[2022] 09/27/22 - New Player Captain's Log: Spooky Szn Early Access

Greetings Captains,

Welcome to this week’s edition of the New Player Captain's Log! For those of you who aren't sure what this is or what it might do, feel free to check out the introductory post here.

With each topic I discuss, I also added a question at the end to see how y’all feel about things in comparison to how I feel. I just thought it would be an interesting way to get some discussion going!

Without further ado, let’s proceed with this week’s Log!

Accomplishments
Here’s a list of personal milestones that I hit during the week:

1. Played in the 0.11.9 PTS
2. Made a little bit of progress in Japanese BBs
Focus Points of the Week
Here’s a list of the focus points for this week:

1. Experiment more with submarines in the 0.11.9 PTS
2. Tried out some of the new (to me) operations and game modes coming for Halloween
3. Try out Japanese BBs a little more

Amagi
Another week comes, and thus my journey with the Amagi continues. I do have to say that this week provided a bit more of a struggle than the last week. We’ll call that the honeymoon stage, I guess, lol. I found that I was getting more punished this week. I made my best efforts to try to stay at a medium range due to the range/accuracy of the guns, which I found to be quite difficult. I found that ships would either retreat or close the gap quickly, which would thwart my plans either way. Not to mention, if I found myself mispositioned to even one ship who could take advantage, I definitely felt that pain. I am still pretty new with Japanese BBs, and I even Free XP whaled up to the Amagi, so I think I still need some more time with her (and maybe her predecessors, as many recommended last week) before I get a good idea as how to best play her.

Question: What are some tips you have for staying/play effectively at a medium range (i.e. not getting too close or too far away)?

Submarines
For these next two topics, you will notice I spent a considerable amount of time in the PTS this week. The first thing I was eager to try out again was submarines. I played a few rounds of Operation Wolfpack (a new, submarine focused operation coming in 0.11.9) while trying out the UK Submarines Undine and Sturdy. The first thing that I noticed was that Wolfpack itself is great fun. It’s an operation that isn’t too hard to complete but can be hard to secure all objectives, which is the kind of challenge I enjoy. As it relates to my submarine play, that still needs a bit of work. I recall one particular point that I was being hunted by an enemy DD after my dive battery was depleted, just slinging blindfired homing torps backwards in an act of desperation. Was it optimal? Definitely not. Was it fun? Certainly! As for the UK subs specifically, they don’t seem to particularly stand out for me? They’re only equipped with homing torps and their distance isn’t great, so I was struggling to find the best way to utilize them. Regardless, I’ll be looking to try out submarines a bit more in the future for sure

Question: Which submarines do you feel will function best in Wolfpack?

Twilight Battle
The last thing I tried out this week was Twilight Battle, which is a game mode that will be returning in 0.11.9 for the spooky season. I don’t have too much to say on it just yet other than it was pretty fun, utilizes really unique mechanics (that quick turn thing that DDs do? Sheesh!) and Rasputins are super hard to kill, and thus I really want to play as one. I know this is a mode that has existed around previous Halloweens, but to me this felt like something really interesting and freshly different from the day-to-day modes that I have started to get used to. I’ll be enjoying this mode plenty when it hits the live server!

Question: For those who have played Twilight Battles/other returning Halloween content before, do you enjoy them? Why or why not?

I think that about covers it this week! I want to remind everyone that the New Player Captain’s Log is also designed to be a place for new players to reply with their experiences or seek advice as well, so feel free to join in on the conversation below!

See you next week for some more New Player musings. Fair winds and following seas!

High tech or not, I am a visual learner and even this basic drawing gives me some useful tips. Thank you!

See this is interesting, because I felt that I could only chip away at ships long range but when I found that mid-range sweet spot, that's where I saw heavier damage. I suppose that could say more about my accuracy than the ship's accuracy, though.

I can tell you that I don't have plans for that for the forum contests I create, but that thread in particular was created by SaltySeaGuy, who is our Social Media Manager. Can't hurt to keep an eye out on social media channels to see what he comes up with!