Preparations for the arrival of submarines in World of Warships
are ongoing.
The development team would like to thank all of those
who played Submarine Battles in Updates 0.9.4 and 0.9.5.
Thanks to your efforts, we were able to make a range of changes
to both playing submarines and against them.
Watch this video to learn all the details about the new features.
In the Submarine Battle mode, you previously needed to hit indicators
on the bow or aft of enemy ships with your sonar pings
in order to activate homing for torpedoes
that you launched from the underwater position.
With the new mechanics, a submarine's Captain will only need
to hit a ship's silhouette with a sonar ping.
An accurate ping will highlight the part of the hull it hits,
and the launched torpedoes will home in on this sector.
If a submarine scores another sonar ping hit on a different part of the enemy ship,
her torpedoes will home in on the new sector instead.
However, if a submarine Captain
manages to hit the same part of the ship with sonar pings twice,
their torpedoes will ignore the torpedo protection of the enemy ship
and inflict greater damage.
Thus, it will now be easier for submarines
to hit targets with sonar pings, but it will require more advanced skills
to activate the effect of two sonar pings hitting the same area.
One important note— if there's no line of sight
between the highlighted part of the ship and incoming torpedoes,
the torpedoes will stop homing.
If your ship is tagged with a sonar ping,
you’ll also see what part of her is highlighted.
This feature will allow you to determine the direction
from which a submarine is attacking you
so that you can maneuver in order to reduce the efficiency of her torpedoes.
The battery charge mechanics have also had some considerable adjustments.
In the previous test,
submarine batteries recharged while underwater when traveling at 1/4 speed,
which allowed submarines to operate underwater continuously
without any significant penalties.
Now, when a submarine is underwater,
her battery charge will recover up to 30% at any speed.
Moreover, the charge will not be consumed while moving.
However, a submarine's Captain should keep an eye
on the remaining battery charge.
When it’s depleted to 20%, the width of sonar pings is reduced.
Anti-submarine warfare has also developed.
Battleships and heavy cruisers
now have the ability to call in anti-submarine warfare aircraft.
Here's how it works: when choosing this weapon type,
the camera rises over the ship and an aiming reticle appears.
You need to select an area within a radius of about 10 km from your ship
and then click the left mouse button.
After some time,
a group of aircraft will arrive and drop depth charges in this area.
Battleships and cruisers
will be able to determine a submarine's approximate location
with the help of the Hydrophone at distances of 3–5 km.
As for destroyers, the action range of their Hydrophones has grown to 7 km.
Apart from that, information received from the Hydrophones of all ships
will be shared with allies.
This change will ease the burden
of anti-submarine efforts borne by destroyers.
However, their depth charges remain the fastest
and most effective way to destroy submarines.
We've also increased the efficiency of different types of high-explosive shells.
Now, shells, bombs, and rockets
can damage submarines at depths of up to 10 meters.
In the new version, the detectability range of surface ships
has been reduced by one third for submarines.
For example, a destroyer with a 6 km detectability range
will be detected by a submarine at a distance of 4 km.
If the ship starts firing, the submarine will see her from a distance
that's equal to the ship's firing range.
At the same time,
the average visibility of submarines on the surface is 4.5–5 km.
We hope that these changes
will make playing submarines more comfortable and fun.
The surface ships, on the other hand,
now have the ability to put up a real fight against these stealthy hunters.
Don't forget that we're still waiting for your feedback on the new ship type!
For now, batten down the hatches and prepare to dive, Captains!