Submarines have made quite a journey, going through six open and a gazillion closed tests since they were first announced back in 2019. Adding a totally new type of ship to World of Warships requires extended testing by a wide and stable audience in Random Battles. Testing them on a standalone server or in a special game mode would simply not give us a broad enough picture.
However, we don’t want submarines to "surface" in the most populated type of battle just yet. It's essential that we ensure they are properly tested first. To perform the test, we've settled on Ranked Battles as the most suitable and closest equivalent of Random Battles. The new Ranked season kicks off a week after the update goes live, but submarines will be accessible immediately after the release of Update 0.10.7. Co-op Battles will give you an opportunity to try the subs out in a more relaxed environment and get prepared for the new Ranked season.
[table][tr][th]Starting Out in a Sub ● Ranked Battles Season ● Submarines: Strike in Swift Silence ● Surfaced and submerged ● Acoustic homing torpedoes ● Nation-specific features ● Playing against submarines[/th][/tr][/table][previewyoutube="KrIvIiNqmVc;full"]
Starting Out in a Sub
When Update 0.10.7 goes live and until the end of Ranked Battles Season 4, the Armory will feature three types of random bundles available free of charge. Each of them will drop four sets with 100 Coal and one set with two submarines that will be rented out to you for three days. Offering submarines in this way will help us keep an eye on how many of them are out on our seas and prevent extended queue times.
- The bundles will be updated each week. This means that you can open them again each week to get Coal and the rental submarines.
Helm submarines in Co-op Battles and mow down bots—these battles offer a great opportunity to try out the mechanics that make the new ship type stand out. When the waters start raging with the heat of Ranked Battles, you'll already be familiar enough with submarines to test your strategies against real players. The season commences 1 week after Update 0.10.7 hits the live servers.
[expand style="more"]
[/expand]Ranked Battles Season
Forthcoming changes:
- Ranked Battles statistics will be displayed in the profile summary. Distribution by league starts from the Fourth Season. Statistics for previous seasons, broken down by leagues, will not be available.
- After qualifying, you can continue to play in the next league without having to wait for the start of a new Sprint. If you make it to Rank 1 in the Bronze League and successfully qualify, you can continue playing in the Silver League within the same Sprint.
Rewards
The rewards for each league will be refreshed and available again at the start of each new Sprint.
Reaching Rank 1 will reward you with Bronze, Silver, and Gold League containers.
A commemorative flag is awarded for achieving Rank 1 in the Bronze League.
Rules
Format
7 vs. 7 (with a maximum of two submarines per team)
- Tier VI in the Bronze League
- Tier VIII in the Silver League
- Tier X in the Gold League
Game maps and modes
[table][tr][th]Map[/th][th]League[/th][th]Battle Tiers[/th][/tr] [tr][td]Strait[/td] [td]Bronze[/td] [td]VI[/td][/tr] [tr][td]New Dawn[/td] [td]Bronze[/td] [td]VI[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Fault Line[/td] [td]Bronze[/td] [td]VI[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Neighbors[/td] [td]Bronze[/td] [td]VI[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Tears of the Desert[/td] [td]Silver[/td] [td]VIII[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Mountain Range[/td] [td]Silver[/td] [td]VIII[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Islands of Ice[/td] [td]Silver[/td] [td]VIII[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Shards[/td] [td]Silver[/td] [td]VIII[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Northern Lights[/td] [td]Gold[/td] [td]X[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Sea of Fortune[/td] [td]Gold[/td] [td]X[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Trap[/td] [td]Gold[/td] [td]X[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Loop[/td] [td]Gold[/td] [td]X[/td][/tr][/table][expand style="more"]
[/expand]- Battles on the Neighbors map will utilize Epicenter mode. Battles on other maps will utilize Domination mode.
Season structure
The season is divided into six Sprints. The first Sprint runs for 1 week, and each subsequent one runs for 2 weeks. Each new Sprint starts immediately after the end of the previous one.
Submarines: Strike in Swift Silence
Submarines are fragile and sneaky hunters. The diving depth of a submarine affects her detectability, viewing range, and interactions with other ship types and submarines. Maneuver, change your submergence depth, hide from your enemies, and surprise them with stealth attacks. Keep the enemy guessing and on their toes!
Submarines have small HP pools, so stick to the flanks and attack your opponents while you are submerged. Change position often, try to enlist the support of your teammates, and dive deeper when you find yourself in immediate danger.
Cruisers and destroyers are the primary targets for submarines during the beginning and middle stages of a battle. These ship types keep submarines in check and prevent them from breaking through to the sluggish battleships.
Controls
- The W, A, S, and D keys control horizontal movement.
- Press F to ascend.
- Press C to dive.
- 1—sonar pings.
- 2—torpedoes.
Surfaced and submerged
Submarines have four submergence levels: surface, periscope depth, operating depth, and maximum depth.
[expand style="more"]
[/expand]The amount of time that a submarine can operate at levels other than the surface level is limited by her dive capacity, varies by submarine, and does not exceed 10 minutes. If a submarine is detected while at the periscope depth or underwater, her dive capacity depletes faster.
When her dive capacity runs out, a submarine will automatically surface. On the surface, her dive capacity can be gradually restored.
Shells, ship and aerial torpedoes, bombs, and rockets pose a threat to submarines that are on the surface or at the periscope depth.
The deeper a submarines dives, the harder she is to detect—her detectability for enemy ships decreases as she descends into the depths.
Each submergence level needs to be used in a specific situation, and it's important to take the penalties and bonuses of each level into account.
- The surface level is the riskiest, but you don't spend any dive capacity while on the surface. Capturing Key Areas is only possible while on the surface.
- At the periscope depth, submarines can move at full speed and become less visible. Descend to this level to assume an attack position quickly without being noticed.
- At the operating depth, submarines have much lower visibility, but enemy ships are also harder to detect. This position is the best to attack a target you’ve already detected.
- In case of immediate danger, dive to the maximum depth. Once there, your submarine can't be detected by other ships. This comes at a price—at this level, your sub can detect only other submarines sailing at operating and maximum depths within your guaranteed acquisition radius.
The higher the tier of a submarine, the faster she can sail while submerged. Like a shark, the sub gradually takes to hunting at her operating depth as effectively as on the surface.
Acoustic homing torpedoes
Submarines' primary armament is acoustic homing torpedoes. The sonar pings mechanic will help you increase the potential effectiveness of your torpedo salvos. By hitting an enemy ship with a sonar ping, you activate horizontal and vertical acoustic homing on that ship. Torpedoes can ascend from the depths and home in on an enemy only with the help of an active sonar ping effect.
- You can launch torpedoes and sonar pings from any depth. When underwater, you can emit sonar pings in any direction—even at targets above or below your submarine.
- Aim at an enemy ship, take a lead on the target, and click the left mouse button.
- Hitting a target with a sonar ping highlights a section on its hull that torpedoes will home in on. The pinged part of the target ship will also be highlighted for the player controlling that ship. Moreover, the targeted ship will see an indicator showing the approximate direction the ping came from.
- Hitting the highlighted part of the ship with another sonar ping extends the duration of the sonar ping's effect and increases damage inflicted by torpedoes.
- The effect of a successful ping hit remains active for up to 30 seconds, depending on the specific submarine. Hitting the highlighted part of a ship with another sonar ping will reset its action time.
- If a sonar ping hits part of a ship that isn't highlighted, the spot from the previous sonar ping hit will relocate to the new area and the active effect will continue working.
[/td][td]
[/td][/tr][tr][td]1[/td] [td]2[/td][/tr][/table]
If you attack a ship from afar, keep emitting sonar pings to maintain their effect while your torpedoes are traveling to their target. Bear in mind, though, that guiding your torpedo to its target with the help of sonar pings doesn't guarantee a hit.
- The target will know the approximate direction from which torpedoes will approach it.
- The target ship can remove the highlighting effect from its hull by using the Damage Control Party consumable. You won't be able to highlight it again while Damage Control Party is in operation.
- Upon approaching to a certain distance of the target, torpedo homing gets disabled, and it will travel straight ahead. If the enemy changes speed or course at the right time, your torpedo might miss it.
Emitting a sonar ping makes your submarine more visible, so be sure to consider this factor if the enemy is nearby.
Torpedo tubes mounted on submarines do not necessarily reload simultaneously like they do on surface ships. The number of torpedoes that can be reloaded simultaneously depends on how many loaders are available. Torpedo tubes located at the bow and stern can have different numbers of loaders assigned to them.
To counter hostile subs, make use of the Hydrophone—a consumable designed to detect submerged submarines over long ranges.
Nation-specific features
U.S.A.
[expand type="details"]
U.S. submarines have the following key features:
- Long-range torpedoes.
- Small number of loaders.
- High sonar ping velocity.
- Good maneuverability.
- Access to the Enhanced Rudder Gears consumable, which accelerates the diving plane shift time and makes it possible to change diving depth faster.
Submarines of this nation can attack targets from a long distance using multiple-torpedo salvos. However, if you fire all your torpedoes at once, the total reload time will be rather long due to the small number of available loaders.
[/expand]
Germany
[expand type="details"]
Key features of German submarines:
- Short-range torpedoes.
- Large number of loaders, which provides for high damage per minute.
- Access to the Hydrophone consumable with a longer action range and time.
- Access to the Reserve Battery Unit consumable, which temporarily stops dive capacity depletion.
German submarines are a good choice for a risky style of combat at close to medium ranges. You can deal high damage by unleashing a full torpedo salvo, then deliver another painful punch after a relatively short time. After an attack, these submarines can sneak away from enemy radar and lurk around at their maximum depth for a long time.
[/expand]
Playing against submarines
Many destroyers and some light cruisers carry depth charges that can hit submarines prowling about in the depths. Approach the approximate location of the submarine and release your depth charges using the G key.
Some battleships can call in anti-submarine defense aircraft. You can choose this armament type by pressing 4. The camera rises and the reticle allows you to select an area within a 10 to 12 km radius from the ship. A group of aircraft will arrive and drop depth charges in this area shortly after being called.
In addition to depth charges and anti-submarine defense aircraft, high-explosive shells, Surveillance Radar, and Hydroacoustic Search will come in handy when fighting against submarines.
- A submarine on the surface and at periscope depth can be hit with shells, ship- and airborne torpedoes, bombs, and rockets, as well as by ramming.
- All shells can inflict damage to a submarine even when they don't directly strike the sub but fall within her vicinity. High-explosive shells, however, are the most effective shell type to deploy against submarines thanks to the shell's large fragmentation damage area.
- Depth charges and anti-submarine defense aircraft have several charges that are reloaded in sequence. This armament can be activated several times in a row.
- If your ship is hit by a sonar ping, the hit sector will be highlighted, and an indicator will show the direction from which the ping was launched. This will help you identify the location of the attacking submarine. Change course constantly to make it all the more difficult for the enemy to hit you.
- If you're hit by a sonar ping, you can remove its effect by using the Damage Control Party consumable. Incoming torpedoes will cease to home in on your ship but will continue to run straight, so don’t stop maneuvering!
- Surveillance Radar detects submarines on the surface and at the periscope depth; Hydroacoustic Search detects them at all depth levels except maximum depth. Detection increases the rate at which a submarine’s dive capacity depletes.
- A submarine can spend only a limited amount of time underwater—it will have to surface sooner or later. If you can detect a submerged submarine, it will consume its dive capacity faster.
- This is almost everything you need to know about the key principles of operating and countering submarines in the game. Good luck in your Ranked Battles, Commanders!
[/td][/tr][/table]
[/td][/tr][/table]
[/td] [td]
[/td] [td]
[/td] [td]
[/td] [td]
