Verblonde

Dev Blog (confirming Marco Polo and Austin being for coal and steel, respectively): https://blog.worldofwarships.com/blog/127 Dev Blog (changes to test ships, including Immelmann, Lepanto, and Colombo): https://blog.worldofwarships.com/blog/125

<wanders off to check - shows you how often I actually use horns in game!>

I suppose that one positive of high DD numbers is that it forces us (DD players) to keep our anti-DD kung fu polished...?

Cavalier, possibly (with some shameless massaging of stats, and maybe a zombie heal; from memory, she's a bit short on guns for T9)? Otherwise, perhaps one of the Weapon class, or maybe W/Z classes? It could even be a tweaked Battle, I suppose - I wouldn't object to (essentially) a premium Jutland...

Wut?! I haven't made a single personal remark; I've (and most other people on the thread, it seems - hence the "we've" i.e. those of us who've commented - no 'royal we') merely provided counter arguments. Also: You were saying something about personal...?

This. You complained in your OP that it is now too hard to rank out; you also implied that premium ships are more powerful than silver ones (to an unacceptable degree). Both these complaints have been refuted. Perhaps you should state more clearly what you are trying to say, if we've all so egregiously misunderstood you?

The response from quite a few players might well be an unsympathetic 'good'; permit me to explain: There are - obviously - several different modes in WOWS, and how seriously people take them varies; for example, Randoms is taken moderately seriously, and Coop (for most) not seriously at all. The two main competitive modes - Ranked and Clans - are generally viewed as being more serious than the others. Broadly speaking, how irritable people will get varies in approximate proportion to the 'seriousness' of the mode; it will also increase in proportion to how frustrating the mode is - this means that people are far more likely to get irate in Ranked when you don't pull your weight than in almost any other mode. Whilst you can't entirely eliminate ill humour in chat (usually from people who don't know what they're talking about, once you get above a certain standard), you can reduce it a lot by playing in modes and ships which are a good match for your skill-set. Short version: if you play poorly, you will get yelled at, so to avoid it, you need to get better. To be clear, we're not talking about unicum stats here; I have a (sub-average) WR of around 48% in Randoms, and I get very little salt directed at me. First useful link; if you want to keep track of your stats, so you can establish what to concentrate on (strengths/weaknesses etc.), this is a useful place to look: https://wows-numbers.com/player/573351277,sadhighway/ So, how do you get better? I would suggest looking at the following: Learn and understand the game mechanics (useful link: https://wiki.wargaming.net/en/World_of_Warships), especially the vision mechanics. Concentrate on maximising your situational awareness: where is everybody, on both sides, and what are they all up to? Are you over-extended, exercising too much discretion, and which enemies have you lost track of. In support of this, make a *lot* of use of your mini-map and make it as big as possible (also, enable as many range circles as you can deal with). Park all your ships above T4-5 (or rather, just use them in Coop and Ops for the time being), and spend some time getting better at - first - T4 in Randoms. Play all four classes, and learn their various strengths/weaknesses, and what they're all trying to do. You will face up to T5 in your T4s, so you need to learn about smoke/hydro (besides really basic stuff like how to shoot straight, use torps etc.) courtesy of the T-22 (cruisers can have hydro too, of course) - this is the first 'nasty' thing that will take a bit of playing around, and is a good primer for some of the much fiercer threats at higher tiers. When you feel you're ready, press on to T5. There are a number of factors to consider here, not least +2 MM; you will face up to T7 opponents, so make sure you're ready: do you have a good enough captain (at least 10 points, with CE), is your ship fully upgraded, and are you familiar with what you'll be facing (again, the wiki - see earlier link - is your friend)? Also, be mindful - in sneaky ships particularly - that you'll meet your first radar at T5 (there are three premiums that get it, so you shouldn't face excessive volumes), and hydro is very plentiful, so you need to be able to cope with these. Repeat the process, and don't advance until you're ready; WOWS is a very involved game, and a sure-fire route to disaster is to rush up the tiers too fast. Yes, higher tier ships are generally more powerful, but they don't make you any more likely to win unless you know what to do with them; you have a powerful ship, sure, but then so does everyone else, and many will be far more experienced and (importantly) have better captains. So, to repeat, take your time. Play - on voice comms - with more experienced friends and/or clan-mates; real-time feedback and guidance can speed up your rate of learning dramatically. If/when you die early in the game, stay in the battle and watch what others do; you may learn something useful, although be aware that sometimes it can be what not to do. Spend some time watching tutorials on YouTube etc. (iChase is good, but be aware that a lot has changed over the last few years, particularly with CVs and Captains, so older films may be less relevant: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoRQa0D7yVpc05KETkgPsyZHIRZd980cO). You probably don't want to be reading this, but I'm afraid it's the truth; in any game mode that 'matters' to the players, you will sometimes get yelled at if you suck. Learning not to suck is the key thing you need to do okay in WOWS (note I say 'not suck' rather than 'get good'); besides getting yelled at a lot less, you'll probably have more fun if you can manage to reach a level of at least semi-competency.

Last time (meaning last season), there were more irrevocable ranks, so it was simply easier - players didn't need to string as many wins/retained stars together in a row to get to R1. What this all comes down to is what is the point of Ranked i.e. what is its purpose? There are two possibilities: A test of skill, such that the different ranks achieved mean something - the better players will achieve higher ranks, and the less good ones will find their level (generally lower). This is what we have at the moment, and the new season is probably better at achieving this than the one before, but at the cost of making those of us who are less good (I include myself in this) feel bad. But do bear in mind that if we play enough (12 wins, I think), we still get the bulk of the rewards from the mode. A long-bottomed grind for steel and other rewards, where it's just an exercise in patience and the ranks mean nothing in terms of how good the player is; this is more or less what we had (certainly in Bronze, and probably Silver) during the first season. This is probably a bit pointless as it does nothing significantly different to any other mission chain. If the point of Ranked is to allow players to test themselves against each other, and gain little markers that are a (very) approximate indication of skill, then the first possible model is undoubtedly superior. This isn't about good or bad players, but simply about measuring us all against each other, and - to repeat - you still get the majority of the rewards if you get 12 wins, and anyone can do that (both your and my overall WRs are in the forties; on average, we should both do that in fewer than 30 battles). Any player (including/especially me) that isn't doing that well in Ranked has one choice: do you try and improve, so as to do better next time, or do you give up/complain that it's everyone else's fault? If you choose the former, you may find this site of use in tracking your performance, and in identifying areas that you need to focus on: https://wows-numbers.com/player/570484143,AdmiralTora/? With an occasional exception (Enterprise springs to mind in Bronze), there is no shortage of abundantly competitive silver ships in the Bronze league, compared to their premium counterparts; yes, some are better than others, but the same is true of the premiums. The following illustrates the point with DDs, as that's the class I know best: Cossack is one of the best premium DDs at T8, but Lightning is pretty close most of the time (same concealment, more torps on Lightning, Cossack gets engine boost), and flat-out better if there is a CV in the game. Kagero is boned against CVs, but no more so than Asashio and Yukikaze, and her torps can hit everything and 2 km further away than Yuki's. Silwangi is probably worse than most silver counterparts, and Fenyang is certainly worse than Aki. At T9, both Oster and Jutland are very competitive, and Feltcher holds up very well too. The list goes on. Not having access to premiums isn't going to cause you to lose, in the same way that throwing money at WG for premiums isn't going to get you the win (if it did, I would be a super-duper-mega-unicum, which I'm very clearly not); what really matters is skill and experience, although the right ship can give you an edge, but only if you know how to use it (I have an Enterprise, but wouldn't take her into Ranked, as I don't have the skills to make proper use of her, for instance).

and As frustrating as it can be when you aren't good enough to carry your team, these two comments summarise neatly why I think it's a good idea to keep Bronze 'hard' for weaker players, assuming you want the event to be about skill, rather than a de facto extended mission grind with small teams.

On approach that you might take, I suppose, if you want to avoid making poor players feel bad (which is what this is really about: I Ranked out of Bronze easily in the first season, and only got to about R3 - I think - in the first sprint this time around, with a similar amount of effort*) would be to revert to something like the first season for the irrevocable ranks, but to make the actual qualification for Silver much harder, in proportion. Less complaining, because we forty-something percenters get our R1 star (and rewards). Silver should remain about as potato-free as it it does with the present system. Down-side: you effectively eliminate Bronze as a remotely meaningful exercise in skill, if you do this, as only the most incompetent won't make R1 if they want to. Personally, I think it should be quite hard for a player of my ability (48%+ overall WR) to get out of Bronze, so I wouldn't change much (besides, maybe tweaking slightly the exact distribution of wins-in-a-row you need to get to R1 in Bronze), at least as long as Ranked is supposed to provide a measure of skill. *For emphasis: I'm not complaining about this, it is simply a reflection of my not being good enough (and/or bloody-minded enough) for this season.

I disagree: having fewer irrevocable ranks makes the event marginally more like a test of skill, rather than mere persistence. Last season, I was able to qualify for Silver without having to try very hard, and I'm a sub-average player; fun as it was, it really was too easy...

If WG could just clone Kidd to produce a Sullivans (with a different skin), that ought to be an easy win - good PR (assuming they donate some money to the relevant good cause), not much work, and it won't mess up the game. I'd buy one...

I would give that one a qualified yes (I have a 48%+ overall WR across all ships/tiers, to provide some context): she's got class-leading stealth (5.4 km with full stealth build), the torps are more than good enough (and her primary weapon), and the guns are better than everyone thinks, although you'll get a tonking in a duel with a proper gunboat. The main down-side is her AA which is essentially non-existent, making her horribly vulnerable to CVs. If you're feeling brave, the TRB build can be funny, although I always take smoke myself. Tier-for-tier, I prefer Yugumo (mainly because she gets 12 km torps, which gives you a bit more elbow-room in a 12 km radar environment), but Kagero is pretty good - if you like sneaky torp boats (and can live with being boned by radar/CVs). Chapy's a cruiser, but I thought she was worth mentioning as - by cruiser standards - she's quite fun (IMO, of course); and as a DD main, the radar is a bloody menace if used well - coal mod and relevant captain skill to extend the run-time. If you don't have any T8 premium cruisers available (and even if you do), Chapy is very worthwhile.

DD main perspective: T8: I would say Lightning too, but you get the permaflage for her elsewhere; so, besides her, Chapy (always a threat, with her stealth radar), Akizuki (or maybe Kagero, if you don't have a premium sister of some sort), or maybe Zed (if you don't have Loyang at that tier). T9: Yugumo, Oster or Feltcher are all excellent, although Yugumo suffers from CVs more than the other two do; FWIW I've found Oster to be a decent pick for Ranked too, although I've only played her a few times (I usually run premiums).

Short answer: yes. The last several Christmases have seen events - like this year - where completing a mission chain gives you silver ships and their permanent cammo; if you already have the ship, you still get the cammo, but silver in lieu of the ship itself. Other special events and campaigns periodically show up that allow you to bag other freebies, sometimes ship-specific and sometimes not (the most recent campaign gives you a couple of T9 permaflages that aren't initially assigned to a specific ship). Early access events (such as the RM BBs thing at the moment), also award permaflage, and so do some of the collections (for containers). Besides the campaign/collections that are on all the time, it's just a question of waiting...

Presumably, it's at least partly due to ship choice: you're very good in BBs, but the problem (for BBs) with Ranked is that the games happen so much faster, so unless you're *really* good in BBs you don't have the same time to make an impact that you do in larger team modes like Randoms. With a BB, you have a greater chance of being at the mercy of the ships that have a higher impact in Ranked (which basically means CVs and DDs), and - especially in the first sprint or two of the season - there's always a good chance that you'll have at least some of the more tuberous on your team.

I'm a slightly sub-average (overall WR in Randoms around 48%) DD main, and I picked up Somers around Xmas sometime - snowflakes pushed me over the necessary steel threshold. I like her a lot, but if you're after a monster OP DD slaughterer, Somers isn't it. Whilst emphasising that I'm not anywhere near a unicum, she strikes me as similar to - but distinct from - LU Gearing: Better torps on Somers. The dakka *feels* similar; Somers take much longer to reload but has more barrels. Somers' AA is dreadful, so a competent CV will be much harder to deal with than in LU Gearing. The silver economy on Somers is (obviously) significantly better. Slightly (0.2 km from memory?) better concealment on LU Gearing; Somers is still usually sneaky enough though. FWIW I've built both my LU Gearing and Somers in a similar way i.e. ship modules focused on torps, and captain skills focused on dakka, to give a bit of context. I'm very glad I got Somers, but I would absolutely not categorise her as being a must-have, given that you can get LU Gearing for 'free' (including a lot of RB grinding, if you didn't have the LU already). I've been mostly playing mine in Ranked so far, for which she works pretty well (although Smaland is noticeably better for that IMO), with a smattering of Randoms; can't comment on Clans yet though, as I haven't played her in that yet. My feeling is that Somers suffers too badly from CVs to be more than a 'nice to have', but she is worth the steel to me (whilst very easily being dreadful value to a player who likes other ships classes more than I do).

The word, I think, we're after here is 'good'! Pre-nerf, Hosho made the situation for newer players pretty much untenable; it wasn't great even for experienced players, come to that...

The IJN 'dakka' DD line is a good pick, as there aren't too many turkeys to get through, and it's also the cheapest in the game (in xp terms). I personally use the Shima line as my 'reset' line though (but I do have LU Gearing, not to mention Somers, for when I need a T10 torp truck).

FWIW Ashitaka with Kobayasahi permaflage, whilst expensive, is a highly effective earner in Narai...

Well, good that Deadeye is apparently for the chop; surprisingly quick action by WG, so they must actually be worried for once. If only there was some way they could have known in advance that Deadeye was a bad idea... Less good is that we'll still have to wait for a few months before the replacement is tested and implemented, and - given WG's previous form - could easily be an even worse idea. Just have to wait and see, I suppose.

Be persistent (as opposed to good) with Ranked - get the 'x wins per sprint' missions done and you slowly accumulate steel, albeit not epic amounts. If your clan shows up for the the various Clan Battles things, that'll usually get you a bit, even if your clan isn't top level. There's a trickle to be had via the daily missions too, of course, plus the occasional snowflake events. By doing this, I seem to accumulate about enough steel to bag one steel ship a year; it's not spectacular, but it's better than a swift kick to the happy sacks...

I bought both, but then I'm a colossal airhead... Neither is close to being 'necessary'.

Many thanks! (It appears to work on NA too, for anyone with an account there as well.)

As @PaP_Mentoles says, you have to get ribbons, and it doesn't matter what kind. Bear in mind that shatters get you ribbons, so the most effective ships for these missions are usually those with *lots* of dakka, regardless of whether the associated hits do damage or not. I usually try for 'ribbons' missions in Coop, as it's often easier to get them playing as a bit of a i.e. sitting in smoke in something like a Haragumo (as per @GarrusBrutus suggestion) or Smol, or similar, and just hold down the left mouse button...