Ship upgrades

Hi folks!

Today, we'll take a look at the ship upgrade system in World of Warships Blitz. There are two types, called "upgrades" and "equipment".

Equipment

Every ship has three slots for equipment that can be used to improve the ship's stats:
Equipment costs silver, and the price increases alongside the ship's purchase price - a single piece of equipment easily costs more than an entire ship on a lower tier.

There are several kinds of equipment - reducing gun reload times, improving turn time, turret rotation, reducing damage from torpedoes, increasing range and so on. New modifications unlock as you get to higher tiers.

So what should you choose? There are two main playstyles that largely affect that decision: aggressive manoeuvre play, and defensive tank play. I'd recommend using any new ship for a battle or two to get a feel for its strengths and weaknesses before deciding on which equipment to invest in.

Aggressive

The aggressive playstyle focuses on speed, quick turns and stealth, over damage resistance and defence. You'll be closing in on enemy ships quickly, dealing quick-firing main gun and deadly torpedo salvos. You'll expect to have to dodge enemy torpedoes, and your ship doesn't have much health or armour, so you need to be mobile and use cover. This playstyle is most suitable for destroyers and cruisers.

Depending on your initial ship stats, you want to invest in:

• turn time (as you can see in the screenshot above, I've decided to put two slots into that, boosting turn time by 25% in total)  
• acceleration and speed
• weapons reload time

Defensive

Your ship has very long range, strong armour, but isn't the fastest or most mobile. You'll expect to have to take hits rather than dodging them. This playstyle is most suitable for battleships (and, to some degree, carriers).

You might want to invest in:

• damage control, to reduce torpedo damage and keep fires and leaks down
• turret turn speed, since your ship is rather sluggish
• weapons reload times and carrier-specific plane improvements

Choose wisely, since you'll lose half the cost on equipment when you sell it again, and in higher tiers, that's substantial.

Upgrades

The second main area of ship improvements is "upgrades", for which you need an increasing amount of "blueprints", which you get as a result of battles or from crates (there is a silver cost as well, but it's negligible). Depending on your ship class, you can upgrade hulls, primary guns, secondary guns or torpedoes, dive bombers, torpedo bombers, fire control and AAA.

Gun upgrades increase damage, hull upgrades increase health etc. - you get the picture. Once you've got full upgrades, you can choose an "elite bonus" for your ship, further improving its stats.

As you can see from the stat bars on the right, upgrades make a considerable difference - the game even states that a fully upgraded ship is stronger than its tier.

So what's there to watch out for in upgrades? Blueprints are somewhat rare, and you're going to need a lot of them in higher tiers. There are five classes of blueprints in the game, one for each two tiers.

So one-star (gray) blueprints for tiers one and two, two-star (green) for tiers three and four, and so on. If you've got multiple ships in the same tier group, and upgrade them all at the same time, you'll be at it for a while till you get them to elite.

For example, let's say you've got a tier five destroyer, a tier five battleship, and a tier six carrier - they all compete for the same type of blueprint. There are some ways you can optimise this.

For once, consider skipping a tier. Especially in the lower ones, that's relatively cheap in terms of free XP, so it might be reasonable to go from tier four directly to tier six, thus preserving the blueprints for that tier group. Of course, the higher you get, the more expensive this becomes - skipping tier seven is a major undertaking.

Prioritise your upgrades - which is your favourite ship, that you're playing most? Do you have a carrier for some occasional tactical fun, but are mostly playing battleship? Maybe leave the hull and AAA upgrades out from the carrier, and focus on your battleship first.

In the end, it's about having fun, and so far you can't buy upgrades with gold, which is a blessing - even the best players have to compete for them, so it's still "play to win" instead of "pay to win".

How to deal with destroyers

Hi folks!

Today, I'll talk a bit about how to deal with destroyers, given how popular (and deadly) they are with many experienced players.

Most players will experience this scenario: Your battleship has all its main guns pointed at the target, you've got them clear in your sights. Suddenly, the lookout cries "torpedoes!", and before you can do anything, a full broadside of torpedoes crashes into you, sinking you to the bottom of the sea. What happened - you didn't even see him coming! Welcome to fighting against destroyers.

Destroyers already have low observability to start with, and it can be reinforced with visibility-reducing equipment (from tier 6 on) and camouflage. You can't shoot at ships you don't see. Even without these measures, they can hide behind islands, dash out and launch, just to disappear again.

Or how about this one. You're chasing a destroyer, they went behind an island, but they'll come right out again, so you've got your guns ready - just to have them peek out, launch their torpedoes at you, and move back again. Got to close? You're dead.

So what do you do about these pesky fellows?

Enemy fleet composition

Before you even start the battle, take a look at the enemy fleet composition on the loading screen. How many destroyers do they have? Are they commanded by computer players, or real ones? Computer players are hugely less dangerous. They play destroyers like light cruisers - they'll go mostly on straight course, using their main guns a fair bit, and only fire torpedoes if they've got a sure shot. Human players on the other hand often have some more elaborate tricks up their sleeves.

Scout

At the opening of the battle, be aware that destroyers are going to be the first enemy ships you'll encounter, on account of their speed, so be ready. The key is to spot them before they get into kill range. There are several good ways of doing this:

• let your fleet's destroyers do it - they will be the first one to spot them
• if you have a carrier in your fleet, it can scout ahead with planes (computer players are bad at this, they wait until targets are spotted before launching)
• if the battle you're playing includes areas of control, watch for enemy units taking neutral maps - these are usually destroyers (again, due to being fastest). Given the importance of control areas, human players will most likely go for them
• Some higher-level German cruisers have a "sonar" special ability, which can be used early on to extend their detection range

Destroyer vs destroyer

Once you've scouted the enemy destroyers, the next steps depend quite a bit on what class of ship you're running. If you've got a destroyer yourself, you can tangle with the enemy, which can be great fun and exciting, but it's also dangerous and often time-consuming. You'll need to get a close-range shot off without being hit yourself - close range, because destroyers are very mobile, and without being hit, because torpedoes can easily one-shot you. 

A lot comes down to island / cover play and prediction. If you can successfully predict your enemy's next move, you've got a good chance to win. Are they sailing parallel and suddenly turning? They most likely just launched their torpedoes. Go into full reverse immediately, don't wait until you can spot them. Expect turns, so don't shoot at where the guidance system points you at - they most likely won't stay on course. Shoot at where they will be after the turn - but again, torpedoes move slow, so you've got to shoot close-range. Also keep in mind reload times, they take quite a while, and whoever misses their shot first is going to be rather defenceless for a bit. Fan your torpedo shots, don't send them all down the same lane. This makes them much harder to dodge, and you don't need many hits to take out a destroyer.

Lastly, use your guns, with AP shells - destroyers have thin armour, and you can do some decent damage while torpedoes are reloading. Keep dodging.

Cruiser vs destroyer

You're your fleet's designated destroyer hunter. You're fast, your guns have great range and fire quickly. You've got enough health and armour to take some glancing torpedo salvos. It's your job to take out enemy destroyers before they can wreak havoc on your heavies. Especially light cruisers are well-suited for this job.

The most important part to remember is to keep your distance. You don't want to get closer than 5km to the enemy destroyers, or you'll find yourself dodging torpedoes. Often, it's a good idea to run ahead with your own vanguard, and then go into reverse once destroyers are spotted, keeping them at a good firing range. Definitely use your AP ammo, since your guns can tear through their weak armour quickly. For example, a tier 6 German "Nürnberg" class light cruiser can sink most destroyers of same or even slightly higher tier with three good salvos from her main guns.

They will try to dodge once they've been shelled, so be prepared to do some predicting - at longer range, your shells take a bit of time to get there. If they manage to slip away, you can give chase (beware of ambushes), or switch to a more promising target if there are others around.

If your cruiser has torpedoes, save them for close-range encounters. I've sunk many destroyers who thought they could ambush me behind an island, only to find me in full reverse and six torps coming their way on the other side.

Battleship vs destroyer

I'd treat them as target of opportunity. Your main guns will obviously do severe damage to them, but they take a long time to reload, and the last thing you want is a close-range encounter with destroyers. Trying to hit destroyers at long range is usually not a great use of your limited shots.

Carrier vs destroyer

With your low health and high score value for sinking, you're a primary target for enemy destroyers. Get your planes to scout them, and make sure to check those "back channels" - on some maps, the islands are positioned such that destroyers can sneak by on the side of the map and do a "carrier run", taking you out. Fighters can be used to keep an eye on these corners, if you suspect that someone may come a-sneakin'.

Dive bombers are quite good against destroyers, but they're small targets, so there's a chance all your bomb drops are going to miss. Hitting destroyers with torpedo bombers is quite difficult - they're turning quickly, so get your launches in as close as possible. Often it's better to use torpedoes against other targets and hit destroyers with bombers instead.

Keep an eye for enemy ships trying to break through your lines. If they're making a run for you, hit reverse gear to increase the distance. Don't underestimate the flexibility of light carriers - if destroyers get close, you can turn and make a run for it, while getting the bombers out frequently. Also, use your main guns (with AP ammo), destroyers often forget about those. 

Still, your best defence against a destroyer is not to be near one.

Battle tactics

Hi folks!

After some live-battle last time, today, I'll elaborate more on some common and effective tactics for World of Warships Blitz.

It's a good idea to understand the style you like to play, practice it, and outfit your ships accordingly. Equipment and modifications can make a huge difference in supporting the way you battle.

Distance

Consider the range of your weapons. A destroyer will have some mid-range main guns, but its primary, devastating weapon is the torpedo. Those aren't really effective at long range, even though Japanese torpedoes run for about 8km - hitting anything at that range requires the enemy to either stand still or strictly stay on course, which, inconveniently, they usually do not do.

So torpedo attacks happen at much closer ranges. This means for the destroyer captain that they need to get into a favourable position to launch, especially that it takes about 30s to reload, so once you've launched, you better not stay right next to a cruiser or battleship. While destroyers have the natural advantages of low observability and high speeds, they require a playstyle matching these strengths to be effective.

On the other side of the spectrum, we've got cruisers, battleships and especially carriers who usually have very little desire to be anywhere near their targets. Their main guns usually have a range of 10km and more, and for carriers, their planes can really go anywhere on the battlefield. Cruisers, being the jack-of-all-trades, are often more in the thick of it (especially if they carry torpedoes).

Cover

All maps have islands on them, which act as natural cover. They shield you from view, as well as enemy shells, making them the obvious ally of destroyers and light cruisers. Ambush torpedo attacks are deadly, as you can get close without being spotted (and subsequently shot at), giving you the element of surprise, and the enemy very little time to react. Imagine 9 torpedoes crashing into your side, doing 3000 damage each.

Now, you're not playing destroyer, so why should you care? You've got to be prepared for those kind of attacks, and avoid them. Keep track of enemy destroyers. The game tells you how many there are, so make sure you have an idea where they are. And generally try to stay clear of cover, since you want to spot destroyers while they're still too far to hit you.

Don't sail in a straight line

This is one of the most common mistakes. You've got an enemy ship in your sights, you're zoomed in with your binoculars, just waiting for the guns to reload for that next, devastating broadside - and boom, you're getting hit by a battleship, and off you go to Davy Jones' Locker.

How did that happen? You've stayed in a straight line, sailing forward at full speed, giving that enemy battleship a clear and stable target.

Consider the time it takes for shells to fly some kilometres. True, much less than it takes torpedoes to swim that far, but your ship still moves a considerable amount between shot fired and shells landing. So if you're looking at long-range, indirect artillery, you've got to range and lead your shot - you've got to aim at the point the enemy target will be by the time the shells land, not where it is right now. The further you shoot, the further the target can sail.

Now if the target sails in a straight line, that's fairly easy - you'll get a feel for how much you have to lead your shots pretty quickly. But if they sail unpredictably - varying their speed, turning here and there, they easily dodge most or all of your shells.

So if you're being shot at, don't sail in a straight line. If you're the one doing the shooting, try to predict your target's movement. The closer you get, the easier it is to hit - but don't forget about the torpedoes.

That's it for today, more coming up next time.

Let's battle

Hi folks,

today, let's go through a battle, and I'll explain a bit about my playstyle.

Ship

I'm going to use the German navy tier 6 light cruiser "Nürnberg". This is currently my favourite ship, for a variety of reasons. It's fast, very agile, and carries a massive punch for its size. Let's look at some stats:

We've got a max speed above 30 knots, so she can almost keep up with fast destroyers. The turn time is ridiculous at just above 5s. 

She carries three turrets with 150mm calibre triple-guns. Usually, they'd be on the weak side for this tier, but you can see they're doing 600+ damage with AP shells, so unlike e.g. the Soviet Budyonny-class, you can actually use them against battleships of similar tier and still get some decent damage in.

They reload extremely quickly in under 8s, and three good salvos will take out any destroyer. Combined with the range of over 10km and the special abilities of sonar (extended target discovery) and precise aiming (concentrates fire), she can usually shred enemy destroyers without ever coming into torpedo range.

While the AP shells do have a tendency to bounce off battleships' heavy armour, the secondary torpedoes can do massive amounts of damage against them quickly. The range is decent with over 5km, and she's got six tubes on each side. You'll see them in action later.

Equipment

The "Nürnberg" is classified as a light cruiser, and she's definitely not a "ship of the line" - with 20000 HP, she's slightly sturdier than a destroyer, but still very vulnerable against heavy guns. Battleships cause massive damage, and even heavy cruisers can't be engaged in broadsides. She really plays more like a gunned-up destroyer.

So when it comes to equipment, there are two choices.
Either try to compensate for her weaknesses, or play to her strengths. I'm usually going with the latter. Yes, we could go for faster turret traverse, improved damage control against fire, flooding and torpedoes, but we can't sail in a straight line anyway, and large calibre guns do enough damage that fire or flooding really aren't our main concern.

So she carries my typical destroyer package, geared towards maximum manoeuvrability and fire rate.

Opening of the battle

So we're off to battle, and the first decision is based on information we're getting from the loading screen. Who are our enemies? What ships make up the other fleet? Our own fleet setup doesn't really matter that much - we're a hunter, tank or protective duties aren't suitable anyway.

The enemy fleet has a good mix: One carrier, one battleship, two cruisers and three destroyers. Take a close look at the names: The ones beginning with colons are computer players, who are generally not as strong as human players. We've got humans on the battleship, one of the cruisers and one of the destroyers. The carrier is computer-controlled, so much less dangerous, since they can't aim their torpedoes if their life depends on it (which it usually does).

This means we can mostly ignore dodging airplanes. We're likely to see the destroyers first, since they're fastest, so the human destroyer captain should be our first target. We can use AP against all targets (I'd only consider using high-ex rounds if we'd be mostly up against battleships).

First moves

My initial moves are:

• set engines to full ahead
• greet my fleet
• switch guns to AP
• plot course I'm planning to take

Take a look at the battle map in the top left corner. We've got three areas to control, and a fair amount of small islands, a.k.a. cover, scattered all around. Since we're starting on the left flank, we'll take area C. 

This means we'll mostly get enemies on our right side, so first thing I do is align the gun turrets to that side. Starting around tier five, most ships don't have broadside-style single gun emplacements, but rotating turrets. This has the advantage that all guns can be brought to bear in a volley, but the downside that it takes a while to rotate them from one side to the other. To compensate, I usually make up my mind at the start, and stick with it as long as possible.

Depending on the opposition we're going to encounter, I can then do a turn towards the centre area, or keep heading straight for the carrier.

Ready to engage

About 30s into the battle, I've got my bearings: heading straight for the area of control, guns aligned to the right.

If we're facing destroyers, which is likely, they should be close to the other side of the area of control, so this is a good time to fire up the sonar and extend our detection range. I can easily turn left to get a full salvo in, while maintaining my distance - you don't want to get into close-range fights against a destroyer.

Unless, of course, you're steering one yourself. Given that destroyers can mostly outmanoeuvre my ship by a slight margin, and I've got a massive range advantage, it's all about finding them and killing them from a distance.

We've got a big one

In this battle, I did in fact dispatch of the enemy destroyer vanguard pretty quickly. It was a computer player, and they're very poor with torpedoes, so you can take a slightly more risky course and give them a good broadside. Don't try this with even a half-decent human player.

Then things get more interesting - the battleship is heading straight for us, and it's a human player. We're not alone, though, together with our battleship right on the heels, we have superior firepower, so he can't go for open battle.

Ambush

Using the island as cover, I'm getting a good torpedo shot at close range off. He's seen me, and got some good hits in, too. I've come in at full health, so I can trade that for a torpedo hit, and he's less likely to dodge when he's got me in his sights. 

The other human player has shown up as well, engaging our battleship, so it's balanced out, and this will decide the outcome of the whole battle.

My cruiser has the somewhat unusual layout of having two aft turrets, so while I turn and "run", I can still get shots from most of my quick-firing guns in.

The battleship is heading past behind the island, while having most of my torpedoes hitting their mark. I suspect he thinks I'm out (as a destroyer would be), and tries to get into close range to finish me off. I can dodge most of his shots at ranges of 7km and above, while still laying fire on him with my rear turrets. But I still have the torpedo tubes on my other side loaded and ready.

Battle won

Our battleship has taken out the enemy cruiser, and I've completed the turn, getting the second torpedo salvo on target after ambushing him again behind the island. Those six hits finished him off, and I was still able to take out the carrier as well.

There are many different tactics and playstyles. To be successful, you've got to both find your own style, and work together with your fleet, concentrating your firepower. I'll be going through some of the things I use frequently and observe in other players in more detail in future posts.

Don't pay to win, play to win

Hi folks!

This is kind of the theme of this whole blog, but I came across this post from Richard Garfield, the creator of "Magic the Gathering", talking about exactly this topic. And I'd assume he knows a thing or two about games and addiction. I grew up with MtG, and spent a fair bit of my pocket money on it when I was a kid in the 90s.

So, first, please read what he's got to say.

I wholeheartedly agree with him on this, but I also don't think this is going to go away anytime soon. There is lots of money to be made. So here are some tips for how to deal with this, staying safe while having fun. These are rules I follow myself (mostly on mobile games).

#1 Never pay within the first week

You download a new game, it seems quite complex and overwhelming in its mechanics. You get through the tutorials, level up quickly within the first hour. You feel like you've got the hang of it. You start playing against others online, and then the first "special packs" crop up, "once-only opportunities", "84% off only today". You've spent all the starting special currency (gold / diamonds) on some items, and everything starts slowing down. Competition gets harder. Why not spend some real-world money on that special offer?

What happens here is that the game is designed to get you into the habit of constant micropayments. Mostly, the things you pay for early on become useless relatively quickly. In order to fully understand a games' mechanics and being able to judge the actual value of purchases, you need to spend some time with it.

So just don't pay anything within the first week of playing. Enjoy the free stuff. Get to know the game, before you pay for it.

#2 Pay what it's worth, once

Now that you know a bit more about the game, and can accurately judge which purchases make sense and match your playstyle, you can decide who much the game is worth to you. You've seen some "once only" offers come and go (surprise), and you know if this is something you'd be spending some serious time with, or if it's burned out already for you.

If you like the game, pay the developers. That's only fair. The beautiful thing about free-to-play is that you can pick your price - can be from the lowest item for the price of a coffee, up to a bit more for a game that you really enjoy.

But only pay that price once, and that's it. You get what you get. Use your ingame purchase wisely. Often it's virtual currency, so you can leave it in the game until you've decided what to do with it.

# 3 Don't pay to win

Every time a game asks for real money, try to identify the pattern. What psychological trick are they trying on you? Resist, and you'll feel good, because your mind was able to defend against their tricks. You won the meta-game.

Don't pay to win, play to win. You'll find it's much more satisfying to become successful at a game by practice and becoming a good player, than just paying your way to the top. Subconsciously, you'll always know if you deserve the victory.

world of warships currencies

Hi folks!

Now that we've gone through the ships and some game basics, let's take a closer look at the "free to play" setup that's designed to get you to spend real money.

As I've said before, this game is actually one of the good ones out there - it lets you have a serious amount of fun without paying anything at all, there's no "waiting" system that can be bypassed with money etc.

That said, of course there's plenty of motivation to get you spending. We've got the classic two-currency setup: There's "silver", which you need to purchase and upgrade ships and buy consumable supplies, like the rather essential repair and damage control kits. You get silver after each battle. Then there's "gold", which you mostly have to buy with real money (except for small amounts being occasionally dispensed during special events). Gold has multiple uses in the game:

* buying additional ship slots
* all but two player portraits need gold to unlock
* buying improved repair / damage control consumables
* creating a fleet
* changing elite bonuses on ships
* converting "tied" XP to "free" XP
* buying silver
* premium ships
* premium account time

Let's look at these one by one, and see how important they are in the game.

Ship slots

You start with some free slots for ships, and given how quickly you get through the first tiers, you'll be running out of them soon. You can unlock more by using gold, but of course, you could also sell your old ships to free up space. Do you need to keep lower-tier ships?

There are some advantages - playing lower-tier is easier, since you're mostly going to encounter new players, so you can improve your win stats, if you're so inclined. Every day, you get a 100% XP bonus for the first victory, so the more ships you have, the more you can use this. Lastly, if you're playing team battles, you can only have a spread of two tiers in your team, so if your friends sit on lower tiers, you'd want to have a ship around to join them.

Personally, I don't quite see the need to increase the number of ship slots. I tend to "get used" to a certain ship style and play style, so in the end, I've got about three ships I use regularly.

Player portraits

That's a vanity thing, I guess - really just to show off that you spent money on the game. Matter of personal taste.

Improved kits

This I'd call a clear waste of money. Yes, the kits are slightly better in their effect, but if you're in a bad position, like facing a salvo of nine torpedoes with nowhere to dodge, they aren't going to help you any more than the standard kits are.

Creating a fleet

This is, again, a matter of taste - there isn't any ingame bonus attached to being in a fleet or running one. Given that it's quite expensive to set up (2k gold atm), I'd weigh it against the other ways to spend money.

Changing elite bonuses

Honestly, another waste of money. Make up your mind. By the time you've fully upgraded your ship, you should have a good feel for which bonus makes most sense, knowing the weaknesses and your personal playstyle.

Free XP conversion

This is an interesting one. There are two types of XP in the game: XP you gather for a particular ship, which you need a certain amount of to unlock the next tier, and "free" XP, which you can use whatever way you please. Once you've fully upgraded a ship, any further XP you gather with it

Carriers

Hi folks!

today, we'll take a closer look at the final class of ships: the aircraft carrier. Starting in tier 4, the tech tree branches out one more time into carriers for the Japanese and US sides. Historically, carriers were largely underestimated until WWII, and even with the onset of the large pacific naval battles, the battleship was still considered the primary force at sea, coming from the "ship of the line" doctrine. 

The carrier

The first carriers in the game are small, lightly armoured vessels, mostly converted transports or cruiser bodies with a deck stuck on top of them. Playing carrier is very different from the rest of the ship classes. Mostly, you stay stationary, and control the plane wings in a birds-eye, tactical view.

Carriers come with three kinds of planes: dive bombers, torpedo bombers and fighter craft, the latter not being available until tier 6. Dive bombers work autonomously - you give them a target, they fly there and try to drop some bombs on it. Torpedo bombers, on the other hand, need babysitting, since the target vector is set manually. In return, usually only one out of three dive bombers will hit its target, while it's possible to get a full salvo hit with torpedoes, doing quite a bit more damage.

A carrier that is discovered and in range of enemy ships is in trouble - it can try to run and keep sending planes, but it certainly spells doom when a destroyer shows up alongside.

Strategies

Carriers can do substantial damage, when played right. One of your main advantages is range and overview - your planes can cover the battlefield faster than anything else, and do a great job at spotting enemy ships. You can then pick your targets, preferably damaged ships you can take out with one or two wings, or ships that endanger your position, like sneaking destroyers.

Starting tier 6, you'll have fighters available, making carrier vs carrier battles even more interesting. You can use them to scout, escort your ships against enemy bombers, or defend your position.

But planes don't roam free unopposed - most ships have some form of anti-aircraft artillery, with the battleships' heavy flak being the most devastating. Flying over a large enemy formation means only one-third of your bomber wing might make it back home, and you might run out of planes after a couple of attack runs.

Keep an eye on enemy ships that look like they're heading your way, and attack them with all you've got, before they can get in range and spot you. Especially sneaky destroyers.

Against other classes

Bringing destroyers down is often easiest with dive bombers. They're very mobile, especially if controlled by experienced players, and just don't stay in a straight line for long enough to get a good torpedo hit in. They're relatively easy to set on fire, so dive bombers can often do quite some damage, especially if you spot them early enough.

Cruisers are one of the best targets for you - they don't have the same massive AAA as battleships, and aren't usually agile enough to escape torpedo runs. Beware of some Soviet cruisers having special flak abilities they can activate.

Battleships are good targets as long as they're alone. Slow-moving, slow-turning, they're easy to hit with torpedo salvos, and even though it'll take some time to bring one down, you can see them coming from over half the map away.

Enemy carriers can be tempting to take on, but consider the cost: They're behind their fleet, meaning you've got to get through a huge flak barrage before you can do any damage. Especially later-stage carriers have very decent AAA themselves, and fighters to protect. Finally, while you're busy flying all across to the other side, you're not doing damage to other targets which might be much closer.

Keep your fighters where they send their bombers is usually the best thing you can do.

Nations

Only two nations have carriers in the game, the USA and Japan. Japanese carriers are pretty decently armed in terms of guns (some of the early US carriers have almost no guns at all) and can do some surprising damage against careless destroyers. US carriers tend to favour larger bomber wings.

Playing carrier can be great fun, and it can be very satisfying to be on the other end of that pesky "enemy aircraft incoming!" alert. 

German cruisers

Hi folks!

With the update 0.9 yesterday, a new branch has been introduced to the tech tree - German ships.

They've got a line of cruisers which looks really exciting so far. No battleships yet, so we'll have to keep waiting for the Bismarck.

One of my main issues with the Soviet cruiser line, which is rather similar, down the road is the lack of firepower. The tier 6 "Budyonny" cruisers sport 150mm main guns, well below the calibre of the Japanese cruisers with their 200mm batteries. While they can fire fairly rapidly, their AP shells mostly just bounce off battleships, and even opposing cruisers of similar tiers. Doesn't get any better with the tier 7 ship, and that's already a pretty major investment in terms of game resources.

This means you have to keep switching between AP and HE shells, depending on your target. HE shells don't kill destroyers quickly enough, before you get in range of their torpedo salvos, whereas against battleships, AP is useless, and your only chance is to keep hitting them with HE, causing fires, and manoeuvring wildly to evade their main guns.

The German cruisers are having a similar setup, but at tier 7 (which I consider to be the first "decisive" tier, due to the amount of resources needed to get there), the "Yorck" sports a set of 210mm main guns, with much better mobility than the Soviet "Shchors". Torpedoes are superior as well in terms of range and number.

So if you're a cruiser captain and look for a ship that not everyone has, get going at the new branch.

Destroyers

Hi folks!

Today, we'll take a look at ships in the destroyer class. 

The Destroyer

Destroyers are the second choice, beside the early battleships, when reaching tier two and branching out. They are small, fast craft with less artillery than cruisers, but with the largest torpedo loadout in the game.

Historically, destroyers developed out of torpedo boats, and were designed as fast attack craft with hit-and-run capabilities, as well as submarine hunters. Since subs are not a thing in World of Warships, we're left with the fast attack craft role. According to the in-game hints, they're the hardest class to play, and that's somewhat true, you need to understand the role to play it successfully, not just "sail and gun".

Strategies

Your destroyer will have the lowest hitpoints in the game, about half to one third of a cruiser. This means that a full salvo or two from pretty much anything - torpedoes or a battleship's main battery, two good broadsides from a cruiser or a drop of aerial torpedoes from a wing of carrier craft will sink or severely damage your ship. It doesn't have much in terms of armour / damage reduction either, so armour piercing shells go right through.

In return, a full torpedo salvo is the most devastating attack in the game. It'll instantly kill any rival destroyer in its way, most cruisers, and seriously damage even battleships. It usually takes a fairly long time to reload, so you'll probably only get 3 to 4 shots off during a battle. 

Destroyers have one defence - stealth. They've got the lowest observability in the game, and are fast and agile enough to use the islands to their advantage, staying hidden until the target is in range, striking, and running away quickly.

Against Other Classes 

Destroyer-on-destroyer battles are among the most exciting in the game. You both don't have much health, but are agile enough to avoid most torpedo salvos. A lot of it comes down to predictions - where is the enemy going to turn next, so you can catch them with a broad spread. And gunnery - even your small main guns do sufficient damage, and they reload quickly. It's a battle of wits and experience.

Cruisers are a nuisance: while your torpedoes are still deadly against them, they are somewhat agile, so you've got to get close to them first - and they have quick-firing main guns that can shred your destroyer to bits, once they zero in on you.

Which gets us to the destroyer's preferred targets: battleships and carriers. They're big, slow, don't turn well, and few things are as satisfying in the game as watching a whole broadside of torpedoes crashing into one of those bathtubs. Mind you, the battleship's main guns can make very quick work of your ship, so try to flank them and get onto the other side, since their turrets take a while to rotate around.

And keep an escape route in mind, because a destroyer which is reloading torpedoes is easy prey.

Nations

While there's a lone British destroyer as a premium ship around, the main factions in the tech tree are the American and Japanese ships.

The US destroyers usually carry a bit more guns, while their torpedo range isn't quite as long as the Japanese (~6km vs. ~8km). Given that you can't usually hit anything reliably beyond 6km anyway, I'd give a clear advantage to the US destroyers here. Something to keep in mind when you're deciding which side of the tech tree you're going to follow.

Destroyers are great fun, once you've learned the tactics. Keep moving, time your shots, and pick your targets.

Next time, we'll look at carriers, so stay tuned.

Battleships

Hi folks!

Today, we'll take a closer look at the battleship class. Once you got some XP from the initial games, you can quickly branch out from cruisers, and battleships are one of the obvious fun choices - lots of guns, heavy armour, what's not to like.

The Battleship

Battleships have around twice the health of a cruiser, and much better defences (damage reduction, fire / flooding protection etc). Their main batteries consist of large-calibre guns, usually in turrets of two or three. We're talking 300 mm plus shells here. Unlike the early cruisers and destroyers, battleships will use armour piercing shells by default, instead of the other ships' high-explosive ones. They won't cause fires, but due to the high damage output, critical hits (those penetrating into the internal structure of the enemy ship) deal massive amounts of damage.

Their secondary guns are usually mounted on both sides, and have a much shorter range, but a higher rate of fire.

On the downside, battleships are usually quite slow - slow in terms of speed, slow in terms of turning, and slow in terms of realigning their turrets. This means they're delivering deadly broadsides, but are in danger of being flanked.

Against other classes

Battleships are pretty deadly against cruisers. Their heavy armour means they can't be easily damaged by the cruiser's smaller-calibre main guns, and cruisers are large enough targets to be fairly easily hit by the devastating main batteries. US and Soviet cruisers have to get very close to hit them with torpedoes, usually not making that an appealing option.

Destroyers, on the other hand, are a huge nuisance. Due to their slow turning speed, and inability to realign their main turrets in time, destroyers will often flank a battleship, meaning they simply drive around them and approach from the "other side". Close-range torpedo salvos will hurt even the mighty battleship, and well-driven destroyers never stand still long enough to be hit reliably by the main batteries.

Success in Slugging it out with other battleships mostly depends on positioning, concentration of firepower and luck. Critical hits from main batteries can do as much damage as a torpedo. The ideal position is an "angled broadside" - just enough for both fore and aft turrets to be able to zero in on target, but exposing as little surface as possible to enemy shells. Ideally, "crossing the T" can be achieved - you catch the enemy battleship out of position, and can land one or two full salvos before they can respond with all their guns.

Battleships have the strongest set of AAA, but they're also the least manoeuvrable, making them prime targets for enemy torpedo bombers. Fortunately, air-dropped torps don't do quite as much damage as the ones launched from destroyers and cruisers, and usually come in smaller numbers. Once a carrier is spotted successfully, battleships can shred them to bits in no time.

Strategies

Battleship captains should pick a side of the map early on. Sailing head-first into an enemy formation is a recipe for disaster - flanking fire will come in quickly, and is hard to react to. Instead, keep the enemy fleet on one side, and keep your turrets trained on that side.

Be sure to target the main batteries as precisely as possible - reloading them takes a really, really long time. You can use the secondaries while waiting for the next salvo to be ready, but they do comparatively little damage. Choose targets wisely - firing a full salvo at a fast-moving destroyer at long range is pretty much a wasted one. A good hit at a damaged cruiser at medium range can possibly sink it, removing its firepower from the battle.

Don't forget to use the secondary guns while the main batteries are reloading - you can usually get two salvos off before the primary ones are ready again. If you've got a clear target, go for a full salvo, but if you're not sure, "zero in" with firing turrets individually first, especially at long range.

Nations

Only two nations currently have battleships in the game - USA and Japan. The Japanese ships tend to be faster, but less heavily armoured, whereas the early US ships are dreadfully slow, but can take a bit more of a beating. They're fairly equivalent, so it's really just a matter of taste which tech tree you chose.

Next time, we'll take a closer look at the destroyers.

Cruisers

Hi folks!

Next up, we'll take a closer look at the different ship classes, and the respective playstyles. First, the cruiser, since it's the class that's designated "easiest" to play by the game, and it's what you'll be starting out with in tier one.

The Cruiser

Cruisers have average, but balanced capabilities in terms of manoeuvrability, firepower and armour. When progressing through the tiers, cruisers have, on average, around double the hitpoints of destroyers, but only half of battleships. Their armament includes a good number of primary guns, at a lower calibre than battleships' main batteries, but with a faster rate of fire. Secondary guns quickly get replaced by torpedoes, but in smaller numbers than destroyers.

Against other classes

The cruiser usually is quite powerful against destroyers - it's fast enough to chase them, and the numerous main guns get through the weak armour quickly, with fast reload time giving it enough shots to compensate for misses due to the destroyer's agility and small size. You'll have to watch out for torpedoes though, since a single salvo from a destroyer is usually enough to sink a cruiser. While they're more agile than battleships, evading a well-targeted torpedo salvo at close range is almost impossible.

Against battleships, cruisers can again bring their fire rate to bear, but have a very similar problem as against destroyers: A battleship's main battery salvo can shred through a cruiser very quickly, their armour-piercing shells doing some severe critical damage. And, unlike the destroyers, they don't have to come close, but actually outrange your main guns. Cruisers are big enough targets for battleships to hit at 10 km with relative ease.

The next problem a cruiser captain is facing against battleships is their armour plating. Sure, you've got quick-firing triple-gun turrets, but they're 150 mm calibre, and your armour-piercing shots mostly just bounce off the battleship's hull plating, doing no damage whatsoever. Then they respond with a full broadside of their 320 mm main battery, and half your hitpoints are gone in a single salvo.

Lastly, against aircraft carriers. The main issue with destroying aircraft carriers is that you have to get to them. There are some problems with that:

• They're at the other end of the map
• You only have 6 minutes to get there
• The whole rest of the enemy fleet is kind of in the way
• They'll start sending aircraft out to drop unpleasant things on you once you get close

Cruisers are actually quite useful in that task, since they're decently fast, and have enough range and firepower on their main guns to sink the weakly armoured carriers quickly.

Strategies

If we're looking at the historic role of cruisers during the early 20th century, they're often designed for escort and merchant interdiction purposes. The big naval battles were fought by heavily armoured battleships, descendants of the ships-of-the-line, in direct broadside engagements.

This is quite close as you should play them in "World of Warships" as well: stick with the heavier battleships, and keep pesky destroyers off their slow-moving backsides. Going out alone with a cruiser is quite risky - run into an enemy battleship line, and you're toast. Run into an enemy destroyer pack, and you're torpedo-toast.

The other option is to go pack-hunting with the destroyers. Cruisers can keep up mostly in terms of speed, and can pack a good punch against enemy destroyers at range. "Warships" is a team game, and mostly those who can work together will win very convincingly.

Nations

There are four nations currently in the game: Soviets, USA, Japan and Great Britain. Three of them have cruisers in the tech tree - the Soviets, in fact, only have cruisers, and the British really just come along for the ride with a single premium ship at the moment anyway.

The Soviet cruisers are focused on main guns. Starting tier four, their range is close to battleships, with a good firing rate. Their torpedoes are a bit of an afterthought, with very short range they're more of a rarely used measure if a careless enemy gets too close.

The US cruisers are more balanced designs, with average torpedo range and main guns, and a decent defence.

The Japanese cruisers play more like oversized destroyers, with very strong, long-range torpedoes, but often inferior main guns. They're fast and good hunters, most suitable to the destroyer-pack approach.

That's it for today, next time, we'll take a closer look at the battleship.

World Of Warships Blitz

Hi folks!

World of Warships has been a very successful real-time strategy game on PC, and now there's a mobile version as well - World of Warships Blitz. I've been playing this for a little while, and very much enjoyed it, so let's take a closer look a the "free to play" setup.

The game currently offers 7v7 tactical naval battles, against real or AI players. Whichever team scores the most points within a 6 minute time-limit wins, points are awarded for controlling areas or sinking enemy ships.

Ships

Ships come in four classes: destroyers, cruisers, battleships and aircraft carriers. Historical ships from the first and second world war are available, from Soviet, British, Japanese and US fleets (although only the Japanese and US fleets are currently properly fleshed out).

The ships are classified in ten tiers, and XP is needed to "research" the next higher tier. XP is gained from battles. Once a ship is researched, it has to be bought using silver. There are multiple ways to increase the ship's capabilities - upgrades to hull, weapons etc using "blueprints" (which are gained in battle), installing equipment (paid for in silver) or using special consumables (again, silver).

Currencies

This brings us to the classic free-to-play multiple currency setup. Silver is the regular currency, which is gained in battle, gold is the "special" currency, which usually has to be paid for with real money. Gold buys a variety of things:

• more ship slots
• create your own fleet (alliance, team, whatever you want to call it)
• profile pictures
• buy premium ships
• buy premium account time
• buy special paint jobs
• convert experience
• buy silver

Some of these are vanity items (like profile pictures), others are quite useful (like premium account time). That said, the way the game is currently set up (and the quite steep price for gold), it's perfectly playable without spending much real money.

Once you've reached tier 6 (out of ten), things slow down very considerably. The cost for new ships scales exponentially, both in terms of XP needed to unlock them, and silver needed to purchase and upgrade them. We'll be taking a closer look in future posts at what's the best path to choose to deal with these, what to expect, as well as the ship types with their strengths and weaknesses and winning strategies.

Conclusion

As always, if you enjoy the game, I'd recommend paying what you feel it's worth to support the developers. But as "free to pay" goes, it's certainly one of the good ones out there.