Verblonde

Welcome! As others have said, the best credit makers are those ships you can do well in, specifically those you can do the most damage with, and even more specifically those you can do the most % damage with. Rewards are mainly driven by damage done as a proportion of the target's (original, I think) hp i.e. if you knock 10K hp off something small like a DD, you'll get rewarded better than if you did the exact same damage to a same tier fatty (BB, say). Rewards are also jacked up if you blast ships that are higher tier than you. Note that spotting damage isn't nearly as big a thing in WOWS as it is in WOT; in the latter it's possible to have a decent game without shooting anyone, whereas you'll lose silver if you try the same approach in WOWS. Another thing: join a clan; if they have a reasonably developed base, you'll get bonuses to rewards and/or reduced costs, which helps the f2p economy. They can also speed up the transition to WOWS (there are a number of things that don't work the same way, most notably the whole vision mechanics thing, including radar/hydro) if you play in divisions - ideally with voice comms. As with WOT, premiums are the best earners, all things being equal (you may find the section of the wiki devoted to the economy of interest: https://wiki.wargaming.net/en/Ship:Economy); if you're pure f2p, focus on getting every freebie that you can e.g. the Warspite that others have already mentioned. Your biggest source of free premium ships over time will probably be the various coal ones available through the Armory [sic], and there are more due to be added over the rest of the year. Generally, premiums are most useful from about T5 and up, as that's when you can start doing missions with them (well, most of them). There are also occasional missions that have premium ships as a reward (e.g. the Mikoyan via the current Russian cruisers thing, and Graf Spee next patch) - keep an eye out for those. At this stage of your learning curve, I would suggest holding off on getting most premium ships (that don't fall in your lap) until you've established which types/nations of ships you like the most; don't be surprised if the general things you like in WOT don't translate into your WOWS preferences (in WOT, I usually play mediums and heavies, whereas in WOWS I'm emphatically a DD main, which I wouldn't have predicted). This matters as you generally want premiums you'll get the most use out of - a port queen won't be helping your economy. Also be mindful of captain training; as with WOT, a good captain does make a noticeable difference (assuming you pick sensible skills), so it's helpful if your premiums can be used to train your captains from the regular silver lines. Generally speaking, the higher the tier a premium is, the higher its earning potential; this only works when you can play comfortably at the tier concerned though. So, T8-9 premiums are some of the best earners in the game, but as you know from WOT, getting an excessively high tier premium too soon is asking for trouble (we've all done it - mine was the IS6, before it sucked). That said, WOWS has Coop mode; although you'll make much less silver compared to Randoms, it means that you'll get some use from higher tier ships while you wait for your skill-set to catch up. Edit: consumables recently became zero cost, so - unlike WOT - you can now mount whatever you like without taking a hit to your silver income.

She's essentially a Nurnberg (as others have said) with a premium economy. I rather enjoyed the KM CLs with the 'one up, two back' turret arrangement, so having a premium one is nice, even if the hydro isn't as good. Sadly, I'm bloody awful in cruisers, so mine tends to live mostly in Coop (when I remember I've got her)...

Me too, although I've started to notice some subs (later at night, server time, so probably a keener player) starting to make themselves actively useful. I think it'll be a while before we have a proper handle in their impact, as it seems to take time to get the hang of them. I've even managed to sink a couple with DCs, so that cheered me up.. So far, the most useful thing, besides torping fat lads, that I've seen subs doing is keeping DDs (me!) spotted - the buggers! If this turns out to be pretty standard, it'll give the DDs something new to play around (a la radar and plane spotting).

Personal view, from a sub-par player: Buy ships, but high tier ones. If your skills are still developing for the ship in question (e.g. I'm *really* bad in BBs), you can always use it in Coop mode in the short-term. Keep an eye on Dev Blogs etc. there are usually new ships continuously in the pipeline; the difficulty is that we don't know how good they are really until they get released. Normally, WG give quite a lot of notice when things are going to be removed from coal sale; as far as I know, nothing is imminent, but I could have missed something. Use a discount voucher if at all possible, even if this means waiting a few weeks - 25% off a T10 coal ship saves you rather a lot of coal. After ships, I might prioritise coal mods for ships where the return on that coal spend will be most useful e.g. I usually put them on premiums, or high tier silver ships I intend to keep/play a lot. I would tend to pick up captains after that - the 'magic' ones are ludicrously expensive for what they are. That's all strictly IMO, of course, and I should mention I don't really have a shortage of 19 point captains these days, so it doesn't take too long to get a new captain to 10 points; if one were in dire need of 10 point captains then the coal captains become a more viable proposition.

I would suggest that none of my statements have been bold, but rather mere observations of things as I perceive them. I might also observe that (at time of writing) I have experience - as in played at least one battle in, across all modes - 220ish (WOWS numbers shows 223, but some are duplicates) ships, versus your 86 (including duplicates). I may be rubbish at the game, but I would think these numbers are suggestive that I have knowledge of marginally more than a "little". Frankly though, I really couldn't care less if you listen or not...

If you'll permit a lowly, and generally unworthy, worm with a below average WR to comment: it's one of WG's occasional nods to historical accuracy. The real thing couldn't shoot at nearby things straight forward, so the in-game one can't. If the rest of the ship is suitably balanced around that, then it's no problem. It's just something you have to deal with (like weird gun depression in different parts of the traverse arc in WOT for quite a lot of vehicles).

Stat-shaming? Really? I've never made any secret of being rubbish. If you're resorting to trying to rubbish someone's view on grounds of stats, it's strongly suggestive that you've lost the argument...

Can confirm that they do as of today's, but yesterday they didn't. As @Allied_Winter says, that's quick work by WG...

By possibly implying it isn't really an issue if I haven't even noticed it (admittedly after only 82 battles, across all modes). As to reasons why: as others have pointed out, there are enormous great AS rockets in the way, and balance-wise, everything else will be balanced around this as an overall whole (not that the effect is anything very much)... It's not like it's the only ship in the game to have some aspect of its firing arc blocked...

I really hadn't noticed that Halland can't fire forward - shows you how often I directly charge towards the enemy, as opposed to reflexively angling slightly...!

Dev Blog on the subject of improved HE penetration for KM DDs: https://blog.worldofwarships.com/blog/22

I tend to ignore sticky threads for exactly this reason. My personal assumption is that most stuff that gets single-thread-stickied is considered by WG to be 'discussion over' and they'd rather that we didn't talk about it. Because not talking about it is unrealistic - people need to vent on some subjects - the best they can do is the current approach, and hope enough of us avoid the stickies...

This. I hadn't really played very much with actively lousy AA for a while (apart from the IJN torp boat re-grind) - I had to rapidly re-learn some stuff in short order when I did get a CV game... It's a pity that subs mode isn't CV-free, but I guess that would have messed up the data...

I don't have the subs bundle yet (coal instead - hurrah!), but I've played a few battles in subs mode as surface ships (Perth and several hydro equipped DDs). As I said on another thread, for most games, the subs were an irrelevance; the battles were won/lost almost entirely by the surface combatants/CVs. Trouble is, it's far too soon to form opinions one way or the other really, as the number of competent SS players is still pretty low - anyone who hasn't got the subs yet can't tell if they'll be a serious threat or not as we're mainly facing people who are - more or less - still learning how to steer. I'm going to continue with the mode though, for a couple of reasons: T6 only battles are vaguely fun, apart from the CVs. I think that the chances of WG not forcing SSs on randoms are essentially zero (regardless of what they say), so at the least I may as well learn how to counter them.

Another five hundred coal for both of my accounts, and the same upcoming for tomorrow. I must say, I *like* this event so far.....!

I've only played three battles so far (T-61, Icarus, and Perth); the impression in those battles was that the subs were almost an irrelevance - the games were entirely won/lost by the surface elements (and one CV in one of the battles). I don't know how representative this is, but if it's even remotely typical, WG will buff SSs horribly, to avoid wasting all that work. Just in time to wreck Randoms with all-new genetically modified uber-subs... I didn't even get to drop any depth-charges, apart from one set in the first battle - just to see what happened.

Not even close; the reework launched at the end of Jan 2019. Ref: https://worldofwarships.eu/en/news/game-updates/update-080-takeoff/ It may *feel* like three years since the reework, but it's actually only a year and a half(ish)...

Nah - WG (so far) have been far too vague about what you get for your money, even by their standards. This is from someone who often buys gamble boxes too...!

Bear in mind that the people with millions upon millions of silver will often be very experienced and have had plenty of time to build up a serious stash; that said, there are a number of things you can do to maximise your silver income (some of which will cost money, and some won't). Do lots of relative damage; damage is the key driver of silver income, and more specifically, the % of a target's hp that you knock off is more important than the actual number of hp taken (so, 10K damage on a DD will reward you more than identical damage on a BB). Play PvP modes - randoms, clans, ranked at suchlike generally give far better rewards than Coop. Use flags and cammo that boost silver income, but pick your spots - if you have only a limited amount, use them in battles where you're pretty confident you'll do well, and generally don't waste them on Coop. The recent change to consumables (so they're all free) means that you don't need to worry about them; until WG mess with the economy, this single change should be improving your silver income. Keep an eye out for missions that reward silver - may seem obvious, but they can be easy to miss (e.g. the dailies). You can take daily containers that boost silver, although I think this is a waste - the extra resources (and the coal they contain) are more valuable. Get premium account; if you're going to spend money on the game, this is the best thing to go for - it works on all ships, in every game. Play premium ships; you'll make more silver - all things being equal - in a premium ship than in a silver one. Ideally, pick ones you can do well in, and actively like playing (to get most value from them, you need to play them a lot). Free ones are good (missions, and the aforementioned coal etc.); bear in mind that the T9 premiums, if you can do okay in them, are about the best silver earners in the game - that you can still easily get - (MO is the best, but she's gamble crates only). Play tiers that you consistently do well with to generate silver; although silver income usually goes up as you go up the tiers (T9-10 not so much), this only applies if you can do similarly at each tier. Getting sunk in the first minute in a T8 battle, say, will net you far less than a heroic battle performance a tier or two lower. If you have any T10s, *maybe* get permaflage for your favourite(s); this costs quite a lot of money (doubloons), so you need to be certain you'll play the ship a lot. Be aware of the downsides, besides cost though: first, because the cammo is for a silver ship, that ship can be nerfed (ask the YY owners about this, for example); second, familiarise yourself with the current business with Moskva - basically, permaflages used to be understood to be, well, permanent (as in, for the lifespan of the game). WG are in the process of setting a precedent where you can, in - so far - unusual cases, effectively lose your purchase. My feeling on this is that I wouldn't necessarily strongly advise not getting *any* T10 permaflages, but only get one for ships that you are certain you'll play a lot, and you'll do so in a time-scale such that if WG pull another 'Moskva' you will feel that you got your money's worth. Permaflage for T9s has a similar, but much less spectacular, effect; whilst it's cheaper than T10 permaflage, unless you *really* like the ship (and are keeping it) the case in its favour is rather weaker. T8 and below permaflage usually actually gives worse bonuses than one-use cammo (or at least the better ones that many people have a surfeit of); the key exceptions are the 'national' ones, and the Kobayashi ones, both of which boost silver earning.

Possibly. But to not stand there like that might suggest to the ill-informed that you were frightened of the incoming volkswagen-sized shells, which would be an entirely unacceptable state of affairs...?

Hurrah for cephalopods!

Doh! Missed that. <red face> I guess I've been conditioned by all the 'rushed to T10 and lose silver' folk we've had on here over the years. Mea culpa.

This is basically what I'm doing, and will continue to do; I won't cut off my proverbial nose though: No spending on the current crates. No more T10 permaflage unless I *know* I'll get what I consider to be a reasonable amount of use from the spend in the time before WG could (not necessarily will) pull a similar stunt again. In practice, this probably means no permaflage for anything that isn't a DD, and I have most of those already. For me, what WG have done is significantly change the value proposition for T10 permaflage: before, you were effectively buying something that would last as long as the game did; now you are buying something that (worst case) may only last for two-three patches. Whether that remains a good use of fifteen quid (or whatever it is) is down to individual preference, but the 'new' offer is certainly less good value than the 'old' one was - whether that will be economically important to WG remains to be seen.

Not really: if I understand correctly, you were suggesting that the service costs of T10s are outrageous because they - supposedly - cause you to lose silver. They don't on their own, but are relevant in the context of the rest of the economics for a game. Hence premium account is relevant to the discussion as it offsets your costs by increasing your 'top line'; how good a game you have also has a significant impact - do plenty of damage, make more silver (top line again); fail to do much to the enemy and you make much less silver. This stuff about the economics of higher tier games is hardly new though: the whole thing is set up to 'encourage' you to either pay money, or prop up the server numbers at more middling tiers where it's easier to generate the silver to fund your higher tier ships. I'm a mediocre player at best, and running premium account and permaflage* on my T10s, I regularly make more silver in a T10 battle than I do in a T8 premium... *Wisdom of buying T10 permaflage currently rather less cut and dried (see endless Moskva discussions).

Coal today for both my main and alt accounts; both of the next packages are coal too - I call that a result. I imagine I'll get unlucky and get the subs eventually, but still...