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.