20s
  • January 5th: Fixed the Depth Charge Airstrike range for Musashi and Massachusetts. Added the Zaō line to the list of ships that will receive the Submarine Surveillance consumable.
  • January 15th: Added information about Tier V Italian cruiser Raimondo Montecuccoli – it will not get Depth Charge Airstrike.
  • January 18th: Fixed a typo: Depth Charge Airstrike changes will affect Tier V-VII, not Tier V-VIII ships. Added disclaimer.

Next, we have some additional information about changes to the Hydrophone consumable available on submarines. This consumable will have the following characteristics:

  • The consumable will allow submarines to immediately spot ships in range, regardless of terrain (similar to Hydroacoustic Search and Surveillance Radar).
  • The consumable can be activated in any state (on the surface, at periscope depth, or operational depth), but will only detect ships at periscope depth or on the surface.
  • When submarines use Hydrophone to detect ships above them and in their line of sight, static silhouettes of these ships will appear for a short period (about 6 seconds) and then disappear.
    • Ships behind terrain will be displayed as a short flash without a silhouette.

Furthermore, we’re adding a collision warning message for submarines that are underwater and there is another underwater submarine within 2 kilometers. This message will appear even if the enemy submarine isn’t spotted, and will disappear as soon as it leaves the 2-kilometer radius in any direction (including resurfacing). It’s important to note that if there happens to be several submarines in the vicinity, the message won’t be any different.

Finally, to balance out the changes to ASW, we will improve the turning circle radius of all submarines, so that they have the opportunity to better maneuver and reposition. On average, their turning circle will become around 20% better.

As a result of these submarine changes, we are also adding the following effects to two signals:

  • Sierra Bravo
    • Submarine Surveillance Reload time: -10%*
    • Hydrophone Reload time: -10%

*This also affects the consumable preparation time at the beginning of the battle

  • X-Ray Papa Unaone
    • Dive Capacity: +5%

 

Exterior System Update
Starting with Update 13.1, the majority of expendable camouflages available in the game will get their permanent versions that you can either purchase or obtain through various activities, missions, and events. New permanent camouflages will operate similarly to already existing permanent camouflages, such as New Year, Epoch, or Steel camouflages, however, they won’t be locked to a specific ship Tier.

You can link permanent camouflages for free to ships, as long as you have enough copies. Unlinked permanent camouflages are stored in your Inventory. You can also see the number of copies you have in the Exterior tab.

Once you link a permanent camouflage to a ship, it will remain linked to that ship and cannot be unlinked. It’s also important to note that once you link the permanent camouflage, you will no longer be able to use the expendable version of that same camouflage on that ship. Another important thing is that you can’t sell these camouflages.

For Standard, Single-Colored, Abstract, and Thematic camouflages, once you obtain an expendable or permanent camouflage of this type on your account, you unlock the ability to purchase its permanent version on all of your ships.

You can purchase permanent Standard, Single-Colored, Abstract, and Thematic camouflages for Credits or Doubloons. When purchasing a permanent camouflage in the Exterior tab, it will be automatically linked to the ship. You can find the exact prices in the table below:

Prices for Expendable and Permanent camouflages

 

Group Price for 1 Expendable Camouflage   Price for 1 Permanent Camouflage
Standard 22,500 Credits 6,000,000 Credits OR 750 Doubloons
Single-colored 45,000 Credits 7,000,000 Credits OR 750 Doubloons
Abstract 75,000 Credits 8,000,000 Credits OR 750 Doubloons
Thematic 90,000 Credits 9,000,000 Credits OR 750 Doubloons

 

You can’t purchase expendable or permanent versions of Trophy and Special camouflages (for example, camouflages for participating in Ranked battles or camouflages made in collaborations).

The introduction of these permanent camouflages brings some other changes:

  • Daily rewards at the barge will change – now there will no longer be an option to choose the More Camouflages container as a reward.
  • In Update 13.1 we will replace expendable camouflages for their permanent counterparts in Collections, Campaigns, Account Leveling rewards, as well as in Clan Battles missions.
  • In the future, we plan to substitute expendable camouflages for their permanent versions for some activities, for example, in the following Ranked season.
Airship Escort
Airship Escort is returning to the game as a standalone, temporary battle type!

In this mode, players will be tasked with leading their allied airship to its destination before the enemy team does. Players can also achieve victory by destroying the enemy ships.

This iteration will use the same ruleset that was used before Airship Escort was added to Random Battles.

Players will be able to utilize Tier VIII-X ships of any ship type.

Clan Battles
A new Clan Battles season will be launching in Update 13.1! This season will have the following format:
  • 7v7
  • Tier X ships and superships
  • Submarines and aircraft carriers are not permitted
  • Teams are limited to a maximum of 1 battleship per team
  • There are no restrictions on cruisers or destroyers
  • No more than one Petropavlosvk per team.
  • Limited the number of Napoli and Marseilles. One team may not have more than two of these ships in total.

Additional ship restrictions will be announced in a later DevBlog.

Content Additions and Changes
Update 13.1 will bring a plethora of new content into the game!
  • The Dragon Port with updated visuals:

  • Commander Nian with an individual voiceover, as well as commanders Takeo Kurita and Karel Doorman

  • The New Year Beast patch and flag
  • The Grey Ghost patch and the USS Enterprise flag

  • The Lunar Beast permanent camouflage for Hsienyang
    • This camouflage is still a work in progress and will be revealed at a later date.
  • The Pacific Ghost permanent camouflage for Enterprise

  • The Battle of the Java Sea container and the Battle of the Java Sea Premium container

The Battle of the Java Sea container contents

  • 5x special expendable economic bonus – 16% for each type
  • 3000 Free XP – 20%
  • x2 expendable camouflages Early Morning or Union Jack – 7,70% for each type
  • One of the following ships – 0,6%, of which:
    • Yudachi, Perth, Jupiter ’42, Minegumo –  0,15% each

If you already have all items from the “Ships” group, you will receive 3000 Free XP.

The Battle of the Java Sea premium container contents

  • 14x rare expendable economic bonus – 16% for each type
  • 32000 Free XP – 16%
  • x2 permanent camouflages Early Morning or Union Jack – 7% for each type
  • One of the following ships – 6%, of which:
    • Yudachi, Perth, Jupiter ’42, Minegumo –  1,5% each

If you already have all items from the “Ships” group, you will receive 32 000 Free XP.

Please note that all information in the development blog is preliminary.

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