[2019] ST, changes to Mainz, Gorizia and British heavy cruisers

German cruiser Mainz, tier VIII:

Main caliber turret traverse speed increased from 6.0 to 7.6 degrees/second.

Mainz's turret traverse speed will be the same as Nurnberg's.

Italian cruiser Gorizia, tier VII:

Main battery reload time was lowered from 16.5 to 15 s.

The change will increase the cruiser's combat efficiency and will make playing it more comfortable.

British heavy cruisers:

Main battery reload time was increased:

Hawkins, tier V: from 13 to 14 s;


Devonshire, tier VI: from 12 to 14 s;


Surrey, tier VII: from 11 to 13 s;


Albemarle, tier VIII: from 12 to 14 s;


Drake, tier IX: from 14 to 16.5 s;


Goliath, tier X: from 17 to 19.5 s.

Shell parameters were changed:

HE shells of 190 mm caliber:

Maximum damage was increased from 2,650 to 3,050;


Chance of causing fire was increased from 13% to 15%;

HE shells of 203 mm caliber (except London, tier VI):

Maximum damage was increased from 2,850 to 3,300;


Chance of causing fire was increased from 15% to 17%

HE shells of 234 mm caliber:

Maximum damage was increased from 3,350 to 3,850;


Chance of causing fire was increased from 21% to 24%


Armor penetration was increased from 38 (1/6 of caliber) to 58 mm (1/4 of caliber);


Ballistics were changed. Now the shell will need more time to travel the same distance. For example, instead of 5.2 seconds at a 10 km range, it will take 5.39 seconds. At a range of 15 km instead of 8.63 seconds it will take 9.2 seconds.

AP shells of 234 mm caliber:

Armor penetration was improved, especially at close and medium ranges. It increased by 33% at 7 km and by 5% at 14 km.


Ballistics were changed. Now the shell will need more time to travel the same distance. For example, instead of 5.2 seconds at a 10 km range, it will take 5.39 seconds. At a range of 15 km instead of 8.63 seconds it will take 9.2 seconds.

The Repair Party consumable's parameters were changed:

For Hawkins, Devonshire, and Surrey, the restoration of citadel damage was increased from 10% to 50%;


For Albemarle, Drake, and Goliath, restoration of citadel damage was increased from 33% to 50%;


For Drake and Goliath, restoration of casemate (non-citadel) damage was increased from 50 to 60%.

Though British cruisers dealt good damage to targets with light and medium armor, they weren't efficient enough against heavily armored targets. Thus we've increased the damage of their HE shells. At the same time, to lower the excessive efficiency against lightly armored targets, the reload time and ballistics were changed.

Due to fighting at a relatively close distance, British cruisers are often focused by enemies and receive significant damage. The changes to Repair Party will improve the survivability of these ships in order to preserve the style of their gameplay.

Please note that the information in the Development Blog is preliminary and subject to change.

You can still get ifhe for even more penetration, but 58 mm would be okay for most targets.

Ifhe for Henri and Hindenburg are different since there are much more ships you'll be able to pen with increased peneteration on Henri, compared to IFHE Hindenburg. IJN (not Yamato) German BB's.
Increasing pen for Hindenburg allows you to pen decks of Sov. Soyuz, Kremlin and Yamato. Friedrich der Grosse's 80mm deck remains unpenetrable for most cruiser's HE.

Also, meta for Ranked and Clan battles is different for random and, you may be required to counter some specific ships.