WORLD OF WARSHIPS – Wargaming confirmed that Submarines are coming to the game. Submarines played an important role in the naval operations of the first half of the 20th century. Their missions and aims were very different from other types of ships in these conflicts. Thus, the harmonious integration of this new ship type into World of Warships battles isn’t going to be an easy task.
The World of Warships team has been fully engaged in the development and preparation for the launch of submarines into PvP gameplay. To do this, they have several issues to resolve: find the niche that submarines should occupy, make the gameplay exciting and diverse, work out different options for the interaction of submarines with other ship types and between each other, update maps, and take many other details into consideration.
TESTING PLANS
The first step will come in the form of closed tests of the game process in order to evaluate the current concept and ensure the stability of test clients. Then open testing will take place. During this stage, gamers will be able to share their opinions with game developers and be among the first players to try out the new ship type in World of Warships. They are planning several testing iterations during the second stage. It will be something like a Beta Test for the new type. Initially, only some of the players who submit their applications will be able to participate in the testing. Access will gradually be expanded and in time, everyone will be able to take part in the submarine trials.
After this comes the third stage. Submarines will be incorporated into the live client as a separate battle type, similar to Arms Race, Savage Battle, or Space Battle. The third stage will last several months. This will enable developers to make the final touches and adjust the balance of the new type on the live server. When they are done with all these steps, the team will be able to decide on the final fate of submarines.
FIRST SUBMARINES
The submarine tree will be built the same way as the aircraft carrier tree: with submarines at even tiers only. The first researchable submarine will appear at Tier VI. This is in part because spreading ships between tiers allows developers to balance them more easily within their respective match-making brackets, and in part to have a better differentiation between the initially implemented designs.
Germany, the Soviet Union, and the United States will be the first nations to enter testing. Japan will be next in line for introduction into the game.
MAIN FEATURES OF SUBMARINES
Submarines are stealthy hunters, somewhat similar to destroyers. But what will the features of this new type be?
Diving and Surfacing
Submarines will have the best stealth parameters, low survivability, and unique controls with unusual new mechanics. Besides the regular horizontal movement, players will also be able to control the depth of their dive.
Changing the depth of a dive allows submarines to hide from enemies and become invulnerable to most sources of damage. However, submarines have a limited supply of oxygen in battle. Once they’ve depleted this supply, they must resurface to replenish it.
There will be three levels of depth:
- Surface—at this level, a submarine can be detected by line of sight, Hydro-acoustic Search, and radar, like any other ship in the game. Torpedoes can be launched. Oxygen supplies are replenished when on the surface. Capturing Key Areas is only possible when surfaced.
- Periscope—the submarine’s detectability is significantly reduced (by 50%). At this level, she can be detected by Hydro-acoustic Search or in the usual way from a ship or aircraft. Subs can’t be detected by radar at this level. Torpedoes can be launched, and the use of sonar is possible. Oxygen is spent when at this level.
- Underwater—ships cannot detect a submarine in standard ways (including through the use of any consumable). However, in this position, a submarine can be detected by another submarine in periscope depth and underwater position at a distance of 2 kilometres or closer. She also has no chances of launching torpedoes or spotting anyone except from a distance of two kilometres or less. Oxygen is spent and the Hydrophone is turned on.
Hydrophone
When underwater, a submarine becomes “blind” and sees other ships only with the help of her Hydrophone, which determines the direction to the nearest ships. The hydrophone displays three ranges: long, medium, and short. Indicators will light up on this interface to allow the player to understand how far away the enemy ship is.
Armament
The main armament carried by submarines is torpedoes with hydro-acoustic guidance. While at periscope depth, a submarine can emit a sonar ping after firing a torpedo. You’ll see a special new indicator next to your torpedo icon when sonar is active. The emission mechanics work in the same way as with a usual torpedo launch-lead your target and click the left mouse button. If the ping hits a designated point on the bow or stern of the target ship, the torpedo will be guided to the target. However, the manoeuvring characteristics of a torpedo won’t always be enough to accurately hit the target. After the target is pinged-hit by a sonar ping for a second time, the torpedo will dive deeper. This will allow it to detonate underneath the ship’s hull, ignore anti-torpedo protection, and deal much greater damage. The primary targets for torpedoes are slow-moving ships. Faster and more agile ships, with the proper skills applied, will be able to escape attack by executing timely manoeuvrers.
Consumables
The new type will be equipped with unique consumables:
- Maximum Depth: allows you to dive deeper than the standard “Underwater” level and avoid taking damage from depth charges.
- Snorkel: increases the time to conduct an attack. When activated, the submarine stops spending oxygen and starts accumulating it instead when at periscope level.
- O2 Regeneration: increases the time a submarine can spend underwater.
- Enhanced Active Sonar: increases the effectiveness of sonar pings.
COUNTERMEASURES
Submarines are relatively slow. Their speed on the surface is a mere 25–30 knots; at periscope depth their speed is reduced further. When underwater, submarines will be able to cruise at the same speed as when at surface level.
If a submarine is detected on the surface or at periscope level, she can be attacked with HE shells, rockets, or bombs. Such armaments will be able to affect targets within a certain radius of impact (splash damage).
A submarine can damage another submarine with torpedoes or by ramming them. Effective use of sonar pings can also allow torpedoes to dive to a certain depth and hit enemy submarines.
What should you do if a submarine has dived? In such case, she can’t attack anyone, but other types of ships won’t be able to attack her either. That’s where destroyers, the main opponents of submarines, come in. They’ll be able to effectively track submarines and hit them with depth charges. Nearly all destroyers will be equipped with this weaponry, with rare exceptions for which the use of such arms wasn’t historically implemented into the design of the ship.
If an enemy submarine is detected within a radius of 4–5 km of a destroyer, a special indicator will inform the ship’s Commander about this. When approaching an enemy submarine, a destroyer can see her estimated last known location. Having arrived at this area, an updated location will be displayed. This will happen several times, though the submarine itself will still remain invisible to her enemies. Eventually, having followed these location indicators and caught up to the submarine, the destroyer will be able to carry out an attack with depth charges. To launch them you just need to float over the detected submarine; the charges will launch automatically.
MORE INFO
Submarine gameplay is, first and foremost, about positioning, planning, waiting for the best moment to attack, and subsequently diving into the depths of the sea to escape retribution. The new ship type will be significantly different from the other existing ship types in the game. World of Warships hope it will bring a fresh blast of excitement to naval battles.
Naturally, along with the appearance of this new ship type, the skill tree and upgrades will also be updated. At the moment it’s still too early to talk about any specifics, but the developer will share the details of any changes later.
SOURCE: World of Warships