WoWS: 0.5.1 Patchnotes

Maintenance Start: 06/11/2015 @ 05:00 UTC+8
Maintenance End: 06/11/2015 @ 06:30 UTC+8

Patch Notes

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Changes to the Service Record

• Two additional levels have been added to the player’s Service Record:
  • Tech tree functionality for ships and modules is now available at Level 3 (between Random Battles and Daily Missions). Reward for unlocking this level is 300,000 credits.
  • Events, missions and actions are now unlocked at Level 10 (between Camouflage and Ranked Battles). Reward for unlocking is +1 day of premium account.
• Reward for unlocking Level 4 (Daily Quests) has been increased from 300,000 to 500,000 credits. Experience needed for unlocking this level has been decreased from 1,500 to 1,000.
• Experience needed to unlock Level 11 (Ranked Battles) has been decreased from 50,000 to 30,000.
• Total cost of unlocking the last level of Service Record (Ranked Battles) didn’t change.
• Difference in the rewards for unlocking new account level will be compensated to players who have achieved the respected account level before the changes have been implemented, according to the following scheme:
  • if a player had 1,000+ XP (account points), he/she is credited with 300,000 credits compensation
  • if a player had 2,000+ XP (account points), he/she is also credited with 200,000 credits compensation
  • if a player had 67,500+ XP (account points), he/she is also credited with 1 day premium account compensation
    This means that a player whose account level corresponds with unlocked Missions, Challenges and Events, gets +500000 creddits and 1 day premium account a a compensation.
• See the table below for details (All changes are highlighted in orange)

Missions, Challenges, and Events

• Events, Challenges, and Missions become available to players who reach Level 10 in the Service Record. Players can click on the respective panel in the upper left corner of the Port to go there.
• Specials may be timed to coincide with a specific Event and come with a description and duration of their own.
• Missions can be completed once for each game account, while Challenges may be completed an unlimited number of times. All Missions and Challenges have a fixed duration.
• When a Mission can be completed over a number of battles, such a Mission will have a completion progress bar.
• Conditions for completing Missions and Challenges have been introduced. For example, “Complete the Mission while playing with a specific ship/in a Division/in a specific battle type”.
• Players are given rewards for completing missions. The list of rewards has been extended. Now, players may be rewarded with ships, consumables, upgrades, signals, camouflage, credits, doubloons, Free XP, Service Record XP points, Premium account, places for Commanders in the Reserve, rewards and bonuses in a giftbox, and coefficients (multipliers) applied to any resources earned in battle.

Daily Missions

• Now, one of the three Daily Missions may be replaced once every 24 hours.
• Players can choose to replace a new mission, as well as a mission which can be completed during a number of battles. However, when the latter is replaced, all progress will be lost.
• When a player completes the mission during a battle, but exits to Port and replaces the Mission before the end of the current battle, the reward will not be given and progress will not be accounted for.
• In contrast to Daily Missions, the player cannot replace Challenges, Missions and Events.
• A new Daily Mission is marked with an indicator. The indicator remains visible until the player clicks on the Mission.

Ranked Battles

• The number of points a team needs to score for a victory has been raised to 1000. The initial score is now set at 300 points.
• All maps in Ranked Battles now have two Key Areas.
• The Ocean, Strait and Land of Fire maps will become available in Ranked Battles.
• Different limitations on the Tiers of ships may now be set for the Leagues.
• League flags and Commemorative flags have been introduced.
• The League flag indicates that the player belongs to a League during a season of Ranked Battles. The League flags are discarded at the end of a season.
• Commemorative flags are given at the end of a season, if the player meets the respective requirements.

Introductory Mission

• An Introductory Mission will be available for newcomers. The Introductory Mission will help new players learn the game basics, when they log in to the game for the first time.

Ships and Commander Skills

General Changes:

Commander skills have been reworked. All players will be able to redistribute Commander skill points for free

• Expert Loader: used to be -30% to reload time; now -50% to reload time
• Torpedo Armament Expertise: used to be -10% to servicing time of torpedo bombers; now -20% to servicing time of torpedo bombers. The reload time of torpedo tubes remains unchanged.
• Vigilance: used to be +20% to acquisition range of torpedoes; now +25% to acquisition range of torpedoes.
• Dogfighting Expert: Performance of aircraft now depends on the difference in their Tiers, not on their speed.
• Jack of All Trades: -15% to reload time of all consumables.
• Advanced Firing Training: small-calibre armaments now only include guns with a calibre of 139 mm and lower.
• Last Chance: used to be -9% to the reload time of all types of armaments if the ship’s HP was less than 20% – now it is -30% to reload time of all types of armament if the ship’s HP is less than 10%
• The damage that a higher Tier ship receives from flooding is no longer significantly less than the damage a lower Tier ship receives from the same flooding.
• Two charges of the Defensive AA Fire consumable are now available for cruisers of all nations, except the U.S.A., whose cruisers have three charges of this consumable – Atlanta being the only exception that keeps the unlimited amount of charges for this consumable.
• Two charges of Hydroacoustic Search are available for all ships.
• Two charges of Defensive Fire will be available for all cruisers, except the US, whose cruisers have 3 – Atlanta being the only exception, which retains an unlimited amount of charges.
• Improved how shots ricochet when they hit armoured joints.
• Fixed the range at which the following ships are spotted when firing their main batteries (all ranges changed by no more than 200m): Kolberg, Clemson, Pensacola, Des Moines, Isokaze.  The range that aircraft spot has also been changed for Baltimore.
• Revised the acceleration and deceleration characteristics for all ships in the game (changes made within half a knot).

U.S.A.

General U.S. Specific Changes

• The armour plating of Baltimore and Des Moines have been thickened by 2 mm.
• The bomb dispersion of U.S. bombers, which are under fire, has been reduced in situations where enemy ships activate the AA Defensive Fire consumable, in an attempt to counteract the bombers’ attack.
• For cruiser Omaha, the number of on-board aircarft has been reduced to 2 planes.
• For other U.S. cruisers, the number of on-board aircraft has been increased to 4 planes.
• 203 mm AP shells fired by the main batteries of U.S.A. cruisers (except for the stock main battery of Pensacola) will enjoy better ricochet angles.

Changes to U.S. Destroyers

• Nicholas: Mk15 mod. 0 torpedoes have been removed from the Tech Tree.
• Farragut: Mk15 mod. 0 torpedoes have been replaced with Mark 11 torpedoes – Mk15 mod. 3 torpedoes have been replaced with Mark 12 torpedoes.
• Mahan: Mk15 mod. 3 torpedoes have been replaced with Mark 12 torpedoes – Mark 12 torpedoes have been replaced with Mk15 mod. 0 torpedoes.
• Mahan: Hull B has been moved to become hull C (with enhanced AA defense). The now-vacant position of hull B has been filled by a totally new hull. If the ship had Elite status before this change, the new Hull B will be shown as researched. Otherwise, Hull C is shown as not researched.
• Benson: Mark 12 torpedoes have been replaced with Mk15 mod. 0 torpedoes – Mk14 mod. 3 torpedoes have been replaced with Mk15 mod. 3 torpedoes.
• Benson: Main battery’s rate of fire has been increased.
• Fletcher: Mark 12 torpedoes have been replaced with Mk15 mod. 0 torpedoes – Mk14 mod. 3 torpedoes have been replaced with Mk15 mod. 3 torpedoes.
• Fletcher: Main battery’s rate of fire has been increased.
• Sims: Main battery’s rate of fire has been increased.

Japan

• For Japanese bombers, the bomb attack area has been reduced for situations where the player releases bombs in manual mode.
• Atago: rudder shift time has been shortened by 20%, and the Repair Party consumable has been added.
• For cruisers Kuma and Zao, as well as for battleship Myogi, the number of on-board aircraft has been reduced to 2 planes.
• Number of aircrafts on the Myogi battleship and Zao cruiser reduced to 2
• Kuma: number of aircraft reduced to 1.
• Aichi D1A2 aircraft: approach radius reduced.

U.S.S.R.

• Izyaslav: top speed increased to 35 knots (instead of 31,9).
• Derzki: top speed increased to 34 knots (instead of 32,8).
• Orlan: increased durability of main battery to the level of Hashidate.
• Kiev: replaced 4 12,7-мм DShKM-2b AA batteries with 25-мм 2М-3 armaments. The new guns have a threefold increase in range and are twice as powerful. For this reason the ships AA stats have been increased by 6 points.

Germany

• Dresden, Kolberg and Karlsruhe: AP shells have been reworked. Armour penetration has been increased.
• Hermelin: central hull plate armour has been increased to 23 mm – increased durability of main battery to the level of Hashidate.
• Karlsruhe: engine protection against HE shells improved threefold.

Aviation

• All aircraft in the game will now display their Tiers.
• The Dogfighting Expert skill has been revised. Fighters of a Tier lower than the enemy aircraft will receive a temporary increase to their attack power. The greater the difference between the Tiers of the aircraft, the greater the increase: +10% to combat performance of fighters for each Tier of difference
• The logic for fighters’ behavior has been improved. Now, when fighters attack other fighters, the squadron being attacked will automatically counterattack and will not abandon the dogfight until it runs out of ammunition.
• Implemented the ability to change the direction of the squadron attack by holding and dragging the attack cone or ellipse.
• Implemented smooth movement of the torpedo-bomber squadron’s cone in automatic attack mode.
• Aircraft torpedoes’ chances of causing flooding have been reduced by approximately half.
• Aircraft speed has been slightly increased for air squadron assault mode and damage caused by aircraft in this mode has been increased as well.
• Improved the rendering of the bombers´ attack, from the perspective of the ship´s camera.

Game Maps and Game Modes

Added Maps:

• Land of Fire: The distinctive feature of this map is the long and narrow rock ridges, which can be used as cover by small ships. This map will be available for battles between ships of Tiers VII through X.
• Northern Lights: This is a counterpart of the North map with different visuals.
• Trap: This map will be available for battles between ships of Tiers VIII through X.

Map Changes

Strait:

• Changed ship spawn points. The distribution of ships into groups is now more balanced.

Hotspot:

• Removed the crisscross team spawn pattern.
• Changed the location of a large island at one of the flanks.
• Corrected the shape of one of the large islands.
• Changed the location of Key Areas in the Domination mode.

Two Brothers:

• The landscape of the map has undergone an extensive reworking, with numerous changes made to the location and shape of the islands.

Big Race:

• Moved all landscape objects to the corner where the continental land is located. Changed the location of the continental land itself.
• Added the Domination mode with two Key Areas.

Islands of Ice:

• The iceberg field in the lower right corner underwent an extensive rework.
• Decreased the number of icebergs by about a third.
• There are now three Key Areas on the map in Domination mode.
• The lower left corner is now more separated and has a mountain as a visual landmark.
• The lower right corner is now more separated and covered by an ice field.
• Now the icebergs located on the map are in a more uniform formation.

Solomon Islands:

• This map is now available for battles between ships of Tiers II through VI.

Interaction between Ships and Map Borders

• If a ship controlled by a player stays in the map border area for too long, her engine power will be forcefully decreased. The engine power will be restored after the ship leaves the map border area.

New Battle Mode: Zone

• The Zone is a huge base in the center of a map, which becomes available for capture two minutes after the battle has started. It takes 60 seconds to capture the Zone, regardless of the number of capturing ships. The capture rate will decrease when there are enemy ships within the Zone. However, damage received by ships does not decrease the capture rate.
• This mode will be available on the Ocean, Big Race, Trap, and Islands of Ice maps.

Changes to Domination Mode

Players will be now rewarded with XP and credits for capturing, defending, and blocking the capture of bases.

Rewards will be given for:

• Capturing the base, namely for base capture points – for example, if two players captured a base together and at the same time, then each player will receive half of the reward.
• Defending the base, namely for base capture points that a player takes away from an enemy ship capturing a base, by damaging this enemy.
• Blocking a base capture: staying within the base simultaneously with the enemy, which prevents them from capturing the base or earning base capture points.
• Changed the amount of penalty points, for losing allied ships, and the reward points, for destroying enemy ships, earned in Domination mode.
• Destroyer: 45 penalty points; 30 reward points.
• Cruiser: 50 penalty points; 35 reward points.
• Battleship: 60 penalty points; 40 reward points.
• Aircraft Carrier: 65 penalty points; 45 reward points.
• Changed the notification at the end of a battle, when the 20 minute time limit has expired.

AI Changes

• Improved behavior for AI-controlled ships on maps. AI-controlled ships now move in formations. Destroyers stay closer to islands, battleships keep away from islands, and aircraft carriers move about in safer areas, instead of going straight to the center of the map.
• Improved behavior for AI-controlled ships, in the event of accidental collision with the landscape.

Other Changes

• Improved spawn layout for players of the same Division. Now, ships controlled by players in the same Division will spawn as close to each other as possible when the battle starts.

Reworked system for notifications played when either team is about to win or takes the lead. The notifications will now be played in the following cases:

• the enemy team has twice as many ships as the allied team.
• the allied team has twice as many points as the enemy team.
• the enemy team only needs to destroy two allied ships to win.
• the allied team only needs to destroy two enemy ships to win.
• Implemented notification about battle ending soon (played when there are five minutes left before the end of the battle).

Sound

• Totally reworked the sounds of engines for all ships in the game. Now, the sound of a ship’s engine will depend not only on the current ship’s speed, but also on the position of the bridge telegraph lever.
• Added new firing sounds.
• Overhauled sounds for the low sound quality setting: now special sound banks will be loaded when this setting is selected. In these sound banks, post-processing effects for movement and firing are disabled and significant restrictions are imposed on the playback of sounds. This sound quality setting is recommended for low performance computers.
• Improved certain interface sounds.
• Added two new music tracks.
• Reduced the RAM usage of the sound system.
• Updated the version of the sound engine – optimised playback of sounds in the .ogg format.

Port

• Reworked the “carousel” of ships at the bottom of the Port screen:
• Now, the displayed ships can be filtered by: name, nation, Tier, type, elite status, Premium status, applicability of specials with bonus multipliers for the first battle, as well as a combination of any filter criteria mentioned above
• Added an alternative mode for displaying ships, with smaller ship icons in the slots

Economy Changes

We have tweaked the redistribution of rewards for finished battles, in such a way that the capture, blocking and defense of bases is taken into account – this will also apply to Domination mode too. Now an active game with capturing, blocking and defending bases will yield more credits and experience on average.

At the same time, the amount of credits and experience earned by a team, in general, will remain around the same as the previous version. 

In connection with these innovations, the way you earn experience and credits was rebalanced for most ships, except premium ones.

System Changes

• Optimised network traffic between the game client and the game server.
• Added a system that expects acknowledgment from the game server for any user action, which results in a significant decrease in the risk of losing game items due to a poor network connection.
• Improved the performance of the effects subsystem, on multicore CPUs (with more than 2 cores).
• Improved the performance of the subsystem for rendering markers in battle.
• Optimised several subsystems for the Binocular View.
• Added a new sea rendering quality setting, Very Low, to the graphics settings. Using this quality setting provides a significant performance boost for computers with entry level graphics, owing to simplified simulation and rendering of seawater in the game. Moreover, reflections and shadows on the water surface are also disabled when this quality setting is selected. For other sea rendering quality settings, minor improvements to the visuals as well as to the utilisation of graphics resources were added.
• Implemented an optimisation that reduces the risk of the game client freezing.
• Added new logic to the game client, which detects when the application is frozen and then terminates the application correctly.