WoWS: Clan season “Albatross” – ship restrictions & Closed Test 0.11.3 – Superships in the tech tree

By now, Superships have been through several different rounds of live testing, starting with Grand Battle in Update 0.10.5, and followed by their presence in the 5^th season of Ranked, in Co-op battles since 0.10.10, and in Randoms since 0.11.0. In Update 0.11.3, Superships will finally exit testing and make a permanent appearance in the national tech trees.

Access to Superships

Even though they will appear as a progression of Tier X ships on the tech tree, Superships are not just a simple continuation of the existing branches, but a mechanically distinct feature altogether. To further emphasize their unique status in our game, we’ve decided that only players who own or have researched at least three Tier X ships will have access to them. Furthermore, in order to purchase a Supership, a player must have also researched the Tier X ship of the corresponding branch. With these restrictions in place, we can ensure that it is far more likely that players commanding Superships into battle already have significant game experience under their belt.

The purchasing cost of Superships depends on their class:

• Super battleships — 57,000,000 Credits
• Super carriers — 48,000,000 Credits
• Super cruisers — 47,500,000 Credits
• Super destroyers — 45,000,000 Credits

We would like to avoid an over-population of Super battleships compared to other ship types, so we assigned them a higher purchasing cost.

Supership Economy

One of the most important aspects to consider when adding Superships to the tech tree is their economy, meaning their post-battle income and maintenance cost. Over many years of active development, the game’s economy has, in a sense, accelerated due to the many bonuses and economic signals introduced, making it easier to earn Credits on even the most expensive-to-maintain Tier X ships and significantly influencing their popularity

When it comes to Superships, we decided to change our approach in order to both prevent them from becoming too popular in the matchmaker and to ensure that Tier X ships have an economic advantage over them.

• Credit earnings in Superships will be similar to Tier X ships.
• Post-battle servicing costs for Superships will be set to 360,000 Credits.
• Permanent camouflages on Superships will not reduce servicing costs or increase Credit earnings. However, they will give higher XP per battle bonus.

Additional clarifications

• The addition of Superships to the tech tree will not affect the Research Bureau in any way — Superships cannot be reset, so if you reset the corresponding branch, you will keep the Supership.
• Branches resetting won’t affect your access to Superships. Once you gain access, you’ll keep it even if you reset your researched branches.
• Battles with Superships can include Tier IX and X ships. Matchmaking limits regarding the number of ships per Tier and the number of bottom-tier battles per player remain the same as with Tier VIII-X battles. Battles with only Superships are also possible.
• In Update 0.11.3, only Superships that have already been openly tested will be introduced to the tech tree — Satsuma, Hannover, Condé, Annapolis, Yamagiri, Zorkiy, United States, and Eagle. In future, new Superships, such as the announced British cruiser Edgar and French battleship Patrie, will undergo the standard closed testing and balancing procedure before introduction to the live environment.

The introduction of Superships to the tech tree is an important step for World of Warships, so we will be closely monitoring feedback and statistics and, if necessary, make changes to ensure that they only provide a positive gaming experience for our players.

Please note that all information in the development blog is preliminary. Announced adjustments and features may change multiple times during testing.