In the previous episode of "How it Works",
we told you about attack aircraft, dive bombers, and torpedo bombers.
Today we're going to talk about AA defense,
fighters, aircraft HP, and the aircraft carrier deck,
which are very important aspects of the new mechanics.
When attacking enemy ships from the air,
you'll almost certainly be fired upon by their AA defense systems.
AA defenses pose a major threat to aircraft in World of Warships,
automatically attacking any squadron
breaching the boundaries of their area of operation.
There are three such areas of operation, which don't cross over:
short-range for guns with a caliber of up to 25 mm,
medium-range for guns up to 85 mm,
and long-range for guns over 85 mm.
Within these areas
the AA defenses deliver continuous damage to a random plane
rather than to the whole squadron,
with the targeted planes changing periodically.
Continuous damage is delivered to a single plane from each squadron,
regardless of the number of squadrons
in the AA defense system’s area of operation.
You can enhance the damage delivered by all three areas
through the "AA Guns Modification 2" upgrade,
the "Basic Firing Training" Commander skill,
or the "November Echo Settseven" signal.
In addition to delivering continuous damage,
long- and medium-range AA guns
can also fire special shells that explode in the air.
When aircraft travel within the explosion radius,
they receive serious damage.
The number of explosions and the extent of the damage
can be increased by using the "AA Guns Modification 1" upgrade
and the "Advanced Firing Training" skill, respectively.
You can also boost AA defense performance by selecting a priority sector.
Simply press the "~" or "O" keys and then select the required sector.
Please note that by increasing the AA defense performance in one sector,
you will decrease it in the remaining sectors.
Enhancing the combat performance
or changing a priority sector requires time,
but this can be reduced by using
the "Manual Fire Control for AA Armament" skill.
Another way to temporarily boost the efficiency of AA fire
is to use the “Defensive AA Fire” consumable.
While active, it increases the damage dealt by AA defenses per second,
as well as the damage inflicted by the explosions of shells
fired from medium- and long-range guns.
You can reduce the effectiveness of enemy AA defense fire
by actively maneuvering and changing your squadron's speed,
as well as by using the "Aircraft Armor" skill.
However, AA defenses don’t pose the only threat for aircraft.
Enemy fighters can also be very dangerous,
which with the introduction of the new mechanics,
have become consumables.
Fighters can be used by aircraft carriers and other types of ship
that previously had the "Catapult Fighter" consumable available.
Now this type of consumable is called "Fighters".
If fighters are summoned by a battleship or a cruiser,
they will follow the summoning ship and patrol the nearby area.
If your aircraft carrier is detected,
the "Fighters" consumable is enabled automatically.
You can also use this consumable when controlling your attack squadron.
A group of fighters will come to the point on the map
where the consumable was enabled,
and will stay around that point for some time.
Their patrol area will be indicated on the minimap.
The first enemy squadron to reach the fighter patrol area will be attacked,
and can lose as many planes
as there are fighters in the fighter group on patrol.
You can increase the number of fighters forming the summoned fighter squadron
by using the "Direction Center for Fighters" skill.
The fighters will leave that area following a successful attack
or once the patrol time is over.
When your aircraft group comes under attack from fighters,
you have a chance to shake them off
by using all of the resources available to you.
If the fighters can't reach your planes within a certain period of time,
they will stop the chase.
So, how can you reduce your losses?
Actively maneuver,
avoid AA shell explosion areas,
watch out for enemy fighters,
and keep your eye on your squadron's combat capability indicator.
Each indicator's cell represents a single plane,
with a green cell showing that the plane is fine,
yellow—the plane is damaged,
red—seriously damaged,
and black—the plane is destroyed or returning to the carrier.
Black-colored cells can also mean
that a squadron took off in an incomplete state.
You can enhance the combat capability of all of your squadrons
by using the "Survivability Expert" skill
and the "Air Groups Modification 2" upgrade.
The combat capability of one of the three attack squadrons can be increased
by using the upgrade from the fourth slot.
Additionally, torpedo bombers starting from Tier VIII
are equipped with the "Repair" consumable,
which allows players to partially restore
the combat capability of the air group.
If you managed to keep your planes safe,
they gain the maximum altitude after the attack
before returning to base via the shortest route possible.
On their way home, they neither detect enemy ships
nor are they detectable by the enemy themselves.
However, while gaining altitude or coming in for landing,
they are vulnerable to AA defense fire.
You can increase the speed at which your planes return to the aircraft carrier
by using the "Air Groups Modification 1" upgrade.
Your planes need time to return,
but you don't.
You will immediately find yourself back on the deck of your aircraft carrier.
This is a very important part of the ship
where the planes available to you are located.
At the beginning of a battle,
the majority of aircraft carriers have one complete squadron of each type
plus a few planes in reserve.
The "Flight Control Modification 1" upgrade
allows you to increase the maximum number of planes on deck.
After one of your planes gets shot down,
another plane is prepared for further missions.
However, if you lose an entire squadron immediately after taking off,
and you're preparing to send another squadron of the same type,
it will be incomplete—
it takes time to prepare the replacement planes.
You can reduce the time this takes
by using the "Air Supremacy".
With the new mechanics, the number of planes available to you is unlimited,
but they require preparation time,
meaning that constant losses in your squadrons
will impact and reduce your efficiency in battle.
As always, you can find more detailed information about all of our new features
in various articles on our portal.
Until next time, and good luck in battle, Commanders!