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Update 0.9.2 – European Destroyers: Part 1
Early Access to European destroyers, changes to Inertia Fuse for HE Shells and hull plating, a new Clan Brawl, and much more!
[UPDATED] The Update has been rolled out. The server is now available.
Captains! Due to the installation of the Update, the server will be unavailable:
From: 11.03.2020 02:00 UTC
Until: 11.03.2020 05:00 UTC
Update size: 1.5 GB
Because of the changes being made to the Inertia Fuse for HE Shells skill, resetting Commander skills will be free of charge from the release of Update 0.9.2 until 7:00 (UTC) on March 16. Go to the Link at the bottom of the article to opt-in.
European Destroyers
Tier V–IX European destroyers hit the high seas in Early Access!
Features of the new Tech Tree branch
Long-range torpedoes with high speeds are the hallmark features of the new branch. European destroyers carry rapid-firing main guns from Tier VII and, starting at Tier V, the Repair Party consumable. With their decent AA defenses and access to the Defensive AA Fire consumable at Tiers VIII–X, they can effectively fend off hostile aircraft.
Their long-range, high-speed torpedoes deal relatively moderate damage. The torpedoes can be set to fan out in two spreads: narrow or super-narrow.
Good AA defenses with a solid reach. Starting from Tier VIII, the European destroyers are equipped with the Defensive AA Fire consumable.
Destroyers of Tier VII and above are equipped with rapid-firing main battery guns. They are efficient in close quarters combat, but less comfortable when exchanging fire over long distances because of their extended shell-hang time and short range of fire.
While they are not equipped with Smoke Generator, they enjoy good concealment (just 6 km for Halland). Ships of Tier V and above have access to a variant of the Repair Party consumable that restores 1% of any lost HP per second but has an action time of just 10 seconds. At Tiers VIII, IX, and X, the active duration of the consumable is 4 seconds longer.
The entire branch of European destroyers will become available to research with the release of Update 0.9.3.
To get European destroyers in Early Access, you can exchange a new resource—European Tokens—for bundles in the Armory that include Visby, Västerås, Skåne, Öland, and Östergötland.
You will find European Tokens in Europe containers, which in turn can be obtained by progressing through Directives or picked up from Daily Shipments.
The Tech Tree now features Småland—available for 2,000,000 Free XP. It's the first Tier X ship to be made available in exchange for this resource type.
Småland stands as one of the largest and strongest destroyers in the Swedish Navy. Just like her researchable European counterparts, Småland lacks Smoke Generator, but has access to Surveillance Radar, an efficient Engine Boost consumable, and Repair Party. She also has a rapid-firing main battery. Småland is a multi-purpose warship that can pose a real threat to Key Areas and is highly effective at chasing down hostile destroyers.
Key Features
Four 120 mm main guns with a reload time of just 1.7 seconds.
Eight torpedoes with a 12 km reach and speed of 76 knots, but with rather low maximum damage. The ship has one quintuple-tube and one triple-tube torpedo launcher to carry her torpedoes.
The ship's unique Engine Boost consumable provides a 30% speed increase (by default: 8%), but operates for just 60 seconds. When activated, this consumable makes it possible for Småland to reach speeds of up to 45.5 knots.
On Småland, the Defensive AA Fire consumable is replaced by Surveillance Radar. It has an action time of 20 seconds and is capable of detecting ships at distances of up to 7.5 km.
New Port
A new Port called Fjords is set to appear in the game. The Port's design is inspired by Scandinavian landscapes.
New Emblems
European Fleet emblems are now available in the game. They can be obtained in the same way as the emblems of other nations, i.e. by winning a certain number of battles playing Tier VIII–X ships, and ranking among the top base XP earners on your team for those battles.
Three Crowns Camouflage
We've added a new permanent camouflage designated "Three Crowns" for Visby, Västerås, Skåne, Öland, Östergötland, Småland, and destroyer Halland which will become available for research in Update 0.9.3. You can obtain the permanent camouflages by completing special combat missions.
Clan Brawl
Date: 04/04/2020
Prime times:
CIS 15:00 – 20:00 UTC
EU 17:00 – 22:00 UTC
ASIA 11:00 – 16:00 UTC
NA 0:00 – 05:00 UTC (on the next following day)
Format: Battles will involve Tier VIII ships in a 4 vs. 4 format.
Restrictions: a maximum of one ship of each type per team.
Rewards: up to 350 Steel; 3,500 Coal; and 2,500,000 credits
Maps: Hotspot, Shatter, Trident, and Northern Waters with reduced action zones; and Big Race, with a standard map size of 30x30 km.
More details will follow in a dedicated article.
Changes to the Inertia Fuse for HE Shells Skill and Cruiser and Battleship Plating
Reasons behind the changes and their impact on your gameplay:
To simplify interactions between same-tier cruisers. For example, HE shells fired by cruisers with 152–155 mm guns should be capable of penetrating the plating of same-type ships without the effects applied by any extra conditions. These changes are aimed at shifting the Inertia Fuse for HE Shells skill out of most players' first-choice set of skills.
To improve the durability of cruisers in battle: changes to the thickness of cruiser plating will make these ships more resistant to battleship salvos if positioned wisely.
To enhance the distinction between cruisers carrying guns with a caliber of, or exceeding, 190 mm, and cruisers with 149–189 mm guns, by changing their armor protection: the former will feature thicker armor for their central "box," while the latter will have thicker armor only for the central part of their decks.
To keep the armor protection of battleships as it is: without the Inertia Fuse for HE Shells skill applied, cruisers with 152–155 mm guns will still be unable to penetrate the plating of same-tier battleships.
We wanted to balance the Inertia Fuse for HE Shells skill in such a way that the combination of its positive and negative characteristics would influence players' choices, making the skill less of an ultimate "go-to" option when training Commanders.
We'll keep a close eye on how these changes affect game balance and the battle performance of certain ships. If required, additional balance corrections will be applied to the skill and some ships to preserve their battle performance.
Changes to the Inertia Fuse for HE Shells skill
The bonus applied to the armor-penetration capabilities of HE shells has been changed from 30% to 25%.
The skill will now reduce the chances of causing fire by half, instead of subtracting 1% or 3% from them, depending on the caliber. It is only the standard chances of a fire being caused by HE shells that are reduced by half. Other bonuses to the chances of causing fire will function as before, such as the bonuses provided by the Victor Lima signal or Demolition Expert skill.
Example: the standard chances of a fire being caused by HE shells for cruiser Helena are 12%. With the Inertia Fuse for HE Shells skill mastered, the chances of causing fire are reduced to 6%. With the Demolition Expert skill, the chances increase to 8%.
This skill previously provided a significant advantage with a minimal penalty, which made it too impactful. The updated version of the skill brings it more in line with the efficiency of other skills.
The rules for calculating armor-penetration have been changed for all HE and SAP shells: a new rule—"a shell penetrates armor if the armor-thickness value is less than or equal to the shell-penetration value"—will now be applied instead of the old rule—"a shell penetrates armor if the armor-thickness value is strictly less than the shell-penetration value." For example, 152 mm shells fired from a Tier VII cruiser will be able to penetrate armor plating with a thickness of up to 25 mm, as opposed to the 24 mm it used to be.
For Tier VIII–X cruisers carrying 152–155 mm guns, the armor-penetration capabilities of their HE shells have been changed. Previously, they were calculated in accordance with the 1/6-caliber rule. Now, they will be calculated following the 1/5-caliber rule. When firing HE shells, these ships will be able to penetrate each other's armor plating, as well as the plating of Tier VIII–X cruisers that is up to 30 mm thick, without use of the Inertia Fuse for HE Shells skill.
Changes to cruiser and battleship armor protection
The changes to cruisers' plating will make these ships more resistant to fire from battleships when positioned wisely: AP shells will ricochet off the plating if they impact at a sharp angle (watch our How it Works video for more info how AP interacts with armor). Tier X cruisers already benefit from adopting proper positioning. At the same time, the central parts of the hulls and decks of cruisers carrying guns with a caliber of 190 mm or more now have thicker armor, while cruisers with guns of a smaller caliber have thicker armor only for the central parts of their decks. These changes emphasize the distinction between light and heavy cruisers.
Due to changes to the rules for calculating the armor penetration of HE and SAP shells, the armor plating of Tier VI–VII battleships has been changed to 26 mm in order to keep interactions between ship types consistent.
Table of changes to the penetration mechanics
Caliber of main and secondary battery guns
Armor penetration prior to the change
Armor penetration after the change
(armor thickness that the shells can penetrate without the Inertia Fuse for HE Shells skill)
180 mm
29 mm
30 mm (can penetrate the plating of same-tier cruisers)
152 and 155 mm (Tier VIII–X cruisers)
24 mm (unable to penetrate the fore- and aft-ends of same-tier cruisers) and 25 mm
30 and 31 mm (can penetrate the plating of same-tier cruisers)
150 and 152 mm (Tier I–VII ships)
24 mm
25 mm (can penetrate the plating of same-tier cruisers)
150 mm (German ships, except destroyers)
37 mm
38 mm (can penetrate the plating of same-tier battleships)
128 mm (German ships, except destroyers)
31 mm
32 mm (can penetrate the plating of same-tier battleships)
113 mm
18 mm (unable to penetrate the plating of same-tier destroyers)
19 mm (can penetrate the plating of same-tier destroyers)
100 mm (Japanese Tier VIII–X ships)
24 mm (unable to penetrate the fore- and aft-ends of same-tier cruisers)
30 mm (can penetrate the plating of same-tier cruisers)
Please note: the table indicates the minimum plating thickness for each ship tier!
Table of changes to armor protection
Armor thickness prior to the change
Protection prior to the change
(AP shell caliber, chance of a ricochet)
Armor thickness after the change
Protection after the change
(AP shell caliber, chance of a ricochet)
Tier IV–V
Cruisers (except for British light cruisers)
Central part: 13 mm
Up to 186 mm, off the central part
Central part: 16 mm
Up to 229 mm, off the central part
Tier VI–VII
Cruisers carrying guns of a caliber exceeding 190 mm
Central part: 16 mm
Up to 229 mm, off the central part
Central part: 25 mm
Up to 357 mm, off the central part
Cruisers carrying 149–190 mm guns (except for British light cruisers)
Deck: 16 mm
Up to 229 mm, off the central deck
Deck: 25 mm
Up to 357 mm, off the central deck
Cruisers London, Devonshire and Surrey
Broadside: 19 mm
Up to 272 mm, off the plating
Broadside: 25 mm
Up to 357 mm, off the plating
Tier VIII–IX
Cruisers carrying guns of a caliber exceeding 190 mm, and Mogami
Central part: 25 mm
Up to 357 mm, off the central part
Central part: 27 mm
Up to 386 mm, off the central part
Cruisers carrying 149–190 mm guns (except for British light cruisers)
Deck: 25 mm
Up to 357 mm, off the central deck
Deck: 27 mm
Up to 386 mm, off the central deck
Cruisers Cheshire, Albemarle, and Drake
Broadside: 25 mm
Up to 357 mm, off the plating
Broadside: 27 mm
Up to 386 mm, off the plating
Tier X
Cruiser Smolensk
Central part: 30 mm
Up to 429 mm, off the central part
Central part: 16 mm
Up to 229 mm, off the central part
Cruiser Colbert
Central part: 30 mm
Up to 429 mm, off the central part
Broadside: 21 mm
Up to 300 mm, off the plating
Deck: 16 mm
Up to 229 mm, off the central deck
Cruisers Salem and Des Moines
Broadside: 27 mm
Up to 386 mm, off the plating
Broadside: 30 mm
Up to 429 mm, off the plating
Armory
The cost of signals in the Research Bureau has been reduced by half. Now, experienced players can stock up on any missing signals, enabling them to focus on gathering the Research Points needed to get other rewards available via the Research Bureau.
With the release of Update 0.9.2, all British Tokens will be converted to credits at a rate of 1:4,500.
Game Balance Changes
In Update 0.9.2, we've made changes to the parameters of certain ships based on our analysis of their battle efficiency and feedback from players. Such changes were required in order to carefully adjust the balance of these warships. Further changes may follow, should they be required, in future updates.
The armor penetration values of the secondary battery guns on German ships were changed as follows:
The armor penetration of 105 mm secondary battery HE shells fired by Yorck, Prinz Eitel Friedrich, Scharnhorst, Scharnhorst B, Gneisenau, Admiral Graf Spee, and HSF Admiral Graf Spee was increased from 18 to 26 mm. This same change was applied in an earlier Update to the 105 mm secondary battery shells of König, Bayern, Bismarck, Tirpitz, Graf Zeppelin, Graf Zeppelin B, Prinz Eugen, Admiral Hipper, Roon, and Hindenburg.
Tier IV U.S. battleship Arkansas Beta:
Added access to the Ship Consumables Modification 1 upgrade.
Tier III Soviet cruiser Aurora:
Gun traverse speed increased from 5.0 to 5.1 deg/s.
Tier VII Soviet battleship Sinop:
Main battery gun Sigma parameter reduced from 1.55 to 1.50.
Tier X Soviet battleship Kremlin:
Main battery gun Sigma parameter reduced from 1.85 to 1.80.
Tier VII U.S. cruiser Atlanta:
Main battery reload time reduced from 5.0 to 4.9 seconds.
Tier VII U.S. cruiser Flint:
Main battery reload time reduced from 5.0 to 4.9 seconds.
Tier IX U.K. destroyer Jutland:
Main battery reload time increased from 4.0 to 4.1 seconds.
Torpedo tube reload time increased from 120 to 122 seconds.
Tier X U.K. destroyer Daring:
Main battery reload time increased from 2.5 to 2.6 seconds.
Torpedo tube reload time increased from 120 to 122 seconds.
Tier X Japanese aircraft carrier Hakuryū:
Damage from rockets launched by attack aircraft reduced from 3,350 to 3,250.
Tier X U.S. destroyer Gearing:
Researchable torpedo tube reload time reduced from 118 to 116 seconds.
Tier III U.K. destroyer Valkyrie:
Main battery reload time increased from 5.0 to 5.2 seconds.
Torpedo tube reload time increased from 41 to 43 seconds.
Tier IV U.K. battleship Orion:
Stock firing range reduced from 15.18 to 14.7 kilometers.
Tier VIII Pan-Asian destroyer Hsienyang:
Researchable torpedo tube reload time reduced from 119 to 117 seconds.
Tier IX Pan-Asian destroyer Chung Mu:
Torpedo tube reload time reduced from 119 to 117 seconds.
Tier X Pan-Asian destroyer Yueyang:
Torpedo tube reload time reduced from 142 to 139 seconds.
Tier VIII Italian cruiser Amalfi:
The 37 mm/54 Breda 1932 anti-aircraft mounts on Amalfi's Hull (A) front and rear main battery turrets were replaced with 20 mm/65 Breda 1935 mounts.
The continuous damage dealt by the AA mounts on Amalfi's Hull (A) was reduced from 277 to 259, while the action range of her medium-range AA defenses increased from 3.5 to 3.7 kilometers.
Aircraft:
The spotting range of aircraft carrier' squadrons, as well as that of fighters and spotting aircraft, was reduced from 19 to 18 kilometers (the spotting range being a parameter that determines the distance at which an aircraft can detect a hostile target).
The time interval between bomber attacks was changed:
The minimum time between attacks for bomber squadrons was increased depending on the specific aircraft carrier and its tier:
S., German, and Japanese aircraft carriers:
From 5 to 7.5 seconds at Tier IV
From 5 to 8 seconds at Tier VI
From 5 to 8.5 seconds at Tier VIII
From 5 to 9 seconds at Tier X and for Saipan
K. aircraft carriers, except Indomitable:
From 5 to 7 seconds at Tier IV and for Ark Royal
From 5 to 7.5 seconds at Tier VI
From 5 to 8 seconds at Tier VIII
From 5 to 8.5 seconds at Tier X
For British bombers (except Indomitable's), we increased the acceleration time and acceleration coefficient that is applied after they drop their bombs on a target. This change will make it easier to approach a target for the next attack.
Visual and Technical Enhancements
Replacing Commanders or certain modules, mastering or resetting skills, fitting or mounting camouflages which don't affect ship geometry, and mounting signals will now happen faster.
The Islands of Ice, Strait, Tears of the Desert, and Mountain Range maps, as well as the Ports of New York, Zipangu, and Hawaii, have been adapted for the new lighting model and enhanced HDR technology. The Port of Zipangu got back its initial spring design, while the Port of New York has returned to its summer design.
> Content Additions and Changes
The game will feature a new collection dedicated to the King of the Sea tournament. More details will follow later.
A Public Test (PT) Winter Season Flag has been added. The flag will be available for completing three chains of Winter Season combat missions.
The following ships have been added for testing by developers, supertesters, and community contributors: Kotovsky, Mikoyan, Pyotr Bagration, Tallinn, Riga, Alexander Nevsky, Petropavlovsk, Ochakov, and Voroshilov. The latter is essentially a copy of Kirov, but has the following distinctive features: her main battery reload time has been reduced from 13.5 to 12.5 seconds, and her AA defenses have the same arrangement as Kirov's Hull (A).
The Infernal camouflage will be available for Tier VIII–X aircraft carriers, and Tier VIII aircraft carriers will get access to the New Year camouflage.
We have reworked the geometry and visuals of the stock hulls of cruisers Budyonny, Shchors, and Dmitri Donskoi, as well as the composition of their AA and secondary battery complements without any effect on their gameplay.
The researchable Hull B of cruiser Dmitri Donskoi is no longer available to research and mount. This change should make progressing through this branch of the Tech Tree easier, as the number of hulls is now reduced. If a player has researched Hull B, they will get compensation in the amount of 25,000 Ship XP. If a player has Hull B in their Inventory, they will get compensation of 2,000,000 credits. If Hull C is in their Inventory, the compensation will amount to 3,400,000 credits.
Other Changes and Improvements
Any enabled personalizations of a unique Commander will now be displayed in pop-up tips in the Port. Enabled and disabled personalizations will differ visually.
The description of unique Commander talents will now contain information on how many times a particular talent can be activated in battle.
We have updated the models and textures for the following ships: Trento, Surrey, Albemarle, Neustrashimy, Conqueror, HSF Harekaze, Goliath, Borodino, Bajie, and Wukong.
The animation of the sailing vessels in the Philippines Port has been fixed.
The Chinese (Simplified) language in now available in the game across all regions.
Fixed an issue which caused the free camera to automatically switch to a squadron after an attack.
Fixed an issue which caused a player's own badge to be displayed for several seconds after switching to the Spectator mode once the player's ship had been destroyed.
Fixed an issue which caused an erroneous notification about changes to the Clan Season rules to be sent to players when, in fact, no changes to the rules had been introduced.
Fixed an issue which caused a delay in a ship model loading in the Port on the first launch of the game client.
Removed the display of ship specifications in the Port when an account doesn't have any ships.
Fixed an issue which prevented the ship-type icon from being displayed in notifications about consumable auto-resupply or the expiration of a ship-rental period.
Fixed an issue which prevented a player on an aircraft carrier from selecting a priority target for secondary battery guns when a particular squadron was selected.
Fixed an issue that caused a situation where enemy torpedoes were sometimes displayed later than they were actually spotted.
Fixed an issue which caused the ship specifications window and ship carousel to be displayed above the training tip windows.
In the Containers section of the Port, we fixed an issue which prevented the display of a pop-up window congratulating players upon completing a collection or its sections.
Fixed an issue that caused a situation where the "Close" and "To Ranks" buttons in the Ranked Battle results window did not fit the screen with a low resolution selected.
Fixed an issue which caused Spotting Aircraft not to follow the ship which had launched it.
Fixed an issue which caused a tip about the AA Priority Sector selection to be displayed in every battle.
Fixed an issue which caused blinking angular reflections to be displayed under a ship when Low or Medium graphics settings were selected.
Fixed an issue which excluded one of the 25 mm/60 Type96 guns from the short-range AA defenses for Aoba's Hull (B).
Fixed an issue that caused the consumable-reload timer to freeze once Andrew Cunningham's "Consumables Expert" talent was activated.
Fixed an issue that prevented the display of a message about compensation for a rental ship that a player already had in the Port.
Fixed Gearing's position in the Designer Table Port.
Fixed an issue in Operation Aegis that caused the marker that appears once the Shchors bot is destroyed to be displayed in an incorrect place.
Fixed an issue that caused AA defense parameters to be displayed in a pop-up tip opened by pressing H for ships without an AA complement.
Fixed an issue that prevented the Remembrance Night camouflage from being displayed on Helena's secondary battery turrets.
In the Clan section of the website, we divided the Clan Battles rating and stats into Clan Seasons and Clan Brawls. Changed the numbering of Clan Brawl Seasons from 201–207 to 1–7.
https://worldofwarships.com/en/news/game-updates/update-092-european-destroyers/