Hi everyone!
The time has come to announce a new nation
and a new tech tree branch in World of Warships.
Today we'll talk about French cruisers,
what makes them different from their counterparts of other nations,
their gameplay features, and much more.
Full ahead!
Developer Diaries.
Now that we’ve got most of the major fleets from both World Wars,
it’s time to round out the collection with another.
Our expedition to France was very interesting.
They gave us 120 boxes with all sorts of blueprints, and I've got to tell you,
those were quite big boxes.
The amount of work was enormous,
the two of us had to dig through all these boxes and,
eventually, we managed to look through it all and got all the documentation
that we needed,
not only on cruisers, but also on battleships, and destroyers;
they even had projects for different aircraft carriers.
The French cruiser's branch has its specific traits,
it can be provisionally divided into three sub-types
and each of them will have their personalities.
A Bougainville-class cruiser opens the French cruiser branch.
To be exact, it's a sub-type of cruisers called colonial sloop or aviso.
We don't have ships like this in the game yet.
At Tier II we have a protected cruiser, and, in general,
it's quite a normal thing for us.
It's followed by light cruisers from Tier III to Tier VI.
At Tier V we have one of the fastest cruisers in the game—
light cruiser Emile Bertin, which can accelerate to 39 knots.
And this feature of French cruisers— their high speed—
will be supported by a special Engine Boost consumable at the following tiers.
No cruiser in the game now has this type of consumable.
It allows them to react quickly to battle situations.
They can switch flank, or catch up with a destroyer
or aircraft carrier, for example.
One of the specific traits of Tier I-V French cruisers
that you must absolutely take into consideration,
is their poor armor protection.
Tiers III to V ships basically don't have armor.
Their main armor belt will be 13 to 16 millimeters thick.
It's not our idea, it's based on historical data.
However, every cloud has a silver lining
and this peculiarity of French cruisers presented a humorous comparison.
What do French cruisers and French baguettes have in common?
They're both long and crispy.
The point is that their citadel is elongated and narrow,
and vaguely resembles a baguette.
French cruisers up to Tier V have very little armor
and it results in many overpenetrations
and, at the same time, it creates a small number of citadel hits.
The weak armor on French cruisers is partially compensated for
by antitorpedo defense,
which also plays its part in forming certain game tactics.
One of the main features is the antitorpedo bulkhead—it's very high.
And almost all cruisers have it, except for Tier I and II ships.
The high antitorpedo bulkheads give them a significant advantage
in a fight against destroyers.
They can be used for hunting destroyers and fighting against other light cruisers.
It's better to stay away from the big guys, though.
Now, that we've covered the defensive characteristics of French Tier I-V cruisers,
let's review their weapons.
Their main armament is comparable to other European nations,
a standard set of antiaircraft weaponry, torpedoes...
However, the French torpedoes are not so simple.
The French cruisers have a gameplay feature—
their torpedo launchers have very good training angles.
The specific location of torpedo tubes can give you the edge
in a situation when two ships clash in a close-quarters engagement.
The ship with better training angles will launch torpedoes first
and, possibly, survive the battle.
The transition in the French cruisers' branch will happen at Tier VI—
the armor belt of La Galissonniere will be 100 millimeters thick,
which puts her on par with some serious adversaries.
From Tier VII to Tier X, we have heavy cruisers.
We also receive an increase in artillery.
Tier X can boast one of the best artillery systems
among cruisers in the game,
this means that it has one of the largest calibers in the game.
At the top of the French cruisers' branch,
the primary armament has a caliber of 240 mm
It's 20 millimeters more than that of Moskva!
Players who appreciate Moskva will surely be eager
to try the new Tier X French cruiser.
As for world famous ships, the French branch might not have such
legends as Leander or Mogami, but nevertheless it has its own stars.
Of course, we'll have famous ships.
I'm talking about cruisers like Emile Bertin, La Galissonniere,
and also Algerie.
And we plan to put them at Tiers V, VI, and VII accordingly.
Our developers didn't forget about technology
when they worked on the French branch.
In particular, they fixed some shortcomings of ship rendering.
When we made the first ships, a problem arose—
thin elements began to strobe when displayed on screen.
This issue had existed for a long time and was finally addressed.
Our programmers have developed a new technology
that allows us to smooth the strobing of thin elements.
And French cruisers are the first branch where handrails and rigging
are made entirely in compliance with this new technology.
These ships will no longer strobe on our players' displays.
If we summarize this review of the French cruisers branch,
what preliminary conclusions can we draw on the gameplay they will bring?
First of all, these cruisers should be enjoyed
by those who like active maneuverable battles and a tactical approach,
because they allow you to accomplish different missions in a battle.
From Tier VI to Tier X, finally,
we'll be able to not only hunt for destroyers,
aircraft carriers, and light cruisers, but also engage heavy cruisers,
and even create some trouble for battleships.
And at Tier X, we can destroy same-tier ships
without difficulty, because we have one of the largest calibers in the game.
At the moment, the development of the French cruisers
is almost completed
and, after the test stage, you'll have the opportunity
to check them out for yourself!
We're sure that you won't be bored
when playing with the French cruisers!