Verblonde

I've had several 'freeze' type crashes over the last several days - it certainly feels (eurgh - 'feels') like the current version of the game isn't entirely stable.

I'm relatively relaxed about this personally, as I'm awful in pretty much any cruiser, but is there not a danger - with the Italians - of you not getting a decent data set, if the line quickly acquires a reputation for being poor, so not encouraging people to play them?

I haven't noticed any increase in module damage in DDs recently (which doesn't mean it isn't there, of course); mainly because DDs have always been ludicrously fragile if the opposition is remotely competent. I *always* run LS on my DD captains though, so getting engine/rudder shot off is less of a disaster...

Dev Blog on facebook again: "ST, changes to test ships. German cruiser Mainz, tier VIII: - Main battery reload time was reduced from 7.5 to 6 s. Tests showed that Mainz's damage per minute was not high enough for a tier VIII cruiser. American cruiser Puerto Rico, tier X: - Detectability range by sea reduced from 17.6 to 16.56 km; - Detectability range by air reduced from 11.86 to 11.16 km; - Detectability after firing main guns in smoke reduced from 14.27 to 13.15 km. This change will help to increase the survivability of Puerto Rico in combat and will also bring the ship's visibility into line with her size. Please note that the information in the Development Blog is preliminary and subject to change."

from the Dev Blog on facebook: "ST, changes to ricochet angles of SAP shells Italian cruisers of tiers III - IX: - The angle at which the check for ricochets is made for SAP shells is increased from 65 to 70 degrees. This change will make SAP shells more effective against targets that are angled sharply. Please note that the information in the Development Blog is preliminary and subject to change."

@Salentine has answered your specific question, but some other pointers: First, the wiki provides (tolerably accurate) information about pretty much every ship in the game, not to mention game mechanics, economy etc. : https://wiki.wargaming.net/en/World_of_Warships Second, if you aren't a reroll, with only 27 battles (at time of writing) you'll probably struggle in any battle involving Asashio - she's a T8. You'll generally do better if you don't rush up the tiers; that way you'll acquire the skills (and higher point captains) necessary to survive in the face of higher tier ships and more experienced players.

I much prefer the 'cooperative' approach to this mode, although I doubt it'll last after the weekend hordes arrive; when it stops happening, I'll stop playing the mode I think, as there are better rewards to be had elsewhere.

They get you early access to the new Italian cruisers (T5-T8, with one mission needed per ship; generally, the lower tier ones drop less infrequently). Said ships come with all upgrades (hulls etc.) researched/purchased, and you can put any captain in them during the early access period in a similar manner to premiums. They will revert to being standard silver ships in all respects with the next patch. In practical terms, how valuable this is will depend on how rabid an 'early adopter' you are, and whether you dislike grinding - the main plus point (from my perspective) of these missions is that they provide an opportunity to avoid the low tier grind at least. Also, if you have Italian ships, the current directives are slightly easier (you also get an easy mission for each one for more Italian tokens too) as one of each set of missions is for Italian ships only (as you've probably already seen).

I think so - she's quite fun, if you like dakka. The concealment is flaky (mine's showing 6.8 km with a CE captain), as is the AA, but in other respects she's a reasonably serviceable DD. The idea expressed earlier about her being a bit like a French DD only with smoke isn't too far off the mark. If I were suggesting T7 premium DDs to buy, there are several others I would pick first, but she's certainly 'good enough'...

Indubitably! If you're after something to tick the 'European' box, Blysk is great fun. My only real whinge with Blysk (at least until recently) was the usual one about single-ship nations and captains; she gets a lot nicer to play when you hit ten points (obviously) and beyond...

She seems okay to me, but there are other things I would pick before her in a similar role (Haida, especially)...

I would have more (any?) respect for WG if they just flat-out admitted the obvious (which is true for WOT too) - they're a commercial entity, *of course* there's Russian bias, for the simple reason that this is what a significant proportion of their customers require. It makes sense: Europeans and Americans don't need to feel inadequate because we all know we had (on the whole) large and highly effective navies during the era in question, so we're probably going to buy stuff even if it's a bit flaky; this means that two of the major markets are squared away more or less regardless. The Russians on the other hand seem prone to having epic sulks (and not spending money as a result) if 'their' stuff isn't superior... To be fair to WG, most Russian stuff does have significant weaknesses, it's just that said weaknesses tend not to matter as much as other nations' weaknesses do in whatever meta there is at that time. For example, WOT's notorious Defender/252U would struggle to hit anything much smaller than a country at long range (yay, a weakness), but this in an environment where almost all maps suit brawlers. The key exception to the 'Russian bias' narrative, I would suggest, is their cruisers (and I recall reading that the Russian market had a major epi on that subject)...

I'm not sure about reasons, but I don't think the clan I'm in has managed to get enough people for Clans once this season so far - the increase to eight per side has certainly not helped.

Fundamental wossname of physics...

It does make approximate sense, I guess. This is one of those occasions where we have to recall that most of us on the forums are not representative of the bulk of WG's customer base...

This, most likely. I imagine WG are trying to pre-empt the "my ship mounts ASW rockets in the pictures, why can't I use them?" type stuff that would inevitably appear...

There used not to be, in the sense of boaty things that float on water, but I haven't really been paying attention recently. They had spaceships but, as someone earlier mentioned, they behaved more like the Napoleonic ships of the line (broadsides, and all that)...

As ever, I wouldn't mind 40K skins, provided there is the option to turn them off! A worrying precedent from WOT Blitz though would be the introduction of actual made-up 40K ships (Blitz gets a couple of 40K vehicles, plus several from the Valkyria Chronicles); I know we have plenty of made-up ships in the game, but they generally look like sensible (?) real warships. I know that Blitz is the 'kids' version, but I would hate to see this sort of thing spread to the 'proper' versions of the games in question.

Is that the entirety of your build? If so, might I suggest a few tweaks that may help you somewhat: For your 2 point skill, the first port of call should be Last Stand - DDs tend to get their rudders/engines shot off quite regularly, and this skill allows you to keep moving. Without it, you'll be dead rather more frequently than you might like. BFT is a very useful skill on most gun-focused DDs, but I wouldn't take it on my first pass; indeed, I don't have it at all on Jutland/Daring, because of the pressing need for IFHE. For your first pass through the skills, the first 3 pointer usually wants to be Survivability Expert (or maybe Superintendent, for the extra healing potion). For a DD, Concealment Expert normally wants to be the first 4 pointer (exceptions tend to be anything where you basically spend the entire game with the fire button glued down e.g. the Kaba line), as the reduction in detection distance is invaluable for stealth. I asked if that's the entirety of your build because it sounds like you don't have a full ten points yet? Is that correct? If so, that will make your life a lot harder - generally, for any ship in the +2 MM bracket, you'll be at a noticeable disadvantage without a ten point captain. FWIW my Jutland/Daring build looks like this: That's not to say it's 'right', but it certainly works well. If I were better with AP rounds, I might ditch IFHE, and take BFT and PM instead...

Whenever the event ends - presumably the patch before Xmas, although I haven't checked.

Presumably, this refers to Roma with the Kobayashi camouflage?

So far, fine in Coop, but I would take *almost* anything else for games against real people...

Slightly surprised this thread is still going: how is it not obvious that to be a viable commercial proposition, WG have to sell something? Frankly, there are far worse things that WG could be charging for than xp conversion; for a start, xp conversion is unnecessary if you have some patience (I admit, I sometimes don't), and it also has the merit of not upsetting game balance. WG could charge money for blatant P2W but (arguably) they don't - I know which model I would rather have...

Dido class is T6 in the Blitz version of the game FWIW...

Very interesting - thank you!