We talk about the first changes in the updated commander system and share our future plans.
Please note that all information in the development blog is preliminary. Announced adjustments and features may change multiple times during testing.
Commanders!
We thank you for your feedback, which, together with the statistics collected, helped us identify directions for improving the skill system. We want to tell you about the first planned changes and about the further stages of the development of the Commander’s skill system.
In Update 0.10.4, we plan to make the following balance changes:
Cruiser’s skills
“Survivability expert”
- The hit point bonus for each ship tier has been increased from 350 to 450.
- The enhanced skill has increased its hit point bonus from 400 to 500.
Destroyer’s skills
“Extra Heavy AP Shells”
- Damage of main battery AP shells increased from 5 to 7.5%
“Fearless Brawler”
- Removed the penalty to the ship’s detectability.
Aircraft Carrier’s skills
“Enhanced Reactions”
- The 25% penalty to the action time of the “Patrol Fighters” or “Interceptor” consumables has been replaced with a 25% bonus.
Battleship’s skills
“Super Heavy AP Shells”
- Damage of main battery AP shells increased from 5 to 7.5%;
- Fire extinguishing time and flooding recovery time reduced from 30 to 25%.
“Dead Eye”
- Skill changed to “Swift in Silence”: Increases your ship’s speed by 10% while she remains undetected
We strengthened the foregoing skills, as they were conceded to other skills of similar cost in terms of combat effectiveness, which also affected their popularity.
We decided to replace “Dead Eye” with a skill that enhances the battleship’s positioning capabilities. “Swift in Silence” will allow battleships to quickly enter the battle or change positions during the battle.
With the release of 0.10.4, all commanders who have learned “Dead Eye” will have battleship skills reset for free. Skills of other classes won’t be reset.
Further steps
The next skill changes are not planned until autumn, as improvements and reworks take time to develop and test. We will work to balance a number of skills, and try to improve or replace the most unpopular skills.
Over the last few updates we have been collecting statistics and feedback on how the updated skills have affected the game balance. After the changes in 0.10.4, we plan to focus on the state of individual ships most affected by the skill system update, and make changes if needed.
We’re planning a free skill reset for all players as part of the second phase changes expected in autumn.
Source: WoWS Devblog
